Times Around the World : If It's Midnight in New York...........

We are using images of people associated with their given countries for this particular entry which compares times around the world when it is midnight in New York, which is plus-five Greenwich Mean Time.

From top, we have the late French mime Marcel Marceau, though I suppose we could have used Jerry Lewis (the American actor is very popular in France) or Asterix the Gaul as well, former Turkish Prime Minister Suleyman Demirel, who is still alive at age 88, and Mexican actress Selma Hayek, best known for playing artist Frida Kahlo.

Here we go:

Europe

London 5:00 a.m.
Paris 6:00 a.m.
Helsinki, Finland 7:00 a.m.

Middle East region

Istanbul 7:00 a.m.
Haifa, Israel 7:00 a.m.
Dubai 8:00 a.m.

Asia and Australia

Hong Kong 12 p.m. (noon)
Singapore 12:00 p.m.
Sydney 2:00 p.m.

Mexico and Central America

Mexico City 11:00 p.m.
Antiqua, Guatemala 12:00 a.m. (midnight)
San Jose, Costa Rica 10:00 p.m.

Quote from Shakespeare_We'll Keep it Short

Hmmm... quoting William Shakespeare a collective ten times on two blogs during this month of December was not a very bright idea, but we like to finish things we have started; the image above is from an early film version of "Hamlet."

Here is our latest quip from the Bard:

"Absence from those we love is self from self-banishment."

While researching this post, we learned that the Georgia Shakespeare theatre company in Atlanta is seeking funds to keep operations up. On Dec. 16th and 17th, they will host a holiday cabarte entitled "Cocoa and Cards." Both performances start at 7:00 p.m., and we wish them well.

SIDEBAR: Amazingly enough, we had no idea that today would have been Mexican artist Diego Garcia's 125th birthday when we quoted him yesterday. Today, a painting by Rivera, who was Frida Kahlo's romantic partner, was used as Google's doodle.

Quote of the Day/Week- Diego Rivera

Today's quote of the day comes from Mexican artist Diego Rivera (1886-1957) who was the companion of fellow artist Frida Kahlo:

"Through her paintings, she breaks all taboos of the woman's body and female sexuality."

SIDEBAR: One of our favorite punk bands Gogol Bordello is playing Rome, Italy on Friday night before heading to Paris, France, for a Dec. 13 gig. But, they will be coming back to their hometown of New York for a series of 'traditional' New Year's Eve shows on Dec. 30th and 31st at Terminal Five.

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- Frida Kahlo

Since we are featuring quotes from famous artists this month, we thought we'd share a quip from the late Mexican painter Frida Kahlo (1907-1954) whose life was the subject of the acclaimed film "Frida."

An exhbit of Kahlo's work was shown in Berlin, Germany, earlier this year. And, one of the most popular restaurants in Guatemala is Frida's, located in Antigua, Guatemala's second largest city behind the capital Guatemala City. It is talked about on the web site virtualtourist.com and according to one Internet comment the palce has very good quesadillas.

Closer to home, there will be an exhibit of photographs of Kahlo by photographer Nickolas Muray at the Brownsville Museum of Fine Art in Brownsville, Tex., from Jan. 15-March 19, 2011. And, there is a Mexican restaurant in Chicago called La Cocina de Frida on North Clark Street.

Here is today's quote from Kahlo, which as a lone wolf person myself, I can sympathize and identify with:

"I paint self-portraits because I am so often alone, because I am the person I know best."

50 Beers from Around the World_ Gallo (Guatemala)

Today, we focus our attention to the Central American nation of Guatemala, which is home to Gallo Beer (or Rooster Beer) as it would be in English.

The beer is brewed in Guatemala City, and beer in Guatemala dates back to 1896.

Gallo Beer is also served in aluminum cans, and it's also available as a light beer. The brew can be found in Mexico, France and here in The US of A. Though it seems a bit hard to find in les etats unis, but an Internet poster said he found the beer somewhere in San Francisco.

I had the chance to visit Guatemala in 2005, and I really liked the city of Antigua. Since we spent only a limited there on the tour, I was unable to get into Frida's (named after famed Mexican artist Frida Kahlo), a popular restaurant in Antigua located near the famous Arch of Santa Catalina.

Antigua is also home to a movie theatre called Cine Sin Ventura. If it's the same place (though I recall it as being called Cinema Maya; they were showing "Kinsey") that I stopped by and visited back then, I do have to wonder what they are showing right now. Yeah, I imagine it's either "Mega Mind" or "Due Date" too!