DC Week (1 of 8): A quote from Thomas Jefferson

We begin our week-long salute to Washington, DC, America's capital (hopefully, we've taught a six-year-old child in Erzincan, Turkey, something new about the United States), with a quote from Thomas Jefferson:

"Honesty is the first chapter of the book of wisdom."

There is a Thomas Jefferson Elementary School in the DC-suburb of Falls Church, Va. His historic home Monticello, located in Charlottesville, Va., is privately-owned (we believe) so tours are still open to the public.

Alas, the Jefferson Memorial in Washington, DC, is closed because of the federal government shutdown.

While in C'ville, one can also stop at Atlas Coffee; we're sure TJ would approve.

http://www.monticello.org

http://www.atlascoffeecville.com

In Honor of Banned Book Week: Passages from Six Books (not all of them were banned)

WARNING THIS ENTRY CONTAINS ONE VULGAR WORD.

Books by William S. Burroughs, Jim Thompson and Bret Easton Ellis are among the books we will be citing here. Banned Book Week concludes tomorrow. Of the books cited, we are pretty sure "Junky" by Burroughs (pictured top) and "Motorcycle Diaries" by Che Guevara were once banned. The other authors have each written controversial novels, including Ellis, who is best-known for "American Psycho," but we quip a sentence from "Glamorama" (pictured bottom) here.

For this project, we are taking the fifth sentence from page 52 of each work. The answers will be at the very end of this entry:


1. "She pulled her mouth away from his and pushed it against his neck, then pushed one of her hands down between them and the buckle of his pants."

2. " 'Uh-hah,' he nodded: "Miss Ruth told me she thought you might be here, but you was already gone when stopped by. Got you a job, eh?"

3. "He sounds terrible."

4. "How long this present order, based on an absurd idea of caste, will last, I can't say, but it's time governments spent less time publicizing their own virtues and more money, much more money, funding socially useful projects."

5. A gambling-house dealer from East Saint Louis was describing a method for cooking the carbolic acid out of a phenol, seet oil and tincture of opium script."

6, "No myths. M-y-t-h-s. Like a fag was gonna introduce you to Miss America, what would he say?"




1. "The Graduate" by Charles Webb (yes, it's the novel that was made into a Dustin Hoffman movie)

2. "Savage Night" by Jim Thompson (pictured middle)

3. "Trainspotting" by Irvine Welsh

4. "Motorcycle Diaries" by Che Guevara

5. "Junky" by William S.. Burroughs

6. "Glamorama" by Bret Easton Ellis (yes, that has our one vulgar word).


http://www.nocturnalguy38.blogspot.com (Our sister blog)

http://www.regulatorbookshop.com/ (bookshop in Durham, NC)

http://www.kramers.com/index.html (book store in Washington, DC)

http://www.tatteredcover.com/ (book store in Denver, Colo.)

http://www.richmondpubliclibrary.org/ (Richmond Public Library, Richmond, Va)

http://www.provlib.org/ (Providence Public Library in Providence, Rhode Island)

http://www.bannedbooksweek.org/

Antiques Roadshow in Salem, Va.

This weekend, several antiques dealers, including my mom and myself will be participating in an Open House at the Salem Antique Market, located at 2700 West Main Street, Salem, Va. 24153. The phone number for the store is 540-389-6559.

The shop will be open from 10:00 a.m.-6:00 p.m., as it is during every weekday. Sunday hours for the store are from 11 a.m.-5:00 p.m.

Among the featured items will be: Vintage comic books (the top image is very first issue of "Richie Rich," we don't have it, but there are plenty more), antique postcards (the middle image is of a postcard from Richmond, Va.), cups and saucers, paintings (prints), and old typewriters (we don't have any, but our neighboring booths in the shop do).

https://www.facebook.com/SalemAntiqueMarket

http://www.visitroanokeva.com/visitors/region/cityofsalem/

Google/Bing Question of the Day: How Many Top 40 Hits Did Pat Benatar Have?

The answer as it turns out is 14. Though Pat Benatar never topped the Billboard charts, she had four top ten singles, including "Hit Me with Your Best Shot," "Love is a Battlefield," "We Belong" and "Invincible."

Benatar is now on tour and she will be playing a number of east coast venues, including Wolf Trap in Vienna, Va., near Washington, DC, on Aug. 20th. She then plays at the House of Blues in Boston on Aug. 21 and the State Theatre in Portland, Maine, on Aug. 25.

She returns to her hometown of Richmond when she plays at the Innsbrook Pavilion (in the Richmond 'burb of Glen Allen, Va.) on Aug. 28.

For info on the tour of another '80s music entity, go to our sister blog "The Daily Vampire" at: http://www.nocturnalguy38.blogspot.com


http://www.benatargirlado.com

http://www.wolftrap.org

Cuneyt Arkin vs. Chuck Norris (1 of 4)_ The Best Actor of 1979 Was....

We had intended to start this series on Friday, but we fell asleep at the Richmond Public Library in Richmond, Va., (yes, this is a joke).

But, since Chuck Norris is always trending well thanks in part to his very radical far-right political comments. such as a recent one stating that if President Barack Obama is re-elected, we shall have 'a thousand years of darkness.'

We are also featuring this series with Cuneyt Arkin, the Turkish matinee idol who turned 75 on Friday, who could be called 'the Turkish Chuck Norris," given that he has been in many action films with right-wing themes.

For this series, we are going to ask who won an Oscar during a given year that Norris made a film. We start off with 1979 when Norris made "A Force of One," which was one of the early hits for the now-72-year-old 'actor.'

Earlier this year, we were able to attend a Chuck Norris birthday bash at the Shadowbox Microcinema in Roanoke, Va.

Which actor won a Best Actor Oscar in 1979; was it?:

A) Dustin Hoffman

B) Jon Voight

C) Peter Sellers

D) Jack Lemmon

E) Al Pacino

http://www.chucknorris.com

http://www.chucknorrisfacts.com

http://www.theshadowboxcinema.com

http://www.richmondpubliclibrary.org

http://www.nocturnalguy38.blogspot.com (for entry on Cuneyt Arkin)

Quote of the Week- James Madison

Hmmmm.....we somehow sense that this quip from James Madison, the fourth president of the United States and one of eight from Virginia, will in all probability not go viral.

But, we did decide to quote the first eight American presidents, so we are sticking to our plan, with the full realization that a quote from Paris Hilton would be more likely to bring in a blog reader in Quito, Ecuador.

We have heard there were major storms in Richmond, Va., today, which gave this amusing headline: "The flying Squirrels had to leave the field." This is in reference to the Richmond Flying Squirrels, the city's minor league baseball team, who were playing a day game at the time of the storm.

There is a high school in San Antonio named after Madison.

In Virginia, there is a high school in Vienna, a middle school in Roanoke and a university named after him as well.

Here is Madison's quote:

"A man has a property in his opinions and the free communication of them."

http://www.jmu.edu

Remembering the American Newspaper- Right Wing Letters to the Editor

Along with several entries here and our sister blog "The Daily Vampire," we will be publsihing a weekly mock tribute to the American Newspaper, which is vanishing like a bambi in a redneck's backyard.

Today, we take an actual fringe letter-to-the-editor that was published by "The Roanoke Times" in Roanoke, Va., on Sat., May 2. I must profess that I find some right wing letters-to-the-editor to be even more amusing than "Pearls Before Swine."

This is certainly one of that qualifies as the author, Darkas Mason of Roanoke, goes on a rant against homosexuals and the issue of gay marriage, using The Bible as the source of their hate:

"God didn't make Adam and Steve. He made Adam and Eve to have children and replenish the Earth. Nowhere have I found in the King James of the Bible where two men have had children together. 'Thou Shalt not lie with mankind as with womankind. It is abomination. Leviticus 18:22. Clear wording. Do not have sex with another man. That is detestable. I think this is pretty clear."

And, Sen. Larry Craig (R-Idaho) is not a hypocrite.

True Confessions- 9 of 11- Michael Jackson T-shirt

The year was 1984. The place was the little town of New Market, Va., in the Shenandoah Valley. It was truly an awful time in my life as my father had recently died, my mother remarried a man I didn't get along with and I relocated to a new school.

But, there were some happy times such as this venture to New Market where the town was conducting its annual Civil War reenactment.

There was also a carnival in town, and they had several games. One of which was a basketball shooting contest. Much to my shock and amazement, I shot three consecutive hoops in a row to actually win the game.

But, when it came time to choose a prize there was a surprisingly limited selection. And, much to my surprise I decided to select a cheap Michael Jackson t-shirt for my 'grand prize.'

I would actually wear the very unhip t-shirt to Glenvar High School in Salem, Va., one time. Well, perhaps, I was stupid enough to wear it a second time.

It would actually shrink very quickly, and it would disappear from my wardrobe altogehter after a short amount of time.

But, hey it was like the last time I won something until I scored a Pink Floyd LP from the now defunct Rock-105 in Blacksburg, Va., when I was a senior in high school.

I recently saw a copy of Jackson's mega-hit lp "Thriller" at a flea market in Greensboro, NC. Surprisingly, it was going for $10, which was actually more than what I paid for one in 1983. But, like my t-shirt, my "Thriller" record is nowhere to be found.......at all!

True Confessions (8 of 11)_ Slamdancing Back in '88

We have changed the format of this series in that we are no longer going to present the info in the form of a quiz. Folks simply aren't playing along!

But, I did indeed participate in a men's bikini contest in Myrtle Beach, SC, some 15 years ago. I hope that info isn't read by a perspective future employer, but hey everyone is young and foolish at some point in life.

So, today I am freely admitting that once upon a time in the city of Roanoke, Va., I went slam dancing to a now defunct local heavy metal band called Nosferatu (undoubtedly named after the classic vampire film pictured here) at a now defunct place called the Iroqoius Club, which existed on Salem Avenue.

Ahh, those were the days!

I did start having back problems a few years after I participated in slam dancing, which was circa 1988- for all perspective future employers or FBI personnel who happen to be spying on me, but the chiropractor in Woodstock, Va., attributed that to moving and lifting heavy boxes........!

Cinema of the Week- (8 of 21)- The Lyric Theatre in Blacksburg, Va.

I have a sneaking suspicion that one of these right-wing talk show hosts who spew venom and hatred as they foam at the mouth is secretly ashamed of his suppressed homosexuality as San Francisco council member Dan White was back in the day.

Of course, White, who was played by Josh Brolin in the film "Milk," is an infamous figure now since he gunned down activist Harvey Milk and the mayor of San Francisco some 30 years ago. After getting an all-too-brief sentence, White ended up taking his own life.

"Milk," which features an Academy-award winning performance from Sean Penn in the title role, is now playing at the Lyric Theatre located at 135 College Avenue in Blacksburg, Va.

Along with Virginia Tech athletics, the Lyric is one of more positive aspects of Hokie Town which has been coming to terms with the horrific mass shooting that happened there in April of 2007.

In addition to independent films, foreign flicks and documentaries, the Lyric is also a venue for musicians.

Acts that have performed there include the Nashville Bluegrass Band, Doc Watson, Eddie from Ohio, and Lady Blacksmith.

Starting on Friday, the Lyric shows "Frost/Nixon," which I recently named my favorite film of 2008.

Know Your Mayors (Entry 3 of 12)

Today we turn our attention to the mayor of my hometown, Roanoke, Va., known as the Star City of the South.

He is David Bowers, 56, pictured here on the left with people who I believe are members of Roanoke City Council (sorry, no fact checkers here!).

Bowers defeated former mayor Nelson Harris last year. Bowers was previously mayor from 1992-2000, and he has also served on city council.

The mayor's day job is a lawyer. He is also a member St. Andrew's Catholic Church, the Knights of Columbus and the Kiwanis Club.

Bowers lost a congressional election to Cong. Bob Goodlatte (R-Va) in 1998. He graduated from Patrick Henry High School in 1970 (the year I was born).

Mayor Bowers' hobbies include reading James Lee Burke novels and hiking.

Images of Virginia (5 of 10) Monticello

Monticello in Charlottesville was the home of our third president Thomas Jefferson, who was (of course) also known for writing The Declaration of Independence. He is thus one of the few Democratic presidents that a right-wing, fringe lunatic like talk show host Sean Hannity admires.......well, that is a presumption.


I have fond memories for a trip not taken to Monticello back in high school. I was supposed to get up at the crack of dawn for the excursion. I didn't make it:) To date, even though I have been to Charlottesville many, many times, I have yet to see this landmark home.