Spam, Sausage and Spam (But Not THAT Kind of Spam)

Oh, sure, there are terrorists warnings galore and political discussions aplenty about the upcoming conventions and vice presidential worthiness (on both tickets).

But let's talk about what's REALLY important and why actors David Hyde Pierce (aka Niles Crane), Hank Azaria (several voices on "The Simpsons," including Moe, the bartender) and Tim Curry (Dr. Frank N. Furter of The Rocky Horror Picture Show fame) take three of today's top five bursty-people slots. The three are the lead actors for a Broadway version of Monty Python's "Spamalot." Make way for killer rabbits, coconut-clopping horses, armless/legless fighting knights and everything else that earned "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" a 2004 designation as the best British movie ever made, as voted by a British subsidiary of Amazon and the Internet Movie Database. "Spamalot" is based on the movie, with help from original star and Pythonite Eric Idle.

Back on the serious side of life, the concept of a "July surprise" during the days of the Democratic National Convention have taken over the top two places among "bursty phrases" as well as Thursday's top link. According to published reports, U.S. intelligence officials are pressuring the Pakistanis to (surprise!) kill or capture terrorism's bad guys -- Osama bin Laden, Ayman Al Zawahiri, or Mullah Mohammed Omar -- and preferably do so during the publicity-intense days of the July 26-28 Democratic convention (or at least before the November election). Hmmm. If it's the element of surprise they're after, is it possible to steal someone else's thunder when the thunder-stealing move has been publicized ahead of time?

On the political front, Democratic nominee Sen. John Kerry and recently announced running mate Sen. John Edwards (along with filmmaker Michael Moore) have moved into the top three slots among Thursday's key people, pushing President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney several slots further down the list. Thursday's No. 2 BlogBite, a blog called To the Barricades, also hints at behind-the-scenes suggestions to replace Cheney on the Republican ticket with Secretary of State Colin Powell, Sen. John McCain for former NY mayor Rudi Guiliani. Bush is also getting traction for his decision not to speak at the NAACP annual convention. By doing so, he becomes the first Prez since Herbert Hoover not to attend the convention, which starts July 10.

Call it blogger respectability? Wonkette blogger Ann Marie Cox, 31, has been tapped to cover the Democratic National Convention for MTV.

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