So didj’a see that fancy special effects extravanagnza called Avatar? I bet you did… like basically everyone else on the planet. You probably know that the movie has become the bane of conservatives the blogosphere over because it undermines the notion that people with the most badass weapons are allowed to take whatever the Hell they want from people who still run around in loin cloths and fight with bows and arrows.

But here’s one I bet you didn’t know: were you aware that Avatar had a sex scene that was totally deleted for the feature film release but will be showing up as a special feature when the DVD hits the shelves? Well, yup it did. And if you guessed that the scene probably in some way involves those tendrily thingies that the N’avi have at the ends of their tails then… bingo! You’re spot on. And if this sounds as uncomfortable and cringe inducing to you as it did to me when I first read about it courtesy of Arianna Huffington’s always classy Huffington Post, then you’ll be thankful that I’ll be withholding this deleted portion of the script ’till after the jump. Read more »

Since I mentioned it in the comments … stick with it at least until he takes the car on the road … imagine seeing that flash by you.  Stunning, at least to this gearhead.

[ NBC Flash video not available. ]

Last night, after watching hours of earthquake coverage — do the CNN reporters all work out at the same gym? — we found ourself catching up on late-night Leno-bashing, which truly was, as they say, comic relief. So, while there are far more important things to talk about today, we’ll use that as an excuse to present the latest shenanigans.

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As there are often discussions about grammar in the comments, I thought I’d throw out one of my favorite rules, inviolate to me, and let you guys duke it out:

The serial comma (also known as the series comma, Oxford comma or Harvard comma) is the comma used immediately before a grammatical conjunction (usually and oror, sometimes nor) preceding the final item in a list of three or more items. For example, a list of three countries can be punctuated as either “Portugal, Spain, and France” (with the serial comma) or as “Portugal, Spain and France” (without the serial comma).^[1][2][3]

Opinions vary among writers and editors on the usage or avoidance of the serial comma. In American English it is standard in most non-journalistic writing, which typically follows the Chicago Manual of Style. Journalists, however, usually follow the Associated Press Style Guide, which advises against it. It is less often used in British English.^[4][5] In many languages (e.g. French,^[6] German,^[7] Italian,^[8] Polish,^[9] Spanish^[10]) the serial comma is not the norm – it may even go against punctuation rules – but it may be recommended in some cases to avoid ambiguity or to aid prosody.

Like Strunk and White before me, it was, is, and always shall be “red, white, and blue.”

Who else?

[ Media Matters Flash video not available. ]

He convinced me to go here and send more money to help.

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It’s one thing for Pat Robertson, or even Rush Limbaugh, to be apocalyptically vulgar in their responses to the Haiti earthquake. It’s quite another if their asshatery catches on with other wingnuts. So we thought we’d check in with the Usual Suspects and see whether they’re being usually suspicious.

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While researching the morning doorstop, we stumbled across this campaign photo 1982 Cosmo spread of Scott Brown, winner of their “America’s Sexiest Man” contest, and better known these days as the Republican candidate to replace Teddy as Massachusetts senator in next Tuesday’s election.

“Scott Brown may be peaking or surfacing too early,” says Charles Krauthammer, sparing us the effort.

Senator Is the Centerfold [Cosmo, via RedState]