Dancing Cars & Congressional Footwork

For a moment, I was in a 1987 time warp, standing in a toy aisle and picking out a new Transformer toy for my son.

But then I woke up, and realized the action was coming from one of Tuesday's top links, a new U.K. television ad for the Citroen, in which a real car turns into a Transformer and does a dancin'-fool groove thang in the streets. Very cool. If you were/are a Transformer kid (they were introduced in '84), don't miss it. It's a direct download, so click on No. 8 link of Tuesday's top links.

Speaking of fancy footwork, those mandated Republicans wasted no time changing the ethics rules that govern Congress. They pushed through a quick rule change that allows leaders to stay in power even while under indictment, which Sen. Majority Leader Tom DeLay may soon be for fund-raising irregularities in a Texas redistricting investigation. (Quick question: is this indicative of the "moral values" the GOP touted during this month's election?)

Speaking of Texas values, a Texas town is ditching a longheld tradition in which girls dress as boys and boys dress as girls...because a parent complained that it had homosexual overtones. (In Texas, it's called TWIRP, for "the woman is requested to pay"; we used to call such events Sadie Hawkins days, begs the question, is Sadie Hawkins gay?). The school's attorney and a rights attorney chime in. Because of the woman's complaint, the school districted opted for the less-offensive (?) "Camo Day," in which kids dress up in military fatigues and camouflage gear (withold red-state comments, please).

FOOD NEWS: Someone's trying to sell a grilled cheese sandwich on eBay, claiming it has an image of the Virgin Mary on it. In the "food can never be BIG enough" department comes word of Hardee's "Monster Thickburger," which no doubt will keep cardiologists in business for another generation. And let's hear it for the fish, in whose honor People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals has launched the Fish Empathy Project." Nemo and Charlie the Tuna would be proud.

Here's something to give the Dewey Decimal System a major headache: Adobe Bookshop in San Francisco is rearranging its 20,000 books by color, not by topic. The experiment is expected to last for a week.

TREND OF THE DAY: Mirror, mirror, on the wall, who's the most blogged-about Star Wars character of all? The release of the movie trailer for the next Star Wars flick has caused a spike in discussion, led by (heavy breathing, heavy breathing, pounding music) Darth Vader.