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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