10 for 10 (10th Entry)................Defining Earworm with Michael Bolton

Greetings to our blog readers in Ukraine, Turkey, and Ghana.......

Today, we bring you the 10th and final installment of our 10 for 10 series commemorating the tenth anniversary of this very blog, which went up (in its original form) on Sept. 21, 2005. It was a radically different time then as Ari the beloved family tuxedo cat was still alive. Alas, he died just shy of his 20th birthday on March 2nd, 2007. Ok, otherwise, I guess things haven't really changed that much!

We are using an image of Michael Bolton because when we hear the slang word 'earworm,' the junkbox in our minds starts playing "How Am I Supposed to Live Without You?"..........which makes us wonder if Dick Cheney urged that this song be played to terrorist or terrorist suspects while waterboarding them at Gitmo, the American naval base in Cuba.

I suppose we will never know the answer to that, but we have three definitions of urban slang words/terms for you:

1) Earworm: A song that sticks in your mind relentlessly, and will not leave no matter how hard you try (applies to Michael Bolton as well as any song by Air Supply).

2) Gold digger: A person who goes out with you for for your money, or someone who dates Tori Spelling!

3) Gender ninja: A person has an uncertain gender based on their personal appearance, hmm....see also the character Pat that was once part of "Saturday Night Live".....

http://www.urbandictionary.com

Last Ten Songs We've Listened To on Steve-FM in Roanoke, Va: Everything Except Kenny G

Greetings to our fans in Sweden, Croatia, Ukraine, Egypt and Greece (kudos on your new prime minister.........). Now that we have perhaps officially entered the world of The Jetsons (but, where are the flying cars?), it is actually possible for people in Anchorage, Alaska, and Bucharest, Romania, to listen to an eclectic pop-rock fusion radio station in Roanoke, Va.

So, with that in mind, here are the last ten songs we heard on 106.1 (SteveFM-Raonoke, Va) from the 1:00 p.m.-2:00 p.m. hour on Friday afternoon. These songs are in reverse order:

1) Dark Horse. Katy Perry. 2013.

2) Keep on Loving You. REO Speedwagon. 1980 (pict. bottom)

3) Bohemian Rhapsody. Queen. 1975.

4) Never. Heart. 1985.

5) Clocks. Coldplay. 2002 (pict. center)

6) Janie's Got a Gun. Aerosmith. 1989. (pict, top)

7) Your Smiling Face. James Taylor. 1977.

8) Tainted Love. Soft Cell. 1981.

9) Moves Like Jagger. Maroon 5. 2011.

10) Hold on Loosely. 38 Special. 1981.

http://www.1061stevefm.com

http://www.visitroanoke.com

http://www.roanokedoesntsuck.com

http://www.aerosmith.com

http://www.speedwagon.com

Sunday Night Tweets: Be on the Look-Out for Runaway Cheetahs

During our last entry, we said that we were going to send Dutch Ambassador Rudolf Bekink (pictured center) a card to congratulate the Netherlands' successful third place  finish at the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil.

Alas, a Malaysian Airlines plane carrying 385 passengers, about half of which were Dutch citizens, was shot down by Russian separatist terrorists in eastern Ukraine on Thursday, so the Netherlands has gone from a period of joy to tragedy in a very short time span. The plane was in route from Amsterdam, Holland, to Kuala Lampur, Malaysia.

It also been a disastrous week for Palestinian-Israeli relations as Israel has taken defensive measures by bombing Palestinian areas in the West Bank, killing scores of women and children, which also coincides with the Muslim Ramadan holiday.

But, we do have some light-hearted tweets as well; let's take a look:

1) Washington DC News: Pro-Palestinian Groups march to the White House.

2) Pittsburgh Post Gazette: Man arrested after barricading himself, and a 2-year-old in a Mount Washington apartment.

3) Mark Duplass (actor/filmmaker): "The Master" is now streaming on Netflix. Do it. Like now!

4) The Onion: This week, last year FBI offered $1 million for any information on cheetahs (see top image)

5) Netherlands Embassy: The Dutch embassy in DC will open a condolence register for victims of MH17 this Monday and Tuesday from 10 a.m. to noon, and from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m.

6) Dallas Morning News: Dallas police handing out Slurpee tickets to kids for being good (Bottom image, actually of a 7-11 in Japan).

7) Jeremiah Owyang: Seriously, the current news cycle is morbid and bleak. Hoping for a better week, planet earth.

Quote of the Day: The Dalai Lama

His Holiness the Dalia Lama of Tibet made an appearance on Capitol Hill this week, of all places, to offer the opening prayer for Congress. Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va) was among those who had photographs taken with the most recognized Buddhist in the world.

The Dalai Lama also came to Washington, DC, as CPAC 2014, a gathering of arch conservatives like Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Mike Lee (R-Utah) were essentially giving rough drafts of would-be TED Talks focusing on how wimpy President Barack Obama has allegedly been with regards to Russian head of state Vladamir Putin regarding the hostile takeover of the Crimean Peninsula in the Black Sea coast of Ukraine.

Of course, many Republicans, such as Rudy Giuliani have professed admiration for Putin, which lead center-left political columnist E.J. Dionne of "The Washington Post" to suggest on NPR that Republicans are suffering from Putin Envy.

His Holiness was also in Washington, DC, when the Washington Capitals were playing vital home games. The Caps were able to put away the Phoenix Coyotes last night 3-2; we imagine very few people in Tibet or Bhutan watch pro hockey games.

Here is our quote from the Dalia Lama:

"The true hero is one who conquers his own anger and hatred."

http://www.dalailama.com/

http://boulderzen.org/ (Boulder Zen Society in Boulder, Colo.)

http://www.politico.com/

http://thehill.com/

http://www.rollcall.com/

Top 10 Olympic Lists (3 of 10): Athletes from Former Soviet Republics

Here are ten athletes competing for former Soviet Republics; one of the more interesting ones is Patrick Brachner, who skis for Azerbaijan, but he is an Austrian. Brachner was originally slated to be Azerbaijan's flag-bearer.
Our image is of Yulia Galysheva, a free-style skier from Kazakhstan.

Here is our list:

1. Roman Krech. 24. Kazakhstan. Speed-skating.

2. Yulia Galysheva. 21. Kazakhstan. Free-style Skiing.

3) Yosef Penyak. 20. Ukraine. Snowboarding.

4) Patrick Brachner. 22. Azerbaijan. Alpine Skiing.

5) Hanna Huskova. 21. Belarus. Free-style Skiing.

6) Lelde Gasuna. 23. Latvia. Women's Alpine Skiing.

7) Andris Sics. 28. Latvia. Men's Luge.

8) Katya Galstyan. 21. Armenia. Cross-country Skiing.

9) Kadri Lehta. 28. Estonia. Biathlon.

10) Dmitry Treleveski. 30. Kyrgyzstan. Alpine Skiing.

http://www.nbcolympics.com/ (Shaun White is going for gold number three today)

http://www.bbc.com/sport/winter-olympics/2014 (Curling is among the sports that is of most interest in Great Britain).

Little Thinker Quotes (12 of 16): Oscar Wilde

"True friends stab you in the front," Oscar Wilde.

SIDEBAR: Since there is a bit of a Polar Vortex around here, we thought we'd post some temps around American and across the world, including Nagano, Japan, where the 1998 Winter Olympics took place:

37 degrees- Nagano, Japan

34 degrees in Richmond, Va.

27 degrees in Hartford, Conn.

22 degrees in Malmo, Sweden

15 degrees in Chicago

5 degrees in Kiev, Ukraine

http://www.oscarwildesociety.com/

Futbol Notebook: Trabzonspor Wins at Home

Marc Janko, an Austrian player, and his Trabzonspor teammate Olcan Adin (Turkish player, pictured) each scored a goal as Trabzonspor, which plays in Trabzon, Turkey, a large city in the eastern Black Sea, which is a good 20-hour bus ride from Istanbul, defeated Legia Warsaw from Poland at home by a 2-0 margin.

Here is our fourth and final list of Europa League play (see "The Daily Vampire" for more scores):

Trabzonspor (Turkey) 2 Legia Warsaw (Poland) 0

D. Zagred (Croatia) 0 PSV Eindhoven (Neth.) 0 (tie)

E. Frankfurt (Germany) 2 M. Tel Aviv (Israel) 0

Ferreira (Portugal) 0 Dnipro (Ukraine) 2

Elfsborg (Sweden) 1 Esberg (Denmark) 2

Florentina (Italy) 3 Pandurii (Romania) 0

http://www.nocturnalguy38.blogspot.com

Presidential Quotes: Martin van Buren

Greetings to our blog readers in Ukraine, Greece and Kenya, where assuredly Martin van Buren, America's eighth president, is a household name (yes, that is a joke).

Here is a quote from him which even in a post-Soviet Union world seems very, very ironic, perhaps Russian leader Vladamir Putin, if he somehow reads this blog, might find this interesting:

"Between Russia and the United States sentiments of good will continue to be mutually cherished."

SIDEBAR: One of our favorite tweets of the night is from comic book writer Chris Eliopoulos:

"For those who don't watch CSI Miami, the theme song is The Who's "Won't Get Fooled Again."

Olympic Cities Destination Quiz (5 of 6)- Helsinki-Antwerp

Hey kids, for those of you who are not sitting at a multi-plex in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, watching "Batman: The Dark Knight Rises," we offer you free entertainment and a geography lesson as we look at the distance between Antwerp, Belgium, which hosted the Olympics way back in 1920, and Helsinki, Finland, which did the honors in 1952.

A mere 29 countries competed in Belgium, but among them was American swimmer Duke Kahanamoku (1890-1968), whew glad, we double-checked the spelling!, who won gold. He would later become an actor and an icon in his native Hawaii.

In Antwerp, Italian fencer Nedo Nadi (1894-1940) won a record five gold medals in his sport.

As for the 1952 Helsinki Olympics, which had 69 countries participating, Soviet/Ukrainian gymnast Maria Gorokhovskaya (1921-2001) who might have the longest surname in Olympics history won an all-around gold medal in women's gymnastics and six medals overall. In 1990, she emigrated to Israel.

So, we are asking just how far apart these two European Olympics cities are from one another; is the answer:

A) 1,061 miles

B) 1,265 miles

C) 1,333 miles

D) 1,409 miles

Note: The above images are of the iconic Belgian comic book hero Tintin and his dog Snowy, and a member of the very unique Finnish band the Leningrad Cowboys.

Quote of the Day/Week_ Pablo Picasso

Today's quote of the day comes from the great Spanish artist Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) who would be celebrating the fact that his country will play against Italy in the Euro Cup 2012 Championships, but if he were alive today, Picasso would be 110 years old (he was born in October, yeah, we double-checked on Google).

We are quoting Picasso because he is one of the subjects of the Unemployed Philosophers Guild plush toy doll series; these items usually retail for circa $17.95.

Since we spent way too much time quoting Andy Warhol on our sister blog "The Daily Vampire," which gets more traffic than this blog, except in Slovenia and Ukraine, we will go ahead and just quote Picasso here:

"Every positive value has its price in negative terms....the genius of Einstein lead to Hiroshima."

SIDEBAR ONE: We learned today from the Urban Dictionary that one of the new words of the moment is 'dorkus malorkus,' which is Latin for dork. The term originated in an episode of "The Simpsons," where Bart, who would now be 31 if he aged in real time, uses this term to express disdain towards his sister.

SIDEBAR TWO: Among the topics trending on Twitter as of 8:00 p.m., Belfast, Maine*, time, are: Obamacare, John Roberts, a trio of NBA draft basketball players: Andre Drummond, Austin Rivers and Harrison Barnes as well as Bill Bell, the mayor of Durham, NC, where "The Herald-Sun" is the local newspaper. Ok, the last one is a joke, Mayor Bell, who is a real person with his own Wikipedia page, is not trending on Twitter, but his hometown minor league baseball team the Durham Bulls host the Norfolk Tides for the Fourth of July. The city is also home to Duke University where Austin Rivers played college basketball.

*- We are not actually in Belfast, Maine, as of this posting, but it is a lovely town, and we see that the Colonial Theatre (a historic cinema there) is screening "The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel."


http://www.colonialtheatre.com

http://www.cinematreasures.org

http://www.pablopicasso.org

http://www.philosophersguild.com

http://www.durhamnc.gov

http://www.heraldsun.com

Quote of the Day_ Sigmund Freud

We sense that we will not be getting blog hits from Spain or Portugal today, as those two countries are playing each other in the Euro Cup 2012 semi-finals in Ukraine. And, Sigmund Freud (1856-1939), whom we will be quoting today, is not likely to be trending. In fact, according to Bing today, the following topics are trending: Syrian TV raid, Rainbow Oreos, Waldo Canyon fire (near Colorado Springs, Colo.) and Science girl ad.

But, we are quoting Freud because he is one of the figures who has a plush toy doll made in his honor from the American novelty company The Unemployed Philosophers Guild. We also saw a promotion for Freudian Slippers in a "Mental Floss" magazine catalog. We contemplated getting them for my sister Aysegul Denizli (that is not her real name, and our apologies to at least one person with that name in Turkey) in Salt Lake City, Utah (not where my sister lives), but we don't always have the same sense of humor. Although we both love Wes Anderson movies, alas his latest film "Moonrise Kingdom" has yet to open in my market as of today.

Here is Freud's quote:

"A certain amount of neurosis is of inestimable values as a drive, especially to a psychologist."

http://www.mentalfloss.com

http://www.philosophersguild.com

http://www.freudfile.org

UPDATE: The answer to our Olympic Cities Distance Quiz from a few days back is B.

Quote of the Day- Martina Navratilova

Today, we quote tennis legend Martina Navratilova, 55, as we continue to quote famous people from each of the 16 countries in the Euro 2012 Cup which are taking place in Poland and Ukraine.

Though, Navratilova has been an American citizen since 1991 and she sought political asylum from then-Czechoslvakia in 1975 at age of 19, she is undoubtedly one of the most famous people from the Czech Republic, along with the recently deceased playwright/prime minister Vaclav Havel.

Navratilova was in the news in 2010 when she announced that she had been treated for breast cancer. She is also an avid gay rights supporter.

Here is her quote:

"I've been in the twilight of my career longer than most people had their career."

http://www.martinanavratilova.com

Quote of the Day/Week- Ingmar Bergman

Today, we continue to quote people associated with the 16 countries in the Euro 2012 Cup being played in Poland and Ukraine. And, we are going to quote the late, great film director Ingmar Bergman (1918-2007) who was from Uppsala. Bergman was known for many outstanding cinematic ventures, including "The Seventh Seal," "Persona" and "Fanny and Alexander."

The Swedish soccer team has the daunting task of facing a star-studded English soccer team in Kiev, Ukraine, tomorrow. The Swedes are in a virtual must-win situation.

Here is Bergman's quote:

"The theatre is like a faithful wife. Film is the great adventure_ the costly, exciting mistress."

SIDEBAR: Since we are popular in Slovenia, we thought we should congratulate the Los Angeles Kings for winning their first ever NHL Stanley Cup titles by defeating the New Jersey Devils four games to two.

Though soccer and basketball are more popular than hockey in Slovenia, Anze Kopitar, 24, who was one of the key reasons for the Kings winning the cup has made the sport more popular in the former Yugoslav republic. Kopitar is also the first Slovenian national to hoist the Stanley Cup.http://www.losangeleskingsinsider.com

Quote of the Day/Week- Albert Einstein

Today's quote of the day comes from Albert Einstein (1879-1955), the brilliant scientist who is considered the father of modern physics. Einstein also developed the theory of relativity. One has to wonder if he would agree with the assertion that the video game Angry Birds teaches children about physics.

We are quoting Einstein because this month we are quoting people associated with all 16 of the European teams competing in the Euro 2012 Cup in Poland and Ukraine. Though Einstein spent much of his adult life abroad, including here in the United States, where he died in Princeton, NJ, Einstein was German. Since he was Jewish, Einstein decided to leave Germany for good in 1933 when Adolf Hitler rose to power.

Einstein is also one of the famous figures who has been humorously merchandised by the American novelty company The Unemployed Philosophers Guild, though the Einstein plush toy, which retails for $17.95 is currently out of stock.

I happen to have an Einstein necktie which I found for five dollars from a street vendor in Washington, DC.

Here is his quote:

"The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources."

http://www.einstein.biz

http://www.philosophersguild.com

Quote of the Day/Week-Eugene Hutz

We were intially going to quote Russian composer Sergei Prokofiev, who died a long time ago, for this space. But, we quickly foun out that though the composer of "Peter and the Wolf" was born in Ukraine, he is actually Russian! But, we may quote him later on, as Russia is, along with Ukraine, one of two former Soviet states in the Euro 2012 soccer chammpionships, which start on June 8th.

This month, we are quoting 8 of the 16 countries in the cup, and today, we start with co-host Ukraine (the other co-host is Poland).

As it turns out, Gogol Bordello's lead singer Eugene Hutz, 39, was born in Ukraine. The gypsy punk band will be performing in Aspen, Colo., on June 9th, and in Istanbul, Turkey, one of our favorite cities, on June 30th.

Hutz was influenced by the likes of Johnny Cash and Leonard Cohen---yes, we were shocked by that too!

Here is the quote from Hutz, who is of Roma/gypsy heritage:

"Everywhere, there was Ukrainian Gyspsy folk music. That's how it is there; you cannot escape it. But I found that I liked it."

http://www.gogolbordello.com

Bonus Road Trip-NOLA to Branson

Last year, at some juncture on one of our two blogs, we said that essentially the differences between political liberals and right-wingers here in the USA was a rather simple one. Liberal Democrats are more likely to listen to Gogol Bordello, a Russian-emigre punk band (well, at least those who are younger than 45), and conservative Republicans were more likely to find humor in the dated Cold War humor of Russian-emigre comedian Yakov Smirnoff.

As many folks may already know (well, we mentioned this before), Smirnoff regularly performs shows in Branson, Missouri, which has become a mecca for country music fans, perhaps even ones from as far away as Kiev, Ukraine.

As it turns out, Smirnoff will actually be performing on the road as well in Tulsa, Oklahoma, on Oct. 15th.

On that same night, the historic Preservation Hall Jazz Band will be performing at Aurora University in Aurora, Illinois. But, normally the band plays in their hometown of New Orleans, La., otherwise known as NOLA.

We also checked to see where Gogol Bordello was performing on that night, but their next concert date is not until Nov. 3rd when they will hit the proverbial stage in Burlington, Vt.

Alas, Branson, Missouri, is also where the late country-singing legend Conway Twitty gave his very last performance. But, a tribute band called Twitty Fever Band will be performing at the Oley Fire Company Apple Festival in Oley, Pa., on Oct. 8 from 3:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.

So, we are looking at the distances between New Orleans, which is a haven for jazz fans, and Branson, Missouri, and the answer is:

A) 9 hours even

B) 10 hours even

C) 11 hours even

D) 12 hours even

We've got a Neil Diamond's Greatest Hits eight-track tape for the winner (that's a joke, folks!).

Virtual Postcard from South Carolina

Though we left South Carolina a few days ago, I thought would send this Virtual Postcard from South of the Border in Dillon, SC, right on the North Carolina border on I-95, a place that I can objectively say is one of the South's most notorious tourist traps. Of course, we mean that in a good way.

We were actually not at South of the Border, but it is a unique place with lots of strange souvenirs. Some of which probably have rebel flags.

The man in the sombrero is called Pedro; we do not know him personally.

SIDENOTE: I want to send a special thanks to those of you in Macedonia, Ukraine and Dubai* who are visiting our blog today. I must profess that while I know I have never been to Ukraine or Dubai, I'm not sure if I have been to Macedonia or not. We went through the area when it was Yugoslavia during the 1970s when I was a child, and since the country split some 20 years ago, I have been confused as to exactly where we were ever since!

*-I always refer to the United Arab Emirates as Dubai as it makes life easier. Hopefully, those of you in the country's other large city Abu Dhabi take no offense.

Things We Learned on Google Today- Chisinau is the Capital of Moldova

Well, since we couldn't find any good images of Chisinau, the capital of Moldova which has a population of 700,000 people, we thought we'd go with this image of Iana Varnacova, who is 19 or 20 years old. She happens to also be known as Miss Moldova 2008.

This is the eighth entry in our series of looks at countries that were republics in the Soviet Union. Turkmenistan, which is quite far from Moldova, was our last entry.

Moldova is a landlocked country between Romania and Ukraine. Romanian is Moldova's official language, and the main religion is Orthodox Christian. Stuffed cabbage rolls are a popular dish in Moldova.

SIDEBAR ONE: We loved this tweet from comic actor Rainn Wilson of tv's "The Office" yesterday: "Obama single-handedly kills 87 Al Qaida militants with Dragon-style kung fu. GOP questions why he didn't fight Tiger-style." Yeah, I imagine Michele Bachmann would say something like that!

SIDEBAR TWO: While we are profoundly kiskanc (Turkish word for jealousy) of Thomas Mars, lead singer of the French band Phoenix, we wish him and his new wife, filmmaker Sofia Coppola well. They were married yesterday in Italy. We weren't able to find out if Bill Murray, who starred in Sofia's most famous film "Lost in Translation" was among the guests.

Things We Learned on Google Today- Kharkiv is Ukraine's Secnd Largest City

Hmm....Google is not always correct about everything. When I asked Google who was the Ukraine's most famous athlete. It/They responded with Anna Kournikova, the retired RUSSIAN tennis starlett who is more known for her off-the-court life as she was in a relationship with some pop star (yaaaaawn!).

Of course, another hot Russian female tennis player has been making more headlines lately and that is Maria Sharapova who lost yesterday in the Wimbledon women's tennis championship to Petra Kvitova from the Czech Republic. Sharapova is also engaged to some Serbian NBA player (yaaaaaaaawn again!).

But, Google did tell us that Kharkiv, not Odessa (which is actually the fourth largest Ukrainian city) is the country's second largest city. It ranks behind Kiev, but ahead of the industrial city of Dnipropetrovsk, which may have the longest name for any major city in Europe.

Kharkiv has 1.46 million people, and it is known for its metro system and Freedom Square. It is also sister cities with Cincinnati, Ohio, which is best known for its baseball team (ironically called the Reds, forgive the Cold War humor) and for being the setting of a 1970s sitcom set in a radio station which Ukrainians are probably not too familiar with.

The city also has The Annuciation Cathedral, which is one of the largest Orthodox cathedrals in the world. Kharkiv also has many Bronze artificats, and it is the hometown of weightlifter Igor Rybak.

Since the city was occupied by Nazi forces in World War II, there is some dark history in Kharkiv as 300,000 of the city's Jewish resident were killed during the Holocaust.

The city is in the northern part of the Ukraine. I wonder if there chicken is as good as the chicken in Kiev....well, we couldn't resist!

This is actually the fourth in our series on profiles of former Soviet Republics. The other three were Uzbekistan, Russia and Kygystan, which is arguably the hardest country in the world to spell!

It's Been a Messy Week

The weather may have actually been nice in Fargo, N.Dak., than it was in Greensboro, NC, yesterday. Snow, sleet, ice and freezing rain left much of Virginia and North Carolina in a mess in a storm which also went through parts of South Carolina, Tennessee, West Virginia and Maryland.

There were fatal highway accidents near Lexington, Va., and Fayetville, NC, which are about six hours away from each other.

As a result, we are behind with lots and lots of things, folks!

So, until things get back to normal, I highly recommend a Youtube video of my friend Bruce Piephoff singing "I Remember Asheville" or you can always settle for Ukrainian folk dancing or Hungarian klezmer clarinet music!