20-Word Fiction: Sunday Night with Clarence Thomas

We dedicate this post to 'my congressman' Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) who is playing a came of kick the can to prevent President Barack Obama to finding a Supreme Court justice to replace Antonin Scalia who died while on a hunting trip to Texas.

If November's election were on Tuesday and Goodlatte were to run against Woody Woodpecker, the red-haired bird would get my vote.

Though he is to the left of us, as we support Hillary Clinton while he supports Bernie Sanders, many years ago left-wing documentary filmmaker proposed running ficus plants against embodied, entrenched members of Congress; we fully agree with him on that point!

Here is our short, short, short story:

"The Supreme Court in my mind has voted 4-3 to stay awake; of course, Justice Clarence Thomas abstains as always."

http://www.michaelmoore.com

Ten Things to Know: Cold War Remembered

1) "The Originalist," a play about Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, arguably the second most conservative members of 'The Supremes' after Clarence Thomas, is extending its run at Arena Stage in Washington, DC, until May 31st. The play stars Edward Gero as Scalia. The play was written by John Strand and the production is directed by Molly Smith. (The justice is pict. top, not the actor playing him on stage).

2) The Robert Cray Band will perform at the Harvester Performance Center in Rocky Mount, Va., one hour south of Roanoke, on May 5th.

3) CINE Cinema Bar Cafe, an independent cinema in Athens, Ga., will be screening shorts in a program entitled The Best Films of the New York International Children's Film Festival on May 2nd and 3rd.

4) According to the BBC, China has overtaken France in wine production. China is however still second behind Spain. America has the highest wine consumption with France and Italy ranking second and third.

5) The BBC also reported that Mustafa Akinci, a center-left politician has won the presidential election for the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, a country that is only recognized by Turkey. Akinci defeated incumbent conservative Dervis Eroglu by gaining 60-percent of the popular vote. Akinci promises to make stronger efforts to unify the divided island nation of Cyprus.

6) Two of European soccer's most-anticipated weekend soccer games, Arsenal vs. Chelsea in the EPL and Benfica vs. Porto in Portugal, both concluded in 0-0 ties.

7) Author Richard Martin will speak about his new book "Coal Wars" at the Boulder Bookstore in Boulder, Colo., on April 30th.

8) Novelist Mary Costello will read from her latest work "Academy Street" about an Irish immigrant to New York on May 1st at Politics and Prose, an independent bookstore, in Washington, DC.

9) According to Uberfacts, the Soviet Union refused to hold the 1980 Paralympics because the nation claimed it did not have any disabled athletes.(1980 Olympics, pict. center)

10) On this day in 1965, CBS reporting legend Edward R. Murrow, who grew up on a family farm near Greensboro, NC, died at age 57. (pict. bottom)

http://www.arenastage.org/

https://www.harvester-music.com/

http://www.athenscine.com/intro.php

http://boulderbookstore.indiebound.com/

http://www.politics-prose.com/


http://www.athenscine.com/intro.php

Quote of the Week: Lyndon B. Johnson

Former Supreme Court justice Sandra Day O'Connor will be speaking at the LBJ Museum and Library in Austin, Tex., on Nov. 30.

Here is a quip from the legendary prez:


"Any jackass can kick down a bard but it takes a good carpenter to build one."

Quote of the Week- Brian DePalma

For those of us who watch the Showtime series "Dexter" (since I just started watching last season I'm a late convert), this quote from "Carrie" director Brian DePalma does seem quite appropriate. For those not familiar with the show, it has a bit of an edgy premise in that Dexter, a serial killer who 'goes after the bad guys,' is the protagonist. (Yeah, I wonder what Charles Dickens would've thought too):

"Yeah, I had an idea to make a very scary movie, based on some kind of serial murderer that preys on tourists."

SIDEBAR: I don't like to divulge info about my personal life on this blog, but I thought this once I would mention that while his wife is busy calling his former female acquaitances' answering machines, I am indeed having a Stella Artois with Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas at The Barking Dog Bar in Bethesda, Md.* Thomas apparently really likes jokes about honky rebel flag-waving rednecks, but he didn't want me to let that out because it would be (ironically) politically incorrect and even though he is not an elected official, that is in fact his consistuency!

*- An actual place where happy hours are from Monday-Friday from 3:00-7:00 p.m. Of course, I am kidding around as I don't know if Justice Thomas hangs out in suburban Maryland or if he likes to make fun of white people.But, The Barking Dog does serve Stella Artois!

PSA- Read Your Local Newspaper!

Since I am a former journalist myself, I thought I would dedicate today's PSA to inform folks that many local newspapers around the country have lost readership, and they need your support (although I guess there a handful which don't actually deserve it!).

Even though I worked for their rival newspaper "The Salem Times-Register" in Salem, Va., (from 1997-98) I am going to focus on today's "Roanoke Times," the local daily newspaper which serves Roanoke, Va., and nearby communities like Blacksburg, Boones Mill and Buchanan as well as a good portion of southwest and southside Virginia.

Here are some of today's headlines, the asterisk denotes local stories:

"5 teens arrested in sexting incidents*" (This happened at Franklin County High School in Rocky Mount, Va.)

"Wal-Mart pulls Miley Cyrus jewelry."

"Taliban attacks carry symbolic weight."

"Man sentenced to 9 months in cross burning." (This happened near Bedford, Va."

"Roanoke's lacrosse season ends in overtime"* (This pertains to Roanoke College's loss to Stevenson in Owing Mills, Md., in the NCAA Div. 3 tournament)

There were also some right-wing letters to the editors, which included: "Day of Prayer is not a political endorsement," "The Bible has a clear message" and "America will become the next Greece." But, I do agree with a reader from Christiansburg, Va., who said: "Let's put Elena Kagan on the Supreme Court."

I would write more, but I need to check on my Twitter account.