We're Back: With a List of the Worst Oscar-Nominated Films That Did NOT win Best Picture

Alas, we have not seen "Airport" (1970) nor "Doctor Dolittle" (1966), but we have seen our fair share of films that got Best Picture Oscar winners that were not worthy of those nominations. Of course, since this blog's editor Tilly Gokbudak is a Turkish-American, who gets 'top billing' will probably not be a surprise!

Here we go:

1) Midnight Express (1978, see image one_ it is of oil wrestlers in Edirne, Turkey, close to the Bulgarian border)

2) Hello Dolly! (1969)

3) Love Story (1970, see image two...we actually like the film as a guilty pleasure)

4) Chocolat (2000)

5) Ghost (1990, see image of Casper the Ghost)

6) The Towering Inferno (1974)

7) District 9 (2009)

8) Seabiscuit (2003)

9) The Reader (2008)

10) Miracle on 34th Street (1946)

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/

Random List of Ten Things To Do in Roanoke, Virginia:

This is a complementary post to one posted on "The Daily Vampire," this is a list of things to do in and around Roanoke, Va., my hometown, alas some places didn't make the list this time around.

Here we go:

1. B and D Comics (Yeah, that's why we have comic book character Cable, pictured top)

2. No Shame Theatre: A place where anyone can show off their talent as long as it's not over five minute and does not involving nudity (we guess boxer shorts from Target are ok....yes, it's the reason for the clown/magician in the middle...we wanted to go with a chainsaw juggler, but those images were hard to come by).

3. The Grandin Theatre: A cool, vintage cinema. "Vertigo" was the first I saw there when it initially re-opened in 1984.

4. Salem Farmer's Market (Salem)

5. O. Winston Link Museum

6. Oddfellas Cantina (Floyd): This nifty place in the village of Floyd, a long 29 miles from Roanoke, is a great place for weekend brunches.

7. Salem Red Sox (the local baseball team, they are playing the Frederick Keys right now as we speak)

8. Double Apple Restaurant and Hookah: There aren't many places to find authentic Middle Eastern food in Roanoke, but this restaurant on Brambleton Avenue pleases that need. And, they have great humus!

9. Too Many Books: One of the last remaining independent bookstores in Roanoke; it's located in the Grandin Village relatively close to the Grandin Theatre.

10. Dixie Caverns (Salem): A popular tourist attraction...don't hit your head on the stalagmites!

UPDATE: The Salem Red Sox beat the visiting Frederick Keys 13-9 last night, but this evening the team from Maryland came out on top by a score of 5-3.

http://www.roanokedoesntsuck.com

http://www.bandcomics.com

http://www.grandintheatre.org

http://www.noshame.org/roanoke

http://www.market.salemva.gov

http://www.oddfellascatina.com

http://www.toomanybooksroanoke.com

http://www.dixiecaverns.com

There is more on our sister blog site "The Daily Vampire:" 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."

Things To Do List: Go the Car Wash

Here is the latest entry in our semi-regular Things To Do List, yes, there are actually more important things we need to do, but we don't feel the need to disclose those publicly:

1. Listen to WUVT (90.7-FM), the student-run radio station of Virginia Tech

2. Wash car...........and, the clean the inside...........then, clean the trunk

3. Yoga?!

4. Recycle

5. Wash Dishes (of course)

6. Go the opera (the reason for the middle image, though we are not going to see 'Otello')

7. Watch the three episodes of "Mad Men" that you've taped

8. Wear the Batman tie; it could possibly help you with girls

9. Go through the comic books and price them

10. Possibly give money to local PBS station to prevent it from going blank (yes, that's the reason for the TRT_ Turkey Radio Television_ test pattern)

http://www.wuvt.vt.edu

http://bikramyogabethesda.com/

http://www.lyricopera.org/

http://www.unctv.org/content/

http://www.trt.net.tr/anasayfa/anasayfa.aspx

The links are for 1) WUVT-(90.7 FM); 2) Bikram Yoga Center in Bethesda, Maryland (near Wash. DC); 3) The Lyric Opera Company of Chicago which is performing "Oklahoma"?! in May; 4) WUNC-TV, the public television station for all of North Carolina; 5) The official site for the TRT which is in Turkish, of course!

Happy 75th Birthday, Superman

Happy birthday, Superman. The iconic comic book character who was played on film by the late Christopher Reeve (pictured as Clark Kent, Superman's nerdy alter ego) turns 75 on Thursday.

Huey Lewis and the News Will Be on Jimmy Kimmel Live

A few weeks back we saw an ad for Wolftrap, a concert venue in Vienna, Va., just outside of Washington, DC, which listed Huey Lewis and the News' Aug. 13, 2013, concert as one of its summer highlights. Perhaps, Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), who hails from San Francisco where the band is from and Eric Cantor (R-Va) can set aside partisan differences and attend the show together....well, may be in a parallel comic book universe.

As it also turns out, the band which became famous thanks to the multi-hit album "Sports," featuring "Heart of Rock and Roll," "I Wanna New Drug" and "Heart and Soul" that turns 30 this year, is starting their tour much sooner than in August.

Huey Lewis and the News will also appear on the ABC late night show "Jimmy Kimmel Live."

Here are the dates:

May 10 New Brusnwick, NJ

May 13 New York, NY

May 15 Jimmy Kimmel Live!

May 16 St. Ynez, Calif.

May 17 Cabazon, Calif.

May 18 Chandler, Ariz.

Later Dates:

Aug. 13 Vienna, Va. Wolftrap

http://hueylewis.com

http://www.wolftrap.org

Vintage Harvey Comics Covers_Casper the Friendly Ghost #99

Since Free Comic Day will be celebrated here in America and perhaps around the world on Sat., May 4th, 2013, at places like Acme Comics in Greensboro, NC*, we thought we'd post this cover of "Casper the Friendly Ghost" #99 which came out in (to our knowledge) 1966. Assuredly, it's worth more than 12 Cents now!

*- We just found that there is an Acme Comics in Peoria, Ill., as well. We presume this is just a coincidence.

http://www.acmecomics.com

http://www.acmecomicspeoria.com

Coming Soon....Our Person of the Year for 2012

Hmmmm.........it will definitely not be Lance Armstrong. These impersonators, which were the subject of a documentary film, were, at last report, in the Los Angeles metro area (we presume Hollywood).

Happy Birthday, Cuneyt Arkin

Today, we celebrate the 74th birthday of '70s Turkish action movie icon Cuneyt Arkin who turned 74 on September 7th. Arkin was born on this date in 1934 in Eskisehir, Turkey.

While he has over 300 films to his credit, we only have time to mention four here.

The first one is "Hayatim Sana Feda/My Life is For You, Feda" (1970),a romantic comedy, melodrama which was likely influenced by 1950s Hollywood melodramas, which were often directed by Douglas Sirk and starred Rock Hudson.

In this film, a Romeo who has burned his bridges has a chance to reclaim his Juliet, a female Turkish lounge singer played by Turkan Soray, the queen of Turkish cinema who often starred with Arkin, after she goes blind.

In 1973, Arkin starred in the first of what would be several films based on the popular "Kara Murat" comics, including "Kara Murat Versus the Black Knight" (pictured here). The basic plot is that Kara Murat, an ancient warrior in the days of the huns, goes after the bad guys and kicks some major ass in the process.

Turkey and Greece went to far over Cyprus in July of 1974, which lead to the production of many action films with nationalist themes. This would include "Once Vatan/My Country First" (1974) in which Arkin plays a Turkish agent who goes to Cyprus and goes kung fu on the Greek villians. Such films were, to my knowledge, also made in Greece around this era, with the roles reversed. And, yes to answer your question, "Once Vatan" is basically a Turkish Chuck Norris movie.

Lastly, Arkin will always be best known for "Dunayi Kurtaran Adami/The Man Who Saved the World" (1982), which is also known as "The Turkish Star Wars." The film borrows music and actual sequences from the George Lucas classic, but the similarities end there. The plot is a very strange one to summarize, but the film has aliens in muppet-fleece who decide that central Turkey is for unexplained reasons the best place to invade. But, they are no match for Arkin's gymnastics tumbling and kickboxing abilies.

In the Whoops Dept

We just posted an entry with a great quip from the underground comic artist R.Crumb which was meant for this blog by accident on "The Daily Vampire." But, we will post it here as well: "When I come up against the real world, I just vacillate."

In my case, I just blog!

We Are Experiencing Technical Difficulties

Well, for starters, we are not working for a PBS station in Canton, Ohio, but tech-wise it has been a very messed up weekend so far. In fact, we feel like jumping up and down like Speedy Gonzales, but I'm not sure how much the librarian here in Princeton, WVa*, would appreciate that. But, I do share the frustration that West Virginia U feel to Kentucky in the NCAAs earlier this afternoon since Deniz Kilicli of WVU is one of our favorite players.

But, I was able to read some cartoon books by Keith Knight and Tom Tomorrow which helped cheer me up a wee bit. I especially like Knight's segment in his "Knight Life" comic strips where he talks about life's sweet moments. I had earlier today here in rural West Virginia* when I passed a right-wing pick-up truck with an anti-United Nations bumper sticker and waved to him in my center-left vehicle decorated with Obama-Biden '08 bumper stickers.

I also thought one of Tom Tomorrow's "This Modern World" strips was quite prophetic (hey, it's not often us liberals use that word!) in its prediction that once some far-right nut tried to do something dangerous then the likes of Glenn Beck would somehow find a way to blame the left. And, amazingly enough, with the Tucson, Ariz., tragedy that is exactly what happened!

In other news, we want to congratulate the Utah Utes women's gymnastics team for winning their meet over Brigham Young U in Provo, Utah, last night. The Utes were helped by stand-out performances from the likes of Stephanie McAllister, who won the all-around competition.

Other Utes gymnasts with strong nights included Nansy Damianova, a Canadian Olympian whose parents were outstanding athletes themselves in Bulgaria. Nansy had a solid bars performance. Similarly, Mary Beth Lofgren of the Utes had a remarkable routine on the balance beam.

All college gym teams will be preparing for regionals within the next two weeks.

The BYU men's basketball team faces another western team in Gonzaga today in March Madness action.

The answer to our question of how far apart Los Angeles and East Lansing, Mich., was B. The two zip codes are approximately 33 hours and 20 minutes from each other.

Lastly, we found out while Googling ourselves that the name of the editor of this blog Dennis Alexander** is linked to Chang Beer from Thailand.

*- I am not actually in West Virginia at the moment

**- My name is not Dennis Alexander, but we are linked to Chang Beer!

DC Diary- No Need for a Taxi Tonight

Since I managed to seriously lost and meander around aimlessly through Northwest DC on Wednesday night, my family who was eagerly awaiting my impending arrival on Thursday night (day four of our excursion) was delighted to see me arrive at our home away from home at 10:04 p.m. that evening.

If things had gone exactly according to my sincerest desires, I would've been dancing at the Gogol Bordello concert that night at the 9:30 Club. But, the show was sold out, and assuredly if I had gone, I would have not come back to the temporary residency until circa 2:00 a.m.

So, I opted to see the Finnish film "Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale," which is about how an archaeological expedition to Antarctica yields the discovery of a Santa Claus who has been frozen stiff for eons.

When I first heard about the film, I thought it might be a bit of a subversive take on Christmas, which I would not have objected to (I am a Festivus kind of a guy). But, in actuality, it is merely a quirky comedy that is perhaps just slightly more "A Christmas Story" than "Bad Santa" though the distinctive Scandinavian sense of humor which one can see in films like "The Kitchen Stories" (Norway) and "Together" (Sweden) would probably be lost on most American audiences.

So, as it was, since I got home in time, there was no need for the friendly Indian or Pakistani taxi driver who had bailed me out the night before!

SIDEBAR: We love this tweet from comic book artist/cartoonist Chris Eliopoulos, who is always a hoot: "My wife made lobster mac and cheese ensuring that I will die of a heart attack b4 I'm 50."

Happy New Year from Lucky Luke/Red Kit

Today, we are taking a brief hiatus from blogging about our family trip to Washington, DC, which had elements of both "National Lampoon's Vacation" and "Taxi Driver" to send holiday greetings via our favorite French cowboy Lucky Luke, whom I still refer to as Red Kit since that was his name in the Turkish translations of his adventures.

Surprisingly enough, even though Lucky Luke's stories all took place in the American west, and featured such real-life figures as Billy the Kid, who Gov. Bill Richardson of New Mexico did not pardon yesterday, the comic book was never popular in America. Though, Lucky Luke did develop a loyal following in Canada, Turkey, Italy, Germany, the former Yugoslavia and even Vietnam.

The first Lucky Luke comic books arrived in 1946, and his rivals were the Dalton Brothers, a Keystone Kopsesque bunch of numb-skulls who were based loosely on the real-life Dalton Gang.

The books were drawn by the Morris (1923-2001) and the stories were written by the late French icon Rene Goscinny, who also worked on the adventures of Asterix the Gaul.

Red Kit rode a white horse named Jolly Jumper and he was accompanied by a stupid dog Rantanplan, who was a satire of Rin Tin Tin. In fact, the dog was called Rin Tin Tin in the Turkish versions.

Lucky Luke was criticized for using cigarettes, and Morris defended the character using the tobacco product in the children books up until 1988 when he decided it was time for the French cowboy to go cold turkey.

New English-language versions made by Cinebooks can be found at considerably more retailers here in les etats unis than in years past. One of them is my personal favorite comic book shop Chapel Hill Comics in Chapel Hill, NC, where one can also see a Tom Waits octopus!

SIDEBAR: Kudos to the following New Years Day babies who were among the first born in their areas: Colton Jackson Rodenhauer of Richmond, Va., Sean-John Arruda of Fall River, Mass. and Jasmine Bessou of Winston-Salem, NC.

Silly Photo to Fill Space- Sock Monkey

It is getting proverbially close to that time of the year again, and we are not talking about exams (well, they will be here before Christmas).

My good friends Tom Angleberger and Cece Bell, a husband and wife children's book author team (though they do their own work; Cece writes the Sock Monkey series) are among those who look forward to this time of year in the hope that parents all over America will ignore the recession and buy lots of lots of books so they can add a chimney to their farmhouse in Boones Mill, Va. (not really where they live; in-joke!).

So, in their honor, we are posting this photo.

Cece Bell would probably want me to mention that her Sock Monkey series should not be confused with the adult comic strips/books by Tony Millionaire which also featues a Sock Monkey character, though his is considerably more demented!

Happy Belated Halloween

We were hoping to post this before Halloween, but well I was sick and the local libraries and coffee shops are closed on Sundays here in Mount Airy, NC (not really where I am at, though assuredly, everything is closed on Sunday there too!).

Casper the Friendly Ghost is actually a source of controversy amongst his fans as to whether he is the ghost of a dead child or if he is well just a ghost. There is an unsettling cartoon with Casper called "There's Good Boos Tonight," made in 1948, which hints that the former may be right, but we are not comic book historians (though I know folks who actually have that job title!).

Seymour Reit and Joe Oriolo brought "Casper to life." The character was first shown in a Paramont Studio cartoon before making his debut for Harvey Comics in 1945. And, there is that supposedly awful movie which came out a few years ago. I imagine my friend Moviezzz has seen it. Of course, that is just an assumption!

Today We Celebrate Five Years of Blogging

As of today, this blog (which originally ran on AOL; they have since ended their blogging features) is five years old!

And, as usual, it has put me slightly behind my schedule as I have pertinent things to do today like read email, go to a comic book store and watch a Criterion version of some obscure early Ingmar Bergman film.

They are actually kicking people off computers here at the Pyongyang Public Library in Pyongyang, North Korea (that is a joke, so don't call Jimmy Carter!).

So, let me go ahead and congratulate the Ragsdale High School football team who won their home game in Jamestown, NC (a suburb of Greensboro and High Point) by a whopping 52-7 margin over Person County High School which had to make what must have been an awful hour and a half trip back to Roxboro last night. Though we feel for the folks from Person County HS, I gather Ragsdale fans follow my blog more closely so we are ultimately happier for the home team!

Finally, anyone looking a new home for a cat or dog (of course, cats are the better pet), in the Triad might want to go to the Forsyth County Animal Shelter in Winston-Salem where a tuxedo kitten named Rebel is looking for a new home.

Well, the North Korean soldiers are pointing towards me, so we better run while we have the chance....!

Happy Birthday to the Backstreet Buzz Coffee House!

I want to wish a happy second birthday to the Backstreet Buzz Coffeehouse in Reidsville, NC, which is going to go on with scheduled activities celebrating the occasion tonight in spite of earlier concerns of inclement weather which has greatly affected communities like Rocky Mount, Va., a mere hour and a half away.

I always enjoy driving down Route 29 from Greensboro to visit Dave and Linda and their establishment which has got considerable regional recognition in the Greensboro/High Point area.

The establishment has featured musical performances from the likes of Greensboro's acclaimed folk singer Bruce Piephoff, who performed at the Backstreet Buzz in April.

Their food specialties include the white bean soup and their California Wrap. Of course, they also have plenty of coffee and tea beverages which lead to go with this image of Too Much Coffee Man from Portland, Oregon-cartoonist Shannon Wheeler (actually a man).

Though they are not celebrating an anniversary this weekend, the Chapel Hill Comics store in Chapel Hill, NC, offers a great selection of off-beat comics and graphic novels like Too Much Coffee Man.

On Feb. 21, Chapel Hill Comics will host graphic novelist Ben Towle who will sign copies of his new book "Amelia Earhardt: This Broad Ocean" from 2-4 p.m. And, they will feature a signing from Ursula Vermon who will sign copies of her latest book "Dragonbreath Attack of the Ninja Turtles."

If one is driving through Reidsville or Chapel Hill, two communities which are about 75 miles apart, they may wish to look at their web sites to see what's going on:

http://www.backstreetbuzzcoffeehouse.com

http://www.chapelhillcomics.com