10 for 10 (7th Entry): Virtual Postcard from North Carolina....

Greetings to our readers in Uruguay, Panama, and South Korea....

Our initial choice for a virtual postcard was the quaint small town of Madison, which is hosting a heritage festival on Saturday, Oct. 3rd, with 100 vendors, but we couldn't find a suitable image. Madison is in Rockingham County, which also includes the towns of Eden and Reidsville.

Instead, we opt for this photo of Old Salem in Winston-Salem, some 45 miles west of Madison. Winston-Salem is also the host of the River Run Film Festival in April, and the home of Wake Forest University.

In European soccer action today, Eden Hazard of Chelsea scored a late goal to solidify a 2-0 victory over their London crosstown rivals Arsenal.

In the Netherlands, Heracles upset PSV Eindhoven 2-1. And, in Turkey, the Istanbul powerhouse Galatasaray managed a 1-0 victory over perennial contender Trabzonspor.

http://www.townofmadison.org/

http://www.shoprockinghamcounty.com/

http://www.oldsalem.org/

http://www.visitwinstonsalem.com/

Today is This Blog's 8th Anniversary

It was on this day that we started blogging with this blog eight years ago. Very few of us from the 'Keystone Kops' days of the blogosphere have kept up with our blogs for this long. One person who comes to mind is my good friend Chris Knight of Reidsville, NC.

I should point that the Chris Knight I know was not on "The Brady Bunch" (it aired before he was born, and when I was an infant), nor is he the singer who is playing Kirk Avenue Music Hall in Roanoke, Va., on Sept. 29th.

http://kirkavenuemusic.com/

Nor is he related to the great cartoonist Keith Knight of "K-Chronicles" and  the "Knight Life" comic strip, which runs in the Sunday "Washington Post." Keef, as he likes to call himself, is actually an African-American. The Chris Knight I know, and the other two Chris Knights are all white guys.

http://www.kchronicles.com/


But, the Chris Knight I know is the guy aired a Star Wars-themed tv ad when he unsuccessfully ran for an open seat for the Rockingham County School Board in 2006. (Interestingly, both Chris Knight the blogger and Keith Knight are huge Star Wars fans).

 http://theknightshift.blogspot.com/

http://www.theforce.net

The most popular blog entry on this particular blog is one that discusses a tweet from Bristol Palin (Sarah Palin's daughter.) It has close to 15,000 hits. We are still amazed by that!

Here's to eight more years.....

Although I'd like to take a day off and go to the Museum of Bad Art in Massachussetts:

http://www.museumofbadart.org/

The Return of Friday Night Tweets: Bad Night to Deliver Pizzas in Raleigh, NC

The three images above are of: 1) Soap actress Nadia Bjorlin of "Days of Our Lives" fame (she is apparently not on the show right now, but she has come back twice); 2) Police officers in Troy, Montana, and 3) Local televangelists from Reidsville, NC, we are actually using their image to go with a tweet about Kansas. We do have to thank friend and fellow blogger Chris Knight as he used the image of the Men in Grey on his blog initially. We believe this two tv preachers are associated with the very radical Rev. Johnny Robertson from Martinsville, Va.

Let's go:

1) Nadia Bjorlin @RealNadiaB: "Happy Friday! First day off summer and I'm off to Vegas!"

2) Raleigh News @RaleighNews: "Two pizza delivery drivers robbed minutes apart in Raleigh."

3) The Denver Post @Denverpost: "Ironman triathlon coming to Boulder in August 2014."

4) Wall Street Journal @WSJ: "Montana is the first state to require police get a warrant before tracking a suspect through a cell phone."

5) The Seattle Times @seattletimes: "Got big plans this weekend? Beware of traffic impact
from Saturday's Rock 'N' Roll Marathon"

6) Rolling Stone @rollingstone: "Gun nuts, anti-abortion zealots and free-market cultists are leading Kansas toward disaster."

7) ABC 11 WTVD in Raleigh, NC @ABC11-WTVD: "Report: 2 cannons raised from Blackbeard's ship."

http://www.nadia-bjorlin.com

http://www.visitmt.com

http://www.visittopeka.us

http://www.theknightshift.blogspot.com

Last Ten Films We've Seen- Cosmopolis Rules

 

 

 

Well, folks about 113 things went wrong as we were posting this; here are some notes on the images:

 

 

1. The dolphin for "The Day of the Dolphin"

 

2. The lizards from the Belgrade Zoo in Serbia are because Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi who is under house arrest in Iran develops a close relationship with a pet lizard since he can not legally leave is apartment.

 

3. The fringe preachers from Reidsville, NC, who may well be affilated with the radical Rev. Johnny Robertson from Martinsville, Va., which is close to Reidsville, are in refernece to "Elmer Gantry," a film about a revival ministers with a questionable background. This image comes from my friend's Chris Knight's blog (see link below)...

 

Here are the films:

 

1. "Holy Motors" (France. dir-Leos Carax. 2012)

 

2. "Cosmopolis" (Canada. dir-David Cronenberg. 2012)

 

3. "Elmer Gantry" (dir-Richard Brooks. 1960)

 

4. "The Day of the Dolphin" (dir- Mike Nichols. 1973)

 

5.  "This Is Not a Film" (Iran. dir-Jafar Panahi, 2011)

 

6. "Spring Breakers" (dir-Harmony Korine. 2012.)

 

7. "Alfie" (dir-Lewis Gilbert. 1966)

 

8 "The Company You Keep" (dir. Robert Redford, 2012)

 

9. "Wake in Fright" (dir. Ted Kotceff. 1971)

 

10. "The Brass Teapot" (dir. Ramaa Mosley. 2012)

 

http://theknightshift.blogspot.com/

Things We Learned from Twitter Today- Wrestler's True Cause of Death

In a tweet from Slate.com this evening, we learned that former pro wrestler Randy "Macho Man" Savage, 58, who was a rival of Hulk Hogan's in the 1980s, actually died from a heart attack as opposed to a car accident.

It was widely reported and logically assumed that a car accident claimed Savage's life in May as the car he was driving hit a tree in Seminole, Fla. (near Tampa). But, an autopsy report released today has proven that a heart attack actually claimed the former wrestling superstar's life.

In other tweets, though I do politically differ with my libertarian friend Chris Knight of Reidsville, NC, since I am a centrist to liberal Democrat who only wishes Barack Obama could have as many terms as FDR, I did love this biting proclamation by him which everyone can assuredly sympathize with:

"Said it before and will say it again: American politics is two identical cages of howler monkeys throwing handfuls of dung at each other."

Since the Turkish newspaper "Hurriyet" reported this week that that there were similar bickerings between conservatives and liberal parliament members in Ankara, Turkey, (I am a Turkish-American), it appears that Knight's viewpoint is one usually felt around the globe.

SIDEBAR: For those who like to stay up even later than me on Friday nights, TCM will air the 1958 Boris Karloff film "Frankenstein 1970," which should not be confused with Andy Warhol's version (or the Mel Brooks film "Young Frankenstein" for that matter) at 2:45 a.m., immediately following a marathon on B-westerns starring Roy Rogers and his beloved horse Trigger. The screening is part of the late-night series TCM Underground, which was once hosted by Rob Zombie- of all people!

Silly Photo to Fill Space- Darth Vader Dogs

We thought we'd post an entry with this vintage photo of a dog dressed like Darth Vader. Some friends and co-workers are urging to keep my promise of dressing up like the Star Wars for Halloween as I jokingly promised a few weeks ago, but costumes are going for (yikes!) $90 online. My friend Chris Knight of Reidsville, NC, might be inclined to buy it though since he loves Star Wars, so much so that he once used in a local political campaign when he ran for school board offie in 2006.

The Asheville Humane Society in Asheville, NC, is sponsoring a special event aimed at increasing adoptions over the upcoming Halloween weekend. The event called The Halloween Dog Festival will be held on Sat. from 1-5 p.m., and it will include costume categories for both large and small dogs.

Among the mutts that are up for adoption in Asheville are Cassandara, an 11-month-old spayed retriever lab, Anchoive, a five-year-old terrier/chihuahua and Honeycomb, a nine-month-old female lab beagle.

For more info, one can call 828-761-2001.

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.

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?!

Kudos to Fellow Blogger Chris Knight on Passing One Million Hits

Chris Knight of Reidsville, NC, achieved a loyal cult following in 2006 when he ran for Rockingham County School Board because of his radical Star-Wars themed ad which got shown on VH-1, and E! as well as the now defunct "The Jay Leno Show."

Knight now has his own Wikipedia entry, which is more extensive than several Olympic American gold medalists, and a blog (http://www.theknightshift.blogspot.com) which just surpassed the one million hit mark last week.

I must profess that a part of me admires my fellow North Carolina resident for reaching this milestone, but I actually enjoy being 'under the radar.' Especially, since I expected some sort of condemnation for jokes I made about the likes of Clarence Thomas, Dick Cheney, Sarah Palin and Pat Robertson, but I never got any though once I did get some flack from a man who may have been Cheney himself?! (And, since he's recovering from a recent heart attack, he may be glancing at this page yet again........well, we actually hope that's NOT the case).

Knight and I have political differences. He is a Libertarian who usually votes for third party candidates in national elections. While I have voted for every Democratic candidate for president since 1988 when I turned 18, and that included Michael Dukakis, which did not go over well with my Turkish relatives!

I also believe global warming is a real problem though I realize Al Gore is perhaps not the best delivery man for this serious situation because he is a partisan figure, but Knight basically thinks it's all a hoax (from what I gather).

Knight is also a devout follower of the cult ABC series "Lost," which I've only watched twice.

But, in spite of these nuanced differences, I really love his blog especially a recent entry on how a statue of Andy Griffith in Mount Airy, NC, was defaced by vandals?! And, he is always up on the latest video gizmos and science fiction films as well as some unique and strange stories that few of us seem to discover. And, there is his feud with the Rev. Johnny Robertson of Martinsville, Va., who is pretty much the Jim Jones of southside Virginia (you can quote me on that!).

So, we congratulate Knight and I expect he will be getting his 2,000,000th in the very near future or at least before that crazy preacher in Martinsville's prediction for Doomsday?!

Happy Birthday to the Backstreet Buzz Coffee House!

I want to wish a happy second birthday to the Backstreet Buzz Coffeehouse in Reidsville, NC, which is going to go on with scheduled activities celebrating the occasion tonight in spite of earlier concerns of inclement weather which has greatly affected communities like Rocky Mount, Va., a mere hour and a half away.

I always enjoy driving down Route 29 from Greensboro to visit Dave and Linda and their establishment which has got considerable regional recognition in the Greensboro/High Point area.

The establishment has featured musical performances from the likes of Greensboro's acclaimed folk singer Bruce Piephoff, who performed at the Backstreet Buzz in April.

Their food specialties include the white bean soup and their California Wrap. Of course, they also have plenty of coffee and tea beverages which lead to go with this image of Too Much Coffee Man from Portland, Oregon-cartoonist Shannon Wheeler (actually a man).

Though they are not celebrating an anniversary this weekend, the Chapel Hill Comics store in Chapel Hill, NC, offers a great selection of off-beat comics and graphic novels like Too Much Coffee Man.

On Feb. 21, Chapel Hill Comics will host graphic novelist Ben Towle who will sign copies of his new book "Amelia Earhardt: This Broad Ocean" from 2-4 p.m. And, they will feature a signing from Ursula Vermon who will sign copies of her latest book "Dragonbreath Attack of the Ninja Turtles."

If one is driving through Reidsville or Chapel Hill, two communities which are about 75 miles apart, they may wish to look at their web sites to see what's going on:

http://www.backstreetbuzzcoffeehouse.com

http://www.chapelhillcomics.com

Silly Photo to Fill Space- Angora Cat

A Turkish Angora Cat (pictured here) was among those I saw at a cat show in Roanoke, Va., over the weekend. The cat's owner told me that there is a specialized zoo for these cats in Ankara, Turkey. My late uncle Ilhan Gokbudak, a Turkish diplomat who gave me the autograph of Chilean dictator Pinochet (!) actually lived in Ankara. Alas, he is dead now, so I can't ask him to verify this for me.

But, I can say that there are many cats out there who need a home (Alas, I already have a tuxedo cat named Gizmo- and, he is quit a handful!).

There are several animal shelters in North Carolina with pet adoption services.

These include the Orange County Animal Shelter which has a main branch in Hillsborough, NC, (they have two other shelters in the county including one in Chapel Hill) which currently has a tuxedo cat named Missy, a black cat named Mungo and another black cat named Crumper. They can be reached at 919-732-8181.

Another animal shelter in the Triad (Greensboro) area is the Rockingham County Animal Shelter in Reidsville, NC, which is currently offering several cats for adoption. Among them are a tabby named Houdini, a tuxedo cat named Gene Kelly and another tuxedo cat named Fred Astaire.

My good friend Moviezzz can probably name every Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly movie off the top of his head, but the only I can come up with are "Top Hat" and "Singing in the Rain," respectively!

Silly Photo to Fill Space- Star Wars

I'm sure my good buddy Chris Knight from Reidsville, NC, who has a blog at: http://www.knightshift.blogspot.com

He loves "Star Wars." I think he's seen "Return of the Jedi" 17 times, which is 16 times more than I've seen it. Though my cousin and Mike sure had a good time when we saw it a now-closed cinema in Rock Hill, SC, back when were kids in 1983 when movies didn't cost $400 million to make (excuse the 'Avatar' joke).


I got this idea when I saw an amazing photograph of a man dressed as a storm trooper walking around a hotel in Roanoke, Va., during a science fiction convention in the Sunday "Roanoke Times." But, that photo is apparently not on the web, so we're using this one instead.

I was also going to link this photo to the Roanoke Police Department, but their web site is not as cool as the Chicago Police Department's web site, so we will mention them instead. According to the Windy City's PD, they recently gave Christmas presents to two youths who were badly injured in a fire back in November.

Of course, we like all police officers irregardless of how hip or unhip their department's web site is. But, if one looks at the Chicago Police Department's web site (chicagopolice.org), you will definitely want to have a hot dog at a Cubs game with one of their officers. 'Course, with my luck, their police chief Jody Weis is probably a White Sox fan!

Happy Holidays from Bo the White House Dog

Everyone who was watching CNN at any point yesterday is aware that President Barack Obama is in Hawaii. Which makes one wonder who is looking after Bo? Or, did the Obamas take him with them to the islands?

Nevertheless, we thought it would be good to mention that plenty of cats and dogs are up for adoption at your local animal shelter. In my hometown of Salem, Va. (www.salempets.org), the Salem City Animal Shelter can be reached at 540-375-3038. In Reidsville, NC, the city where I live, which has a very high kill rate (among the highest in the country!), the shelter can be reached at (336)-342-4022.

We have a companion entry to this piece on our sister blog "The Daily Vampire."

On a side note, some conservative friends of the family are visiting us from Johnson City, Tenn. I jokingly told my mom that we should get them a subscription to "Utne" ( progressive magazine, which currently has a story on the 'environmental Star Wars'), but no one in my immediate family has a sense of humor. The same could not be said for my cousin Shannon Sturgis of St. Louis, Mo., who prevents me from being the most irreverent person in the family. I should get her a subscription of "National Review"* for that!

*-"National Review" is not a progressive magazine at all. My sister Shannon is actually to the left of me, and I am not a Republican!

Bruce Piephoff Releases New CD

My good friend Greensboro, NC, folk singer Bruce Piephoff, who is undoubtedly celebrating UNC's national championship, will be releasing a new cd entitled "Clockwork" soon. It will be his 17th release.

Piephoff will hold a cd release party at the Lindley Park Filling Station on the corner of Walker Ave. and S. Elam Street in Greensboro on April 24 from 6 to 10 p.m. Phone: 336-274-2144

He will also be peforming at the Backstreet Buzz Coffee House in nearby Reidsville, NC, on April 18, at 7 p.m. The establishment is located at 234 SW Market Street in downtown Reidsville. Phone: 336-348-2899.


Useful Links:

http://www.brucepiephoff.com