The Slice: He called ‘bull’ after seeing ‘boa constrictor’

Steve Heaps wondered if the Centennial Trail was about to veer unexpectedly through a rainforest.

You see, a couple of women had just warned about a “boa constrictor” up ahead of him.

“But then I saw the 2-foot-long bull snake sunning himself as I ran by,” he wrote.

•Calling all former paperboys/girls: Please consider this your invitation to enter The Slice’s Good Old Days Newspaper Folding and Throwing Contest. This friendly competition, which will be held Saturday, May 30, is open to anyone who delivered newspapers as a kid.

Just show up at the Review Tower, 999 W. Riverside, at 9:30 a.m. We’ll gather in the lobby and then proceed to the nearby competition site.

This contest is also open to former carriers who preferred to roll up the paper and fit a rubber band around it before launching.

Winners will receive coveted reporter’s notebooks. And there is a contingency plan in case it rains.

•Learn something every day: There is a Ralph Lauren men’s shoe style called “the Spokane.”

Thanks to Jeff Dreewes for pointing this out.

These tasseled loafers retail for almost $300.

Dreewes’ theory? “Some marketing intern with a weird connection to the Inland Empire.”

•Feline follies: There were lots of good guesses about which line from “It’s a Wonderful Life” I use when my neighbor’s cat gets up on our roof and then calls for assistance.

“Oh, why don’t you stop annoying people.” – John McNamara

“Take me home, Clarence.” – Pat Miller

“Every time a bell rings, an angel gets its wings.” – Irene Plough

“Just say the word and I’ll throw a lasso around it and pull it down.” – Megan Cuilla

“This is a very interesting situation.” – Lisa Spratt

“Help! Help! Help!” – Andrew Hovren

And so on.

But the reporter’s notebook goes to Colville’s Terri Knadler. She was the first to correctly guess that the line I borrow comes from a scene featuring the young George Bailey responding to Violet’s request for assistance in getting off her seat at the drug-store soda fountain.

“Help you down?!”

•Slice answer: “I wish people would not go on about all the medications they take and the medical procedures they’ve had,” wrote Gloria Latham.

•Today’s Slice question: What’s the surest sign that someone doesn’t have any idea what Memorial Day is all about?