20-Word Fiction: Listen to Your Teachers

Greetings from the Hartford Public Library here in Hartford, Conn., which is not actually where we are blogging from but we expect they have every novel from Turkish writer Orhan Pamuk, which have been translated into English.

Speaking of Turkey, today's image is of the famed Hagia Sophi, a state museum in Istanbul, Turkey, where actress Ashley Judd visited yesterday (we learned this from one of her tweets) which started as a Byzantine church before being converted to a mosque by the Ottomans.

Here is today's 20-word fiction which we are writing while listening to Brahms........:

"My religion professor said to be a true intellectual, one must read the Holy Bible and the Koran. Maybe so."

http://www.hplct.org/

Noon Rush Hour Tweets: Does God Decide if Tom Brady Throws Interceptions?

Greetings to our beloved blog readers in Wales, Dubai, and South Korea.....

We imagine folks are quite happy in Tunisia today as the national soccer team defeated Zambia 2-1 in the African Cup of Nations yesterday. Today, in Turkish soccer play, Trabzonspor defeated its fellow eastern Turkish side Sivasspor 3-1, thanks to two goals from Paraguay international Oscar Cardozo.

Our images above are of: 1) The Buffalo Bills, an American football team in Buffalo, NY; 2) The Mark Twain House in Hartford, Conn.; and 3) Cong. John Boehner (R-Ohio), who is the speaker of the house..........yes, we are surprised to be posting a tweet from him as well (this blog has a center-left bias, but then again, so does the truth).........

Here are tweets taken from the noon rush hour on the east coast of America:

1) The Hill (a newspaper that covers Congress): Sen. Lindsey Graham (D-SC) says...........'I'm well-qualified to be president'.....

2) UberFacts: One in four Americans believe that God decides who wins the Super Bowl (that is our reason for using the Bills, they are 0-4 in Super Bowls)

3) Chris Eliopolous (a cartoonist....yeah, we got his name spelled right, we think!): Sometimes it's hard to differentiate between a mentally disturbed man and a guy on his Bluetooth headset.

4) Politico: Bill and Hillary Clinton praise King Abdullah's 'humanitarian efforts.'

5) WNYC (New York's NPR station): "On March 22, the fare of a New York City bus or subway ride will increase by a quarter.........*sigh*....)

6) Speaker John Boehner: This pen is used to sign common sense job bills before sending them to the president's desk (hashtag: National Handwriting Day)

7) Peter Sciretta (tweeting from the Sundance Film Festival in Utah): The Bronze is a filthy R-rated SNL sketch at feature-film length. If that sounds like something fun, go see it. If not, avoid it (hashtag: Sundance)

8) Mike Reiss (Boston-based sports reporter): Darelle Revis of the Pats relayed how Tom Brady addressed players Thursday and talked about not letting deflate football story to be a distraction.

9) Sherine Tadros (Middle East-based tv journalist): Calling the late King Abdullah (of Saudi Arabia) a 'reformer' shows how far low the bar is in the region.

10) WXII 12 News (TV station in Winston-Salem, NC): At 12:40 p.m. (we have) icy mountain spots, glazing on trees, sleet now rain in the Triad, upper 30s.

11) Hartford Courant: Exodus of tens of thousands of residents to other states has lead to Connecticut's first population drop since 2008.

http://www.thehill.com

http://www.desperatetimes.com/ (a comic strip by Chris E.)

http://chriseliopoulos.com/

http://www.wnyc.org/

http://www.politico.com

https://twitter.com/johnboehner (Definitely not an endorsement)

http://www.hartford.com/ (Hartford, Ct, tourism site)

http://www.courant.com/

https://www.marktwainhouse.org/

Canine Nicknames and Mascots Amongst College Basketball Schools

According to a bracketologist for "Slate," the Albany Great Danes, a 16-seed team that lost to the Florida Gators in spite of playing a solid game, would have been the team to win it all based on dog lovers' choices.

But, long before we saw that bracket, we thought of the idea. In fact, we usually post an entry with canine college nicknames every March (we think!).

Here are ten schools with doggie nicknames and doggie mascots:

1) Albany Great Danes.*

2) Univ. of Connecticut Huskies. Jonathan the Husky (pictured top)*

3) Georgetown Hoyas. Jack the Bulldog (former legendary Georgetown coach John Thompson and Patrick Ewing are pictured center)^

4) Boston Univ. Terriers. Rhett the Boston Terrier. (pictured bottom)^

5) Gonzaga Bulldogs. Spike.*

6) Louisiana Tech Bulldogs. ^

7) Wofford Terriers.*

8) Washington U Huskies. Harry the Husky.

9) Southern Illinois Salukis.

10) Yale Bulldogs. Handsome Dan.

http://www.slate.com

http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/

Presidential Quotes (5 of 16): Warren Harding

Today, we quote Warren Harding (1865-1923) who was the 27th president of America from 1921-1923, which means he is one of four presidents who died of natural causes while in office. Though there were some conspiracy theories about the cause of his death. Some speculation pointed to the possibility that first lady Florence King Harding has poisoned her husband. Others though he committee suicide as his presidency was bogged down by major scandals, including corruption in the Justice Department. But, many scholars agree that Harding, a Republican, died of heart disease. Mrs. Harding died one year after her husband in 1924.

There are at least two high schools named after Harding, one in Bridgeport, Conn., the other in Warren, Ohio. John Dean wrote a biography of Harding in 2004.

Here is Harding's quote: "I don't know much about Americanism, but it's a damn good word with which to carry an election."

http://www.millercenter.org/president/harding

College Volleyball Notebook: A Good Week for Bulldogs and Tigers

The Clemson Tigers went up to College Park, Md., to face their former/current ACC rival The University of Maryland  (we are not sure when college sports gerrymandering goes into effect) and the Tigers came away with a 3-1 victory thanks in large part to Mo Simmons (pictured bottom) a senior from Buford, Ga, who had 22 kills and 12 digs for the road team.

In the nation's capital (insert government shutdown joke here), George Washington University hosted Townson. And, in this case, it was the visiting rival team from Maryland that came over with a win in Washington, DC. For the home team Colonials, Kelsey Newman, a junior from Charlotte, NC, posted a match-high 18 kills. The final score was: Towson 3 GWU 1.

And, in the Ivy League, Kendall Plan (pictured top), the two-time Ivy League Player of the Year, delivered eight kills an 10 digs along with 23 assists for a home sweep of Brown.

Here are 15 scores from weekend action:

Western Carolina 3 Davidson 1

Wisconsin 3 Indiana 1

Winthrop 3 Charleston Southern 0

*Clemson 3 Maryland 1

Colorado State 3 New Mexico 2

Montana 3 Eastern Washington 1

*Towson 3 GWU 1

Pitt 3 Georgia Tech 0

USC 3 Utah 0

Georgia Southern 3 UNC-Greensboro 2

Brigham Young 3 Pacific 0

*Yale 3 Brown 0

Florida 3 Mississippi St. 0

Michigan State 3 Penn State 2

http://www.yalebulldogs.com/sports/w-volley/index

http://www.clemsontigers.com/SportSelect.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=28500&SPID=103711&SPSID=657821

http://www.gwsports.com/sports/w-volley/

http://www.nocturnalguy38.blogspot.com

Quote of the Day/Week_ John Adams

No time to make fun of Mitt Romney, Donald Trump, Bill O'Reilly or Nancy Pelosi today (we figured we would be partisan, and even Bill Griffith, the cartoonist behind "Zippy the Pinhead" had made fun of the Democratic congresswoman from California), as it's fish tacos time here in New Haven, Conn. (not really where we are).

So, we will go ahead and quote John Adams, the second American preisdent, who has in recent years been portrayed by actor Paul Giamatti in a HBO mini-series; they might actually like this one in Yozgat, Turkey* (hey, Turkey is the home country of late father, so this is fair game....well, we hope):

"I must not write a word to you about politics, because you are a woman."

*-Along with Konya, Yozgat is considered to be the most conservative city in Turkey; it is the birthplace of the late far, far right political figure Alpastan Turkes.

Quote of the Week- Mark Twain

Today, we conclude with our month-long quips from cultural radicals and subversives from Mark Twain. Though he is considered a mainstream author today, there have been various times when Twain's works have been considered controversial. The use of the n-word vernacular that was used quite often at the time of publication (1885) of Twain's "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" has caused a stir at times for some local schoolboards even though no could rationally suggest that Twain was a racist.

The Mark Twain House in Hartford, Conn., is among the most popular tourist attractions in the Nutmeg State.

Here is Twain's quote:

"A person who won't read has advantages over a person who can't read."

SIDEBAR ONE: Though I am a Democrat, David Frum, a former speechwriter for George W. Bush, is among my favorite politically conservative pundits as he talks in terms of broad pictures as opposed to the likes of Rush Limbaugh who today proclaimed that Barack Obama 'wanted Hurricane Irene to be a huge disaster.'

Of course, like most liberals, my favorite conservative pundit is (of course!) David Brooks, but Frum, who is also keen and objective in his commentary, is a close second.

Yesterday, Frum tweeted the following regarding how Hurrican Irene affected his weekend: "Side benefit from Irene: taking my daughter to see Declaration and Constitution at National Archive with no line at all. Unprecedented."

SIDEBAR TWO: Speaking of Hartford, I actually saw a Hartford Whalers bumper sticker in Roanoke, Va., today. This was interesting to me because the Hartford Whalers have not existed since the team left for the Tarheel State and became the Carolina Hurricanes.

As the 'Canes, the team won the Stanley Cup in 2006, which actually made some people in North Carolina pay more attention to hockey than NASCAR-racing. But, of course, since racing legend Richard Petty is from Randleman, NC, and the late Dale Earnhardt hailed from Kannapolis, NC, that didn't really last. Of course, their offspring is involved in the sport as well.

But, I found out some interesting information while googling the Hartford Whalers. The current minor league hockey team in Hartford renamed themselves the Connecticut Whale last year to honor the Hartford Whalers. And, ironically, the team's previous name was the Hartford Wolf Pack, which is the same nickname for North Carolina State University in Raleigh, where the Carolina Hurricanes now play (they temporarily played in Greensboro).

The Hartford Whalers existed from 1979-1997. And, they left, in part, because the likes of then-governor of Connecticut John G. Rowland, a Republican, didn't want to spend tax payer money on a new hockey arena for the team.

But, there is still an active group that wants to bring the Hartford Whalers back in one way or another (perhaps having a new team with that name, such as what happened with the Cleveland Browns in the NFL). And, The Whalers Watchers, as they are called, will meet in Hartford on Sept. 13 at 7:30 p.m.

As for the Connecticut Whale, they have their home opener on Oct. 15

Status Update- Ben Cok Yorgunum (I'm Verrry Tired!)

Under 'normal' circumstances, I may have been tempted to stay up from 2:00 a.m-3:30 a.m., Hartford, Connecticut Time, and watched "Grizzly," a '70s crazy horror film about a bear who really, really goes wild and presumably eats people on TCM Underground.

But, I have been very overwhelmed---to put it mildly, in fact, right now, even though I am not a serial killer or sociopath, I am reminded of that Bret Easton Ellis novel "American Psycho" (1991), a book which I'm not sure what to make of even though Ellis is one of my favorite contemporary novelists, in which the title character Patrick Bateman states the haunting line 'this is not an exit,' meaning there is no escape!

SIDEBAR_One of the entries that I am working on, is another installment of our famous people with long, difficult names list. Nil Karaibrahimgil (perhaps I've mentioned this before?!), a female Turkish pop singer, is among the candidates for the list. They just played one of her songs today on "The Turkish Music Hour," which actually lasts 90 minutes. The show from WUVT-FM (90.7-FM, Blacksburg, Va.) airs and streams online from 1:00-2:30 p.m. on Saturdays.

Quote of the Week- Frank Zappa

Along with the likes of John Waters, the late rock musician Frank Zappa (1940-1993) was one of Baltimore's favorite sons. Until we quoted John Lennon today on our sister blog, I did not realize that both singers were born in 1940, a year before Bob Dylan who turned 70 last week.

Frank Zappa's son Dweezil Zappa leads a tribute band called Zappa Plays Zappa. They will perform at The Klein in Bridgeport, Conn., on July 29. Zappa's other celebrity offspring include Moon Unit Zappa and Ahmet Zappa.

Here is a quote from Frank Zappa, which we may well have used the last and only time we quoted him before now, but it is such a good one that it bears repeating here:

"Stupidity is the basic building block of the universe."

Status Update: I Am Alive and Well and Not in Rural Mongolia

Over the weekend an interesting thing happened as due to surreal circumstances, I was not able to communicate with friends or family simply because the charger for my cellphone had been misplaced.

After making a series of collect calls to answering machines which no one got, my family actually became somewhat worried about me. In the process, I also discovered that pay phones are officially a casualty of modern technology.

But, I am alive and well and I am not in a Mongolian village where thanks to modern technology, an American visitor could ignore all the local culture and unique cuisine around them and find a watch to watch tonight's NCAA men's basketball championship between U-Conn and Butler. Or, at least, they could probably find a way to follow the game's happenings through Twitter.

Quote of the Week- Mark Twain

Today's Quote of the Week comes from author Mark Twain ("Tom Sawyer") who is undoutedbly the pride of Hannibal, Missouri. We had a chance to visit the Mark Twain House in Hartford, Conn., in 2007, which is an impressive 19-room mansion. Twain was also an inspiration for the late animator Chuck Jones of "Bugs Bunny" fame.

Here is today's quip:

"A person with a new idea is a crank until the idea succeeds."

Things We Learned on Twitter Today- IFC to Show American Splendor

Alas, we were saddened to hear of the passing of the comic book genius Harvey Pekar
(1939-2010) on Monday. Our good friend Moviezzz has a moving tribute to him on his blog http://www.moviezzz.blogspot.com

On Twitter today, we learned that IFC will show the film "American Splendor," the 2003 film based on his autobiographical graphic novel of the same name, on July 21 at 8:20 a.m. (not a typo) and 3:00 p.m. as well as on July 30 at 11:45 a.m.

Both the film and the comic book took place in Cleveland, a city that is coming up a lot today (see last entry). The film starred Paul Giamatti in a stellar performance as Pekar who has a cameo in the film as well. He will be missed.

On Twitter today, we also saw the following tweet from Therealgarfield (we presume it is from Jim Davis or a member of the "Garfield" staff): "Eat. Sleep. Eat. Sleep. Works for me." This proves that at least on some occasions a 32-year-old cat can still make one laugh.

There was a less amusing tweet from the Turkish newspaper "Zaman" which reported that Iran has temporarily decided not to stone Sakineh M. Ashtiani (a woman) to death, but she could still face execution pending a judiciary decision. Hey, we only thought things like this happened in Utah and Texas!

Radio Sweden reported that the very, very, very liberal group Greenpeace has slammed a Swedish icebreaking outfit for proposals to break ice near the Arctic Circle. The same media outlet tweeted that tourism is also on the rise in Sweden where some tourist from Kalamazoo, Michigan, is probably wondering where to Little Mermaid statue is (it's in Copenhagen, Denmark, of course!).

And, lastly, "The Hartford Courant" tweeted that a Sonic Drive-In will come to folks in Wallingford, Conn., on Wednesday. I'm sure this will put them on the map!

Silly Photo to Fill Space- Waitressing in Altoona?

We don't think this particular waitress (I bet her name is Katie?!) works at a King's Family Restaurant in Altoona, Pa., but assuredly some college students who have the summer off are serving up hamburgers and fries to customers there.

King's has two locations (well, I thought there were more actually, but this is according to Google) in Altoona, including one at 3000 Six Ave and one at 201 Sierra Drive.

As for the city's minor league baseball team the Altoona Curve, who we have mentioned in previous entries during this special look at summer jobs in our Silly Photo to Fill Space series, they beat the New Britain Rock Cats (from New Britain, Conn.) 6-5 in a home game on Sunday.

In ten minutes, they will be playing the Trenton Thunder in Trenton, NJ (7:05 start time); we certainly hope there is no thunder in Trenton.

Hmmm.......yeah, that was a lousy pun. We agree. But, in truth, we really don't care!