I don’t know much about sports cars, high performance vehicles, and even less about how to drive them. But after driving (if you can call it that) a Tesla Roadster in Project Gotham Racing 4 I was intrigued by this electric sports car. It’s the result of a Silicon Valley startup, high-tech VCs and all (including the Google founders). Like many high-tech startups there was some FUD along the way, was an electric high performance engine just vaporware? But with actual cars now shipping, Tesla has sold out almost all of its 2009 production, and their CEO expresses optimism in a recent letter that they will weather out the bad economy despite some order cancellations. The letter also pointed out that the purchase of a Tesla ($109,000 list) is an investment in a company that wants to also develop mass market electric cars. They can actually enable well-off buyers to not feel guilty about spending $100K on a fast car. Tesla hopes to become profitable by mid-2009. By the way, my experience in PGR4 was suitably insane: the Tesla accelerated so quickly with so little noise that I was crashing it all over the place not realizing how fast I was going. Once I got the hang of not using gear clanking and engine noise as my speed indicators, it was a dream. Plus, it’s gorgeous, thanks to Lotus’ hand in the chassis design.

When Boeing delivered a Boeing 737-800 to Kenya Airlines on Wednesday it came with a special cargo. Three teenage girls from Issaquah and Sumner, WA coordinated donations of almost half a ton of clothing for orphanages in Kenya. The Wema Centre selected the recipient organizations. Previous Boeing planes have arrived in Kenya with computers and school books through similar programs.

Vehement comments from readers of Eric Asimov’s N.Y. Times article on single malts caused the Times editors to change their stylebook regarding the word “whiskey”. Scotch whisky has no ‘e’ as several readers strongly pointed out in comments and emails to Asimov. He summed up the feedback in a December post and has now announced the results after careful consideration by the editors: “As of now, the spelling whisky will be used not only for Scotch but for Canadian liquor as well. The spelling whiskey will be used for all appropriate liquors from other sources.”

If you look inside most luxury brand leather products these days, you’ll find a “Made in China” label. Those high prices don’t necessarily mean you’ve purchased traditional Italian craftsmanship. Worse though is that a “Made in Italy” label may not mean what it used to. Products that are manufactured primarily in China may be finished in Italy, let’s say a buckle is put on, and then tagged with the “Made in Italy” label. Also, factories in Tuscany are being staffed with Chinese immigrants, often working long hours and in questionable conditions. That situation at least is truly “Made in Italy”, but perhaps not at the level of craftsmanship that may be assumed from the price. The craftsmen who are keeping the old-style practices alive have to compete with this cheaper labor.

What do you do when you design a Christmas tree sculpture for Times Square but don’t get it done in time for the holidays? You cut and flip your blueprint around and turn it into a heart for Valentine’s Day. With pink Corian donated by DuPont and labor donated by a hot rod shop, the heart is now stationed at Times Square, glowing with LEDs. (N.Y. Times slide show)

At age 88, White House reporter Helen Thomas is covering her 10th President. Her relationship with the most recent President Bush was rocky, especially after she called him “the worst president in American history”. He slammed the door on decades of Thomas tradition by not calling on her at a 2003 press conference and denying Thomas her usual closing of “Thank You, Mr. President”. Bush did not call on her at his final press conference either. Now a columnist with an opinionated agenda, Thomas, strictly speaking, no longer holds an objective news reporting position that earns her that front row seat, but her longevity and career are respected by many. President Obama called on Thomas, back in the front row, last night with a cheerful mention of his “inaugural moment” with the notoriously hard-nosed reporter. After taking care of her question, not to her satisfaction (he ignored her follow up), he called on Sam Stein of the Huffington Post, thereby “bookending”, as the N.Y. Times put it, representatives of old and new media.

The publicity machine for Dollhouse is rolling merrily along with Joss Whedon on the interview treadmill: N.Y. Times and NPR (mild spoilers about storylines). It’s difficult to feel hopeful for a series stuck on Friday night especially after what happened to Firefly, but new Joss Whedon is better than none at all, and 13 episodes are schedule to air. More links to coverage and early reviews on Whedonesque and of course fan sites are up and running.

The bell is a vital part of a Navy ship, symbolically and, in past times, practically for the marking of time and as an alarm. The British Royal Navy began a tradition hundreds of years ago of baptizing babies in the ship’s bell. While this ceremony started as a necessity for families at sea or foreign ports, it has remained a custom with significant meaning for many who serve on board military vessels. This past Saturday in Seattle, the bell of the Coast Guard cutter Polar Sea was turned over and filled with water for the religious consecration of baby Genevieve Carr, whose father serves aboard the ship. It was the first such ceremony on the Polar Sea and, as tradition dictates, Genevieve’s name will be engraved inside the bell. The Canadian Forces Base Esquimalt Naval and Military Museum has a Christening Bells project with a database of names engraved inside ship bells it has catalogued. Those christened on a now decommissioned Canadian ship may search online and perhaps locate the bell with their name.

It was closed for refurbishing during our last two visits to Disneyland, but It’s a Small World is now open for business again. Purists are grousing over the addition of Disney and Pixar characters to the ride, but Disney maintains they are incorporated seamlessly into the scenes. Costume designers created new outfits for each of the 300 dolls plus new characters. There’s a new “Spirit of America” scene featuring cowboys, Native Americans, and farmers (and Toy Story characters). If you can stomach the repetitive tune, here’s a fresh video of the brand new ride. Or you can go retro and see the old version.

Bloom County fans, if you ever wanted a collection of every single strip, and you know you do, well, it’s finally coming. IDW (and fans) politely pestered Berkeley Breathed enough to make it possible. Starting in October, five volumes containing two years each of Bloom County strips will be published. To mitigate Breathed’s concern about republishing dated topical subject matter, the books will include “context pages” to help readers with the political humor. But most of us just have to recall the two words: Ronald Reagan.