Silly Picture to Fill Space- Honduran Blue Frogs

Today, we honoring Leap Day with a photo of the Honduran blue frog, well that is not the species' scientific name but Tilly Gokbudak, the managing of this blog, only made a C in biology at Central High School in Woodstock, Va. (not really where I went to school).

We have also decided to list the sunset times for eight American cities, including Greensboro, NC, and Salt Lake City, Utah, as well as Barrow, Alaska, which, being that it's in northern Alaska, may be one place where there are no Red Box dvd machines.

Here are the sunset times for today (Leap Day); the earliest one is for Nashua, NH, and the latest one is for Hilo, Hawaii (all times are local):

Greensboro, NC 6:13 p.m.

Nashua, NH 5:34 p.m.

Madison, Wisc. 5:46 p.m.

Tulsa, Okla. 6:18 p.m.

Salt Lake City, Utah 5:39 p.m.

Tacoma, Wash. 5:54 p.m.

Barrow, Alaska 6:19 p.m.

Hilo, Hawaii 6:25 p.m.

Quote of the Day/Week- Galileo Galileli

Since we had problems finding a quote from the Danish bishop and scientist Nicolas Steno, who is the subject of today's 'google doodle' as it is his 374th birthday, we are opting to go with the Italian astronomer Galileo Galileli (1564-1642) who would also be very, very old 'if he were alive today.'

In all seriousness, Galileo was responsible for the telescope. His name came up in September when Republican presidential candidate Rick Perry, who got one percent of the vote in yesterday's New Hampshire primary, dropped his name when trying to figure out a scientist he could use to justify his denial of global warming....ok.

Here is the quip from the renown Italian physicist:

"By denying scientific principles, one may maintain any paradox."

SIDEBAR: Kudos to North Carolina State University; as we learned from Twitter today, that the school is sponsoring a book drive before tonight's men's basketball game with Georgia Tech, which tips off at 9:00 p.m. The Wolfpack women's gymnastics team has also sponsored book drives, and we imagine many other athletic teams on campus have as well.

Quote of the Week- Lenny Bruce

Today, our quote of the day comes from the late, great comic genius Lenny Bruce (1925-1966), whom I have recently outlived (he died just a few months away from what would have been his 41st birthday).



Bruce was using the term 'yada, yada, yada,' some 30 years before it became a pop culture standard thanks to the term's frequent use on "Seinfeld."



This quote seems quite prophetic considering the recent telecommunication mergers:



"Communism is like one big phone company."



SIDEBAR: We had assumed that Cong. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) was the nuttiest, fringe Republican candidate for president, but it appears this dubious dishonor should go to Gov. Rick Perry (R-Tex).



According to an NPR report last week, Perry, who is a born again evangelical who likes executions (hmmm....yeah, he does seem too much like GWB) stated in Portsmouth, NH, that public schools in texas teach evolution and creationsim. Perry added that there were 'some gaps in evolution.' The day before Perry essentially said that global warming was just 'a lot of hype.'



This lead another Republican candidate, former Utah governor Jon Huntsman, who must feel like the only sane man in the asylum, to tweet that he did believe in evolution.



Of course, saying something intellectually sound while trying to become a Republican presidential candidate could cause a person to lose Sioux City!

Quote of the Moment-John Irving

Today, we continue our quips from famous New Englanders with a quote from novelist/screenwriter John Irving (b. 1942, Exeter, NH). Since Irving is from New Hampshire, this means that we have covered five of the six New England states with quotes on our two blogs. Rhode Island is now the lone exception.

Irving is a bit luckier than most novelist because two of his three most well-known novels "The World According to Garp" (book, 1978; film, 1982), "The Hotel New Hampshire" (book 1981; film 1984) and "The Cider House Rules" (book 1985; film 1999) turned into good film adaptations. Of course, it probably helped that Irving himself either wrote or co-wrote all three screenplays. He actually won an Oscar for best adapation for "The Cider House Rules." Of the three film versions, "The Hotel New Hampshire" with Rob Lowe and Jodie Foster is considered to be the least successful.

Here is Irving's quote:

"Half of my life is an act of revision."

Status Update_ I Wish I Could Go to NYC Just to See a Movie

The Film Forum in New York is currently screening the original 1968 gem "Planet of the Apes" with a rare print, but they are only showing the film until Thursday!

I am a huge fan of the original film, and even like some of the kinky seuqels. And, I must give Tim Burton credit as the 2001 remake was better than I expected. Still, nothing compares to the original.

Closer to home (I live on the Virginia-North Carolina border), Joe Scott will be screening the 1987 film "The Lost Boys," a teenage vampire saga, at the Carolina Theatre in Greensboro, NC, on Thursday night.

And, my good friend Jason Garnett will be presenting "Jaws" at The Shadowbox Cinema in Roanoke, Va., on July 23rd.

SIDEBAR: I was wondering just how many Republicans were trying to run for president. As it turns out, the official number, which does not include possible candidates like Sarah Palin, is 17. The most established candidates at this juncture appear to be Mitt Romney, Jon Huntsman, Newt Gingrich and Tim Pawlenty.

But, there are plenty of secon-tier candidates, including the radical, far-right Michele Bachmann who has supposedly promised to ban pornography and 'cure homosexuality.' This batch also includes former Pennsylvania senator Rick Santorum, who is also known for making over-the-top statements regarding gays. Then, there is the Godfather's Pizza baron Herman Cain, one of two African-Americans in the running.

This brings us to the no-name candidates, which includes the other African-American Jimmy McMillan, a Vietnam vet who established an activist group called The Rent is Too Damn High. There is also Tom Miller, a career flight attendant with no political experience (we're not making this up!) and the radical lunatic activist Anyd Martin who tried to sue the state of Hawaii in regards to President Barack Obama's birth certificate.

Finally, there is a gay rights activist (?!) named Fred Karger who may very well have eggs thrown at him, given the extreme nature of today's Republican Party. But, we wish him well.

Of course, it will be up to a car mechanic in Sioux City, Iowa, and a janitor in Manchester, New Hampshire, to determine who gets the party nomination.

Even though I'm a Democrat, I have no doubt that it will 'get interesting.'

Quote of the Day- E.E. Cummings

Today, we start our series with quotes from famous Americans in honor of the Fourth of July. This month, we will focus on eight quotes from people associated with the six New England states.

Since the late poet e.e. cummings (he actually preferred having his name in lower-cased letters) was born in Cambridge, Mass., and he died at his estate in North Conway, New Hampshire, we are going to quote him.

Cummings (1894-1962) was considered to be an avant garde poet when he wrote his most famous poems, such as "Buffalo Bill's," which helped immortalize the Wild West legend from Cody, Wyoming, in the 1920s. But, today, his work is considered to be standard fare in English literature classes.

Here is his quote which makes one think of another New Englander, the late children's author Dr. Seuss:

"It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are."

Status Update- I am NOT Erupting Like Mount Pinatubo

It was 20 years ago this month when Mount Pinatubo in the Phillipines erupted. The volcanic eruption killed 800 people in spite of evacuation warnings.

Thankfully, in spite of a very stressful, hectic week, I am erupting like Mount Pinatubo. Actually, I am not sure I would want to go near that particular volcano, but I would love to see those cool buses that the Phillipines is famous for.

We are also hoping to get some blogging in next month, and I have not forgotten about posting another people with long names list as I did back in May.

One person who would have to qualify would be Sonja Lyubomirsky, a professor of psychology at UC-Riverside who was interviewed by "Psychology Today," which is (amazingly enough!) not one of the eight or nine magazines I now subscribe to, and this is not a joke!

The article where...hmm, we'll break the rules and just refer to her as Sonja or Dr. Sonja was interviewed was about the secrets to finding happiness. Apparently, thanking people who've done nice things for you as opposed to getting iritated with people who almost ran over your golden retriever is one way of getting at this.

So on that note, I thank all of you reading this blog, and if you don't like this blog, then go follow Newt Gingrich as he stumps through New Hampshire and Iowa.

This and That- I Forgot About Joe Biden

Since I was in high school, I have been a partisan Democrat, so much so that I wanted to vote for Walter Mondale against Ronald Reagan in 1984 even though I was 14 years old at the time.

But, four years later, my opportunity came, and despite pressure from my Turkish relatives in Istanbul not to 'vote for the Greek,' I did indeed vote for Michael Dukakis over George H.W. Bush, even though Reagan's veep carried Virginia and won the election easily.

The field for the 1988 Democratic nomination seemed rather flat at the time, which lead to them being dubbed 'The Seven Dwarfs,' which Eric Alterman of "The Nation" would say proves that there is really no such thing as a liberal media. Of course, Bill O'Reilly would beg to differ, but we don't really care about what he thinks.

Yesterday, I had a chance to take a quiz for the web site for "Mental Floss" magazine which usually has all sorts of interesting quizzes. I had just talked about "snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" with a friend of mine, so the chance to name the 'seven dwarfs' as in the seven Democratic candidates from 1988 seemed rather nifty to me.

But, much to my suprise, I had a lot of trouble with it. After Dukakis, I remembered that Paul Simon (not the singer) and Bruce Babbitt, both of whom have since died, were candidates. I then remembered Al Gore, who as everyone knows became Bill Clinton's veep, but I had somehow forgotten about our current vice-president Joe Biden who was also in that field! This does beg the question, if I run into him someday at a political rally, do I mention this to him or not?!

I did get a chance to see one of the other 1988 Democratic candidates Richard Gephardt speak during a rally in Georgetown, SC, as he was trying to win the 2004 nomination which went to John Kerry. In fact, I rediscovered photographs I took of that event just a few weeks ago.

Speaking of political campaigns, I was just thinking when Mitt Romney, who we can't wait to make fun of again (we called him The Republican Dukakis during the last go around), that during his kick-off speech in New Hampshire that he did sound like Clark Kent and he was trying to convince Republican voters that he would be Superman when it came to reversing the American economic downfall.

Sure enough, some artists at "The Week" magazine had the same idea as they have Romney front and center under the caption "Waiting for Superman," in reference to an accalimed documentary that came out last year. Interestingly enough, Romney said yesterday that he differs with other Republicans in that he thinks global warming is partially man-made. Ironically, Paul Guggenheim, the director of Al Gore's documentary on global warming "An Inconvenient Truth," also directed "Waiting for Superman," which is a film about education.

Lastly, we had a chance to listen to the Turkish psychedelic compilation "Turkish Freak-Out" on vinyl yesterday afternoon just after listening to a streaming of "The Turkish Music Hour" on WUVT-FM (90.7-Blacksburg, Va.), and the recording from Bouzouki Joe Records is very good.

It includes 18 tracks from the likes of Erkin Koray (who turns 70 this month), Ajda Pekkan and the late Baris Manco. I found it at All Day Records in Carrboro, NC, just outside Chapel Hill.

Also, on yesterday's WUVT broadcast, I heard a song called "Sarhos" ("Drunk") by a singer named Dario Moreno (1921-1968). I had never heard of Moreno, and I presumed he was an Italian man who happened to sing a Turkish song, but he was in fact actually from Turkey!