Friday Facts: Living with elves, DTV, Sharks

:: Number of consecutive years the Journal-Clarion’s Leslie Sellers has reviewed the ballet company’s annual production of The Nutcracker- 28

:: Number of these reviews in which she has called it “mesmerizing”- 27

:: Date by which all of the city’s (and the nation’s) broadcast stations have to be switched from analog to digital- February 17, 2009

:: Percentage of city’s households with digital receivers- 11

:: Average cost of a digital television set at the Circuit City on Clawson Boulevard- $834

:: Did the guy from Circuit City try selling me an extended warranty when I phoned for prices, though I hadn’t bought anything?- Amazingly, yes

:: Saturday night is the strongest night for hotel occupancy here in the city, with an average of 81%

:: WIAC-FM disc jockey Rich Stillman once spent eleven days living in the Santa’s Workshop attraction at the downtown Macy’s as a stunt to raise money for the Human Fund.

:: The least envied holiday job in the area, according to a recent poll in the News- Having to put the Santa hats and beards on the sharks for the Fleming Aquarium’s annual “Christmas Aquatacular.”

:: Second place- Reindeer Stall Assistant, Santa’s Village
- R. White