08.29.06 Ball Pit (Formerly Sweet Spots)

Herewith, your semi-regular helping of shorts and briefs and assorted rejuvenile tidbits:

• KPCC posted a Real Audio clip of my appearance on KPCC’s “Air Talk” last week. I had a 103 degree fever and was a bit dazed and confused, but the callers were terrific (listen for the old-school skater who credits skateboarding with improved bone density!). Archived here (scroll down to “Being a Kid Again").

• Crazy-smart, super-articulate blogger Michelle Klein-Hass wrote a terrific response to my rumination on rejuveniles and lifespans, and expands on the why’s and wherefores of the rejuvenile impulse on her blog. She also contributes to a podcast called Cartoon Geeks and a site called Toonmag. Count me deeply impressed.

• Did you know the average man burns 582 calories in a single game of kickball? Or that women shed 357 calories? That’s almost enough to cover a single chocolate peanut butter cucake from Joan’s on Third… Statistics culled from story today on Illinois kickball scene in Rockford Register Star.

• New York rejuveniles, especially those with kids of their own, will find plenty of tips for good times in this weekend service story in New York Post. Get the 411 on local dodgeball games, roller rinks, spelling bees and kiddie food emporiums (Only in Gotham could you find eateries specializing in mac-and-cheese, flavored peanut butter and cereal).

• More news-you-can-use for New York rejuveniles in Time Out New York, which just did a package on “avant-nerds,” their name for hipsters with a taste for the bizarrely childish. Among the upcoming avant-nerdy attractions: concert series devoted to video game music, the Williamsburg Spelling Bee and a group of sci-fi geeks who wage versions of capture the flag using plastic lightsabers. Cool.

• The normally quite conservative Washington Times (are they still owned by the Moonies?) did an uncharacteristically hip story titled “Playfully Adult” about the book and within-the-beltway rejuveniles. Proof that the rejuvenile impulse is not exclusive to progressively-minded “avant nerds”: profile of 49-year-old skate rat who also happens work for Utah Republican Orrin Hatch.