I always knew Bart was up to something

So a friend of mine, who has a distinctly better eye for these thing than myself, noted the brilliance of the US Diplomatic mission to talk about having talks with Iran.  (I mean, other than the sheer brilliance of the fact that we are in discussions about discussions, something that will eventually lead to a modern-day Abbot and Costello act.)  What he noticed was that we have appointed as the head of nuclear talks with the evil empire a man named Mr. Burns.  

Sadly, his first name’s William, not Montgomery. But it got me thinking all the same, remembering someone once rambling to me at a party about their theory that Mr Burns and Ned Flanders were secretly hooking up.  

And then, I remembered.  

This wasn’t just his theory.  There were a lot of people who thought this. Because, you guessed it, there is in the world a Simpson’s slash community.  I only wish I was kidding.

Suddenly I’m feeling like an olympic athlete

About three years ago, a few of my friends and I decided to drive across the Green Mountains to go out for a pre-Christmas dinner in Woodstock.  While out there, the snow started falling, and we discovered that the car we’d taken – not exactly your mountain four-wheeler, more along the lines of ‘jenkity sedan’ was not about to make it back over Killington pass.  

Mamma Mia and the Art of the Horribly Awesome Movie

I saw Mamma Mia! on Saturday night and all I have to say is this: it’s preceded by the HSM3 trailer. In our world, this is an excellent, excellent thing, and a portent of horribly awesome things to come. I probably haven’t laughed as much in weeks as I did then.

But we’re not reviewing movies here. No, no. However, when I found this intriguing article about one of the movie’s stars, Amanda Seyfreid, I knew I had to share it with you all. Particularly when she is asked about the possibility of her being in Tim Burton’s new Alice in Wonderland film, and she responds, “He likes weird-looking people for his movies, so I’m really hoping.”

This follows shortly after her saying that she looks like a toad. I’m not kidding. Really. Go read for yourself. And laugh.

And there’s today’s laugh, gents. Enjoy.

OMG! Rob Lowe just looked right at me!!!

The advert (below the jump) for Orange Mobile plays before films at Odeon cinemas in England. When you see a lot of movies, ads like these can sometimes get old. For instance, the MacCaulay Culkin and Val Kilmer ones annoyed the hell out of me after the second time seeing them. The Snoop Dogg one was funny, but not nearly as funny the 10th time through, housies. But the Rob Lowe one…oh, the Rob Lowe one. I love this ad. I laugh hysterically every time I see it. Most likely because I’ve been a little bit in love with Rob Lowe since I was a very small child and his role on The West Wing only cemented that love. This ad makes the world a better place.

Things we would go to this week, if we lived in…

Phoenix

Eddie Izzard! The man is a God. To both of us. And he’s in the SW this week, in Phoenix (first half of the week) and Vegas after that. Frankly, given my choice, I can’t think of a better place to be on earth than at a Vegas Eddie Izzard show, drinking margaritas and wetting myself. Eddie’s worth the dry cleaning bill.

NYC

New York Restaurant Week. Three course prix fixe. Lunch $24.07. Dinner $35. Need we say more? Wait, why aren’t we living in NYC with all our friends?

Thailand

Annual surfing contest at Kalim Beach, Phuket. No, seriously. Kaks might not surf herself, but she has a huge thing for surfers (ever since that surf contest at Dana Point when she was about 12 years old). Plus, it’s a beach in Thailand, who wouldn’t want to be there? And yes, Kaks does occasionally visit the Tourism Thailand website and dream about vacations filled with meditation, panang curry, motorbikes, and lots of Thai art.

News Reel

Voters in San Francisco will be able to decide on the November ballot whether or not to commemorate the President’s time in office by naming a sewage treatment plant after him. ♦ Elizabeth Edwards looks fantastic while her wit impresses even Stephen Colbert. Well done Elizabeth! ♦ Pope finally apologizes for sex abuse by clergy. ♦ Apparently there are some weird ingredients in beauty products. Who’da thunk? ♦ 10 Things the BBC Mag didn’t know last week. ♦ Gasp! Banksy uncovered?! Say it ain’t so that he went to public school (for those of you who don’t live in England or speak the Queen’s English, that means prep school)!

Sources: CNN, Jezebel, BBC, The Mail