Quote of the Day/Week- Bernardo Bertolucci

Bernardo Bertolucci, one of Italy's greatest living directors, is an Academy-Award winner who has also directed the Italian film "The Conformist" (1971) and the highly controversial film "Last Tango in Paris" (1973). He Oscared for "The Last Emperor" (1987).

My friend New York-based film critic Bilge Ebiri has an exceptional profile of Bertolucci in the Australian web journal "Senses of Cinema."

Here is Bertolucci's quip:

"I don't think you can in any way export culture with guns and tanks."

SIDEBAR: We were aware that Greece, obviously a country going through a very hard time right now, had a thriving heavy metal scene with bands like Acid Death, Black Winter and Rotting Christ.

But, there is apparently an all girls punk rock band which formed in Crete called Barbed Wire Dolls. The band is now based in Los Angeles, and they perform in my hometown of Roanoke, Va., at the Horseshoe tomorrow night.

We first heard of the Greek heavy metal bands through the North Carolina State student-run college radio station WKNC (88.1-Raleigh) which airs "Chainsaw Rock" with host Lucreita tonight at midnight.

In Greece's neighboring country of Turkey, a predominantly Muslim country where my late father Mehmet Gokbudak hailed from, heavy metal is also surprisingly popular, and there are local bands, such as Pentagram, which have large followings.

Even more astonishing is the fact that the Israeli-based heavy metal band Orphaned Land is also very popular in Turkey.

Quote of the Day/Week- Evita Peron

If my dear sister Sibel Isley (not her real name) who lives in Provo, Utah (not her actual place of residence), actually reads this and she is contemplating getting me a very expensive gag gift for my 42nd birthday in March, she may think about getting me tickets for the broadway revival of the 1976 musical "Evita!" in which Ricky Martin will play Argentinian revolutionst Che Guevara (this is NOT a joke).

The show is scheduled to open in March, and Elena Roger, 37, who is actually Argentinian, will play the title role of Evita Peron (1919-1952).

All of this brings us to the subject of our quip today which is from the feminist icon Evita Peron, and ironically the actress who will play her on broadway has already outlived her as Evita died from cancer at age 33.

"Evita" was turned into a 1996 film with Madonna playing the title role. As a Turkish-American, I was amused to see that Oliver Stone worked with Alan Parker, who also directed the film version of "Evita." They had worked together on a film called "Midnight Express," which for obvious reasons (note to the cinematically clueless: the 1978 film does not show Turkey in the best light, and I have called the film blatant, racist trash) is not in my dvd collection.

So, here is the quote from Evita; this month we are featuring quotes from famous Latin Americans on both blogs:

"Answer violence with violence. If one of us falls today, five of them must fall tomorrow."

SIDEBAR ONE: The answer to our Road Quiz entry on Saturday is C) 1 hour, 40 minutes.

SIDEBAR TWO: As an American who is getting into European soccer, I must profess the UEFA Champions League Cup seems a bit confusing. Case in point, the Greek team Olympiacos upset English power Arsenal 3-1 in a game that was played in Greece today, but Arsenal is the team that goes on to the next round, and conversely Olympiacos does not. But, then again, the American college football bowl system even has us wondering what is going on!

Here is a partial list of scores from today's UEFA action; Chelsea, Marseille and Zenit also advance:

Porto (Portugal) 0 Zenit (Russia) 0, tie

Marseille (France) 3 Dortmund (Germany) 2

Olympiacos 3 Arsenal 1

Genk (Belgium) 1 Bayer Leverkhusen (Germany) 1, tie

SIDEBAR THREE: Various media reports that came out today said that Cory Smoot (Flattus Maximus), the guitarist for the head-banging heavy metal band GWAR known for their wild costumes, died of natural causes at age 34 from a coronary artery. Smoot's death occured in early November. The band, which is originally from Richmond, Va., said that profits from their next record "When Worlds Collide" that comes out next year will go to the Smoot Family Fund.

GWAR has also announced through their web site that the scheduled 2012 European tour will continue as scheduled; they first play Antwerp, Belgium, on Jan. 11th; the band will also play Oslo, Norway, which is a surprising hot spot for heavy metal on Jan. 29th.

The Bakpackers Are Beside BestBuy- Entry 3 of 6 (on both blogs)

It had been a very, very long time since I ventured to the Crystal Springs section of Roanoke, which is close to Roanoke Memorial Hospital (where I was born in 1970).

But, I noticed that one of the outdoor public sculptures for the Art in Roanoke project was in this part of town, which is perhaps best known for being the home of Fork in the Alley, a trendy urban spoon.

The piece is "Jelly Bean" by Brookly, NY, artist John Clement, which was also publicly displayed near The Castle in Grand Rapids, Mich. (pictured here).

According to the Art in Roanoke web site, Clement likes to focus on surface and color as much as form in structure.

I took about 10-12 photographs of "Jelly Bean," which is a bit hard to capture on camera because of the way it is designed.

But, it is quite an exceptional piece which really goes well with the tranquil environs of Crystal Spring Park, where it is located. In fact, I can imagine, even in the technology-zombie culture we live in, that one may well take an afternoon to read either "Catcher in the Rye" or "The Great Gatsby" while gazing at the piece.

SIDEBAR: Are into heavy metal bands like Slipknot, GWAR or Iron Maiden, which are just not being played on mainstream radio to your suiting. Well then, there is always "Chainsaw Rock," which airs at midnight on Friday nights/Saturday morning on WKNC, the student-run college radio station at North Carolina State University.

In fact, if one tunes in tonight, they can request some act like Buckethead. The heavy metal/folk singer (yes, we were confused too) who actually wears a KFC bucket on his head will be performing at the Awful Arthur's (Towers) in my hometown of Roanoke, Va., on Sept. 8, circa 8:00 p.m.

Status Update_ Life Might Be Turning Back to Normal

Status Update for June 27, 2011:

"Life is apparently, somehow/somewhat becoming normal again. Can I listen to Slipknot now?"

For those who don't get my sense of humor, and many people do not, there is actually an entry on my sister blog "The Daily Vampire" with an image of the great composer Franz Liszt, whose music will be on the PRI/NPR show "Performance Today" this evening in our market.

Somehow, when the opportunity permits, I also like to listen to "Chainsaw Rock" on 88.1-FM (Raleigh), which is the North Carolina State student radio station. It airs from midnight to 2:00 a.m. on Friday night/Saturday morning; the show is hosted by Hammerhead. And, it is responsible for introducing me to the speed metal band Slipknot, a band that originated in Iowa, of all places!

Orginally, we were going to use Guns N Roses as the band for this entry, but we think Slipknot makes it more offbeat and perhaps slightly funnier. My own personal favorite music genres are actually Turkish psychedelic music from the '70s and New Wave music from the '80s. I should add that I much prefer Talking Heads over Culture Club. And, Turkish psychedelic pioneer Erkin Koray turned 70 this month.

A Turkish music radio show airs on WUVT-FM (90.7, Blacksburg, Va.), the student station of Virginia Tech, on Saturdays from 1:00 p.m.-2:30 p.m.

Silly Photo to Fill Space- The Next Twisted Sister?!

Apparently, there are lots of garage bands in Pennsylvania, and as we continue our look at summer jobs in our series Silly Photo to Fill Space, we once again focus on of our favorite zip codes in the USA---that of Altoona, Pa. (even though we have no idea what their zip code is!).

While researching this piece, we found out that there is an '80s hairband tribute band in Altoona called Hair Force One, not to be confused with some silly children's movie of the same name with either talking hamsters or talking gerbils (how did someone pitch this crazy idea?!).

The band Hair Force One is playing lots of dates in Pennsylvania this summer, including a July 17th performance at 30 Something, a bar located on E. Walton Ave. in Altoona.

Another Altoona band, The House Band will be playing at the Old Canal Inn on July 9.

And, as for one of the real '80s heavy metal hair bands, Twisted Sister (lead singer Dee Snider is pictured here) is playing at the Norway Rock Fest in Kivindestal, Norway, on July 7th (man, I wish I could be there, well any excuse to go to Norway!). But, the band returns from the Land of A-ha (they will also be playing in Sweden and other countries in Europe) to come back to the States for a July 23 concert in Oklahoma City.

ROADTRIP?!

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........!