A steaming hot pile of our favorite things from around the internets. As far as we can tell, the hottest thing on the internet right now is this video of a monkey waiter in a Japanese restaurant. Enjoy! (Via Sarah) How about some fun quizzes? We've got one on super hero secret identities (and if that one's too easy for you, here's another), and one on Harry Potter spells. (Via Sarah) Joystiq recaps its coverage......

The best of the internet, squirted out in flavorful neon globules, just for you. CNN's electoral map calculator is a pretty interesting little web app. The default values show you CNN's estimate for how the race will turn out, but you can switch any state you want to either candidate and see how that swings things (via Kevin). In other election news, the Maverick family points out that John McCain is not a maverick, by......

The shapeless dough of the internet, formed into tasty pellets and baked to perfection, just for you. It should surprise no one that Larry Flynt’s Hustler Video is making an X-rated movie inspired by Republican Vice President nominee Sarah Palin. Check out the details here. Also check out the hilariously accurate Sarah Palin Debate Flow Chart. (Via Sarah) For the first time, the Stoker estate has authorized an official sequel to Dracula. It's called Dracula:......

The Phillies beat the Brewers yesterday afternoon to win the Nation League Division Series. At almost the same time, the Eagles suffered an embarrassing loss to the Washington Redskins, but most Philadelphians were ignoring that and focusing on the positive, not to mention the upcoming National League Championship Series where the Phillies will face the LA Dodgers. Your deadline to register to vote in Pennsylvania in time for the presidential election is today. So......

A steaming hot pile of our favorite things from around the internets. Crisis averted! Royalties won't be increased, and the iTunes Music Store won't be shut down... this time! (Via Sarah) AMC is developing a series based on Red Mars, the first book in Kim Stanley Robinson's epic sci-fi trilogy about the colonization of Mars. Today's collection of ridiculous election-related links: 7-Eleven's coffee cup poll (via Zoe); Defective Yeti's liveblog of last night's Biden-Palin debate;......

Fun around town, for $10 or less: FRIDAY National Soft Pretzel Month: 4th Annual "Battle of the Soft Pretzels" with samples at Independence Visitor Center (1N Independence Mall), Noon. Free Banned Mischief: Reception for Authors of Mischief, celebrating banned books and featuring readings from censored books contained in the collection at the Rosenbach Museum (2008 Delancey), 5:30PM. $10 Final Friday: Art Opening of Vektor: New and Collected Works, with visuals, instrumentals, and live painting at......

What's new and/or interesting in Philly theaters this weekend. Religulous A documentary about world religion, directed by Larry Charles, of Borat and Curb Your Enthusiasm fame, and starring Bill Maher. The freshness rating is above average, but this Phillyist stopped finding Maher funny a few years ago, and doesn't really get the Larry Charles style of embarrassment humor either, so we'll be giving this one a miss. Trailer - Freshness Showing at: Ritz at the......

Our lives as bad-asses sure pale in comparison to former Pagans chapter president John Hall. G.W. Miller III chats with Chuck Palahniuk, and dude doesn’t try to choke, fight, or snuff him. Speaking of choking, some suggestions on breathing easy. Yeah, we’re not feeling the hope in this one. But we’ll take his word for it. The Campaign for Housing Justice is worried about Wall Street insofar as it affects Main Street (man, we’re getting......

Fun around town, for $10 or less: Celebrate Banned Book Week: Banned Books: A Reading featuring hip-hop artist Urulsa Rucker, Philadelphia Inquirer columnist Anette Johns-Hall, Larry Robin of Robin's Books and Young Philly Politics blogger Dan Urevik-Acklesberg reading from their favorites at the Central Branch of the Free Library (1901 Vine), 7-9PM. Free Speaking of the Frequently Banned: Author Neil Gaiman reads from The Graveyard Book sponsored by Borders at the Gershman Y (401 S......

The best of the internet, chopped into tiny bits and grilled for your enjoyment. Japanese newspapers are reporting that a new version of the Nintendo DS will be announced soon which will include a camera and music playback. Woah. The entertainment world suffered another in what seems like a long line of painful losses this year with the death this weekend of Paul Newman. Sorry, fellas, she's taken now: Scarlett Johansson and Ryan Reynolds got......

Fun around town, for $10 or less: FRIDAY Viggo!: Screening of Gospel According to Harry at the International House (3701 Chestnut), 7PM. $7 Urban: Author Kristin Palm discusses her new book The Straits, comparing Philly and Detroit, at the Center for Architecture (1218 Arch), 6PM. Free (RSVP) SATURDAY Balance: Qi Gong at Studio 34 (4522 Baltimore), 9AM. $10 Fair: Annual Cedar Park Fair (50th and Baltimore), Noon-5PM. Free Free Museums: Smithsonian Magazine’s free museum day......

A tall, icy glass of our favorite internet junk, just for you. Johnny Depp has officially signed on for a fourth Pirates of the Caribbean film. It's also now official that Depp will be playing the Mad Hatter in Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland. And he'll be playing Tonto in Jerry Bruckheimer's adaptation of The Lone Ranger. Wow! We're glad to see he's keeping busy. Bruce Willis will make his directorial debut with an indie......

The best of the internet, squirted out in flavorful neon globules, just for you. Want to remix a Radiohead song? Through this coming Monday, you can go to Amazon and download a free track from Bob Dylan's upcoming release Tell Tale Signs: the Bootleg Series Vol. 8. It's probably not an entirely fair analogy, but screenwriter Todd Alcott's metaphor for the current economic crisis is definitely clever and funny. (Via) Defective Yeti predicts our political......

Philly as a "festering spiritual slum?" We can see that more than as "the most genuinely Christian movement in America," but we’re sitting over here. We do however buy the "capital of American dorkdom" label. A Hoover-McCain analogy is too frightening to think about before lunch. Committee of Seventy wants to get out the vote—and keep it fair. Something else we don’t want to lead the nation in: Juvenile offenders sentenced to life. John Steele......

Fun around town, for $10 or less: Like a Bear or a Crocodile?: Author Kim Fellner discusses her book Wrestling With Starbucks at Penn Bookstore (3601 Walnut), 6PM. Free Knights and Harps: Screening of The Knight (Rycerz) with director Lech Majewski in attendance at the International House (3701 Chestnut), 7PM. $7 Anniversary: Celebrate The Marvelous’ 5th with bowerbird at Marvelous (208 S 40th), 8PM. Free Personal, Meet Political: Authors Katherine Adam and Charles Derber do......

If you're looking for a fun yet complex novel to read in Rittenhouse on upcoming crisp fall days, look no further than local author Matthew Quick's debut novel The Silver Linings Playbook. At once comically dark (think Coen Brothers) and touching, this is a book that will have you cringing at the actions of the main character Pat Peoples while also whole-heartedly rooting for him as he attempts to assimilate himself back into society. Told......

I loved Ray Bradbury's writing from the first time I read The Martian Chronicles, and once I picked up Fahrenheit 451, the images of those burning books never quite left me. In these bizarre times, I'm grateful that the Rosenbach is marking Banned Books Week with Authors of Mischief, a juried artist exhibit featuring contemporary artists' books on themes related to banned books, censorship, and control. The exhibit will be on display at the Rosenbach......

The best of the internet, chopped into tiny bits and grilled for your enjoyment. The Internet Memes time line is... a time line of internet memes. And it itself is now a meme! (Via Jill) Cinematical covers the important things at the Fantastic Fest: Kevin Smith, his movie, and air sex. Proto Man will be available to download as a playable character in all versions of Mega Man 9 (which comes to WiiWare today). That......

A tall, icy glass of our favorite internet junk, just for you. Cinematical smashes a couple of casting rumors (no, Will Smith is not playing Captain America, and no, David Boreanaz is not playing the Green Lantern), reveals that Brett Ratner would be interested in making the new Superman movie, and gives us the scoop on early preview screenings of G.I. Joe and Star Trek (the general feeling seems to be that Joe is bad......

An army of cabbies? Going up against the PPA? Where’s our sharpened sticks! “Pestering Perzel” sure does sound like fun. Those sharpened sticks are getting a workout this week. Tom Namako has an interview with that other vice presidential candidate, the one without lipstick. Trip to Nicaragua: not such the relaxing vacay. CP is also all about Jose Garces, but they go to Distrito rather than wrangle his cookbook. They also check out the burgers......

The best of the internet, squirted out in flavorful neon globules, just for you. LOLcats sing Metallica! Kind of. (Via Sarah) Speaking of Metallica, a music journalist for a Swedish paper included in his review of the band's latest album a link to a user-edited, condensed version of said album, and even suggested the edited version was better. In response, the band's representative's at Universal have threatened to cut off the paper's access not only......

It’s PW’s time for a fall guide, and they got lots of stuff for you on the cheap. But don’t expect any PA favors. Pick up a book while you’re at it. Or just go to the movies. Does a headscarf get in the way of the line of duty? Does Philly not love our Muslim brethren? An update on what’s up with Upp. Can greener be cheaper? Fishtown finds out. Local TV star Butch......

If you're picking up a copy of Inquirer columnist Faye Flam's first book, The Score (subtitled "How the Quest for Sex Has Shaped the Modern Man") looking for a titillating chronicle of men's sex lives, look elsewhere. Likewise, if you're looking for groundbreaking scientific research explaining why, for instance, guys like porn, you've picked up the wrong book. Flam is a journalist, pure and simple, so she's neither trying to arouse nor to astound. What......

The best of the internet, chopped into tiny bits and grilled for your enjoyment. Author George R.R. Martin had some exciting news for his fans on his "Not-a-Blog" at the end of last week: HBO exercised its option and purchased the television rights to A Game of Thrones. He cautions not to get too excited, as this still doesn't necessarily mean a TV show based on his fantasy novel is in the works; the project......

The best of the internet, squirted out in flavorful neon globules, just for you. Another fun, geeky blog for us to read: Super Punch. (Via Amy) Defective Yeti's amusing thoughts on the Republican National Convention. If you hit Google this morning, you may have noticed that the logo is devoted to the Large Hadron Collider. That's because they switched the LHC on today, an event that some said would destroy the world. But because it's......

A tall, icy glass of our favorite internet junk, just for you. The other day we posted a link where Battlestar Galactica's Tigh and Roslin were compared to McCain and Palin, but now we've discovered there's a whole site devoted to the similarities, and to promoting the Tigh/Roslin ticket. (Via Kevin) Writer-director Sheldon Lettich has been tapped by producer Alexander Nevsky to get to work on Hercules: The Beginning. Check out the powerful first trailer......

The Silver Linings Playbook Book Giveaway
9/02/08-9/05/08...

The best of the internet, squirted out in flavorful neon globules, just for you. This is pretty hilarious: Denny's just started offering a new Rockstar Menu, featuring dishes created by actual rockstars when asked what they like to eat late at night. We're particularly excited about the Heart on a Plate created by Jesse Hughes from Eagles of Death Metal. (Via Filter) Director Mathieu Kassovitz says a troubled production and some bad editing have turned......

This is the green issue, so it's appropriate to read it online. Then grab a bite to eat. If you've got the cash and time, try "Philly's greenest restaurateur." We Shop Eco. Make sure Fido is on board with the eco-friendliness. We really can't take it that far though. And biking in the city still scares us. Lessons learned from the Olympics. Keep on getting ready for Fringe; good luck getting into Wandering Alice though.......

The best of the internet, squirted out in flavorful neon globules, just for you. The boys at Penny Arcade really outdid themselves today. But... ahem... well, not to get even nerdier than usual on you or anything, but... they also spelled wookiee wrong. It's two e's at the end. Everybody gets that wrong. Cinematical picks seven romantic comedies actually worth watching. The three main stars of the original The Greatest American Hero TV show have......