7 Words in Norwegian (2 of 7): Octopus

Octopus=blekksprut

For 7 Words in Turkish, go to our sister blog "The Daily Vampire:" http://www.nocturnalguy38.blogspot.com

To Be or Not To Be.....Ask the Republicans

The great comic/author Sarah Vowell said: "No one goes to the Ford's Theatre to see the play." The joke is that many are curious to be watching a theatrical performance in a place where the assasination of President Abraham Lincoln took place. But, as great as that quip is, the reality is that the Ford's Theatre is apparently a great place to see a play.

But, right now, there is uncertainty if 'the show will go' or not, due to the looming possibility of a federal government shutdown, which earlier today seemed to have reached a miracolous conclusion, but now we aren't so certain.

The Ford's Theatre in Washington, DC, is not actually performing "Hamlet," but rather a musical/comedy romp called "Liberty Smith," which "The Washington Post" described as an '18th centry Zelig.'

The fictional character Liberty Smith was, according to the theatre's web site, a childhood pal of George Washington, an aide to Benjamin Franklin and he was linked to Paul Revere's historic ride.

The we site for the theatre has a warning about the possibility of a shutdown, which would also affect national parks from The Everglades in Florida to Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado. For further info about Ford's Theatre, one can call 202-347-4833.

We would recommend going to the Berlin Zoo in Berlin, Germany, as an alternative (yes, that would have been a joke) but sadly both Knut the polar bear, who died at age four, and Shaina Pali the elephant from India, who died at age six, have passed away very recently. They were major attractions at the zoo, and Knut made global headlines as he was the first polar bear born in captivity.

Earlier in the year, Paul the Octopus, died at age two. He garnered world fame by accurately predicting World Cup games. But, the aquarium that housed him in the German city of Oberhausen has erected a six-foot memorial of him with the octopus hovering over a soccer ball with the flags of all 32 countries that competed at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

Lastly, we should mention that we are dedicating to our friends in South Bend, Indiana, and Grand Forks, North Dakota, who will soon be having their lunch hours.

Alas, both Notre Dame and the University of North Dakota (well, I was personally rooting for Michigan, one of my late father's alma maters) lost in the Frozen Four in St. Paul, Minn., yesterday.

Notre Dame lost by a 4-3 score to Minn-Duluth, and the Fighting Sioux fell to the Wolverines by a 2-0 margin. It was only the third time all year that North Dakota had been shut out.

High School of the Week- Daniel Boone HS in Gray, Tennessee

We conclude our High School of the Week series today with a profile of Daniel Boone High School in Gray, Tennessee, near Johnson City, Tenn., where Eastern Tennessee State University is located.

The school nicknamed the Trailblazers won the 2010 Tennessee High School Women's Softball Championship in Murfreesboro; the team had a 41-9 record.

Daniel Boone HS has an enrollment of 1,300 students. The school principal is Roger Jackson. On Monday, the school serves a choice of a fresh deli sandwich (ham or turkey) or a turkey corn dog...........hmm?!

This reminds me an entry in the "Things We Learned on Twitter" today series we had here a few months ago about a San Francisco restaurant that was serving lobster corn dogs!

There is also a Daniel Boone HS in Birdsboro, Pennsylvania.

SIDEBAR: The BBC had a somber story about a zoo fire in Karlsrule, Germany, that killed 26 animals, including Shetland ponies, sheep, goats and a llama.

SIDEBAR TWO: On a lighter note, the satirical publication "The Onion" is 'reporting' that Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Michael Vick is feeling confident enough to do something terrible again. Vick, as everyone probably knows, is a convicted felon who bred pit bulls for the sole purpose of raising them to engage in dog fighting. Vick is an alumnus of Virginia Tech which is playing a big ACC game on the road against UNC today, kickoff is set for 3:30 p.m. eastern time. Paul the Octopus is apparently picking the Hokies (that is a joke!)

Viva Espana!

Kudos to Spain for winning the 2010 World Cup and Xica (pictured here) who was named the tournament's most valuable player.

South Africa's president Jacob Zuma declared the World Cup a victory for the host country as well:

"Let us keep celebrating, let the vuvuzelas keep blowing and let the football festival continue at Soccer City...This has been a truly inspiring, moving and uplifting month. Well done, South Africa."

Paul the Octopus had predicted a Spanish win over Holland in the World Cup final. One English handicapper said that if a gambler had bet according to Paul's predictions, they would have earned themselves $4,500!

Nostradamus the Octopus?!

Before we start this entry which is going on at the same time as the World Cup soccer game between Holland and Slovakia, we should note that we tried tirelessly to get a proper image for the subject. But, after many failed efforts to find a fitting image, we simply decided to go with The Octopus Man, a comic book villain who we think comes from "Spiderman." (I'm sure the guys at Acme Comics in Greensboro, NC, would be delighted to correct me if I'm wrong!).

But, we loved this sport that we heard while listening to the BBC during a bout with insomnia circa 2:30 a.m. last night.

Apparently, Paul the Octopus who is residing in an aquarium in the German city of Oberhausen has predicted the outcomes of all German soccer games, including their surprsingly first round 1-0 loss to Serbia and yesterday's 4-1 German victory over England.

His handlers give Paul, who has even made news in Saudi Arabia, baited glass cubes with mussels and mark them with national flags.

The irony here is that the octopus was born in an English aquarium!

In other world sports news, the English-language Twitter page of Turkish daily newspaper "Hurriyet" reported that Mehmet Yesilyesil, 24, won the coveted 649th Kirkpinar Oil Wrestling Festival near Edirne, Turkey (a western Turkish city near the Bulgarian and Greek borders), yesterday.

Amazingly enough, Yesilyesil won the event in which one must beat out lots and lots of wrestlers (this year it was 498!) for the title. The sport of oil wrestling has become quite a novelty for foreign tourists visiting Turkey because to western eyes the sport looks a bit (how else can I put this?!) homoerotic......since I am a Turkish-American, I should strongly emphasize this is not my own personal view!