>OK, I want to lease three floors for my company at the CN Tower. Who do I contact? ;-)

Hey, remember me? I'm the guy who said that according to Webster's, a building is a building regardless whether you can rent office space in it. It's the politicos who worry about who has the tallest building that keep changing the definition to suit their own wishes and egos.

>
>Got the return mail today, BTW, or should I say a notice that they had tried to deliver it. Apparently these days there is paperwork that must be observed with mailings from furrin' countries, even Canada. We might be sending Sentex and encoded instructions to sleeper cells back and forth, right? I will be over by the P.O. in the morning refereeing and will pick up the package then. Anyway, thanks, and glad you enjoyed it.

I did, and thanks for the opportunity. Oh, jeez! I hope they don't make you open it in front of them.




Kidding. ;)


>
>1/2 segue -- here is a movie recommendation for those interested in such things. The other night I watched "Traitor" and enjoyed it. It kind of slipped by me in the theaters or even awareness and I probably never would have watched it if not for the recommendation of an old movie friend whose opinion I respect. She said trust me, watch it. I watched it and am glad I did. It stars Don Cheadle, with Guy Pearce in the leading supporting role. Cheadle plays a character who may be a terrorist in an al-Qaeda like organization or may be a U.S. mole infiltrating them. Excellent suspense. I did see the big twist coming a few minutes ahead of time but it didn't detract a thing. What I liked best was the sense of moral ambiguity, that pat answers are unreliable. I guess there's a reason Graham Greene is my favorite writer ;-)
>
>Still racing my way through Ian Rankin's John Rebus books, BTW, and still enjoying them immensely. You said everyone who likes mysteries and detective fiction has already read them all. You may be right because I have gotten most of them from the library and many hands have held these books before. Maybe there is one future fan reading this who will be a lucky Rankin/Rebus novice.
>
>>CTBUH is spreading fud. According to your own Webster's:
>>
>>Building: a usually roofed and walled structure built for permanent use (as for a dwelling)
>>
>>Since the Sears Tower is not a dwelling either, I think we can go with the first part of the definition. All that wavering in the categorising of the CN Tower tells me the changes were more political than definitional.
>>
>>The CN Tower is a building just as any other building is. And it's free standing so the other antennae etc. don't count.
>>
>>I know it's not the tallest any longer, but it is taller than the Sears Tower. Note too, it's the "Sears Tower" not the "Sears Building". ;)
>>
>>
>>>>>>>http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-biz-sears-tower-name-change-willis-march12,0,7014962.story
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>Given that one of his most famous roles was set in a skyscraper, I guess it makes some sense to rename the Sears Tower after Bruce Willis.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>What's that you say? It's not Bruce Willis it's being renamed after?
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>Fat chance many people will ever call it Willis Tower. I wonder what egomaniac dreamed up this one.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>I note the caption under the picture - The Sears Tower, the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere, will soon become the Willis Tower. (Tribune photo by Alex Garcia / January 15, 2009)
>>>>>>
>>>>>>To satisfy my own curiosity, exactly when did Canada get cut out of the Western Hemisphere?
>>>>>
>>>>>Is there a Canadian building taller than the Sears Tower?
>>>>
>>>>Never heard of the CN Tower?
>>>>
>>>>From the Wikipedia:
>>>>
>>>>Sears Tower / Freedom Tower / Chicago Spire
>>>>The CN Tower is the tallest freestanding structure in the Americas. Currently, the only other freestanding structure in the Americas to exceed 500 m (1,640.4 ft) in height is the Sears Tower in Chicago, which stands at 527 m (1,729.0 ft) when measured to its pinnacle. The Freedom Tower, currently under construction in New York City, is expected to have a pinnacle height of 1,776 ft (541.3 m), or approximately 12 m (39.4 ft) shorter than the CN Tower. Due to the symbolism of the number 1776 (the date of the signing of the United States Declaration of Independence), the height of the Freedom Tower is unlikely to be increased. The Chicago Spire, which was initially expected to be completed in 2012, is expected to exceed the height of the CN Tower upon completion, but its construction has been halted due to financial difficulties.
>>>
>>>It might have been more useful to quote the end of that Wikipedia article, which explains the coy "freestanding structure" phrase. The CN Tower is simply that, a tower, not an occupied building.
>>>
>>>Controversy over the "world's tallest" title
>>>
>>>Guinness World Records has called the CN Tower "the world's tallest self-supporting tower" and "the world's tallest free-standing tower".[20][21] Although Guinness did list this description of the CN Tower under the heading "tallest building" at least once,[21] it has also listed it under "tallest tower", omitting it from its list of "tallest buildings."[20] In 1996, Guinness officially changed the tower's classification to "World's Tallest Building and Freestanding Structure". Today, Guinness state that the CN Tower is the "Tallest Freestanding Tower," because the Petronius Platform oil platform in the Gulf of Mexico is taller at 609.9 metres (2,001.0 ft), yet most of the rig is underwater, earning it the title of tallest free-standing structure in the world. Emporis and the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat both list the CN Tower as the world's tallest free-standing structure on land, and specifically state that the CN Tower is not a true building, thereby awarding the title of world's tallest building to Taipei 101, which is 44 metres (144 ft) shorter than the CN Tower.[22][23] The tower's official web site, however, unequivocally claims it is the "world's tallest building".[24]
>>>
>>>Although the CN Tower contains a restaurant, a gift shop, and multiple observation levels, it does not have floors continuously from the ground, and therefore it is not considered a building by the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH), Emporis, or any other architectural authorities. CTBUH defines a building as "a structure that is designed for residential, business, or manufacturing purposes. An essential characteristic of a building is that it has floors."[23] The CN Tower and other similar structures – such as the Ostankino Tower in Moscow, Russia; the Oriental Pearl Tower in Shanghai, China; the Stratosphere Tower in Las Vegas, Nevada; and the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France – are categorized as "towers", which are free-standing structures that may have observation decks and a few other habitable levels, but do not have floors from the ground up. The CN Tower is the tallest tower by this definition.[22]
>>>
>>>Taller than the CN Tower are numerous radio masts and towers which are held in place by guy-wires, the tallest being the KVLY-TV mast in North Dakota at 628 metres (2,060 ft) tall, leading to a distinction between these and "free-standing" structures. Additionally, the Petronius Platform stands 610 metres (2,001 ft) above its base on the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico, but only the top 75 metres (246 ft) of this oil and natural gas platform are above water, and the structure is thus partially supported by its buoyancy. Like the CN Tower, none of these taller structures are commonly considered buildings.
>>>
>>>On September 12, 2007, the Burj Dubai, a hotel, residential and commercial building being built in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, passed the CN Tower's 553.33 metre[1] height. The CN Tower held the record of tallest free-standing structure on land for over 30 years.[2] The tower now stands as the second-tallest free-standing structure on land in the world, the tallest completed structure, and the tallest free-standing tower.