The Last Ten Films I've Seen: "Ordinary People" is a Christmas Movie?.........no kidding.........

For those unfamiliar with our blog, when we do these lists, we usually go with something that is referred to in the film rather than an image from the film or whatever our list is about.

Hence, the reason for the image of a burrito for "Eating," a photo of Jackie Kennedy for "The House of Yes," in which Parker Posey plays a young woman who thinks she is the former first lady, and the Harvard sweatshirt is for "The Paper Chase," a film which takes place on that Ivy League school's campus. That film won a Best Supporting Oscar for John Houseman.

Seven years later, that same award would go to Timothy Hutton, then only 20 years old for "Ordinary People," the 1980 Best Picture Oscar winner which is perhaps the most depressing Oscar winner ever (ok, so there is also"One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest" and "Schindler's List")........

"Mental Floss" featured an online article about how "Ordinary People" is actually a 'Christmas movie' as it indeed takes place in December, but, yeah, it's probably better to watch "A Christmas Story" as a family unit......

Here are the last ten films I've seen; this idea came from the great cinema magazine "Film Comment" (please don't sue us for $2.6 million).........

1) Intimate Lighting (fmr Czechoslavakia. 1965. dir: Ivan Passer)

2) Eating (1990. dir: Henry Jaglom)

3) The House of Yes. (1997. dir: Mark Waters)

4) Starstruck (Australia. 1982. dir: Gillian Armstrong)

5) Amour (Austria. 2012. dir: Michael Haneke)

6) The Theory of Everything. (2014. dir: James Marsh)

7) Elysium. (2013. dir: Neill Blomkamp)

8) Ordinary People (1980. dir: Robert Redford)

9) An Unmarried Woman (1978. dir: Paul Mazursky w/Jill Clayburgh)

10) The Paper Chase (1973. dir: James Bridges)

http://www.filmcomment.com

http://www.mentalfloss.com

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

Kudos to Harvard

The Harvard Crimson men's basketball team won its last two home and regular season games in victories over Columbia University 56-51 and Cornell University 66-56. Prior to Harvard's out-right Ivy League crowns over the last two years, Cornell, located in Ithaca, NY, and nicknamed the Big Red, had won several league titles in a row.

The Crimson edged out Princeton for this year's league title.

Harvard, a 14-seed, will now face New Mexico, the three-seed, at 9:50 p.m., eastern time, in Salt Lake City, Utah (where the local time will be 7:50 p.m.) in the opening round of the West Region for the tourney.

The Crimson have two basketball in the mid-Atlantic region, which is also known as 'ACC Country,' in Michael Hall, a freshman forward/center, and Christian Webster, a senior from Washington, DC. Harvard's coach Tommy Amaker played college basketball at Duke University, an ACC powerhouse. The Blue Devils are a two-seed and they will face the Albany University Great Danes in the first round.

The nation's capital is also home of the most well-known current living Harvard alum in President Barack Obama; he has picked the Indiana University Hoosiers to win it all, which seemingly illustrates that he don't suffer from sour grapes since the state that voted for him in 2008, went red for Mitt Romney, who seems to have disappeared like D.B. Copper, in last year's presidential election.

The mascot for Harvard is John Harvard (pictured above).

http://www.harvard.edu

Quote of the Day/Week-Mary Lou Retton

Today, we continue quoting American athletes who won either gold or silver medals at the Summer Olympics with a quip from Mary Lou Retton, 44, whose image with a red, white and blue leotard is making its way back to Wheaties cereal boxes.

We will be quoting international athletes, including perhaps Nadia Comaneci of Romania, who was a major influence on Retton, who won both team and individual gold medals at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics.

Retton is from Fairmont, West Virginia, and she is a member of the President's Council on Physical Fitness, which is slightly ironic as Retton is a Republican as she attended the 2004 Republican convention.

Gymnasts of today have also been influenced by Retton as she developed 'the Retton flip' move on bars.

Here is her quote:

"If I had a bad performance in a particular leotard, I threw it in the trash."

SIDEBAR: People in Retton's home state of West Virginia are likely not to happy today as West Virginia University lost to Gonzaga in the NCAA tournament yesterday.

I was also disappointed to see Harvard lose to Vanderbilt 79-70 though President Barack Obama, a graduate of Harvard, said he had to reluctantly pick Vandy since that school has just won the SEC Tournament.

But, there is happy basketball news for my home state of Virginia because Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) 'upset' Wichita State 62-59 in Portland, Oregon, in the NCAA tournament last night.

UPDATE: When we posted this entry earlier in the day, we did not know the first name of Mary Lou Retton's sister who was a great gymnast in her own right at West Virginia University. Her name is Shari Retton.

As for the current Mountaineers gymnastics team, they head to Baton Rouge, La., tonight for a meet with SEC power LSU. For WVU, current gymnast Kaylyn Milick was named EAGL Conference Gymnast of the week. The Mountaineers also have an exceptional, nationally-ranked gymnast in Hope Sloanhaffer.

My NCAA Brackets....with a Twist

For many years, we have wanted to fill out the NCAA brackets simply based on the teams we liked best, or the teams that we would like to see in the Final Four.

So, this year, I decided to make a 'real bracket,' in which top-seed Syracuse prevails over the 16-seed underdog of underdogs, the UNC-Asheville Bulldogs from the Big South Conference, and one in which the Bulldogs pull the college basketball upset of the century.

There is a dose of reality in my 'fantasy bracket' as I just picked the Bulldogs as the lone 16-seed to knock off a Goliath. In addition, I have the 15-ssed Norfolk State beating the two-seed Missouri Tigers.

Thus, when all is said and done, my Elite 8 comes down to the unlikely match-up of ten-seed West Virginia, with Turkish player Deniz Kilicli, and 12-seed Harvard with Brandyn Curry from Huntersville, NC, in the east region. In the midwest, my dream match-up is not too implausible as it has 3-seed Georgetown taking on the top-seed UNC Tarheels (in the 'real version' two-seed Kansas plays North Carolina).

In the south region, there is a very realistic match-up between one-seed Kentucky and two-seed Duke. But, in the west, we have another fantasy match-up between ten-seed Virginia and 13-seed Davidson, a team that did in fact shock the world and make the Elite 8 a few years ago.

Thus, the 'dream Final Four' pits Harvard against Georgetown, and Duke against UVA. And, the final comes down to Harvard and UVA, with the Ivy Leaguers from Cambridge, Mass., winning it all.

Of course, it would be fittingly ironic if my fantasy bracket turns out to be more true than my 'real one!'

SIDEBAR: A fair number of the 68 teams in the NCAA tournament (actually as of writing, there are 66 remaining), have competitive teams in other sports. In wrestling, from the schools in the field, Ohio State, Misouri, Michigan, Lehigh, UVA and Purdue are all nationally-ranked.

In men's lacrosse, UVA, Loyola (Md), Syracuse, Notre Dame, UNC, Lehigh, Duke and Georgetown are all ranked.

Similarly, in women's lacrosse, UNC, Duke, Florida, Syracuse, Vanderbilt, UVA, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Georgetown and Loyola (Md.) have teams ranked in the top 20.

Colleges Nicknames List: Smart Schools

Since the Harvard University men's basketball team has been enjoying an exceptional season, thanks in part to Brandyn Curry from Huntersville, NC, we thought we'd dedicate an entire list to smart schools and their nicknames.

I thought about jokingly adding my own alma mater Radford University, located in Radford, Va., but that seemed like a conflict of interests_ not that bloggers actually care about these things. But, one of the schools listed here the New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT, and yes, they are in the Great West Conference?!), happens to also have RU's nickname, which is Highlanders.

Here is the list, in addition to Harvard, Duke and Vanderbilt are assured of being in the NCAA tournament while Northwestern is a bubble team:

1. American University Eagles. Patriot League. Washignton, DC.

2. Cal-Poly Mustangs. Big West. Ponoma, Calif.

3. Colorado Buffaloes. Pac-12. Boulder, Colo.

4. Cornell Big Red. Ivy. Ithaca, NY.

5. Duke Bluedevils. ACC. Durham, NC.

6. Harvard Crimson. Ivy. Cambridge, Mass.

7. NJIT Highlanders. Great West. Newark, NJ.

8. Northwestern Wildcats. Big 10. Evanston, Ill.

9. Stanford Cardinal. Pac-12. Palo Alto, Calif.

10. Vanderbilt Commodores. SEC. Nashville, Tenn.

11. Wake Forest Demon Deacons. ACC. Winston-Salem, NC

12. William and Mary Tribe. Colonial Athletic. Williamsburg, Va.

Quote of the Day/Week-Bruce Jenner

This month in honor of the upcoming 2012 Summer Olympics in London, we are quoting American Olympic medal winners with an emphasis on gold medal winners.

On our other blog "The Daily Vampire," we quoted Alicia Sacramone, 24, a silver medalist and former Brown University gymnast over Mary Lou Retton, who won two gold medals in women's gymnastics the year that Sacramone was born...oh well!

Here, we are quipping Bruce Jenner, 62, who won a gold medal in the decathlon during the 1976 Montreal Olympics. Jenner may have become a forgotten seventies star, like Marie Osmond, but he happens to be the step-father of Kim Kardashian and her sisters: Kim and Khloe.

Here is his quote:

"First of all, I try to be a positive role model."

Both Jenner and Retton appeared on Wheaties cereal boxes after winning their respective gold medals.

SIDEBAR: We had prematurely said that the men's basketball team from Harvard was the Ivy League champion yesterday. But, now we can say that as Princeton downed Penn 62-52. If Penn had won the game, they would have played Harvard in a one-game playoff for the league title.

Quote of the Day/Week- George McGovern

Hmmm...for some reason, we are seemingly popular in Iraq and Slovenia these days.

Today, we start our series on quotes of men who couldn't quite become king as we profile and quip men who lost the presidency of the United States.

On our sister blog "The Daily Vampire," we quoted Bob Dole, 88, the Republican nominee who lost the presidency in 1996 to Bill Clinton.

Here, we quote George McGovern, 89, the Democratic nominee who lost the presidency to Richard Nixon in 1972. McGovern is the oldest man to have either run for or become president. He edges out Dole as well presidents George H.W. Bush and Jimmy Carter, who are both 86.

McGovern is also considered to be the most progressive candidate to have run for president in the modern era, though some may argue that Al Gore, known for his environmental politics, is more liberal. Ironically, McGovern represented South Dakota, a conservative state in the U.S. Senate.

This quote reflects McGovern's strong opposition to the Vietnam War:

"I'm fed up to the ears with old men dreaming up wars for young men to die in."

CLARIFICATION: Apparently, the Harvard men's basketball team is not on their way to the NCAAs quite yet. Apparently, the Penn Quakers can tie for first place with a win over Princeton tonight and force a one-game playoff. The Ivy League is the one remaining conference in NCAA Division-I basketball without a conference tournament.

Yesterday, Virginia Commonwealth, Loyola (Md.) and Davidson were among the teams to win their respective tourneys.

Quote of the Day/Week-Ethan Hawke

Today, since we were all born in 1970 here, we are going to quote famous people born that year. On our other blog "The Daily Vampire," we quoted Uma Thurman, so to be 'fair and balanced,' we are quoting her ex-husband the actor, singer, novelist Ethan Hawke, who will turn 42 on Nov. 6. Thurman turns 42 on April 29.

Here is his quote:

"Memory is a wonderful think if you don't deal with the past."

SIDEBAR ONE: Kudos to the Harvard Crimson men's basketball team as they won the Ivy League title by beating Cornell on the road in Ithaca, NY, 67-63 to capture the crown.

The Crimson (26-4) won over the Big Red thanks to Oliver McNally who scored 17 points, and Brandyn Curry, a junior from Huntersville, NC, who added 12 points, including three 3-point shots.

SIDEBAR TWO: Yes, English soccer games can air pretty darn early here in the United States. So, in case you didn't get up at 7:45 a.m. on Saturday to watch the match either, I thought I would mention that Arsenal won over rival Liverpool 2-1.

For the winning side, both goals came from Dutch superstar Robin van Persie (31st, 92nd mins.) and for Liverpool the lone goal came from French player Laurent Koscielny.

Casualties of Modern Technology (7 of 12)_ TV Antennas

35 years ago, during the two years I was living in Turkey as a child (1977-79), we literally depended on the bulging outdoor antennas to get signals from the TRT (Turkish Radio and Television) which at the time was showing one channel of programing throughout the entire country. This meant that people living in Istanbul saw the same shows as people in eastern Turkish cities, such as Sivas and Erzurum, which are a good 15-20 hours by bus from Istanbul. The TRT began broadcasting television in 1968.

Many years earlier, American inventor Philo Farnsworth (1906-1971) sent out the first American television transmission at the Franklin Institute of Philadelphia in 1934. Some 20-25 years later, Uncle Miltie (Milton Berle) aired a popular variety show across the country and Ed Sullivan also became popular especially when he introduced The Beatles on his tv variety show in the 1960s. And, by the 1960s, the tv sitcom, which included "The Honeymooners" with Jackie Gleason and Art Carney also became popular.

The tv antenna was specifically designed to air in the broadcast range from 41 to 250 MHZ on VHF, and the wavelength equaled the speed of light. The higher the placement of the antenna, which can reach up to 40-feet on rooftops, the better the reception.

Today, since all broadcasts in the United States are digital, the outdoor tv antenna is a definitive endangered species though I did see on just last week!

SIDEBAR: Since we are not specifically a sports blog, perhaps it was a bit of a huge mistake to go into men's college basketball. But, since we've started this mess, let's finish it!

A few days ago, we made reference to the American University Eagles' home game in Washington, DC, versus the Bucknell Bison on Thursday night. The game was one in which the school gave away Jeff Jones bobblehead dolls in honor of AU's coach Jeff Jones to the first 1,000 fans.

Well, we imagine that created considerable enthusiasm, but the Eagles (18-10, 9-4 in Patriot Conference play) lost to the Bison (21-8, 11-2) by a score of 55-50. Mike Muscala lead the visitors from Lewisburg, Pa., with 26 points and 14 rebounds. While Daniel Munoz lead the Eagels with 15 points. Both schools have important final regular season conference games this afternoon (Saturday).

SIDEBAR 2: Even though Harvard University may have just finished their home game with the Pennsylvania Quakers this afternoon, we are going to focus on their 67-64 home win over Princeton last night.

The Crimson's win allowed the team (24-3, 10-1) to avenge their only Ivy League loss of the year at the hand of the Tigers in Princeton, NJ, two weeks ago tonight.

Kyle Casey lead the Crimson with 20 points and eight rebounds. Other top scorers for the Crimson included Brandyn Curry (15 points), Oliver McNally (13 points) and Keith Wright (12 points). Harvard has also been in the news because one of their recent alum, Jeremy Lin has become a media sensation in the NBA.

For the losing Princeton side, Ian Hummer and Douglas Davis scored 14 points each for the Tigers.

Here is a wrap-up of Friday scores in the Ivy League:

*-home teams

*Yale 75 Columbia 57
*Harvard 67 Princeton 64
Penn 57 *Dartmouth 54
Cornell 69 *Brown 53

Sports Desk- Harvard Beats Yale 66-51

It may seem like we are capitalizing on the media sensation Jeremy Lin of the New York Knicks, but his alma mater Harvard University (23-3, 9-1 Ivy) is having an impressive season of their own.

The key game over the weekend was Harvard's home game against arch rival Yale. Harvard won the game 66-51 thanks in large part to Keith Wright who scored 10 points and had 8 rebounds for the Crimson.

Greg Managano of Yale lead the Bulldogs (17-7, 7-3 Ivy) with 22 points.

Harvard has two international players, including Steve Moundou-Missi (pictured here) a freshman forward from Cameroon and Ugo Okam, a sophomore center from Nigeria. The Crimson also have two players from North Carolina, where we are based. These include stand-out Brandyn Curry from Huntersville and Dee Giger from Arden.

Despite the setback, Yale did score a victory over Dartmouth (now 5-21, 1-9 Ivy) on the road, Friday night. The Bulldogs were lead by Austin Morgan who scored 17 points; Managano added 16.

The Ivy League Men's Basketball Player of the Week is Zack Rosen, a senior guard from Colonia, NJ, who plays for the Penn Quakers. Rosen scored 26 points in home win over Cornell and 14 points in home win against Columbia.

Here is the scoreboard for weekend games in the Ivy League; the home team will have an * beside them.

Friday:

*Harvard 69 Brown 42
*Princeton 77 Columbia 66
Yale 70 * Dartmouth 61
* Penn 73 Cornell 66

Saturday:

*Harvard 66 Yale 51
* Dartmouth 58 Brown 53
*Princeton 75 Cornell 57
*Penn 61 Columbia 59, OT

Sports Desk: Princeton Beats Harvard 70-62

It is a very rare occasion when an Ivy League men's basketball is nationally televised, but since then 21st ranked Harvard University had won nine basketball games in a row, it's road game with Princeton on Saturday night set up a pivotal match-up.

And, the underdog Princeton Tigers (13-10, 4-3 in Ivy League play) prevailed with a 70-62 win thanks in large part to Ian Hummer's (pictured) 20 points, nine rebounds and six assists.

Other players for the Tigers who scored in double figures were T.J. Bray (12), Brendan Connolly (11), Denton Koon (10) and Mark Darrow (10).

In defeat for the Crimson, Keith Wright scored 16 points and Brandyn Curry, of Huntersville, NC, scored 15 points.

Harvard did prevail in the team's road game against Pennsylvania by a 56-50 score on Friday night with 17 points from freshman Corbin Miller.

On Friday night, Princeton won its home game over struggling Dartmouth, a team with a 4-20 record, by a 59-47 margin.

Like Princeton, Cornell also had a triumphant homestand over the weekend in the Ivy League. The Big Red (10-12, 5-3) went on a 15-1 run in the second half to defeat Brown 72-63 on Saturday night. The night before, the team won an overtime thriller over Yale 85-84 in overtime.

For the Big Red, Chris Wroblewski, a senior from Highland Park, Ill., was named Ivy League Men's Basketball Palyer of the Week.

In other Ivy League sports, Harvard's women's hockey player Jillian Dempsey was named the school's athelete of the week as she scored five goals, one short of an NCAA record, in the team's 10-1 victory over Princeton.

And, in women's gymnastics, Cornell, one of four Ivy League schools with women's gymnastics teams (Yale, Brown and Penn are the others) came in second at the team's Big Red Invitanial.

The school in Ithaca, New York, came in second behind Southern Connecticut in the four-team meet. Lexi Schupp of Cornell won bars and her teammate Maelanie Stanrdige won beam.

The final score of the meet was: Southern Connecticut 190.05, Cornell 189.55, Ithaca College 187.250 and West Chester 185. 750.

Here is the full scoreboard in men's basketball for the Ivy League, which traditionally plays its games on Friday and Saturday nights.

Friday:

Cornell 85 Yale 84, OT

Harvard 56 Penn 50

Princeton 59 Dartmouth 47

Columbia 86 Brown 60

Saturday:

Cornell 72 Brown 63

Princeton 70 Harvard 62

Penn 58 Dartmouth 55

Yale 59 Columbia 58

Silly Photo to Fill Space- Handsome Dan

Greetings to everyone in Moscow, Russia, where we are seemingly and surprisingly popular!

Today, we feature the Yale Bulldogs mascot Handsome Dan in our semi-weekly "Silly Photo to Fill Space" series. Yale University was the first university to have a mascot in the 1890s, and the current Handsome Dan, born in 2007 in Johnson City, Tenn.- of all places, is the 17th in the line.

On our sister blog, we dedicated an entry to John Harvard, who is the mascot for the Crimson.

Alas, this was not a very good weekend for Bulldogs fans as the school saw athletic losses in several sports. We mentioned the losses to rival Harvard (65-35), men's hockey (4-3) and women's hockey (8-0) on our sister blog.

But, the men's hockey team won a home game against Dartmouth 5-4 on a goal from Kenny Agostino, a junior from Flanders, NJ, that was scored with 38 seconds on the clock. We imagine the Big Green was not pleased to get on the bus back to New Hampshire afterwards.

Yale's women's hockey team had a particular rough weekend on the ice, but goalie Genny Lodgies, a junior from Canada, had 46 saves against Dartmouth's women's hockey team. The Big Green won that game over the Bulldogs by a 6-0 score.

Like the men's hockey team, Yale's men's basketball team got a victory by also beating Dartmouth by a 62-52 in a game that was played on Yale's home court in new Haven, Conn. Reggie Willhite scored 16 points for the Bulldogs in the win.

Unlike Harvard, Yale has a women's gymnastics team and they went to Philadelphia to face Penn-U over the weekend. The Bulldogs' gym team fell short as the Quakers won the meet 191.225-188.35 margin.

But, junior Tara Feld from Buffalo Grove, Ill., had strong vault and floor scores (both were 9.75) as well as a stellar score on beam (9.275).

Yale's gym team also has two sophomore sisters from Singapore in Nicole and Tabitha Tay. We think they might be twins, but we could not confirm that.

In the News_ American Postage Stamps Increase

On Monday, domestic postage stamp rates for letters go up here in the United States. So, if you want to send a congratulations card to Newt Gingrich for winning yesterday's South Carolina Republican Primary, you are already too late. Of course, those of you who know us well, realize we will not be among those sending the former House Speaker greeting cards anytime soon.

The Humphrey Bogart stamp (1997) shown here was part of a Legends of Hollywood series, which also included a Marilyn Monroe stamp.

SIDEBAR: Kudos to the nationally ranked men's basketball team from Harvard as they beat Dartmouth yesterday on the road in Hanover, NH, by a 54-38 score. But, interestingly enough, the school's Athlete of the Week is Haley Mendez, who plays women's squash?!

Also our congrats go out to the North Carolina State women's gymnastics team as earlier in the week sophomore Stephanie Ouellette was named EAGL Conference Gymnast of the Week. The Wolfpack also received honors for junior Rachel Fincham who was named EAGL Specialist of the Week, and freshman Lane Jarred who was named EAGL Rookie of the Week.

Over the weekend, the Wolfpack continued their success with a road victory over the University of Illinois-Chicago, which is, of course, located in the Windy City.

Quote of the Day- Film Director Dusan Makavejev

Today, we continue with our plan to quote 32 people from each of the 32 countries in this year's World Cup (are we mad?!). We are dividing the quotes between this blog and our sister blog The Daily Vampire.

Our quote today comes from Yugoslavian.....err we mean Serbian film director Dusan Makavejev (note to self: double-check spelling!) who is considered the greatest living film director to ever come out of Belgrade.

One of my favorite Makavejev films is the English-language Australian film "The Coca-Cola Kid" (1985) with Eric Roberts (Julia Roberts' brother) and the English-Swedish actress Greta Scacchi who I still find very sexy after all these years!

The film was produced without the knowledge or consent of Coca-Cola, but since the product was shown favorably in the movie they decided not to make a big whooppee over it.

Makavejev was at last report teaching film at Harvard.

We were hard-pressed to find any quotes from him until we came across this 2000 interview with him from the Australian cinema connosiuers' web site Sensesofcinema.com, which also features articles from my friend Bilge Ebiri (a film critic in New York).

Though I'm not in the film industry myself, this one makes a lot of sense:

"It's very difficult to say what makes you get involved with movies."

Henry Louis Gates Jr.on Life After the 'Beer Summit'

Since there are many things going in Washington, DC, these days both politically and weather-wise, focus on the aftermath of the intriguing 'Beer Summit' has been all but ignored.

But, since Harvard University Professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. is now promoting his new PBS series "Faces of America," which is airing soon, in the media, questions are being answered as to how he and Cambridge, Mass., police officer James Crowley are getting along.

For those you don't remember or reside in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, in July of 2009, Gates was arrested by Crowley who suspected him of breaking into what turned out to be his own house as he was fumbling with the front door. Crowley suspected that Gates might be an intruder.

President Barack Obama commented on the incident, which sparked a discussion about race in America. Obama spoke on Gates' behalf which lead to a media brew-ha-ha which were resolved with brews when Obama, Gates and Crowley met at the White House for a Beer Summit. The surprise guest at the brewsky-sharing was Vice President Joe Biden.

Gates told "The New York Times Magazine" that he and Crowley are actually getting along well, and have even met socially:

"We had a drink at my favorite pub in Cambridge. We met at the River Gods cafe several months ago, and he gave me the handcuffs," Gates said refering to the handcuffs which were used during his arrest.

He added that he gave the hand-cuffs to the National Museum of African American History and Culture at the Smithsonian.

Gates told the NPR show "Talk of the Nation" that he now gets along with Crowley quite well, and that the Cambridge police officer is a 'very nice man.'

The Beer Summit became such a sensation that even Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass.) initiated one of his own while running in his senatorial campaign that would prove to be a huge political upset.

I was curious as to which beers were drunk by whom at the Beer Summit, and it took me a long time to discover that information, but thankfully I found it on a blog for "The Chicago Sun-Times."

Obama had a Bud Light. Gates drank a Sam Adams Light. Crowley went for a Blue Moon. While Biden had the non-alcoholic Bucklers beer. I may have asked for a Petra Beer, but I suspect the White House would have difficulty finding the Jordanian beer (which I've never drank).

When asked by the "NYT Magazine" what he thought America might evolve into as we become a more mixed-race society. Gates responded by saying:

"I'm looking forward to the time when we all look like Polynesians."

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!