Illinois - Trunkations

Squawk Show

Thursday, November 12th, 2009

The town of Everman, Texas has a problem with parrots. The burg’s ever-growing colony of Quaker Parrots first appeared in the early ’90s. The feathery flocks are assumed to be descended from former pets.

The Urge To Burj

Tuesday, October 13th, 2009

Burj Dubai, the world’s tallest building, is set to open to the public on December 2, 2009. This titan of towers is the centerpiece of a 20 billion dollar development project that is bizarrely ambitious and ostentatious even by Dubai standards. Other record-setting features of this enormous undertaking include Dubai Mall (”the world’s largest shopping [...]

Don’t Diss The Kiss

Monday, September 21st, 2009

Sarasota, Florida has finally embraced the 26-foot-high, painted fiberglass sculpture “Unconditional Surrender,” which depicts a sailor enthusiastically planting a smoocherooni (as they called it in liberated villages) on the lips of a loose-limbed nurse on V-J Day in Times Square. After a combative public hearing, city commissioners decided to accept a donation of the $500,000 [...]

Illinois Popeye Pummels The Competition

Monday, September 14th, 2009

For an 80-year-old cartoon character, Popeye has some sea legs. At least three towns promote his immortality with statues, but Chester, Illinois, clearly has wind in its sails.
Crystal City, Texas, “Spinach Capital of the World,” was the first to erect a Popeye statue in 1937. It deserves credit for that — but it hasn’t done [...]