10 for 10 (2nd Entry): Our Six Most Popular Entries..........a quote from the athlete formerly known as Bruce Jenner

Greetings to our blog readers in Albania, Egypt, and Canada.....

Over our ten years of blogging, we have not been too consumed with which entries get mega-hits and which ones are ignored like the opening act at a Rolling Stones concert, but Bruce Jenner (now known as Caitlyn Jenner or Jessica Lange) and Bristol Palin both got us attention in ways we never imagined!

A quote from Jenner (top) and Palin (bottom), the daughter of Sarah Palin, a governor of Alaska who ran with John McCain as the veep nominee for the Republican Party made for entries which both rank in our top image. The Bristol Palin quote is the number one entry, while the Bruce Jenner quote was our third most popular entry, helped in all probability by his stunning gender-change.

Other popular entries include one about how we ate a whole entire anchovy pizza in Washington, DC, during a 2010 trip (anchovies are pict. center), a silly image to fill space for an angora cat, and a quote from Che Guevara, which probably helped us become popular in Cuba and El Salvador.

Here are the six most popular entries.........with entries to the ones which have photos....

1. Things We Learned on Twitter (the Bristol Palin entry). April 7, 2010. 14,416 hits.
http://politicscultureandotherwastesoft.blogspot.com/2010/04/things-we-learned-on-twitter-this.html

2. DC Diary_ I Ate a Whole Anchovy Pizza. Dec. 28, 2010. 5,036 hits.
http://politicscultureandotherwastesoft.blogspot.com/2010/12/dc-diary-i-ate-whole-anchovy-pizza.html

3. Quote of the Day_ Bruce Jenner. March 6, 2012. 4,765 hits. http://politicscultureandotherwastesoft.blogspot.com/2012/03/quote-of-dayweek-bruce-jenner.html

4. Silly Photo to Fill Space_Angora Cat. Jan. 27, 2010. 3, 917 hits.

5. Special Quote of the Week from Che Guevara. May 2, 2009. 3,390

6. Special Screening_ Harold and Maude. June 24, 2009. 2,562 hits. http://politicscultureandotherwastesoft.blogspot.com/2009/06/special-screening-harold-and-maude.html

Top Tens Things To Do (Satire): Watch More Sean Connery Flicks

Here is a satirical look at ten things to do for next week:

1) Read "Bright Lights, Big City" again

2) Plan 2016 trip to Bolivia where Che Guevara was executed by military forces (pict. center)

3) Watch four Sean Connery films even if you've seen them before

4) Watch aquarium video on Youtube

5) Play Dig Dug for 4.5 hours

6) Put flowers on a strangers' grave

7) Wash mom's car

8) Clean bathroom

9) Read an issue of "Wired"

10) Find a missing Yorkie

Our Top Ten Comic Strips from "The Roanoke Times:" Blondie Actually Makes the Top Ten; Speed Bump Wins the Survey

Greetings to our blog readers in Canada, Spain and Switzerland.

And, a shout-out to our celebrity visitors George Lucas, Jane Fonda and Nancy Kerrigan (nudge, nudge, wink, wink).

Here is our top ten:

1) Speed Bump: In Dave Coverly's one panel strip one of the Easter Island heads acts up, and his mother straightens him out

2) Get Fuzzy: In this strip, the age-old battle of which pet is more popular: the cat or the dog takes center stage.

3) Pearls Before Swine: Stephan Pastis goes autobiographical again, this time asking his own creations, the rat and the goat, how he looks with a beard and a beret. (Hmmm....yeah, I suppose some of you are imagining Che Guevara right now)

4) Doonesbury

5) Dilbert

6) Blondie: Dagwood goes ski jumping?!! This should make the strip more popular in Finland.

7) Funky Winkerbean

8) Zits

9) Mutts

10) Agnes

SIDEBAR: Last night in Boston, Yale actually upset Harvard in men's basketball by a score of 74-67, but perhaps no noticed as everyone in the world is watching Bob Costas and NBC's coverage of the 2014 Sochi Olympics.

And, this is our 2,225th blog entry!

http://www.gocomics.com

http://www.washingtonpost.com/comics

In Honor of Banned Book Week: Passages from Six Books (not all of them were banned)

WARNING THIS ENTRY CONTAINS ONE VULGAR WORD.

Books by William S. Burroughs, Jim Thompson and Bret Easton Ellis are among the books we will be citing here. Banned Book Week concludes tomorrow. Of the books cited, we are pretty sure "Junky" by Burroughs (pictured top) and "Motorcycle Diaries" by Che Guevara were once banned. The other authors have each written controversial novels, including Ellis, who is best-known for "American Psycho," but we quip a sentence from "Glamorama" (pictured bottom) here.

For this project, we are taking the fifth sentence from page 52 of each work. The answers will be at the very end of this entry:


1. "She pulled her mouth away from his and pushed it against his neck, then pushed one of her hands down between them and the buckle of his pants."

2. " 'Uh-hah,' he nodded: "Miss Ruth told me she thought you might be here, but you was already gone when stopped by. Got you a job, eh?"

3. "He sounds terrible."

4. "How long this present order, based on an absurd idea of caste, will last, I can't say, but it's time governments spent less time publicizing their own virtues and more money, much more money, funding socially useful projects."

5. A gambling-house dealer from East Saint Louis was describing a method for cooking the carbolic acid out of a phenol, seet oil and tincture of opium script."

6, "No myths. M-y-t-h-s. Like a fag was gonna introduce you to Miss America, what would he say?"




1. "The Graduate" by Charles Webb (yes, it's the novel that was made into a Dustin Hoffman movie)

2. "Savage Night" by Jim Thompson (pictured middle)

3. "Trainspotting" by Irvine Welsh

4. "Motorcycle Diaries" by Che Guevara

5. "Junky" by William S.. Burroughs

6. "Glamorama" by Bret Easton Ellis (yes, that has our one vulgar word).


http://www.nocturnalguy38.blogspot.com (Our sister blog)

http://www.regulatorbookshop.com/ (bookshop in Durham, NC)

http://www.kramers.com/index.html (book store in Washington, DC)

http://www.tatteredcover.com/ (book store in Denver, Colo.)

http://www.richmondpubliclibrary.org/ (Richmond Public Library, Richmond, Va)

http://www.provlib.org/ (Providence Public Library in Providence, Rhode Island)

http://www.bannedbooksweek.org/

Highlights from the Bucket List: Going to L.A. Anyone?

Yes, we actually made a bucket list this week! We're not sure if that was a good idea or not, but here are some of the highlights. Overall, there were 100 items on the list!:

1. Take an Amtrak train from Clifton Forge, Va., to Los Angeles (an Amtrak station in Hinton, WVa, is pictured on top)

2. Look into going to Costa Rica

3. Read "Infinite Jest" by Daniel Foster Wallace (the novel 1,076 pages long)

4. Go see a play at Ford's Theatre in Washington, DC

5. Go to the village in Bolivia where Che Guevara was assasinated

6. Write a second screenplay (we wrote one, it has NOT been made into a film)

7. Go to the Hot Dog Festival in Huntington, W.Va

8. See an opera at the New York Met

9. Get a Frank Zappa record

10. Read Leo Tolstoy's "War and Peace"

http://www.amtrak.com/home 

http://www.visitcostarica.com/ict/paginas/home.asp?ididioma=2 

http://www.fordstheatre.org/ 

http://www.visitbolivia.org/ 

http://www.wvvisit.org/index_pc.php

http://www.metoperafamily.org/metopera/index.aspx?

http://www.zappa.com/ (awesome web site!)

Quote of the Day/Week- Ernest Hemingway

Today's quote of the day comes from American writer Ernest Hemingway (1899-1961) who once lived in Ketchum, Idaho, where it is apparently at least 100 degrees F, for the third or fourth consecutive day in a row. Hemingway, who penned such classics as "The Old Man and the Sea" and "The Sun Also Rises" also lived in Key West, Florida, and in Cuba, of course, he resided there before the revolution started by Fidel Castro and Che Guevara.

Hemingway has been in many recent films, most notably Woody Allen's film "Midnight in Paris," where he was played by Corey Stoll, 36, (pictured) whose performance was critically acclaimed, but did not garner an Oscar nomination. Christopher Plummer, 82, won the Best Supporting Actor Oscar this year for his remarkable performance in "Beginners."

Here is Hemingway's quote:

"I always try to write on the principle of the iceberg. There is seven-eights of it under water for every part of it that shows."

SIDEBAR: Since the 2012 London Olympics get underway later this month, we thought we'd mention one of the athletes from North Carolina, one of our states of residence (the other one is not Maine, though we love it up there!). Cullen Jones, 28, from Charlotte and a North Carolina State University alum, will be competing for Team USA in men's swimming. Jones holds the world record in the 50-meter free-style. He won gold during the 2008 Beijing Olympics in a team relay, which included the much-decorated athlete Michael Phelps. Jones was also the first African-American to win gold in swimming.

http://www.hemingwayhouse.com

http://www.gopack.com

http://www.cullenjones.com

Quote of the Day- Gandhi

Today, we conclude our quotes from figures who have been made into plush toys by the Unemployed Philosophers Guild with a quote from Mahatma Gandhi (1869-1948) who is a bit of an oxy moron in that he was one of the very, very few non-violent revolutionaries.

Gandhi actually has two things in common with Che Guevara, the subject of our last quote: One is that both men were revolutionaries, though Che went about it much differently as he killed lots and lots of people, but both were also assasinated.

In Gandhi's case, his death was a political assassination as opposed to a summary execution, but yes, the results are still pretty much the same, though Gandhi did live to be 78, whereas Che died at 39.

Gandhi fought British colonialism in India starting his famous Salt March in 1930.

On film, Ben Kingsley won an Oscar for playing Gandhi in the film by the same name, beating out the late Paul Newman, Peter O'Toole and Dustin Hoffman in the process.

Here is Gandhi's quote:

"Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony."

Quote of the Day/Week- Che Guevara

We continue our series of quotes from figures who have been made into plush doll toys by the American novelty company The Unemployed Philosophers Guild with a quote from the highly controversial Argentinian revolutionist Che Guevara (1929-1967), whose image can be seen on Cuban currency, since he helped Fidel Castro come to power.

Che tried a similar revolution in Bolivia, but the results were much different. In fact, he was assassinated there at age 39 by the Bolivian army, with help from the CIA. The village where he was executed La Higurea or "The Fig Tree" is now a surprising international tourist destination. Tourists can walk the trail and literally follow in Che's footsteps, but hopefully, they will not be greeted by a firing squad.

On film, Che has been portrayed at least three times, the most curious of which has to be Omar Sharif, an Egyptian actor in the film "Che!" (1969), where the late Jack Palance played Castro. It has a mere 4.5 on the Internet Movie Database.

Since Che was a man with far, far-left views which were fervently capitalism, many find the merchandising of his image, particularly on t-shirts, to be quiet ironic.

Here is the quote from Che:

"Many will call me an adventurer_ and that I am, only one of a different sort: one of those who risks his skin to prove his platitudes."

READ The FINE PRINT: As much as we love quoting Che Guevara, who has always been surprisingly popular, we recognize he is a controversial figure and we do not advocate Marxism as a political philosophy. But, of course, Marxists are welcome on our blogs as our Republicans!

http://www.lonelyplanet.com/bolivia

http://www.philosophersguild.com

http://www.marxists.org

http://www.che-lives.com

http://www.cheguevara.com

Quote of the Day/Week- Evita Peron

If my dear sister Sibel Isley (not her real name) who lives in Provo, Utah (not her actual place of residence), actually reads this and she is contemplating getting me a very expensive gag gift for my 42nd birthday in March, she may think about getting me tickets for the broadway revival of the 1976 musical "Evita!" in which Ricky Martin will play Argentinian revolutionst Che Guevara (this is NOT a joke).

The show is scheduled to open in March, and Elena Roger, 37, who is actually Argentinian, will play the title role of Evita Peron (1919-1952).

All of this brings us to the subject of our quip today which is from the feminist icon Evita Peron, and ironically the actress who will play her on broadway has already outlived her as Evita died from cancer at age 33.

"Evita" was turned into a 1996 film with Madonna playing the title role. As a Turkish-American, I was amused to see that Oliver Stone worked with Alan Parker, who also directed the film version of "Evita." They had worked together on a film called "Midnight Express," which for obvious reasons (note to the cinematically clueless: the 1978 film does not show Turkey in the best light, and I have called the film blatant, racist trash) is not in my dvd collection.

So, here is the quote from Evita; this month we are featuring quotes from famous Latin Americans on both blogs:

"Answer violence with violence. If one of us falls today, five of them must fall tomorrow."

SIDEBAR ONE: The answer to our Road Quiz entry on Saturday is C) 1 hour, 40 minutes.

SIDEBAR TWO: As an American who is getting into European soccer, I must profess the UEFA Champions League Cup seems a bit confusing. Case in point, the Greek team Olympiacos upset English power Arsenal 3-1 in a game that was played in Greece today, but Arsenal is the team that goes on to the next round, and conversely Olympiacos does not. But, then again, the American college football bowl system even has us wondering what is going on!

Here is a partial list of scores from today's UEFA action; Chelsea, Marseille and Zenit also advance:

Porto (Portugal) 0 Zenit (Russia) 0, tie

Marseille (France) 3 Dortmund (Germany) 2

Olympiacos 3 Arsenal 1

Genk (Belgium) 1 Bayer Leverkhusen (Germany) 1, tie

SIDEBAR THREE: Various media reports that came out today said that Cory Smoot (Flattus Maximus), the guitarist for the head-banging heavy metal band GWAR known for their wild costumes, died of natural causes at age 34 from a coronary artery. Smoot's death occured in early November. The band, which is originally from Richmond, Va., said that profits from their next record "When Worlds Collide" that comes out next year will go to the Smoot Family Fund.

GWAR has also announced through their web site that the scheduled 2012 European tour will continue as scheduled; they first play Antwerp, Belgium, on Jan. 11th; the band will also play Oslo, Norway, which is a surprising hot spot for heavy metal on Jan. 29th.

Turkish Soccer Results....

It has been a busy hectic week, and it's only Monday?!

Anyway, it is for this very reason, that we are putting off some other blog entry projects until a day when life is as slow as it on a Sunday afternoon in War, West Virginia, in the far southwestern part of the state which is perhaps a good place to go (aside from an asylum or a prison) if you want to read all 1,225 pages of Leo Tolstoy's "War and Peace" in its entirety!

So, with that in mind, let's turn to sport as they say on the BBC, and here are the results from weekend action in the Turkish Premiere League. I should note that my late father came from Turkey, and since his favorite team was GalataSaray, I know he would want me to jeer those who root for their arch rival Fenerbahce, but alas those fill-in-the-blank Yellow Canaries** won as well!:


Kayseri 1 Eskisehir 1

Istanbul BB 1 Antalya 1

Gaziantep 1 Manisa 0

Ankara Genclerbrligi 2 Konya 1

Trabzon 2 Bucaspor 1

GalataSaray 3 Kasimpasha 1

Fenerbahce 1 Karabukspor 0

Sivas 1 Ankaragucu 1

It should be noted that the game between the BursaSpor Crocodiles* (yes, we don't think there are any crocs in Turkey, not even at the Ankara Zoo!) and the Besiktash Black Eagles was cancelled. We presume, given the fervent passion of the fans on both sides, it was for security reasons. Elif Batuman, a fellow Turkish-American I've never met, wrote an excellent, haunting piece about Besiktash fans for "The New Yorker" several issues ago. Amazingly enough, Che Guevara is one of the fans' icons! Since many of the most fervent soccer fans in Turkey are a bit right-wing, this came as quite a surprise to me!

And, as a gesture of ethnic political goodwill, which will of course do absolutely nothing to ease tensions between us Turks and our Armenian friends, I will mention that the three teams atop the Armenian Premiere League are Ulisses, Gandzasar and Pyunik.

As I jokingly tell my friends who have neither ethnic background, if a Turk and an Armenian happen to come across each other at a Buddhist temple during a mutual tourist visit to Bhutan, yes they would probably go at it!

But, as far as the dispute we have with our Greek comrades over who has the better yogurt and feta cheese, well, of course, it is us Turks! Of course, I'm overlooking the fact that an Egyptian friend of mine said that Bulgarians were actually better at making these products than either of us.


*-There is actually a notorious man-eating crocodile named Gustave in the central African country of Burundi; I wonder how that country's tourism department gets around that!

**- Yes, Turkish soccer teams have nickanmes which are almost as strange as some minor league baseball teams--my favorite nickname is the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers who are based in Appleton, Wisc., where there might be six people of Turkish and Armenian heritage combined!

Special Quote of the Week- Ayn Rand

Yes, since we love being ironic here, we thought we'd quote Ayn Rand just 48 hours after we quoted Che Guevara. One is a libertarian, far-right icon and the other is a socialist, far-left icon. Guess which one is which?

Even though the Russian-American author Rand (1905-1982) has been dead for almost 30 years,(she ironically died the same year that Warren Beatty won an Oscar for director for his 1981 film "Reds;" it was about the American left-wing figure John Reed who made Rand's journey in reverse), due to the emergence of Tea Party lunatics and the filmazation of her 1957 novel "Atlas Shrugged," she is making waves again. Wow, that last sentence was way too long alas Javier the Intern, who does all the editing for us is having lunch with his frat brothers at Burger King. (Ok, this is a no joke, there is no Javier, but I could use a personal assistant!).

The movie version of "Atlas Shrugged" has a 6.1 user average on the Internet Movie Database, and it is currently showing at the Grandin Theatre in Roanoke, Va., among other places.

Here is the quote from Rand:

"The creative man is motivated by the desire to achieve, not by the desire to beat others."

SIDEBAR_ Those who like Ayn Rand probably read "Reason" magazine as well. Along with "Weekly Standard," the publication happens to be one of the few conservative magazines ("Reason" is known for its libertarian perspectives) I don't despise. Ironically, an article from that magazine was republished in the left-leaning "Utne Reader."

According to reason.com and its perceived political bias, the government's 'war on speculators' won't lower gas prices. I guess those of us who are liberal can agree with conservatives than paying circa $50 at the tank is ludicrious. The only thing that has inflated as much in recent years has to be concert ticket prices. Why do some people shell out $60 for REO Speedwagon tickets? I saw them with Cheap Trick as a teenager in 1985 for like $17. I don't know....

Also, we wanted to share something about Osama bin Laden, who as everyone except maybe a Buddhist monk in a village in Bhutan, knows was killed over the weekend (there are of course conspiracy theories out there as insane as one that would suggest Joe Biden and him are hanging out Firebrick Pizza*; we assume Osama wouldn't want pork on his pizza or beer with his meal**).

That is his age; he was 57. For some reason, no one mentions this, not even the BBC! Interestingly enough, television viewers in America that year could watch the following shows, "Leave it to Beaver," "Maverick," "Perry Mason" and "The Howdy Doody Show."

*-Firebrick Pizza is real place in Washignton, DC

**- Yes, we know there is nothing funny about mass murder and terrorism, but we have to make fun of people who think he's still alive (?!), and of course as a Turkish-American (my late father was a Muslim), I can make subtle fun of certain aspects of Islamic life. Fortunately, very few are actually terrorists, but alas the few who are cause great, unjustified damage to the faith's followers. Hopefully, one day this will be corrected and I certainly hope that day comes sooner than later.

Quote of the Week- Che Guevara

Today, we start our month-long series of quotes from fringe, far left-wing radicals, both past and present. Since we quipped Malcolm X (1925-1965) on our other blog "The Daily Vampire," we thought we'd go with another man who was shot to death at age 39, the Marxist Argentinian revoluntist Che Guevara (1928-1967). Che was killed in Bolivia, and his remains were only discovered in recent years.

Many right-wingers in America hate the fact that there are supposedly vast numbers of very liberal people wearing Che t-shirts, though I've only seen two people wear them in the last two years. One was at a coffeeshop in Boulder, Colo, and the other was at a nightclub in Chapel Hill, NC. However, last week, I did see a twenty-something guy at a Waffle House somewhere in North Carolina wearing a t-shirt with the slogan "We Shall Overcome." It was actually a white kid and his shirt showed the rebel-flag hovering over the Capitol Building. I guess he will never appreciate the sacrifices that Martin Luther King, Jr., made for our country. But, of course, extremists on our side of the fence are much worse for America than racist bigots (sarcasm intended!).

I do sympathize with the point expressed by the ultra-conservative magazine News Max and the right-wing blog ihatethemedia.com (I suppose they love Fox News though, which is part of the media, right?!) that Che did needlessly kill lots of innocent people, a point which has been well-documented.

But, the man himself is quite a fascinating figure, and no matter what one thinks of the Cuban Revolution, it remains astonishing that Che met with Fidel Castro in a hotel in Mexico City, and they successfully organized a rebellion and took over the central government of Cuba. Actually, this ironically sounds like what the Tea Partiers would like to do to President Barack Obama as I'm sure the political good-will for killing Osama bin Laden expired at 11:45 p.m., Sunday night, a mere 15 minutes after our president announced the success of the mission in Pakistan. Am I right, Bill O'Reilly?

So, here is this quote from Che; for the record I am not a Marxist though I would classified as one in rural Idaho:

"Let me say, at the risk of seeming ridicilous, that the true revolutionary is guided by great feelings of love."

As for the answer to last week's road quiz, Lynchburg, Va., and Wilmington, Del., are five hours and 30 minutes apart though we suspect traffic between Washington, DC, and Baltimore would substantially add to that commute.

Silly Photo to Fill Space- Che Guevara Plush Toy

A few weeks ago, I put the Che Guevara plush toy, which would probably more popular in San Francisco than Provo, Utah, on a mock Christmas gift list. I actually saw the item at a novelty shop in Greensboro, NC, along with similar plush toys for artist Frida Kahlo and scientist Albert Einstein.

Most of the plush toys retail for $16.95, and other figures that The Little Thinkers produce include Jesus Christ, Charlie Chaplin, William Shakespeare and Sigmund Freud.

I did not get the Che Guevara plush toy this year, but next Christmas is just around the corner, right?! Perhaps, there will be a socialist revolution by then (well, it couldn't be any worse than the Tea Party movement!)

Quote of the Week- Andy Warhol

Today we feature a quote from Andy Warhol (1927-1987) who was known for soup cans and for funky painting of folks ranging from Elvis Presley to Che Guevara.

There is currently a special exhibit dedicated to one of Warhol's other favorite subjects, Marilyn Monroe at the Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh.

Similarly, The Baltimore Museum of Art is featuring Warhol's later works in an exhbit that is named: Andy Warhol, the Last Decade. It runs through Jan. 9, 2011.

Here is the quip, which I can relate to since having a girlfriend these days seems harder than planning a trip to Tashkent, Uzbekistan:

"When I got my first television set, I stopped caring so much about personal relationships."

One has to wonder what Warhol would have made of Facebook!

We also want to wish another renegade and legend, French filmmaker Jean-Luc Godard a belated happy 80th birthday (it was on Friday).

50 Beers Around the World- Hatuey Beer from Cuba

Today's entry in the 50 Beers Around the World Series comes from Cuba, where Fidel Castro is playing shuffleboard with Mitt Romney. Our beer for today is Hatuey Beer, which is actually available in Miami.

We learned from Wikipedia, that Hatuey Beer had a very good year in 1959, the year of the Cuban Revolution which feautred the Castro brothers and Che Guevara, when it sold 3.5 bottles.

While researching this piece, we were curious to see whatever happened to that far-right Cuban-American blog we used to check out from time to time.

We couldn't locate that exact blog, but we did find babalublog.com which actually calls liberalism 'a mental disorder' (hmmm....and the folks from the Miami Tea Party are sane?!) and it also features a political cartoon of Fidel Castro saying: "Yes, We Can." (he is meant to impersonating Barack Obama).

Today, we also found out about Pete the Cat by James Dean (an artist, not the actor). Apparently, he is popular at both the Robbins Gallery in New Orleans and the Mint Museum Gift Shop in Charlotte, NC. it is apparently one of these entities that is popular with kids and adults as well perhaps with Tea Partiers and those of us who are still into 'ObamaMania.'

Top 10 Riskiest Neckties to Wear to Work...

The "Tom and Jerry" necktie pictured above probably would NOT cause problems at work unless you had a very uptight boss, however even in hip, liberal places like Berkeley, Calif., or Boulder, Colo., many of these neckties would not be cool. Conversely, rebel flag and Stop Abortion neckties would not work well in an office environment in Lynchburg, Va., (actually we're not certain about that!).

Incidentally, all of these listed ties are available from zazzle.com or other Internet outlets!

Here is our list:

1. Che Guevara necktie (pictured)
2. Marijuana leaf necktie (pictured)
3. Old Soviet Union flag necktie
4. Chairman Mao neckties
5. Stop Abortion neckties
6. Koranic scripture neckties (definitely not a good idea on the Liberty University campus!)
7. Confederate Flag necktie
8. Playboy emblem necktie
9. Two Grooms with Brown Hair necktie (or any other overt gay neckties, not in the fashion sense)
10. Nude Woman Drinking Beer necktie

Other ties that were considered:

Palestinian Flag neckties (really bad idea if you're going to meet with Sen. Joe Lieberman on The Hill).
Rush Limbuagh neckties
Josef Stalin neckties
No Condom neckties
Mustafa Kemal Ataturk neckties (bad idea if you're in Glendale, Calif., which is home to America's largest Armenian population!)

Quote of the Day- Che Guevara

Yes, we may get hate mail for this one! But, even though I'm NOT a socialist (I describe myself as a radical centrist liberal), there is nothing I enjoy more than being called a socialist by the Tea Party crowd.

We are actually quoting the revolutionary figure of Che Guevara (1928-1967) whom I have actually outlived!, (Che was shot to death by the CIA in Bolivia) because he is one of 32 people I have chosen from the 32 countries involved in the World Cup.

Many people wrongfully think Che was Cuban because he helped bring Fidel Castro to power, but he was actually an Argentinian. His country is considered a powerhouse in soccer, and they are expected to perform very well in South Africa. Team Argentina dismantled South Korea 4-1 yesterday.

I actually saw a copy of "Che's Diaries" at The Internationalist Bookstore in Chapel Hill, NC, which has its own famous history that is alas too long and too complicated to go into here (I was actually unaware of this until checking out their Wikipedia page!). But, apparently the members of the rock band Sonic Youth (a personal favorite of mine) knew about this long before I did as the store was the inspiration for their song "Chapel Hill."

The bookstore which features some very unique novels, plays, magazines and zines as well as some non-fiction titles that one would probably not find at the Mount Airy Book Exchange in Mount Airy, NC (some two and a half hours from Chapel Hill) is located downtown next to CD Alley on Franklin Street. One of my favorite titles was a zine called "13 Months Pregnant" by an artist/writer from nearby Durham, NC.

While researching this entry, I also found out that apparently Che and the late actress Audrey Hepburn (born in 1929) were almost exactly the same ago! Now, they would have made for a very interesting couple. Don't ya think?!

Here is the quote from Che, who has been played on film by the likes of the late Jack Palance and (much more recently) by Benicio del Toro. Oh, btw, Che was actually a real 'socialist' (to put it midly!):

"Better to die standing than to live on your knees."

Things We Learned From Twitter This PM- Ricky Martin to Be in Broadway Musical

Pop singer Ricky Martin who recently made headlines by coming out of the closet (which to those of you in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, means that he's gay), will be joining the Broadway cast of the world-famous musical "Evita" based on the life of Argentinian political figure/actress Evita Peron in 2012 according to a tweet from "Interview" magazine.

Martin will play the character of Che?! (as in Che Guevara?, that would be interesting!).

SIDEBAR: We also want to take a moment to jokingly congratulate Republican congressional candidate Robert Hurt who will be facing our good friend Cong. Tom Perriello (D-Va) this November in the general election. NPR has said this race could among the most highly contested ones nationally. Of course, we hope Perriello pummels Hurt from Charlottesville to South Hill to Boones Mill (all of which are in Virginia's fifth district).

But, admitedly, Perriello will face several political obstacles as the area has a high number of 'Guns, God and Country' conservatives. These folks, also known as Tea Partiers, are in virtually every part of the district except Charlottesville, which is also Perriello's home town.

To help out Perriello, one can log on to http://www.perrielloforcongress.com

PSA- Don't Go Deer-Huntin' While Intoxicated

I don't imagine these deer hunters in South Dakota thought that they would end up on a left-of-center blog (relax guys- I'm not into Che Guevarra t-shirts or Birkenstocks).

But, since we pass through Boones Mill, Va., which is in Franklin County (moonshine country) quite often, that we would most this PSA for folks who may combine things which shouldn't be---and we aren't refering to cocaine and Zoloft (you may have to see a certain Ben Stiller movie to get that joke).

And, our PSA is:

"Don't hunt Bambis if you've had too many Budweisers."

Well, the library is about to close. Save some venison for me, boys!

Facebook Messages We'd Love to Post

"How can anyone accuse me of being a socialist when I think we should just make Christmas a secular holiday to celebrate consumerism?"


I would have loved to have posted this in response to an uber-right-wing friend of mine, but I sense it would cause me problems, especially since I live in a small town in North Carolina where one can see several "Jesus is Coming Soon" signs on the roads. Hopefully, it won't cause me problems here as hardly anyone looks at this blog!

SIDEBAR: Today is Human Light Day, a secular day meant to parallel Christmas and Hanukkah. Greg Epstein, a humanist chaplain at Harvard University, discussed the day and it's meaning on the NPR show "Fresh Air," hosted by Terry Gross today. Secular events have been celebrated in places like Charleston, SC, Tulsa, Okl. and Fayetville, Ark., this week!

SIDEBAR TWO: I found a cool web site tracking Santa Claus. It's called www.noradsanta.org

Regardless of your religious/consumerist views, it should be as fun as last-minute shopping at Target!