The Slice: Fall doesn’t have to be such a downer

OK, where were we.

Oh, yeah. The best and worst things about fall.

Slice reader Tomas Lynch had answers.

“What is my favorite thing about autumn? The cool crisp air and low-angle light illuminating the brilliantly colored leaves. The thing I like least? The local weathercasters lamenting the passing of summer, like 85 and sunny is the only thing that makes life worth living.”

“Placing blame: The other day, I ripped off an observation made by my colleague, reporter Sara Leaming. She had said some baby names make you suspect the child was born with a mullet.

But a reader named Sue amended that. She wrote, “Many Spokane baby names suggest the kid was born to a PARENT with a mullet.”

“Clocking in: Barb Krueger remembers how a custodian at her school adjusted the clocks for the twice yearly time change.

One by one, he would reset them all to a certain, precise time. But he failed to take into account that this process took him quite a while. So he actually created a situation where no two clocks in the school showed the exact same time.

“Fully loaded: Border Patrol agent Carl Eklund always enjoys seeing ads for all-terrain vehicles that come with a “wench.”

“Where can I get one of them?” he wondered. “I’ve never seen one equipped like that. It would be great for a hunting trip.”

“Neil Young vs. James Taylor: Jane Beck, who lives “yards from Canada” and starts work at 8 a.m., said the scheduling of the concerts made it easy to choose. Taylor appears on a weeknight, but Young’s show is on a Saturday night.

Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown said it’s no contest. “You must be kidding!” she wrote. “Neil is THE BEST.”

“Old business: Brenda Hutchins was the first reader to note last Tuesday that “Manimal” was never an animated primetime TV show. Her e-mail arrived at 4:51 a.m. She wins a reporter’s notebook.

And speaking of last Tuesday’s column, The Slice heard from several “Popeye” scholars who noted that Olive Oyl was not the biological mother of Swee’ Pea. Sorry about the erroneous implication.

Also, on behalf of everyone connected with the S-R, I want to apologize for something that appeared in another part of the paper last week. I know that our saying the sparkless Jim Belushi popularized the “College” shirt was deeply offensive to readers who know it was, of course, John Belushi.

“Today’s Slice question: Do you have a light jacket that you regard as an old friend?