Tuesday Odds & Ends: Torchwood, Douglas Adams, Iron Man 2, Lost and great Scots

+ Good news for "Torchwood" fans: John Barrowman confirmed in a radio interview yesterday that the series will be back for a full 13-episode run. Fingers crossed they keep up the stellar quality of the "Children of Earth" mini-series.

+ Do you have a bathtub? Would you like a new one? Or rather a slightly used one? Well, you're in luck. Douglas Adams' bathtub -- the one in which he apparently soaked when he needed ideas -- is up for sale on eBay. You still have one day and a few hours left in the auction, so gather up your rubber duckies and start bidding!

+ Check out the swanky new poster for "Iron Man 2." I personally can't wait for this sequel.

+ Speaking of highly anticipated movies, USA Today has a small behind-the-scenes article on part one of the upcoming "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" films.

+ Have you seen this awesome "Lost" promo from Spain, featuring the cast as chess pieces? I got goosebumps watching it. Hurry back to my TV screen, "Lost," I miss you!



+ And finally, David Tennant has finished fifth in the "Greatest Scot" contest, behind those slackers Robert Burns, William Wallace and some fellow who invented penicillin. As if that wasn't enough, David also will be featured as The Doctor on a new commemorative Royal Mint coin, giving women everywhere a whole new reason to carry change in their pockets. "What's that jangling?" "Oh, it's just Janet, she loves a good commemorative coin." Thus ends my Royal Mint fan fiction.

Wednesday Odds & Ends: Facebook, Iron Man 2, New Moon, Betty White and Sweet Valley High

+ Via Entertainment Weekly, here are a slew of new behind-the-scenes photos from "New Moon." Pretty boy alert is at threat level orange (and glittery) with this one.

+ I think I've mentioned the Aaron Sorkin-scripted Facebook movie before, which is not about sheep tossing and errant pokes but rather about the founding of the massive social networking site. Well, now David Fincher has officially been signed to direct the film, which will star Jesse Eisenberg as founder Mark Zuckerberg and Justin Timberlake as the Napster co-founder who became Facebook's first president. I would totally elect Justin Timberlake to be my president. I don't know what that means, but it's true.

+ If you can handle watching Entertainment Tonight without having a seizure from all the fast cuts and strobing lights, then tune in tomorrow night for a behind-the-scenes preview of "Iron Man 2." And here's a preview of the preview:



+ This Saturday is the fifth annual Museum Day and National Public Lands Day, which means that loads of museums (more than 1,200 in fact) and zoos across the country are offering free admission and special events as are many public parks. So don't forget to check out your favorite spot for special deals.

+ Speaking of national treasures, my Betty White mania just got some happy news: she'll be guest starring on "30 Rock" this fall. In this same blurb, Tina Fey makes a joke about getting Justin Timberlake to guest star. I don't think she should tease me like this. Just make it happen, woman!

+ Because he's bored, J.J. Abrams has decided to produce a 30-minute comedy for FOX set in a hospital. As long as it doesn't star Zach Braff, I'm fine with it. And yes, I'm sure my approval means a lot to him.

+ And here's something to make the universe's head explode: Diablo Cody has been signed to adapt the "Sweet Valley High" books, of which more than 150 titles were published between 1983 and 2003. Most were written by a lonely robot named Margaret Buttercup Hoofenhoffen -- true story!

Monday Odds & Ends: Stargate Universe, Batman, Tron and Legos

+ Sci Fi Wire has a recap of the "Iron Man 2" panel at Comic-Con complete with a description of the new trailer the producers debuted there. Sounds like this movie is on track to live up to the original.

+ The official "Tron Legacy" trailer has been released as well, looking all sleek and futuristic.

+ Also at Comic-Con, Gary Oldman apparently spilled the beans that there will be another "Batman" movie in our collective futures...although the movie exec sitting next to him seemed to express surprise at his announcement. So basically, this all comes down to whether or not you trust Gary Oldman. (Of course you do -- he's Sirius Black!)

+ Posters for the upcoming Joss Whedon/Drew Goddard "comedy-thrilled-horror-romance" film "Cabin in the Woods" debuted over the weekend...and are just as snarky as one would expect.

+ IO9 has a preview of the upcoming "Stargate: Universe" series, which is set to debut on SyFy in October.

+ It's just trailer heaven here today! Here's an extended look at "The Waters of Mars" Doctor Who special coming up later this year. Looks pretty creepy.



+ And finally, "Top Gear" co-host and former Nerd Man of the Month James May plans on building an entire real-size house out of LEGO bricks. The site of his house? The Denbies Wine Estate in the appropriately named town of Dorking. (I love this.) If you live anywhere near there, May is looking for volunteers to help him on August 1 put together the more than 3 million pieces that were delivered to the site this past Friday. Just click here and look for the e-mail link.

Thursday Odds & Ends: Radcliffe, Iron Man 2, Sense and Sensibility...sorta

+ More "Harry Potter" goodness: TIME Magazine has 10 Questions for Daniel Radcliffe and don't forget, tonight on ABC at 8 p.m., there's a documentary on a year in the life of J.K. Rowling. And IGN has compiled their list of the Top 25 Harry Potter Characters.

+ Topless Robot has some spoilery but cool pics of Gwyneth Paltrow and Scarlett Johannson in "Iron Man 2." I really hope this movie lives up to my (very) high expectations of it.

+ This was making the rounds on Twitter yesterday but if you haven't seen it, hold onto your sailor hats. First there was "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies" and now there's -- perhaps inevitably -- "Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters." Jane Austen must be spinning like a carnival ride in her grave right now...

+ The trailer for Drew Barrymore's upcoming roller derby flick, "Whip It" is out now. I kinda want to see this. Anyone else?

+ And finally, I was thrilled to be a guest on this week's "Wasted Words" podcast, where the entire panel drinks heavily and then talks about a topic -- in this case, how a man named Shek broke his arm and received better care at his local bar than at the hospital. We're pretty much at the forefront of the national health care discussion on this one, like The McLaughlin Group but with LESS drinking.

Odds and Ends: Tim Burton, Iron Man 2, Blueberry Garden and orbital chaos

+ How cool is this? Tim Burton will have an exhibition of his work displayed at New York's Museum of Modern Art -- or MOMA, as the kids call it -- starting this November and running through April 2010. More than 700 paintings, puppets, drawings and storyboards will be on display. No word yet on whether Helena Bonham-Carter will co-star.

+ SyFy (hahaha, sorry, I still laugh when I type that) has announced a new "Alice in Wonderland" remake starring a veritable who's who of TV geekdom including Colm Meaney as The King of Hearts, Tim Curry as the Dodo, Matt Frewer (who I will heart forever for "Max Headroom") as the White Knight, Andrew Lee Potts from "Primeval" as the Hatter and Alessandro Juliani of "BSG" as the 9 of Clubs, which means he totally won't get any airtime until he goes crazy and takes over the ship from a furious Admiral Adama. Now wouldn't that make an awesome mini-series? "Alice" will air in December.

+ Mickey Rourke who, let's face it, looks creepy enough without costume and make-up, got to try on his "Mad Max"-esque villain gear for "Iron Man 2" recently. Director Jon Favreau also gives some details on Rourke's character. Here's what Rourke looks like, all leathery and evil...and also with his costume on.

+ I saw this indie video game touted on Livejournal yesterday. It's called "Blueberry Garden" and even if you never play it, you have to watch this video preview. It's quite lovely. And Suicide Girls has a great write-up on it and other indie games.



+ And in case your day is going too well, you can always start thinking about orbital chaos, a force that may cause the Earth and Venus to smash into each other and split like watermelons. It's okay though because Yahoo says the chances of this are small -- only one in 2500, which is actually a hell of a lot better than the lottery odds I play every week -- and it won't happen for 3.5 billion years, when I assume a time-traveling Doctor will be on hand to save us. No worries!

Odds and Ends

+ Ever wonder where Muppet characters come from? (Besides Muppet storks.) Wonder no more!

+ If you need a little Tennant ogling to help you through your Friday (and who doesn't?), there are new photos from the upcoming Easter special up at the BBC site.

+ Thanks to Sleepy Mama for submitting this item on this miraculous new Swedish invention: an invisible treehouse. It's so invisible that the photo of it I tried to download wouldn't work so you'll have to click the link to see it. It's worth it. The thing's very cool -- except for birds who I imagine will have a very difficult time with this thing.

+ Speaking of science-y stuff, check out this cool article on the distances that migratory songbirds cover each season. Some fly upwards of 300 miles per day. Gives new credence to the old "boy, are my arms tired" jokes. Also, it's pretty damn cute that they put little backpacks on them. Aww...

+ Hey, don't forget: Dollhouse premieres tonight at 9 on FOX. And Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles is back as a tasty appetizer at 8.

+ And while we're on the subject of Eliza Dushku, she apparently wants to play Black Widow to Robert Downey Jr's Iron Man in the upcoming sequel.

+ Thanks to Crone51 for this link of Richard Hatch defending Tom Zarek after the craziness of last week's BSG episode. Very interesting stuff.

+ And last but not least, have you heard the rumor that Neil Patrick Harris might be cast as The Flash? For Neil, I would happily ignore my comic book movie ennui and climb right on board.