THE BEST NAME IN POLITICS SINCE CASHMERE MCLEOD: Gavin Newsom, the recently-bachelored mayor of San Francisco, is dating a 20-year-old named Brittanie Mountz.

No, it is not a stage name. But it should be.

LA LA LA LA, KUH-BAHM-BUH: Under the terms of a wager established prior to the competition, you'll have to visit The Wife's blog for a report on the 2006 Wellfleet Oysterfest maritime-themed spelling bee for adults, in which we both competed. From AY-kwee-uhs to FOSS-furh-ESS-unss to the bird known as a GREEB, it was a good day, and a great read for you all.

LOOKING GOOD, BILLY RAY! GQ takes a look at the the 25 most stylish films of all time.

WHAT THE HELL IS GOOFY? Thanks to some employees at Paris Disney, we have the answer to that age-old question. He's a horndog.

Video is SFW, but NSFTWDWTCMODS (not safe for those who don't want their childhood memories of Disneyland shattered).

I ALWAYS THOUGHT THE TEACHERS LIVED IN THE SCHOOL: While Battlestar Galactica is getting all the praise, the other half of "Sci-Fridays," Doctor Who, was top-notch this week, featuring high school students being forced by bat-like aliens (led by Rupert Giles!) to crack the secrets to god-like power, apparent continuity porn for those who've been watching the show since the 60s that paid off for new viewers like me as well (the Sarah Jane plotline), robo-dogs, and chips (the British kind, not the computer kind) that make you smarter. I still miss Christopher Eccelston's gleefully mad Doctor, but David Tennant is a servicable replacement, and Billie Piper is certainly making a far better singing to acting transition than, say, Jessica Simpson.

ALL THIS, AND EVIL SLOW-MOTION SNACKING! Yes, it's a pain in the ass to remember, but every-other week, including this one, CBS has a football doubleheader, and the Race is likely to run at leasdt half-hour late.

But what thrills from this TAR Classic leg: airport intrigue! India! Ugly Americanism! A classic reckless/chicken detour! Alli-crocodiles, homeless cows and sinister-looking monkeys! A truly awesome concept for a local roadblock, Madras shirts, and let's not forget, gang: don't drink and drive.

Oh, yeah, and a rules change we need to discuss in the Comments.

Oh, yeah, and robot camels are coming.

One strategery note: in flight situations like this, where you're being told there won't be flights until the next day in some cases, isn't the best bet always to Keep Moving, get in the main country as quickly as you can and figure that you can work the last local flights once you get there? Even if it takes one more flight to do it, idle time is wasted -- don't sit in the airport all day when you could be going . . . somewhere.

HD DVD OR BLU-RAY? There is an interesting article in this week's New Yorker about the battle between the two high definition DVD technologies -- Toshiba's HD DVD and Sony's Blu-ray. Have any of you bought a hi-res player yet?

I am planning to buy a Toshiba HD DVD player soon. The price for the Toshiba players has dropped a lot (under $400 at amazon). In contrast the Blu-ray players generally cost about twice as much.

More importantly, the reviews for the first Blu-ray player are weak, while those for the Toshiba are consistently positive.