The Top Ten Saturday Night Live Cast Members (according to "Rolling Stone"): Norm Macdonald is a bit miffed.....

Greetings to our blog readers in Finland, Romania and the Bahamas.........

Tonight, we list the top cast members of "Saturday Night Live" as listed by Rob Sheffield of "Rolling Stone," that was written in conjunction with the sketch comedy show's 40th anniversary. The show actually first aired in October of 1975, but (perhaps for the sake of ratings) the event was celebrated by NBC on Sunday.

Norm Macdonald, a former cast member from 1993-98 who also hosted  the show's standard 'Weekend Update' segment, tweeted live during the event. It has also been reported that he was displeased to learn that Sheffield had ranked him as number #135 in a list of 141 cast members (Robert Downey, Jr., surprisingly finished last). Tim Meadows, who came in 48th, made the list known during a cameo of the 40th anniversary special.

For better or for worse, here in Sheffield's top ten:

1) John Belushi, 1975-79. (pict. top; he died in 1982)

2) Eddie Murphy 1980-84. (pict. center)

3) Tina Fey  2000-06 (pict. bottom)

4) Mike Myers (1989-95)

5) Dan Aykroyd (1975-79)

6) Bill Murray (1977-80)

7) Phil Hartman (1986-94, was murdered in 1998)

8) Amy Poehler (2001-08)

9) Gilda Radner (1975-80, she died in 1989 from cancer)

10) Chevy Chase (1975-77)

Here are some other cast members and how they ranked according to Sheffield:

Maya Rudolph (#19)

Fred Armisen (#23)

Dennis Miller (#34)

Jane Curtin (#37, we would rank her higher)

Joe Piscopo (#66, we would rank him much higher)

For the full list, check out Sheffield's article in the current issue of "Rolling Stone," it's one that has John Belushi as the Samurai warrior who was inspired by the late Japanese actor Toshiro Mifune ("Rashomon").

http://www.rollingstone.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

Little Thinkers Quotes (15 of 16): Jane Austen

Greetings to our blog readers in Azerbaijan, The Bahamas and Guatemala.

Today, we quote Jane Austen:

"There is nothing like staying at home for real comfort."

Top 10 Best Comics from This Sunday's Washington Post: Don't Wash the Flamingos

Wow! We had the hardest time finding an image of Captain Crunch! Anyway, no one wants to hear about the cumbersome side of blogging.

Greetings to our blog readers in the Bahamas, where we danced with some flamingos at the zoo in Nassau.

"WUMO," our favorite comic strip of the day featured (SPOILER ALERT) a man telling his wife not to wash flamingos with the laundry. This made us wonder if John Waters, who directed the cult film "Pink Flamingos" saw this strip. Of course, there is a .00009% chance that he reads our blog.

Our runner-up strip is our friend Keith Knight's comic strip "Knight Life," in which Keith (along with "The Pajama Diaries," it's an autobiographical strip) listens to a friend who is as fat as a Japanese sumo wrestler rant about how he likes to make rebellious New Year's resolutions.

Lastly, Captain Crunch, the character who promotes the 70s-era breakfast cereal that is still around and probably not recommended for middle-age adults with diabetes (we're pretty sure our fellow Turkish-American Dr. Mehmet Oz would agree with us) is part of the punchline in "Brewster Rockit."

Alas, "Rhymes with Orange," "Judge Parker" and "Reply All" were among the good comic strips which didn't finish in our top ten, but "The Washington Post" (Sunday edition) has some 30-plus comic strips.

1. WUMO

2. Knight Life

3. Doonesbury

4. Brewster Rockit

5. Sherman's Lagoon

6. Foxtrot

7. Pearls Before Swine

8. Lio

9. The Argyle Sweater

10. Dustin

http://www.gocomics.com/wumo#.UsoHxzYo6Uk

http://www.gocomics.com/theknightlife#.UsoIKDYo6Uk

http://www.bahamas.com/#/ragged

http://www.visitjapan.jp/en/

http://www.capncrunch.com/#show

Silly Picture to Fill Space- The Green Pigs of Angry Birds

Since we are heading back to Coco Cay in The Bahamas for a second time this year (that is a joke), we thought we'd leave you with this image of the notorious pigs from Angry Birds, which I'm told is even popular in Turkey, where one might expect that the pigs would cause a problem.

Everyone should be warned that the game is very, very addictive, even more so than Starbucks coffee!

I was surprised to learn that Angry Birds was created in Finland, given the Kamikaze elements of the video game, I thought it was assuredly something Made in Japan.

For those who enjoy eating barbecue who might be in the Richmond, Va., area, Google recommends ExBilly's BarBQ which has a web site (extrabillys.com) and their phone number is (804) 282-3949.

From the Record Collection (5 of 8) Bob Dylan "Slow Train Coming"

It is nice to see we are popular in Slovenia_ of all places, so we send out special greetings to those of you in Ljubljana, the Slovenian capital. We also wish to extend greetings to folks in Nassau, The Bahamas, and Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. We gather the weather is slightly nicer in the Caribbean island nation.

Today, in our "From the Record Collection" series, we feature Bob Dylan's 19th studio record "Slow Train Coming" (1979). Last year, we found a used copy of the record at All Day Records in Carrboro (Chapel Hill), NC.

"Slow Train Coming" was Dylan's first record since becoming a born-again Christian. Dylan was raised as a Jew in Minnesota. Spirituality is exemplified through the record with songs like "Gotta Serve Somebody," "Precious Angel" and "The Animals," which alludes to Noah's Ark.

The axe used by a rail worker on the album cover is shaped like a crucifix as is the sailboat, which is used in the photograph of the back cover.

We could not establish how long the born-again period lasted for Dylan, or if he still views the world from that prism, though spirituality does seem to come up frequently in recordings made after 1979.

The many aspects of Dylan's life made for a great art film by Todd Haynes, "I'm Not There" (2007) which includes a remarkable performance from Australian actress Cate Blanchett who plays Dylan herself!

"Slow Train Coming" was a major commercial success, and "You Gotta Serve Somebody" was Dylan's first major hit in three years.

Of his conversion to Christianity, Dylan said that an image of Jesus Christ came to him while he was staying in a hotel room in Tucson, Arizona.

The record also features Mark Knopfler of Dire Straits on guitar on many of the album's key tracks.

Quote of the Day/Week- Sidney Poitier

Since we just got back from The Bahamas and today is the start of Black History Month, we thought it would be nifty to quote Sidney Poitier, 84, who won an Oscar for "Lilies of the Field" (1963), the first African-American to win a Best Actor Oscar. More recently, in 2009, Poitier also received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from Barack Obama.

Though Poitier has lived in the United for a long time, he is a Bahamas-native and maintains dual citizenship. In fact, in 1997, Poitier was the Bahamian ambassador to Japan. We also learned that he is fluent in Russian.

Here is his quote: "History passes final judgment."

SIDEBAR ONE: The underground cult classic "Pretty Poison" (1968) with Tuesday Weld and the late Anthony Perkins, who was best-known for playing Norman Bates in "Psycho" begins a week-long run at the Film Forum in New York starting on Friday. We finally saw the film two years ago. And, for those of you in the Big Apple or even New Jersey, we highly recommend it.

SIDEBAR TWO: We would personally love to see actor Michael C. Hall, who plays Dexter on "Dexter," a Showtime series about a serial killer who kills off people whom he believes have killed people, say: "I am not a serial killer, but I play one on tv." Today, Hall turns 41, the same age as me. He is originally from Raleigh, NC. Happy Birthday, Dexter.

Quote of the Day/Week_ Alexander Fleming

Hello to everyone in Nassau, The Bahamas. Hope everyone is enjoying their Coco Loco (one has to have been on a cruise ship to get the joke; well, we hope).


Today, we have a quip from the Scottish scientist Alexander Fleming (1881-1955) who is credited with inventing Penicillin. Fleming won the Nobel Prize for science in 1945.

All this month, we have been quoting famous scientists; here is the quote from Fleming:

"One sometimes finds what one is not looking for."

Things We Learned from the BBC Today- Man's Body Found Inside Shark

WARNING: The following entry contains information that some readers may find disturbing. Well, you have been warned.

According to the BBC and other media outlets around the world, body parts belonging to a local Bahamian man named Judson Newton, 43, were found inside a captured 12-foot tiger shark (like the ones pictured here).

The shark was captured by another local resident off New Providence Island in The Bahamas in an area that is iornically called "Jaws Beach" because the infamous 1987 film "Jaws the Revenge" with Michael Caine, which brought an abrupt end to the Jaws series, was filmed there.

The fisherman told the press that that he noticed a leg poking out of the shark's mouth when he brought it to his boat. The shark was later turned over to authorities who also discovered arm and legs parts upon cutting the shark open.

It is unclear if Newton was alive when the shark ate him. Newton had been boating with friends in the area in late August before he went missing.