Morning Meme: "Modern Family" Honored At the PGAs, Ryan Reynolds' "Big Eyes" and Zachary Quinto Can Take a Joke

The New England Patriots won last night, setting up a battle with the New York Giants, which in my world means that I get off the Atlantis cruise with Giants fan Travis Wall on Super Bowl Sunday in Patriots fan Dom Palange's home town. I wonder if I'm invited over for the game?

Best Week Ever has a post about the cutest players from this year's Puppy Bowl, which I should be home just in time to watch. Personally, I think that Abilene, the Australian Shepherd Mix should have been #1.

The Oklahoma legislature has taken up a bill to outlaw cannibalism in the state's food supply. In other news, tourism to Oklahoma just nosedived.

This is a pretty good article about why we're all so obsessed with Downton Abbey, though British readers will either take #2 as an insult or a badge of honor. Let me know which, but please note that I am not the author.

After a false report on Saturday, former Penn State coach Joe Paterno has passed away at 85. His 46 year legacy on the field will forever be tainted by his inaction in the Jerry Sandusky scandal involving alleged child molestation on Joe's watch. The Westboro Baptist Church has announced plans to picket Paterno's funeral.

For people who think that Focus on the Family isn't evil, their political arm has come out swinging against a report from a coalition of health and education groups who have recommended age appropriate sex education curriculums for schools. What evil corruption of children do they object to? Teaching children as young as second grade "demonstrate respect for these different types of families.”

Because teaching that might have prevented the relentless bullying that caused 14-year-old Phillip Parker to take his own life in Tennessee.

Last week's decision in the The Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association case in New Jersey is being spun by the right as yet another piece of evidence in the War on Christianity, despite the judge in the case being quite clear that the church was completely free to discriminate against same-sex couples (which they now do), they just had to give up their bonus tax deduction.

Reese Witherspoon will star with Ryan Reynolds in Big Eyes, the story of Margaret and Walter Keane, who made a sensation of paintings of children with large eyes in the 1950s.

In what has to be one of the most meta things I've seen in a while, in 1994 John Barrowman interviewed William Shatner about how strange it was to act in Star Trek Generations opposite Patrick Stewart from Star Trek: TNG.

The White House has joined Google +, and will create a hangout for the State of the Union address. Does anyone have the heart to tell them on Twitter than nobody uses Google +?

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie slammed Newt Gingrich on Sunday, "We all know the record. He was run out of the speakership of his own party, he was fined $300,000 for ethics violations. This is a guy who’s had a very difficult political career at times and has been an embarrassment to the party. The fact of the matter is I don’t need to regale the country with that entire list again except to say this. I’m not saying he will do it again in the future, but sometimes past is prologue."

Arianna Huffington has sold a political comedy about three freshmen Congressmen sharing an apartment in Washington, DC. Hilarity ensues, I'm sure.

It's actually good to know that Zachary Quinto doesn't take himself too seriously.

Facing a tough economic climate and a black eye from Jarret Barios' decision to back the AT&T T-Mobile merger, GLAAD has laid off 11 out of 45 staffers and refocused their mission on their core activities like hosting three expensive star-studded Media Awards ceremonies this spring.

Thanks to Tim, I can report that out Finnish politician Pekka Haavisto came in second in the Presidential elections and will move on to the next round of voting.

I'm slightly intrigued that Warner is looking to bring Tad Williams' Otherland series to the big screen. It's been years since I read them, but Williams work is dense and might make a tough translation to the big screen.

The Artist, Downton Abbey, The Adventures of TinTin, and Modern Family were big winners at the Producers Guild Awards this weekend.