Rutabaga

I just re-read this on the strength of the Dude's Picks recommendation. It's a very cute story. And for some reason I kept thinking I was going to hear "I am Groot" at any moment. R

This was always one of my favorite stories at AD, and I had extensive email discussions about various plot points and open questions with Dabeagle. It will be interesting to compare. R

I wouldn't think rubbing alcohol would burn hot enough to boil water. R

At a wild guess I would browse Rick Beck or Duncan Ryder. R

I worked with a consultant whose birth certificate first name was Rockell and who was known to all as Rock. R

I would guess that this author is a transplanted non-native American English speaker. I can't remember hearing people around me refer to "trousers" -- that seems like something a parent would say to a child. Kedon is a geographic location in the Philippines -- maybe there's a clue there. Your instincts are correct, in my view -- no typical Chicago high school would have exclusively oddball names like the ones you have listed. R

I have encountered Rock, Mason, and Rand in real life, but none of the others. What ethnicity are these students? R

Back in the good old days, a merry-go-round operator would place a brass ring outside the spinning ride where a rider on the outer circle of horses could just barely reach it by stretching and hanging out. Anyone who succeeded in catching the brass ring could turn it in for some kind of prize. R

Thanks for the YouTube link, for the benefit of non-UK types. R

I just tried Google Hangouts very briefly and it seems like it would work as a substitute. R

If you need video, Apple's FaceTime works well. I'm not sure if it works outside of iPhones. I've also used Yahoo Messenger with some success. I would expect that Google has something as well (Google Hangout?). R

Until third grade I lived in the late 50s in the area now referred to as South Central Los Angeles, near the intersection of Slauson and Crenshaw. Starting some time in first grade, I walked to school -- a distance of about 1 mile -- and back home again, mostly along 54th Street. 54th Street was a busy urban street with lots of businesses and lots of traffic. But it also had lots of interesting stuff for kids, including a decent public library and a dry cleaning establishment that had a huge area devoted to candy and frozen treats. (They certainly noticed the presence of an elementary school nearby.) There was also the real estate office of Mr. Skinner, the man who lived across the street from us, where we could go in and get imprinted pens and pencils and note pads. Sometimes after scohol I would walk back to my home, and sometimes I would walk with a friend to their house. There was never any issue. I feel sorry for the kids of today, raised in such a hysterical, paranoid environment. R

I'm sure there's no truth to the rumor that "div" comes from a corruption of "dude." R

I was not familiar with a number of the challenged books, but I was intrigued enough to do some research about the Captain Underpants series. A quick review of the detailed Wikipedia entry on this series shows that it is wild and crazy and no doubt great fun for grade school boys. See http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Captain_Underpants and read the section on Characters. R

At ;east it wasn't a Maserati. R

Didn't come up when I ran a series of searches. Which, as I said, surprised me. R

Is the VPN a paid service or are there open/free ones? R

The directly applicable word is "puerile." R

The only thing available outside the UK is short clips but they sound interesting. R

If the discussion heats up the operative word will be "febrile." R

Which is why I was somewhat perplexed by the narrator's remark, when mentioning that kids at other schools showered after sports still wearing their underwear, that the kids at his own school weren't subject to such "anile prudery."R

A charming story as we would expect. The word "anile" sent me to the dictionary, however, and I was perplexed by its use after reading the definition. In any case, many thanks for sharing this. R

This is another story where I can't believe a thread hasn't already been started. It is a very rewarding story and has a lot of interesting twists. And young Troy is a very impressive guy, especially for a 15-year-old. http://www.awesomedude.com/cole-parker/doing-something/index.htm R

I view this story and "Tryouts" as falling in roughly the same thematic category, where a young person uses ingenuity and shrewdness -- nit to mention a lot of pluck -- to deal with with unfair and arbitrary treatment by the adult world. There is something very satisfying about their success. R

It has arrived. http://www.codeysworld.com/colinian/bad-boy-gone-good/bad-boy-gone-good-05.php R