Quote of the Day/Week-Angela Davis

Yes, we may well be the only between here and Dushanbe, Tajikistan, to post back to back entried from former veep Dick Cheney, who is we believe to the right of Attila the Hun (forgive the in-joke), and sixties radical activist Angela Davis, who is we believe to the left of Barney the Dinosaur, whom the Rev. Joseph Cambers of Charlotte, NC, cites as an example of socialist propaganda.

Davis was one of many African-Americans photographed by Timothy Greenfield-Sanders as part of his The Black List series which was shown at the Smithsonian National Portraits Gallery in Washington, DC.

Here is the quote from Davis:

"First of all, I didn't suggest that we simply get rid of all prisons."

Quote of the Day- Dick Cheney

 

 Ironically, given that we are of the center-left ideology, we are quoting Dick Cheney today as part of our new series of quotes from American vice presidents. Last week, we quoted Richard Nixon, who was also once a veep himself.

Here is Cheney's quote:

"Except for the occasional heart attack, I never felt better."

Quote of the Week: Leo Tolstoy

I may not share my fellow Turkish-American Elif Batuman's love for Russian literature. Batuman, whom I've never met, is a respected nonfiction writer who has published many articles in "The New Yorker" and she wrote a brilliant 2010 memoir "The Possessed." While much of that book talks about long, famous Russian novels, Batuman also talks about spending time in Uzbekistan where she spent a considerable long time engrossing the fascinating, yet very remote country.

Of course, one of the novels that Batuman was examining was the epic 1869 work "War and Peace" from Leo Tolstoy (1828-1910) which is 1,225 pages.

Here is Tolstoy's quote:

"Historians are life deaf people who go on answering questions that no one asks them."

SIDEBAR: When I saw the headline in "The Huffington Post" that "Man Survives 96 Minutes Without a Pulse," I thought they might be refering to Dick Cheney, but the man is in fact an unmplyed chef named Howard Snitzer from Goodhue, Minnesota.

SIDEBAR TWO: Earlier tonight, we had a chance to listen to the show "Progressive Torch and Twang," an alternative country/folk/Americana music show from Impact89-FM, the college station from Michigan State via the Internet. The show is extremely entertaining and amusing. Among the highlights on tonight's show was a song from Eddie Spaghetti, an alt country singer from Seattle, who sang a tune called "Jesus Never Lived on Mars." We can't imagine that one would ever hear it on a country music station in Lynchburg, Va.!

Things We Leaarned on Google Today_ It Was 20 Years Ago Today...

Actually, it was slightly longer than 20 years ago today, but the first McDonald's opened in Moscow in February of 1990 pre-dating both the end of the USSR as we know it and the fall of the Berlin Wall.

The McDonald's at Pushkin Square in Moscow is the world's busiest as it serves up 30,000 customers a day! The fast food giant now operates in 37 cities across Russia.

I also saw a McDonald's in Baku, Azerbaijan, when I was there in 2008. Ironically, I actually liked the food at Misha's Cafe a lot better. The cafe which served Russian food is named after the 1980 Olympic mascot bear, pictured above.

Also, I must profess that I thought I was going to have heart attack (I am only 41 years old, but Dick Cheney* had his first heart attack at age 37), after I dined on a Quarter Pounder combo at a McDonald's in Virginia (yeah, we're not mentioning the town, sorry!). The incident in which my blood pressure went up 35-40 points reminded of the documentary film "Supersize Me" by Morgan Spurlock, who is only a few months younger than me (we were both born in 1970). And, Spurlock is originally from Beckley, West Virginia, which is relatively close to Roanoke, Va., where I am from. His new film "The Greatest Movie Ever Sold" about product placement should be in theatres soon.

I should mention that I am craving Milk Duds right now, those things are great for sore throats!

Incidentally, we were originally hoping to ask Google how many McDonald's there were in Moscow, Russia, and we never got an exact answer. However, we did go on the company's web site, and find that there were apparently two McD's in Moscow, Idaho!

*-This does not mean I liked him as veep/president.

Revised Top 10 New Year's Resolutions

There were actually 50 New Year's Eve resolutions that I made; many of them will never, ever be made public--- not even if I am water-boarded (sorry, Dick Cheney!).

But, we came up with ten that are somewhat plausible or reasonable. Hopefully, we will actually get or three of these things accomplished.

And, of course, I would never resort to Pinocchio tactics to go out with an attractive woman....why is my nose growing?

Taking a cruise down the Nile River was actually number 39, but that has been removed for painfully obvious reasons, though hopefully there will be enough political stability in Egypt to go see King Tut's tomb one day.

Here is the list:

1. Go out with a cute girl you've just met for coffee (well, it will have to be someone else besides Natalie Portman!)

2. Lose about 15-20 pounds...yeah, I say this every year

3. Go to Asheville already (I live in NC, but it's still a bit of a drive from Roanoke Rapids*).

4. Eat more Turkish food, less Mexican food (sorry amigos, nothing personal, but I could go for a good steak burrito right now...)

5. Try to watch fewer bad movies

6. Volunteer for the local animal shleter or a non-profit group with no political agenda

7. Volunteer for the Democratic Party so Palinzilla does not become prez!

8. Write a memoir, a novel or a play already (this is always on the resolutions list!)

9. Figure out what the guy with the attractive girlfriend did to get her, even if it involves lying!

10. More mocha; less cappucino!

*- I don't actually live in Roanoke Rapids, NC, but I had to come up with a place to thwart potential cyberstalkers.