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Dude.

Dude.

Now I HAVE to start watching Man V. Food on the Travel Channel.

Not only because this looks unmitigatedly badass, but because this is my dream job. If I could just drive around the country, maybe on a road trip with a few friends, and eat weird stuff that even the locals are afraid of, and then write about it...okay, Anthony Bourdain really has my dream job.

But this guy's is a close second.

One more thing to record on Wednesday night, though -- that I do not need. There are only two shows I really have got to watch every week - Burn Notice and Leverage. And they're on AT THE SAME TIME, an hour before this show.

Of course, if I watch one of them on Wednesdays and record the other two to watch on Thursdays and Fridays I'll have at least one show to look forward to for the rest of the week.

But who am I kidding? I'm going to stay up until 1 a.m. watching them all back to back.

Am I allowed to have a bit of a crush on Rachel Maddow?

I mean, there's not a law against it and several female friends assure me I'm not alone. But if you're a guy and you hit on a woman you know is a lesbian, that's creepy. If you know a celebrity is a lesbian but you find yourself thinking they're dreamy, is that an involuntary reflex or simple masochism?

But then, if every man in America had to feel weird about having a crush on any celebrity who wouldn't be interested in him, what would be the point?

I've only really had a crush on one lesbian who I knew personally my whole life - and I honestly didn't realize she was a lesbian. I've dated bisexual women, but since they also liked me I didn't feel weird about it.

If it makes it any less weird, I think it's because I think she's very smart and funny (first out lesbian to win a Rhodes Scholarship -- seriously) not because she's necessarily my type.

I do get crushes on brainy women who aren't really my type all the time. When I was a kid watching Nick News I was sort of smitten with Linda Ellerbee, then in her late forties/early fifties.

Years later I saw her speak at a journalism conference -- she was wearing a hoodie and red Chuck Taylors -- and it all came back.

Maddow's sexuality makes the question a little more odd.

I mean -- there are plenty of American men who like to watch girls kiss.

But how many would get as excited just to have a great conversation with a witty, whipsmart lesbian?

It is all very confusing.

A recent New York Times piece asks the question: does alcohol play too big a part in the Harry Potter books and movies?

At issue are a few scenes from the recent movie, Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, in which young wizards throw back a few butterbeers and Hagrid, mourning a dead pet, gets so soused he passes out.

From the piece:

In one scene, Harry, Ron and Hermione order butterbeers at the pub, and Hermione ends up with a frothy mustache. While it’s never been entirely clear whether butterbeer is alcoholic, it seems to have an effect on the normally uptight Hermione, who acts tipsy walking home as she throws her arms around the boys.

As the mother of a 10-year-old Harry Potter fan, I was taken aback by the reaction of the young people in the theater. They snickered at Hermione’s goofy grin and, later, guffawed when an inebriated Hagrid passed out. While I don’t think my daughter fully understood what was going on, I wondered how other parents, educators and addiction experts would react.

Liz Perle, a mother of two teenage boys and the editor in chief of Common Sense Media, which reviews books, movies and Web content aimed at children, said she was bothered by so many scenes showing alcohol as a coping mechanism.

“Hermione is such a tightly wound young lady, but she’s liberated by some butterbeer,” she said. “The message is that it gives you liquid courage to put your arms around the guy you really like but are afraid to.”

Sounds a bit like Harry Potter and the Halfwit Parents to me. But then, I don't have any kids. Maybe once you do, you're prone to see danger in even the most innocent of children's entertainment.

It's not that I don't see that alcohol is used for humor (and occasionally as a plot point) throughout the Harry Potter series. It's just that it occurs to me that this could be a good opening for parents to talk to their kids about alcohol and impart their family's values rather than worrying that seeing Harry sip a butterbeer is going to warp their kids' minds and doom their livers.

What do you guys think?

You do not have to be a Hall & Oates fan to find this hilarious.

In fact, it may help if you're not. (Some language slightly not-safe-for-work)

On July 20, 1969, American astronaut Neil Armstrong became the first man to walk on the surface of Earth's moon.

The BBC is reporting that this will be the new Doctor Who's regular costume...

I was partial to the last Doctor's suit-and-Chuck Taylors thing myself...

...but time marches on.

Though I'm not partial to bow ties I think it can safely be said that new costume is not even close to being the character's worst...

Attack of the B-Movies organizer Joe Scott says:

"On Friday night, the walking dead will invade the Gate City, but the only you can see them is at the midnight screening of Lucio Fulci's seminal horror classic, "Zombie."

We'll also be selling passes to the 2009-2010 Mixed Tape Film Series. Each pass comes with ticket for all 18 Mixed Tape films, a t-shirt, and exclusive invites to members-only screenings. All of this for $40, nearly 50% in savings!"

Sounds like a good time.

Tickets available online here.

My friend, area artist Chris Lowrance, has begun a web magazine called Placebo with accompanying blog.

I've just made my first post there, on the upcoming Sherlock Holmes movie starring Robert Downey Jr. and directed by Guy Ritchie and how the 12-year-old boy in me wants to hate it.

Check it out here and go back for regular updates and the first genuine issue, which will include essays, interviews and original comics.

The Dead Weather's debut album, Horehound, is out today.

In case you've missed the band's late-night talkshow performances or any of the videos that have been running wild on the Interwebs, you should know that the band features Jack White of the White Stripes and Raconteurs;  The Kills' lead singer Alison Mosshart; Raconteurs bassist "Little Jack" Lawrence ; and Queens of the Stone Age keyboardist/guitarist Dean Fertita.

You can learn more than you'd ever want to know about the band in this video and get the album direct from the band - as a CD or 12'' LP - here.

Once you're dying to see them on tour, get your U.S./Canada ticket info here.

Well, if the choices to play Green Lantern were Bradley Cooper, Jared Leto or Ryan Reynolds, it would have to be Ryan Reynolds.

Having already played Deadpool in the recent Wolverine movie (a role he's reportedly reprising in a Deadpool movie) and Hannibal King in Blade Trinity, Reynolds seems to be going from playing fairly esoteric, hardcore nerd comic characters to breaking into the mainstream.

But for some of us, he'll always be Van Wilder.