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PAGE 6B - THE COMMERCE (GA) NEWS, WEDNESDAY. FEBRUARY 20, 2008
Laugh. Lines
What can you say about
someone who drives at 60
mph while on a cell phone?
He's talking a mile a
minute!
—WE K MOW CL e A OKE 6 ■ CO U
What
do you get if you
cross a car and a pig?
A road hog!
Chatter Box
"My mom said I can get a car
when I prove that I can drive.
It could be a while."
— Emma Robe ns (“Unfabulous"), on why
she didn't get a car for her 16th birthday,
in People magazine.
TINY
1 In The News |
TO
NDOUS
COOL CARS AND CONCEPTS
DRIVE US INTO THE FUTURE
SMART STUFF: The Smart Fortwo car, left, is dehuting
in the United States. Already, say the Smart folks. 30.000
people have reserved one of these.
It’s easy to get the winter blahs when it’s rainy and gray.
But thinking about the future of tire automobile can brighten
up any dull day. Last month's North American International
Auto Show gave us a glimpse of what’s to come.
Under the ceiling of Detroit’s Co bo Center, it’s ail blue
skies — electric blues, royal blues, sky bines and other
blue hues mixed in with the usual rainbow of silvers, reds
and occasional oranges on the floor.
The show is also greener than ever before. Hybrids are
there in every shape and size. It’s a great place to learn
more about what makes hybrids work. You can see a blend
of ideas to make cars (and trucks) more fuel-efficient and
friendly. As always, you can check out cars that are sporty,
super-sized and even solar.
Carl Galeana, senior show co-chairman, still remembers
the cool cars that caught his eye at the show as a kid: "The
Ford Thunderbird knocked my socks off,"
For co-chairman Joe SeiTa, "It was the Corvette." (And
as he spoke, a Corvette rolled by, inspiring plenty of oohs
and ahs.)
Here are some trends that will be making headlines:
GREEN POWER: Hybrid is the word for mix, or in
auto talk, a combination of gas and alternate sources of
power. We checked out the Ford Escape Hybrid Plug-in, a
concept (or idea) car that means what it says. A charged
(plugged-in) battery would allow the car to not depend on
gasoline power all the time. “You plug it in just like an ap
pliance," explained Jennifer Moore of Ford. You’d likely
plug this car in at night to rc-chargc. If you’re just driving
around at speeds under 30 miles per hour, you wouldn’t
have to use the gas power. That means overall you’d likely
get 100 miles per gallon. Perhaps you'll have plug-ins by
the time you’re driving.
SPORTY DREAMS: A blue Lamborghini Murcielago
LP640 Roadster is a highlight of the show. Other dream
cars come in every shade. You can check out Ferraris and
Maseratis nearby. This is the deluxe dream section of the
show, along with the Maybach and other luxury cars. How
much for the sporty blue roadster? About $445,000!
TECH AND CONNECT: Don’t for
get to check out the inside of the
autos. You might want to ^
get into the Hard Focus
and check out the
SYNC technology, de
veloped with partner
Microsoft. Did you
know that eventually
all cars in the Ford line
will have the technol
ogy to connect with
your iPods and much
more? Each automaker
has details to show you
— from displays of en
gines to car accessories.
(The Ford folks also have
a PlayStation 2 simulator
and a VJ wall, where you can
have your photo displayed.)
MINI MAGIC: Speaking of cool small cars, there’s al
ways the popular Mini. Beside cheeking out the Clubman
(one decked out in British flag colors), you can dance to the
motoring-tunes beat and take a test ride in a drive simulator.
COURTESY OP CHRYSLER
The Dodge Ram truck was premiered at the North
American International Auto Show with a herd o!
longhorn cattle,
SUPER-SIZED: The Dodge Ram truck has a handy
basket for sports gear if your mom or dad wants to stash it
in the side. We also jumped into the Ford F-150, and really
liked the box side step and tailgate step that made it easy
to hop aboard.
BIG FUN: It’s hard to miss the giant Hummers, but
how about the HX, below? It’s a concept car that could go
off-road. If you want to be an auto designer someday, you
can see Ideas for the future right here. Other cool
concepts include more hybrids such
as GM’s Saturn Vue,
Pumped up! Tiger’s
challenge for kids
I lave you ever had a moment when you accom
plished something extraordinary and felt chaigcd up?
Tiger Woods calls that a “fist-pump moment." Now,
the championship golfer, famous for his fist pumps on
the golf course, is asking kids to share their special
moments in a contest his founda
tion is sponsoring called the “Fist
Pump Challenge,”
Participants in the contest can win prizes such as
iPods, video games and gift cards. Later in the year,
high-sc hoot students will be eligible for scholarships.
FIST-PUMP MOMENTS
What exactly is a fist-pump moment? For kids, it
can be any accomplishment, from improving grades
to getting the lead role in the school play.
Woods says his first
fist-pump moment
happened when he was
11 years old. I .ong be
fore he became a
household name,
young Tiger beat his
father, Earl Woods, on
the golf course for the
first time,
"By far the greatest
thing" he’s ever done
off the course. Woods
says, is opening Uie
Tiger Woods Le:im-
ing Center in Ana
heim, Calif,
“To be able to cre
ate something that
kids can come and
experience and touch
and feel and call their
own, a place where
they felt safe, meant the world to me,” he says. The
center, which opened in 2006, offers students in
grades 5 through 12 a chance to explore different ca
reer paths.
LEADING THE WAY
Woods says he’s learned many life lessons
throughout his own career. ‘There are so many things
that you can learn from each and every round" of golf
that you play, he says. But the most Important lesson
of all, he adds, is that “You get what you put into it. If
you work hard, you're going to get results,”
Woods hopes young people will take this lesson to
heart “T think all kids can do so much in their lives,”
he says. “It’s about being a leader. That's why our
foundation is doing the Fist Pump Challenge. It’s to
show kids that they can be leaders. They can have
moments in which they can do great things.”
Are you ready to take the challenge? To learn more
about the Fist Pump Challenge visit www.tiger
woodsfoundation .org. — Laila Fl Hasan
© 2008 Time Inc. Ail Rights Reserved
TIME FOR K1D& and Tiriietorfuds ocrii are regi&i&red trademarks el Tima Inc.
KIRTHMDN F DOZIE R?DE T R Ol T FREE PRESS
Tiger Woods makes his
trademark fist pump.
Wacky Facts
Tn 1960, Wilma Rudolph,‘The Tennessee"
Tornado,” became the first American woman
to win three gold medals in track and field during
a single Olympic Games despite suffering
from poiiu as a child. Wilma had to
travel 50 miles twice a week to a
hospital for blacks and was unable
to walk normally until age 12.
■ Mvw.wiljnarudolph-tiet
Reading Rack
Books feature inspiring tales of black Americans
Want to celebrate Black History
Month? Read a biography of a
black American who can inspire.
Here are two new books:
"I, Matthew Henson: Polar Ex
plorer,” by Carole Boston Weather
ford (Walker, $16.95, 32 pages, ages
5 and older), is a picture-
book account of the life of
the adventurer who explored
the Arctic with Robert
Peary. Together, in 1909,
they planted the first Ameri
can flag on the North Pole.
Weatherford tells Hen
son’s story in strong first-person
voice, starting with his days as a
Baltimore teenager who signed on
as a cabin boy on the Katie Hines.
He sailed to five continents, study
ing literature, math and navigation.
After his captain died, Henson
had to settle for a job in
a clothing store because
of his color.
There, by chance, he
met Peary.
Though Peary hired
him as a servant, the
explorer began to lean
on Henson like no one
else on his team.
“I alone learned Inuit, the Eskimo
language, and built our base camp
while Peary charted a journey to the
North Pole,” Weatherford writes.
It’s an exciting tale.
Henson befriended the Inuits,
built sledges, handled a dog team,
hunted on ice — and saved Peary's
life twice.
After two decades — triumph.
I-Ienson, sent ahead as a scout, finds
the pole.
The last spread in the book de
picts white man, black man and
three Inuits flanking the flag for a
proud photograph.
Weatherford's poetic writing is
accompanied by vivid pastel illus
trations by Eric Velasquez.
Last year the pair pub
lished another line picture-
book biography: "Jesse
Owens: Fastest Man Alive.”
In “Twelve Rounds
to Glory: The Story of
Muhammad All” (Can-
dlewick, SO pages, $19.99,
and older), Charles R. Smith Jr,
uses energetic verse to weave a
mesmerizing tale of the boxing leg
end who has just as big a share of
inspiring fights outside die ring.
Certainly there’s Sonny Liston
and Joe Frazier, but there’s also so
cietal prejudice, the
Vietnam War’s
clash with his Is
lamic beliefs and
Parkinson's disease.
The book won
Smith won a 2008
Coretta Scott King
Honor.
Bryan Collier, who’s won both
Coretta Scott King and Caldecott
honors for books on Martin Luther
King and Rosa Parks, provides stun
ning illustrations. — Rebecca Young