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/

A Pictorial Tribute to Istanbul.........

In lieu of yesterday's ISIS-likely terrorist attack in the Sultanahmet tourist district in Istanbul which killed nine Germans and one Peruvian visitor to Istanbul, we are presenting a pictorial tribute to one of the world's great cities, which stretches across two continents.

For this entry, we had many ideas and we regret that we could not fit all of them in, including ones depicting many of the Armenian and Greek Orthodox churches in Istanbul as well as tourist meccas like the Grand Bazaar and the Topkapi Palace as well as landmarks like the Haydar Pasha train station on the Asian side.

But, we have these six images, they are of 1) The Bosporus Bridge which connects Europe and Asia; 2) the Atlas Cinema, built in 1948, in Beyoglu; 3) horse carriages in Buyukada, the largest of the four Princess Islands; 4) a fish meal in Kumkapi (in Turkey, the heads are kept on the fish unless you ask a server otherwise); 5) a view of the Blue Mosque; and 6) a view of Sariyer on the Asian side.

http://wikitravel.org/en/Istanbul

http://www.dailyistanbultours.com

http://www.turkeyplanner.com

10 for 10 (4th Entry): Love Those Van Cats

Greetings to our blog readers in Cuba, Colombia, and Egypt.....

Today, we feature an image of a Turkish Van cat, which retail for circa $50 on the streets of Istanbul. Here in the United States, we gather they cost considerably more.

If you are looking for a cat in an animal shelter, you will probably not find a Van cat, but tuxedo cats, orange tabby cats, and calico cats need homes, here are two animal shelter links we are listing:

http://www.spartanburghumane.org/ (Humane Society of Spartanburg, South Carolina)

http://hswcmd.org/ (Humane Society of Hagerstown, Maryland)

Little Thinkers Quotes (14 of 16): Eleanor Roosevelt

Greetings to our blog-readers in Turkey*, Indonesia and Peru.

We are making this short and sweet so we can watch the 2014 Winter Olympics live from Sochi, Russia, with Jay Leno.....err, we mean Bob Costas (we know one of them retired!).....(and, it is actually 5:00 a.m. in Sochi).

Here is our quote from Eleanor Roosevelt:

"The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams."

*- "Gecmis Olsun/May it pass quickly, to the passengers on the Pegasus Airlines flight where an attempted hijacking occurred. The Ukrainian national responsible for this fallacy wanted to divert the commercial airplane to Sochi, but it landed in Istanbul, the flight's intended destination, instead.

Free-Style Blogging: Let's Talk About ...........

Ok, take notes kids, this is how this works. We take some news items and political topics, such as climate change and Edward Snowden, and then mix them in with general things, such as Turkish Airlines (tonight's sponsor......yeah, that is a joke, but we hear they are great to fly with). And, then we make a complete blog entry out of them, which should get us noticed in Slovenia.

The topics will be marked with a single parenthesis.

Let's get rolling:

"Hmmmm..........I've noticed whenever I watch Fox News, they never seem to talk about 'climate change' even though all the glaciers in 'Iceland' are melting. Perhaps, this is because their average viewer lacks the attention span to read one 'Archie Comics.' But, they've been sooo brain-washed that at this point they would vote for 'Darth Vader' if he had an R by his name.

Of course, folks to the left of me (yes, there are always some of these people except in Provo, Utah), are focused on 'Bradley Manning' and the 'NSA.' My advice to 'Edward Snowden' would be to get on a 'Turkish Airlines' flight from Moscow to Istanbul where he can work at a tea house and inexplicably go unnoticed, but his narcissist ego may not like that.

There is also a lot of talk about the controversial 'Rolling Stone' cover, but no one mentions the fact that the cover story about the Boston Marathon bomber is quite well-written. And, in case, one is wondering, it's now 70 degrees and cloudy in 'Greensboro, NC'..........thanks for that info, Mr. Google.' 

Now Showing: Movies at American Movie Theatres (West Coast Edition)

AAAAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUUUUGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The first try at posting this entry was accidentally deleted, so those of you in Paris, Istanbul and Dubai should tell all your friends to check out this blog.

Here are a look at movies showing in West Coast cinemas this weekend.

Let's start in St. Louis, even though it's pretty far from the west coast, where one can see the outstanding Ethan Hawke-Julie Delpy film "Before Midnight" at the Tivoli (a Landmark theatre) at noon; 2:30; 4:45; 7:15 and 9:45 p.m.

In the Mile-High City, one can see a documentary called "Evocateur: The Morton Downey Jr. Movie" about the late right-wing tv host (pictured bottom) at the Denver Film Society Colfax at 7:20 and 9:30 p.m.

The Salt Lake Film Society in Salt Lake City, Utah, is screening another documentary "We Steal Secrets: The Story of WikiLeaks" which profiles the far-left founder of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange (pictured top) at 2:00 and 4:30 p.m.

At Cinema 21 in Portland, Ore., one can see the latest film from director Joss Whedon ("The Cabin in the Woods") called "Much Ado About Nothing," yeah, we're not sure how much it has to do with William Shakespeare either!

In San Francisco, one can see perhaps one of the most unique documentaries playing anywhere as the Roxie Theatre screens "I Am Gay and Muslim" as part of the cinema's gay-lesbian film festival with shows at 7:00 p.m. The Dutch film from director Chris Bellami, which lasts 59 minutes, profiles gay men in Morocco.

Lastly, in L.A., one can see another documentary "20 Feet From Stardom" at the Landmark.

For listings of showings at east coast arthouses (and, this is where we effed up before) go to our sister blog "The Daily Vampire" at http://www.nocturnalguy38.blogspot.com

http://www.denverfilm.org

http://www.saltlakefilmsociety.org

http://www.landmarktheatres.com

http://www.roxie.com

http://www.cinema21.com

Turkey: The Land of the Hijab and the Bikini

Alas, as a Turkish-American, I fear that tourists will opt to gaze upon the bodies of attractive young women in bikinis in the Greek island of Kos as opposed to the Turkish resort of Bodrum which is a mere three miles away from Kos, due to riots and unrest in Istanbul and other Turkish cities, including Ankara and Izmir.

Turkey is a land caught between the Hijab and the Bikini, and Islamist conservative Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, whose regime is at the center of the chaos, has manipulated his conservative base in central Anatolian cities, like Yozgat, Konya and Sivas, to counter the protests even as it is likely to further divide the country and cost Turkey millions of lost revenue in the tourism sector.

The BBC is reporting that a lone standing man who stood alone in silence in Taksim Square earlier in the day in Istanbul has become a symbol for the Turkish people in their collective stand against an oppressive government. He has been identified as 'The Standing Man of Istanbul."

With that in mind, we are looking at what exactly the definitions of the hijab and the bikini are, as well as the ever intriguing burqini fashion trend in the Muslim world, which we suspect might be popular along the beaches of Dubai and Algeria:

Hijab: A veil which covers the head which is particularly worn by a Muslim female beyond puberty in the presence of non-related adult males.

Bikini: This is a type of women's two-piece swimsuit designed to provide minimal coverage of the body. One part covers the breasts and the part that covers the groin and part or the entire buttocks.

Burqini: A swimsuit for Muslim women designed by Lebanese Australian Ahena Zametti. The suit covers the whole body, except the hands, feet and face,

http://www.kosinfo.gr/

http://www.bodrum.org

http://www.nocturnalguy38.blogspot.com (Our sister blog "The Daily Vampire" which features the same topic, but different text and images)

Top Five More Countries Turkish PM Erdogan Should Defect To

Wow! The Bulgarian flag (pictured bottom) sure looks funky on this blog, as its white stripe at the time seems invisible.

Bulgaria is one of ten countries, we think disgraced Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan should escape to; the other five are listed on our sister blog "The Daily Vampire" http://www.nocturnalguy38.blogspot.com


Here we go:

1) Uzbekistan (pictured top): This former Soviet Republic is Sunni Muslim and has close ties with Turkey and lots of open spaces; it is also supposedly a dictatorship. Erdogan should be at home there.

2) Morocco (pictured middle): Unlike other Erdogan critics, I think the prime minister's traveling to Morocco at the height of the Gezi Park protests in Istanbul wasn't a mistake. His faux pas was returning from there!

3) Bulgaria: Why not?!

4) Sudan: Lots of desert, and the dictator of Sudan has a solid partnership with the current Turkish government. In normal times, this was an outrage and embarrassment to those of us of Turkish heritage. But, now if Sudan takes Erdogan, all of us will jump for joy like children at the zoo in Gulhane Park in Istanbul. Oh! I forgot. Erdogan had that demolished.

5) Tunisia: The second country Erdogan visited on his north African tour. Perhaps, he stayed at a hotel in Tunis that he can imagine spending 30 years in.

Our Ten Favorite Comic Strips of the Week: Cubicle Dwellers, Aliens and Rural Kentuckians

Though it has never been mentioned in the comic strip, we suspect that "Barney Google and Snuffy Smith," one of the oldest running American comic strips in existence, takes place in a remote, rural place like Harlan, Kentucky, where one will likely find revival preachers.

It makes this initial entry on our ten favorite comic strips from the Sunday pages, along with "Brewster Rockit: Space Guy" in which 'our hero' must be fight to save planet Earth from an alien insectoid invasion, and "Dilbert" in which a bald-headed executive gives workplace strategies to Dilbert.

By the way, there is a UFO Museum in Istanbul, Turkey, of all places, not far from where the Gezi Park protests, against Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the authoritarian prime minister of Turkey. 

Here are the Top Ten, in alphabetical order, as opposed to order of preference:

1) "Barney Google and Snuffy Smith"(John Rose is now the cartoonist of the strip)

2) "Brewster Rockit: Space Guy"

3) ""Dilbert"

4) "Doonesbury" (this one was really awesome!)

5) The Duplex

6) "F-Minus"

7) "Knight Life" (Keith Knight continues his 'Life's Little Victories' series)

8) "Mother Goose and Grimm"

9) "Non Sequitir"

10) "Speed Bump"

http://www.dilbert.com

http://www.doonesbury.com

http://www.knightlifecomic.com

http:///www.ufoevidence.org (not an endorsement)

http://www.harlancountytrails.com

Yes, Prime Minster_ Turkish PM Says Protestors are 'Terrorists'

We were looking for an image of a woman in a red dress, but all we could find were famous celebrities, such as Cindy Crawford. But, the 'woman in red' we are referring to is an unknown Turkish woman wearing a red dress who was sprayed by a water cannon. The image of what was done to her has been the one which has most damned Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his grave mishandling of a protest to not develop at the historic Gezi Park in the Taksim part of Istanbul.

We asked Google who the woman was, and all we could find was an article in "The Daily Mail" (UK) explaining how many students in the same vicinity as the woman in red were also targeted by the police.

The protests in Turkey have made headlines around the world: "The Hurriyet Daily News" in Turkey quotes President Abdullah Gul as saying the protests were more like Occupy Wall Street than the even more massive Tahrir Square protests in Egypt (yeah, we aren't buying that either). "The Jerusalem Post," an English-language newspaper in Israel, looked at the nuanced differences between the Turkish and Egyptian protests, one of which is that Erdogan is a democratically-elected leader. And, "Dutch News" reported that people of Turkish heritage in the Netherlands held demonstrations in both Amsterdam and The Hague.

With that, we turn our attention to Erdogan, whom we feel is more or less as coniferous as this great white shark from South Africa pictured, who made the following dubious quote about the protests: "This is a protest organized by extremist elements," he said. "We will not give away anything those who live arm-in-arm with terrorism."

SIDEBAR: Those who might be traveling to Baltimore, Maryland, here in the United States, can partake in glimpses of sandbar sharks and giant Pacific octopuses/octopi; we are not sure if any of the octopi are predicting the outcomes of weekend Major League Soccer games this weekend.

http://www.dutchnews.nl

http://www.dailymail.co.uk

http://www.jpost.com

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com

http://www.aqua.org

Quote of the Day- Nazim Hikmet

Today's quote of the day comes from the late Nazim Hikmet, who is Turkey's most famous poet. Though he lived in exile for much of his adult life in the Soviet Union for his communist views, Hikmet is highly regarded in Turkey. His quotes have also inspired many people in Turkey during this trying period brought on my unjust militant crackdowns by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan against peaceful protestors at Gezi Park in Istanbul. Hikmet is buried in Moscow, Russia, and his cemetery is a top destination point for Turkish people and poetry enthusiasts.


Here is his quote:

"However and wherever we are, we must live as if we never die."

SIDEBAR: A few months ago, I saw this tweet from John Robinson, the former editor of "The News and Record" in Greensboro, NC, who now teaches at the University of North Carolina. It was regarding 'cannibalism' in Jamestown. At first, I thought he was referring to Jamestown, NC, a suburb of Greensboro, but I realized he meant the Jamestown colony in eastern Virginia.

http://www.nazimhikmet.org

http://www.johnrobinson.com

Tweets on Events in Turkey, 3rd Entry

Here is our third entry on tweets posted within the the last 24 hours about the citizen uprisings throughout Turkey, which was started by environmentalists in the Taksim Square section of Istanbul, and has spread all over Anatolia.

There is one tweet here Ceylan Ozbudak, who is a female reporter for Al Arabiya, which seems like the Fox News off the Middle East as she actually defended the corrupt Turkish Prime Minsiter Recep Tayyip Erdogan at a time of tremendous national unity in opposition to the government in Ankara. The BBC is reporting that police have left the Gezi Park area where the protests originated:

1) ATAA (the main Turkish-American assembly): ATAA CALLS FOR RESTRAINT FROM ALL SIDES DURING PROTEST AND POLICE CLASHES IN ISTANBUL.

2) Emre Kizilkaya: "I saw that the people at #occupygezi are 'ordinary' people young and senior. They're the 99 percent.

3) Ceylan Ozbudak: "Those who think this a protest for democracy know what you are supporting. Communist flags all over Taksim" (she fails to mention that both the the secular right and secular left as well as political centrists are united in opposition to Erdogan).

4) Jose M. Calatayud: "I saw many ATMs damaged. Actually, I have ran out of cash and couldn't anywhere near near the centre."

5) Jeffrey Gibbs:"Yes, yes, but it seems Turkey just passes from one violent hand to another. If Erdogan goes, what comes in his place?" (Though this is a valid point, we differ with the opinion as any government would be better than the current far right Islamist regime)

6) Laetoli: "Access to Facebook in Turkey is blocked right now, we're afraid that Twitter may be blocked soon."

7) Haaretz.com: "Protestors defiant as #Turkey unrest goes into third day; more than 900 arrested ad 1,000 injured so far."

NOTE: The above image if a TRT (Turkey Radio Television) test pattern that was used whenever tv coverage went down during the 1970s and '80s.

http://www.ataa.org

http://www.haaretz.com

More Tweets Regarding Events in Turkey

The BBC is reporting this hour that some 40,000 pedestrians crossed from the European side of Istanbul to the Asian side of the city by walking over the Bosporus Bridge.

This above photo is of Istikal Caddesi, the main street in Beyoglu, the cultural hub of Istanbul, which is in close proximity to Taksim where the initial protests against the right-wing government started, but those protests spread into Istikal Caddesi.

The main issue raised by the protestors is that Prime Minster Recep Tayyip Erdogan is taking Turkey into Islamic fundamentalism, which is in direct conflict with the foundations of the modern state set by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk in 1923.

These protests also originated as an environmental protest to preserve Gezi Park, the only remaining open space in Istanbul. Ironically, there are reports that both Turkish liberals and Turkish secular nationalists have set aside differences to form a coalition in the protests.

Here are the tweets:

1. BBC News: "Fresh clashes in Ankara and Istanbul. Turkey's two biggest cities between anti-government demonstrations and police."

2. Today's Zaman (an English-language edition of the conservative Turkish newspaper "Zaman"): "Stability guaranteed by upholding freedoms, US says on Gezi Park protests."

3. Najwa Mekki: Was in #Taksim #Turkey last weekend and saw riot police but couldn't figure out why. Now I get it. #OccupyGezi

4. Osman Kaytazoglu: "Police is not stepping back heavy teargas use."

5. A Tzanakopolous (A Greek tweeter; Turkey and Greece have been traditional ethnic rivals, but there is no sense of that here): "Our brothers and sisters in Istanbul brutally attacked for defending their city."

6. Gizzy MagicPants (We have no idea what this person's real name is): "This time yesterday, police attacked sleeping protestor in Taksim Gezi Parki and started a chain reaction."

7. Can Yeginsu: "As the crowds surge into #Taksim, Turkish tv refuses to broadcast the popular unrest, a dark day for the press #taksimgeziparki

Tweets Regarding the Revolutionary Stand Against Right-Wing Government in Turkey

Protestors have taken to the streets not only in Istanbul, but in Ankara, Izmir, Bursa and even the eastern Black Sea city of Samsun following police crackdowns against citizens bonding to protest plans to build on Gezi Park, the last remaining open space in Istanbul. The protests are also largely aimed at Turkey's right-wing government lead by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Here are some tweets regarding these events:

1) Hurriyet Daily News: #US and #EU concerned by violent raid against #Taksim Gezi Park protestors.

2) Gigi Ibrahim (a leader of the Tahrir Square movement in Egypt): Latest from a comrade in #Taksim Square: The movement is raising the slogan: "Turn Taksim into Tahrir!".........we support you.

3) Goksen Asia: "Watch Turkish people crossing the bridge for #occupygezi"

4) Zeynep Tufekci: "NYT has Turkey protests on cover. Turkish paper Sabah, not. Why social media matters."

5) Global Revolution: "Everyone has to watch this. All of #Istanbul flashes their lights in solidarity with #occupygezi protestors."

6) Heather Marsh: "More than 40,000 people are now crossing Bosporus Bridge in #Istanbul to join protests."

7) Simge Yarayici: "NYC! Tomorrow! Zuccoti Park! 12 pm! We will be in solidarity with #occupygezi occupiers."

Teaser: Bach @ The Beach: A Myrtle Beach Diary

Though we didn't actually read "The Other Boleyn Girl," which was made into a movie with Scarlett Johansson and Natalie Portman, which we saw at an outdoor cinema in Buyukada (Istanbul), Turkey, while visiting Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, we thought that it does seem like the ideal book to bring to a beach, of course, then again, so would "50 Shades of Grey"!

"Bach at the Beach" sort of just came to us from the sky like the Hindu love god Shiva, but as it turns out there is an orchestra at Myrtle Beach?! They are called Long Bay Symphony, and, of course, we found out about them after the fact.

Stay tuned for our look at a long Mother's Day weekend trip to Myrtle Beach, SC, within the next few days.

http://www.visitmyrtlebeach.com

http://www.jsbach.org

http://www.longbaysymphony.com

Quote of the Day/Week-Eugene Hutz

We were intially going to quote Russian composer Sergei Prokofiev, who died a long time ago, for this space. But, we quickly foun out that though the composer of "Peter and the Wolf" was born in Ukraine, he is actually Russian! But, we may quote him later on, as Russia is, along with Ukraine, one of two former Soviet states in the Euro 2012 soccer chammpionships, which start on June 8th.

This month, we are quoting 8 of the 16 countries in the cup, and today, we start with co-host Ukraine (the other co-host is Poland).

As it turns out, Gogol Bordello's lead singer Eugene Hutz, 39, was born in Ukraine. The gypsy punk band will be performing in Aspen, Colo., on June 9th, and in Istanbul, Turkey, one of our favorite cities, on June 30th.

Hutz was influenced by the likes of Johnny Cash and Leonard Cohen---yes, we were shocked by that too!

Here is the quote from Hutz, who is of Roma/gypsy heritage:

"Everywhere, there was Ukrainian Gyspsy folk music. That's how it is there; you cannot escape it. But I found that I liked it."

http://www.gogolbordello.com

Major Personal Announcement

As I mentioned on our sister blog "The Daily Vampire," I have a wonderful personal announcement: I am getting married to the very lovely Sibel Turkan Aksoy of Afyon, Turkey.

We met through a mutual friend in Istanbul on Facebook, and we have been communicating to each other via Skype since December of last year.

I truly can't believe something this wonderful is happening to me!

Alas, I could not find a good image of Sibel, so I decided to go with this one of Parvati, the Hindu god of love.

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

Quote of the Day/Week- Martin Scorsese

It appears to be a low traffic day here today on the blog, though 'simit,' a Turkish sesame pastry which one can easily find from a vendor along the Bosporus shores of Istanbul is a trending topic!

Today, we continue with quotes from Oscar-winning film directors with a quip from Martin Scorsese who finally won a well-deserved Academy Award for "The Departed" (2006). Scorsese is again nominated this year for yet another superb film "Hugo." The other Best Directors nominees includes the likes of Woody Allen, Terence Malick and Alexander Payne.

Here is Scorsese's quip:

"I know there were many good policemen who died doing their duty. Some of the cops were even friends of ours. But, a cop can both ways."

The poster above is for the early Scorsese cinematic gem "Mean Streets" (1973).

SIDEBAR: Kudos to my alma mater Radford University in Radford, Va., for breaking a 29-game road losing streak in men's basketball with a 58-54 victory over Big South rival Gardner-Webb in Boiling Springs, NC (near Hickory).

Freshman Javonte Green from Alberta, Va., lead the Highlanders in scoring 12 points.

Bonus Road Trip (5 of 10)_ Mayberry to Milwaukee

Today, we look at the distance between Mount Airy, NC, which is the real-life Mayberry as it is where Andy Griffith originally hails from (he is now retired in the North Carolina coastal village of Manteo, a bit far from Mount Airy), and Milwaukee.

Ron Howard, now a film director, was on both "The Andy Griffith Show" and "Happy Days," and hopefully, anyone logging in from somewhere like Karachi, Pakistan, has some familiarity with iconic American tv sitcoms from yesteryear. If not; oh well!

For this, we took the distance between Snappy Lunch in downtown Mount Airy, a town that borders Virginia, and WTMJ (Channel-4, Milwaukee).

And, the answer is:

A) 13 hours

B) 14 hours

C) 15 hours

D) 16 hours

SIDEBAR: We jokingly said that the winner of our "Rabbit Ears Quiz" grand prize was Aysegul Denizli, from Izmir, Turkey. This was a name we had conjured up off the top of our heads. But, there does indeed happen to be a real Aysegul Denizli. She is a marketing executive in Istanbul. What a coincidence?! We certainly hope she doesn't ask for her cat toy (that was the grand prize).