It's Halloween and Wraith Wrath was evident About Town as Feral Cat(s) played Hide & Seek with Dr. Guillotin around the Banned Wagon of USM discussions. Eagle With Scorched Tailfeathers must have gotten too close to a burning pumpkin (or a very hot topic). We hope the rest of you stayed safe.

Miss Information was Surprised and delighted that a Person of Interest would choose her as a dinner party companion & she spent most of the evening trying to formulate The Correct Response. Mal & Vic made it clear that an N d'A award was NOT the correct response! Sitting between Miss I and Groupie # 1 would be a little like being sandwiched between Most and Least Venerable because Miss I is definately beyond the age of Forced Retirement. As we all look beyond the Plight at the End of the Tunnel (Vision) to our long-awaited party, we wonder if it's too early to reserve the Gossiping Gourmet and to send out the appropriate Press Release. A Hungry Man is hoping the party will be soon.

After weeks of Deafening Silence, the attempts to Compare & Contrast the plethora of noms des aplomb, while also searching for meaning Behind the Words, caused the committee to go into overtime this week. We had to hire the services of a Scrapbooker just to keep all the names in a Straight Line. Trying to put Decades of service to students into Chronological Order might be the Higher Calling of an AAUP Fan. But this is a different kind of place where Shared Covenants find a Deaf Ear & it's all about the Money Honey. Maybe there's some money in that new polymer discovered over in COST - what was it called, Petalite?

Nevertheless, all that reminiscing & ruminating makes us nostalgic, like an old-time picture show where we can say that we saw it All in color for a dime. But now we can't go to a flick for Under the Double Eagle & even then, our movie-going reverie is likely to be interrupted by the RingRing of a cellphone belonging to some busy economic developmentationist working on a win-win. Word is... the only way to identify them (other than by their ubiquitous cellphones) is with a Rat Smeller. We're sure those cellphone-toters are keen on the bond issue Shell Game, but we do wonder how much will the Opportunity Cost the university in the end, win or lose. Whatever, we expect to see rich folks & Ghost Writers in the Skyboxes. Even though many of those are saying they're already Taxed Out & they agree that Taxation Without Representation Is wrong.

Miss I had it on good authority that Shelby's new helper is Not a Bond Girl (who may have become a Bond Girl). Invictus opined that she might be laboring (literally) Under the Double Ego, but Mal shushed him quickly, avoiding a nasty set-to with the Ladies Missionary Society. Explaining that away would be a Real Mouthful.

It wouldn't take a Dick Tracy or a Math and science double major or even a "C" student in high school english to figure out that Stars fell on Mississippi when they rained down across the state line like Dust in the Wind. Lessons from History (even 7th Grade History) teach us that there won't be just a single Lonesurvivor - there are far too many of us still undergoing the Plight of the Bumblebee. Come on Slowpoke, it's not going to take an Einstein to Connect the Dots. Time & Time Again and Over & Over Again, we have learned that Hindsight is 20/20. To have the chance to do it over again...

Regardless, the committee advises everyone to ask not For Whom the Bell Trolls. It trolls for you.

This week, in recognition of the little revolutionary in all of us, we award the very prestigious Nom d'Aplomb to Dr Anarchischolar. The coveted & suitable for resumé padding certificate is available in the usual place.