Showing posts with label South Carolina. Show all posts
Showing posts with label South Carolina. Show all posts

Saturday, September 19, 2015

10 for 10 (6th Entry): Virtual Postcard from MB, SC

Greetings to our blog readers in Costa Rica, England, and Tunisia.............


Today as the Pope is visiting Havana, Cuba, we go back to our old standby that is the virtual postcard. Today's image is of Splash, the mascot of the Myrtle Beach Pelicans who play Carolina League baseball in Myrtle Beach, SC.

Earlier this week, the Pelicans won the Carolina League title over the Wilmington Blue Rocks from Wilmington, Delaware. Pelicans' catcher Victor Caratini was named MVP of the championship series. The Pelicans are an affiliate of the Chicago Cubs.

Though summer is the peak tourist season for the South Carolina resort area, many tourists come in the off-season to get away from it all.

Hope everyone is enjoying their weekend so far. We are listening to "Snap Judgment," which airs on Tuesday nights at 9:00 p.m. on WNYC-FM (New York) with host Glynn Washington.

http://www.visitmyrtlebeach.com/

http://www.charlestoncvb.com/

http://www.snapjudgment.org

http://www.wnyc.org

Friday, September 18, 2015

10 for 10 (4th Entry): Love Those Van Cats

Greetings to our blog readers in Cuba, Colombia, and Egypt.....

Today, we feature an image of a Turkish Van cat, which retail for circa $50 on the streets of Istanbul. Here in the United States, we gather they cost considerably more.

If you are looking for a cat in an animal shelter, you will probably not find a Van cat, but tuxedo cats, orange tabby cats, and calico cats need homes, here are two animal shelter links we are listing:

http://www.spartanburghumane.org/ (Humane Society of Spartanburg, South Carolina)

http://hswcmd.org/ (Humane Society of Hagerstown, Maryland)

Tuesday, August 11, 2015

Top Ten Comic Strips from Sunday Myrtle Beach Sun: Ziggy Breaks the Fourth Wall

Greetings to our blog readers in South Korea, Mexico, and Russia.

Today, we give you our ten favorite comic strips that were featured in the Sunday edition of "The Myrtle Beach Sun" in Myrtle Beach, SC. Ironically, the beach image at the top is from one of their vacation destination rivals Ocean City, Maryland!

The beach was the topic in first place strip "Off the Mark" where all the kids had taken their cellphones into the water!

The second image is in reference to "Dustin," where the kids basically pretended they were Al Pacino from "Scarface" and had a water gun fight.

Lastly, "Ziggy" featured Tom Wilson, the cartoonist behind "Ziggy," breaking the fourth wall as Ziggy told the readers that the cartoonist couldn't come up with any ideas for this week's comic strip. Maybe, next week, Ziggy can state the famous "Hamlet" line: "To Be or Not to Be, That is the Question." Just a thought.

Here is the top ten:

1. "Off the Mark"

2. "Dustin"

3. "Doonesbury"

4. "Mother Goose and Grimm"

5. "Betty"

6. "Ziggy"

7. "Curtis"

8. "Stone Soup"

9. "Dilbert"

10. "Hagar the Horrible"

http://www.gocomics.com/offthemark

http://www.gocomics.com/ziggy

Friday, February 13, 2015

Last Ten Songs We've Heard on Steve-FM (Columbia, SC): So That's What Bruno Mars Sounds Like.....

Greetings to our blog readers in Germany, India and Peru......

Yesterday, we actually had a hit from the Afican nation of Malawi!

We also want to send a special morning greeting to those of you checking us out from San Diego, Calif., where is now 8: 48 a.m. (does anyone actually work in southern Cali?)

Normally, we looked at the last ten songs played on Steve-FM in Roanoke, Va., but as it turns out there is also a Stev-FM in Columbia, SC! They are both owned by the national communications conglomerate I Heart Radio, but they do not play the same songs at the same time (Javier the Intern verified this for us!).........

Today also happens to be World Radio Day.........

One of the songs which grabbed our attention in this playlist was "Black Velvet" by Canadian Alannah Myles, a smash hit back in 1989! We haven't heard it much in recent years. Myles never had another major hit here in the United States, but she still apparently maintains a loyal following up north.

Another import "Listen to Your Heart" from Roxette, a Swedish musical group, made the playlist, but no songs form Turkish pop star Tarkan, who once tried to record songs in English!

As the title of our entry suggests, we aren't exactly sure what Bruno Mars songs sound like, but we are trying to get hip to it.....

Here are ten songs (in reverse order) we heard from 3:00-4:00 p.m. on Steve-FM in Columbia, SC, on Tuesday:

1) Roxette. "Listen to Your Heart. Roxette. 1989.

2) Pat Benatar. "Heartbreaker." 1979

3) Prince. "Little Red Corvette." 1983

4) Lady Gaga. "Bad Romance." 2009

5) Taylor Swift. "Ours." 2011

6) Steve Perry. "Oh Sherrie." 1984

7) Todd Rundgren. (pict. top) "Bang on the Drum All Day." 1983

8) Alannah Myles. "Black Velvet." 1989.

9) Bruno Mars. (pict,. center)"When I Was Your Man. 2013.

10)  Cyndi Lauper. (pict. bottom) "Time After Time." 1984

http://www.cyndilauper.com

http://www.967fm.com

http://www.worldradioday.org

Thursday, February 12, 2015

Top Ten Comic Strips from Sunday, Feb. 8th edition of "Herald-Journal" in Spartanburg, SC: We Love Bizarro

Greetings to our beloved blog readers in Latvia, Ireland and Mexico.

What do Marvin the Martian, Lily Tomlin and U.S. Olympic skier Bode Miller have in common? Well, they each relate to three of the comic strips than we rank in our top ten of strips that appear in the Sunday edition of "The Herald-Journal" in Spartanburg, SC, not to be confused with newspapers with same or similar names in Durham, NC, and Huntington, WVa.!

Marvin the Martian is our ode "Bizarro" in which aliens present a cat to their leader and promise he will make for some nifty Youtube videos. Aliensand UFOs  were also featured in "Ziggy," a strip not carried by the "HJ."

Second place goes to "Doonesbury" which takes in an office. We thought it was somewhere like a call center which made us think of Lily Tomlin though when she did these comedy skits for "Laugh-In" circa 1968, they probably didn't have call centers.

Third place went to "Dustin," where the title characters decide to go skiing over the title character's mother's strong objections. Perhaps, they headed to Telluride, Colorado, or Park City, Utah...........


Here is our top ten:

1) Bizarro

2) Doonesbury

3) Dustin

4) Get Fuzzy

5) Garfield

6) Dilbert

7) Close to Home

8) Snuffy Smith

9) Gasoline Alley

10) For Better or For Worse.....

Wednesday, December 31, 2014

Our Top Comic Strips from Sunday, Dec. 21st edition of "Herald-Journal" in Spartanburg, SC

Greetings to our blog readers around the world, especially those of you in Norway where it must be verrrry cold!

Some two weeks ago, we passed through South Carolina and we picked up a copy of "The Herald-Journal" is Spartanburg, SC, one of the largest cities in the state.

As a lark, we are posting images from three comic strips in the Sunday edition of that paper which did not make the top ten; The images are of 1) the Northside Vikings football logo, Northside High School is nicknamed The Vikings and they are in Roanoke, Va.;  for "Hagar the Horrible" 2) American soldiers for "Beetle Bailey" and 3) "KizilMaske" or "RedMask" (in Turkish comic books) who is known in America as "The Phantom."

*-Comics which appear in "The Washington Post," which we survey a lot

#- Comics which appear in "The Roanoke Times," which we also survey a lot

Here is our top ten:

1. Bizarro

2. Closer to Home 

 3. Get Fuzzy #

4.  Doonesbury #*

5. Dilbert *#

6. Dustin *

7. Barney Google and Snuffy Smith (the strip's cartoonist John Rose is an acquittance of mine)

8. Garfield *#

9. Gasoline Alley

10. Family Circus *#

http://www.goupstate.com

http://www.gocomics.com

http://comicskingdom.com/

http://www.visitspartanburg.com/


Tuesday, November 11, 2014

The DC List (3 of 3): Republican Membersof Congress...... and when they turn 103.....

Greetings to our beloved blog readers around the world in Germany, Serbia and Turkey.

This is the last installment in our look at when just re-elected Republican members of Congress will turn 103; the joke is that these will also be the years when their seats are competitive again, because Republicans have drawn up perfect politic maps to suit their interests across the nation.

It should be pointed out that Cong. Morgan Griffith (R-Va., pict. top) is a man I respect and admire despite personal political differences. It should also be  pointed that I think Cong. Mark Sanford (R-SC, pict, bottom) is a scoundrel and a hypocrite for having an affair on his wife with a woman from Argentina while he was governor of South Carolina. Amazingly enough, voters in that state sent him up to Washington, DC.

There were also some good Democrats who won last Tuesday, including Cong. David Price (D-NC) and Cong. Jared Polis (D-Colo).

Here are the years when these ten members of Congress will turn 103:

1. Cong. Morgan Griffith (R-Va) 2061

2. Cong. Mark Meadows (R-NC, pict center) 2062

3. Cong. Mark Sanford (R-SC) 2063

4. Cong. Steve Womack (R-Ark) 2060

5. Cong. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) 2081

6. Cong. Kevin Brady (R-Tex) 2058

7. Cong. Lee Terry (R-Neb) 2065

8. Cong. Scott Garrett (R-NJ) 2062

9. Cong. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) 2055

10. Cong. Tom Petri (R-Wisc.) 2043

www.foxnews.com/politics/ (Folks we disagree with)

http://www.nbcnews.com/politics

http://www.pbs.org/weta/washingtonweek/

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/cenk-uygur/ (Link to columns from my fellow liberal Turkish-American Cenk Uygur)

http://www.nocturnalguy38.blogspot.com (for more GOP members and when they turn 103)

Sunday, November 9, 2014

Meet Your DC Republican Congressional Rep (1 of 3)............and, guess when they will turn 103...........

Greetings to our blog readers around the world in The Bahamas, India, Kenya and Cyprus......all countries that were once ruled by our unapologetic imperialist friends in England......but, in all seriousness, welcome to each of you, or hosgeldiniz as they say in Turkish!

We must admit that each time we make fun of House of Representatives members, we feel a slight bit of guilt as we know they are working long, hard hours, but then I recall when Cong. Joe Wilson (R-SC, pictured bottom) called Pres. Barack Obama a liar during a State of the Union address, and we realize, what we do is perfectly ok!

Since Republicans have perfectly gerrymandered their seats in Congress to, in some cases, ensure their people will be in Congress for an extended period of time, we thought we'd late you know when your Republican Congressional member is turning 103; so here we go:

1) Cong. Robert Hurt (R-Va, pict. top) 2072

2) Cong. Renee Elmers (R-NC, pict center) 2067

3) Cong. Joe Wilson (R-SC, pict bottom) 2050

4) Cong. Mike Kelly (R-Pa.) 2051

5) Cong. Tim Huelskamp (R-Kan.) 2071

6) Cong. Stephen Fincher (R-Tenn.) 2076

7) Cong. Ted Poe (R-Tex.) 2051

8) Cong. Andy Barr (R-Ky) 2076

9) Cong. Joe Heck (R-Nev.) 2064

10) Cong. Gregg Harper (R-Ms.) (also) 2064 (yes, he spells his name with two g's!)

http://www.theonion.com/section/politics/

http://www.redstate.com/ (yeah, we don't agree with them)

http://www.nationalreview.com/ (we don't agree with them, either)

http://www.bluestatedigital.com/ (we do agree with them)

http://www.liberaloasis.com/ (we might agree with them too)

https://www.opensecrets.org/

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/politics/


http://www.nocturnalguy38.blogspt.com (for more GOP Congressional members who turn 103)


Sunday, August 31, 2014

Last Ten Film I've Seen Before the Last Ten Films I've Seen: Movies at the Beach

Greetings to our blog readers in Brazil, Slovakia and the Netherlands.

This entry is essentially the B-side of our entry in "The Daily Vampire" http://www.nocturnalguy38.blogspot.com

In that entry, I mentioned the last ten films I saw. Well, before we got to those there were these ten which we viewed earlier in August, including three that I saw at a multiplex in Myrtle Beach, SC; two of which ("A Most Wanted Man" and "Macig in the Moonlight") were art films!

We also watched two films ("On the Waterfront" and "Oklahoma Crude") on TCM.

The images of the late Canadian magician Doug Henning (top), the map of Oklahoma and Lucy van Pelt letting Linus have it in a "Peanuts" panel are all related to the first three films on this list.

Here are the films:

1) Magic in the Moonlight. dir: Woody Allen. 2014. w/ Emma Stone

2) Oklahoma Crude. dir: Stanley Kramer. 1973. w/ Faye Dunaway

3) Lucy. dir: Luc Besson. 2014. w/ Scarlett Johansson

4. On the Waterfront. dir: Elia Kazan. 1954 w/Marlon Brando

5. A Most Wanted Man. dir: Anton Corbijn. 2014. w/ Philip Seymour Hoffman and Rachel McAdams.

6. Lincoln. dir: Steven Spielberg. 2012.

7. A Beginner's Guide to Endings. dir. Jonathan Sobol. 2010. w/ Harvey Keitel

8. Like Someone in Love. France/Japan. 2012. dir: Abbas Kiarostami (a famed Iranian directed)

9. The Iceman. dir: Ariel Vromen. 2012. w/Michael Shannon and Winona Ryder

10. The Grandmaster. Hong Kong. 2013. dir: Wong Kar Wai.

http://www.tcm.com

Wednesday, May 14, 2014

Sunday Roanoke Times Survey: Doonesbury Brilliantly Satires Dubya

Garry Trudeau hit the high mark in political satire on Mother's Day with "Doonesbury" when he made fun of former president George W. Bush's new painting hobby, which was even the subject of a political story by "New York Times" political beat writer Peter Baker. The punch line of the strip is highly political, and perhaps it will lead to "The Spartanburg Herald Journal" in Spartanburg, South Carolina, dropping the strip (we actually have no idea which strips are in that newspaper). Hence, "Doonesbury" is our comic strip of the week from those published in the Sunday "Roanoke Times" in Roanoke, Va.

"Funky Winkerbean" was a close second with its Starbuck Jones comic book cover series which featured a live octopus. We were unable to find a good image of a live octopus, so we went with this photo of an octopus on a plate in Greece. Our apologies to our good friends at the National Aquarium in Baltimore, Maryland, and the Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta (well, we actually don't know a single who works in an aquarium).

Third place goes to "Speed Bump"," which features two dogs sitting on a couch as they watch a cat movie with subtitles. We didn't wan tto violate artist Dave Coverly's copyright, so we decided to go with an image of Cuneyt Arkin, a Turkish '70s action movie icon, which is made funnier with subtitles.

Here is the survey results:

1) "Doonesbury"

2) "Funky Winkerbean"

3) "Speed Bump"

4) "Agnes"

5) "Pearls Before Swine"

6) "Get Fuzzy"

7) "Zits"

8) "Garfield"

9) "Dilbert"

10) "Jump Start"


http://www.doonesbury.com

http://www.funkywinkerbean.com

http://www.speedbump.com

http://www.goupstate.com/

http://www.georgewbushlibrary.smu.edu/

http://www.visitgreece.gr/

http://www.goturkey.com/

http://www.aqua.org/

http://www.georgiaaquarium.org/

http://www.roanoke.com

Sunday, January 12, 2014

Top Ten Comic Strips from the Sunday Roanoke Times: Can Anyone Top Stephan Pastis?

Greetings to our blog readers in Cyprus, Peru and New Zealand.

Welcome to another edition of "Politics, Culture and Other Wastes of Time," which dates back to Sept. 21, 2005! But, our friend and fellow blogger Chris Knight has been around longer than us as he just celebrated the tenth anniversary of his blog "The Knight Shift."

Special greetings to those of you checking us out from The o2 Lounge in Breckenridge, Colo., and Crooks Corner Restaurant in Chapel Hill, NC, which are a mere 26 hours and 45 minutes away from each other! Hope all is well in Colorado and North Carolina.

Today, we look at our favorite comic strips from "The Roanoke Times" in Roanoke, Va. The competition is a little less steep than "The Washington Post," which features "Sherman's Lagoon," "Rhymes with Orange" and "Brewster Rockit: SpaceGuy," but "The Roanoke Times" does have "Hi and Lois," which "The Washington Post" does not.

Our sweepstakes winner for today is once again "Pearls Before Swine," which proves that we are over his character Ataturk the Spitting Llama (Tilly Gokbudak, the editor of this blog, who is me, is a Turkish-American. Mustafa Kemal Ataturk is the patron saint of modern Turkey, well in the secular sense).

Today, Stephan introduced a complicated concept for a 'Brain Alert' system for older people who can't remember that Jimmy Carter was president before Ronald Reagan. The last panel ends more perfectly than a season finale of "Homeland." We'll leave it there, so we don't have to issue a 'spoiler alert' (I'm still shocked at the season finale of "Homeland.")

The runner-up strip was the increasingly surprising "Garfield," which seems to have gotten exceptionally more funny since it has been parodied by "Garfield Minus Garfield." Garfield has actually around since 1978, which means at 36, he is older than the world's oldest cat, who reportedly lives in York, South Carolina, a border town with just under 10,000 people (ok, we are making that up).

"Get Fuzzy" was a bit shockingly literate today as it seemed to evoke George Orwell's "Animal Farm" or perhaps we are reading too much into it!

Here is today's top ten:

1) Pearls Before Swine

2) Garfield

3) Get Fuzzy

4) Doonesbury

5) Zits

6) Speed Bump

7) "Non Sequitur"

8) Agnes

9) Dilbert

10) Funky Winkerbean

http://www.theo2lounge.com


http://www.crookscorner.com

http://www.stephanpastis.wordpress.com

http://www.garfield.com

http://www.gocomics.com/getfuzzy




Sunday, December 8, 2013

Weather Temps in the Mid-Atlantic

With this image of the Snowshoe Ski Resort in Snowshoe, West Virginia. we look at weather conditions throughout the mid-Atlantic. In some places, such as the Carolina coasts, the weather is actually fairly decent for the winter time, but that it's not case in many areas, including metro areas in Virginia and Maryland.

1) Mount Jackson, Va. 25 Overcast

2) Bowie, Md. 30 Overcast

3) Chapel Hill, NC 33 Overcast

4) North Myrtle Beach, SC 42 Overcast

5) Danville, Va. 33 Overcast

6) Lewisburg, WVa. 27 Overcast

7) Oxford, NC 32 Overcast

8) Colonial Heights, Va. 33 Overcast

9) Roanoke, Va. 30 Light freezing rain

10) Fayetville, NC 37 Overcast

11) Eden, NC 34 Overcast

12) Hopewell, Va. 33 Overcast

http://www.snowshoemtn.com/

http://www.wv.gov/tourism/Pages/default.aspx

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/capital-weather-gang/  (Capital Weather Gang)



Wednesday, November 13, 2013

College Volleyball: Good Weekend for Kentucky

Though it's known more for its men's basketball program, the University of Kentucky also boasts a strong nationally-ranked women's volleyball team, and this weekend, the Wildcats won two SEC home games over South Carolina and LSU.

For her efforts over the weekend, including the Wildcats' five-set win over LSU, Anni Thomasson (pictured here, she's number 4), a freshman who was a prep standout in Newark, Ohio, was named SEC Player of the Week. Thomasson had 30 kills and 22 digs in the win over the Tigers.

Here is a look at select college volleyball scores from major conferences:

Kentucky 3 South Carolina 0

Michigan State 3 Northwestern 1

Louisville 3 Houston 2

UNC 3 Clemson 1

Duke 3 Maryland 0

Virginia Tech 3 Florida State 1

Ohio State 3 Purdue 1

UVA 3 Miami (Fla) 1

Kentucky 3 LSU 2

Missouri 3 Alabama 1

Michigan 3 Northwestern 1

Nebraska 3 Minnesota 2



Sunday, October 13, 2013

DC Week (4 of 8): A Quote from SCOTUS Justice Clarence Thomas

Greetings to those of you from the Myrtle Beach Tea Party in Myrtle Beach, SC, who would not normally turn to this slightly left-of-center blog for information, entertainment and road kill cooking recipes (yes, that is a joke..........we have no desire to eat Pepe Le Pew and neither does the family cat).

Today, we are quoting America's second most powerful African-American, who is a conservative Republican unlike most African-Americans. Supreme Court justice Clarence Thomas, 65, is an Alabama native and he reportedly disdains his alma mater Yale University.

Before we quote Thomas, we want to wish a Good Morning to our blog-readers from other parts of the world as it now 8:45 a.m. in Tel Aviv and Baghdad, and 9:45 a.m. in Muscat, Oman (we believe this is the first time we've mentioned the gulf Arab nation of Oman in a blog post).

Here is Thomas' quote, it pertains to his negative views towards affirmative action:

"I don't believe in quotas. America was founded on a philosophy of individual rights, not group rights."

For a quip from Thomas' fellow SCOTUS justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, one can visit our sister blog: http://www.nocturnalguy38.blogspot.com


http://mbteaparty.us/ (Not an endorsement)

http://www.omantourism.gov.om/wps/portal/mot/tourism/oman/home (Yes, Oman has a travel web page!).

http://www.supremecourtus.gov

http://www.yale.edu

Tuesday, July 9, 2013

Presidential Quote (6 of 8): Andrew Jackson

Greetings to our blog readers in Ireland, Italy and Israel.

Today, we continue with our presidential quotes by quoting Andrew Jackson, the seventh* American president and the second Democrat to become prez, after Thomas Jefferson.

There is actually a dispute as to whether Jackson was born in North Carolina or South Carolina as he has born on an estate near the border, but most historians say he was born in South Carolina. Today, there is a high school in Kershaw, SC, which bears his name.

Jackson represented Tennessee at the time of his election to the presidency, and his historic home The Hermitage in Nashville, Tenn., is open for tourists. Jackson, Mississippi, and the town of Mont Jackson, Va., two hours south of Washington, DC, are among the cities and towns named after 'Old Hickory.

Here is his quote:

"Take the time to deliberate; but when the time for action arrives, stop thinking and go in."

http://www.thehermitage.com

*- We initially stated that Jackson was the sixth president of the USA; that distinction actually belongs to John Quincy Adams. I assume that the folks at The Hermitage and Mental Floss magazine will hold us accountable!

http://www.mentalfloss.com

Sunday, June 30, 2013

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/

Thursday, May 16, 2013

Teaser: Bach @ The Beach: A Myrtle Beach Diary

Though we didn't actually read "The Other Boleyn Girl," which was made into a movie with Scarlett Johansson and Natalie Portman, which we saw at an outdoor cinema in Buyukada (Istanbul), Turkey, while visiting Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, we thought that it does seem like the ideal book to bring to a beach, of course, then again, so would "50 Shades of Grey"!

"Bach at the Beach" sort of just came to us from the sky like the Hindu love god Shiva, but as it turns out there is an orchestra at Myrtle Beach?! They are called Long Bay Symphony, and, of course, we found out about them after the fact.

Stay tuned for our look at a long Mother's Day weekend trip to Myrtle Beach, SC, within the next few days.

http://www.visitmyrtlebeach.com

http://www.jsbach.org

http://www.longbaysymphony.com

Thursday, May 17, 2012

Casualties of Modern Technology (10 of 12)- The Station Wagon

Given sky-rocketing gas prices and concerns that oil barons in Dubai are getting wealthy at American motorist's expense, one of the few areas where the right and left agree here in the United States, the station wagon is clearly a highway dinosaur, though I did spot one in a rural part of North Carolina several weeks ago.

The station wagon, according to Wikipedia, is an automobile that has a sedan/saloon with its roof extended. The vehicle also consists of of a three-box design or 'an auto with one or more rows of folding or removable seats behind the driver.'

The car was first developed in 1922, and the full-size station wagon, including the Ford Country Squire, hit the highways in 1967. But, the decline of the station wagon started in the 1970s as its gas-guzzling reputation made motorists opt for more economical imports, such as cars from Toyota.

But, the Wagon Queen Family Truckster, made especially for the Chevy Chase 'vehicle' (pardon the pun) "National Lampoon's Vacation" (1983) helped keep some station wagons on the road until the end of the Reagan administration.

Station wagons were also quite popular at drive-ins, especially for features that were more family friendly such as "Old Heavenly Dog" (1979), which also starred Chase.

One drive-in theatre which has made a successful comeback is the Hull's Drive-In in Lexington, Va., the country's only non-profit drive-in. From Friday night until Sunday night, Hull's will screen a double-header consisting of "John Carter" and "Wrath of the Titans."

Other drive-ins which are active include the Highway 21 Drive-In in Beaufort, SC, one of the very last remaining drive-ins in South Carolina. It is screening "Battleship" and "Think Like a Man" on screen one; while "The Avengers" and "Dark Shadows" show on screen two.

Further down south, the Starlight Drive-In in Atlanta, one of the very few drive-ins with six screens, is showing several double-headers, including "Think Like a Man" and "21 Jump Street" on screen one.

While out west, 88 Drive-In in Commerce City, Colo., which is the Denver metro area's only drive-in venue will show "The Avengers" and "John Carter."

http://www.cinematreasures.org

http://www.hullsdrivein.com

http://www.hwy21drivein.com

http://www.88drivein.com

http://www.starlightdrivein.com

Sunday, January 22, 2012

In the News_ American Postage Stamps Increase




On Monday, domestic postage stamp rates for letters go up here in the United States. So, if you want to send a congratulations card to Newt Gingrich for winning yesterday's South Carolina Republican Primary, you are already too late. Of course, those of you who know us well, realize we will not be among those sending the former House Speaker greeting cards anytime soon.

The Humphrey Bogart stamp (1997) shown here was part of a Legends of Hollywood series, which also included a Marilyn Monroe stamp.

SIDEBAR: Kudos to the nationally ranked men's basketball team from Harvard as they beat Dartmouth yesterday on the road in Hanover, NH, by a 54-38 score. But, interestingly enough, the school's Athlete of the Week is Haley Mendez, who plays women's squash?!

Also our congrats go out to the North Carolina State women's gymnastics team as earlier in the week sophomore Stephanie Ouellette was named EAGL Conference Gymnast of the Week. The Wolfpack also received honors for junior Rachel Fincham who was named EAGL Specialist of the Week, and freshman Lane Jarred who was named EAGL Rookie of the Week.

Over the weekend, the Wolfpack continued their success with a road victory over the University of Illinois-Chicago, which is, of course, located in the Windy City.

Friday, January 20, 2012

PSA_ No Newts in 2012




It is possible that at this very moment as we are blogging to you live from the Salt Lake City Library on 210 East 400 South Street (not really where we are at, but I hear it is one of the best public libraries in the country), that Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich is stumping at the Golden Corral in Rock Hill, SC, where Fred Thompson stumped four years ago (this part is actually true).

Hopefully, like Thompson, Gingrich will be defeated by a more moderate Republican. Though it seems like current front runner Mitt Romney may be too mainstream for the gunsGodncountry folks in the Palmetto State.

In the Sunday, Jan. 15th edition of the comic strip "Doonesbury," Garry Trudeau cited the following actual quote from Gingrich in reference to the Democratic Party: "As great a threat to America as Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union."

At age 69, Gingrich is the second oldest candidate in the field of what is now four candidates behind Ron Paul, who is 76. Interestingly enough, Gingrich, who became House Speaker in 1994 when he was in the House of Representatives as a Congressman from Georgia, was also a House Minority Whip as was former Vice President Dick Cheney, who is also out of favor with 99.9 percent of us on the center-left.

Today's "Washington Post" reports that in response to a comment from a man who is or was a Marine at a rally in Florence, SC, which said that 'I would like to see someone bloody Obama's nose,' Gingrich had the gumption and indignity to respond something to effect of: 'I don't want to just bloody his nose, I want to knock him out.'

In the current issue of the liberal magazine "The Nation," Ben Adler, who is covering the GOP race for the publication from places like Charleston, SC, on the campaign trial, said that the pit-bull tactics of Gingrich actually seemed to be helping him appeal to arch conservatives who might well want to hit people in my political spectrum over the head with a bowling trophy (my words, not Adler's).

Stephen Colbert, who is originally from Charleston, has even gotten into the Republican race discussion as the late night tv political comic told residents from his native state to vote for Herman Cain to throw a curve-ball into the race.

South Carolina allows Democrats and independents to vote in the Republican primary. Conservative radio show host Rush Limbaugh pulled a similar stunt four years ago when he encouraged right wingers to vote for Hillary Clinton in the Indiana primary to help prevent Barack Obama from winning the nomination; an effort which 'worked' in the short run, but in the end, Obama still won the nomination and if, of course, now president.

The South Carolina Democratic Party has actually told its members not to vote in the Republican primary as by doing so they will get a steady stream of campaign literature and phone calls for Republican candidates.

As for the reason, why we are highly opposed to Gingrich getting the GOP nomination, it is just mere political differences, but the venom and vitriol that he would bring into the Oval Office.

Many people from both parties as well as independents complain that it is agonizing to watch Democrats and Republicans not get anything accomplished on The Hill. Though no one person is to blame entirely, the conquer and divide mentality that Gingrich brought to the forefront of American politics when he became House Speaker in 1994 still remains in effect to this very day.