Her First Thought Was ‘Oh, Brother’

Thu., Jan. 6, 2000

By Paul Turner srpaulturner@gmail.com

Colleen Warren noticed a familiar face as she walked by the Fort Spokane Brewery downtown.

It was on a small poster promoting a CD by a local band called Civilized Animal.

The recording was titled “Steve.” But Warren knew that the guy pictured on the poster was not named Steve. It was her brother, David Burke.

And the picture of Burke was from the 1968 Central Valley High School yearbook.

“I felt like I was in the Twilight Zone,” said Warren.

Burke, who lives in Houston, has nothing to do with Civilized Animal.

What gives?

The Slice spoke with a member of the band, a nice guy named Brian Callanan (you might know him from his day job as a KREM-TV news reporter). He confirmed that the “Steve” picture is of Burke. But he added that it was selected from a stack of old yearbooks in the most happenstance of ways. Neither he nor any other band member ever thought it likely that anyone would one day identify the guy in the photo.

In any event, Warren is more amused than upset. She got one of the posters and plans to send it to her brother in Texas.

* Heat sensitive: Kristy Bennett’s 9-year-old son suspected his mom might be feeling a bit under the weather. So he asked her, “Do you have a temper?”

* Misdirected impatience: At some point multiple miffed messages left by someone phoning your number by mistake stop being annoying and start seeming funny.

“Jason, I know you’re there, why haven’t you called back?”

* Fair question: A visitor from out of town was watching the Weather Channel. Seeing “Omak Arpt.” on a screen listing area conditions, she wondered why the Omak Apartments merited inclusion in the report.

* Four on the floor:

1. Most people in Spokane don’t listen to your favorite radio station.

2. Some references to icicles aren’t requests for lectures on insulation.

3. We’re still snorting about the idea of Michael Jordan being cited as a relevant retirement role model (IN Life, Tuesday). Please.

What? You thought everyone who works here thinks everything in the Wake-Up Review is swell? Guess again.

4. As we like to note every year, Jan. 12 is the birthday of the HAL 9000 computer in “2001: A Space Odyssey.” (Now there was a techno-glitch that wasn’t just hype.)

* Today’s Slice question: How did snow shoveling put you on the disabled list?

Local journalism is essential.

Give directly to The Spokesman-Review's Northwest Passages community forums series -- which helps to offset the costs of several reporter and editor positions at the newspaper -- by using the easy options below. Gifts processed in this system are tax deductible.

Meet Our Journalists

Jesse Tinsley

Meet Jesse Tinsley. As a certified drone pilot, this veteran Spokesman-Review photographer often can be seen capturing beautiful aerial photographs of our region. Sometimes though, the job requires getting down with the dogs.
Jim Meehan

Jim Meehan is no stranger to Zag Nation. As the lead writer covering the Gonzaga men’s basketball team, he tells the stories behind the game and gets fans a bit closer to their favorite players.
Molly Quinn

There is no artist in Spokane like Molly Quinn. Her whimsical style is instantly recognizable to readers of The Spokesman-Review. She has painted gorgeous illustrations that instantly elevate the journalism accompanying it. She brings to life the stories that defy photography. She makes our pages better.
Rob Curley

Spokesman-Review editor Rob Curley loves to talk with people and learn about their lives, whether it's a best-selling author or a stranger he meets downtown on his walk to lunch. It's that inquisitive nature combined with a playful sense of storytelling that helps make our newspaper different than most.