Quote of the Night- Pearl S. Buck

Today's quote of the day comes from Pearl S. Buck (1862-1973), a novelist and author who was born in Hillsboro, West Virginia; Buck's birthplace is now a historic museum. Her parents were missionaries to China.

Buck wrote her signature novel "The Good Earth" (1931) which earned her a Pulitzer Prize. It was the fist novel in her historic literature trilogy, which also included "Sons" and "A House Divided."

The author is also a noted alumni of Randolph Macon's Women College, which is now Randolph College (a co-ed school) in Lynchburg, Va.

Here is her quote, it's one regarding 'man's best friend:'

"A dog barks when his master is attacked. I would be a coward if I saw that God's truth is attacked and yet remain silent."

http://www.pearlsbuckbirthplace.com

http://www.wvculture.org

http://www.wvtourism.com

http://www.randolphcollege.edu

Image of the Day/Week- Doberman Puppies

Since we featured a Van cat last time (white cats named for the city of Van, Turkey, where the breed originated), we thought we go with an image of a puppy dog this go-around; this is a photo of a very young doberman-pincher.

We aren't sure if one can find this particular breed of puppy at the Animal Rescue Foundation of Tulsa, Oklahoma, but the organization has plenty of dogs and cats up for adoption.

On May 15th, Top That! Pizza (8393 South Memorial location in Tulsa) will help raise funds for the animal shelter.

Anyone living in that part of the Sooner state who wants a new dog or cat can call the shelter at 918-622-5962.

SIDEBAR: Next week or some time within the very near future, we are hoping to post a series about the trip to Washington, DC, that was completed yesterday. The working title for the entries on this blog is "Next to the Burmese Embassy."www.arftulsa.orgtopthatpizza.com

Happy Saint Patrick's Day

Happy St. Patrick's Day to everyone. We would say a lot more as like Leo Tolstoy (the author of "War and Peace") we can not proclaim brevity as one of our strengths.

And, to paraphrase The Animals and their 1965 hit song: "We gotta get out of this place, if it's the last thing we ever do."

We were not aware until we 'researched' the song on Wikipedia that 'this place' was referring to Vietnam. Perhaps, there are others who feel this way, but the song seems to play in our minds when we are at chamber of commerce mixers that we simply can't break away from. But, I remember one person was very honest one time at one of these things (this was about 15 years ago). He simply said: "I need to go home to watch Seinfeld."

The above image, oh by the way, is of an Irish terrier.

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.

Top 10 Pick Up Lines for Movie Geeks

Yes, this image has nothing to do with this entry, but today is National Dog Day here in the United States. Assuredly, this will make people in Iceland wonder about us, but we're used to that! This is a Yorkshire terrier puppy, by the way.



Here are our top 10 choices for best/worst lines for movie geeks:



1. What's your sign?



2. I think I've seen every Hitchcock movie. What about you?



3. Which Bergman movie do you prefer: "The Seventh Seal" or "Persona"?



4. How many Indonesian films have you seen?



5. Would you like to see "Midnight in Paris" for the twelth time with me?



6. Did you know there is a Turkish version of "The Exorcist"?



7. I'm not really into chick flicks, but I loved Julia Roberts in "Pretty Woman."



8. Would you like to dance? I've been told that I can dance like John Travolta.



9. Do you know what Bill Murray said in Scarlett Johansson's ear at the end of "Lost in Translation"?



10. You should come up to my place. I have all 15 hours of "Berlin Alexanderplatz" on dvd.