By PETER HARTLAUB, San Francisco Chronicle
How Dear Abby got her start
Pauline Phillips walked into the newspaper office of the San Francisco Chronicle 53 years ago this month with almost no chance of getting the advice-column job she was seeking. The newspaper already had the position filled, and Phillips had recently been rejected by a much smaller paper.
Kids' letters to President Obama now in a book
"The first thing you need to do is put your stuff in the White House. ... Be careful, Abraham Lincoln haunts one of the bedrooms."
How famous movie and TV presidents measure up
Sure, our soon-to-be-sworn-in real-life president is going to have his hands full, with a crumbling economy, miserable relations with foreign nations and a new puppy to paper train.
Drink from me and live forever -- the art of the movie tagline
"When he pours, he reigns."
I remember the first time I noticed a tagline for a Tom Cruise film, on an advertisement for his 1988 bottle-flipping-bartender romance "Cocktail." From that moment on, I became a lifelong fan -- not of Cruise's acting, but of the snippets of text that appear on his movie posters.
Change -- from outer space -- we can believe in
The planet gets invaded once again this weekend, in the unsettling form of Keanu Reeves, as a remake of "The Day the Earth Stood Still" arrives in theaters.
Bond game hews to tradition -- and that's not good
"Quantum of Solace"Action-adventure gameDeveloper and publisher: Activision$29.99 to $59.99PC, Xbox 360, PS3, PS2, Nintendo Wii, Nintendo DS and PCESRB rating: T, for Teen
Best, worst and weirdest biker flicks
There have been so many biker-themed films in the past 55 years, it's pretty much impossible to keep them all straight. Here are a few highlights and lowlights. All of the titles below -- even "C.C. and Company" -- are available on DVD.THE CLASSICS
William Lucking rode many a motorcycle in films
Ron Perlman and Katey Sagal are compelling as the leads of the television motorcycle-club drama "Sons of Anarchy." But fans of biker cinema had to be just as excited about the supporting cast, including Mark Boone Junior, Kim Coates and William Lucking -- each of whom has ridden motorcycles during their excellent careers as character actors.
Actors who make good bikers
It takes a certain kind of actor to look right on a motorcycle. Over the years, the majority of TV and movie stars have looked as if they don't know what they're doing when they straddle a bike -- and some actors who became famous playing a motorcycle-riding character always looked out of place.
