The Slice: The Slice: I’ll assume you’ve noted the weather

I refuse to talk about the heat.

It has all been said, and we don’t need any more hot air.

So let’s just move on.

“Chief pronunciation complaint: “Since Kirkpatrick was my maiden name, I have a real problem with the way all of the newscasters are pronouncing Anne Kirkpatrick’s last name,” wrote Karen Kirkpatrick Kinnick of Spokane Valley. “It is NOT ‘Kirpatrick’…it is ‘KirKpatrick.’

“In Gaelic, Kirk means church. I know cur means dog, but I’m not sure what Kir is.”

“Modern Life Department: “Now I have truly seen it all, and wanted you to join me in disbelief,” wrote Slice reader Jill Carlson. “Over the weekend, I was at a little neighborhood beach on the Spokane River in Post Falls. As God is my witness, I watched a woman driving a jet-ski while talking on her cell phone.”

“How Spokane seemed after being away: Barb Beyer lived in Spokane off and on from 1977 to 2001. Then she moved to Florida. But she came back near the end of 2004.

“The thing I noticed about Spokane this last time is the amount of traffic here now compared to when I left,” she wrote.

“Heading up the South Hill toward Valhalla: “My 11-year-old grandson has an aunt who lives just off Freya,” wrote a Slice reader named Mary. “Thor, of course, is nearby.”

Those street names prompted the boy to ask his grandmother what she knew about Norse gods.

She knew a little. But it turned out the kid knew a lot.

His grandmother noted that he must have studied mythology in school.

“No,” said the boy. “I learned it from my video game.”

“Before he was a pirate: “I did not meet Johnny Depp while he was here filming ‘Benny & Joon,’ but my grandparents did,” wrote Chris Lewis. “They were living at The Academy. In fact it was their room that was used for the hospital scene.”

The movie came out in 1993.

“Every day the film company was at The Academy, the residents would sit outside and watch. At the end of the day, Johnny would escort each lady back indoors, one at a time. Grandma thought he was the most charming and polite young man. It was so exciting for them.”

Unlike a fair number of critics, Lewis’ grandparents loved “Benny & Joon” when it reached theaters.

And Lewis remains fond of the film. “It brings back some happy memories of my grandparents, as they are no longer with us. It is a story they loved to tell, as do their grandchildren and great-grandchildren.”

“Today’s Slice question: How did the other kids react when the new baby came home?