Overnight Briefing & General Reality Check

Everybody loves Halloween!:

   Like Christmas, Halloween's gotten so commercialized that parents who use to dread it are spending as much on themselves as the candy they get for the kids. According to the National Retail Federation, we've gone from spending $5 billion in 1990 to nearly $6 billion this year --on candy, costumes, decorations and other assorted fright night paraphernalia. Does the giant inflatable spider for the front lawn cost that much?
Top Halloween spending:
--Children's costumes: $0.8 billion
--Adult costumes: $1 billion
--Pet costumes: $2.2 billion
--Candy: $1.75 billion
--Decorations: $1.62 billion
--Greeting cards: $0.35 billion

Factoid:

Jack-o'-lanterns trace their origins to an Irish folktale, where a man named "Jack" put a lit piece of coal in a hallowed-out turnip to light his way during the night. Irish townspeople later placed candles in the turnips to keep away spirits and ghosts. Apparently, four-leaf clovers alone weren't strong enough.

Halloween Fun & Games:

It's a great way to while away the hours at work. Play Halloween Hangman!
   Go: http://dedge.com/flash/hangman/

Guilty Pleasures:

   --No winner in Tuesday night's drawing for the Mega Millions Lottery. That means tonight's drawing is valued at $140 million ($94.3 million cash value). Mega Millions is played in 34 states and Washington DC. Chances of winning the big prize are 1 in 175.7 million.

On, off and way-off Broadway:

NATHAN LANE is leaving "The Addams Family" musical. Daily Variety magazine says ROGER REES will replace Nathan next March, joining fellow "Cheers" alum BEBE NEUWIRTH, who is staying with the show.
   This could be a problem for the production: when Nathan took a week's vacation in August, the show's box office took a huge hit, dropping a third in ticket sales.
   When co-star Bebe Neuwirth took her vacation this fall, weekly sales slipped by 14%.

Animal Stories:

Paul the Octopus is gone but a successor has arrived and he's French! Paul, who died this past Tuesday of natural causes, gained global fame by correctly predicted the outcome of eight World Cup matches this year
   A spokesman for Paul's old home, the Oberhausen aquarium, tells Der Spiegel that Paul's replacement, also to be named Paul, was born near the southern French city of Montpellier and will be presented to the public next week.
   Editor's note: What they should do when they "present" this thing is have a receiving line so town folk can pass and shake all eight tentacles. C'mon, that's marketing genius right there! (Maiman)

Digital Domain:

These days, you can log onto to internet just about anywhere. Now, add Mount Everest to the list of wi-fi hot spots: Reuters says a private internet company has launched Nepal's first 3-G service at Mount Everest's base camp.
   The service is aimed at helping mountain climbers who attempt to scale the world's largest peak. Until now, climbers had to rely on expensive satellite phones or two-way radios to communicate with civilization. (Still)