I'm Back in the Area After Long Trip to Maine.......

We didn't hit any moose, then again we didn't see any moose either! Along the way, we dined at the Stir Crazy Chinese Restaurant in Portland, Me., and we may have seen Stephen king (yes, that Stephen King) at a concert in Rockland, Me.

Other highlights included a visit to Acadia National Park, lobster in Trenton, Me., and a visit to the Simpsons' hometown of Springfield, Vt. I also got a new Boston Red Sox shirt in Holyoke, Ma. And, we visited Mark Twain's home in Hartford, Ct. It was also good to see my old friend Bob when we stopped in Woodstock, Va.

Our thoughts go out to everyone in Minnesota.............

My pet cat Gizmo is demanding attention.

More on our misadventures later!

As Judy Garland once said: "There's no place like home, Toto.... There's no place like home."

Alas, I did not get to see a minor league baseball game on the trip, but I found a team with the coolest name.........The Worcester Tornadoes in Worcester, Ma. But, I did get to see some Red Sox games in my spare time.

I'm rambling, aren't I????!

Take care everyone................

PBS to air POV-Prison Town, USA next week

I guess this is as good a time as any to say that I just got a job teaching English to Hispanic inmates at a prison in North Carolina.

For that reason alone, I wish my local PBS station_ which I usually admire, would show the documentary series "POV" during waking hours.

As it is, next week, MOST PBS STATIONS will air "Prison Town, USA," a documentary film by Katie Galloway and Po Kutchins at 10 pm on July 24.

The doc will examine the prison-building boom which took place in rural America in the 1990s when a new prison opened in America once every 15 days.

"Prison Town, USA" will focus on Susanville, Ca., which tried revamp its local economy with the building of the prison facility. The prison brought in difficult consequences for the area.

The film will focus on the stories of an unemployed mill worker turned prison guard, and an inmate's family which got trapped in Susanville.

For more info:

http://www.pbs.org/pov

 

DC Mayor Endorses Obama

Perhaps, those of you who visit this blog often would like me to spend more time talking about the presidential race. After all, Politics is the title of this blog. I think like everyone else I am a bit saturated with the topic, but..........

"The Washington Post" reported on Tuesday that Sen. Barack Obama (D-Il) was endorsed by Washington, DC's newly elected Mayor Adrian M. Fenty (D), who is actually ten months younger than me (I'm 37, he's 36).

In a story by David Nakamara, it was reported that there was speculation that Fenty would wait until his close friend New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg (I) would decide if he was running.

Mayor Fenty's adviser Jim Hudson raised $600,000 for Obama at a political fund-raiser. The Illinois Senator is even ahead of Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) in fund-raising for the Democratic nomination.

Fenty joins Chicago Mayor Richard Daley (D) and Newark, NJ, Mayor Cory Booker (D), who was the subject of the excellent documentary film "Street Fight," in endorsing Obama.

Another Democratic presidential candidate, former NC Sen. John Edwards is schuled to speak in my hometown of Roanoke, Va., tomorrow night. The event was originally planned for April but was rescheduled due to the tragic Virginia Tech shootings.

In Republican news, I heard that Sen. John McCain was telling voters in Claremont, NH, that reports of his political demise (based on financial woes in the campaign) were greatly exaggerated. We'll see............

Links:

http://www.washingtonpost.com

http://dc.gov/mayor/fenty06.com

 

 

 

 

John Kerry.......a Republican?!

I found this interesting item as I was glancing through May Ann Akers' column, "The Sleuth" on the "Washington Post" web site.

Apparently, an operative of the late Richard Nixon thought Sen. John Kerry (D-Ma.) might make an excellent recruit for the GOP establishment in the 1970s.

This info comes from the release of a memo by the Nixon Library. Murray Chotier wrote the following to Nixon:

"He (Kerry) is a Yale graduate and inlined towards the establishment," Choiter said. "His background could be Republican."

In response, Kerry said he had never recieved a phone call from Nixon:

"No, and the one thing we know is that if Nixon had called me, there's a tape recording of it somewhere, right?"

http://www.washingtonpost.com/sleuth

 

A Great Quotation II: from Katie Couric

I think I've found a new way to write quick, witty blog entries for intellectuals with low attention spans without resorting to youtube videos.........here is today's quote from a cover story pertaining to Katie Couric and her struggles at CBS in the current issue of "New York" magazine, where my friend Bilge Ebiri has contributed film reviews.

It is simply:

"The biggest mistake is we tried new things," Katie Couric.

Links:
http://nymag.com

A Great Quotation

I am visiting my mother. I am profoundly bored............and, I don't have someone to help me load a youtube video. So, here is a quote for today's entry.

It comes from Franklin P. Adams (1881-1960)

"Seeing ourselves as others see us would probably confirm our worst fears about them."

Link:
http://www.quotationpage.com

Star Polar Bear in Berlin is Getting Too Big to Perform

Welcome to my 250th entry........

I usually post political postings or entries regarding the latest happenings in cinema, theatre or music. And, many of my posts often reference events or issues involving Virginia, North Carolina or Turkey_ my late father Mehmet Gokbudak's native country.

But, today, I thought I would do something a little different and focus on Knut, the star polar bear at the Berlin Zoo in Germany.

According to the BBC, Knut (born on Dec. 5, 2006), has grown too big to perform with zookeeper Thomas Doerflein.

The adorable 110-pound cub was performing twice a day with Doerflein. Knut has also become the star attraction at the zoo, but not without some controversy.

The German media reported that animal rights acitvist Frank Albrecht had said that Knut should have been killed, instead of being handled by humans. After the publicity, Albrecht said that he has been misquoted.

Knut was born to a 20-year-old East German performing bear. Alas, the polar bear's twin brother died due after being exposed to freezing conditions at another zoo in Germany. Knut also recieved death threats in April, which lead the Berlin Zoo to beef up security though no intruders ever threatened to harm Knut.

The cub was performing twice daily with Doerflein. He will still be residing at the zoo, and Doerflein, who complained about getting burned out from the performances, said he will still be close to his beloved pal, Knut::

"I am always there for him. Knut is still a child," Doerflein told the BBC. "He needs me."

To read more about and see amazing pictures of this polar bear cub, you can check out the following links:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice

http://www.zoo_berlin.de/en.html