Soccer Night_ Barcelona and Real Madrid Focus on Home Turf

It was a disastrous UEFA Champions League semi-finals for both Barcelona and Real Madrid, who were widely considered to be the best two soccer teams in the world. But, both lost to German clubs Brassiere Dortmund and Bayern Munich respectively.

Here is a look at LAST week's domestic play in the Spanish Premiere League where Barcelona has a very comfortable 11-point lead over Real Madrid_ their cross-town rivals Athletico Madrid, a team that beat 2-1 last weekend is in the third place.

The images are of Alex Song, a Senegal international who plays for Barcelona, the Real Madrid logo, and Arda Turan, a Turkish international who was also a star player at GalataSaray (Istanbul).

Here are the scores:

1. Valledolid 1 Sevilla 1, tie

2. Real Sociedad 4 Valencia 2

3. Real Betlis 1 Doprtivo 1, tie

4. Celta Vigo 1 Levante 0

5, Athletico Bilbao 2 Barcelona 2, tie

6. Real Madrid 2 Athletico Madrid 1

7. Zaragoz 3 Mallorca 2

8. Granada 1 Espanyol 0

9. Royo Vallercano 2 Ossusana 2, tie

http://www.fcbarcelona.com

http://www.realmadrid.com

Saturday is Free Comic Book Day

Saturday is Free Comic Book Day in America, and perhaps in other parts of the world as well. We recently came across some Swedish Donald Duck comic books where the famed Walt Disney fowl is known as "Kalle Anka"(pictured center) and he is apparently extremely popular in Stockholm.

We also have some Donald Duck comics in Turkish where he is know as "Donald Amca" (pronounced Ahmcha, Donald Amca actually means Uncle Donald_ the Turkish word for duck is ordek).

Comic book stores, large and small, are participating in the event. At Acme Comics in Greensboro, NC, Thomas Boatwright ("Cemetery Blues") will be signing autographs as will Amanda Rachels "Clown Town the Book") and Chrissie Zullo ("Fables: Cinderella, Womantohology), among many others.

Other stores celebrating the occasion including Carol and John's Comic Book Shop in Cleveland, Ohio, which is the home of our favorite comic character Howard the Duck, Atlas Comic Books in Charlottesville, Va., and very popular Jay and Silent Bob's Comics in Red Bank, NJ (the store was started by filmmaker Kevin Smith of "Clerks" fame).

SIDEBAR: Since tomorrow is National Prayer Day in America and we love to make fun of radical preachers like the Rev. Johnny Robertson in Martinsville, Va., who has probably condemned thousands of people to burn in hell (we can't actually verify this officially), we thought we'd show irony and quote Jesus Christ, a person we respect even though we are human secularists here:

"If you want to be perfect, go sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven."


http://www.freecomicbookday.com

http://www.cnjcomics.com

http://www.jayandsilentbob.com

http://www.atlascomicbooks.com

http://www.acmecomics.com

Kudos to the University of Maryland for Winning the ACC Lacrosse Title

The University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, NC, is perhaps a good six-hour drive from College Park, Md., where the University of Maryland is located but the Terps came through in women's lacrosse with a 12-8 over the Tar Heels on road soil.

Abby Friend scored three goals for the home team, but it wasn't enough to hold off three goals each from Katie Schwarzmann (pictured center), Brooke Grffin, Beth Glaros and Taylor Cummings. Schwarzmann was named the tourney's most outstanding player.

The Terps (19-0) remain undefeated and the loss was one of the very few for the 'Heels (12-3); the title is the fifth straight ACC title for Maryland. 

Incidentally, in case any of you are wondering, Testudo is the mascot of Maryland, a school that is (editorial comment: foolishly) going to the Big Ten in the fall.

SIDEBAR ONE: We want to thank Jack in Truth or Consequences, N.Mex., the only town in America named after a game show. Jack was one of the supporters who called in a pledge to the non-profit progressive tv channel Link-TV today; we sense if Link-TV had given his last name, he might find himself on Gov. Susana Martinez's 'enemies list.' She is, after all, a Republican.

SIDEBAR TWO: We also want to thank today's day sponsor (yes, we are making this up, no one sponsors us!) the Cafe Evolution, a vegetarian cafe in Florence, Mass. We are curious to know if they serve shish kebab without any meat!

SIDEBAR THREE: One sport that the Terps might have trouble with in the Big Ten, particularly since they don't have a team in the sport, is women's hockey. But, we sense that if the Terps had a team on the ice, they would probably lose quite often to the Minnesota Golden Gophers, a team that went a very impressive 41-0-0. The Gophers won a NCAA title in women's hockey on their home ice with a 6-3 win over Boston University several weeks ago.

Amanda Kessel of the Gophers was named the most outstanding player in college women's hockey.

There is now a petition to have the Gophers visit the White House, and a joint letter from Sens. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and Al Franken (D-Minn.) was written on their behalf.

SIDEBAR FOUR: Starting tomorrow, we will start Soccer Week. It was a good week for Istanbul powerhouse Fenerbahce, the arch rival of our beloved GalataSaray. The Canaries won a home UEFA game over Benefica of Portugal 1-0 on a goal from veteran Turkish player Egemen Korkmaz.

In domestic play, Fenerbahce won over Kayserispor 2-1 thanks to goals from two of the team's star players Dirk Kuyt of the Netherlands and Cristian Baroni of Brazil.

http://www.umterps.com

http://www.gopherssports.com

http://www.cafe-evolution.com

http://www.linktv.org

Where's Billy Bragg?

Somehow, we can't imagine that folk/rock singer Billy Bragg, also a left-wing activist, is one of Newt Gingrich's favorite singers. And, we certainly can't imagine Bragg would be in the former arch conservative house speaker's I-POD. But, several years, a right-wing prime minister of Australia said he was a big fan of Midnight Oil, a band known for their progressive politics as much as their awesome songs like "Beds Are Burning."

Tonight, Bragg is performing at the Berklee Performance Center in Boston, a city that is still recovering from a bombing incident at the end of the Boston Marathon. We personally can't imagine a better way to get away from it all than listening to Bragg, who in our views gives awesome concerts.

From Boston, he heads to the Southgate House Revival in Newport, Kentucky, on Tuesday.

Bragg then headlines at the  Ark in Ann Arbor, Mich., on Wed.,which is also home to WBCN, the student run radio station that was recently featured in a "Jeopardy" category because apparently the late Gilda Radner, an original cast member of "Saturday Night Live" got her start there.

Then Bragg, a British singer who was recognized earlier in his career for his outspokenness about the recently deceased Margaret Thatcher,  heads north to Canada for gigs in Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal.


This entry is a slight take-off on "Where's Waldo?"

http://www.billybragg.co.uk/

http://www.wbcn.org

http://www.theark.org

http://www.southgatehouse.com

http://www.whereswaldo.com

Turkish Soccer Results_ Fenerbahce Caught Looking Ahead

Our good friend (well, we don't know him personally, but we do know him via Twitter) Ahmet Bob Turgut is very excited about tomorrow's UEFA match-up between Turkish soccer power Fenerbahce (Istanbul) and the Swiss club Basil, but was Fenerbahce looking ahead?

In domestic play, the Canaries fell to Ankara Genclerbirligi by a 2-0 margin with a goal coming from Aykut Demir (pictured bottom) in the fifth minute of play to pull off a seemingly major upset.

One of the other three Istanbul mega-teams Besiktash also had a bad weekend as they stunningly fell to Akhisar 4-1 thanks to two goals from Greek national Theofanis Gekas (we imagine he gets hate mail from old men in Cyprus for playing for a Turkish team; pictured top). The Black Eagles did not help their own cause by getting Gokhan Suzen kicked out with a red card in the 56th minute of play.

But, it was a good weekend for the third Istanbul powerhouse GalataSaray as they beat Elazigspor, a team from the eastern city of Elazig 3-1 on goals from international stars Burak Yilmaz and Didier Drogba, the Ivory Coast national scored goals in the 20th and 26th minute of play. Serdar Gurler provided the lone goal from Elazigspor in the 22nd minute.

And, our favorite Turkish Premiere League player Pablo Battalla, an Argentina national, kicked in the only goal in the match to assist his BursaSpor to a 1-0 win over Antalyaspor; that goal came in the 73rd minute of goal. Maurice Edu, an American soccer player, also plays for BursaSpor.

Nigerian national Kalu Uche scored both goals for fifth place Kasimpasha in the team's 2-0 win over struggling Orduspor, a team from the eastern Black Sea city of Ordu.

In league standings, GalataSaray leads with 62 points, followed by Fenerbahce (55), Besiktash and BursaSpor (49 points, each) and Kasimpasha (46 points) 

Here are the results of last weekend's play:

1. GalataSaray 3 Elazigspor 1

2. Kasimpasha 2 OrduSpor 0

3. Akhisar 4 Besiktash 1

4. Karabukspor 1 Mersin 0

5. GaziantepSpor 2 Istanbul BB 0

6. Kayseri 1 SivasSpor 1, tie

7. BursaSpor 1 AntalyaSpor 0

8. Ankara GB2 Fenerbahce 0

9. Trabzonspor 1 Eskisehir 0

http://www.turkish-football.com

http://www.turkeyfootball.blogspot.com

Happy Birthday William Shakespeare

Today happens to the 449th birthday of one William Shakespeare, from Starford on Avon, England.

In America and perhaps in other remote parts of the globe, like Canada, the day is being celebrated as National Talk Like Shakespeare Day as well.

Many Shakespeare plays are currently in production or will be soon around the country.

The Folger Theatre in Washington, DC, which specializes in Shakespeare plays, will be performing "12th Night" from April 30-June9th.

The Colorado Shakespeare Festival in Boulder, Colo., will be performing "Midsummer Night's Dream," among other plays from June 7th-Aug 11.

And, in Conway, Ark., where we gather that they joking refer to the Bard as Willy Shakespeare, the Arkansas Shakespeare Festival will be performing "Much Ado About Nothing" in addition to other plays starting on June 6th.

"Whereth outh thou Nutella?" "Whereth outh thou cat food?" "Whereth out though paper towels?"

 Well, we couldn't resist.
http://www.folger.edu

http://www.talklikeshakespeareday.org

http://www.coloradoshakes.org

http://www.arkshakes.com

Happy Children's Day, It's a National Holiday in Turkey

We are wishing everyone in Turkey a Happy Children's Day. 23 Nisan/April 23rd was first recognized by modern Turkey's founder Mustafa Kemal Ataturk in 1920.

While figuring out which image to use, we stumbled across an image of this children's magazine with the Smurfs on the cover.

It was through another children's magazine "Tercuman Cocuk" (Cocuk is the Turkish word for children) that I first heard of the Smurfs, which were actually created in Belgium. In early editions, the Smurfs accompanied the Little Prince.

We recently found that particular magazine which came out on Feb. 25, 1978, some ten days before my eighth birthday.

Some right-wingers, perhaps someone like Cal Thomas or Newt Gingrich, has theorized that the Smurfs are a Marxist entity because they encourage community building.

Yeah, we think they are reading too much into it too.