Top Ten Comic Strips from the Sunday Roanoke Times: Hooray for Agnes

Greetings to our blog readers in Sweden, South Africa, and Cyprus......

It's perhaps fitting that this week's Sunday comic strip "Pearls Before Swine" which features its Goat character in the lime light (well in a dim limelight) is the top finisher in our weekly survey of Sunday comic strips from "The Roanoke Times" as there are some cool pygmy goats from Cameroon at the Mill Mountain Zoo in Roanoke, Va.

For those who have never traveled to Roanoke, it is a city of 100,000 people which is an hour north of Martinsville, Va., home of the Rev. Johnny Robertson who is rumored to have the most over-the-top Southern Baptist church in the world, well at least in Henry County.

Our third-place finisher is "Agnes," which is why we have an image of the late Agnes Moorehead who played the mother in the late 1960s sitcom "Bewitched."

Fifth place goes to Get Fuzzy, which has some knock knock jokes, so we went with an image of Mormons.

Liberal comedian Bill Maher is actually coming to Roanoke on Friday for the first time, we hope he really socks it to Donald Trump, who was brilliantly lampooned in today's (Monday) "Zippy the Pinhead."

Here is the list:

1. Pearls Before Swine

2. Speed Bump

3. Agnes

4. Dilbert

5. Get Fuzzy

6. Doonesbury

7. Funky Winkerbean

8. Garfield

9. Zits

10. Jump Start

http://www.mmzoo.org/

http://www.visitroanokeva.com/things-to-do/

http://www.visitmartinsville.com/

Our Top Ten Comics from Feb. 1st Roanoke Times: Escape from the Snow

Greetings to our blog readers in the Czech Republic, Lithuania and South Africa.........we expect the bottom picture of pigs swimming in The Bahamas may cause us fewer hits today in Iran and Pakistan, but hopefully, those folks will rejoin us tomorrow!

We are using the top image of a snowman in Maryland for "Speed Bump," our weekly winner in which Mrs. Snowman getting mad at her husband for fetching her arm (made of a stick) to Rin Tin Tin (a dog).

Second place goes to "Garfield," the highest ranking for the comic strip in our survey (over a three and a half year period), as Garfield, Odie and John are suffering from 'cabin fever' (middle image, a cabin in Vermont) and the tension causes the family cat to agitate his owner in a profound way.

Lastly, we salute "Jump Start" by Robb Thompson for a fourth place finish, the highest ever for the strip, as Clarence, one of the title characters is enjoying a vacation in a sunny place (yes, this is the reason for the pigs in the Bahamas) while it snowing back home, as it is in cities like Boston and Providence, Rhode Island, within the last few days.

Here is our survey:

1) Speed Bump

2) Garfield

3) Doonesbury

4) Jump Start

5) Get Fuzzy

6) Agnes

7) Zits

8) Pearls Before Swine

9) Dilbert

10) Funky Winkerbean

For this week's survey, go to our sister blog at "The Daily Vampire" http://www.nocturnalguy38.blogspot.com

Ten MoviesPlusMovies: We Hope These (Somewhat) Work

Greetings once again! We are coming to you today live from the main public library in Denver, Colo. (ok, not really where we are at!). Last week, on Twitter, we saw that hashtag MoviePlusMovie was trending and after a brief bout of confusion, we came up with tons and tons of idea. So, we said, to heck with Twitter, let's post them on our two blogs!

The poster above are for: 1) "The Darn Cat!" (the original Disney movie with the late Dean Jones who is still alive, our apologies to Mr. Jones if he stumbles onto this blog); 2) Blacula, a '70s Dracula ripoff, which is every bit as amusing as the Turkish film "Drakula in Istanbul" that was made in the '50s; and "The Gods Must Be Crazy," a great South African cult comedy that came out in the mid-1980s.

Here is our list:

1) That Darn Cat on a Hot Tin Roof

2) Blacula: Dead and Loving It

3) The Gods Must Be Stir Crazy

4) An American Psycho in Paris

5) All is Lost in Space

6) High Anxiety Society

7) The History of the War of the Roses, Part One (yes, that makes three Mel Brooks films we have referenced)

8) There Will Be Buckets of Blood

9) No Country for Grumpy Old Men

10) Alice in Wonderland Doesn't Live Here Any More (our apologies to Martin Scorsese)

http://denverlibrary.org/

Top Ten Comic Strips from the Sunday Washington Post (May 25th edition)

Greetings to our blog readers in South Africa, Iceland and Portugal; domestically, we want to give a shout-out to our blog readers in Raleigh, NC, Atlanta and Seattle...........if we can ever get to the Northwest and see the Space Needle.........

Since Discovery Channel's Shark Week is nearing, it is only appropriate that "Sherman's Lagoon," a comic strip about a shark finishes in our top ten.

The above images are all in conjunction with three strips from the May 25th Sunday edition of "The Washington Post" (the Aug. 3rd comics pages disappeared like Harry Houdini). The living opossums eludes to "Brewster Rockit: Space Guy! which feauted possum obits! The laundry of clothes is a nod to "Rhymes with Orange," which featured a circus cyclist who had to strut around in the buff since he couldn't get his clothes washed, and, of course, the "Jaws the Revenge" (or Jaws 4) poster is a reference to "Sherman's Lagoon."

1. Brewster Rockit: Space Guy!

2. WUMO 

3. Lio

4. Rhymes with Orange

5. Judge Parker

6. Speed Bump

7. Doonesbury

8. Frazz

9. Sherman's Lagoon

10. Foxtrot

Remembering Nelson Mandela with a Quote from Him

Unlike Martin Luther King Jr. and Mahatma Gandhi, who were both gunned down in their fights for the respective freedom movements they established, South Africa's Nelson Mandela was able to live a full life: He died two days ago at the age of 95.

But, nevertheless, the death of this amazing man leaves a void for those you admire him around the world.

Five actors played Mandela on films, including Idris Elba, Morgan Freeman, Terence Howard, Danny Glover and Dennis Haysbert.

Here is his quote:

"Real leaders must be ready to sacrifice all for the freedom on their people."

SIDEBAR: We always like to periodically quote Sunday comic strips. Here is a line from "The Amazing Spiderman" by Stan Lee which was published on Nov. 17th: "How do we know it was Spider-Man who got off that plane from Cape Verde?"

Image to Fill Space: A Dalmation

Greetings to our blog readers in Senegal, South Africa, Honduras, Jamaica, Chile, Turkey, Kazakhstan, Jordan, Australia, Japan, France, Iceland, Bulgaria and Slovenia.

Tomorrow, we shall have something more substantive.

Free Form Blogging: Sportsmen of Yesteryear

Greetings to our blog readers in Brazil, Estonia and South Africa.

Today, we are continuing the free form blogging series. This basically works kind of like "Mad Libs." We take a couple of words or phrases and make a short piece out of it. Tonight, we will try to achieve using the names of sporting men from yesterday (we have the same exercise with female athletes on our sister blog "The Daily Vampire").

We are going with Turkish soccer great Hakan Sukur, who just turned 42 (Conan O'Brien actually wished him a Happy Birthday on Twitter; pictured top), tennis legend Jimmy Connors, who just turned 61, boxer  Leon Spinks (pictured middle), golfer Arnold Palmer, baseball player Reggie Jackson and Serbian basketball star Vlade Divac (pictured below).

All these athletes are retired, which is a good thing perhaps for Palmer, as he is 93.

Let's go:

"The Turkish soccer team Sivasspor in Sivas, Turkey, has contemplated asking Hakan Sukur to come out of retirement and help them sell more tickets (this is a joke). He had a birthday on Sunday, and 24 hours later, Connors had a birthday too. We imagine these guys have probably never met. But, both athletes are better remembered that Leon Spinks, who once beat Muhammad Ali in the ring, in 1978 (we think).  We have to wonder if Arnold Palmer played putt putt in Myrtle Beach, SC, with Reggie Jackson, who'd win. We imagine that mini-golf is a sport that Vlade Divac is not too good at because: Well, it's one of the few sports where being tall is a disadvantage."

Also, kudos to our beloved Durham Bulls. They beat the Indianapolis Indians 2-0 tonight at home in Durham, NC, in the opening playoff game in the International League.

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 Three and a Half Minutes (or less).....Those Silly Board Games

We were initially going to go with Colonel Mustard, a character from the board game "Clue," which was actually made into a film! Of course, it wasn't that good. But, instead we are going with an image of Sherlock Holmes.

Our question today is which one of these board games was our favorite game during our youth.

And, greeting today to our blog readers in South Africa, Israel, Dubai, Malaysia and France.

Is the answer:

A)  Clue

B) Trivial Pursuit

C) Scrabble

D) Operation

E) Monopoly

Billy Bragg on the Death of Margaret Thatcher

On April 10th, Billy Bragg, an English left-wing folk/rock singer whose political anthems made him a recognized voice in the mid 1980s, will play in Winnipeg, Canada. He made a statement regarding the death of England's first female prime minister Margaret Thatcher, who was known for her right-wing politics.

Here is a condensed version of his statement: "This is not a time for celebration. The death of Margaret Thatcher is nothing more than a salient reminder of how Britain got into the mess that we are in today.................Raising the glass to the death of an infirm old lady changes none of this. The only real antidote to cynicism is activism. Don't celebrate---organise."

David Frum (pictured center), a center-right conservative figure in America who is actually a Canadian, posted many tweets about the woman who also helped Meryl Streep win her well-deserved second Best Actress Oscar.

One of them read as follows: "When people told Thatcher to jump, she did not say 'how high?' She said: 'Well, watch.'

SIDEBAR: We are currently listening to the BBC which is asking young people in South Africa if they are concerned about the ramifications of what they might post on a social media site like Facebook or Twitter. As one might expect, some of these tweenagers are concerned and use caution while others don't fret too much. But, one of the interviewed subjects states that she will remove Facebook posts of her drinking alcohol when she looks for a job.

http://www.billybragg.co.uk

http://www.frumforum.com

Tweets of the Day_ Politics, Weather and Halloween Zaniness

Trick or Tweet! We are surprised that our other blog "The Daily Vampire," which turns four years old today, is popular in Israel and Algeria at the moment?!

36 years on this date, I dressed up as Underdog for Halloween back home in Salem, Va.; it should be pointed out that I was six years old in 1976.

Here are today's tweets:

1) @washingtonpost ("The Washington Post"): Skeleton from Colonial times found when #sandy uproots historic tree (the tree is in New Haven, Conn.).

2) @severeplains (Jayson Prentice, a Kansas City meteorologist): "Fact: In the 12 hours before & after landfall, there were nearly 2.7 mentions of #Sandy on Twitter (including retweets)."

3) @NadiaNeopytou (she is a South African journalist living in New York): "Limited subway service in New York to resume on Thursday."

4) @motherjones ("Mother Jones" is a liberal magazine): "Supreme Court Catch 22: Can the government violate your rights as long as it does so in secret?" (Yes, that is the reason why we have an image of Justice Clarence Thomas, the most arch conservative member of the Supreme Court).

5) @davidfrum (David Frum is a center-right pundit who used to be George W. Bush's speech writer): "How much of the white vote will show up on Nov. 6?"

6) @HuffingtonPost (Huffington Post): "Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) on climate change: I don't think the federal govt. has done enough. A group of people in Wash. right now deny the truth."

7) @capitalweather (Capital Weather Gang, a Washington, DC-based weather outlet): "Due to #sandy, our winter outlook release- scheduled for Nov. 1_ delayed until after the election. Who is disappointed?"

8) @UWGymnastics (University of Washington gymnastics, former Huskies' gymnast Haley Bogart is pictured above): "Happy Halloween! Show us your costumes? Anyone a gymnast for Halloween! Go Dawgs!"

Our Favorite Olympic Athletes (2 of 4)_ A Korean Archer and a Kazak Lifter, et al

We just noticed that somehow Ilya Ilyin, a gold medalist in weightlifting from Kazakhstan, and Aron Szilagyi, a gold medalist in fencing from Hungary, look like the exact same person!

Here are some of our favorite international male athletes from the 2012 London Olympics, in alphabetical order:

1. Rolf-Goran Bengtsson, 50, Sweden, equestrian_ Bengtsson who won silver at the 2004 and 2008 Olympics was expected to perform well in horse-jumping this time around, but things didn't go according to plan (Cliche Alert!). But, the country's flag-bearer will hopefully be happy that his teammate Sara Algotsson won silver. Equestrian is the only event we now of where men and women compete against each other. Sweden has won one gold medal in sailing, and seven overall in London so far.

2. Im Dong-Hyun, 26, South Korea, archery (pictured top)_ Im Dong-Hyun won a team gold medal in both 2004 and 2008. This year, South Korea finished third behind the United States and Italy, which won gold. South Korea has had a very successful Olympics with 12 gold medals and 23 medals overall. In addition, the women's indoor volleyball pulled a major upset over Italy yesterday.

3. Ilya Ilyin, 24, Kazakhstan, weight-lifting (pictured center)_ Kazakhstan has won a very impressive total of six gold medals so far. Ilyin won gold in the -94 kg division of weightlifting, beating out two other lifters from former republics_ Alexander Ivanov (silver, Russia) and Anatoli Ciricu (bronze, Moldova). Ilyin lifted a total of 418 kg (921 pounds) and his country won four gold medals in men's and women's weightlifting.

4. Kirani James, 19, Grenada, track and field (sprinter)_ One of the highlights of the Olympics has to be the moment when James switched jersey numbers with Oscar Pistorius of South Africa (see below). James won gold in the 400-meter relay; it was the first ever for the tiny Caribbean island nation. James also competes for the University of Alabama in America.

5. Oscar Pistorius, 25, South Africa, track and field (sprinter)_ Known as 'the blade runner,' Pistorius is likely to be one of the most remembered London Olympians even though he didn't win a medal. The South African sprinter, who has won four gold medals and a bronze at the paralympics was the first paraplegic athlete to ever compete at the Olympics.

6) Aron Szilagyi, 22, fencing (sabre), Hungary (pictured below)_ Szilagyi won the first of what is now six Hungarian gold medals in London. Krisztian Berki of Hungary won a gold in the pommel horse event in men's gymnastics.

Top 10 Countries to Run Away To If Romney Wins

Yes, if former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney ascends to the Oval Office, those of us who are politically center-left, Democrats, progressives and even perhaps even Libertarians may want to seek shelter or political asylum in a foreign country as one will quickly realize his 'I'll find a job for you' will work only for members of his billionaires boys club.

So, here are ten suggestions to get away from it all for at least four years should Armageddon strike as it did when George W. Bush was elected in 2000:


1) Slovenia (pictured above): Amazingly enough this former Yugoslav republic is flourishing and the country recently made headlines for actually naming a bridge after Chuck Norris!

2) Argentina: Like most of of Latin America, Argentina had a turbulent period in the 1970s, but happy days are apparently here again.

3) Costa Rica: This will give a chance to finally see a blue frog!

4) Iceland: 24 hours of daylight during the spring and summer months will allow one to play golf at 3:00 a.m. Iceland Air recently began flights to Denver!

5) Norway: Kayaking in the fjords should give a person the opportunity to forget about partisan gridlock on the Beltway.

6) South Africa: Could give you a chance to see lions and cheetahs.

7) Cyprus (pictured below): The Turks and Greeks will probably argue over this island nation for centuries to come, but there are lots of great beaches and if problems resurface there is always the American embassy in Nicosia (the castle pictured is actually in Kyrenia; to let you on the in-joke, Tilly Gokbudak, the 'executive editor of this blog' is a Turkish-American).

8) Chile: See Argentina

9) Estonia: Tajikistan, Belarus, Moldova, Georgia.....yes, most of the former Soviet Republics have not really benefited from the collapse of the USSR, but Estonia is managing quite well.

10) Canada: Winner of the coin flip over France.


http://www.slovenia.info 

http://www.tourism-costarica.com

http://www.visiticeland.com

http://progressive-blogs.com

The Rabbit Ears Quiz (9 of 12)_ Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom

Today, we look at the great 30-minute documentary series "Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom," which had an impressive 25-year run from 1963-88, and the series actually lived on for a brief while after the death of its host Marlin Perkins (1905-1986).

A new incarnation of the series was developed by Animal Planet, and that show which is still on the air hit the airwaves in 2002.

The original "Wild Kingdom" pioneered the nature show format, which can be seen today in series like "Nature" on PBS and various shows which air on The Discovery Channel and The National Geographic Channel.

The series also featured Jim Fowler, who remains one of America's leading animal experts.

"Wild Kingdom" traveled to diverse areas to film wildlife, including Kenya, South Africa and Brazil (the Amazon River basin).

Today, for our quiz, we ask which state was Perkins born in; is the answer:

A) Missouri

B) Ohio

C) Texas

D) Arkansas

Quoting William Shakespeare (1 of 5)

For those of you who have actually read both of my blogs today (people in Slovenia are actually reading this?!; ok!) if you look closely this is not the same William Shakespeare bobblehead doll that I used on "The Daily Vampire."

As it is, we are quoting the Bard on Thursdays this month. Interestingly enough, the last time we referenced Shakespeare on this blog was regarding CliffsNotes. Hopefully, young people will go that route rather than merely digging up stuff from Wikipedia. It's ironic that modern technology has made some previous classroom taboos, such as reading CliffsNotes, more acceptable in this modern age.

And, with that said here is our quote from Shakespeare, and for the record, I think he really wrote his plays:

"An overflow of good converts to bad."

Currently, a stage production of the Charles Dickens' classic "A Christmas Carol" is being performed by the North Carolina Shakespeare Company at the High Point Theatre, which is in (of course) High Point, NC.

A production of the same play is being performed by Triad Stage in nearby Greensboro; the two companies are separate from each other.

SIDEBAR: Since today is World AIDS Day, well it is late at night now everywhere except perhaps Hawaii and the Aleutian Islands in Alaska, I thought I would post an appreciation to the late Freddie Mercury, who was the lead singer of the pioneering
'70s and '80s rock band Queen. Mercury died 20 years ago of AIDS complications at age 45 on November 24th, 1991.

The band's most famous song (well, arguably) "Bohemian Rhapsody" become a popular hit again shortly after Mercury's death as it was used in the movie "Wayne's World."

Domestically, AIDS has hit many cities hard, especially Washington, DC, and New Orleans. And, many countries in Africa, including South Africa and Tanzania have dealt with AIDS epidemics.

SIDEBAR 2: The answer to our Rabbit Ears Quiz question from earlier in the week is
C) $199. Yes, this is what a "Land of the Lost" lunchbox from the early '70s is reportedly worth!

Status Update_ The Irony of It All

Our Status Update for this afternoon is a rather short and simple one, which is due in part to me being cyber-fleeced by someone pretending to be a hot girl from Istanbul, Turkey. Similarly, a 'very attractive woman' from South Africa told me 'how handsome I was today.' Ahhh, yes....it would be nice if I actually could believe her.

The image above incidentally is of the very good-looking actress Bridget Moynahan who somehow hasn't lured into watching her new tv show "Blue Bloods" on CBS with Tom Selleck, perhaps it's because Magnum is a Republican!

Oh, yes, we almost forgot, here is the Status Update for today:

"If there is one thing I love about Facebook, it's the irony that it's taught me to NEVER trust gorgeous women."

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.

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!

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."

Quote of the Day- Federico Fellini

Today, we continue our quotes with people, alive or dead, from the 32 nations in the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, with a quip from the late Italian cinema maestro Federico Fellini (1920-1993), whose name we had apparently been spelling wrong for years (Federico not Frederico).

One of Fellini's best-known films "La Dolce Vita," made in 1960, turns 50 this year.

This particular quote sounds like something you might hear from French director Jean-Luc Godard:

"There is no end. There is no beginning. There is only the infinite passion of life."