Things We Learned from the Internet Today-Devekusu is the Turkish for Ostrich

Since I lived in Turkey for two years as child from 1977-79 and my late father Mehmet Gokbudak (1921-1983) was from Turkey and made a strident effort to teach me Turkish even when I was more interested in Dr.Seuss' books as a child, I am able to speak fluent even though I grew up in rural, remote Welch, West Virginia.*

So, as it is, I am about 90-percent fluent in Turkish. Hence, as a result, there are some words I'm not aware of, and 'devekusu' (literally means 'camel bird'), the Turkish word for ostrich, is one of them. So, if alex Trebek asks: "What is the Turkish word for an ostrich?" on Final Jeopardy; the answer is "devekusu."

Also, we learned today that most things trending on Twitter had to do with the Major League All-Star Game which will be played tomorrow in Kansas City. The exception was Channel Orange, which is the name of the new release from singer Frank Ocean, who made headlines by coming out as being gay recently. We were wondering if he was related to our favorite two or three hit wonder Billy Ocean ("Caribbean Queen."). We asked both Google and Bing this question; we got no response. 

*-This is a slight white lie, I grew up in Roanoke, Va., which is not quite as removed from the world as the small hamlet in eastern West Virginia that I was referring to.

Remembering Andy Griffith

Though he was best know for his tv sitcom "The Andy Griffith Show" (1960-68) which was set in fictional Mayberry, North Carolina; the town was based on the town of Mt.Airy in northwest North Carolina, which is located near Pilot Mountain and the Virginia border, Andy Griffith, who died this week at age 86, was also known for his towering performance as Lonesome Rhodes in the Elia Kazan film ("A Face in the Crowd").

Griifith is a North Carolina icon, and in this month issue of "Our State" magazine, a travel and leisure state magazine for North Carolina, Griffith was among those featured, along with NASCAR star Richard Petty and famed tv preacher Billy Graham.

"The Andy Griffith Show" is still popular in both the Greensboro, NC, and Roanoke, Va., markets where the reruns continue to run on weekday evening.

With Griffith's death, the oldest member of the adult cast (Ron Howard who played Opie is know an Oscar-winning film director) is Jim Nabors, who is 82.

Casualties of Modern Technology (11 of 12)_ Slide Projectors

Back in the 1970s, while other families

were watching "The Love Boat," my late father Mehmet Gokbudak would get out the slide projector and we would watch slide shows featuring images of backyard family trips (we lived in Roanoke, Va) of Highland County and from the two European trips we took. One famous slide was of me posing besides a street sign for Attila Josef Street in Budapest, Hungary, in a Dallas Cowboys hat and jacket. Since Attila is my name, this seemed very cool to my dad. And, I had no idea who Attila Josef was until today (a legendary Hungarian poet who died at age 32 in 1937).

Another famous slide was one of a crocidile at a restaurant in Warsaw, Poland- of all places. The croc was a gift from Cuban dictator Fidel Castro. We have no idea what the croc's name is, but we learned from Google that the croc came to the establishment in 1972. He may well still be the only crocidile in Poland.

As for the slide projector, it was very popular and hip from the 1950s to the 1970s, as it allowed slide prints to be displayed on a screen. But, today, many manufaturers have quit making both the prints and the machines.

http://www.highlandcountyva.org/

Virtual Postcard from Virginia- The Big Pencil

Today, we send you a virtual postcard from my home state of Virginia with this image of The Big Pencil in Wytheville, a southwestern Virginia town that is one hour west of Roanoke. Wytheville is also known as the place where highways I-77 and 1-81 intersect, and the town is reportedly exactly half-way between New York and Miami.

The Big Pencil was once featured in a "Zippy the Pinhead" comic strip, that is the brainchild of Bill Griffith. The town is in the congressional district of Cong. Morgan Griffith (R), a Republican from my hometown of Salem, Va., whom I know personally. But......well, I am not a Republican, but of course one should not say negative things about a friend in spite of political differences. It would be great if I could challenge him to a game of chess, bowling or mini-golf, but we doubt the freshman congressman has time for that. We should also point out that the cartoonist and the congressman are not related.

SIDEBAR: Whether you are a Republican or a Democrat, you probably can not spell the words Gladiolous and Crustaceaology, those are two words that were once used as Spelling Bee championship words in 1925 and 1955 respectively. Gladiolous, hope we spelled that right, is a type of flower; the other term was once used for the study of all things crustacean.

SIDEBAR: We are 'taking off' until Tuesday....We hope....!

http://www.zippythepinhead.com

Quote of the Day/Week- Bernardo Bertolucci

Bernardo Bertolucci, one of Italy's greatest living directors, is an Academy-Award winner who has also directed the Italian film "The Conformist" (1971) and the highly controversial film "Last Tango in Paris" (1973). He Oscared for "The Last Emperor" (1987).

My friend New York-based film critic Bilge Ebiri has an exceptional profile of Bertolucci in the Australian web journal "Senses of Cinema."

Here is Bertolucci's quip:

"I don't think you can in any way export culture with guns and tanks."

SIDEBAR: We were aware that Greece, obviously a country going through a very hard time right now, had a thriving heavy metal scene with bands like Acid Death, Black Winter and Rotting Christ.

But, there is apparently an all girls punk rock band which formed in Crete called Barbed Wire Dolls. The band is now based in Los Angeles, and they perform in my hometown of Roanoke, Va., at the Horseshoe tomorrow night.

We first heard of the Greek heavy metal bands through the North Carolina State student-run college radio station WKNC (88.1-Raleigh) which airs "Chainsaw Rock" with host Lucreita tonight at midnight.

In Greece's neighboring country of Turkey, a predominantly Muslim country where my late father Mehmet Gokbudak hailed from, heavy metal is also surprisingly popular, and there are local bands, such as Pentagram, which have large followings.

Even more astonishing is the fact that the Israeli-based heavy metal band Orphaned Land is also very popular in Turkey.

My Cinematic Rant for the Films of 2011

We sent in a more verbose version of this rant to a film magazine. The film we are 'discussing' here "Bellflower" was quite a cult sensation. It was shown at the Shadowbox Cinema in Roanoke, Va., and at a/perture Cinema in Winston-Salem, NC, among other places. Originally, "Bellflower," which we gather was filmed in Wisconsin (don't quote us on that), made a splash at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah.

It also played somewhere in the Washington-DC metro area. We tried to find where by checking out a review of the film in "City Paper," but while we were unable to find out, the publication told us that the film only cost $17,000 to produce?! Of course, we could have found that out on the Internet Movie Database as well.

I thought "Bellflower" was a very interesting, hip film until the third act, and amazingly enough the reviewer for "City Paper" seemingly agreed with me. The film concerns a road trip as the apocalypse is looming.

I guess the best way to describe it is a "Mad Max/Easy Rider meets Left Behind" kind of film, except that "Bellflower" does not have an evangelical political agenda unlike the film series with born-again actor Kirk Cameron best-known for the '80s sitcom "Growing Pains," who is the exact same as I am!

And, we gather he has something like 14 children (that is a joke, but it is a ridicolous number that is slightly lower than that!).

Here is my revised rant:

"I must profess sincere admiration for film director Even Glodell and his film "Bellflower," even though I gave it a four out of ten on the IMDB. It is such a 'so bad it's good' film that I almost put it on my top 20 films of the year list.

Glodell made his own unique film in his own unique way. The fact that the screenplay's dreadful third act derails the film into a lurid mess shouldn't make each of us admire him profoundly.

He may well end up learning from his mistakes and end up out Tarantinoing QT himself!"

Quote of the Week- Bryan Adams

We go from classical music to contemporary pop/rock as we quip Canadian singer Bryan Adams who turned 52 on Nov. 5. I had always assumed that Adams, who I saw in concert threee times in the '80s and '90s when he came to my hometown of Roanoke, Va., was from British Columbia. But, Adams is actually a native of Kingston, Ontario.

This month, we are quoting famous Canadians, and there are many more of them than one might realize! (Frogive me for making fun of our neighbors to the north).

Though he recorded three solid album in the mid-to-late 1980s, Adams will probably be best remembered for singing the ballad ("Everything I Do"), I Do It for You." Like most people of my generation, I have come to despise this tune that was number one for an astonishing seven weeks in 1991, when I was 21.

Here is the quote from Adams, who last released an album (simply called "11") in
2008:

"I only write songs for myself, I don't try to appeal to anyone else."

SIDEBAR: On a more serious note, I wanted to pay my respects and appreciation to Atsushi Miyazaki, a Japanese aid worker, who was killed by the 5.7 aftershock to the devastating Oct. 23rd earthquake in Van, Turkey. The aftershock also occured in Van on Wednesday. Miyazaki was killed when the Bayram Hotel in Van collapsed. 604 people have officially died as a result of the original quake. In addition, to Miyazaki, some ten people were killed on Wednesday. For info on how you can help, go the main Turkish-American web site (www.ataa.org).

Sports Desk_ High School Football in Va and NC

For those hoping to see scores from games in Richmond, Va., or Charlotte, NC, I should point out that these scores are for games in the Roanoke, Va. region, and the Greensboro, NC region. Hmmmm....I sense we lost some sponsors in Mecklenburg County (where Charlotte is located), oh well!

For starters, it was not a good Friday night for the two high schools in my hometown of Salem, Va. My alma mater Glenvar High School lost on the road at Radford High School by a 21-14 score. The visiting Highlanders were up 14-0, but according to "The Roanoke Times," the home Bobcats were helped by when the team's quarterback Hunter Marshall put the 'Cats ahead for the remainder of the fourth quarter with a three-yard touchdown dive.

But, it was also a bad night for the Salem High School Spartans (pictured) as they faced the emerging powerhouse Christiansburg High School Blue Demons, a team that is now 8-0 on the season, on the road. The Demons pulled off a close 42-36 victory with two touchdown runs and TD passes from quarterback Brenden Motley. Though Marty Bishop of Salem rushed for 244 yards and five touchdowns despite the loss.

In other Roanoke action, the Northside High School Vikings edged out the William Byrd High School Terriers 21-20 thanks to outstnading play from Tyler Fisher. And, the Partick Henry Patriots won its homecoming game over the Halifax Count Comets, a team that had to put up with a two hour-plus bus ride back to South Boston, by a 41-0score.

In Greensboro, NC, the Page High School Pirates (yes, they are the reason why we posted an image of the Captain Crunch cereal) decked cross-town rivals Dudley HS 21-0 thanks to two touchdowns from Drew Rogers, according to "The News-Record."

And, the Western Guilford Hornets made the playoffs by upsetting the Southeast Guilford Falcons 20-10 while the East Forsyth Eagles topped the Northwest Guilford Vikings in a surprisingly easy 35-6 victory (given that both teams had similar records).

Here is the scoreboard:

Virginia

Radford 21 Glenvar 14
Christiansburg 42 Salem 36
Northside 21 William Byrd 20
Patrick Henry 41 Halifax County 0
Hidden Valley 13 Pulaski County 10
Franklin County 34 George Washington (Danville) 20
Martinsville 46 Bassett 34
Tunstall 21 Patrick County 13
James River 14 Parry McCluer 13

North Carolina

Page 21 Dudley 0
Western Guilford 20 Southeast Guilford 10
Northern Guilford 49 Morehead 8
East Forsyth 35 Northwest Guilford 6
Ragsdale 21 Glenn 0
Northeast Guilford 36 North Forsyth 26
Western Alamance 32 McMichael 21
Reidsville 42 Providence Gap 7
Eastern Alamance 16 Rockingham County 12

SIDEBAR: Yes, it can be quite challenging to know if the satire newspaper/news organization "The Onion," which now has weekly 'newscasts' on IFC here in the United States is actually being serious or taking things a bit too far.

Today, "The Onion" actually had the following headline: "Al Qaeda Also Fed Up with Ground Zero Construction Delays." Anyway, we are just relaying the news, or in this case, the fake news, not actually reporting it.

Last Ten lps I've Listened to: Lots of Disco and Kitsch

Hmmm...yes, I'm not sure if I should go public and mention some of these old vinyl records that I actually listened, mostly last weekend. For various reasons, I was in a bit of an anti-social mood, and I ended listening to about 24 records over a two-three day period, including four double lps! (Two of which will be mentioned here).

And, yes, there is some kitsch here though the late John Denver's "Take Me Home Country Roads" (pictured here with the Muppets) is always a fun song to listen to. When I was working as a newspaper reporter in the area of Woodstock, Va., in the heart of the Shenandoah Valley, I heard that the song was written in Mount Jackson, Va., where one can see a covered bridge and an open skyline which does indeed parallel the Shenandoah River. A few months ago, I heard a reggae version of the song at a Starbucks. I have no idea who sings it!

Two of the records were actually comedy records, which were popular in the '70s. And, top-selling artists included the likes of the late George Carlin, the late Richard Pryor and Steve Martin.

I found the 1971 Partridge Family record which was done in conjunction with the tv sitcom "The Partridge Family" at Happy's Flea Market in my hometown of Roanoke, Va. Happy's Flea Market is a local landmark, though it has alas lost of its appeal in more recent years. I think i only spent a dollar on the record, which was also the case for the Barry Manilow album (Manilow is picture with the pooch).

Here is the freakin' list!:

1. The Partridge Family. "Up to Date." 1971. Key Track: "Doesn't Somebody Want to Be Wanted" (I think this was actually a smash hit!).

2. John Denver. "Poems, Prayers and Promises" 1971. Key Tracks: "Take Me Home Country Roads" and "Sunshine on My Shoulders."

3. Barry Manilow. "Barry Manilow II." 1974. Key Track: "Mandy."

4. Fleetwood Mac. "Runors." 1977. Key Tracks: Pretty much the whole album! Siganture songs from this epic record include "Don't Stop," "Go Your Own Way" and "You Make Loving Fun."

5. Richard Pryor. "Holy Smoke." 1976. Spoken word/comedy.

6. Steve Martin. "Let's Get Small." 1977. Spoken word/comedy

7. "Saturday Night Fever Soundtrack." 1977 (a double album). Featuring music from The Bee Gees, Kool and the Gang, and KC and the Sunshine Band. Key tracks from The Bee Geees include "Staying Alive," "How Deep is Your Love," "Jive Talkin," "Night Fever" and "More Than a Woman."

8. "Fast Times at Ridgemont High Soundtrack." 1982. (a double album). Featuring music Jackson Browne, Don Henley, Jimmy Buffett, The Go-Go's and Stevie Nicks. Key Tracks: "Somebody's Baby" by Browne; "Love Rules" by Henley; and "Speeding" by The Go-Gos.

9. Queen. "News of the World." 1977. Key Tracks: "We Will Rock You," "We Are the Champions," "Sheer Heart Attack" and "Get Down Make Love."

10. Pink Floyd. "A Momentary Lapse of Reason." 1987. Key Tracks: "Learning to Fly," "On the Turning Away" and "Sorrow."

SIDEBAR: The answer to last week's quiz is indeed B) Iran as the Polish cartoon was the only children's animated show that was allowed to air on Iranian tv after the fall of the Shah in 1979.

Greensboro vs Roanoke- Battle of the Fleas

We wrap our series of entries on which city is 'better,' my hometown of Roanoke, Va., or my adopted city of Greensboro, NC, two cities which are divided by a 100-mile stretch of Route 220 (aka the Moonshine Highway) up with a look at flea markets.

In Roanoke, there is Happy's Flea Market, a landmark, cultural icon on Williamson Road, where one can find very unique items ranging from Partridge Family records on vinyl (yes, I actually purchased some of these for like $1.50 as a gag gift) to up-scale kitsch like velvet paintings of a Native American.

In Greensboro, there is the Big Flea Market, which is not open every single day like Happy's (well, they maybe closed for Christmas), but rather it comes up some eight to ten times a year. The event will be held next weekend at the Greensboro Coliseum.

Since both places are flea markets, they sell many similar items, but Greensboro might be the better place to find an antique clock or a red state weapon of choice (forgive the political humor). I suppose an antique clock could be a weapon too, actually.

So, which one would I choose? As the late left-wing philosopher Howard Zinn, who was actually more liberal than I am, once said: "No one can stay neutral in the path of a runaway train."

With that in mind, I will choose Big Flea as I have a thing for antique clocks even though I personally can't afford them!

Things We Learned on Google Today- Latvia's Second Largest City is the Same Size as Roanoke, Va.

On Google today, we learned that the former Soviet republic of Latvia's second largest city, after the capital Riga, is Daugavplis. With a population of between 102,000-111,000, it indeed has the same population as my hometown of Roanoke, Va.

Daugavplis, Lativa, is located on the Daugav River, which is where the city got its name. The city is also surrounded by lakes and nature parks, according to Wikipedia (I have never been to Latvia myself).

As for the country of Latvia, they are known for beer and folk dancing as well as bob sledding, including Mihalis Arhipovs, 26, who competed at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics.

It should be pointed out that we had problems getting an image of Latvian bobsledders, so we settled for an image of the Jamaican bobsledding team instead!

This is the tenth entry in our series of former Soviet republics which are now independent countries; the last one we profiled was Tajikistan, which is, assuredly, a long way from Latvia.

Greensboro vs. Roanoke_ Thespian Showdown (Entry 5 of 6)

For starters: There are two conflicts of interest here as I have performed for No Shame Theatre in Roanoke, Va., though my last stage appearance was when George W. Bush was president, and I am a Facebook of Triad Stage in Greensboro, NC.

The two cities are separated by a vast stretch of Route 220, also known as the Moonshine Highway, for the vast number of moonshine stills in Franklin County, Va., which one passes through on the journey between the two zip codes.

Mill Mountain Theatre was the main stage company in Roanoke, but it abruptly shut down some five years ago though reportedly it will back within the next two years. So, I can not directly compare one stage company in one town with another's.

But, I can compare No Shame Theatre, in Roanoke, which is actually a group of either stage amateurs, master thespians, stand up comics or jugglers, who grace the stage each and every Friday night at 11:00 p.m. with their talent (or lack of talent!, oh did I just say that!).

No Shame Theatre started with a performance in the back of a pickup truck in Iowa City, Iowa, which included No Shame Theatre Roanoke's founder Todd Ristau, on Oct. 3,
1986.

There are also No Shame troupes in other parts of America, including Minot, North Dakota- of all places. I was surprised to see there was a No Shame in Athens, Ga., when I visited there last year. And, while there is a No Shame in Asheville, NC, there is no such entity in Greensboro.

But, there is Triad Stage, which is currently performing the Frederick Knott thriller "Dial M for Murder" that was the basis for an Alfred Hitchcok movie of the same name. According to the Triad Stage web site, Lenise Willis of "Yes Weekly," an alt weekly in Greensboro, said the production 'submerges the audience into a sinister world of perplexities and suspense.' Many performances of the production are selling out.

Triad Stage was co-founded by Richard Whittington and Preston Lane, who is also directing "Dial M for Murder." The stage company opened in 2002 at the old Montgomery Ward Building downtown (where they are still located) with a production of the Tennessee Williams play "Suddenly, Last Summer."

The Greensboro stage company was also named 'one of the ten most promising theatres in the country,' and with the excellent production of the William Inge play "Picnic" I saw at Triad Stage in 2009, I would have to agree.

But, now is the time for the hard part of the entry, where I make a statement of personal preference. I certainly admire the fact that Triad Stage keeps their prices considerably lower than theatre venues in Washington, DC, or Atlanta, Ga., as the tickets range from $22-44. But, we are living in a recession. And, No Shame Theatre has maintaned its five dollar fee since it first started in Roanoke in 2003. So, I will have to slightly, by the thinnest of margines, go with them.

However, for those who have the opportunity to see "Dial M for Murder," I highly suggest going to see it. Though I have not seen this particular show, I know that anything directed by Preston Lane is guaranteed to be quite well-done. There will be wine-tasting after tomorrow's night show, which begins at 8:00 p.m.

The Backpackers Are Beside BestBuy (entry 5 of 6)

Note: This is the fifth entry in this six part series. The even-numbered entries are located on our sister blog "The Daily Vampire" (www.nocturnalguy38.blogspot.com); here is today's entry. This series discusses how I took photographs of all seen public art displays in Roanoke, Va., which is part of the city's "Art in Roanoke" campaign.



I had just finished taking a photograph of "In Flux" at Vic Thomas Park. I went inside the neighboring Black Dog Salvage, which featured antiques and novelty items as well as the black dog, which is the store's mascot.



It was Monday, Austs 15th. And, there were now just two public art displays I had not found. They were "Glory Pipes" (featured here) by two Arizona artists and "Happy Wanderers" by local artist Charlie Brouwer (well, he lives in Floyd County which is near Roanoke).



Of the two, "Glory Pipes" seemed like both the easiest one to find and the most accessible one from Black Dog Salvage, which is located on Memorial Avenue just past the Grandin Village area of the city.



So, I headed to find "Glory Pipes," which is located in downtown Roanoke on Franklin Road at the SunTrust Plaza. This makes it sound easy to find, but that proved not to be the case.



I drove by striking Verizon workers, and waved at them. I heard a few days later on NPR that a woman in Arlington, Va., was mad at the strikers because they were delaying her Internet installation. She said something to the effect of how 'these people should just be grateful to have a job.' It never ceases to amaze me how many Americans, some of whom are actually independents or even Democrats, distrust the government, but have no problem trusting big corporations and mega-churches with ministers who look like '70s teen idols from "The Partridge Family."



I parked my car at a place which turned out to be fairly distant from "Glory Pipes." As I walked towards a bicycle shop, I asked a fellow pedestrian where the SunTrust Plaza was. She pointed directly across the street. I felt like a bit of a dork, but then again, I may have walked for 20 minutes on my own before figuring that out.



Once I got to the SunTrust Plaza, which is fairly close to Arzu Restaurant, a Turkish and international fine dinning establishment managed by friend Halil, I still had difficulty finding the sculpture.



I walked around the lawn, and then there it was.



According to the Art in Roanoke web site, "Glory Pipes" is made from LEDS, electornics, aluminum pipes and a steel plate. At night, apparently, the inner portions of sculpture glow. The artists say that the piece is meant to create dynamic tension and motion.



It happens to be a tricky sculpture to photograph, and one has to take adequate time to find the right angles.



But, I was able to snap a fair number of shots, and from there I went to the Mill Moutain CoffeeShop downtown and realized though it was mid-afternoon that "The Happy Wanderers" would have to wait for another day.



SIDEBAR_ The answer to our question last week about the distance between Abingdon, Va., the town near the Tennessee border where the Barter Theatre is and the Ford's Theatre in Washington, DC, was d) 5 hours, 45 minutes.

The Backpackers Are Beside BestBuy- Entry One

I started my odyseey to take photographs of all seven public art displays that are part of the Art in Roanoke campaign rather arbitrarily.



My friend Stevlana (pse) and I were walking around the Grandin Court area near the Grandin Theatre when we stumbled upon "Trojan Dog" (not to be confused with the Trojan Horse in Troy, Turkey; we could not find a suitable image of the piece for this entry). The "Trojan Dog" is the creation of Roanoke's Ann Glover, who reportedly was inspired by Japanes carving pieces. It should be noted that the "Trojan Dog" is a white dog, rather than a dalmation.



On Sunday, the next day, I came back to the No. 7 Fire Station on Memorial Avenue to snap several shots of "The Trojan Dog." I didn't realize very few of the other six art pieces would be that easy to locate.



Much to my shock and horror, the original postcards that I found at a local coffeehouse with the locations of the seven pieces were no longer available. Thus, I would have to find the other six without a map!



The next one I came across was "Connect," (which is pictured) in downtown Roanoke near the offices for "The Roanoke Times." The piece has also been displayed in Lexington, Ken., where the artist Ericka Strecker is from. Strecker says that she likes to look for objects which have a connection to each other.



I snapped several shops of "Connect" as a jogger passed me by, without even sparing a glance to see what I was doing.



'This series continues on our other blog, "Politics Culture and Other Wastes of Time" (see links below). Entry #3 is scheduled to be posted here tomorrow morning."



SIDEBAR: I had the chance to see the band Poverty Level perform at a great coffeehouse near Greensboro, NC, which is sadly no longer around. But, one can see the Patrick County, Virginia, almost literally perform in their own backyard when they play The Front Porch Festival this weekend in Stuart, Va.

Greensboro vs. Roanoke- Dive Bar Hopping (4 of 6)

Today, we have our fourht installment of our Greensboro vs. Roanoke, which looks at familiar local things in Greensboro, NC, where I reside, and Roanoke,Va., my hometown.



And, we now move to a look at two of the most familiar bars in both cities.



First, there is the Coffee Pot on Brambleton Avenue, which is actually just outside the city limits in Roanoke County. The Coffee Pot is a historic roadhouse with a stucco coffee pot structure near its roof. The establishment was built in 1936. Willie Nelson and the Rev. Billy C Wirtz, who is actually a South Carolina blues singer/comedian are among the famous singers who have graced the stage of the road house.



The Flatiron on 221 Summit Avenue is actually in the city limits of The Gate City and it is close to Elm Street, which is the main street in downtown Greensboro. The bar was built much, much later than the Coffee Pot as it opened in 1993.



Though I could not find out if any big name celebrity singers have performed there, the venue has hosted acclaimed local and regional acts, including Greensboro folk singing legend Bruce Piephoff (a personal friend of mine) and the band Jews and Catholics, which has an interesting and confusing name.



Of the two, we would choose the Flatiron simply for the fact that Greensboro has a much mroe thriving local music scene. Since I don't drink beer very often, although I'd love to have a Terrapin Beer brewed in Athens, Ga., some time, one is not too likely to see me at either place. But, I am told that bars are supposedly the best place to meet women. Hmmmm........



SIDEBAR: Kudos to Ragsdale High School, located in the Greensboro 'burb of Jamestown, NC, as they defeated Grimsley High School 37-7 last night. But, the Tarheel State's most thrilling high school game may have been Carrboro High School's 47-36 win over Central Davidson.

Teaser: New Miniblogseries Coming Soon...

I don't want to give away too many details quite yet, but starting around Sept. 1st, I am hoping to post a new mini-series called "The Backpackers Are in Front of BestBuy" regarding my recent quest to find and photograph all seven public sculptures/works of art in my hometown of Roanoke, Va., which are part of a city-wide art project. (More info can be found at artinroanoke.com)



There were some misadventures and mistakes along the way, and the reason why I am going to title the mini-series "The Backpackers Are in Front of BestBuy" is because a sculpture piece called "Traveling Wanderers" by Willis, Va. (near Floyd, Va.), artist Charlie Brouwer shows two backpackers. The art piece is actually located in the vicinity of the very busy Valley View Mall shopping area. And, in fact, one person told me that phrase as I was trying to locate the sculpture.



SIDEBAR: Last week, Chef Ludo Lefebrve hunted a buffalo down in rural Colorado and served it for dinner at Biker Jim's in downtown Denver for the Sundance Channel series "Ludo Bites America." This week, the reality show came to our neck of the woods as the chef went all over the Tarheel State (including a legal moonshine still in Madinson, NC- yes, I know that's an oxy moron) to fix a pigfest at Gravy Restaurant on Wilmington Street in the heart of downtown Raleigh. Among the items, Ludo served up were: fried pig ears and pigblood pudding (yes, we were wondering if that was a dessert item too).



Ironically, this episode is running during Ramadan. Since my late father Mehmet Gokbudak came from Turkey, I should mention that there are several good Turkish restaurants in Raleigh.



None of these restaurants serve pork (and, if I have to tell you why, then perhaps that explains why Republican candidate Rick Perry is turning to global warming denialism), and this would include The Bosphorous Restaurant in Cary, NC- Raleigh's largest suburb. They have a great chicken kebab by the way!



SIDEBAR TWO: We also want to wish kudos to Lewisburg, WV, for being named the 'coolest small town in America' by "Budget Travel" magazine. The tows in some 90 miles north of Roanoke, Va.



Oh yeah....so much for the proposed hiatus!

Quote of the Week-Lorraine Hansberry

Today's quote comes Lorraine Hansberry (1930-1965) who died tragically young. She is best known for her play "A Raisin in the Sun," which also became the basis for a critically-acclaimed film of the same name:



"Obviously the most oppressed of any oppressed group will be its women."



We are featuring Hansberry because the National Black Theatre Festival recently concluded down the road in Winston-Salem, NC. Among the featured plays was a work called "Voices from Haiti," which was featured in the Greensboro alt weekly "Yes Weekly."



The festival also included the play "Let Freedom Ring" by Ted Lange, who is best known for playing the bartender Isaac on the the 1970s hit show "The Love Boat." The North Black Reportory Theatre Company in Winston-Salem, which has plays year-round, also had a play in the festival.



SIDEBAR: My hometown of Roanoke, Va., may not come to mind when it comes to art, but the Star City has an acclaimed art museum in the Taubman Museum of Art. There is also a relatively new city-wide campaign called "Art in Roanoke" which features public art displays all over Roanoke.



The art on display includes "Trojan Dog" by Roanoke artist Ann Glover at a fire station on Memorial Avenue in close proximity to the Grandin Theatre. There is also "connect" by Erika Strecker from Lexington, Ky., on Campbell Avenue near the offices of "The Roanoke Times." And, there is perhaps the best one of the seven displays in Crystal Spring Park near Roanoke Memorial Hospital called "Jelly Bean" by artist John Clement from Brooklyn, NY.



I will devote an entire blog entry to the project in a later entry.



SIDEBAR TWO: I will be on hiatus from now until next Monday for a variety of reasons. But, while I'm away, I hihgly recommend visiting the unique blog "New Black Man" from Duke University professor Mark Anthony Neal, who was recently on "The State of Things," a local/regional public radio talk show on WUNC-FM (90.7-FM, Chapel Hill), which is hosted by Frank Stasio. I am not an African-American myself, but the blog gives one an interesting perspective on the world around us.

Highlights from the 100 Things To Do List

As with our other blog "The Daily Vampire," we are featuring highlights from my 100 Things To Do List, which I actually wrote out last week.



1. (#2) wash car



2. (#14) Look at Craig's List for a cool new job or a good used vinyl record player



3. (#43) Check out Twitter page, even though it's so 2009.



4. (#48) Try to see a dentist



5. (#65) Make late summer reading list (that's the reason for the zombie version of "Pride and Prejudice" image, this is a bit of an in-joke since I've never read a Jane Austen novel).



6. (#77) Try to see a Shakespearean play at the American Shakespeare Center in Staunton, Va.



7. (#81) Pretend you are Walt Whitman, and sit under a tree and write a poem.



8. (#90) Look into volunteering for a cause you believe in. (There is actually a no-kill shelter for cats in Raleigh, NC, called Safe Haven, but that's a two-hour drive my zip code of residency!)



9. (#98) Research networking (I think this is actually on everyone's to-do list)



10. (#100) Eat at the new Thai Orchid in Roanoke, Va., perhaps I can find a radical feminist who will agree to pay for my meal to prove the "Father Knows Best" years are really behind us. (I should add that even though I just made fun of radical feminists, I am by no means a Republican. Michele Bachmann has proven that Sylvester Stallone was right when he said: "the cure is worse than the disease," in that god-awful mid-80s action movie "Cobra."

Things We Learned on Twitter Tonight- Principal Skinner Mentions Roanoke, Va.

Harry Shearer, who has done many things besides voicing characters on "The Simpsons," mentioned Roanoke, Va., my hometown in a tweet tonight.

The tweet was regarding the fact that my friend Jason Garnett was screening Shearer's documentary "The Big Uneasy" about the Hurricane Katrina fiasco at The Shadowbox Cinema tonight. The film, which Shearer produced and directed, also shows at the same venue tomorrow night (Saturday night) at 8:00 p.m.

Here was the tweet from Shearer:

"Big Uneasy opens tonight in Roanoke, Va., and Encinitas, Ca., I'll be skyping the
Q & A at the latter, Palorma Theatre."

The film is also screening in Savannah, Georgia, this weekend.

I saw the screening at the Shadowbox and the documentary turned out to be a fairly well-done film, which features a number of funny cameos by John Goodman, that helps balance the depressing subject matter. The film's focus on how it affected New Orleans, where Shearer is a part-time resident, is quite moving.

As for Principal Seymour Skinner, I had found out a while back through Wikipedia that he was actually an Armenian-American?! This humored me because I am a Turkish-American, and for reasons why I won't go into (we only have so much time to dedicate to blog entries) our two groups have 'some political friction.'

Skinner's real name as revealed in a 1997 episode (it is easy to forget that the show has been on since 1990 and if Bart Simpson aged in real time he would have probably retired from skateboarding) is Armin Tamzarian.

In the episode in which the name of Skinner was revealed there is a real man named Seymour Skinner who confronts him for being an impostor. According to Wikiepdia, Shearer himself said that he intensely disliked the episode which many Simpsons fans apparently consider to be the equivalent of the infamous "Spock's Brain" episode of the original "Star Trek."

SIDEBAR: For my friends and followers back in my adopted city of Greensboro, NC, I also want to highly recommend "Talking Pictures," a new musical comedy by Tommy Trull and Chris Tilley who are (full disclosure) friends of mine. The two-act play is a farscial look at the early days of Hollywood when Harold LLoyd was the king of comedy. "Talking Pictures" is being staged at the historic Broach Theatre in downtown Greensboro. There will be a production tommorow night at 8:00 p.m.

Roanoke vs. Greensboro- Drive-In or Bowling? (Entry 2 of 6)

Today, in our Roanoke vs. Grensboro series, we go a little bit outside both city limits, as look at the Lee-Hi Lanes bowling alley in Salem, Va., and the Eden Drive-In in Eden, NC, which is actually 40 miles north of Greensboro.

Lee-Hi Lanes, which are actually just over the line that divides Roanoke and Salem, was once the Lee-Hi Drive-In, an establishment that was in operation from 1948-1982.
The bowling alley features the Strikers Cafe, 40 lanes with automatic scoring, league bowling and moonlight bowling, which is pretty cool.

A movie theatre, which is now the Salem Valley-8, opened next to the Lee-Hi Drive-in in 1976, and caused problems. I remember seeing a James Bond movie "The Man with the Golden Gun" (1974) as a child at the old Lee-Hi. Of course, it would have been even more cool to see "Werewolves on Wheels," a combination biker/horror film, but I was a bit too young for it (I was born in 1970). And, I can not verify that it ever showed at the Lee-Hi Drive-In.

The Eden Drive-In is still operating and apparently doing quite well. This week, the drive-in was showing a double-header with "Cars 2" and "The Green Lantern." The rates for seeing movies at the drive-in are quite inexpensive as adults are five dollars, children between ages six and eleven are two dollars and kids under five get in for free.

Though I am a movie person, my inner Zippy the Pinhead (Bill Griffith's counterculture comic strip character) would have to go for Lee-Hi Lanes. Drive-Ins are great except when it rains, and then both you and your car have to deal with lots and lots of mud. And, the money one saves by seeing movies at the drive-ins will go to a local car wash. I haven't read "Freakanomics," but I would gather this fits in with the 'one thing leads to another' realm of thought.

Incidentally, a poster of Nixon bowling was featured in the legendary Coen Brothers film "The Big Lebowski."