DVD ‘drops’ today (I’ve always wanted to say that, and yet now that I have, I feel empty somehow). Prices seem to be @$10. Someone please tell Seth Green I love him.

Maybe I’m the last one to find out about this. It would appear that Ricky Gervais (of Extras glory — one of the best shows ever) had honestly hoped this would never surface. I still can’t believe my eyes. The 80’s just will not stay dead. (It’s Seona Dancing, btw).

Ericka J. Atwell, a senior at Rhode Island College, was impeached from her position as the school’s Student Community Government Deputy Speaker in March, but she’s decided to give politics another go…with more on the line. After having been found guilty of circulating candidacy petitions on behalf of other students—an action forbidden by RIC SCG bylaws—the 22-year-old has filed to run for District 27 State Representative as a Republican against incumbent Representative Patricia A. Serpa.

Atwell’s Republican primary challenger, Thomas K. Jones, questions the wisdom of his party in endorsing this controversial young woman. “If the Republican Party is going to be taken seriously in Rhode Island,” he told the ProJo, “We need to run serious candidates with a track record of being involved in their communities.”

Atwell, who learned a great deal about political integrity during her internship with Governor Carcieri, explains, “I’ve moved on to bigger and better things. I loved serving the students and working with the administration, but I learned that sometimes you have to cut your losses and move forward.”

In an earlier version of this post, I alluded to an inside rumor about Ericka J. Atwell campaigning in a mini-dress and heels. I apologize for including this piece of gossip, although it did come from a fairly credible source. As a young woman active in politics, I often resent the extent to which I must dress more formally and frigidly than my male counterparts in order to be taken seriously, and it would be a shame to propagate rumors about a young female candidate—rumors that very well might be aimed at discrediting her based on her age and appearance—when I myself am so familiar with this struggle. I apologize for including that tidbit.  If it’s true, however, it’s still hilarious, not to mention totally inappropriate.

Well, I’ve been waiting for a story ridiculous enough to make me come out of hiding, and here it is. An Illinois man, for some reason deemed ‘artist’ by the AP, has legally changed his name to “In God we Trust.” The New Haven Register reports:

A school bus driver and amateur artist from the Chicago suburb of Zion has legally changed his name to “In God We Trust.” A Lake County circuit court judge approved Steve Kreuscher’s (CROY’-shirz) name change petition on Friday. The 57-year-old’s first name was changed to “In God,” while his last name was changed to “We Trust.” He says the new name symbolizes the help God gave him during tough times and says he can’t wait to begin signing his artwork with the new moniker.

In other news, I’m changing my name to “Barack Obama.”

* Dennis Kucinich gets a just little less lonely as Florida Congressman Robert Wexler, of Colbert/Cocaine, and more recently Obama-backing fame, co-sponsors articles of impeachment for Dubya. Maybe he read Vincent Bugliosi’s book?

* Only an Obama-caliber uniter could bridge the gap between sci-fi overlord George Lucas and traditionally conservative Evangelical Christians. Plus, he wears a helmet!

* Scientists create souped-up, 100 mpg Prius; The experimental uber-car is then fed to Truckasaurus.

* Rhode Island schools closed for the heatwave; local students work on “sweat your ass off at home” independent study project.

* Lil Wayne is finally getting his due: an New York Times article praising his emotional vulnerability.

* Google Founder Brin heads to space to meet with Data, Captain Sisko, and swarthy Cosmonauts.

* And, bringing it back to one, President Bush is sorry about all the messed up shit he said; messed up actions still ok, though.

Phrases such as “bring them on” or “dead or alive”, he said, “indicated to people that I was, you know, not a man of peace”.

In case you missed it, the media is very, very fascinated with the “fistbump” that Barack and Michelle Obama shared last week. Also known as a “closed-fisted high five,” “daps,” or “a pound,” this gesture is common among African-Americans, young people, athletes and the fingerless. Also, it is not news.

Kiss livestock-generated methane goodbye, thanks to some plucky New Zealand fart-doctors.

New Zealand scientists claim to have developed a “flatulence inoculation” aimed at cutting down on the massive amount of methane produced by its sheep and cows.

Such animals are believed to be responsible for more than half of the country’s greenhouse gases, causing huge environmental problems.

I smell a Nobel prize… by which I mean sheep flatulence. (more…)

Sharon Stone, who believes the Dalai Lama to be one of her friends, was quoted as saying of China, “I am not happy about the way the Chinese are treating the Tibetans … then this earthquake and all this stuff happened and I thought, ‘Is that karma, when you’re not nice that the bad things happen to you?’”

Now, let’s do a little exercise.  Replace the words “the Chinese,” “the Tibetans,” and “earthquake” with “Sharon Stone,” “the Chinese,” and “karma snafu ruining her career.”  The whole thing is far timelier and less offensive that way, don’t you think?

Then again, as many bloggers are saying, “She hasn’t made a good movie in years.  I don’t even know why we’re listening to her.”

Have you ever seen those commercials for a credit protection service called LifeLock? This guy shares his social security number and dares the world to steal his identity:

But, wait! Don’t be fooled: apparently, lots of people are suing the company because the service doesn’t work. And the dude, Todd Davis, has had his identity stolen many times: at least 20 people have used his social security number to apply for driver’s licenses (some of whom succeeded!) and at least 87 others have tried to apply for credit with his name, one of who succeeded in getting $500 from an online loan program.

LifeLock Doesn’t Work

“Security experts say complaints about the company reinforce the time-honored wisdom of keeping your Social Security number secret.”

Uh, duh?

Tonight at 11:00PM (the local listing says 11:30) VH-1 will show the first episode (’Save it For Marriage’) of Sex: The Revolution. There is supposed to be a lot of great old footage from sex education films, and John Waters is one of the talking heads, so that’s a good sign. I see that one of the topics is ‘the effect of the VCR on the porn industry’ which can not be overstated. And since Jane Fonda’s current sex-ploits are limited to molesting Stephen Colbert (creepy) and talking dirty on the Today Show (sad), the scenes from Barbarella might show that she was once something more than an embarrassing old twat.

How should I attempt to regain control in this unbelievably hilarious situation? Oh yeah, by screaming “I AM A JOURNALIST!”

No sarcasm, pun, or wit could make this news any funnier. Wonkette reports:

Hillary Clinton’s pick to win horse racing’s Kentucky Derby, Eight Belles — the only female horse in the race — finished second, broke both front ankles, and subsequently was put to death on the track. The first place horse was “Big Brown.” Go nuts.

This makes my Dad’s attempt to find political meaning in the “underdog” Giants’ victory over the “machine candidate” Patriots in Superbowl 2k8 seem even more far fetched by comparison.

While increased visibility is a laudable goal for any police department, this morning’s ProJo Metro edition has this startling headline regarding Providence’s finest (and curliest), “Department continues pubic roll call of officers”.

UPDATE: Footage, courtesy of the Greenwash Gorillas themselves… even as this was a pretty amazing spectacle, the footage kind of makes me want to give Tom a big hug. While I understand the criticisms of Friedman’s work, I wonder if this was an effective way to get the message across, or whether this merely reflects poorly on the University… thoughts? Could the pie-throwers have raised their dissent during the Q&A with as much flair?

New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman had just begun his Earth Day lecture at Brown last night, when Molly Little ‘08.5 and a colleague let him know what they thought of his work. The Brown Daily Herald reports:

A female audience member ran on stage last night and threw a green pie at New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman […]. The woman had been sitting in the south side of the auditorium’s front row when she pulled the pie out of a Brown Bookstore plastic bag that had been tucked in a red backpack and leapt out of her seat.

(more…)

And by debate, i mean a discussion on how to eat it.

First, courtesy of the NYT, we learn that renowned architect Gehry loves matzah brie, (AKA matzah fried with eggs). I also love matzah brie, so now Frank and I are matzah twins. Here’s how it went down at the Bilbao Gugenheim:

In the midst of jaw-dropping architecture and a collection of Serras in a room the size of a football field, in a town where even the uncelebrated food is good, we of course wound up talking about matzah brei, even though Passover was six months away.

Next, from a Japanese game show, we learn how to cut matzah the right way: with some type of calligraphy brush.

Read more on matzah brie here, then cry your heart out to The Prince of Egypt and more Japanese TV, after the jump. (more…)

Just Kidding! It’s Will Ferrell.