Silly Picture to Fill Space- Minnesota Vikings Mascot

Today's Silly Picture to Fill Space is dedicated to the mascot of the Minnesota Vikings. We came up with this idea while watching the 1958 cinematic guilty pleasure "The Vikings" with Kirk Douglas, Ernest Borgnine and Tony Curtis, all of whom are still alive even all of them are at least 85 years old (Curtis is the youngest of the three). Amazingly enough, Borgnine plays Douglas's father even though he is just one year younger than him! Both actors are now in their mid-90s!

There is also a 'great' 1971 Turkish cinematic guilty pleasure called "Tarkan Versus the Vikings" based on the Turkish comic book "Tarkan" (not to be confused with the famous pop singer Tarkan who took his name from that comic book), which has very nationalist themes.....but is historically inaccurate as Norway has, to our knowledge, never tried to invade Turkey.

The Minnesota Vikings won their last game over the hapless Detroit Lions by a 24-10 score last week. They have the week off, but they head to The Big Apple (well to New Jersey, actually) to face the New York Jets on Oct. 11.

Even though the Vikes have the fifth best winning percentage in NFL history, they have yet to win a Super Bowl. Their current quarterback Brett Favre is actually older than me! (I am 40; he's 41).

SIDEBAR: One of our "High Schools of the Week" is Eden Prarie High School in Eden Prarie, Minn., since the Minnesota Vikings are headquartered in the Twin Cities' suburb.

The school which opened in 1981 has some 3,280 students according to Wikipedia. The team's nickname is The Eagles. The principal is Conn McCartan. Famous alumni include "American Idol" semi-finalist Casey Carlson.

Thing We Learned on Twitter Today- Pot Plants Found in NC

Today, WXII (News 12) in Winston-Salem, NC, tweeted that police in rural Stokes County, NC, due north of Winston-Salem near the Virginia border, found a substantial number of pot plants just over the county line.

Stokes County Sheriff Mike Joyce told the news outlet that the plants were as tall as 12-feet high, and the estimated street value of the marijuana seized is $600,000.

"Drug dealers don't stop at county lines or city limits and this is an example of everyone working together," Jouyce told WXII.

Stokes County made national news some three years ago when two boys from the jurisdiction drowned in a river. There was a substantial manhunt for several days which lead to the eventual bodies' discoveries.

SIDEBAR: Our unofficial 'High School of the Week' for this week is Washington High School all the way out in Sioux Falls, S.Dak., where the principal is James Nold and the school nickname is The Warriors.

The school has won 35 state championships in athletics, which is more than any other school in the United States.

We could find any famous alumni from the school on the Internet, but famous people from South Dakota include former news anchor Tom Brokaw and former "Charlie's Angels" (the original '70s tv sereis) star Cheryl Ladd.

Of course, we sincerely hope that young people in South Dakota and elsewhere avoid illegal drugs. You can, after all, drink Red Bull now!

50 Beers Around the World- Heineken (The Netherlands/Holland)

The Dutch beer Heineken might well be the most popular brand we've featured in this series yet! The brand sells 250.8 million liters around the world, and it is perhaps the one European item that Republicans have no issues with.

Heineken was first made in 1873, and it consists of purified water, malted barley, hops and yeast.

You might even find it in Orem, Utah (just outside Provo).

Quote of the Week- Wendy Wasserstein

Here is our Quote of the Week from the late Wendy Wasserstein (1950-2006) who died way too young at age 55. She won a Pulitzer and a Tony for her modern-day classic "The Heidi Chronicles" in 1989.

"Because of Mozart, it's all over by the age of seven."

Ragsdale HS Wins Big

I didn't go to Ragsdale High School in Jamestown, NC- which is a suburb for both Greensboro and High Point, myself. But, we seem to have a loyal following from Ragsdale HS fans. (Alas, there is no firm research to prove this!).

But, we can confirm that Ragsdale beat the living daylights out of Parkland High School by a 47-8 score. We don't know if the opposing team's mascot was pounced on afterward, but irregardless after this game, he will probably file for unemployment.

In other North Carolina high school football action, Rockingham County HS from Wentworth (near Reidsville) beat their arch rivals McMichael High School 41-20, which means the Confederate flags in Mayodan, NC (where McMichael is located) will probably fly at half-staff.

In a more progressive part of the state, where I can very well park beside another car with a Barack Obama bumper sticker, Carrboro High School beat their fellow Orange County rivals Chapel Hill High School 22-20.

And, Eastern Alamance beat Eastern Guilford 30-21, which gave people in those areas something to do besides watch "Dexter's Labratory" reruns on Boomerang on a Friday night.

Half a world away, there were three soccer games in Turkey earlier in the day. A seagull actually landed at Inonu Stadium in Istanbul, but that didn't prevent the home side Besiktash from defeating AntalyaSpor 2-1. GaziantepSpor was also a 1-0 winner over EskisehirSpor for those of you who follow us regularly from those zip codes (hmm....I guess it's possible someone could be reading this blog in Gaziantep or Eskisehir!).

SIDEBAR: We used to publish letters to the editor that we loved, but we feared we would cease and desist order from the likes of "Time" or "Newsweek," so we quit doing it. But, I didn't want to mention excerpts from a letter that San Francisco resident Marta Lindsey sent to "The Atlantic." In the letter, she said that when she put the word 'average' into Google, she got automated suggestions which included penile length, IQ, salary, and weight?!

Top 10 Most Controversial Broadway Shows

Here is a list of the Top 10 most controversial Broadway plays in history according to toptenz.net

I was a bit surprised to learn that "The Full Monty," which makes this list is being performed at The Barter Theatre in Abingdon, Va., given that far southwest Virginia tends to lean on the conservative side. But, then again perhaps the 'Betty White's out there want to laugh and lust for a night. (That's a scary thought!).

Here is the list:

1. Hair

2. Equus

3. Spring Awakening

4. Rent

5. West Side Story

6. Cabaret

7. The Rocky Horror Show (film version is called The Rocky Horror Picture Show)

8. Victor/Victoria

9. Avenue Q

10. The Full Monty

Things We Learned on Twitter Today- One in Five Americans Think Obama is a Cactus

According to a hilarious tweet from the satire 'news organization' "The Onion," one in five Americans now thinks President Barack Obama is a cactus.

"The Onion" further 'reported' that these fringe folks think it's possible that Obama was a water-retaining desert plant since the day he took office.

The 'news source' also said that there was a rise in those who say that either Obama was born a cactus or he became a cactus in his youth.

I wonder what the numbers were like in Mesa, Arizona.