The Slice

There are two kinds of people in the Inland Northwest. There are those who think that backyard barbecuing is strictly a summertime thing. And then there are real men and real women.

•Said it before and I’ll say it again: If you are an early-to-bed/early-to-rise type AND you occasionally enjoy watching sports on TV at night, ours is the only time zone that works.

•Just wondering: What’s the most memorable political speech you’ve heard in person?

For me it might be a campaign address I heard John F. Kennedy deliver in a bowling alley parking lot in October of 1960. I can’t actually recall anything he said. (I was 5 at the time.) But I remember being with my parents in the crowd.

How about you? What’s your story?

•Calendar collision: An item in Saturday’s Slice about a local couple planning to wed on Halloween prompted a note from Dorothy Hughes of St. Maries.

She married husband Paul on Halloween in 1942.

“We wish the newlyweds as many years of happiness as we have shared,” she wrote. “We have lived the American Dream, with one disadvantage.”

Because of the demands of trick-or-treat night, the couple has had to celebrate anniversaries a day early or a day late.

•Pet tricks, costumes, adoptions, product samples and more: If you, your business or your agency have anything to do with pets, there’s still time to get involved in the annual animal fair to be held Nov. 13 and 14 at the Spokane Fair and Expo Center.

Call Susan Rae at (509) 466-9639.

•Appealing hippo adventures: How many adult fans of the animated “George and Martha” on HBO Family are there?

•Cease fire: For a moment, a reader who operates a rural store in northeast Washington thought hunting season had gotten a little too close for comfort. She heard what she thought was a glass-shattering gunshot.

But the sound turned out to have been the explosion of a bottle of homemade root beer.

•More excellent sermons: Readers praised Gary Cooper at St. Augustine Parish and Ken Onstot at Hamblen Park Presbyterian Church.

•Warm-up question: Which of the following do you most enjoy ridiculing?

A) The idea that local sign codes are stringent. B) Ridiculous jargon in management memos. C) The reasoning of those who do not share your politics. D) Shirtless drunks at football games. E) Celebrity-worshipping interviewers on TV. F) Kids who spend hours playing computer/video games. G) Modern manners. H) Grocery cashiers being forced — along the lines of “Do you want fries with that?” — to pitch special sale-items to shoppers they are ringing up. I) Other.

•Today’s Slice question: If the traditional handshake becomes ill-advised this winter because of flu fears, what expression or gesture could take its place?