As we begin with las menciones honorables, let's all remember that while it pays to be Street Wise in Chicago, it pays to be street wise at USM, too.

The Pisces and Quarry Commission stressed the principal methods of research (fish & dig). And Pea under the mattresses is always a classic experiment. Let's just hope "trickle down" economic development experimentation doesn't soak the Bottom Bunk. Whatever happens, it will be Wild and Worldy.

On the governance front, some posters think that the IHL board is too Klumbersome, but they remain unsure as to whether the board president is a Concrete Thinker or a blockhead. Or maybe he's just a Hedda Lettuce.

A lot of us were caught in Pine Belt Purgatory faster than a dose of salts. Some are WITHering on the vine. Fortunately, few see things as bleakly as Cemetary Man. While Shock and Awe may be our main reaction, let's not forget the value of Medicinal Laughter.

Miss Information saw potential recruits for the Ladies Missionary Society when Miss Administration, Miss Manners and Miss erable made appearances at midweek. Miss erable must have caught the attention of the Les Mis fans in our midst, prompting someone to post for the "people here below" via Lamarqueremark. For some reason Miss I was reminded of the New Orleans Ford dealership where her late father bought his 1956 Crown Vicky (which remains Miss I's daily driver). Not being a huge Hugo fan, Invictus was confused about whether it was just a reference to the next county over & the Windtalkers program was no help whatsoever, since the controversy about the Truth-O-Meter program code licensing has made Mal afraid to use it. (Perhaps Angie Dvorak can get the license transferred to the Research Foundation!)

Mississippi Burning pointed out that not only is USM's "tier drop" disheartening but that we don't have a Tier 1 or 2 at all in the Magnolia State. Whirling Dervish brought to mind the poem by Rumi (not to be confused with the Secretary of Defense), which so aptly describes the dome dance: "A secret turning in us makes the universe turn. Head unaware of feet, and feet head. Neither cares. They keep turning."

There's a Big Sale Today: Brooklyn Bridge. And it might be the one over Black Creek! Miss I just loves big sales. She said she saw a lot of them during "My tenure at Sears Roebuck".

Of course, the place to learn to run a Sears Roebuck store is the College of Business & "Economic Development," & that's where the Herd Mentality Special Recognition category spotlight falls this week: not-in-the-cBED, C-Dead, BEDside Manners, How Can We Sleep (when CBED is burning), CBED Embed & Glad NOT IN CBED. Invictus insisted that Discombobulated be included in the group award & while the other members of the ad hoc committee think it's only because of the embedded "BOB", they weren't up to arguing with him, especially after the dewberry brandy started to kick in. Mal, however, did not like being "dissed" by Discombobulated and managed to keep Bob out of the top slot. No trying to divide and conquer on the N d'A committee! Of course, folks who don't give a rip about business plans, tax incentives & the like might agree that the CBED threads in general amount to nothing more than Dead Sea Scrolling.

Malapropism continued to fight this week for wannabe monikers, despite Vic and Miss I disqualifying them for non-use. The two favorites in this non-category wereSilly-Con Valley Mississippi and Won-Ton Capitalism. Mal strongly suggests that all clever wording should now appear in the "Name" line and suggests that actual posts will no longer be necessary. It's all about efficiency after all and we can have a "perfectly fun" website without any posts of substance.

With all these honorable mentions & imaginary entries, the ad hoc committee sat down to argue over the grand prize weiners, which are most emphatically not provided by Aramark. It was another week with a very tough call between two very good entries.

First, the runner-up position goes to Generalissmo P.T. Domesbury, who managed to invoke the McCain era, the greatest huckster on Earth (who never worked in the USM administration)& the Trudeau comic strip in one fell swoop of "impetuous" creativity. This time, Mal had to persuade Invictus to double down on the dewberry brandy. After a few extra snifters, Invictus admitted that it was quite a moniker, but Miss Information prevailed when she opined that G.P.T.D. just seemed to be trying too hard. It was one heckuva try, though!

And now... The envelope please...

This week's Nom d'Aplomb Award goes to Edifice Complex for saying as much about the Trent Lott Economic Development Building project with the "name" than most of us have been able to say in the "subject" of a post. The lucky winner can pick up his/her/its resumé pad, er, certificate at the usual location. Congratulations! And thanks to all of you who come up with these aliases to amuse, confuse & confound us all!

As Tiny Tim says, "God Ble$$ Us, Every One."