Things We Learned on Google Today- Kutaisi is Georgia's Second City

In case you are wondering, the image above is of Kazbegi Beer (well we ran into a tech glitch so the image is of Georgian folk dancing instead, but all beer bottles look similar, don't they?!), which is the most popular brew in Georgia, as in Tblisi not Atlanta.

The former Soviet republic of Georgia is now an independent nation though it has been dealing with ethnic unrest as Abhazia and South Ossetia, two states within Georgia, want independent nationhood status for themselves, much as Chechnya wants a divorce from Russia. If all of this is confusing, then just ask Condi Rice to clarify it for you (not that we are Republicans here).

Kutaisi has a population of 186,000, and it has Georgia's second highest population behind the capital Tblisi. Kutaisi, which is some 150 miles west of Tblisi, is relatively close to the geographic center of Georgia.

The city also sits along both banks of the Rioni River (yes, we got all this info from Wikipedia), and it is bounded by the northern Imereti foothills. Much like neighboring Azerbaijan, Georgia has hot summers and cold winters.

FC Torpedo Kutaisi is the local soccer team, and the landmark attraction in Kutaisi is the Bagrati Cathedral, which is now in ruins.

As for the Georgia where former president Jimmy Carter grew up and still resides, Augusta is the state's second largest city. We wrongly assumed it was Savannah, which is actually the Peach State's fourth largest city.

THE WHOOPS DEPARTMENT: In Saturday's entry, I did not spell liberal reporter Suzy Khimm's name correctly; we did in fact spell it as Suzy Khim. She has an excellent Twitter page, which I highly recommend, even if the person reading this happens to be Condi Rice. Khimm wrote an excellent article in the December 2010 issue of "Mother Jones," which is actually to the left of me, about Virginia's militant far right wing Republican attorney general whose name I can't spell any way.

PS_ The answer to our "Rabbit Ears Quiz" from last week was c) 31. "Star Trek" had 79episodes whereas "Space 1999" had 48 episodes. Thus, 31 is the mathematical difference between them. Aysegul Denizli* of Izmir, Turkey, won our grand prize for guessing the correct answer. Our grand prize is indeed an 8-track tape from the
'70s of American honky tonk truck-driving songs.

*- Fake name, though there might very well be a woman somewhere in the world with that name! And, there were no prizes for guessing correctly.....

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!