Blurring the line between fiction and reality, Mark Bennett created detailed, if not slightly obsessive blueprints of domiciles belonging to various fictional characters and families, such as Batman’s mansion to Fred and Wilma Flintstone’s bedrock to Lucy and Ricky Ricardo’s home. The blueprint of Jeanie’s lamp is also quite a trip.

[Via]

It would take a lot to get me to agree to go on a vacation to Kentucky. No judgment there, just not my thing. But after seeing the above television ad I just might change my mind. Lampooning the ridiculous ads for erectile dysfunction medications this spot proves that there are some pretty funny people over in Kentucky.

Paul Reubens, he of public masturbatory fame, is reviving the character that made him world famous: Pee-wee Herman. Herman started out as a crude stand-up act and then became a popular children’s TV show and a feature film directed by Tim Burton. Beginning in November, Pee-wee will be performing live at the Fonda Theater in Hollywood. And yes, Chairry, Pterri the pterodactyl and Miss Yvonne will be present. Maybe a trip to LA is in order?

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How can you not love William Shatner? He was dashing, and kitsch, as Captain Kirk. His Denny Crane was a brilliant reinvention. And I actually watch his Priceline commercials. And who watches commercials these days? No one. Exactly.

In his 70s now, Shatner’s career has gone up and down. But this week he returned to his spoken-word past, lambasting Sarah Palin on the Tonight Show. The video of the actor reading her speeches and tweets as if they’re beat poetry are at once hilarious (she actually says this stuff?) and saddening (people actually listen to this stuff?).  

It’s damn good stuff, regardless.

In honor of Sesame Street’s 40th anniversary, Canada’s National Post has an illustrated interactive feature with 101 characters from the popular children’s show. You can scroll over each character to get their name, brief bio, and the season in which it first appeared. For some additional pun chuckles visit parody muppets, such as Barbra Streisandwich, David Hoggselhoff, and I. M. Pig.

[Via]

Bravo, the network that made Project Runway, Top Chef and all those Housewives famous, is at again. This time they’re going high-brown rather than the usual low. Casting a new series, produced by Sarah Jessica Parker, the network held a call for artists looking to be the next big Warhol. Yes, a reality show competition pitting artists in weekly challenges. Yikes.

While I am a big fan of Bravo I am doubtful the art world will translate into compelling television. But their track record is impressive so I am withholding judgment until the first elimination. The New York Times wonders “What would be the equivalent, for example, of a “quickfire challenge,” the part of “Top Chef” in which cooks have to whip up a dish lightning fast? Life drawing with a stopwatch? Found-art scavenger-hunt race? Best post-ironic conceptual gambit in under a minute?”

It has all the makings of being either brilliant or God awful. The Wall Street Journal filmed the hopefuls in the video above.

If fireworks and gas grills didn’t feed your techie jones last weekend, here are some of the latest stories in the green tech world.

• Drive time: Danielle Brigada, social media guru at the National Wildlife Federation, just loves the ‘10 Ford Fusion hybrid.
  
  
• Wearable lighting?: That’s one potential use envisioned by art students for GE’s planned “flexible, paper-thin lighting panels” featuring organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs). (via OLED-info.com)

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Mashable, the site devoted to coverage of the social-media industry, posted a cool report about SplashCast, a widget that adds revolutionary commenting capabilities to offerings from Hulu and other online video providers. It’s easy to add a comment to the discussion thread on, say, a YouTube page, but SplashCast, or “Social TV,” as they call it, is different.

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If iconic television and solid literature got married, Slaughterhouse 90210 would be the resulting offspring.  This blog pairs up television images with memorable literary quotes.  Check out some examples below:

Flickr user Hot Meteor recently made a series of brilliant faux-vintage print ads for the Dharma Initiative, the shadowy, mysterious organization whose activities are central to the plot of Lost. Here’s one of the best:

Click through for a larger version (with readable text).

[via Jason Kottke.]

By the way, if you’re a fan of the show and you aren’t reading Jeff Jensen’s hilarious and insightful Lost columns on Entertainment Weekly’s website, go rectify that right now.

Simran Sethi, our knowledgeable host of THE GREEN, has been featured in a video on eq.tv (equilibrium television). The video gives a great introduction to Simran’s ability to weave story into environmental coverage. As environmental news can be a little too boring and factual, the introduction of narrative elements can spice up this news. The story of people’s lives and how those stories intersect with environmental issues is a very powerful and effective way of reaching people around the world.

We hope you enjoy this Simran Sethi Video [eq.tv]