Why does Obama call Michelle 'Flotus'?
It's a tease: President Obama actually calls first lady Michelle Obama "FLOTUS," the abbreviated newspeak version for "First Lady of the United States."
The irony: Whenever this column refers to President Obama as "POTUS," we get angry e-mails from readers accusing us of name calling.
Stat chat: The world's largest cruise ship, the newly built 20-story tall "Oasis of the Seas," now cruising across the Atlantic to its Florida home port, is five times larger than the ill-fated Titanic.
Judy! Judy! Judy! GOP comptroller candidate and former gubernatorial hopeful Judy Baar Topinka tells Sneed she was given "a Halloween pumpkin carved with the face and hairdo of former Gov. Rod Blagojevich."
Stomp 'em: "It was given to me by a young man who knew my [negative] history with Blago," Topinka told Sneed. "So he said I could step on the pumpkin and squish it."
There ya go.
Ambush 'em: Former President George "Dubya" Bush, who saw the 9/11 terrorist attack occur on his watch, stayed at the Taj Mahal Palace hotel in Mumbai, India, last Saturday -- and visited the staff who worked at the hotel when it was besieged by terrorists last November. Dubya also ordered two helpings of dessert (ras malai) at dinner before he left.
Former first lady Laura Bush jokingly told a women's conference in Utah her memoir will be called Formerly Shy Librarian Tells All.
Actor Tom Hanks and wife Rita Wilson spotted at Gene & Georgetti with their son, Chester, who attends Northwestern University. (Actress Meryl Streep's daughter, Mamie Gummer, is an NU grad.)
Chicago Blackhawk John Madden and his wife, Lauren, showed up as Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie at a Halloween party held at a bar called the Fifty/50.
u The flip side: Teammate Colin Fraser and wife Carli showed up as Batman and Robin.
u Stork stories: French President Nicolas Sarkozy and wife Carla Bruni, who have children with other mates, are hoping to conceive, according to the European press -- and actor Mel Gibson, who has seven children, just became the father of eight: a daughter with 39-year old Russian girlfriend Oksana Grigorieva.
Movie making in Chicago has hit a recession lull.
u To wit: "The only thing we've got now are commercials," said Chicago Film Office Director Rich Moskal.
u The buckshot: The generous Illinois 30 percent tax credit for movie makers can't compete with the bargain basement super-sized incentives offered by Michigan, Massachusetts and Georgia, said Moskal.
u Backshot: The last film to shoot here was "Little Fockers," starring Ben Stiller, Robert De Niro, Dustin Hoffman, Owen Wilson and Jessica Alba, which shot for five days in early October.
Pencils poised: New Sun-Times owner Jim Tyree will address the City Club of Chicago on Nov. 24. ... Condolences to the family of Loyola Regent Edward W. Elliott, on the death of his beloved brother, Tom. The brothers were devoted to each other. ... Congrats to Miguel and Yadira Ayala on the birth of their daughter, Jayleen Briana. . . . Today's birthdays: Kathy Posner, 57; Adam Ant, 55; Roseanne Barr, 57; Kate Capshaw, 56; Danny Solis, 60, and Dennis Miller, 56, and belated wishes to Ken "The Steam Room" Babe.