The Straight Dope: FAQs, etc.

The Straight Dope®

You never heard of Cecil Adams or the Straight Dope? Hey, it happens. Get up to speed with the info-nuggets below:

Cecil's life and methods are cloaked in mystery. Even we, his loyal acolytes at Straight Dope World HQ, don't know the whole story. Nonetheless, we've tried to assemble what few scraps of information there are. Some of this stuff was written by shadowy figures in Cecil's entourage, with names like the Asp, Raoul, and Ed. Some of it was put together by amateur Cecil watchers. Some of it we just made up. Believe what you dare.

File	Maintainer or Provider	Description
What was in the first Straight Dope column?	Official	A copy of the first Straight Dope column from 1973, including illustration.
Who is this man called Cecil Adams?	Official	The official Cecil Adams FAQ. Alarming disinformation or a rare view behind the scenes? You make the call.
Slug Signorino FAQ	Official	The low-down on Slug Signorino, Cecil's long-time illustrator.
Questions Cecil Refuses to Answer	Official	Idiotic questions that repeatedly crop up.
Cecil Adams vs. Ed Zotti	Thomas H. White	Has pictures of Ed Zotti and clears up the whole Ed = Cecil misunderstanding once and for all.

The Straight Dope's primary incarnation is as a weekly column in alternative newspapers. This file contains the current listing of these papers and information on getting a subscription.

alt.fan.cecil-adams is a Usenet newsgroup dedicated to the pursuit of knowledge. AFCA is a spontaneous efflorescence of wit and learning on the part of the Teeming Millions and has no formal connection with the Straight Dope or the Chicago Reader. However, if our Web message board isn't to your liking, you may find AFCA more congenial.

misc.facts.straight-dope is a more recently established newsgroup started by folks who thought the other SD message boards sucked. Hey, free country. Besides, I ask you, does even Dave Barry have three message boards devoted to him? Well, who knows, maybe he does. God knows we're above such petty competitiveness. Try 'em all, mix 'em, match 'em, start your own damn newsgroup, far be it from us to stand in the way of free expression.

The Teeming Millions Homepage is maintained by SDMB habitue OpalCat for the benefit of Straight Dope Message Board board regulars. Our favorite feature: the Page o' Flames (actually four pages of flames), choice bits culled from the SDMB. The Teeming Millions Homepage has no formal connection with the Straight Dope or the Chicago Reader.

Sure, you could read all Cecil's past columns here in our online Straight Dope archive, except that (1) you'd have to stare at the screen for three days and get glaucoma, and (2) since the columns are accessible only through the archive search engine, you won't accidentally stumble across something you weren't looking for. Why not let a little serendipity into your life and read Cecil's collected works, conveniently collected into book form? Visit Cecil's House o' Values today and order today!

The Straight Dope TV show was hosted by Mike Lukas and appeared on the A&E cable network in the fall of 1996. Although the show was years ahead of its time and was adored by millions, it was heartlessly cancelled. Our operatives continue to badger Hollywood moguls and eventually they're bound to find another one with a clue. We'll let you know when it happens.

The Straight Dope / Questions or comments for Cecil Adams to: cecil@chicagoreader.com
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