Paul’s gone, but The Slice rolls on

Slice-meister Paul Turner is taking some time off this month, but don’t despair: In his absence, we’re rerunning some of the tastier tidbits from this date in Slice history. Today’s sampling:

From 2001:

Reader challenge: How many songs can you think of that include “Los Angeles” or the abbreviation “L.A.” somewhere in the title or lyrics?

OK, now substitute “Spokangeles” or “S.A.” and hum the revised tune until someone begs you to stop.We’ll get you started:

“Flying into Spokangeles, bringing in a couple of keys …”

“S.A. International Airrrrport …”

From 2000:

Practically there: We’re not saying everyone in Seattle suffers from inflated self-esteem. But …

We spoke with a snugly attired West Side guy in front of the downtown Spokane post office. His parked bicycle was loaded with packs.

He said he was pedaling from Seattle to Maine. Something about the way he shared this made it sound as if he believed it would be a breeze.

It seemed a bit early in the trek to declare victory. But maybe if you’re going to tackle something like that, you need confidence. And a lot of vacation time.

From 1994:

Note to Slice reader who keeps sending updates about how the Wonderbra has changed her life: We haven’t printed any of your comments because you never include your name, so we cannot verify that you and your new, um, look are on the level, so to speak.