Joe & Aggie's restaurant along Route 66 in Holbrook, Ariz., recently had its information updated on Jane and Michael Stern's popular Roadfood.com site, including photos.

I second the reviewer's enthusiasm for the sopapillas. 

This story from the Mountain View Telegraph discusses what Edgewood, N.M., businesses describe as a cumbersome sign ordinance. A business on Route 66 is part of the discussions.

This factoid from the story sticks out like a sore thumb:

Edgewood's sign ordinance, written by a committee of residents and business owners, is 47 pages in length.

Orrell said Monday she does not think the town needs a 47-page ordinance to address business signs.

"I'd rather see 47 pages on (dangerous dogs) than on signs," she said.

I agree with Orrell. Some commonsense regulation is fine, but to legislate a sign's size by the size of the business and its distance from certain districts seems more like being a busybody.

The city, to its credit, is thinking about revising the ordinance, and asked businesses and individuals for their input. 

John Horn of the Los Angeles Times was given extensive inside access to Pixar Animation Studios when it was putting the finishing touches on "Cars," the upcoming summer movie based on Route 66.

This excerpt about when Mattel presented prototypes of "Cars" toys to director John Lasseter speaks volumes about the studio:

To any adult, and certainly almost every kid, the 20 or so toys looked pretty much exactly like the movie characters on which they were based. But Lasseter, a fervent toy collector, spotted two problems as soon as he approached the prototypes. The lifts on the forklift Guido (voiced in "Cars" by Pixar animation scientist Guido Quaroni) were splayed out like a bowlegged cowboy. And the chrome was missing from the spotlights on a 1949 Mercury Police Cruiser called Sheriff (performed by Route 66 historian Michael Wallis), making his lights look like oversized side-view mirrors. Even a larger, talking race car with dialogue recorded by the film's star, Owen Wilson, sounded wrong. "That's Owen? Really?" Lasseter asked. "If you went to the trouble of getting him, you might as well make it sound like him." The voice could be fixed, perhaps, but the Mattel team countered that to redesign the forklift, it would have to rebuild its molds at some expense. In order to repaint the police cruiser with chrome-colored trim, its production costs on the vehicle would rise. Lasseter's voice didn't rise, his face didn't turn red and he didn't gesticulate wildly. But for someone given to wearing Hawaiian shirts and hugging colleagues, he clearly interpreted what Mattel had to say as fighting words. "He's a forklift ," Lasseter said of Guido. "He has to have those things parallel."

The director was less patient discussing Sheriff's paint job. "Seriously, why don't you cut your profit margins on this and get it right?" Lasseter said, his irritation growing. "I am fighting for my characters here." Soon enough, the Mattel team said it would try to fix all of the problems.

Lasseter came back to the lighting session a few minutes later like a boxer returning to his corner. "Just enough time to kick some Mattel ass," he said as the gathering with the several dozen Pixar artists resumed. "I mean, if we made movies like that, we wouldn't be here."

There's also a firsthand view of the Pixar crew discussing and tweaking a crucial scene in the film, and much more.

It's one of the best stories about Pixar that I've read. Highly recommended.

This news release has the who's who of the folks attending the big premiere of Pixar's "Cars" at Lowes Motor Speedway in Charlotte, N.C., on May 26.

The list includes:

• Cast members Paul Newman, Owen Wilson, Bonnie Hunt, Larry the Cable Guy, Tony Shalhoub, Cheech Marin, John Ratzenberger, Paul Dooley, Michael Wallis, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Richard Petty, Darrell Waltrip, Jennifer Lewis, Katherine Helmond and Dave Foley.
• Soundtrack artist Brad Paisley. 
• Lowes General Manager Humpy Wheeler.
• Pixar director John Lasseter.
• Carolina Panther star Steve Smith.

The release also says other "NASCAR surprise guests" are coming. 

Jez Colborne of Great Britain is wrapping up a long run of his one-man show, "On the Verge: An American Odyssey," about his Route 66 tour on the back of a Harley-Davidson.

Colborne has Williams Syndrome, a rare genetic disorder that can create learning difficulties, coordination problems and elfin facial features. Colborne is a musician and runs a theatre, Mind the Gap, for disabled actors.

More from the story on the Barnet Times in England:

His epic motorbike journey came about because of the openness he believes is inherent to America. In the driver's seat on Jez's motorbike was Mind the Gap's artistic director, Tim Wheeler, and riding alongside them was theatre designer and film director Jonathan Bentley. The three men bonded over the weeks and as Jez played the harmonica and chatted to anyone and everyone, he absorbed the atmosphere of the country.

"The whole spirit of America, it's being free and just enjoying yourself," he says. "Nobody glares at one another. Any weight that was on my shoulders just disappeared. The people are just really open.

"Britain is a bit closed to some people, that's what I feel. Going to America, it was really lively, friendly and welcoming."

…

Jez has a big personality and this is vital for the kind of show he performs in "On the Verge." The setting is Jez, a solitary bar stool and a screen on which the film of his trip in October 2004 is shown. From New York, along Route 66 from Chicago to LA, via Oklahoma and Monument Valley, the audience travels with Jez as he encounters storm chasers and massive landscapes over 3,000 miles.

Here's a Web site about Colborne's play and theatre company. Here are photos from the production. Here's a photo album from his Route 66 trip.

John "J.J." Bouma Jr. is going to drive a Corvette this month on Route 66 to raise money and awareness about amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease.

Bouma was diagnosed with ALS in September. He hopes to raise $66,000.

A photographer is riding along to document the trip and take photos of other ALS patients in states along the way. The photos eventually will be used in a book and traveling exhibit.

Here's Bouma's Web site. Here's the news release about his cruise. His trip begins May 18 and concludes on the 25th.

About 100 people showed up on a rainy Thursday in a tent on the western edge of Arcadia, Okla., to attend a groundbreaking Thursday for a new gas station on Route 66.

But it’s not going to be just any gas station. It’s going to feature a 66-foot-tall soda bottle festooned with LED lights so a traveler can see it from miles away. The straw stuck into makes it about 80 feet tall. You can see the bottle in an architect’s rendering above.

Walls made of Oklahoma red rock will reach into a rear grove of 66 redbud trees. A 110-by-70-foot canopy – supported by an angular steel-beam structure that is inspired by the historic bridges found along the Mother Road – will stretch out from the front of the building will protect travelers from the elements as they pump fuel (see the drawing above). The interior will house a collection of more than 12,000 soda-pop bottles, along with a full-service grill and soda fountain.

The name of this multimillion-dollar gas station will be Pops.

Instead of digging into the soggy ground with golden shovels, the crowd marked the official start of Pops’ construction by twisting off the caps of their commemorative Jones Soda Co. bottles. Pops is scheduled to open by summer of 2007 and will likely employ 25 to 40 people.

Pops is the brainchild of Aubrey McClendon (above), chairman and CEO of Chesapeake Energy. Pops is a private venture outside his Chesapeake duties. McClendon says Arcadia is “my special spot” because of its natural beauty and added: “I’m pleased to add some life to this road.”

“This started as a gas station in Edmond,” he said. “But I wanted it to be more than that, and I wanted it to be in Arcadia. I wanted to do something distinctive.”

Michael Wallis, author of “Route 66: The Mother Road,” was emcee of the Thursday ceremony and acted as one of the advisers for McClendon’s project. He said he was impressed with McClendon’s commitment.

“I saw his passion,” Wallis said. “I saw his love of history and culture.”

“Pops fulfills the No. 1 criteria of a great Route 66 business: You’ve got to have a gimmick. Boy, do we have the gimmick,” Wallis added, noting the design’s giant pop bottle.

Rand Elliott of Elliott + Associates Architects, who designed the Route 66 Museum in his hometown of Clinton, Okla., also is the designer for Pops. In an emotional moment, Elliott described McClendon as a “friend and client.”

“He has the courage to have a dream and make it happen,” Elliott said.

“It’s not just a gas station,” Arcadia Mayor Marilyn Murrell said. “It’s the next generation of destinations of Arcadia.” She added that the town is renovating the second floor of its city hall so it can be converted into the Arcadia History Museum.

The uncorking of the bottles of high-end soda pop (shown above with Wallis, McClendon, Elliott and Murrell) was an example of the ceremony's mix of first-class accommodations with Joe Sixpack earthiness. Plants from a nearby nursery were lined up to beautify the path to the tent, and DVDs of a three-minute animation of the Pops design were given to members of the media. But instead of high-falutin’ food, McClendon and his handlers had pizzas delivered from a Two Brothers Pizza in Arcadia, along with more bottles of Jones Soda chilled in tubs of ice. And when attendees accidentally tracked in a bit of mud into the tent? Not to worry – it was the good red Oklahoma mud, McClendon said.

That mix of sophistication, along with a blue-collar sensibilities and road schtick, is an encouraging sign for Pops – and the future of the road.

UPDATE: The Oklahoman has a story about the event.