WhimsyLand

The Sioux City leaders have reconsidered their request to have the FAA change their airport's 3-letter identifier, which is currently SUX.  At one point the FAA gave them some alternatives to consider, including GWU and GAY, neither of which seemed much better to the town fathers.  The new plan is to embrace their suckiness and sell T-shirts and ball caps with SUX prominently displayed.

Well, it's official.  The Red Sox will play the Rockies in the World Series.  A month ago, you probably could have gotten 250-to-1 on your money picking that combination with London gambling establishments.

Apparently, not all of the real estate market is in the doldrums.  The $10 million and up homes are doing quite well, thank you.  There are hundreds of homes selling for more than $100 million worldwide, now, including many properties in Florida, a few Parisian townhomes, and one giant property outside of Aspen.  The article says that people are paying $30-40 million for homes in The Hamptons that are then scraped off the lot to build even bigger homes.  Who buys these homes?  Well, in the NYC area, some are hedge fund managers − three of whom took home pay packages worth over a billion dollars in 2006.  Think how much they have left over after paying significantly lower tax rates than you and I.

From the You Can't Make This Stuff Up Department:  The Homeland Security Department is seeking to consolidate its operations in the former St. Elizabeth's Hospital, DC's most famous former insane asylum.

I honestly don't know which is funnier:  The picture of Rudy as a Rockette, the picture to the left, Rudy's promise to ban gay marriage by supporting a Constitutional amendment, or the reports that he was often a sleepover guest of a gay couple who were friends of his.

An indictment for Gonzo?   Wouldn't that be dandy?

Besides the fact that they are totally ripping off Venkman, Stantz and Spengler, doesn't this new CIA anti-terrorist logo have all the maturity level of Saturday morning cartoons?

Bookslut puts in a kind word for The Futility Review.

I have the honor of reviewing two poetry books for a noted literary journal.  As I've only written one review in my entire life, I face the prospect with some trepidation.  I will certainly be reading lots of reviews in the near future, including those of Jordan and the gang at Constant Critic.

I don't know why I find this so funny, but I do:  The Music of Seal On Ice.  (thanks to Emily L for the link).  Isn't that like Sinnead O'Connor doing a Vegas lounge act?

How did I miss the Denver Mint Poetry Series?

Congrats to Suzanne on American Flamingo.

It must be like a mini-BAP.  Mary Karr, Yusef Komunyakaa, Patricia Smith, Kwame Dawes and Rachel Zucker will read at Housing Works, including reading the best poem they encountered this year.

Someone told me about a new game:  think of 10 things that someone under 30 has never done.  The activities I've heard so far include a) rolling up a car window, b) dialing a phone, c) using a typewriter.  Can you think of any more?