Our Top Ten Comic Strips from the Dec. 28th Sunday Roanoke Times

Greetings to our blog readers in Dubai, Nigeria and Indonesia....

This week, we look at our ten favorite comic strips from the Sunday Dec. 28th "Roanoke Times" in Roanoke, Va., which unlike "The Herald-Journal" in Spartanburg, SC, does NOT feature "Gasoline Alley.," but they do have "Hi and Lois," which once in a while cracks our top ten.

Our favorite comic strip is once again "Pearls Before Swine," as Stephan Pastis once again delivered a hilarious strip which once again deals with a dispute between Goat and Rat, two of the three main characters in the strip, along with Pig. This spat revolves around whether Rat wants to stay at his fenemy Goat's house or not....the alternative is, of course, staying in a hotel/motel (top image).

Second place goes to "Get Fuzzy," which is reportedly horror writer Stephen King's favorite comic strip, and this week's Sunday strip actually features "Catch-22" (middle image) and "Moby Dick," which are two novels King has not written (forgiven the English major humor).....

And. Dave Coverly's "Speed Bump" has a penguin meeting a polar bear, hence the reason for our image of Chilly Willy (bottom)...

Here is our top ten:

1. Pearls Before Swine

2. Get Fuzzy

3. Dilbert

4. Speed Bump

5. Agnes

6. Doonesbury

7. Non Sequitur

8. Zits

9. Family Circus (wow! Three weeks in a row.......?!)

10. Garfield

SIDEBAR: Here is the top ten from the previous Sunday (Dec. 21, 2014), which we never posted: 1. Pearls: 2. Get Fuzzy; 3. Agnes; 4. Doonesbury; 5. Dilbert; 6. Speed Bump; 7. Non Sequitur; 8. Jump Start; 10. Family Circus

For this week's Sunday Washington Post survey, go to our sister blog's link: http://nocturnalguy38.blogspot.com/2015/01/top-ten-comic-strips-from-sunday-dec.html

http://www.visitutah.com/

www.roanoke.com/

http://www.gocomics.com

http://comicskingdom.com/

http://www.goupstate.com

Turkish Soccer Results_ Fenerbahce Caught Looking Ahead

Our good friend (well, we don't know him personally, but we do know him via Twitter) Ahmet Bob Turgut is very excited about tomorrow's UEFA match-up between Turkish soccer power Fenerbahce (Istanbul) and the Swiss club Basil, but was Fenerbahce looking ahead?

In domestic play, the Canaries fell to Ankara Genclerbirligi by a 2-0 margin with a goal coming from Aykut Demir (pictured bottom) in the fifth minute of play to pull off a seemingly major upset.

One of the other three Istanbul mega-teams Besiktash also had a bad weekend as they stunningly fell to Akhisar 4-1 thanks to two goals from Greek national Theofanis Gekas (we imagine he gets hate mail from old men in Cyprus for playing for a Turkish team; pictured top). The Black Eagles did not help their own cause by getting Gokhan Suzen kicked out with a red card in the 56th minute of play.

But, it was a good weekend for the third Istanbul powerhouse GalataSaray as they beat Elazigspor, a team from the eastern city of Elazig 3-1 on goals from international stars Burak Yilmaz and Didier Drogba, the Ivory Coast national scored goals in the 20th and 26th minute of play. Serdar Gurler provided the lone goal from Elazigspor in the 22nd minute.

And, our favorite Turkish Premiere League player Pablo Battalla, an Argentina national, kicked in the only goal in the match to assist his BursaSpor to a 1-0 win over Antalyaspor; that goal came in the 73rd minute of goal. Maurice Edu, an American soccer player, also plays for BursaSpor.

Nigerian national Kalu Uche scored both goals for fifth place Kasimpasha in the team's 2-0 win over struggling Orduspor, a team from the eastern Black Sea city of Ordu.

In league standings, GalataSaray leads with 62 points, followed by Fenerbahce (55), Besiktash and BursaSpor (49 points, each) and Kasimpasha (46 points) 

Here are the results of last weekend's play:

1. GalataSaray 3 Elazigspor 1

2. Kasimpasha 2 OrduSpor 0

3. Akhisar 4 Besiktash 1

4. Karabukspor 1 Mersin 0

5. GaziantepSpor 2 Istanbul BB 0

6. Kayseri 1 SivasSpor 1, tie

7. BursaSpor 1 AntalyaSpor 0

8. Ankara GB2 Fenerbahce 0

9. Trabzonspor 1 Eskisehir 0

http://www.turkish-football.com

http://www.turkeyfootball.blogspot.com

Quote of the Day/Week-Larry Bird

First of all thanks to those of you in Armenia?!*, Nigeria and Venezuela who are checking out our blog today. In honor of the upcoming 2012 London Olympics, we are quoting American athletes who won gold or silver medals at previous Summer Olympics. Last month, we did quote athletes from other countries, just ask Belarusian gymnast Svetlana Boginskaya. (**and***).

We are going with NBA Boston Celtics great Larry Bird, 55, of French Lick, Ind., because he won a team gold as a member of the Dream Team in the 1992 Barcelona Olympics; he is also one of the two subjects in a brand-new Broadway play called "Magic/Bird," which depicts the rivalry and friendship between Bird and Los Angeles Lakers great Magic Johnson.

In an excellent April 23rd article in "The Washington Post" by Preston Williams, Tug Coker, 34, who plays Bird on stage was profiled. The native of Stafford, Va., relatively close to Washington, DC, and even closer to the historic city of Fredericksburg, Va., actually briefly played college basketball at William and Mary. Coker also had aspirations of being a big-time basketball player as a youth, so in a fitting irony, he ended up on Broadway instead.

As for Bird, he won won three NBA titles with the Boston Celtics during his career (1979-1992), including championships in 1981, 1984 and 1986. Bird is now an executive with the Indiana Pacers, a team that lost to the Miami Heat recently in the NBA playoffs. But, his old team, the Boston Celtics fared better as they won in Game 7 over the Philadelphia '76ers by an 85-75, with Rajon Rondo of the Celtics scoring 18 points. They will now face the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference finals.

Here is Bird's quote:

"It doesn't matter who scores the points, it's who can get the ball to the scorer."

*-I am a Turkish-American, and there is a bit of a row between Turks and Armenians. I would go into more details, but I am not a history professor at Princeton University.

**-Yes, we seriously doubt that Boginskaya has time to read our blog; she is now reportedly a gymnastics coach in Houston, Texas.

***-We believe, however, that we did actually spell her name right!

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

Casualties of Modern Technology (1 of 12)- Swiss Cuckoo Clocks

Well, the Swiss cuckoo clock may not quite be an endangered species as one can find one on a retail site like e-bay for $200 or in a neighborhood antique store for a slightly higher or lower price.

But, in today's world, even the more modern and conventional wristwatch is becoming obsolete as every personal computer, laptop and cellphone tells each of us what time it is, irregardless if one is in Lagos, Nigeria, or Louisville, Ky.

According to Wikipedia, the cuckoo clock is pendulum-regulated, so that a mechanical cuckoo comes out at the top of each designated hour.

The cuckoo clock was first developed in the Black Forest region of Germany in 1629 by Philipp Hainhofer. The chalet/Swiss-style cuckoo clock emerged in the late 1800s. Cuckoo clocks also figure prominently in pop culture. Two examples in film include the classic thriller "The Third Man" (1949) with Orson Welles and the sci-fi cult classic "Blade Runner" (1982) with Harrison Ford. There is also a Cuckoo Clock Museum in Cheshire, England.

Cuckoo clocks, as well as other antique clocks, such as the grandfather clock, frequently comes up for discussion in the PBS show "Antiques Roadshow," which airs in most markets at 8:00 p.m. on Mondays. The episode for this coming week's show was recorded in Raleigh, NC, which is (almost) here in our backyard.

50 Beers From Around the World- Malta Gold (Nigeria)

Malta Gold, which is not a product of Malta but the west African nation of Nigeria, is brewed by Benue breweries in Nigeria.

The country is curently celebrating its 50th anniversary as of Oct. 1 since the day it declared independence from the United Kingdom.

Nigeria is the second most populated country in Africa behind South Africa.

Quote of the Day- Fela Kuti (Late Nigerian Afrobeat Star)

Today's quote featuring 32 people, alive or dead, from the 32 countries in The World Cup is from the late, great Nigerian Afrobeat singer/musican/political activist Fela Kuti (1938-1997).

Kuti was a major influence on David Byrne and his band (the) Talking Heads, especially on their hit song "Once in a Lifetime." In addition the Afro-beat pioneer was a featured artist at the 1986 Amnesty International concert in New York.

He lived both a very tragic and a very interesting life as he was once married to 27 women (!), but he died of AIDS-complications.

Kuti was also a political radical who supported The Black Panther Party and that lead to his own social rebellion in Nigeria. He made the hit 1977 record "Zombie" which was politically focused on the oppressive nature of the Nigerian military.

His music can still be heard frequently today as it was featured on the soundtrack of the critically acclaimed independent film "The Visitor" (2007).

As for the Nigerian soccer team, they had a difficult World Cup with losses to Argentina and Greece, but they tied South Korea 2-2 in their final game.

Here is the quote from Kuti, which is unsurprisingly an overt political one in nature:

"In Nigeria they convict by law, not by the truth."