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This column reflects the opinion of the writer. Learn about the differences between a news story and an opinion column.

The Slice: We’re really just skimming the surface

I can’t prove it.

But I have a hunch that, as a region, the Inland Northwest is home to some of the nation’s finest stone-skippers.

OK, let’s move on.

Checking The Slice bookshelf: “Sci-fi Baby Names: 500 out-of-this-world baby names from Anakin to Zardoz.” (By Robert Schnakenberg, Quirk Books, $12.95.)

My favorite name might be Gort, from 1951’s “The Day the Earth Stood Still.”

“How’s little Gorty today?”

“Great. He has been burping up. I think he might be gifted.”

Just wondering: If you lived over there long enough, would you eventually stop reading “Tacoman” as “taco man”?

Misheard Commercials Department: Barbara Graham was in her kitchen when she heard a commercial for a furniture store’s “90-second anniversary sale.”

“I couldn’t imagine how a sale could go on for just 90 seconds,” she wrote.

How would that work? What sort of gimmicky promotion lasts a minute and a half?

“I stopped and looked at the TV screen just in time to see that it was a 92nd anniversary sale.”

One reason yours truly could never run a small business: Employees parking in prime spaces that ought to be left for customers would make me homicidal.

Sometimes when you have a cat in your lap: It’s hard to resist doing your Marlon Brando “Godfather” impression.

Slice answers: A couple of readers who were purchasing multiple items said they have responded to the “Would you like a bag?” question by pointing out that they have only two hands.

John Bonnier said the least-friendly local intersection is anywhere you have cars behind you and actually stop for a red light.

Gary Polser said people in neighborhoods with sidewalks tend to have more back problems. “Snow shovel syndrome,” he wrote.

Jim Nelson said “Rising real estate prices” occasionally makes him less than enthralled with Spokane.

And the mother of four sons said the drive to Seattle can seem pretty darned long when belching and farting contests are part of the travel experience.

Warm-up question for parents of a certain age: When one of your kids was in a play, performing a recital or facing a crucial moment in an athletic event, what did you do sitting there in your spectator’s seat to help ensure a positive outcome?

Today’s Slice question: What Inland Northwest restaurant or tavern has patio seating affording the best summertime people-watching opportunities?

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