CannonBooks

This is a long shot, and really random, but maybe someone could help me. I read a teen novel back in the mid 1990's and now I can't remember the title. A boy is accepted into a school for the gifted, but it turns out to be a training camp for a post-apocalyptic world. It's run by a Cruella DeVille-type lady, she makes the kids eat rare meat and is generally creepy. Then they're placed into some sort of suspended animation and emerge after the apocalypse. The protagonist finds out that his father had spent the rest of his life searching for him, and had lead the race of survivors. Boy takes over to lead the survivers, fights back against wicked schoolmaster, saves girl, and lives happily ever after.

Any of this strike a chord?

A friend of mine wants to give me his old car, and I promised to do all the legwork for him. I visited the dmv site and the instructions were unclear. Could someone help me understand the process? Specifically:

Do they fill out the bill of sale even though it's not a sale?

Does it make a difference if the car is a gift or if I pay $1 for it? Does that effect whether it's taxed?

Do I need an emissions test?

I see that it's old enough to not require a use tax.

I'm trying to compile a spreadsheet directory of Utah government contacts (phone and email). This would include legislators, congressmen, executive branch officials, commissioners, mayors, and city managers. Does anyone have data like this? Right now I'm looking them up one by one, and it's a pain.

My wife and I want to take a road trip to Canada. You know, just get in the car and drive somewhere crazy, take some pics, and go home. Maybe eat some food. That's all. Canada's a big place -- any recommendations?

Does anyone know any words in non-english languages that mean "village elder" or "village wiseman"? For example, in ancient Greek society the village elder was called "presbyteros". I'm doing some branding research, so I'm trying to find as many words as I can.

How long would it take me to get from Largo Town Center on the Blue Line to Judiciary Square on the DC Metro?

I want to start my own wiki, and I'd like to try it out on wikia before I move to my own domain. Is this possible, or will I have to start over from scratch?

I'm going to Ghana in a few months, and we'll be doing some of the standard things: the slave castle, Accra markets, monkey sanctuary and tree walk.

What would you do with four extra days? Should we go up to Tamale? Spend more time on the Volta? I need your ideas.

I will be traveling to Tamale in northern Ghana during late April this year. I'm having a hard time finding any kind of schedule for the stadium there. Anyone know of a list of events? I'd like to see if there's anything going on at the time.

Also, I heard that the stadium can experience rioting from time to time. Is it generally safe for an obruni to go to an event there?

If you had only $200 and you wanted to help the people of Haiti in some creative way, how would you best stretch the money? Ideally, you could use the money to generate more funds. Send me your ideas. We're definitely open to any type of project (e.g. web-based, marketing, educational).

I am looking for some high res images of Haiti and the quake. I work for a nonprofit that is hosting a benefit concert and need some public domain pictures for the website and posters. I don't want to scrape content and get in trouble for it. Does anyone know the basic guidelines?

I'm trying to figure out what this fruit is called. It's the size of a small plum, tastes tart and sweet, and contains an astringent, white latex sap. I found some pictures:

http://anniequick.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008...

http://anniequick.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008...

I know it's a stupid question. It missed it on 'Fact or Crap' and I think the game got it wrong.

If I speak Swahili and I visit Malawi (say Lilongwe), will I be able to communicate with the locals? Also, how prevalent is English or French?

There's this ground cover that grows in the sand in southern California beaches. It has waxy, heart-shaped leaves and these red fruits the size of a quarter. They are sweet and tart, and contain a white, latex-like sap. Anyone know what they're called?

I'm going to Ghana in a few months, and I want to bring a bunch of small gifts to give to people (and maybe trade). Any ideas? I was thinking gum, mechanical pencils, maybe a few small flashlights.

I'm travelling to Ghana, and I want to pick up some conversational phrases to use in Accra. I'm wondering how to tell what language someone speaks, so I can use the right language.

This is one of those deeper questions of life. I'm wondering where this phrase came from. 70's porn? Some movie?

A few months ago they replaced the carpet in our apartment. My wife and I have been noticing that we wake up in the morning with headaches, achy muscles, sore throats, and dry mouths. We think that some chemical in the carpet is making us sick, because the symptoms only occur in the house. I heard that airing out the house can dissipate the chemicals, but I wonder how much longer we'll have to put up with this. I'm wondering if it will take months OR YEARS for the carpet to stop releasing all this stuff...

It's in a little valley north of Lincoln Heights. I'm wondering if the gang activity there is better or worse than nearby neighborhoods.