20-Word Fiction: Reading at Home

Greetings to our blog readers in Slovenia, France and Cyprus.........

Today's 20-word story is our ninth in a series of ten; they are sort of written on the spot; you can presume it takes place in High Point, NC, if you life:

"Mary was reading 'Fight Club' in her den when the ceiling collapsed. She wished she had gone to Starbucks instead."

http://chuckpalahniuk.net/

http://www.starbucks.com/

Celebrating International Literacy Day with Gillian Flynn

Welcome to our blog readers in Croatia, Estonia, and France....

Today we celebrate International Literacy Day, and this list features titles we have not read before or perhaps did but fell asleep in the process. A children's author highly recommended I read more Ray Bradbury. So, we are putting a Bradbury novel on the list, but not the one he suggested, as is our usual fashion, like Matthew Broderick's title character in the film "Ferris Bueller's Day Off,' we are a bit rebellious around here!

And, now the list....

1) Cosmopolis. Don DeLillo. 2003 (pict. top)

2) Me and Orson Welles. Robert Kaplow. 2008.

3) The Leftovers. Tom Perrotta. 2011.

4) Gone Girl. Gillian Flynn. 2012 (pict. center)

5) Submarine. Joe Dunthorne. 2008.

6) God's Pocket. Pete Dexter. 1983.

7) Fahrenheit 451. Ray Bradbury. 1953.

8) Tender Is the Night. F. Scott Fitzgerald. 1934 (pict. bottom)

9) The Naked and the Dead. Norman Mailer. 1948.

10) The Museum of Innocence. Orhan Pamuk.* 2008

*-originally published in Turkish

http://www.internationliteracyday.com

http://www.denverlibrary.org (Denver Library)

Ten Things to Know: Cold War Remembered

1) "The Originalist," a play about Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, arguably the second most conservative members of 'The Supremes' after Clarence Thomas, is extending its run at Arena Stage in Washington, DC, until May 31st. The play stars Edward Gero as Scalia. The play was written by John Strand and the production is directed by Molly Smith. (The justice is pict. top, not the actor playing him on stage).

2) The Robert Cray Band will perform at the Harvester Performance Center in Rocky Mount, Va., one hour south of Roanoke, on May 5th.

3) CINE Cinema Bar Cafe, an independent cinema in Athens, Ga., will be screening shorts in a program entitled The Best Films of the New York International Children's Film Festival on May 2nd and 3rd.

4) According to the BBC, China has overtaken France in wine production. China is however still second behind Spain. America has the highest wine consumption with France and Italy ranking second and third.

5) The BBC also reported that Mustafa Akinci, a center-left politician has won the presidential election for the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, a country that is only recognized by Turkey. Akinci defeated incumbent conservative Dervis Eroglu by gaining 60-percent of the popular vote. Akinci promises to make stronger efforts to unify the divided island nation of Cyprus.

6) Two of European soccer's most-anticipated weekend soccer games, Arsenal vs. Chelsea in the EPL and Benfica vs. Porto in Portugal, both concluded in 0-0 ties.

7) Author Richard Martin will speak about his new book "Coal Wars" at the Boulder Bookstore in Boulder, Colo., on April 30th.

8) Novelist Mary Costello will read from her latest work "Academy Street" about an Irish immigrant to New York on May 1st at Politics and Prose, an independent bookstore, in Washington, DC.

9) According to Uberfacts, the Soviet Union refused to hold the 1980 Paralympics because the nation claimed it did not have any disabled athletes.(1980 Olympics, pict. center)

10) On this day in 1965, CBS reporting legend Edward R. Murrow, who grew up on a family farm near Greensboro, NC, died at age 57. (pict. bottom)

http://www.arenastage.org/

https://www.harvester-music.com/

http://www.athenscine.com/intro.php

http://boulderbookstore.indiebound.com/

http://www.politics-prose.com/


http://www.athenscine.com/intro.php

Top Ten Comics from Sunday, Jan. 25th Washington Post: Tough Competition

Greetings to our blog readers in New Zealand, France and Lithuania.

For the Sunday, Jan.5th edition of "The Washington Post," our favorite comic strip was "Brewster Rockit: Space Guy," followed by "Sherman's Lagoon" and the Danish import "WUMO," which made fun of pug dogs.

We don't have images of pugs, but we do have these: 1) "The Jetsons" (for "Brewster Rockit," which is a satirical science fiction comic strip); 2) the late Freddie Mercury of Queen (for "Knight Life," in which cartoonist Keith Knight admits that he can't get "Bohemian Rhapsody" out of his skull" and 3) a hermit crab for "Sherman's Lagoon."


Here is our top ten:

1) Brewster Rockit: Space Guy

2) Sherman's Lagoon

3) WUMO

4) Knight Life

5) Reply All

6) Doonesbury

7) Lio

8) Dustin

9) Speed Bump

10) Prickly City

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/comic-riffs/ (a comic strip blog from "The Washington Post" from Michael Cavna)

http://comicskingdom.com/

http://www.gocomics.com/explore/comics

Comic Strips Survey Sunday Roanoke Times (Jan.11th): Stephan Pastis Wins Again

Greetings to our blog readers in Belgium, the great country which has brought us Asterix and Lucky Luke (just kidding, we know those are French comic book characters and that, of course, Belgium is the home of Tintin).......

Today, we once again give you our ten favorite Sunday comic strips, this time from the Sunday "Roanoke Times;" Stephan Pastis once again delivered the goods in "Pearls Before Swine," with a hilarious take on how Zebra, one of the title character, got his dad the epic Ken Burns PBS documentary on the Civil War, and his dad was unable to figure out how to use a dvd player. We are using an image of Stonewall Jackson (on top), a Civil War general for the Confederates, for that strip.

Yeti the Snowman which one might see in Nepal (well, maybe not) is our center image. In Dave Coverly's single panel strip "Speed Bump" a woman is sitting beside Yeti in a doctor's office waiting room; we imagine Yeti was perhaps reading "National Geographic" or "Afar"....well, maybe not!

And, lastly, we go with a Simaese cat in the bottom image for "Get Fuzzy," which once again proves that cats and dogs are basically the ones controlling our lives.

Here is the top ten:

1) Pearls Before Swine #

2) Speed Bump #

3) Get Fuzzy #

4) Garfield #

5) Doonesbury #

6) Agnes #

7) Dilbert #

8) Non Sequitur #

9) Zits *

10) Jump Start #

#-Go Comics strip

*-Comics Kingdom strip

http://www.gocomics.com

http://www.comicskingdom.com

 http://www.roanokedoesntsuck.com

http://www.nationageographic.com

Last Ten Films We've Seen: A Little Icelandic Film (plus nine others....)

Greetings to our blog readers around the world, especially those of you in France.

Today, we once again list the last ten films we've seen (actually, that should be 'I've' seen, but 'we' though grammatically incorrect sounds less pompous).....

A little Icelandic film with American funding which was distributed by Sony Pictures (yes, the ones who were the victims of an alleged North Korea cyber attack) was the very last film we watched this week (see middle image, an Icelandic geyser), but we also squeezed in time for "A Man Called Adam," which stars the late Sammy Davis Jr. (pict. top) and "Pretty Maids All in a Row," a favorite film of Quentin Tarantino which stars the late Rock Hudson and Angie Dickinson (pict. bottom):

Here is the list:

1) Land Ho! Iceland (in English). 2014. Directors: Aaron Katz and Martha Stevens.

2) The Innkeepers. 2011. Director: Ti West.

3)  A Man Called Adam. 1966. Dir: Leo Penn

4) The Double. 2013. Dir: Richard Ayode.

5) Pretty Maids All in a Row. 1977. Dir: Roger Vadim

6) In a World..... 2013. Dir: Lake Bell

7) How I Ended This Summer. Russia. 2012. Dir: Aleksey Popogrebskiy

8) Albert Nobbs. 2011. Dir: Rodrigo Garcia.

9) The Housemaid. South Korea. 1960 Dir: Ki-young Kim (film was remade in 2010)

10) The Unholy Three. 1925. Dir: Tod Browning (w/ Lon Chaney)

Meet Your Republican Congressman (2 of 3).........and guess when he will turn 103.......

Greetings to our blog readers in Slovenia, France and Mexico..........

Here are 10 members of Congress (the House of Representatives) the year they will turn 103....oh, btw, all of them are Republican, which probably means they aren't well-versed in The Urban Dictionary:

1) Cong. Scott Rigell (R-Va, pict. top) 2063

2) Cong. Walter Jones (R-NC, pict. center, man responsible for term 'freedom fries') 2046

3) Cong. Billy Long (R-Mo) 2058

4) Cong. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) 2067

5) Cong. Ander Crenshaw (R-Fla) 2047

6) Cong. Tom Cole (R-Okla.) Deputy Majority Whip. 2052.

7) Cong. Rob Bishop (R-Utah) 2054

8) Cng. Tom Price (R-Ga) 2057

9) Cong. Bradley Byrne (R-Ala) 2058

10) Cong. Trent Franks (R-Az, pict. bottom) 2060

http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/

http://www.theonion.com/section/politics/

http://www.urbandictionary.com/

http://www.nocturnalguy38.blogspot.com (for more GOP reps and the years they turn 103)

Soccer Scores from France: We Could NOT Find an Image of Serge Gakpe

Greetings to our blog readers in Estonia where our president Barack Obama is headlining a crucial international summit...........come to think of it, we may have said greetings to our readers in Estonia yesterday as well...........

But, our focus right now is on France and weekend play in the nation's top domestic league.

Since we could not find images of Serge Gakpe, a Togo national, who scored the lone and winning goal for Nantes in their 1-0 over Montpellier, we decided to just go ahead with other images of France, including our hero Asterix the Gaul (pictured top), the French flag and a box for Fermier cheese, which may actually be illegal here (as surprisingly many French cheeses are).

It was also another huge weekend for Swedish superstar Zlatan Ibrahimovich of Paris St. Germain who delivered a hat trick for PSG in their 5-0 thumping of St. Etienne.

French national player Dimitri Payet delivered two goals for Marseilles in their own resounding 4-0 victory over Nice.

Here are the complete scores from France:

PSG 5 St. Etienne 0

Marseilles 4 Nice 0

Metz 2 Lyon 1

Monaco 1 Lille 1, tie

Nantes 1 Montpellier 0

Toulouse 1 Evian TG 0

Lorient 4 Guingamp 0

Lens 4 Rems 2

Caen 0 Rennes 1

Bordeaux 1 Bastia 1, tie

http://www.ligue1.com/

Quotes from Off the Beat and Path (6 of 6): Courtney Love

Greetings to our blog readers in Dubai, Egypt, France, Malaysia, Mexico and Greece .


Today, we quote Courtney, a pioneering female punk and heavy singer, who is now 50 years old! She was the wife of the late Kurt Cobain of Nirvana at the time of his suicide some 20 years ago.

Here is Love's quote:

"Being a rock star is like being a cult leader_you have to be in your own religion."

Off the Beat and Path Quotes (4 of 6): Chris Marker

Today, we quote the late French experimental art film director Chris Marker, who was recently featured on TCM; his most famous film, the short "La Jetee" was remade as the feature "12 Monkeys" by Terry Gilliam, which starred Brad Pitt and Bruce Willis. Marker was often known for making films with left-wing themes.

Here is Marker's quote:

"Nothing sorts out memories from ordinary moments. It is only later that they claim remembrance, when they show their scars."

Quote of the Day: Marion Cotillard

Though fan boys know her best for being in one of the Batman movies, French actress Marion Cotillard is an Oscar-winning actress who also played a double-amputee (?!) in the acclaimed French film "Rust and Bone."

We are quoting her in honor of International Women's Day:

"I don't think you learn how to act. You learn how to use your emotions and feelings."

Quotes from Past Winter Olympic Athletes : Peggy Fleming

Today, we quote past Winter Olympians, starting with Peggy Fleming, 65, the American gold medalist in figure skating at the 1968 Winter Olympics in Grenoble, France.

This also gives us a chance to randomly mention last night's new gold medal champion Adelina Satnikova of Russia and Kim Yuna, the previous Olympic gold medalist from South Korea.

Here is the quote from Fleming:

"In 1968, in the midst of the tumultuous 1960s, the Olympics were much more than just another event."

http://www.peggyfleming.com

The Olympic Lists (8 of 10) Alpine and Mediterranean Nations Combined

We have 8.5 minutes to complete this entry; let's see if we can do it!:

1) Coline Mattel. (pictured) 18. France. Women's Ski-jumping.

2) Adam Lamhammedi. 18. Morocco. Men's Alpine. Adam is a dual-citizen with Canada.

3) Elise Pellegrin. 22. Malta. Women's Alpine. First athlete to represent Malta She is the only athlete from the tiny island nation at the games. Was born and raised in France. Featured in a "Mental Floss" list of athletes who are solely representing their nations.

4) Emre Simsek. 26. Turkey. Men's Alpine.

5) Anna Fenninger. (aka "The Cheetah Girl"). 24. Austria. Women's Alpine. Won gold.

6) Armin Zoeggler. 40. Italy. Men's Luge. Won bronze.

7) Tatjaa Hufner. 30. Germany. Women's Luge. Won Silver

8) Ander Mirambell. 30. Spain. Men's Skeleton.

9) Dominique Gisin. 28. Switzerland. Women's Alpine. Won gold in downhill.

10) Alexi Bychenko. 26. Israel. Men's Figure Skating. Has also skated for his native Ukraine.

http://www.myswitzerland.com

http://www.visitaustria.info

http://www.ski-france.com

Little Thinkers (5 of 16): Claude Monet

Greetings to our blog-readers in Kuwait, Bolivia and Ireland.

Today's quote is from the French impressionist Claude Monet. Some of Monet's painting are on display at the Denver Art Museum's 'Passport to Paris,' exhibit which runs until Feb. 9th.

Here is the quote:

"I perhaps owe having become a painter to flowers."

http://www.claudemonetgallery.org

http://www.denverartmuseum.org

Futbol Notebook: Good Day for Valencia

Valencia scored a 5-1 victory over St. Gallen (France). The Spanish team won in part because of two goals from Argentinian national Frederico Cartaba, who had two goals.

Amazingly enough, 23 other soccer games were played in the Europa League yesterday, here are some partial scores:

Liberec (Czech) 1 Seville (Spain) 1 (tie)

Sheriff Tiraspol (Moldova) 0 Tottenham (England) 2

Bordeaux (France) 1 APOEL (Cyprus) 1 (tie)

Valencia (Spain) 5 St. Gallen (France) 1

Wigan (England) 1 Rubin Kazan (Russia) 1 (tie)

Ch. Odessa (Ukarine) 0 Ludogorets (Bulgaria) 1

Other scores:

http://www.nocturnalguy38.blogspot.com

DC Week (7 of 8): Meet Rudolf Bekink and the Other Chief Diplomats

We are continuing our look at ambassadors who serve their respective countries in Washington, DC, the other chief diplomats at http://www.nocturnalguy38.blogspot.com

Here is our list, the year the ambassador began their American mission is in parentheses:

1. Netherlands/Holland, Rudolf Bekink (pict. top with Barack Obama) (2012)

2. Canada, Gary Doer (2009)

3.South Africa, Ebrahim Rasool  (2010)

4. Brazil, Mauro Vieria (2010)

5. Sweden, Jonas Hafstrom (2007)

6. Australia, (mr) Kim Beazley (pict. bottom) (2010)

7. France, Francois Delattre (2011)

8. Japan, Kenichiro Sasae  (2012)

9. Italy, Claudio Bisogneiro (2013)

10. Germany, Peter Ammon (2011)

http://www.washdiplomat.com/

http://dc.the-netherlands.org/

http://www.us.emb-japan.go.jp/english/html/

Image to Fill Space: A Dalmation

Greetings to our blog readers in Senegal, South Africa, Honduras, Jamaica, Chile, Turkey, Kazakhstan, Jordan, Australia, Japan, France, Iceland, Bulgaria and Slovenia.

Tomorrow, we shall have something more substantive.

Coming Soon to This Very Blog Near You (No Promises): Ten Most Embarrasing Ways to Die

Greetings to our blog readers in El Salvador, Latvia and Jordan or wherever you may be today.

Oh...........In case you are wondering, yes, the image of the late French mime Marcel Marceau (1923-2007) is being used just to grab your attention.


Here are some blog entries we are contemplating/considering:

1) More Casualties  of Modern Technology: It's been a good two years since we ran this series, but it seems that pay phones, clothes lines and mixed tape cassettes are not the only things which have been mushroom clouded due to the advent of the new age (my apologies to the Grammar Girl for using mushroom cloud as a verb).

2) A List of Ten Embarrassing Ways to Die: Getting hit by a Valley Metro Bus in Roanoke, Va., does come to mind, but of course, there are two issues with possibly posting this entry: 1) There might well be someone who is a relative of a person who was eaten by Gustave the man-eating crocodile in the central African nation of Burundi; 2) I may get hit by a Valley Metro Bus myself!

3) How to Say Certain Words in Norwegian or Turkish: Did you know they call sharks 'the dog fishes' in Turkish (the actual word is kopekbaligi), and of course, we are arbitrarily mentioning that because we suspect that with the Discovering Channel's upcoming Shark Week that anything relating to sharks shall be trending.

Au revoir for now mon amis...........


http://www.valleymetro.com/

http://www.quickanddirtytips.com/grammar-girl

http://dsc.discovery.com/tv-shows/shark-week

Image to Fill Space: Uma Thurman for Tell a Woman She is Beautiful Day

This cover of "GQ" actually goes back to 1995 when Uma Thurmas was around 24 or 25 years of age (she was born in November of 1970). Today indeed is Tell a Woman She is Beautiful Day. We imagine this post will probably get few hits in Iran or Afghanistan, but hopefully we will get more traffic from France and Belgium; it's all good!

Blogging in Three and a Half Minutes (or less).....Those Silly Board Games

We were initially going to go with Colonel Mustard, a character from the board game "Clue," which was actually made into a film! Of course, it wasn't that good. But, instead we are going with an image of Sherlock Holmes.

Our question today is which one of these board games was our favorite game during our youth.

And, greeting today to our blog readers in South Africa, Israel, Dubai, Malaysia and France.

Is the answer:

A)  Clue

B) Trivial Pursuit

C) Scrabble

D) Operation

E) Monopoly