My favorite posts today:

Rest In Peace Heath..., from Chelsea Talks Smack, via A Girl Named Boo.

Vast Left-Wing Conspiracy Nearly Prevents Elizabeth Hasselbeck's Voice From Being Heard On Super Tuesday, from Defamer.

Yes, I have been a sick teddy bear for the past few days. I'm feeling very Grumpy McCrankypants. Boo. :(

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This reminds me of that South Park episode

when either Stan or Kyle goes the goth kids' table and asks them about death, since they've chosen "the dark side" to define their collective personality. But the goth kids don't really know about death; it's just a trend that they are following to be "different".

Warner Bros. Left With A Major 'Dark Knight' Marketing Problem, from Defamer.

And so, with two days to let the devastating news sink in, Variety now asks the inevitable question of what's to be done with Heath Ledger's final projects--the wrapped The Dark Knight, and Terry Gilliam's The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus . . .

As we pointed out on Tuesday, The Dark Knight's focuses squarely and gruesomely on Ledger's chillingly effective performance as The Joker, providing an unwelcome creative predicament for WB's marketing czar . . .

I am not fully aware of the story being told in this latest installment of the Batman movies. But if I can tell anything from the poster featured in the Defamer article, The Dark Knight is supposed to be super creepy due in large part to Heath Ledger's portrayal of The Joker. Now the gang at Warner Bros. is faced with the fact that the grotesque, macabre nature of their original marketing plan can't begin to compare with the disturbing reality: a successful young actor dying of a self-induced drug overdose before that actor had even reached his peak.

That said, let's move on to my favorite comments.

JupiterSpaw says:

Nolan in post-production reintroduces secondary villain previously left on the cutting-room floor: The enigmatic Quantum Solace!

which is a reference to this latest casualty of the writers' strike: Producers Decide 'Bond 22' Not Catchy Enough, Decide To Go With 'Quantum of Solace'.

Now for more comments.

Her Royal Empress Dr. Bufflekins III, Esq. says:

Seems like a great opportunity for the project to scale back the Hollywood hard-on for marketing everything within an inch of its life until I can't imagine wanting to see it anymore . . .

BonnieGrrl makes way too much sense by saying:

This might sound crazy -- but why not just put Batman on all the posters again? Too simple?

To see what SteamyMcFirecrotch said to give me the most inappropriate of church giggles all day, you can click here.

FYI, the Batman featured above is George Clooney, circa 1997.

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But I haven't gotten past Mr. Renfro yet

This is what greeted me on the Yahoo! front page this afternoon:

Heath Ledger found dead.

Shocked, I had to confirm this news with the most accurate source, Defamer:

Breaking: Heath Ledger is Dead. OMFG.

Then it was official.

In a twist of weirdness, this is the aforementioned episode of Law & Order: Criminal Intent that I'm watching on USA right now. Ethan Embry is in the episode too. Score! Though he needs to do some cardio. Ethan's still okay, right?

FYI, I was going to put up the opening scene of 10 Things in which Allison Janney calls Heath "kangaroo boy." Then the bleacher scene appeared. I'm still welling up. :(