Topic A : A Different Spin on the World Around Us : Bill, Al, Red Pigs and Elvis

Now that the boys from Arkansas and Tennessee are about to be calling the shots, it’s time to educate ourselves about their home states, the faraway lands of Ginsu knives, fugitive soul singers and the world’s largest spinach can.

First, Tennessee, the Volunteer State and home of Jack Daniel’s (if you please):

* Number of architects buried within the walls of the state capitol: One--William Strickland, who designed the building but died before it was finished.

* Native Tennessean most likely to brandish a shotgun at an insurance seminar and then lead police on a high-speed chase across state lines: James Brown.

* Number of native-born MGM lions: One--Leo, the studio’s original feline, was born at Overton Park Zoo in Memphis. (The zoo also is the world’s best place to breed hippos in captivity.)

* Ex-resident least likely to use sun block: George Hamilton.

* Number of Presidents buried in the state: Three--Andrew Jackson, James Polk, Andrew Johnson.

* Number of kings: One--Elvis.

* Native son most likely to be accused (falsely) of being born on a mountaintop: Davy Crockett.

* Number of coffees named after Tennessee inns: One--Maxwell House, after the Maxwell House Hotel. (The slogan “Good to the Last Drop” was reportedly uttered by Teddy Roosevelt after tasting the hotel’s brew.)

* Leisure sports invented in Chattanooga: One--Miniature golf, originally known as Tom Thumb golf, in 1926.

And Arkansas, home of the University of Arkansas’ “Sooiiee Pig” yell and doofy-looking red Razorback hats:

* Native son most likely to become airborne while running through an airport: O. J. Simpson.

* Most important contribution to civilization from Hope, Ark.: World’s largest watermelon--260 pounds.

* Second-most important contribution: Bill Clinton--215 pounds.

* Number of knives originating in Arkansas: Three--the Bowie, the Ginsu and the Rambo. (The first was made for Jim Bowie at what is now Old Washington Historic State Park; the Ginsu is manufactured in Walnut Ridge for an Ohio vacuum cleaner company; an Arkansan named Jimmy Lile created the blades used in “Rambo” movies.)

* King who got his first Army haircut at Ft. Chaffee in 1958: Elvis.

* Number of TV shows named after real Arkansas towns: One--”Evening Shade.”

* Location of the world’s largest (1 million gallons) spinach can: Alma, Ark.--also home to an 8-foot-tall Popeye.

* Most famous song commemorating War of 1812 written by an Arkansan: “The Battle of New Orleans”--by Jimmy Driftwood, who also composed “The Tennessee Stud.”

* Location of nation’s smallest post office: Tomato, Ark.--which reportedly chopped off part of its front porch after a Florida post office temporarily stole the title.