Quote of the Day/Week- Ernest Hemingway

Today's quote of the day comes from American writer Ernest Hemingway (1899-1961) who once lived in Ketchum, Idaho, where it is apparently at least 100 degrees F, for the third or fourth consecutive day in a row. Hemingway, who penned such classics as "The Old Man and the Sea" and "The Sun Also Rises" also lived in Key West, Florida, and in Cuba, of course, he resided there before the revolution started by Fidel Castro and Che Guevara.

Hemingway has been in many recent films, most notably Woody Allen's film "Midnight in Paris," where he was played by Corey Stoll, 36, (pictured) whose performance was critically acclaimed, but did not garner an Oscar nomination. Christopher Plummer, 82, won the Best Supporting Actor Oscar this year for his remarkable performance in "Beginners."

Here is Hemingway's quote:

"I always try to write on the principle of the iceberg. There is seven-eights of it under water for every part of it that shows."

SIDEBAR: Since the 2012 London Olympics get underway later this month, we thought we'd mention one of the athletes from North Carolina, one of our states of residence (the other one is not Maine, though we love it up there!). Cullen Jones, 28, from Charlotte and a North Carolina State University alum, will be competing for Team USA in men's swimming. Jones holds the world record in the 50-meter free-style. He won gold during the 2008 Beijing Olympics in a team relay, which included the much-decorated athlete Michael Phelps. Jones was also the first African-American to win gold in swimming.

http://www.hemingwayhouse.com

http://www.gopack.com

http://www.cullenjones.com

Quote of the Day- Dan Quayle

If Bill O'Reilly is checking us out tonight, as are blog readers from Russia, Greece and Sweden, and he accuses of an arbitrary liberal bias, our response will be: 1) Ok, so what a tea partier is just Peppermint Patty in reverse and 2) our original choice was Charles Fairbanks, who was vice president under Theodore Roosevelt.

But, since no quotes from Fairbanks were anywhere to be found we went with a more recent Republican vice president in Dan Quayle, 65, who was veep under George H.W. Bush.

In spite of his now dubious political reputation, Quayle actually served in both houses of Congress for many years prior to becoming vice president. In 1976, at the age of 29, Quayle was elected into the House of Representatives and from 1981-89, he was a U.S. Senator for Indiana.

His son Ben Quayle (R-Ariz.), 35, is following the family's political tradition as he was elected to represent his district in Arizona. Quayle is one of many freshman Congressional reps who were elected in November of 2010; a class which is now the subject of a book from seasoned reporters at "Politico" (we need to ask Javier the Intern* to bing the author's names when he gets back from the Salt Lake City Library**).

As for Vice President Charles Fairbanks (1852-1918), he had a similar background to Quayle as he once a U.S. Senator before becoming Theodore Roosevelt's veep, but he got stabbed in the back by his boss as Teddy decided to support William Howard Taft instead, and Taft did indeed become president back in....where's Javier? But, we do know that it was 66 degrees in Fairbanks, Alaska, today.

As for the photo, we are not sure what the context is. This salute in Turkey is for the far, far-right Grey Wolves political movement; and at North Carolina State University, nicknamed the Wolfpack, it is the school's partisan salute at athletic events.

Here is Quayle's quote, and we are NOT making this one up:

"A low voter turn-out is an indication of fewer people going to the polls."

Links: 1) Dan Quayle's official home page, 2) Politico, 3) NC State U, 4) SLC, Utah Public Library and 5) Turkishpoliticsinaction.com, a site which is not in any way linked to far-right political movements in Turkey or anywhere else.

http://www.vicepresidentquayle.com

http://www.politico.com

http://www.ncsu.edu

http://www.slcpl.org

http://www.turkishpoliticsinaction.com

*-Javier the Intern is a fictional person; one day we will have to post a Wikipedia entry about him

**- We are not in Salt Lake City, Utah, but we hear the city's public library is among the best in the country.

Sweet Sixteen by the Numbers- It's Really Been a Long Time for Badgers Fans

We found out some interesting things while researching this piece: It has been a very, very long time since the Wisconsin Badgers won a NCAA title in men's basketball and Kenny Belton, a senior for the Ohio Bobcats, a team that will face the UNC Tarheels in the Sweet 16, graduated from Dudley High School in Greensboro, NC, so perhaps he even rooted for the 'Heels growing up!

And, yes, we realize that Ramsey, the UNC Tarheels' mascot doesn't really go with our entry title, but we are not exactly "The New York Times" here!

Here we go:

71: Years since Wisconsin won NCAA title; the Badgers took it all in 1941.

52: Years since Ohio State won NCAA men's basketball title

50: Years since the Cincinnati Bearcats won title, they won back-to-back titles (1961 and 1962) with Oscar Robinson.

34: Number of points that Florida beat Norfolk State by in the round of 32.

32: Number of miles between Chapel Hill and downtown Raleigh

31: Number of games won by the UNC Tarheels

29: Number of games won by Ohio University; years since North Carolina State last won NCAA tournament.

21: Number of points scored by junior Walter Offutt in the Ohio Bobcats' upset over South Florida in the round of 32.

14: Numbers of points that UNC beat Creighton by in the round of 32; years since Kentucky last won NCAA tournament; number of schools from major conferences in Sweet 16.

13- Number of teams in Sweet 16 that have won NCAA titles in men's basketball before

8- Number of players from North Carolina on UNC's roster

7- Number of Sweet 16 teams from my brackets which actually made it to the Sweet 16!; number of titles won by Kentucky.

6- Number of Ohio Bobcats players from Ohio; number of NC St. players from North Carolina (including star player sophomore C.J. Leslie from Holly Springs, NC); number of points that Ohio beat South Florida by; number of coaches in Sweet 16 who've won the NCAA title; number of schools in Sweet 16 with women's gymnastics programs.

5- Number of titles won by UNC.

4- Number of teams from Ohio in Sweet 16; number of teams from the Big 10; number of teams from the Big East

3_ Number of UNC players from the Greensboro/Winston-Salem, NC area; number of international players for NC St. (Australia, Belgium and Canada); number of teams with feline nicknames; number of teams with bird-related nicknames.

2_ Number of school from old Metro Conference in Sweet 16 (Louisville and Cincinnati); number of ACC schools in Sweet 16; number of SEC schools; number of Big 12 schools; number of schools that are not from super conferences.

1_ Number of schools with dog-related nicknames (NC St. Wolfpack); number of schools that also made the Sweet 16 in NCAA men's hockey (Michigan State Spartans).

Colleges Nicknames: Big Dogs on Campus

Today's list of college team nicknames continues with a list of 12 schools that have dog-related nicknames, including the three pictured here: Albany Great Danes, James Madison University Dukes and the Southern Illionois Salukis.

The Loyola (Md.) Greyhounds out of Baltimore are assured of a NCAA bid as they won the Metro Atlantic Conference tournament earlier this week.

The North Carolina State Wolfpack which won their ACC tournament opener over Boston College (not to be confused with Boston University which is on this list; for those of you in Malta, they are seaprate schools!) while playing in Atlanta today are among the 'bubble teams,' which may or may not make the NCAA field.

Here is our list of schools with dog or dog-related nicknames:

1. Alabama A & M Bulldogs, SWAC, Normal, Ala.

2. Albany Great Danes, America East, Albany, NY

3. Arkansas State Red Wolves, Sun Belt, Jonesboro, Ark.

4. Boston Uniersity Terriers, America East, Boston, Mass.

5. Georgia Bulldogs, SEC, Athens, Ga.

6. JMU Dukes, Colonial Athletic, Harrisonburg, Va.

7. Loyola (Md.) Greyhounds, Metro Atlantic, Baltimore, Md.

8. Marist Red Foxes, Metro Atlantic, Poughkeepsie, NY

9. Nevada Wolf Pack, Western Atletic, Reno, Nev.

10. North Carolina State Wolfpack, ACC, Raleigh, NC

11. Southern Illinois Salukis, Missouri Valley, Carbondale, Ill.

12. Washington Huskies, PAC-12, Seattle, Wash.

In the News_ American Postage Stamps Increase

On Monday, domestic postage stamp rates for letters go up here in the United States. So, if you want to send a congratulations card to Newt Gingrich for winning yesterday's South Carolina Republican Primary, you are already too late. Of course, those of you who know us well, realize we will not be among those sending the former House Speaker greeting cards anytime soon.

The Humphrey Bogart stamp (1997) shown here was part of a Legends of Hollywood series, which also included a Marilyn Monroe stamp.

SIDEBAR: Kudos to the nationally ranked men's basketball team from Harvard as they beat Dartmouth yesterday on the road in Hanover, NH, by a 54-38 score. But, interestingly enough, the school's Athlete of the Week is Haley Mendez, who plays women's squash?!

Also our congrats go out to the North Carolina State women's gymnastics team as earlier in the week sophomore Stephanie Ouellette was named EAGL Conference Gymnast of the Week. The Wolfpack also received honors for junior Rachel Fincham who was named EAGL Specialist of the Week, and freshman Lane Jarred who was named EAGL Rookie of the Week.

Over the weekend, the Wolfpack continued their success with a road victory over the University of Illinois-Chicago, which is, of course, located in the Windy City.

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.

Bonus Road Trips (10 of 10) Provo to Raleigh...beware of the traffic

We wish to warn not only incomers from Provo, Utah, but also anyone coming into Raleigh, NC, via I-40 or I-85, that this seemingly small city is quite overgrown and congested! So, I will wager that at least one angry Pittsburgh Penguins fan missed a game against the Carolina Hurricanes as I'm sure at least one angry college gymnastics missed an North Carolina State Wolfpack meet (hmm...we aren't naming names).

On Saturday, the visiting Brigham Young Cougars start their season at North Carolina State, and it is quite a trek. Assuredly, the visiting women's gymnastics team from Provo, Utah, will be flying in for the meet. But, today, we look at how long that journey would take if one came to Raleigh from Provo in a Hyundai Accent.

For our points of destination, we are going with the famous restaurant, The Pit Authentic Barbecue, which was featured on the reality/cooking show "Ludo Bites America," with the ever-passionate five-star French chef Ludo Lefebrve, on the Sundance Channel. It is still showing in reruns.

As for Provo, Utah, where those of us who voted for Barack Obama may feel like Chomskyite hippies wearing Che Guevara t-shirts and Birkenstocks, (for those of you in Gyumri, Armenia, Provo, Utah, is considered the most conservative city in the land) we are selecting the Sensous Sandwich Shop on West Center Street.

Despite solid performances from Wolfpack gymnasts Diahanna Ham, Lane Jarred and Brooke Barr, the team fell to the third-ranked Florida Gators 196.025-194.675, who probably were fortunate enough not to deal with I-40.

So, just how far is Provo from Raleigh, assuming traffic is not backed up to Greensboro on I-40 (45 miles west of Raleigh); is the answer?

A) 31 hours even

B) 32 hours even

C) 33 hours even

D) 34 hours even

SIDEBAR: We want to take a moment to congratulate Radford University Highlanders' freshman R.J. Price for being named Big South Freshman of the Week in men's basketball. My alma has been on hard times as of late as the team lost its 13th basketball game in a row on Thursday night in Rock Hill, SC, to Winthrop University by a score of 70-54. But, in spite of the team loss, Price scored 19 points in the game. The Highlanders next face arch rival Liberty University in Lynchburg, Va., on Thursday night.

Happy National College Radio Day

Happy National College Radio Day. I co-hosted a Turkish music show on WUVT-FM (90.7-FM) in 1994, so I fully respect the hard work and dedication that all college radio djs put in. Today's Turkish music show on WUVT-FM is called "Turkish Music Hour" and it airs from 1:00-2:30 p.m. (yes, it is an ironic title since the show lasts an hour and a half). I still listen to the show, and I think it's quite well-done. The hosts have in fact thought me about the Turkish female pop singer Nil Karaibrahimgil who is apparently very popular now.

There is a Greek music show before the Turkish show, as was the case when my friend Bahadir and I co-hosted the show. And, it is also quite good.

Since I now live in North Carolina, I also want to mention four exceptional college radio stations between Greensboro and Raleigh. They include WKNC (North Carolina State), which has a great heavy metal show on Friday nights, WXDU (Duke University, pictured) which has a great folk/local music show hosted by Washboard Dave.

In addition, there is WXYC (UNC) and WUAG (UNC-Greensboro).

SIDEBAR: This was a good weekend for many ACC sports team in Virginia and North Carolina. In college football, Wake Forest pulled off a huge upset of Florida State by a 35-30 score. Similarly, the Virginia Tech Hokies were able to defend their home turf in an exciting 38-35 win over Miami (Fla).

Not that this is pick on the Miami Hurricanes Day, but the UNC Tarheels won a home volleyball in five sets over the Hurricanes yesterday. Emily McGee of the Tarheels was named ACC Volleyball Player of the Week. On Thursday, the Tarheels, which also have a Turkish player named Ece Taner, host the Virginia Tech Hokies, a team that features junior Liz Trinchere, who is an alumnus of my high school, Glenvar High School in Salem, Va.

The Bakpackers Are Beside BestBuy- Entry 3 of 6 (on both blogs)

It had been a very, very long time since I ventured to the Crystal Springs section of Roanoke, which is close to Roanoke Memorial Hospital (where I was born in 1970).



But, I noticed that one of the outdoor public sculptures for the Art in Roanoke project was in this part of town, which is perhaps best known for being the home of Fork in the Alley, a trendy urban spoon.



The piece is "Jelly Bean" by Brookly, NY, artist John Clement, which was also publicly displayed near The Castle in Grand Rapids, Mich. (pictured here).



According to the Art in Roanoke web site, Clement likes to focus on surface and color as much as form in structure.



I took about 10-12 photographs of "Jelly Bean," which is a bit hard to capture on camera because of the way it is designed.



But, it is quite an exceptional piece which really goes well with the tranquil environs of Crystal Spring Park, where it is located. In fact, I can imagine, even in the technology-zombie culture we live in, that one may well take an afternoon to read either "Catcher in the Rye" or "The Great Gatsby" while gazing at the piece.



SIDEBAR: Are into heavy metal bands like Slipknot, GWAR or Iron Maiden, which are just not being played on mainstream radio to your suiting. Well then, there is always "Chainsaw Rock," which airs at midnight on Friday nights/Saturday morning on WKNC, the student-run college radio station at North Carolina State University.



In fact, if one tunes in tonight, they can request some act like Buckethead. The heavy metal/folk singer (yes, we were confused too) who actually wears a KFC bucket on his head will be performing at the Awful Arthur's (Towers) in my hometown of Roanoke, Va., on Sept. 8, circa 8:00 p.m.

Status Update_ Life Might Be Turning Back to Normal

Status Update for June 27, 2011:

"Life is apparently, somehow/somewhat becoming normal again. Can I listen to Slipknot now?"

For those who don't get my sense of humor, and many people do not, there is actually an entry on my sister blog "The Daily Vampire" with an image of the great composer Franz Liszt, whose music will be on the PRI/NPR show "Performance Today" this evening in our market.

Somehow, when the opportunity permits, I also like to listen to "Chainsaw Rock" on 88.1-FM (Raleigh), which is the North Carolina State student radio station. It airs from midnight to 2:00 a.m. on Friday night/Saturday morning; the show is hosted by Hammerhead. And, it is responsible for introducing me to the speed metal band Slipknot, a band that originated in Iowa, of all places!

Orginally, we were going to use Guns N Roses as the band for this entry, but we think Slipknot makes it more offbeat and perhaps slightly funnier. My own personal favorite music genres are actually Turkish psychedelic music from the '70s and New Wave music from the '80s. I should add that I much prefer Talking Heads over Culture Club. And, Turkish psychedelic pioneer Erkin Koray turned 70 this month.

A Turkish music radio show airs on WUVT-FM (90.7, Blacksburg, Va.), the student station of Virginia Tech, on Saturdays from 1:00 p.m.-2:30 p.m.

Perhaps If You're in the Area and Have Time

If you live in North Carolina, and you know a Pakistani student from North Carolina State or an Egyptian student from Duke, and you are wondering what to do or where you can take them, well the Ham and Yam Festival in Smithfield, NC, is a very bad idea.

As the son of a Turkish immigrant and a woman from South Carolina, I have been to village weddings in Turkey and a similar pig-themed festival in another part of the Tarheel State. I'm not sure which one made me feel more out of place, or like "E.T."

But, if you have no moral objections to eating pork, and you will yams than Smithfield is indeed the place for you this weekend, unless you live in Portland, Maine, or Miami! (Both trips would be quite a long drive, although the Smithfield-area Chamber of Commerce would perhaps prefer that I didn't state the obvious).

The Ham and Yam Festival also features pig races, but I suspect that prizes for guessing which pig wins the race will offer substantially less earnings than predicting the winner of the Kentucky Derby.

Smithfield, NC, is also known for being the hometown of the late screen queen Ava Gardner. Her amazing performance in "Night of the Iguana" may be one of the most underrated in Hollywood motion picture history.

Sunday Sports Desk

All the talk in this part of the country, well between Maryland and South Carolina, has been on the Duke-UNC game in Chapel Hill last night in which the UNC Tarheels defeated the Duke Bluedevils 81-67.

But, we wanted to congratulate the UNC-Asheville Bulldogs for winning the Big South championship over Coastal Carolina University by a 60-47 score in Conway, SC (Myrtle Beach) yesterday.

My alma mater Radford University and my mom's alma mater Winthrop University are also Big South teams, so I always hope they do well in the NCAA tourney, as Winthrop did a few years back. Of course, it would be nice if Radford could win the tourney every year!

We also like to keep tabs on Turkish soccer (my late father was from Turkey) even though I haven't watched a game in two years. This weekend, the scores were as follows: Manisa 2 Kayseri 1; Ankaragucu 2 Konya 0; Gaziantep 3 Sivas 1; Eskisehir 1 Bucaspor 0; Bursaspor 1 Istanbul BB 1 (tie); GalataSaray (Istanbul) 0 KDCK 0 (tie); Trabzonspor 2 Besiktash (Istanbul) 1.

For more info, on the games, you can check out Ahmet Bob Turgut's Twitter feed at (twitter.com/turkish soccer).

Lastly, our very favorite sport is women's collegiate gymnastics and there were many meets of interest this weekend.

Due to space and time constraints, we will focus on just two of them.

For starters, Florida (#1) edged Utah (#5) in Salt Lake City thanks to stand-out performances from Gator gymnasts Alaina Johnson, Marissa King and Mackenzie Caquatta.

But, for the home team Utes, Fumina Kobayashi and Cortni Beers finished in a three-way tie for first place on the balance beam with Ashanne Dickerson of Florida, who also scored a 9.9 on vault.


And, our home state North Carolina State Wolfpack gymnastics team won a key road meet over Pittsburgh today thanks to a stand-out performance from Jess Panza, who scored a 9.925 on the balance beam. Panza's score was the highest single event score for a Wolfpack gymnast this season.

The image above, by the way, is of the late, great Howard Cosell (1918-1995) who would have perhaps been horrified to find out that in 2011, due to modern technology, there are many more things to do on a Monday night than watch NFL football on tv. In fact, if one desires, they can play World of the Witchcraft with their 'friends' in Australia for 48 hours in a row.

Yeah, I think that's a bad idea too, but those guys (well, I suppose women can get addicted to WOTWC too) do make us bloggers appear to be people who have real lives.