Quote of the Week- Friedrich Nietzsche

Today's Quote of the Week continues with yet another quip from a famous philosopher; this one being the German thinker Friedrich Nietzsche (god, his last name is hard to spell!, and I should talk).

We dedicate this entry to our friend Chris Knight of Reidsville, NC, as he and I appear to be the only two people in the world who are still blogging after all these years! In one entry on his blog (http://theknightshift.blogspot.com) Knight talks about a church that is very hard to get to in the former Soviet republic of Georgia, which was where Joseph Stalin was from.

As for Nietzche, he was a major influence on postmodernism, and he was known for using metaphors and irony. His key ideas including the notion that "God was dead" and the will to power. The German philosopher was also a contemporary of the composer Richard Wagner, according to the 1990 graphic novel "Nietzche for Beginners" which we found at The International Bookstore in Chapel Hill, NC, a few weeks ago. (The establishment is hosting a Political Prisoner Letter Writing Night, which is probably not something that the fringe, ultra-conservative preacher the Rev. Johnny Robertson of Martinsville, Va., will be doing with his folks this week).

Niettzche was also known for what would not now be deemed politically incorrect views on religion (well, of course!), love, and women in general. So, I expect that even this tamer quote by him may not go over well in Eden, NC:

"A subject for a great poet would be God's boredom after the seventh day of creation."

MONDAY LEFTOVERS: We wanted to update the blogging public on the status of the University of Cal-Santa Barbara's women's water polo team. The Gauchos were not able to win their game vs. Loyola, which they lost 8-3. But, later in the day, they played a school named Occidental (yes, we've never heard of them either) and beat them 8-5. Kristin Kulakowski scored two goals in that victory.

The UCSB men's basketball team made the NCAA tournament and as a 15-seed they will face the Florida Gators (#2-seed) in a game that will be played on Thursday in Tampa, which is quite close to the Gators' campus!

Interestingly enough, the Gauchos' women's water polo team will next face Bucknell, a smart school in Lewisburg, Pa., for a home game on March 19. Bucknell's men's basketball team also made the NCAAs as a 14-seed; they will face the U-Conn. Huskies in Washington, DC, on Thursday as well.

Though the Gators are my favorite school in the SEC, I may have to root for the Gauchos on Thursday as my cousin's daughter attends that school in Santa Barbie.

There is a great quiz on mentalfloss.com asking the quiz-taker if they know which state a given school is located. Though I have stumbled on many "Mental Floss" quizzes before, I got all 11 questions right today!

Things We Learned on Twitter Today- Egypt Activist Echoes Lennon

Egyptian activist Wael Ghanim tweeted today that Arab nation dictators who are still in power will ultimately and always meet the fate of his country's former leader Hosni Mubarak for one simple reason, which John Lennon (1940-1980) would be proud of:

"Dear Dictators, no matter what you'll do today to oppress your people. Just remember. Power of People is stronger than People in Power."

Things We Learned on Twitter Today- Kim Kardashian Updates

Here are the latest tweets, as of 10 p.m. New York time, from our favorite Armenian-American (it should be pointed out that I'm half-Turkish, but I assure I would still be making fun of Ms. Kardashian any way!):

Kim: Watching The Notebook. I think I'm gonna cry.........I just had some cookies n cream and it didn't taste any good. I think I'm starting to not like sweets! This is an amazing day!

Things We Learned on Twitter Today- England to Compete in Water Polo

According to a tweet from OlympicNews2012, Great Britain will compete in both men's and women's water polo at the 2012 London Summer Olympics. The country has not fielded an Olympic team in the sport since 1956.

For an image to go with this entry, we were hoping to post a photo of a very attractive Katie Zakula, a sophomore from San Mateo, Calif., who is a member of the University of Cal State Santa Barbara women's water polo team, but that proved to be very complicated.

Along with her teammates Kristin Kulakowski and Michelle Beaudrau, both seniors, Zakula and the Gauchos (love that nickname) have two matches in Los Angeles tomorrow, including a day game with rival Loyola (Calif.).

In other tweeterville news, WTJU (91.1-FM, Charlottesville, Va.), the student run college radio station for the University of Virginia said that the bluegrass band Bearfoot, which performed in Roanoke last night, will be playing at Mockingbird in Staunton tonight.

On the band's web site (www.bearfootband.com), the group describes themselves as 'string band music for the 21st century.' I was also quite surprised to learn that the band is not from Virginia, North Carolina or Tennessee, but Alaska!

Things We Learned on Twitter Today- Obama/Chavez 2012

We actually posted that header to make fun of radical Republicans/Tea Partiers/Doomsdayers (editorial comment: the Rapture is not going to happen on May 21, 2011) rather than to support them. The image is of Maoist protesters in Nepal.

Today, we saw this great tweet from The Muslim guy, otherwise known as Arsalan Iftikhar, who has been, like me, a supporter of Pres. Barack Obama:

"Rep. Paul Brown (R-Ga.) once said President Obama will establish a Marxist dictatorship."

And, we also want to express support for all NPR stations as they are unfairly being targeted by right-wing activists. But, we want to mention WUNC-FM (91.5-Chapel Hill) in particular. Today, Frank Stasio interviewed UNC professor David Halperin who has written a novel called "Journal of a UFO Investigator." The book, which I have to get or read, has become a hit with readers, especially in North Carolina.

Stasio's North Carolina-oriented show "The State of Things," which also features stories of national and even international interest, airs at noon and is repeated at 9:00 p.m. (on Fridays, the station does not rebroadcast the show). It is also available for downloads.

NOTE: We experienced many technical difficulties with our entry on our sister blog "The Daily Vampire," so I hope those of you who have time and are feeling bored at your desk job in Tulsa, Oklahoma, or Louisville, Kentucky, can take a look at it. The link is listed on this site.

Things We Learned on Twitter Today- The President is 'On the Line'

Yes, we love relics that are Casualties of Modern Technology on this blog (we should get a trademark on that term!), and it goes well with today's entry as to what we learned from Twitter today.

There was this tweet from much-respected journalist Nicholas Kristoff:

"Had a chilling conversation with a friend in Libya. He was terrified somebody was listening and praised Qadaffi." ("Newsweek" spelled his name Gadaffi; we are truly confused here!)

While checking out Twitter, we were listening to WXYC-FM (Chapel Hill, NC) which is not only the student-run radio station for the University of North Carolina, but in 1994, it became the first radio station to stream over the Internet.

Tonight, WXYC was playing the music of Japanese avant-garde instrumentalist Toshi Ichiyanagi, who as it turns out was married to Yoko Ono from 1956 to 1963 before she met up with John Lennon. I must profess I had never, ever heard of Toshi or his music, but it definitely helped relive my 'brain freeze' which is apparently becoming a side effect of staying on the Internet way too damn long. (Wow, is it 10:05 p.m. already?!).

Lastly, we saw a white pickup truck in Roanoke, Va., last night that was proclaiming that May 21, 2011, is going to be JUDGMENT DAY (it was in all caps). The web site thinkatheist.com thus posed the following question: "Some Christians believe it will mark the beginning of the Rapture. What will you be doing on May 22?"

Special Quote of the Day- George Bernard Shaw

We continue our quotes from famous people from Ireland with a quip from author/playwright George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950) who penned "Pygmalion" which became the basis for the Broadway musical and film "My Fair Lady."

While we our quoting famous people from Ireland, we are listening to Mardi Gras music, including a great tune from Tom Waits, to commemorate today's festivities in New Orleans from WXDU (88.7 FM-Durham, NC), which is the student-run radio station from Duke University, from the net.

Washboard Dave is the DJ at the moment, and according to the station's web site DJ Andy B., who has a program from 10:00 p.m-midnight on Thursdays is the DJ of the Month. Of course, this has nothing to do with Ireland!

Here is our quote from Shaw:

"A life spent making mistakes is not only more honorable, but more useful than a life spent doing nothing."

I wonder what he would make of blogging? Perhaps, it would have prevented him from writing "Mrs. Warren's Profession" (1893), another one of his classic plays.

SIDEBAR: At 9:05 p.m., my friend Les Blank's landmark documentary film about a film "Burden of Dream" airs on Flix, a subsidiary of Showtime. You will either come away sincerely admiring filmmaker Werner Herzog or questioning his sanity for shooting a full-scale epic in the Amazon River jungles of Peru.

SIDEBAR 2: Have a morbid side that wonders just when and how someone like acting legend Erroll Flynn died? (I actually never got around to looking that up, but there are better things to do in life and for that matter- even online). Well, you can check out (deadoraliveinfo.com) where I learned that I have now outlived another icon stand-up comedian Lenny Bruce who died around the time when I was born by 75 days.