Alaska Ear

• Ear's favorite line from Sarah is how she's not going to tell us how much money they're giving her because it will "distract" us.

Does "distract" mean make our heads explode?

• Ear's favorite non-Sarah entry is local blogger Maia Nolan's online application for the ghostwriter job. She includes a list of reasons why she'd be a good choice, including:

"I totally shop the same places she does ... I already know how to spell all her kids' names ... I have a lot of insight into her hair."

See the full text at www.ownthesidewalk.com.

• Next favorite is the ever expanding list of suggested titles for the book now whirling through the blogosphere. It's a favorite game on assorted blogs and e-mails from earwigs.

Some of the least mean: On the Bridge to Nowhere; Pulp Diction; Confessions of a Neiman Marxist; On A Clear Day, You Can See Russia; The Overbearing Being of Lightness; The Audacity of Hype; Carpe Per Diem; A Series of Unfortunate Remarks; Winkin' Blinkin' and Todd.

Ear imagines Sarah laughing all the way to the bank.

AS THE TRACK TURNS ... Yesterday's Preakness, second leg of the Triple Crown, was great, but not nearly as much fun as the soap opera leading up to it involving several sort-of Alaskans.

In brief, Bill Allen's boy, Mark, owner of Kentucky Derby champ Mine That Bird, colluded with the owner of another horse to fill a couple of empty slots in the Preakness with unworthy nags so there wouldn't be any room for star filly Rachel Alexandra to sign up. He said he just wanted Rachel's jockey to be available to ride Mine That Bird but stories in racing publications opined that he really wanted to keep Rachel out of the race so she couldn't beat his horse. Whoops.

Enter former Alaskan John Hendrickson, a long-time aide to Wally Hickel. He's married to socialite Marylou Whitney, reigning empress of high-toned horse racing. John manages his wife's racing business.

Whitney's horse, Luv Guv (named after Elliot Spitzer. Really.) was all signed up to run in the Preakness. But Hendrickson announced they would pull Luv Guv from the lineup if necessary so Rachel Alexandra could run.

At that point, amid much criticism over the pack-the-track plan, Mark and the other guy said never mind and Rachel ran.

Other considerations include: Whitney is a friend of Ted Stevens, who was convicted (later unconvicted) largely on the testimony of Mark's dad. On the other hand, Whitney owns Mine That Bird's daddy, Birdstone. Every time Mine That Bird wins a big race, Birdstone's stud fee goes up.

Talk about a conflict of interest.

ON THE MOVE ... Matt Moon, a 2006 House candidate and an alternate delegate to the Republican National Convention from Alaska, has been hired as the new deputy research director for the Republican National Committee in D.C.

ADVANCE WARNING ... With all the rumors that Sarah will go national next year and choose not to run for a second term as governor (Ear doesn't believe it), the hunt is on for prospects in both parties. There's nothing wannabes like more than no incumbent.

When Ear last checked, six people had already notified the Division of Elections they plan to run for something in 2010.

Only two specify that they're running for governor: Robert Rosenfeld (Homer. He has a Facebook page, so read about him yourself.) and Jacob Kern (Wasn't he among the hordes running for Anchorage mayor?). However, earwigs report Jeff Staser (ex-Denali Commission), who filed a letter of intent without specifying which office, has his eye on the top job, and Bob Poe is already actively campaigning.

Rep. Paul Seaton has filed to run for re-election in District 32. And Rep. Wes Keller intends to run for something but doesn't say what.

There are probably more on the list by now. When Ear checked Friday afternoon, the Web site was offline for updating.

HONORED ALUMS ... The Las Vegas Sun won the big Pulitzer this year, the one for public service, for a series of stories about worker deaths and how nobody cared to comply with or enforce safety rules. The reporter singled out for praise, Alexandra Berzon, worked one summer as an intern at Your Favorite Good Morning Newspaper. And the editor of the series was Drex Heikes, raised in Alaska and a former editor at the old Anchorage Times.

Another ex-Anchortowner, Patti Epler, edited "Reasonable Doubt," the series about a sketchy sheriff that won the Pulitzer in local writing for the East Valley Tribune, a suburban Phoenix paper. Epler, who was a reporter for both the ADN and the Times, has since moved on and now runs a popular Arizona news Web site, arizonaguardian.com.

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Compiled by Sheila Toomey. E-mail ear@adn.com. Find Ear online at adn.com/ear.