The News & Observer in Raleigh-Durham, N.C., has an interesting story about Diana Garside, who’s in a 1935 Austin Seven touring Route 66 with five other antique Sevens. She’s doing the Mother Road in tribute to her dad, who died before he was able to do the same thing himself.

A regularly updated blog wrriten by one of the Sevens’ drivers can be found here. The group of Sevens, sponsored by the 750 Motor Club in England, will be rolling through northeastern Oklahoma on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. The itinerary is here.

My schedule’s pretty busy this week, but I’ll keep my eyes peeled.

My search engine caught something I didn’t expect.

Chucky, the doll who’s caused murder and mayhem in a bunch of horror movies, apparently has some sort of Route 66 connection in one of his films.

In this news release touting the release of “Chucky: The Killer DVD Collection,” it provides this summary to one of the featured films, “Bride of Chucky.”

It’s a match made in hell when Chucky reincarnates his long lost love Tiffany (Jennifer Tilly) as a pint-sized plaything with an insatiable thirst for blood. The demonic duo commemorates their reunion with a murderous cross-country road trip down Route 66, leaving a trail of murder and mayhem in their wake.

I’m intrigued. Has anyone seen “Bride of Chucky”? Is it truly set on Route 66, or is it just hype? Would the extra commentary and the Route 66 link make the movie a good candidate for my Netflix queue?

The Phoenix New Times has an interview with Wayne “The Train” Hancock, who’s bringing his brand of honky-tonk and swing to southern Arizona.

The article has these nuggets:

“I did this interview the other day, and the guy asks me if I hate the road. Hell, about every other song on my new CD [Tulsa, due out on October 10] is about how much I love the road.” [...]

“I do like coming out there to Phoenix, man,” Hancock says. “Particularly when I get to come down from the north and east — I love old [Route] 66. What’s left of it.”

As I reported in October:

He’s also a fan of Route 66. Last I checked, he has a Route 66 shield affixed to his guitar, he regularly performs “Route 66″ at gigs, and he calls our beloved highway “the church of the road.” I remember an interview with No Depression magazine in which he told about his van breaking down at night on Route 66 in Vega, Texas. He was fortunate enough to have a old, nice motel on one side of the road and a mechanic’s shop on the other. Hancock got a good night’s sleep, and his van was fixed by the next morning.

He’s the real deal. I can’t wait to hear his upcoming album.

The Riverfront Times in St. Louis has a more in-depth look at the Old Chain of Rocks Bridge, which once carried Route 66, and artist James Woodfill’s sprucing-up of the bridge, which he has called “Ultragate.”