The number
12Average number of minutes a Chicagoan must work to afford a Big Mac, according to global financial services firm UBS and The Economist newsmagazine.
The list
The women’s washroom at Chicago’s legendary Drake Hotel is apparently only the fifth-nicest potty in the country, at least according to voters in America’s Best Restroom VIII, sponsored by bathroom-supply firm Cintas Corp. In voting concluded this month, the top five are:
1. Shoji Tabuchi Theatre, Branson, Mo.
2. Tremont Plaza Hotel, Baltimore
3. Radio City Music Hall, New York
4. Zeffirino Ristorante, Las Vegas
5. The Drake Hotel, Chicago
Desperately seeking
Five hot Internet searches Monday, as tracked by Google Trends:
* “Michael Beasley”
* “Heidi Montag Miss Universe video”
* “Jasmine Fiore photos”
* “Baby Name Wizard”
* “Cash for refrigerators”
Sales from the crypt
An online auction for the Los Angeles crypt above Marilyn Monroe’s ended Monday — almost — with the winning bidder offering $4.6 million on eBay. Several hours after he won, however, the bidder e-mailed to say he had to cancel “because of the paying problem.” The site’s current owner, Elsie Poncher, plans to move her late husband’s body, entombed above Monroe’s 23 years ago. Poncher says she wants the money to pay off her Beverly Hills home. Diamonds may be a girl’s best friend, but this widow clearly prefers cash.
