High Schools of the Week- Ragsdale HS to Clairemont HS

Greetings to our blog readers in Estonia, Costa Rica and South Africa. Assuredly, many of you might be unfamiliar with American high schools....we hope this helps (well, at least, somewhat!).

Here are our six 'High Schools of the Week,' let's start with Ragsdale High School in the Greensboro-suburb of Jamestown, NC..........this is not the place the settlers landed, that would be Jamestown, Va:

1) Ragsdale High School (pictured top): Nickname: Tigers.  Jamestown, NC. Principal: Dr. Kathryn M. Rogers. Notable alumni: Gov. Pat McCrory (R-NC). The school is also well-known for its marching band.

2) Bluefield High School. Bluefield, W.Va (there is also a Bluefield, Va., on the other side of the border). Nickname: Beavers. Principal: Michael Collins. Colors: Black and White. Enrollment: 650 students Main Rival: Graham High School.

3) Conway High School. Conway, SC. Nickname: Tigers. Principal: Steven Fitch. Colors: Green and Gold. Enrollment: 1,577.

4) Floyd County High School (pictured center). Floyd, Va. Nickname: Buffaloes. Principal: Tony Deibler.

5) Science Hill High School. Johnson City, Tenn. Nickname: Hilltoppers. Principal: Melanie Riden-Bacon. Notable alumni: Matt Czuchry (tv's "Gilmore Girls").

6) Clairemont High School (pictured bottom; the school was the inspiration for the 1982 film "Fast Times at Ridgemont High;" the late actor Ray Walston played Mister Hand): San Diego, Calif. Nickname: The Chieftains. School newspaper: "The Arrow"

SIDEBAR: If anyone is interested or cares, there are 170 calories in a pack of Milk Duds!

http://ragsdalehighband.blogspot.com/

http://www.visitfloyd.org/

http://www.chsarrow.com/

https://www.alumniclass.com/conway/

Blogging in 3.5 Minutes or Less: Our Favorite High School Films That are NOT from the John Hughes Era

Since today is Throwback Thursday, and greetings to our blog-readers in Switzerland, Colombia and Nepal, we thought we'd post six of our favorites which were not released in the 1980s.

In 1988, I myself graduated as valedictorian* from Ragsdale High School, in Jamestown, NC,** a suburb of Greensboro, NC.

Here is our list, in order of release year as opposed to preference (James Dean and Natalie Wood are pictured above from the film "Rebel Without a Cause").........ahh, we forgot about the late-70s gems "The Wanderers" and "Over the Edge"......oh well!:

"Rebel Without a Cause" (1955)

"American Graffiti" (1973)

"Cooley High" (1975)

"Carrie" (1977)

"Dazed and Confused" (1993)

"Election" (1999)

*-This is a bold-face lie, I was not valedictorian

**-I did not go to Ragsdale High School, but we hear it's a swell place

http://ragsdalehighband.blogspot.com/

Greetings from Mister Frog

Yes, even though we know frogs are amphibians instead of reptiles, we are stubbornly featuring them as part of Reptile Week because every frog deserves his or her day.

The frog being featured here is the American bullfrog, which is usually green or yellow with a white belly. It can be found quite readily in southern states, such as Louisiana. We would give a shout out to Louisiana's governor Bobby Jindal, but we don't want to be mistaken for a Republican although Jindal did have the guts to criticize Mitt Romney for his sour grapes speech to major campaign contributors regarding his well-deserved loss to President Barack Obama.

Apparently, the difference between amphibians and reptiles are that amphibians are born as soft eggs in water then hatch into eggs whereas reptiles are born in shelled eggs. Zzzzzzzzz.........sorry, thought I was back in my 10th biology class at Ragsdale High School in Jamestown, NC, a suburb of Greensboro.*

Reptiles and amphibians can be seen at the San Diego Zoo though at the moment, it appears that a giant panda cub who was formally named "Little Grit" on Tuesday (the cub was born over the summer) is the latest animal celebrity at the park.

SIDEBAR: In ACC women's college volleyball action tonight, the home team Clemson Tigers won a tough 3-2 game (25-21, 16-25, 25-19, 16-25, 15-12) over the visiting Duke Blue Devils on Senior Night. Serenat Yaz, a Turkish player for the Tigers who wears number one, was among the four seniors who were honored for Senior Night. Yaz had 13 kills and 13 digs for Clemson. Moneisha Simmons, a junior from Bufford, Georgia, contributed with 14 kills and 7 digs in the victory for the home team.

Here are other results from ACC volleyball games from Friday night; the home teams are marked with the # symbol:

#Georgia Tech 3 Wake Forest 0

# UNC 3 Virginia Tech 0 (more details on this are available on our sister blog "The Daily Vampire:" http://www.nocturnalguy38.blogspot.com ).

#Maimi (Fla) 3 Boston College 0

#Florida State 3 Maryland 0

#North Carolina State 3 UVa 0

http://www.louisianatravel.com

http://www.coolamphibians.blogspot.com

http://www.sandiegozoo.org

http://www.clemsontigers.com

http://www.ragsdalemarchingband.org

*- We did not go to Ragsdale High School, but we hear that they have a great marching band!

Greensboro vs. Roanoke- Dive Bar Hopping (4 of 6)

Today, we have our fourht installment of our Greensboro vs. Roanoke, which looks at familiar local things in Greensboro, NC, where I reside, and Roanoke,Va., my hometown.

And, we now move to a look at two of the most familiar bars in both cities.

First, there is the Coffee Pot on Brambleton Avenue, which is actually just outside the city limits in Roanoke County. The Coffee Pot is a historic roadhouse with a stucco coffee pot structure near its roof. The establishment was built in 1936. Willie Nelson and the Rev. Billy C Wirtz, who is actually a South Carolina blues singer/comedian are among the famous singers who have graced the stage of the road house.

The Flatiron on 221 Summit Avenue is actually in the city limits of The Gate City and it is close to Elm Street, which is the main street in downtown Greensboro. The bar was built much, much later than the Coffee Pot as it opened in 1993.

Though I could not find out if any big name celebrity singers have performed there, the venue has hosted acclaimed local and regional acts, including Greensboro folk singing legend Bruce Piephoff (a personal friend of mine) and the band Jews and Catholics, which has an interesting and confusing name.

Of the two, we would choose the Flatiron simply for the fact that Greensboro has a much mroe thriving local music scene. Since I don't drink beer very often, although I'd love to have a Terrapin Beer brewed in Athens, Ga., some time, one is not too likely to see me at either place. But, I am told that bars are supposedly the best place to meet women. Hmmmm........

SIDEBAR: Kudos to Ragsdale High School, located in the Greensboro 'burb of Jamestown, NC, as they defeated Grimsley High School 37-7 last night. But, the Tarheel State's most thrilling high school game may have been Carrboro High School's 47-36 win over Central Davidson.

High School of the Week- Woodrow Wilson High School (Washington DC)

We have focused on Ragsdale High School in Jamestown, NC (near Greensboro), Bluefield High School in Bluefield, WVa, and Clarke County High School in Athens, Ga., but we have not yet focused on any high schools in the nation's capital.

So, today we conclude our series (at least until sometime next year, perhaps) with a blog entry dedicated to students at Woodrow Wilson High School in Washington, DC, so high school kids in Capital City don't feel like we are snubbing them.

WWHS (there is a school of the same name in Beckley, West WVa) is located in Tenlytown, and among the school's famous alumni are Warren Buffet and former DC mayor Adrian Fenty. Buffet graduated in 1947, and was voted as being very likely to become a stock broker.

The school mascot is the Wilson Tiger (obviously, this is NOT the school helmet) and the school colors are green and white.

Pete Cahall is the principal of the school, which has students from 85 different countries. The Tigers also have their own squash and crew teams!

SIDEBAR: In a story that we could call 'Midnight Express in Reverse,' the NPR talk show "The Story," hosted by Dick Gordon, reported back on Nov. 15 that a Canadian of Iraqi descent Yassin Alsalman, aka The Narcisyst, a filmmaker/rap singer who once made a video of what it would be like to racially profiled by airport security had that very same experience while at the Toronto Airport. And, after an unholy five hours of integration with no basis, Alsalman was denied entry into The United States.

He was attempting to travel to Washington, DC, for a film screening at a film festival there. A few shows later, one listener who is hopefully a Tea Bagger said Alsalman got exactly what he deserved which is what Turkish people once said about Billy Hayes (the man whose story was told in "Midnight Express"). So much for a global community.

SIDEBAR TWO: Drew Carey, the comedian who hosts "The Price is Right," and Scott Simon of NPR were both making fun of President Barack Obama's pickup basketball game injury today which resulted in 12 stiches on his lip through Twitter. Carey tweeted that 'he didn't know that Obama was playing basketball with Dick Cheney,' while Simon said the man the president was playing with could end up becoming ambassador to North Korea.

SIDEBAR THREE: In the "Did She Really Say That?" Dept., Sarah Palin told far right-wing nutcase Glenn Beck this week that: "We need to stick with our North Korean allies."

Happy Thanksgiving/Black Friday from Howdy Doody

Gazooks! Gazooks! Gazooks!

As we were finishing up this entry about 45 minutes ago, my mom's whole computer abruptly crashed!

So, let's cut to the chase before anything else goes wrong!

I did want to mention that even though I'm not a vegetarian or vegan myself, that I thought it was interesting that WUNC-FM reported yesterday that the largest vegetarian Thanksgiving dinner in the nation is served in the Raleigh, NC, area.

This year, Dilip Barman put together two T'giving dinners: one at Cafe Parizade in Durham and another at Spice Street Restaurant in Durham. A total of some 800 folks come out for the gathering, and it sold out weeks in advance. The Triangle Vegan Society is in fact already taking reservations for next year!

I have to wonder if an evangelical like Rev. Chris Hazilip of Salisbury, NC (a real person) would venture to such an event, but since most vegans are very, very liberal and most revival preachers are EXTREMELY conservative, it might not go over well here in Purple Carolina.

Alas, our beloved Ragsdale Flying Tigers from Jamestown, NC, fell to arch rival High Point Central, the alma mater of Olympic speedskater Heather Richardson, by a 21-14 count last week. But, we wish them well next year.

Finally, NPR reported today that the Mister Kool Aid float made its debut at the Macy Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York today. I was only able to get a glimpse of the Hello Kitty float on tv; it made its debut in 2007.

Well, no crashes this time around, but of course, mom is not going to be too happy with me!

Silly Photo to Fill Space- UNC Mascot

For those of us who live on the North Carolina-Virginia border, the annual football game between the Virginia Tech Hokies, where my late father and sister went to school, and The University of North Carolina is perhaps more exciting than the in-state rivalries, especially since Wake Forest, Duke and The University of Virginia have weak football programs at the moment.

The game takes place on Saturday afternoon in Chapel Hill, and I know my friend Greensboro, NC, folk singer Bruce Piephoff will be rooting for his beloved Tarheels. We should also mention that Bruce is actually performing in Aberdeen,NC (not Southern Pines, NC, as we stated in our 'Easy Rider' entry yesterday; we are too lazy to make corrections) at The Rooster's Wife on Sunday at 6:30 p.m.

SIDEBAR: Our beloved Ragsdale Flying Tigers in Jamestown, NC, (not my alma mater) beat rival Glenn HS 49-21 to advance in the North Carolina state high school football playoffs tonight.


Other state scores are as follows:

High Point Central 28 Smith 22

Eastern Alamance 36 Rockingham County 10

Randleman 36 Reidsville 35

Carrboro 55 Whiteville 33

North Carolina High School Football Roundup

The Western Alamance Warriors (pictured here) were among the victors in high school football action on Friday night in the Greensboro, NC, region. While, the mighty Reidsville High School Rams who had a very impressive 57 games in a row fell at home to Cummings High School by a 28-7 score.

Kudos once again to our beloved Ragsdale High School Flying Tigers who beat rival Northwestern Guilford High School 24-21.

This list of North Carolina scores includes schools that are mostly within a one-hour radius of Greensboro, Winston-Salem and High Point:

Cummings 28 Reidsville 7
Smith 27 Page 18
North Davidson 24 Reagan 14
Ragsdale 24 NW Guilford 21
Western Alamance 25 Williams 21
Mount Tabor 39 Reynolds 7
Mount Airy 37 Northern Surry 7
Dudley 24 Southeastern Guilford 10
Rockingham County 18 Eastern Guilford 14
Forsyth 14 Asheboro 0
Northwood 35 Carrboro 34
Salisbury 56 Central Davidson 37 (wow!)
High Point 41 Parkland 20

SIDEBAR: In ACC football action, UNC won a rare victory over UVA as the Tarheels spanked the Cavs' 44-10. North Carolina State lost an out-of-conference game to state rival ECU 33-27 and hapless Duke gave their best, but fell to Miami (Fla) by a 28-13 score.

SIDEBAR TWO: Happy 50th wedding anniversary to Fred and Wilma Flintstone of Bedrock, Pa. (There is actually a Bedford, Pa; I ate a Denny's there once! By the way, I hate semicolons!). "The Flintstones" are indeed 50 years old this week as the ainmated series first aired in 1960.

Quote of the Week_ Akira Kurosawa

This month we are featuring quotes from famous film directors, and we start with the late Japanese master Akira Kurosawa:

"Man is a genius when he is dreaming."

SIDEBAR: We will miss Tony Curtis. As mentioned in my last entry, I had just seen his 1958 film "The Vikings" earlier in the week. I did not mention that I had also seen his 1968 film "The Boston Strangler," both films were directed by the late Richard Fleischer, in which Curtis played the dubious title role. He gave an excellent performance in the later film, which also featured Henry Fonda, which surprisingly did not garner Curtis an Oscar nomination. We are certainly sad that he had died, and our thoughts go out to Jamie Lee Curtis.

SIDEBAR TWO: Our favorite high school in North Carolina, Ragsdale HS from Jamestown, NC, once again won a big game last night as they triumphed over Eastern Forsyth 10-7.

Ragsdale HS Wins Big

I didn't go to Ragsdale High School in Jamestown, NC- which is a suburb for both Greensboro and High Point, myself. But, we seem to have a loyal following from Ragsdale HS fans. (Alas, there is no firm research to prove this!).

But, we can confirm that Ragsdale beat the living daylights out of Parkland High School by a 47-8 score. We don't know if the opposing team's mascot was pounced on afterward, but irregardless after this game, he will probably file for unemployment.

In other North Carolina high school football action, Rockingham County HS from Wentworth (near Reidsville) beat their arch rivals McMichael High School 41-20, which means the Confederate flags in Mayodan, NC (where McMichael is located) will probably fly at half-staff.

In a more progressive part of the state, where I can very well park beside another car with a Barack Obama bumper sticker, Carrboro High School beat their fellow Orange County rivals Chapel Hill High School 22-20.

And, Eastern Alamance beat Eastern Guilford 30-21, which gave people in those areas something to do besides watch "Dexter's Labratory" reruns on Boomerang on a Friday night.

Half a world away, there were three soccer games in Turkey earlier in the day. A seagull actually landed at Inonu Stadium in Istanbul, but that didn't prevent the home side Besiktash from defeating AntalyaSpor 2-1. GaziantepSpor was also a 1-0 winner over EskisehirSpor for those of you who follow us regularly from those zip codes (hmm....I guess it's possible someone could be reading this blog in Gaziantep or Eskisehir!).

SIDEBAR: We used to publish letters to the editor that we loved, but we feared we would cease and desist order from the likes of "Time" or "Newsweek," so we quit doing it. But, I didn't want to mention excerpts from a letter that San Francisco resident Marta Lindsey sent to "The Atlantic." In the letter, she said that when she put the word 'average' into Google, she got automated suggestions which included penile length, IQ, salary, and weight?!

Today We Celebrate Five Years of Blogging

As of today, this blog (which originally ran on AOL; they have since ended their blogging features) is five years old!

And, as usual, it has put me slightly behind my schedule as I have pertinent things to do today like read email, go to a comic book store and watch a Criterion version of some obscure early Ingmar Bergman film.

They are actually kicking people off computers here at the Pyongyang Public Library in Pyongyang, North Korea (that is a joke, so don't call Jimmy Carter!).

So, let me go ahead and congratulate the Ragsdale High School football team who won their home game in Jamestown, NC (a suburb of Greensboro and High Point) by a whopping 52-7 margin over Person County High School which had to make what must have been an awful hour and a half trip back to Roxboro last night. Though we feel for the folks from Person County HS, I gather Ragsdale fans follow my blog more closely so we are ultimately happier for the home team!

Finally, anyone looking a new home for a cat or dog (of course, cats are the better pet), in the Triad might want to go to the Forsyth County Animal Shelter in Winston-Salem where a tuxedo kitten named Rebel is looking for a new home.

Well, the North Korean soldiers are pointing towards me, so we better run while we have the chance....!