David Capeless... Obviously, NOT a super hero!

Noted on a political bumper sticker... David Capeless is District Attorney in one Massachusetts community.

Frank Fish, aquatic propulsion expert

This just in:

Inventor Ted Ciamillo and marine biologist Frank Fish (yes, that's his real name) are at work on a human-powered sub designed to cross the Atlantic. What's interesting is the highly efficient propulsion system which uses a 'tail' modeled after CAT scans of a dolphin's. From the article: 'Ciamillo and Fish say they knew they were onto something when the first prototype Lunocet, a piece of sculpted foam sandwiched between two pieces of carbon fiber, essentially swam by itself. When they released it at the bottom of a test pool, its buoyancy combined with its cambered shape generated a forward thrust that made it scoot across the tank.

Jeff Flake, (R-AZ) Congressman

Perhaps I need a special category for legislators with remarkable names. Also note, Mike Crapo (pronounced "Cray-poe"). The pronunciation hint is right there on the first line of his Wikipedia entry.

Tom DeLay, Legislator

Sometimes realizations come only gradually. Tom Delay was majority leader in the US House of Representatives. And, I wondered why it took so long to produce legislation! And, then there's Richard Armey. Must have been on the Armed Services committee.

Cari Tuna, the Wall Street Journal

She's a writer for the Wall Street Journal. I first noticed the name fall 2008 when she wrote an Obit for Michael Hammer, an MIT grad and famous management consultant.

Patricia Feral, a Friend of Animals

The president of the New York chapter of Friends of Animals: Patricia Feral.

Iona Knipl

WE HAVE A WINNER in the Worst Bad Name Contest.

And after talking to the woman who has this name, I'm happy to report we have new anecdotal evidence to go with the psychological studies supporting the Boy Named Sue theory: good things can indeed come from a bad name.

The judges chose Iona Knipl because, in addition to being an embarrassing pun, it also set up an inevitable reply from people imagining they were being wittily original. I called up Miss Knipl and asked her how many times she had heard someone meet her and reply, "I own two."

"I got sick of hearing it, but what can you do?" Miss Knipl said. ...snip...

Miss Knipl shed the pun when she got married and began using her husband's last name. But, then, after they were divorced, she went back to her old name.

"In school, it bothered me, but now I think it's neat." she said. "It's different."

(from the New York Times, Tuesday April 8, 2008, pg. D8)

Author Francine Prose

A revered colleague just recommended a book to me:

Reading Like a Writer by Fancine Prose.

Spies named Black

"Black" is for spying. Something very secret is a "black project."

I have been amused at finding top spies named Black. William B. Black, Jr., rose to Deputy Director at the National Security Agency. And Coffer Black spent 28 years at CIA, eventually heading their Counterterroist Center. Then, to add one more irony, he became chairperson of the private security company Blackwater USA which has been in the news in Iraq.