A bit late in the day, but with warmest birthday good wishes.

Paper. Can you believe these Star Wars models are made of paper? You can download the instructions and make your own. In my next life, maybe, where there will be twin suns and more hours in the day and more days in the year. Wow.

Beware, some these models are somewhat difficult to build.

You don’t say!

H/t: J.

Is there anything cuter than David Boreanaz, except of course for Nathan Fillion?

(Aside: Joss kind of has a type, doesn’t he?)

(Aside: I feel so sorry for Rachael with her voice problem. I hope her doctors and therapists are able to sort her out. Judging by the sound of her voice on the above video, they are still postponing surgery.)

(Via Whedonesque.)

… badass.

Via the boys at Ace’s house.

Plus a few more speechless moments. I don’t think I’d have included Pulp Fiction but otherwise pretty darn good.

Pinched from Average Gay Joe.

Gib’s wife has had a baby whom the Bean has pronounced up to code. Congratulations, Crosbys!

Time for any and all Portland- or Northwest-area like-minded blog-conscious conservative-stripe folks to get together for the proverbial drink. Last year’s effort was great fun–and in Portland, let me tell you, it is a huge relief to sit down for drinks with people who you already know won’t foam at the mouth if you dare mention the Name of Bush or announce you’re a racist by saying you didn’t vote for Obama.

A commenter at Ace’s, Rasputin, is putting this together. Email him for details at snitch20032@live.com and feel free to email me as well, anwynsnotes at gmail, to say you’re in. Hope to see you there!

Assuming it premieres before Rob Thomas’s reset of Cupid: Castle, starring my one, if not quite my only, Nathan Fillion:

Not having read anything but the basic plot synopsis–mystery novelist helps chick detective solve crime–I actually assumed it was going to be a bit more of a drama. Reclusive mystery novelist, scary-smart, pushed reluctantly into helping because it’s his duty … oh hells no. A comedy with serious tones more along the lines of Bones, by the looks of it, which is A-OK with me (Bones having, thank the television gods, picked up quite a bit since its dismal season premiere). And it looks to be a lot more fun than Drive, which, sadly, isn’t saying much. This could be Fillion’s winner. Still a shame that his wittier, less routine work on Firefly went so under-appreciated, but here’s hoping this one takes off. As with David Boreanaz on Bones, it’ll be a real pleasure to see the Whedon-alum “good bad boys” become “bad good boys.”

Via Whedonesque.

Photos, taken on my recent Indiana trip, of what’s commonly called the Empire Quarry, near Oolitic, Indiana, where Indiana boys dug out the Indiana limestone to build the Empire State Building. More of the same is now being used on the new Yankee Stadium. To get to the vantage point where these were taken, you cross through a hilltop graveyard. A lot of this same stone built most of my university and a lot of others in Indiana.

Colorful ID, NYC-style:

The ID from the other end of the pool:

…or anybody else with two Oscars. Because Emma Thompson says so. Yeah!

Wonder if it’s still cooler after three … Oscars, that is.

…to be a Palin fan.

Not so much to be a Cubs fan.

…by learning that P.J. O’Rourke believes in God. He also has a malignant hemorrhoid, learning of which does not brighten my day. I hope he soon recovers the structural integrity of his nethers.

H/t Anne the Lifepundit.

Yes, I know I owe you sweet, devoted people a boatload of Sarah Palin content. I just haven’t been able to bring it yet. I’m floored by the last week in politics and its implications. When I’m floored I can’t write about it. So … wait. I’ll either have something or I won’t, and if you need Sarah Palin and somehow aren’t getting enough, just click through my blogroll, starting with Ace–I am so in love with him this week for ripping off the heads of people circulating lies about the Palins.

Meanwhile, I return to my regular beat, the oh-so-important, terribly critical Dancing with the Stars. Seriously. Wild stuff. I used to rail and rage against sports announcers and the stupid “interviews” they do with stars and coaches after the game. What do you MEAN, “How important was this win and how do you feel about that?” What a stupid question. Are you just a moron? till a boyfriend more versed in the sports world helpfully pointed out that the “interviews” are always boilerplate form, but they have to go through them anyway in case somebody says something out of line. Kind of like they always have to videotape the president taking off in Marine One in case he falls out, or a rotor blade flies off and decapitates the Rose Garden.

Sports interviewers wish they could interview my Maks. He talks about his partners as friends for life, and I guess he must really believe that, if he thinks he can say stuff about them in an interview while comparing them all unfavorably (however razor-thin the margin between them may be) to his new partner, volleyball queen Misty May-Treanor.

TVGuide.com: Misty is better than Mel B?
Chmerkovskiy: I was shocked, and I don’t throw that word around lightly. People are going to be very surprised by how well she’s going to dance. Laila (Ali, season four) had an incredible work ethic. But I could be too much for her. She’d say: You’ve gotta back off. And then Mel (season five) was just this incredible personality. But she had zero attention span. So here, in Misty, I have a combination of the best qualities of both. She’s like a perfect person to love. She has this aura of sweetness, and she’ll practice for as long as it takes. Let Cheryl [Burke] and Julianne [Hough] collect the trophies. I’ll collect friends for life.

Wow. I said he’d have to go far to find somebody better than Mel B. Apparently he thinks he went far enough. Now I’m stoked. Bring back the rest of my fall TV! Because I watched the Bones premiere last night and, gah. You know those writers I thought they must have hired last season when the shows were clicking right along with good plots and snappy dialogue? Yeah, they all must have quit again.