Did you have a Merry Christmas, darlings? Are you still recovering? In honor of the holidays, let's try to keep it light this week. After all, even the people we love to read about trade naughty for nice at this time of year.
WHAT DO THEY KNOW ... that we don't? In the week before Christmas, TripAdvisor.com, one of the biggest travel sites on the Net, listed its five top "US Hotspots" for 2010. No. 1 was Seward. Yes, our Seward.
"Discover these amazing up-and-coming travel destinations," it said. The other four? Hyannis, Mass., Hot Springs, Ark., Chinle, Ariz., and Waimea, Hawaii.
RESURFACED ... Cliff Groh, who did a great job blogging the Stevens trial, is reporting on his site that Nicholas Marsh, one of the federal prosecutors who screwed up Ted's case, is now in charge of getting Roman Polanski extradited to the U.S. from Switzerland.
Citing The New York Times, Groh notes that Marsh was reassigned to the lower-profile Office of International Affairs to handle extraditions, which don't usually get all that press. Ooops. A report from the special investigator named by the trial judge to examine prosecutorial conduct in the Stevens case is due soon.
Polanski skipped out after being convicted of having sex with a minor. Isn't Marsh's star witness against Ted being investigated on suspicion of doing the same? Hmmm.
You can check it out yourself at Alaskacorruption.blogspot.com.
TARGET AUDIENCE ... Lite Gov. candidate Jay Ramras has apparently nicknamed himself "The Bullet." For Valley voters, anyhow. The invitation to a Dec. 17 fundraiser in Wasilla contained this amusing appellation. The cartoon illustration featured Jay carrying a giant bullet on his shoulder.
ON THE MOVE ... As predicted, Rep. Harry Crawford announced he is yielding his seat on the House Finance Committee to fellow Anchorage Democrat Mike Doogan. Crawford says he is resigning from the House after the 2010 session to concentrate on his race against Don Young for our lone congressional seat.
OUT AND ABOUT ... Seen at the Hickel family's annual Christmas bash in Turnagain last week, arts and Alaska Dispatch funder Alice Rogoff; attorney Bruce Gagnon and wife Sharon, a former UA regent; and Judge Peter Michalski and wife Jo, owner of Portfolio. All lovely people, no doubt, but earwigs who jammed the event report the star was the food, especially the sushi and the off-the-charts pastries.
THAT'S OUR RAY ... Or maybe not. Ray Metcalfe's Wikipedia biography is fraught with alarms about its validity. One warning to users reads:
"This article is written like an advertisement. Please help rewrite this article from a neutral point of view." Another warns, "This biography of a living person does not cite any references or sources."
And isn't that what we love about Ray -- that he periodically reinvents himself?
DUMB AND ... For reasons Ear doesn't know or care about, Central Connecticut State University keeps track of "America's Most Literate Cities." This year Anchorage is 49th out of the 69 cities with populations of 250,000 or more. Behind Dallas but ahead of Vegas. Seattle is first and Washington, D.C., second.
Ear doesn't care to be like either of those cities, but it's a little alarming that Anchorage has been dropping in the ranking. Three years ago, we were all the way up to 38.
AND FINALLY ... Nothing says "Happy Birthday Baby Jesus" like a free lap dance. According to a recent ad in the Anchorage Press, Club Sin Rock in Midtown is offering "2 for 1 holiday dances."
It's enough to make a sensitive earwig switch to Festivus.
Compiled by Sheila Toomey. Find Ear online at adn.com/ear. Message Ear at 257-4341 or ear@adn.com.