Blogging in Very Busy Times

We are pressed for time these days, but we just can't give up blogging, even though probably 13 people a day visit this blog, but perhaps, we are popular in Uganda.

Today, we will emulate "Sesame Street," which we gather is even more popular in India, by saying that were are sponsored by the letter z, which is the last letter in the English alphabet, and presumably most alphabets.

We are also brought to you by the number 12, which is number of dwarfs that Snow White had...we think...ahhh, not it's seven (and we did not google that).

We also have a dead president of the day. That person is James K. Polk, Democrat, the 11th president of America who served from 1845-1849; he is also the subject of a They Might Be Giants song.

And, we finish with Heraklion (also known as Iraklion), Greece, which is the capital of the island of Crete and Greece's fourth largest city with 173, 450 people. My assumption that there are more topless sunbathers there than the likes of Kate Middleton.

http://www.heraklion-city.gr

http://www.sesamestreet.org

http://www.tmbg.com

http://www.jameskpolk.com

Happy Holidays from Barney the Dinosaur

Though I disagree with the politics of former "Washington Post" film critic and novelist Stephen Hunter, who is a conservative pro-guns proponent,I fully agree with his sentiment that he prefers dinosaur movies where the dinosaurs eat people.

Nevertheless, as harmless as Barney the Purple Dinosaur may seem, he was tagged by the Rev. Joseph Chambers, the evangelical extremist from Charlotte, NC, who is also believed to be the first person to proclaim that Bert and Ernie of "Sesame Street" were a gay couple, said that Barney was 'a tool of Satan and homosexuals' who was also attempting to teach children Marxist ideology.

The PBS dino first aired in 1992, some five years after he was created by Sheryl Leach of Dallas, Tex., and the show lasted an amazing 268 episodes. Though, Barney has been on hiatus since September 2009, ironically the same time when "Sesame Street" was celebrating its 40th anniversary.

The theme song from "Barney," which is "I Love You" was actually usehttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifd by the very liberal filmmaker Michael Moore in a tv segment in the 1990s in which he tried to get Serbian and Croatian leaders to resolve their differences through the song.

But, in a more sinister effort, "I Love You," as reported in a recent issue of "Mental Floss," was actually used by Guantanamo Bay guards to torture alleged terrorists.

Nevertheless, we are using Barney here to wish everyone a Happy Holidays, even if you would rather be stuck on a desert island with Michele Bachmann.

Oscar Predictions Teaser

Tomorrow, we are hoping to post some of our Oscar predictions on this blog as well as our sister blog "The Daily Vampire." This is, of course, on the presumption that the rest of the week will be less whacky that today has been so far. But, hey I did find the car keys so I can't complain!

Today, we are featuring an image of an Oscar the Grouch t-shirt with this entry, assuming that the hot-link works! We had an unusual problem last year when we were trying to put up an image of the Bill Griffith comic book character "Zippy the Pinhead" on one of our blogs, but we still love the strip even though it took quite a while to fix that mess!

I actually watched "Sesame Street" as a kid in the 1970s on Blue Ridge Public TV (WBRA) in Roanoke, Va. Alas, these days arch right-wing Republicans are trying to cut PBS and NPR funding as either a measure to cut federal funding or make Bill O'Reilly happy (political bias: We presume the later).

Tonight, WBRA is showing "The Secrets of the Dead" at 10 p.m., which focuses on a 2004 discovery of headless Roman skeleteons in York, England.

And, we also want to wish a happy birthday to former UCLA gymnast and Canadian Olympian Yvonne Tousek. She was part of a team that included standout Olympic gymnassts like Kate Richardson, Kristen Maloney and Jamie Dantzcher. The Bruins are also the current reigning NCAA champs in women's gymnastics. Last night, junior Taunty Frattone score a 9.95 on vault in a win over North Carolina State.

Things We Learned on Twitter Very Early This A.M.

Before anyone accuses us of being snotty liberals who use the beloved "Sesame Street" characters Bert and Ernie to represent the homosexual lifestyle, we should remind you that it was The Rev. Joseph Chambers of Charlotte, NC, who first made the claim that they were a gay couple back in 1994.

Personally, I think one can tell society has gone whacko when the sexual orientation of children's tv show characters are being questioned.

But, this does bring us to What We Learned on Twitter in the wee hours of the morning today when we suffering from insomnia.

It was at this juncture that I saw a tweet from a college student in Lawerence, Kan., that according to the liberal-leaning mega-blog "The Huffington Post" it appears that Cong. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.), 50, who is running for Barack Obama's former U.S. Senate seat may well be a closeted homosexual.

The allegation comes from gay activist blogger Mike Rogers, who is based in Washington, DC, and was featured in the recent documentary film "Outrage" which deals with politicians who are suspected of being gay but vote against gay and lesbian political interests.

Rogers said that he was initially reluctant to pursue the matter of Cong. Kirk's sexual orientation since he has generally been more favorable towards gays than most Republicans. But when Cong. Kirk decided to vote against the lifting of the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy in the military, Rogers felt it was appropriate to disclose the allegations.

Rogers said that two men claimed to have had homosexual relations with Kirk while they were in college. The gay blogger also told "The Huffington Post" that someone met Kirk at a 2004 house party and the congressman reportedly asked if a gay man he came across at the party was 'single' (apparently, he wasn't).

For what it's worth, Kirk's ex-wife Kimberly Vertolli who divorced Kirk last year has vehemently denied the rumors.

As for the female college student from Kansas, who 'broke' the story on Twitter for me, she had this thought-provoking tweet this afternoon: "Have I ever told y'all how much guys suck? Cause they do."

I also reached yet another silly Twitter milestone this afternoon, as Boulder the Cat (we are not sure if the feline actually resides in Boulder, Colo.) became the 1,500th 'person' I'm following on Twitter. The cat, whose gender was uncertain at press time, left the following tweet several days ago: "You know to me, personally, a cat that twitters is just as impressive as a dog that skateboards."

We couldn't agree more!

Silly Picture to Fill Space- The Easter Bunny

This one is for the kids..........well, not that I have any! I think I had a Polaroid picture of me taken with the Easter Bunny at Crossroads Mall in Roanoke, Va., circa 1976 when I was six years old.......or was that with Cookie Monster?!

Silly Photo to Fill Space- Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade

Since "Sesame Street" is celebrating its 40th anniversary, and the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade will be held on Thursday in New York, we thought we'd go with this image of Kermit the Frog. Maybe it's because my dad came from a Muslim country (Turkey), but I think he can do better than Miss Piggy.........

If you can't get a Greyhound bus ticket from Roanoke, Va., or whichever town you might be in, you can always watch the festivities on NBC. And, then you can watch the Detroit Lions get destroyed by the Green Bay Packers.

Special Quote of the Day- Jim Henson

To celebrate, the 40th anniversary of "Sesame Street," which is just a few months older than me, we are going to quip the show's founder Jim Henson:

"It has always been difficult get Big Bird pretty. Big Bird in England is much more gorgeous."

Silly Photo to Fill Space_ "Batman"

I used to watch this kitschy tv serial on reruns from WSLS-TV Channel 10 out of Roanoke, Va., all the time when I was a kid in the late '70s.

Like Bert and Ernie from "Sesame Street," there has been speculation that the dynamic duo was gay, but I suppose only Adam West knows if that is true.

Thankfully I have a job so I can't waste any time watching the show in its entirety on dvd, but then again why am I wasting valuable time on this blog?