10 for 10 (6th Entry): Virtual Postcard from MB, SC

Greetings to our blog readers in Costa Rica, England, and Tunisia.............


Today as the Pope is visiting Havana, Cuba, we go back to our old standby that is the virtual postcard. Today's image is of Splash, the mascot of the Myrtle Beach Pelicans who play Carolina League baseball in Myrtle Beach, SC.

Earlier this week, the Pelicans won the Carolina League title over the Wilmington Blue Rocks from Wilmington, Delaware. Pelicans' catcher Victor Caratini was named MVP of the championship series. The Pelicans are an affiliate of the Chicago Cubs.

Though summer is the peak tourist season for the South Carolina resort area, many tourists come in the off-season to get away from it all.

Hope everyone is enjoying their weekend so far. We are listening to "Snap Judgment," which airs on Tuesday nights at 9:00 p.m. on WNYC-FM (New York) with host Glynn Washington.

http://www.visitmyrtlebeach.com/

http://www.charlestoncvb.com/

http://www.snapjudgment.org

http://www.wnyc.org

Top Ten Comic Strips from Sunday Myrtle Beach Sun: Ziggy Breaks the Fourth Wall

Greetings to our blog readers in South Korea, Mexico, and Russia.

Today, we give you our ten favorite comic strips that were featured in the Sunday edition of "The Myrtle Beach Sun" in Myrtle Beach, SC. Ironically, the beach image at the top is from one of their vacation destination rivals Ocean City, Maryland!

The beach was the topic in first place strip "Off the Mark" where all the kids had taken their cellphones into the water!

The second image is in reference to "Dustin," where the kids basically pretended they were Al Pacino from "Scarface" and had a water gun fight.

Lastly, "Ziggy" featured Tom Wilson, the cartoonist behind "Ziggy," breaking the fourth wall as Ziggy told the readers that the cartoonist couldn't come up with any ideas for this week's comic strip. Maybe, next week, Ziggy can state the famous "Hamlet" line: "To Be or Not to Be, That is the Question." Just a thought.

Here is the top ten:

1. "Off the Mark"

2. "Dustin"

3. "Doonesbury"

4. "Mother Goose and Grimm"

5. "Betty"

6. "Ziggy"

7. "Curtis"

8. "Stone Soup"

9. "Dilbert"

10. "Hagar the Horrible"

http://www.gocomics.com/offthemark

http://www.gocomics.com/ziggy

Top Ten Comics from Sunday's The Sun News (Myrtle Beach, SC, July 19th edition): Dustin Gets a Gold Star

We initially believed that we had misplaced the July 19th Sunday comics section of "The Sun News" in Myrtle Beach, SC, when we found it as it was an archeological stone from ancient Egypt!

Our favorite comic from the newspaper is "Dustin," in which a young adult son walks by his whimsical mom with an overloaded laundry basket.

The second-place strip is "Off the Mark" in which a museum patron is listening to head phones with info on the art who stumbles upon a blank wall with a large hang nail which indicates that a painting, perhaps as prestigious as Edvard Munch's "The Scream" (pict. center). Munch's masterpiece was actually stolen from a museum in his native Norway.

Third place goes to "Ziggy," not to be confused with "Zippy the Pinhead" by Bill Griffith, which today made fun of Mike Huckabee (we're still laughing over that one). Ziggy makes fun of a landmark once featured in a Woody Woodpecker cartoon, that is Niagara Falls, which borders both the United States and Canada. In "Ziggy," the title character is talking to his pooch when he realizes that it is time to use the bathroom!

We have decided to arbitrarily put "Hagar the Horrible" in the tenth position as a running gag.

Here is the top ten:

1) Dustin

2) Off the Mark

3) Ziggy

4) Stone Soup

5) Doonesbury

6) Garfield

7) Dilbert

8) Blondie

9) Curtis

10) Hagar the Horrible

http://www.visitmyrtlebeach.com

http://www.myrtlebeachonline.com

http://www.thesunnews.com

http://www.comicskingdom.com

http://www.gocomics.com

Last Ten Film I've Seen Before the Last Ten Films I've Seen: Movies at the Beach

Greetings to our blog readers in Brazil, Slovakia and the Netherlands.

This entry is essentially the B-side of our entry in "The Daily Vampire" http://www.nocturnalguy38.blogspot.com

In that entry, I mentioned the last ten films I saw. Well, before we got to those there were these ten which we viewed earlier in August, including three that I saw at a multiplex in Myrtle Beach, SC; two of which ("A Most Wanted Man" and "Macig in the Moonlight") were art films!

We also watched two films ("On the Waterfront" and "Oklahoma Crude") on TCM.

The images of the late Canadian magician Doug Henning (top), the map of Oklahoma and Lucy van Pelt letting Linus have it in a "Peanuts" panel are all related to the first three films on this list.

Here are the films:

1) Magic in the Moonlight. dir: Woody Allen. 2014. w/ Emma Stone

2) Oklahoma Crude. dir: Stanley Kramer. 1973. w/ Faye Dunaway

3) Lucy. dir: Luc Besson. 2014. w/ Scarlett Johansson

4. On the Waterfront. dir: Elia Kazan. 1954 w/Marlon Brando

5. A Most Wanted Man. dir: Anton Corbijn. 2014. w/ Philip Seymour Hoffman and Rachel McAdams.

6. Lincoln. dir: Steven Spielberg. 2012.

7. A Beginner's Guide to Endings. dir. Jonathan Sobol. 2010. w/ Harvey Keitel

8. Like Someone in Love. France/Japan. 2012. dir: Abbas Kiarostami (a famed Iranian directed)

9. The Iceman. dir: Ariel Vromen. 2012. w/Michael Shannon and Winona Ryder

10. The Grandmaster. Hong Kong. 2013. dir: Wong Kar Wai.

http://www.tcm.com

Sunday Comics Grand-Slam (3 of 4): Pickup Lines for Satan

This week, we have a special surprise as we profile our top ten favorite comic strips from "The Richmond Times-Dispatch," not one of the two regular newspapers we profile in our weekly comic strips survey.

Our favorite comic strip of the week is "Pardon My Planet," a cutting edge single panel comic strip, along the lines of "The Far Side" and "Rhymes with Orange," which had the devil trying to pick up a young blonde woman in a strip which evoked the famous Edward Hopper painting "Nighthawks," with James Dean, Humphrey Bogart and Marilyn Monroe.

The break-our comic strip "Dustin," which also runs in "The Washington Post" features the title character having a discussion with his girlfriend over who said a famous quote; the strip is made funnier by the fact that Dustin has an iPhone which can verify his or her argument.

"Mark Trail," an always informative strip, talked about the lifestyles of bears in the wild, and the reader learns that a grizzly bear can get up to 1,100 pounds as an adult! These creatures which are commonly found in Alaska were recently videoed by a very brave photographer and the magazine "Grit" showed the taken footage, which reminded us of the Werner Herzog documentary "Grizzly Man."

Lastly, "Funky Winkerbean" revolved around a family vacation to the beach which included the family dog (yeah, that's the reason for our image of Astro the Dog from "The Jetsons") which seems quite suitable as (to our memory) the comic is also found in "The Myrtle Beach Sun-News," the local paper for Myrtle Beach, SC.

Here is our top ten:

1. Pardon My Planet

2. Dustin

3. Doonesbury

4. Foxtrot

5. Mark Trail

6. Funky Winkerbean

7. Rhymes with Orange

8. Get Fuzzy

9. Dilbert

10. Grin and Bear It

http://www.myrtlebeachonline.com/

http://www.timesdispatch.com

http://www.gocomics.com/marktrail

http://www.alaskamagazine.com

http://www.grit.com

Weather Temps in the Mid-Atlantic

With this image of the Snowshoe Ski Resort in Snowshoe, West Virginia. we look at weather conditions throughout the mid-Atlantic. In some places, such as the Carolina coasts, the weather is actually fairly decent for the winter time, but that it's not case in many areas, including metro areas in Virginia and Maryland.

1) Mount Jackson, Va. 25 Overcast

2) Bowie, Md. 30 Overcast

3) Chapel Hill, NC 33 Overcast

4) North Myrtle Beach, SC 42 Overcast

5) Danville, Va. 33 Overcast

6) Lewisburg, WVa. 27 Overcast

7) Oxford, NC 32 Overcast

8) Colonial Heights, Va. 33 Overcast

9) Roanoke, Va. 30 Light freezing rain

10) Fayetville, NC 37 Overcast

11) Eden, NC 34 Overcast

12) Hopewell, Va. 33 Overcast

http://www.snowshoemtn.com/

http://www.wv.gov/tourism/Pages/default.aspx

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/capital-weather-gang/  (Capital Weather Gang)

DC Week (4 of 8): A Quote from SCOTUS Justice Clarence Thomas

Greetings to those of you from the Myrtle Beach Tea Party in Myrtle Beach, SC, who would not normally turn to this slightly left-of-center blog for information, entertainment and road kill cooking recipes (yes, that is a joke..........we have no desire to eat Pepe Le Pew and neither does the family cat).

Today, we are quoting America's second most powerful African-American, who is a conservative Republican unlike most African-Americans. Supreme Court justice Clarence Thomas, 65, is an Alabama native and he reportedly disdains his alma mater Yale University.

Before we quote Thomas, we want to wish a Good Morning to our blog-readers from other parts of the world as it now 8:45 a.m. in Tel Aviv and Baghdad, and 9:45 a.m. in Muscat, Oman (we believe this is the first time we've mentioned the gulf Arab nation of Oman in a blog post).

Here is Thomas' quote, it pertains to his negative views towards affirmative action:

"I don't believe in quotas. America was founded on a philosophy of individual rights, not group rights."

For a quip from Thomas' fellow SCOTUS justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, one can visit our sister blog: http://www.nocturnalguy38.blogspot.com


http://mbteaparty.us/ (Not an endorsement)

http://www.omantourism.gov.om/wps/portal/mot/tourism/oman/home (Yes, Oman has a travel web page!).

http://www.supremecourtus.gov

http://www.yale.edu

Free Form Blogging: Sportsmen of Yesteryear

Greetings to our blog readers in Brazil, Estonia and South Africa.

Today, we are continuing the free form blogging series. This basically works kind of like "Mad Libs." We take a couple of words or phrases and make a short piece out of it. Tonight, we will try to achieve using the names of sporting men from yesterday (we have the same exercise with female athletes on our sister blog "The Daily Vampire").

We are going with Turkish soccer great Hakan Sukur, who just turned 42 (Conan O'Brien actually wished him a Happy Birthday on Twitter; pictured top), tennis legend Jimmy Connors, who just turned 61, boxer  Leon Spinks (pictured middle), golfer Arnold Palmer, baseball player Reggie Jackson and Serbian basketball star Vlade Divac (pictured below).

All these athletes are retired, which is a good thing perhaps for Palmer, as he is 93.

Let's go:

"The Turkish soccer team Sivasspor in Sivas, Turkey, has contemplated asking Hakan Sukur to come out of retirement and help them sell more tickets (this is a joke). He had a birthday on Sunday, and 24 hours later, Connors had a birthday too. We imagine these guys have probably never met. But, both athletes are better remembered that Leon Spinks, who once beat Muhammad Ali in the ring, in 1978 (we think).  We have to wonder if Arnold Palmer played putt putt in Myrtle Beach, SC, with Reggie Jackson, who'd win. We imagine that mini-golf is a sport that Vlade Divac is not too good at because: Well, it's one of the few sports where being tall is a disadvantage."

Also, kudos to our beloved Durham Bulls. They beat the Indianapolis Indians 2-0 tonight at home in Durham, NC, in the opening playoff game in the International League.

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

PSA- Save the Brown Pelican

Yesterday evening, I had a chance to listen to a segment on the NPR interview show "Fresh Air" about the brown pelicans which along with sea turtles have been greatly affected by the huge BP Oil Spill afflicting the coasts of Louisiana, Alabama, Florida and Mississippi.

Anyone who wishes to help with the National Wildlife Federation's efforts to help the birds, which up until very recently, were an endangered species (as are the sea turtles) can go to the organization's web site at nfw.org

In other happier news, The Myrtle Beach Pelicans in Myrtle Beach, SC, have a Fouth of July homestand this weekend. Last night, they beat the Kinston Indians 2-1 thanks to an outstanding effort from their pitcher Paul Clemens.

The Pelicans will host the Salem Red Sox from Salem, Va. (my hometown) starting on July 3rd.

The Akron Aeros from Akron, Ohio, another minor league baseball team, is now taking the field in Bowie, Md., to face the Bowie Baysox. Scott Barnes will take the mound for Akron while Ryohei Tanaka will be the starting pitcher for Bowie. Last night, the Aeros beat the Richmond Flying Squirrels 8-6 in another road game. We take it that someone in that organization takes a liking to "Rocky and Bullwinkle!"

Silly Photo to Fill Space_ Myrtle Beach Lobster Van

And, with this entry I wish a speedy recovery to my good friend Peggy Duncan, a professional photographer in Bethesda, Maryland*. She came down with some fluke illness, but she is doing well. Apparently, eating lots of lobster (should you able to afford it) could cause a fluke illness of some sort too!

*- I should add that Peggy Duncan is a psedonymn just in case the real Peggy Duncan googles her name and finds this blog..........

True Confession Quiz (7 of 11)

Today's True Confessions Quiz comes in a True/False form as I ask my esteemed blog visitors (both of you) if I once participated in a men's bikini contest in Myrtle Beach, SC, when I was about 25 years old circa 1995?

Immediate family members who live in places like Provo, Utah, and Twin Falls, Idaho, are disqualified from participating as they know the answer to this question.

Lastly, the Lobster Van pictured here in not from Portland, Maine, but Myrtle Beach.

I imagine lobster dinners are one casualty of the recession, but then again shark attacks are down as well!