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The Slice: Feed your guests some bull before stuffing ’em with turkey

Here are three difficult to fact-check fibs you can try out on holiday visitors.

“Bing Crosby once attended a party in this house.”

“John Stockton, Ryne Sandberg and David Lynch trick-or-treated on this block as kids.”

“My grandfather is the one who got Gonzaga to drop football.”

Sunday is the birthday of the late actress Gloria Grahame: Which of the following was one of her lines as Violet Bick in “It’s a Wonderful Life”?

A) “Sanctuary! Sanctuary!” B) “Prove it.” C) “I’m glad I know you, George Bailey.” D) “You’re tearing me apart!” E) “Match me, Sidney.” F) “I’m sorry, Dave. I’m afraid I can’t do that.” G) “I cain’t say no.”

C, you say? You’ve got your wings.

Just wondering: What Spokane area public relations specialist working as the spokesperson for a local institution or governmental agency most despises the news media?

Glancing at the KSPS program schedule and wondering: Before his long-ago TV show, what did Ed Sullivan do for a living? A) Stevedore. B) Cigar store Indian. C) Newspaper columnist. D) Male prostitute. E) NFL coach. F) Plate spinner.

The answer is C.

This date in Slice history (1997): A 7-year-old in Cheney had just been told that back when his fortysomething parents were growing up, they didn’t have such things as microwave ovens and personal computers. The boy thought about that for a moment. Then he had a question. “Well, did you have wood?”

Today’s Slice question: Before putting on winter boots for the first time in many months, how do you make sure spiders haven’t taken up residence in them?

A) I grimace and quickly fish my hand around inside. B) I put my hand in a sock or something and thrust it into the boot as far as I can go. C) I hold the boot up and say, “Hello. Any spiders in there? Time to check out.” D) I turn the boots upside-down and give them a vigorous shake. E) It would never occur to me to suspect that there were arachnids in my boots. F) I don’t do a thing. I just blame my political opponents for the fact that there are spiders. G) Other.

Write The Slice at P.O. Box 2160, Spokane, WA 99210; call (509) 459-5470; fax (509) 459-5098; e-mail pault@spokesman.com. I wonder what old farmers think of the way the Spokane news media cover winter weather these days.

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