Dave Barry Dave Barry writes about being in France for the World Cup in 1998 and what a wonderful experience it was.  We in Kansas are glad that Kansas City is one of the 2026 World Cup cities. From what the media is reporting, there are still plenty of hotel rooms if you would like to visit during the tournament. I did a random check of the airlines and while the prices from a few cities (like Newark) may be a bit inflated, there appear to be plenty of seats. I don't know if it is because of the World Cup but I thought an item from the United web site was a bit odd: "Show price in money. " Can you purchase a ticket using graham crackers or deflated soccer balls? Back to the main subject: If you decide to visit Kansas City you can look forward to a warm welcome. 

This column is for Dave Barry fans, only.  I'm reading Dave Barry's terrific new book, Class Clown , and on page 119 he talks about an inside joke he had with frequent readers of his weekly column: when someone would send in potential column material from a newspaper story, he would write, "Sent in by alert reader Dave Jones..." Example below. When I read the circled passage of Class Clown , it reminded me of a token of appreciation received a couple of decades ago.  I'll have you know that nothing gets past the Smith Family! I want my tombstone to read, "Here lies Mike Smith, meteorologist and Alert Reader." By the way, if Dave ever comes to your town, make it a point to go to his book tour presentation. He is hilarious and will take the time to really speak to you when he autographs your copy of his book. Dave (like all geniuses) is left-handed, Kathleen and Mike in 2016

After a grim week meteorologically, I thought we needed some humor  going into the holiday weekend.  Dallas, 2023.  My book tours -- with the exception of the airline part -- were generally fun. I had wonderful company from Kim Attwater and Mindy East. The readers were great. Authors Dave Barry and Carl Haissen were both on book tours this week and the latter was at Kansas City's International Airport when he: Broke a tooth on a candy bar Was in a tornado watch. In fact, Carl may have been in a tornado warning  as one passed just north of the airport (southern circle, Kansas City International is at the star). There were two tornadoes in progress; both denoted by circles.  All of this is a long-winded way of introducing Dave's latest report from the road . It is hilarious. It involves TSA/toothpaste, Christmas underwear and prancing nude batchlorette female law students.