We usually have a big family get-together on Thanksgiving, and this year was no exception.

The highlight for me is often when my brother shows me strange stuff on the internet. This year, two items about North Korea. (he has had a thing for Mao and Eastern Bloc lore since he was a teenager)

First, check out this building in Pyongyang:



This is the never-quite-finished Ryugyong Hotel. It is 105 stories tall, and has seven revolving restaurants. Construction began in 1987, but stopped a couple of years later, due to "bad concrete" and "money", and perhaps "most hotels in Pyongyang are empty anyway". Besides, who wants to get a room in the Ministry of Truth, anyway?

The second item is this:



When Nicaragua was still under sandinista control (that is, before Reagan started selling arms to Iran), they gave this to Kim Il Sung, late leader of North Korea: A stuffed alligator, holding a cocktail tray. This now sits in a whole museum in Pyongyang, full of gifts given to the late dictator.

Well, back to the family for me!