Turkey Wins Silver Medal

 Kudos to Turkish female weight-lifter Sibel Ozkan, 20 (she was born on March 3, 1988- the day before my 18th birthday!) for winning a silver medal for my father's country.

Ozkan's medal is the first one for Turkey. It was in the 48-kilogram (circa 90 pounds, I believe!) category. Ozkan lifted a 199-kilograms for the medal.

Turkey started becoming competitive in weight-lifting when male lifter Naim Suleymanoglu defected from his native Bulgaria during a time of social repression for Turkish Bulgarians in the late 1980s. Suleymanoglu went on to win gold for Turkey at the 1988 Seoul Olympics. It was Turkey's first gold medal in 20 years, and Suleymanoglu became a national hero for his efforts.

Bulgaria's communist government was overthrown a few years later, and the few remaining Turkish Bulgarians now live there in relative peace.

 http://www.turkishdailynews.com

 

Tags: Sibel Ozkan, Turkey, Beijing Olympics, weightlifting, Naim Suleymanoglu, Bulgaria

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And Now a Word from Our Sponsor's......Poutnik Beer!

 I had a chance to see the surprisingly good Kevin Costner movie "Swing Voter" today while taking a break from my 'golf trip' (more on that later) in Durham, NC- where Costner's "Bull Durham" was filmed 20 years ago. (And, Costner was also in the golf film "Tin Cup"- which is better, but alas much less popular than "Caddyshack").

The new comedy, which also stars Dennis Hopper, uses humor to clearly illustrate how Americans are more or less as politically divided as Greeks and Turks are on the island nation of Cyprus (forgive the ethnic humor).

But, there are a few things all of us seem to agree on. And, with the exception of corporate CEOs, I think it's safe to assume that most of us hate all the effin commercials that come on the screen during the Olympics.

Thus to make fun of this nuisance, I am going to occasionally post moc advertisements for goods that either no longer exist (do they still make Honeycombs cereal?) or are hard as hell to find here in les estats unis.

And, what better place to start than with Poutnik Beer. This is a real brew from the Czech Republic. To my knowledge, it is going to hard to find in America, but then again I'm no expert on beer distribution.

I've only had one Czech beer in my life, and that was Pilsner Urgel (which is available in America) and it was quite good. So, I will assume Poutnik kicks ass too! And, therefore, so should you..........

Oh, if one is wondering if I was sober while typing this up. The answer is definitely yes, though I am bit giddy. I will blame that on all the Devo music I was listening on the drive to Durham.

I need to work on my putting though, as it did alas cost me a trip to The Bahamas! (and, that is not a joke...)

Useful Links: 

http://www.czechbeerguide.com

http://pivouvarpoutnik.cz

http://coasters2.netfirms.com

(Where the image came from)

Tags: Czech beers, Olympics, commercials, Kevin Costner, Dennis Hopper, Durham, NC, golf, Caddyshack, Devo

Olympic Fever........Uhm, Not Feeling It?!

 So far, I've watched less than two hours of coverage and that was a women's volleyball match between The United States and The Netherlands. And, that was partially because I thought the tall Dutch volleyball player was really hot! Perhaps, it's time to seek political asylum (well not that I live in Angola, but at times it does feel that way!).........

I would also like to wish a happy birthday to my Turkish friend Seda Ertanis who lives in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, which I imagine does NOT have a women's volleyball team, a happy birthday.

All of this proves that there are actually places which are more sexually respressive than small towns in North Carolina. Is that possible?

And, lastly, this public confession. I did see "Mama Mia" at the Eden Drive-In last night. My friend Moviezzz wrote a very negative, hostile review to it several weeks back. I was wondering what he had against musicals based on Abba* music. But, as it turns out. He is right. The movie really does suck!

Useful Links:

http://www.edendrivein.com

http://talkingmoviezzz.blogspot.com

*- According to the NPR show "Sound Opinions," Abba is now topping the pop charts in the UK. I guess the Swedish pop music band from the '70s will be with us for some time to come. As it is, I just can't get "Take a Chance on Me" out of my head anyway!

 

Tags: Holland, United Arab Emirates, beach volleyball, Driveins, Abba, Mama Mia

Which Should Be the Next Olympic Sport? (satire)

I know this may not seem very patriotic of me since these two sports would be more likely to help Yemen and Thailand earn more Olympic medals than the United States.

Nevertheless, these sports do actually exist!

I would imagine serious injury or death are possible with both sports, but the same could be said of crossing the street in Philadelphia.

Useful Links:

http://jacacamels.co.uk

http://www.siampolonews.com

 

Tags: Camel Racing, Elephant Polo, Olympics

In Case You're in Uzbekistan.........

 

............The Summer Olympic Games from Beijing, China, are now underway.......

Alas, our Olympic gold medalist hero from North Carolina Joey Cheek (a speed skater who would not be competing, obviously) can not go to protest the Chinese government's economic assistance to the Sudanese government as a part of Team Darfur because he had his visa revoked!

The Chinese embassy did not return a phone call to "The Washington Post" explaining the reasons for this........hmmm..........

Although the AP is reporting that Mitt Romney, the candidate whom Michael Moore voted for in the Michigan Republican Primary*, is asking the Chinese government to reconsider.

But, it should be interesting to see which American Olympic gymnast will be next Mary Lou Retton. Ironically, it may very well be a Russian girl! (U.S. gymnast Nastia Liukin. Her parents were Soviet gymnasts. In fact, her dad is her coach).

And, if you happen to be in China right now, you can also visit the pandas at the Beijing Zoo. Although I'm not sure that Homeland Security will allow you to carry bamboo on the plane.

Lastly, the image below is of the French comic book hero Asterix. His fat friend is Obelix who would have undoubtedly made a great Greco-Roman wrestler.

 

Useful Links:

http://www.understandingfrance.org

http://www.asterix.co.nz

http://gb.asterix.com

http://www.teamdarfur.org

http://www.nastialiukin.com

 

*-means that was a joke!

http://www.michaelmoore.com (Not an endorsement, but even us moderate liberals love this guy!)

Tags: Asterix, Olympics, China, Joey Cheek, gymnastics, Darfur

Slightly Disturbing Casper Cartoon (from 1948)

Perhaps, it was because of the recent San Diego Comics Con that my friend Jason Brown attended which made interested in looking at some old comic books from my childhood. And, thanks what is essentially a "Casper box-set" from Dark Horse Comics ("Casper" was with Harvey Comics along with Richie Rich and Hot Stuff), I was able to read some interesting Casper comics from the '40s, '50s and '60s, including the one where he meets his girlfriend Wendy the Witch.
Of course, all these comics are fairly tame. Even kids' fare of today like Sponge Bob Square Pants is far more cutting-edge.
But, reading these old comics reminded me of an unsettling 1948 Casper cartoon called "There's Good Boos Tonight," which I saw on the Boomerang Network a few years ago. It is now available on Youtube, and I am posting it here (it runs almost nine minutes in length).

As you will see, it is not exactly something that one would expect to see on a given Saturday morning, and it does make one wonder what children think about death. In fact, I often wonder what adults think about it as well!

Useful Links:

http://www.harvey.com

Tags: Casper the Friendly Ghost, Harvey Comics

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Sick and Twisted Summer Double-Header (Not For Kids!)

This is Marv Newland's sick and twisted short "Bambi Meets Godzilla." I think this is actually the funnier of the two 'films' we have today. It runs for a minute and a half. It was made in 1969. I actually saw it on tv when I was a kid circa 1981. I can not verify if it messed me up for life or not!

The second film is the even-more notorious "Bring Me the Head of Charlie Brown," made by Jim Reardon who went on to become a director for "The Simpsons." It's a take-off on several Sam Peckinpah films, and it features a certain character made famous by Robert DeNiro. It's an 'epic' as it runs for nearly four minutes. It was made when "Family Ties" was hip in 1986.

My apologies to friends in Turkey, where Youtube is alas banned.

I should ask someone to bring the popcorn!

For more serious fare, The Film Forum in New York is debuting a retrospective of French thrillers starting with "The Wages of Fear" today.

And, the Grandin Theatre in my hometown of Roanoke will screen the Coen Brothers classic "The Big Lebowski" on Aug. 22 at midnight (also on Sat., Aug 23rd as well).

Useful Links:

http://www.filmforum.org

http://www.grandintheatre.com

Tags: Charlie Brown, Godzilla, Bambi, Sam Peckinpah, Grandin Theatre, Film Forum