Now that Heroes has resumed shooting after a strike-truncated, poorly received second season, star Milo Ventimiglia has less time for nachos ("uh-oh!") and more publicity rounds to make. The latest stop on his Heroes redemption tour is gay magazine The Advocate, where Ventimiglia sat down and dished to writer Brandon Voss about his frequent on-screen shirtlessness ("You do start to wonder..."), his friend John Krasinski, and a certain gossip blogger's habit of defacing his paparazzi pictures:

Josh Wolf is a blogger who spent 226 days in jail for refusing to hand over his footage of a San Francisco anarchist protest in which a police officer was injured. That's because not handing over evidence like that is contempt of court, which we know thanks to the case of Judith Miller and that glamorous spy lady. But at the time Josh did not get as much credit from the "mainstream media" because he was just a blogger, and also possibly someone who hangs out with anarchists, and with the exception of Mumia Abu Jamal journalists generally try to avoid anarchists. Anyhow, Josh is now a free man, and get this…part of the mainstream media! Which is to say, he is a Real Mainsteam Journalists. And he has a message for his critics, according to the San Francisco Chronicle: "If the haters who said I wasn't a real journalist, are still lurking, I hope you don't have too much indigestion after eating your words." Ha ha yeah, Corrections. We'll let you grab a Nexium before we share the details of his important new gig.He is a cub reporter for the Palo Alto Daily Post. (We'd link, but it doesn't maintain a website!)

Pictured: Kanye West posing next to once-dignified boxing hero Muhammad Ali, who is wearing Kanye's shutter shades. We know this is Kanye's favorite pastime, but it should really be reserved for less noble fashion victims. Now we have to go cry. (Click to enlarge). [Consequence via Byron Crawford]

Watching Dave Letterman sucker-punch Hills axis of vapidity Spencer Pratt on The Late Show Friday night brought up one major question for us: why has it taken this long for a talking head to publicly shame the guylighted villain? Shilling, we presume, merely for the gruesome brand that is Spencer and Heidi, the numb and pathological Pratt answered a few very pointed questions regarding the MTV show's obvious scripted nature and what exactly Bromance nobody Brody Jenner does for a living. At that point, Letterman finally pulled out the big guns after Spencer boastfully claimed he "won't go to a club for less than $100,000." Dave's shock, insulting-yet-gentle series of guffaws and his no-beat-missed announcement that he wants Spencer off his set immediately sum up an interview too good to be true. See for yourself after the jump.

[Photo Credit: Splash Pics]

Sultry beach hero hottie set to save journalism! [NYDN]

Today, you must have heard, is the 40th anniversary of civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s assassination. He was shot to death while standing on the balcony of a Memphis hotel at 6:01 p.m. on April 4, 1968. The night before, he had given his last speech—the prophetic "I've been to the Mountaintop" sermon—in which he told the crowd, "Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I'm not concerned about that now." King was tired, and had to be specially cajoled to go to the church that night; he ended up delivering his own eulogy. Considering the circumstances, it was his most moving speech of all. Were he alive today, King would be nearing his 80th birthday. A full clip of the speech is below. Have we reached the promised land yet?

While the direct effects of the WGA Strike have been well-documented ($3.2 billion in economic impact, the cancellation of the Golden Globes, the greenlighting of Quarterlife), it's harder to quantify some of the strike's more indirect effects. For example, if the Writer's Strike had never happened, Heroes probably would not have gone on hiatus until the summer, which means that the world would likely never have been subjected to the latest nonsensical video ravings of Milo Ventimiglia's Divide Social Club. The group, which consists of the aforementioned Mr. Ventimiglia and two of his meathead buddies, was founded in March of 2006, but it wasn't until Milo found himself without steady employment a few months back that the group's work began to take off. And by take off, we really mean devolve to a level of inanity that makes Chris Crocker look like Daniel Webster. Take, for instance, the video clip above, which documents Milo and his pursuit to eat poolside nachos ... with sour cream.

The B-Side blog has uncovered something of note in NBC's short-lived, 1985 series Misfits of Science (starring a young Courteney Cox): The show is about "a group of young, attractive people with supernatural powers," and features the mantra, "Save Adele, save the world." Adding to the intrigue: Heroes creator Tim Kring was a writer on Misfits! This would have been highly scandalous in Season One, when that catchphrase was a little more timely. Now it's just interesting background trivia for hardcore indestructable-cheerleader fetishists, who'll all but certainly hop onto the internet to see if this Adele person looks as inviting in a pair of heavy-duty spanky pants. [B-Side Blog]

Haha! In a recent interview with MTV, Charlize Theron, the always likable and be-Oscar-ed actress, revealed that she has never heard of The Hills, MTV's fake reality series for idiots and the smart people who love them. When asked about Audrina Patridge, one of the stars of the show, attending the premiere of her new movie, Theron gave an "I have no fucking idea" look and then handily dismissed the very idea of such a program. She worried that her ignorance would make her look old, but I think it just makes her brilliant. And, I think, pretty much like lots of other people. [From EW.com] Video after the jump.

Some whiners say what the iPhone provides isn't the real Internet, because it lacks Flash. No kidding, donkeys: It's way better. Thank you, Steve Jobs, for saving us from Flash websites — the 2008 version of the <BLINK> tag. [Macworld]

· More strike tzuris: Studios won't greenlight any movie that can't complete shooting by the ominous June 30 SAG contract expiration date. [Variety]
· Cable networks continue to snap up movies that haven't even had a theatrical release yet: After USA paid $40 million for broadcast right to Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull, Turner Broadcasting paid an undisclosed (read: your mind cannot conceive of this number) sum for a slew of Warner Bros. blockbusters, including The Dark Knight, Get Smart, and 10,000 B.C.. Said a Turner rep, "We here at TBS and TNT are committed to bringing our watchers the highest caliber of entertainment we have yet to lay our eyes on." [Variety]

New York City's Off-Track Betting parlors, the seediest places left in Manhattan (next to those secret Chinese gambling dens, anyway), are all set to close following an order from noted fun-hater Michael Bloomberg, who's surely done more than any previous mayor to rid the city of its amoral, filthy character, but everyone still loves him anyway because he's not Giuliani and the newsmedia is controlled by and made up of the well-off bastards he's delivered New York to on a silver platter. The Times investigates the wacky, Damon Runyan-esque characters who throw their lives away at the OTB, including the dapper old "retired actor" who says that should the parlors actually close, he'll "probably just stop betting and go to the theater more." We can't let that happen. [NYT]

In honor of Presidents Day, our nation's greatest ever president, Richard Milhous "Dick" Nixon, started a blog! Because everyone gets a blog! It's called "The New Nixon Blog" and America's Dead President Hero "would be fascinated by the blogosphere," according to his blog, written by the staff of his presidential library. Because Nixon adored the latest technology, see, giving all his secretaries IBM Selectric IIs and also state-of-the-art audio taping equipment. Of course, we all know how much Nixon adored free speech. And cursing! Blogs have lots of cursing. The blog also will feature contributions from right-wing columnists and authors (like Hugh Hewitt), all of whom should know better than to defend Nixon, as he was not actually particularly conservative, just an amoral sociopath. Also James K. Polk is following you on Twitter and Franklin Pierce has a Tumblr. After the jump, a hilarious 1968 campaign ad from America's drug-addled criminal racist President who probably beat his wife.

"'Heroes' star Hayden Panettiere has signed on to topline 'Daydream Nation,' a teenage comedy from writer Michael Goldbach, who is making his directorial debut. Kieran Culkin is in negotiations to star as well. ... The producers are hoping to reinvent the coming-of-age story for the 21st century, calling the film an intellectual comedy a la 'Juno' and 'Election.'" [Hollywood Reporter via Pitchfork via YM]

Oprah Fixes Voting Glitch; Scattered Problems with Machines [ABC]

NBC has started the painful process of issuing refunds — about $500,000 apiece — to advertisers. Why? The network is not meeting prime-time ratings projections. Something to do with a bunch of greedy, striking writers who I fully blame for the rather hurried, ramshackle conclusion of Heroes' second season. But it's hard to fault the Writers Guild when NBC, along with every other network on the planet, is making a huge push onto the Web — Hulu, NBC Direct, and other online means of stiffing the writers. But NBC isn't the only one who will be hemorrhaging cash. According to Mediaweek, ratings are so poor that most networks are out of makegoods — free ad airtime to compensate for shortfalls — and will be forced to issue refunds like NBC. Worse news: If the strike continues, NBC plans to fill its programming gaps with reality TV. YouTube's looking better and better every day.

If you were one of the many horny mailroom clerks, assistants, or bosses who quietly snatched out of the nearest recycling bin the issue of Variety featuring a tantalizing glimpse of Heroes's Hayden Panettiere's stretchy, crimson underthings, we bring news of an exciting charitable opportunity currently underway at the NBC Universal Auction Store:

Like every other famous actress confronted with the question of what other famous actress she'd like to get it on with, Hayden Panettiere tells GQ she chooses Angelina Jolie. We're just relieved to again see a smile on the world- and dolphin-saving cheerleader's face as she bites down seductively on a necklace in this behind-the-scenes video of her Lolita-inspired fashion shoot. [thesun.co.uk]

Remember that guy A.O. Scott, the Times critic we gave thanks for on Wednesday? This is what I found out about him at Thanksgiving. First, he's the son of Joan Wolloch Scott and Donald Scott. She is the smart-sounding Harold F. Linder Professor at the School of Social Science in the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, NJ. Donald Scott is the less-smart sounding (but equally smart) Professor of American History at CUNY. But you could get all that you could get from Wikipedia. This, you can't: On A.O. Scott's wedding day ten or so years ago BOTH his parents announced they were gay. Apparently smart people can have bad timing. This also explains A.O.'s very tortured and complex relationship with Margot at the Wedding!