General takes in Nebraska-KSU

Manhattan – Taking a break from his duties as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Richard Myers was just another happy fan at the Nebraska-Kansas State University football game.

Myers, who earned a degree in mechanical engineering from Kansas State in 1965, visited the Wildcats locker room and spoke to the team following Saturday’s 49-13 victory over the Cornhuskers.

Coach Bill Snyder noted it was the second time the Air Force general has taken in a Kansas State game since he became President Bush’s top military adviser in the fall of 2001.

“He’s 2-0 now,” Snyder said. “He’s been in the locker twice, and we’re 2-0. I told him we’d send a plane to him and pick him up any time he’d like.”

Myers grew up in Merriam and tries to visit Manhattan for at least one football game a year.

‘Seinfeld’ actor head of the class

Los Angeles – Jason Alexander, best known as the underachieving George Costanza on “Seinfeld,” has a new role – he’s a college professor.

Alexander, who dropped out of Boston University in his junior year to pursue acting, has been sharing his smarts this term with undergraduates at the University of Southern California as the School of Theatre’s first George Burns Visiting professor.

Alexander, who was earning $600,000 per episode by the end of “Seinfeld,” cautions his students to work hard and not to try and copy his success.

“I say, ‘Look, if you are looking for my career, good luck, I can’t tell you how to get it,”‘ Alexander told the Los Angeles Times.

Alexander will be starring on stage soon as Max Bialystock in the Los Angeles production of “The Producers.”

Advice maven’s goods auctioned

Chicago – Fans of Ann Landers can bid for hundreds of items owned by the late columnist, including a typewriter, desk, Cadillac and autographed books.

Eppie Lederer, known as Ann Landers, died in June at the age of 83. Her 11-room Lake Shore Drive apartment was filled with possessions that an Elgin auction house will put up for bid Nov. 23-24.

Her electronic IBM typewriter and the desk it sat on will be on the block, along with more than 40 owl statues that people gave Lederer for her wise advice, said Kevin Bunte, president of Bunte Auction Services.

The auction also offers dozens of books signed by famous authors and celebrities, from Erma Bombeck to Richard M. Nixon.

Songwriter releasing 2nd album

Nashville, Tenn.- Country songwriter Rodney Crowell is set to release his new album, “Learning How to Fly,” on the DMZ/Columbia label run by legendary producer T Bone Burnett.

The follow-up to his critically acclaimed and deeply personal album “The Houston Kid” is due out this spring.

Crowell will perform Tuesday with Mary Chapin Carpenter, Rosanne Cash and John Hiatt at the Ryman Auditorium.