Quote of the Week- Aki Kaurismaki

We conclude our quotes from famous Scandanavians this month, with a quip from the great Finnish director Aki Kaurismaki. He is featured in the current issue of "Film Comment," where he discusses his latest film "Le Havre," which happens to be in French!

Aki's most acclaimed film to date in American film circles has been "The Man Without a Past" (2002).

Here is his quote:

"Cinema is dead. It died in 1962. I think it was October."

For the record, he was five years old in 1962.

Quote of the Day- Bernardo Bertolucci

This month (September), we have been quoting famous film directors. We conclude with one from the great Italian director Bernardo Bertolucci ("The Conformist," "The Last Tango in Paris"). My friend Bilge Ebiri, a New York film critic, is a huge admirer of his work and he has written about Bertolucci for the Australian web site "Senses of Cinema."

I also consider him to be a brilliant director; here is his quote:

"A monculture is not only Hollywood, but Americans trying to export democracy."

Republican Humor- Dear Casey

The following is meant to be political satire. Just so everyone in Generation Z or those of you from Belarus get the joke, Dear Casey or The Long Distance Dedication was a segment that was "Casey's Top 40," an American fm-radio music show when I was a teenager in the 1980s.


"Dear Casey:


I know that even though you are a political liberal like myself and a fellow person of Middle-Eastern heritage, you may hesitate to play this song for a truck driver I don't know in Sioux City, Iowa, as I am making this request for poltical reasons. Casey, I am afraid that the Republicans will nominate another execution-happy evangelist governor of Texas for their presidential candidate, and should Rick Perry actually become president I would have to flee America for Costa Rica or Iceland. Even though I'm sure those countries are wonderful places, I am not fluent in either Spanish or Icelandic, and I imagine this would make life very difficult for me. So, Casey, it is for these reasons that I am dedicating Conway Twitty's 1973 smash hit "You've Never Been This Far Before" to that truck driver I don't know in Sioux City, Iowa, in the hopes that_ and I never thought I'd say this_ vote for Mitt Romney in his town straw poll."

Conway Twitty (1933-1993) is alas no longer with us. I am actually a fan of his music (believe it or not) even though I'm not usually a listener of country music. Twitty was originally from Helena, Arkansas, and he is also known for his "Hello Darlin'" which was a big hit for him in 1971. Anyone living in the Chapel Hill, NC, area (not where I reside) may find vinyl records of his albums at All Day Records in nearby Carrboro, NC.

Casey Kasem is thankfully alive and well at age 79, which means that if Twitty were still alive they would be about the same age. Kasem was born in Detroit, and is active in both politically liberal and Arab-American causes (I am actually a Turkish-American). In addition to the famous radio show he hosted, Kasem was the voice of Shaggy on the original "Scooby-Doo," which first aired in 1969.

Virtual Postcard from South Carolina

Though we left South Carolina a few days ago, I thought would send this Virtual Postcard from South of the Border in Dillon, SC, right on the North Carolina border on I-95, a place that I can objectively say is one of the South's most notorious tourist traps. Of course, we mean that in a good way.

We were actually not at South of the Border, but it is a unique place with lots of strange souvenirs. Some of which probably have rebel flags.

The man in the sombrero is called Pedro; we do not know him personally.

SIDENOTE: I want to send a special thanks to those of you in Macedonia, Ukraine and Dubai* who are visiting our blog today. I must profess that while I know I have never been to Ukraine or Dubai, I'm not sure if I have been to Macedonia or not. We went through the area when it was Yugoslavia during the 1970s when I was a child, and since the country split some 20 years ago, I have been confused as to exactly where we were ever since!

*-I always refer to the United Arab Emirates as Dubai as it makes life easier. Hopefully, those of you in the country's other large city Abu Dhabi take no offense.

Last 10 CDs I've Listened To

I must profess this was a bit tougher to put together than I anticipated as I had to double-check which dates these albums were released. I actually first got the release years for The Replacements' album "Tim" and REM's record "Document" mixed up.

This week, REM, a band that along with the B-52s shaped and defined the Athens,Ga., music scene in the 1980s decided to call it quits after 31 years.

Here are the albums:

1. Talking Heads (pictured) "Speaking in Tongues." (1983). Key Tracks: "Burning Down the House," "Girlfriend is Better," and "This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody)."

2. Okay Temiz (Turkish instrumentalist) "Magnet Dance" (1994).

3. Peter Bjorn and John "Gimme Some" (2011) Key Tracks: "Tomorrow Has to Wait" and "Down Like Me."

4. Ali Farka Toure (late Mali guitar great) "Niafunke" (1999).

5. The Replacements "Tim" (1987) Key Tracks: "Kiss Me on the Bus," "Bastards of Young," and "Left of the Dial."

6. Gogol Bordello (pictured) "Super Taranta!" (2007). Key Tracks: "Wonderlust King" and "American Wedding."

7. The Go-Gos (pictured) "Beauty and the Beat" (1981) Key Tracks: "We Got the Beat" and "Our Lips Are Sealed."

8. Mates of State "Bring It Back" (2006) Key Track: "For the Actor"

9. R.E.M "Document" (1987) Key Tracks: "Finest Work Song," "It's the End of the World (As We Know It)," and "The One I Love."

10. Billy Joel "Piano Man" (1973) Key Tracks: "Piano Man," "The Ballad of Billy the Kid," and "Captain Jack."

PSA- I Need a Job

About six weeks ago, my mom got me "The Complete Works of William Shakespeare," which she found at a very resonable price at a yard sale. The book does indeed contain all 35 of William Shakespeare's plays. And, since I have alas lost my teaching job because of funding cuts, I actually might have time to read "The Merchant of Venice" and "Taming of the Shrew."

But, of course, I am hoping to find employment and put off reading Shakespeare, the great artist that he is, for some other time.

So, I am asking anyone who comes across this entry irregardless if they are in Los Angeles, Cleveland or perhaps even Dubai, if they know of employment opportunities in education, journalism or translation work (I am 90 percent fluent in Turkish).

The three states where I would prefer to work are North Carolina, Virginia or Maryland, but if the job of my dreams is in a far-away place like Logan, Utah, I will have to simply 'jump on the bus,' or perhaps even become a bus driver!

For those of you with jobs and within traveling distance of Staunton, Va., which is halfway between Washington, DC, and Roanoke, I highly recommend going to the American Shakespeare Center.

The troupe is currently performing "Henry V," "The Tempest" and "Hamlet." All productions are 'curtain up' until late November.

SIDEBAR: Alas, my beloved BursaSpor in Bursa, Turkey, lost a home game to traditional Istanbul powerhouse Besiktas (pronounced Beshiktash in English) by a 2-1 score. But, we wish the crocodiles well this season. Yes, that is actually BursaSpor's nickname even though there are no crocodiles that we know of in Turkey, though there could be some at the Ankara Zoo.

Finally, I thought soccer rivalries were pretty intense in Turkey, where in one game just a few days ago involving another Istanbul powerhouse Fenerbahce was played 'in front of women and children spectators only.' That game with Manisaspor ended in a
1-1 tie.

But, perhaps the ugliest soccer rivalry in Europe is in Glasgow, Scotland, where Rangers and Celtic fans go at each other's throats, literally! The two teams, which are divided along ethnic and religious lines (Rangers fans are Protestants, Celtic fans are Catholic), played each other in the first of five meetings (?!) over the weekend.

According to the BBC, there were some nasty clashes after the game that Rangers won by a 4-2 score on two goals from Steven John Naismith, Nikica Jealvic and Kyle Rafferty. Perhaps, their next game should be played 'in front of women and children spectators only.'

The Top Ten Countries Where We Are Most Popular

We used to jokingly brag that we were the most popular American blog in Bergen, Norway, and Samarkand, Uzbekistan, but it appears that our blog hits are not coming from those countries. However, they are thankfully coming from lots of other places.

For this entry, we chose to go with an image of Syd, Ollie and Millie, the mascots of the 2000 Sydney Olympics, where one of my all-time favorite collegiate gymnasts Yvonne Tousek of UCLA competed for Canada; the reason for this is that Australia is in our top ten for this blog as well as 'the other blog,' which is "The Daily Vampire."

Here is the list of the countries that really, really like us:

1. USA 66,460

2. Canada 6,543

3. UK 5,222

4. Germany 4,918

5. India 1,774

6. Brazil 1,567

7. France 1,313

8. Australia 1,269

9. Netherlands 1,040

10. Indonesia 613

SIDEBAR: Our friends at Triad Stage in Greensboro, NC, are set to open a new play in their UpStage Cabaret space when "The Mystery of Irma Vep" debuts on Sept. 29. The stage production will run through Oct. 15. If you are reading this at a cofffehouse in Hamburg, Germany, you should go ahead and take the 12-hour flight to North Carolina just to see this play!