The "Juice" says, "Show them your heels."

I've been going through roughly 1400 comic books I have at my mother's house.  It's time to bag and organize them properly after 25 years.

I ran across this issue of Wonder Woman from 1980.

The interesting thing is not the cover art, the story, or the fact that I read Wonder Woman.  It's the ad on the back cover.

None of his endorsements seem quite the same anymore, do they?

I do remain kind of curious about the 9 other unnamed pros that recommend Spot-bilt, and why they chose anonymity. Any guesses as to who they might be? 

Sarah Vowell in Seattle: Clear but not generic

Tonight I barreled through a sudden downpour to Town Hall in Seattle. It's only a few blocks from my apartment, but I was dripping wet when I got there. Layers of water droplets stuck to my glasses leaving me with the vision of a myopic bat. I went in, picked up my package at the will call window, wandered down to the bathroom to find some paper towels for a my glasses, my face and my hair.

Once I my head was downgraded from "creating its own precipitation" to "thoroughly moist" I took a look at my package. In the middle of the book was my ticket for the evening. And the book itself? Sarah Vowell's newest sarcastic tale of lesser known history, "The Wordy Shipmates."

You may know from Sarah Vowell from work on NPR's This American Life. She reads her wonderful essays with that trademark voice that has the gravel on someone who has been around the world, and the tone of a 12 year old girl. Or you may know here from her books, like The Partly Cloudy Patriot, Assassination Vacation, or Take the Cannoli (my review is here). Or you may know her from appearances on the Late Show with David Letterman, Late Night with Conan O'Brian, or the The Daly Show with Jon Stewart. Or you may know here from her role at Violet in The Incredibles.

If you don't know her work, it's worth checking out.

She took the stage dressed in a black top and olive cargo pants (very Seattle appropriate) and got right down to business. The pages of the book reflected off her glasses, blocking her eyes. She looked up from time to time to add context to what she was reading (since we hadn't read the earlier passages) or to provide additional historical content. Then she took questions.

Town Hall set up microphones for people to ask questions. Surprisingly very few people got up to stand in line. I expected dozens of people to crowd the aisles, waiting for their chance to talk to the fascinating Ms. Vowell. But they didn't . There were hundred of people in Town Hall, but just two or three got up. I guess Seattle produces extraordinarily shy crowds.

The first question concerned how the Cherokee owned slaves. Sarah's expression seemed to scream, "Are you kidding me?" and she joked about the tone that set for the questions. As she began speaking, her answer started as a ramble, but gradually coalesced into a discussion about the humanity of the Cherokee, and Sarah made some fascinating points.

That was the pattern her answers took that evening. It was interesting to see that process, where she starts out speaking in a first draft, gradually revises and refines it over the next few moments, and ends up with the finished product.

Some might suggest an author should already be prepared for all the different questions they are likely to get, however, I don't think that's possible. The variety of things people asked Sarah about included slavery, the Forest Service, National Parks, historical markers, historical holidays, the sex habits of the Puritans, FDR's fireside chats (and the nature of fear), and more. Sarah spoke intelligently on all these questions.

But at no point were there long lines to ask questions. I don't think there were ever more than two people on deck. When it looked pretty clear, I stepped up to the mike.

I asked about her writing process. Specifically, I was curious how she balances her different roles as a historian, humorist, journalist, etc, and whether those roles come into conflict while she's working on here material.

Sarah said she doesn't think about those roles. She just thinks of herself as a writer. The content determines the tone of her writing. Sarah said she "tries to be clear, but not generic."

Now, I don't know if she's used that phrase before, or if it came to her while she was speaking. So it's entirely possible Sarah would cringe to see that phrase quoted here and in this post title. Or maybe she wouldn't.

Regardless, that's the writing tip I took out of this event. Strive to always be clear, and never be generic.

After questions, Sarah stayed behind to sign books. Again I was surprised by how few people lined up for her autograph. Given the hundreds of people who bought their ticket to see her, or who bought Sarah's new book to get the free ticket, I expected a lot more of them to stick around for an autograph.

The line moved quickly, and Sarah spoke with each fan. She was friendly and professional. While she signed my copy, we chatted briefly about the deer problem in Helena.

So now I'm at home, dried off, and looking back on the evening. I've got a new book, learned something about writing, and got to meet someone whose work I appreciate, respect, enjoy, and laugh with .

I'd say it was good evening.

Where the Streets have old names

This week’s travels took me to Palm Springs. It’s in the Southern California desert. One thing I learned this summer is that 103 degrees in Palm Springs, CA is much nicer than 103 degrees in Richmond, VA.

Most major streets in Palm Spring are named after celebrities. I rolled in to town on Bob Hope Drive and crossed Gerald Ford Drive and Dinah Shore Road. It’s near Fred Waring Drive.

On my way to the airport, I crossed Frank Sinatra drive on CA-111. They airport itself is at the intersection of Gene Autry Trail and Kirk Douglas Way.

But they saved the big names for the airport. The main concourse, with a restaurant, coffee shop, news stand, golf shop and souvenir store is named for Sonny Bono.

Is there a friendlier way to greet travelers than with these teeth? I don’t think so.

Bread and Circuses

I tried to avoid the whole Britney thing lately. Too many people are already wasting too much time on it. But this is my favorite passage about the melt down:

As her frightened mother sat nearby in a waiting car, Spears lashed out at an empty car, repeatedly beating the doors and windows with a furled umbrella.

Anthony Bourdain Trashes Food Network Chefs

Anthony Boudain may be pretentious, self important, annoying, and loud, but he is also really funny.

Here is his take on the current crop of Food Network chef. I don't agree with many of his assessments, his take on Sandra Lee is hilarious.

I found this link on both Fark.com and Digg.com.

A Sad Story From Oregon

Image from CNET.Com -- http://i.i.com.com/cnwk.1d/i/fd/pg/120606/120606_james.jpg

James Kim--family man, technologist

By Greg SandovalStaff Writer, CNET News.com
Published: December 6, 2006, 6:04 PM PST

James Kim was a respected expert on bleeding-edge digital devices, an owner of a trendy clothing store, and a lover of the futuristic-sounding music known as electronica.

Yet most of Kim's life revolved around traditional values, according to friends: sacrifice, friendship and family. Those who knew him say they aren't surprised that Kim, in the last act of his life, demonstrated the ultimate expression of devotion to his wife and daughters.

A sad story unfolded in the Oregon woods over the past week. James Kim, an editor at CNET and TechTV personality, was found dead after a long and difficult search.

You've probably seen the basics of the story on the News, in the Nortwest newspapers, or in the raging forums at Digg.com, Fark.com, Fazed.net, and dozens of others. Here's the latest CNN coverage. There is a friends and family site, too. CNET also has a James Kim video tribute, highlighting a number of his appearances.

Kim, his wife, and two daughters were on their way back to San Fancisco after spending time with friends in Seattle and Portland over Thanksgiving. On their way from Portland to the Oregon coast, they ended up on a Forrest Service road that turned out to be impassable. They got stuck in the snow.

During the next seven days, the ran the car just enough to keep warm. When they ran out of fuel, they burned tires for warmth and to signal searchers. But after a week in the cold and with little food left, Kim left the car to go find help.

Two days later, a helicopter spotted the car and the mother waving an umbrella as a signal for help. A barely detectable cell phone ping led searchers to the general area. Rescuers airlifted Kim's wife and children out of the cold on Monday. They are doing fine.

Over the next two days, though, searcher continued to look for Kim. On Tuesday, they found a pair of pants he apparently left behind, possibly to mark his trail. They narrowed the search area and prepared to drop a bunch of emergency packages where Kim might find them.

This afternoon, they cancelled that plan when they found his body.

The computer technology industry is a small one -- and the marketing/PR side of it is smaller still. I doubt I ever met Kim, but it's possible I would have somewhere down the line. Geeks familiar with his work were all over the 'net expressing concern, frustration, and speculating about what happened. This incident seems to have touched the business in a way that general news and missing persons reports just don't.

I'm not sure why Kim's ordeal resonates with me the way it does. Perhaps it's his Geek cred. Perhaps it's that where the same age. Perhaps it's because I've spent some time on roads I probably shouldn't have been on.

People will say he was wrong to leave his car. In hindsight, that's clearly true. But when he made that choice, he was doing whatever he could to save his family, at great personal risk. That kind of life and death choice is one that very few of us are called upon to make. I hope I am never in such a situation. But if I am, I pray I will have to courage to make the tough choices and do whatever it is I have to do.

Step 1: Heckle a famous comic. Step 2: Be on the receiving end of a racist rant. Step 3: Profit?

Any residual sympathy I may have felt for the hecklers is now gone.

They should go bankrupt paying Richards' legal fees if this gets to court.

Men seek apology from ex-'Seinfeld' star

By ROBERT JABLON
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER


LOS ANGELES -- Two men who say they were insulted by actor-comedian Michael Richards during his racist rant at a comedy club want a personal apology and maybe some money, one of the men and their lawyer said Friday.
...

Michael Richards (Kramer) on Letterman

I started this as a comment on Jon's Michael Richards post, but then I sort of got carried away.

Richards' apology was the most awkward and unusual moment I've seen on TV this year. It was raw and unrehearsed.

He obviously felt terrible about his racist rant and took responsibility, but I don't think he quite got it. I'm not sure referring to "afro-americans" was the best strategy, and the section where he talked about Katrina was just bizarre.

Maybe I'm reading too much into this, but even in his apology, he still appeared to be homogenizing the African-American population, as though it were one single entity he offended, with a single set of concerns and priorities.

The key problem with his rant - and why everyone is still talking about it -- has nothing to do with him spilling hate from stage. IT was because he used "THE N WORD" and offended people. If he was just derisive when he tore into the hecklers, this never would have made news.

I think he's sincere; I think he knows he did a bad thing. I think he honestly wants forgiveness. And I think he knows he's wrong but doesn't know why.

And I'm sure that whole apology had something to do with Jerry Seinfeld calling him up earlier that day and saying something like, "You'd better come on Letterman tonight and apologize because I will NOT have you screwing up the release of the 7th season of Seinfeld on DVD this week."

The most important thing in LA today

KCBS.com :
"Britney Spears Defends Driving With Her Son on Her Lap
Source: Associated
Press
Publication date: 2006-02-07


LOS ANGELES--Blame it on love
and the paparazzi.
That's Britney Spears' explanation for why she was
driving with her infant son on her lap rather than in his car seat. "

Sigh. I don't know where to start.

Well, the X17 photography agency apparently owns pictures of Britney Spears driving with her relatively new infant on her lap. Between her and the steering wheel. No car seat.

I'll let the stupidity of that settle for a moment.



Ok. Britney claims she did it to get away from paparazzi that were stalking her. The photo agency claims the pictures were taken in a peaceful manner, and that they speak for themselves. Whatever.

I'm in SoCal today. There is a significant brush fire that I can see from my hotel room. It has closed a local highway. Since it's the nature of the freeways here, I'm sure there were some major wrecks today somewhere in LA area. This morning was a major memorial for Coretta Scott King. Also, stuff happened throughout the state of CA today. There must have been news in LA besides this.

But KCBS chose the Britney story as the lead.

The lead.

They teased it and then began the newscast with it. They felt this was the most important story of the day.

• They looked at the pictures.
• The talked to her neighbors.
• They included some shots of the SBUX Britney was leaving.
• They showed a police car leaving Britney's Malibu estate after investigating complaints resulting from the pictures.
• They talked to an "expert" who explained that unrestrained children can become missiles in even a low speed collisions.

To wrap up the segment, they found an SUV and the reporter sat in the driver's seat. They shot the scene from the passenger door. The reporter explained the images again, that Britney had the baby on her lap between her and the (bang it for effect) hard steering wheel.

The she looked into the camera.

For the big wrap up.

And explained....

That if police can prove the SUV was moving at the time, Britney can be cited..

For a traffic violation.

This was the most important story in CA today according to the local news.

I love California.