Afternoon Meme: Franco Imagines a Kirk and Spock Romance, Wallace Thrives In "Scott Pilgrim," and a Rockwell "Modern Family"

Plus rugby players lounging in parks, Eminen comes out for marriage equality, and Texas politicians step up to the plate.

James Franco continues to confound and confuse me. Part of me wants to hold him down until he explains what he’s trying to say, and part of me loves the quirky mystery. His new solo art show opens June 23^rd in Manhattan, and the theme is “sexual confusion.” One of the pieces “explores a romantic encounter between Star Trek characters Spock and James T. Kirk.” No word on how the visuals are handled there, but I’m hoping Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto participated.

I hadn’t heard anything from ManCrunch.com since the Super Bowl kerfuffle, but now they’re launching a contest to get married during the Toronto Gay Pride Festival. They do know how to grab attention, don’t they?

ABC Daytime has pulled their advertising from Pink Satan’s website over the Miley Cyrus photo controversy. It’s unclear if they have a specific issue with the legality or are just protecting their investment in Hannah Montana.

CNN has consulted a language expert about President Obama’s widely panned speech from the Oval Office Wednesday night. He thinks it bombed because it was written at the 9.8 grade level, and people didn’t understand it. I don’t know what makes me weep more, the oil spill, or that the average American (and news pundit) is confused by someone speaking at slightly below a 10^th grade level.

Warren Buffet assures us that 99% of his wealth is going to charity, and not as endowments. It will be spent within 10 years of his estate being settled on real problems. What I love is the billionaire’s idea of the importance of things in his life: “Some material things make my life more enjoyable; many, however, would not. I like having an expensive private plane, but owning a half-dozen homes would be a burden. Too often, a vast collection of possessions ends up possessing its owner.” I’ve always wondered about the maintenance of multiple giant homes, even with a staff.

Here are Five Fictional Television Shows From Movies That Should Be Real. I take issue with Ow, My Balls being on the list, because isn’t that the premise of America’s Funniest Home Videos and Wipeout?

Police were called to a bar in Maryland by a customer who said 16-year-old Justin Bieber was on premises drinking. What they found was 27-year-old Katie, who had to produce ID to prove she wasn’t a 16-year-old male popstar.

Arizona and South Carolina, take the day off. Rep. Joe Barton (R-TX) apologized to BP CEO Tony Hayward for the $20 billion “shakedown” by the government for damages to the Gulf of Mexico. He is “ashamed” of the “slush fund” the administration is seeking. Please note the term “slush fund” was used yesterday by Rush Limbaugh, who said it would be used to buy votes with ACORN.

Soho in London may be the heart of gay nightlife, but Pride may have to stay away. The fire brigade is recommending the crowds be kept out because all of the road and waterworks construction taking place creates a fire hazard. Safety first, but that can’t be good for the bottom line of the gay businesses there.

Sir Ian McKellen is one of many stars offered a role in the seemingly unfilmable Cloud Atlas that the Wachowskis are rumored to be attempting.

It turns out we need to change people’s minds about gay rights before election season hits, because once the campaigning starts, people have their minds made up, regardless of how much money we spend.

Eminen favors gay marriage, or at least doesn’t care enough to be against it. The statement is more ambiguous than most blogs are reporting it.

Always after the hard hitting stories, MTV News contacted Trolli, the main manufacturer of Gummi Bears, who says that their Gummi Bears would never have flipped Katy Perry off like the Gummi Bears in “California Gurls.” The spokesman says “Those are definitely not Trolli Gummi Bears in the video because Trolli Gummi Bears would never be that rude. Trolli bears would extend their chubby little arms and give Katy a big old bear hug and whisper, 'Everything is going to be alright.'”

Microsoft Kinect is the motion sensing gameplay attachment for Xbox that makes your body the controller by tracking movements with cameras. One of the initial games is river rafting, to get the whole family active together.  But according to Techland (a division of Time Magazine), the killer app for Kinect is pornography. But, “Microsoft, once again living up to its flaccid name, isn't about to let a boner anywhere near their game-changer.” Keep it classy, Time.

This afternoon, in Chester Park, the weather is beautiful, and so are the lounging rugby players. Hi Nick!

I've no idea where this picture of the Modern Family cast came from, and I'd love to know if it's part of a series. I keep finding little details in it that make me laugh the more I look at it.

Very Norman Rockwell.

Look, I enjoy a good licking as much as the next guy, but this may be a bit much.

Tonight, Joy Behar will have Pink Satan as her guest to discuss the Miley Cyrus photo controversy. Last night she and her guests discussed it, but the conversation didn't go anywhere. I may not like him, but there is no arguing that he's smart - I seriously doubt he'd be interviewed unless he felt he was safe.

Something Left, Something Taken is described as "animated dark comedy about a vacationing couple's encounter with a man they believe to be the Zodiac Killer." The plot isn't revolutionary, but the animation style in really engaging, and it has a couple of moments that really worked for me. It's well worth watching.

The new Scott Pilgrim vs. the World international trailer has a lot of new footage. There's an extended bit with the Brandon Routh ex, more Chris Evans, and they really emphasize the roommate Wallace (Kieran Culkin)  being part of the story, and Scott's guiding conscience. Which is our main interest, since Wallace is unapologetically gay, from what you guys tell me.