The best of the internet, squirted out in flavorful neon globules, just for you. "Astronomers have sighted the smallest extrasolar planet yet orbiting a normal star—a distant world just three times the size of our own." (Via Sarah) Won't somebody please think of the ninjas? Warren Ellis is on a roll lately. He's got links to a couple of fascinating articles, one about new evidence that suggests that Machu Picchu was actually discovered forty years......

The best of the internet, chopped into tiny bits and grilled for your enjoyment. The 14-wheel Segway. Why? Because it could be done. (Via) Check out coverage of ROFLCon, a two-day gathering of internet memes and the people behind them, at the Wired blog known as The Underwire. (Via Jill) Enjoy the truly epic preview for the third season of The Venture Brothers. A great and twisted show. Warning: The G.I. Joe parody sequence in......

The best of the internet, chopped into tiny bits and grilled for your enjoyment. Some sad news this morning: the actor Roy Scheider, whom most of us remember from his role in Jaws, has passed away. It still doesn't appear to be officially official, but the WGA strike is pretty much over now. Whew! Thank God. Now get back to work, people!!! We need our bread and circuses! The English-language trailer for Forbidden Kingdom is......

A steaming hot pile of our favorite things from around the internets. The first teaser trailer for Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull will be shown in front of The Spiderwick Chronicles when it gets released next weekend. Of course it'll hit the web shortly afterward. According to Page Six, Woody Allen's upcoming film, Vicky Cristina Barcelona, features not only a threesome amongst Scarlett Johansson, Penélope Cruz, and Javier Bardem, but also......

The shapeless dough of the internet, formed into tasty pellets and baked to perfection, just for you. Some big awards and award nominations came out yesterday and this morning. We've got the Golden Tomatoes (via Jill) from Rotten Tomatoes, celebrating the highest rated films of 2007, the Razzie nominations, honoring the worst movies of 2007, and finally, some little dinky awards called the Oscars. Meanwhile, video games, not to be left out, are getting yet......

Fun around town, for $10 or less: Play Reading: Philadelphia Theatre Company reading of Map of Heaven by Michele Lowe at the Suzanne Roberts Theatre (Broad and Lombard), 7PM. Free, but RSVP (215-985-1400 x311) Dysfunctional Family Night: Board games, music, crafts, drinks: It's the holiday all over again (sans drama) at the Manhattan Room (15 W. Girard), 7PM. Free Movie Monday at The Troc: The Simpsons Movie. The Troc is located at 1003 Arch Street.......

The best of the internet, chopped into tiny bits and grilled for your enjoyment. Toren Atkinson (of the Darkest of the Hillside Thickets, our favorite Canadian band that bases all its songs on the work of H.P. Lovecraft) has had a number of entertaining posts lately on his blog. Here's a list he put together of all the great stuff that's going to be on TCM this month. And here's a commercial he did a......

What's creepy and interesting on TV this week. Horror Movies (All week, various channels) - If you're looking for something scary to watch to get you in the holiday spirit, AMC has you covered; they're playing classic and contemporary horror movies pretty much all day, every day, Monday through Wednesday. The Sci-Fi Channel is joining in with similar fare most of Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday, and TCM and FX have some good stuff......

What's new and/or interesting in Philly theaters this weekend. The Boss of It All - A comedy about working in an office by... Lars von Trier?! It seems impossible, but here it is. This film was at the Philadelphia Film Festival; you can read our reviews of the film here, here, and here. Trailer Showing at: Ritz at the Bourse Vitus - The story of a child genius who also happens to be a piano......

A tall, icy glass of our favorite internet junk, just for you. Apropos of Something is celebrating the impending release of The Simpsons Movie with a list of The Top Simpsons Supporting Characters. Some of these folks actually seem to be pretty major characters to us, but apparently for the purposes of this list, anybody who is not part of the Simpsons family proper is considered a supporting character. Regardless, many lovely choices, and many......

What's new and/or interesting on television this week. Victoria Beckham: Coming to America (Mon, 8PM-9PM, NBC10) - It's the British invasion all over again in this reality show-type special which follows Posh Spice as she moves from London to LA. Secret Life Of... (Mon, 8:30PM-9PM, Food Network) - This time they're taking a look at superstitions surrounding foods - so, stuff about New Year's Day foods, spinach, garlic, and carrots. Cities of the Underworld (Mon,......

A steaming hot pile of our favorite things from around the internets. Now here's a holiday we can get behind: today is National French Fries Day! (Via Sarah) Local photographer Kyle Cassidy has an interesting book out called Armed America, which consists of photos of gun owners from across the United States, in their homes, displaying their collections, etc. There's no political statements being made; it's just a cultural exploration. The project is interesting, and......

A tall, icy glass of our favorite internet junk, just for you. This is a pretty neat find: a series of illustrations from a 1947 issue of Life Magazine wherein some cartoonists were asked to draw their most famous characters, once normally, and then again with a blindfold on. The results are fascinating. (Via) To celebrate the impending release of The Simpsons Movie, Shiny Shiny dug up a link to Great Gadgets of the Simpsons,......

The best of the internet, chopped into tiny bits and grilled for your enjoyment. Maxim has for you the 15 hottest women in comics. Yay! (Via) Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen may be playing the first set of twin Bond girls in the next Bond movie. Unfortunately, the've been offered a clause in their contract stating they won't have to strip or shoot any sex scenes. Damn it! What's the point, then? Yesterday the 400th episode......

What's new and/or interesting on TV this week. Divine Canine: With the Monks of New Skete (Mon, 8PM-8:30PM, Animal Planet) - The first of two new Animal Planet shows debuting Monday night, this one is about some monks in Cambridge, NY who use holistic training methods on misbehaving dogs in order to transform them into loving pets. In this first episode, a monk tries to talk some sense into a naughty Cavalier King Charles spaniel.......

The best of the internet, chopped into tiny bits and grilled for your enjoyment. Sunday was April Fool's Day, and although we were nice enough not to pull any fast ones on you, there were plenty of gags to go around on the internet. Some of our favorites: Google's free toilet broadband, Freddy Prinze Jr. as the Riddler, ThinkGeek's new products (via; one of them may become a reality!), and finally, Pimps at Sea, which......

The best of the internet, chopped into tiny bits and grilled for your enjoyment. Let's get the sad news out of the way first: Jack Palance, Western star and all-around tough guy of the movies, died on Friday at age 87. His grizzled face and growling voice will be sorely missed. Joystiq got the Wii, the PS3, and the Xbox 360 HD-DVD drive this weekend, so they were testing and posting like crazy - even......

What's new and/or interesting on TV this week. Show Me the Money (Tue; 9:30PM-11PM; ABC) - In this exceedingly long premier episode, the producers of "Deal or No Deal" present what they hope will be the next big game show hit. We're not sure why they chose as their title a catch phrase from an old movie that became annoying almost as soon as it became popular, but we do like their host: it's The......

What's new and/or interesting on TV this week. Monsterfest X (Now through Wednesday, 5:30AM; AMC) - In honor of the holiday, AMC is once again running its Monsterfest programming, which consists of just what you'd think it would consist of: classic horror movies, all the time. Word! On Halloween day, they're playing most of the Halloween movies back to back, starting at 12:30PM and running until 11:45PM. (Link) Halloween Tribute to Vincent Price: Master of......

A steaming hot pile of our favorite things from around the internets. Runes of Shalak delivers the classic platforming action you crave in a simple, clean, entertaining format, and with a good soundtrack to boot. An addictive time-waster. (Via) The introduction is repetitive, and the grammar and spelling could use some work, but this How Philly Are You? quiz is still pretty fun. This Phillyist's honest results were an embarrassing 63%, but when we went......

What's new and/or interesting on TV this week. 20/20 (Wed; 9PM-11PM; ABC) - A special episode examining seven ways the world could end (specifically, things that could wipe out civilization), how likely they are to happen, and what we could do to stop them. So, you know, if you feel like you're not worried about enough things, tune in! (Link) Justice (Wed; 9PM-10PM; Fox) - The debut episode of a new Jerry Bruckheimer legal drama......

First, let me start with a confession: I am an East Coast girl - Philadelphia born and raised. This means two things in relation to this post: (1) I don't have that inherent knack that allows people to eat burritos without the contents eventually exploding out of the tortilla and (2) when it comes to SoCal and Tex-Mex versions of Mexican fare, I am in no way qualified to discuss what's authentic. I can, however,......

The best of the internet, chopped into tiny bits and grilled for your enjoyment. Fun mash-up time! Illustrator Dylan Meconis has drawn up all the lead characters of "Battlestar Galactica" as if they were on "The Simpsons." Awesome! (Via) And speaking of mash-ups, have you seen Star Lords yet? This time somebody's put together the two great popular epic fantasy sagas of our time - Star Wars and Lord of the Rings. At first the......

What's interesting on TV this week. Yo Momma (Mon; 6PM-6:30PM; MTV) - MTV has a new show! "Is it about music?" you ask. "Not remotely!" we answer. In fact, it's a trash-talking tournament hosted by Wilmer Valderrama from "That 70s Show." Finalists are even given personal information on their targets via "home invasions" so their insults can carry some serious sting. Oy. (Official Site) King of Cars (Tue; 10PM-10:30PM; A&E) - There's so many of......

The best of the internet, chopped into tiny bits and grilled for your enjoyment. It's Rocky time again here at Whiz of the Web. This time we have for you the teaser trailer for the upcoming film, Rocky Balboa. And you know what: it's not bad. There's nothing much to see here except a close-up of Rocky's bruised and bloodied face, and in terms of audio, all we get is some cheering and a monologue......

Obsessive Friends fans who live in Philadelphia: your dream has come true. "That guy who played Ross," sometimes known as David Schwimmer, will be in town this weekend. Conveniently enough (and having nothing to do with press at all), Schwimmer's new film, Duane Hopwood, is opening at the Ritz Five this weekend. The film was written and directed by Philadelphia native Matt Mulhern, and it's set in that dirty little brother of ours that we......

There are a bunch of season premieres on TV this week, and nearly all of them are on Fox. On Thursday, the new season of The O.C. promises "hardcore days and softcore nights" (8 pm, Fox). Immediately following The O.C., at 9 pm, is the series premiere of http://www.fox.com/reunion/">Reunion, which is a new twist on the old six-good-looking-young-friends theme. The tagline is: "In 1986 they were best of friends. By 2005, one will be murdered.......

If you tuned into 100.3 FM on your radio dial a few months ago, there was a good chance you would have heard Modest Mouse or Queens of the Stone Age. There was also a chance that you would hear that “Closing Time” song that has somehow survived as a jukebox legend (we point the finger at drunk sorority girls). But, that’s the tradeoff, as is the case with almost every radio station: take the......