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The Commuter Car, an even smaller enclosed vehicle than the Smart Car, if that was even remotely possible. (via BeyondDC)

Rent will hit the big screen again. This time around it won’t be a film adaptation, but rather a filmed performance.

Playbill reports that the musical’s final Broadway performance on September 7 (June 1 was the original closing date.) will be filmed as part of Sony Pictures’ venture “the Hot Ticket.” The performance will play in movie theatres nationwide in late September.

The film version of Rent was released in late 2005. Tracie Thoms (pictured at right with Anthony Rapp) played Joanne in the film and will reprise the role onstage. Her run begins today and ends on the show’s closing night. By all accounts, it looks like she’ll have the distinction of appearing in two film versions of Rent in the same role.

Prior to starring in the 2005 film, Thoms auditioned several times for the stage production but was never cast.

A new Gallup poll shows the public’s preference for beer over wine is growing by a wider margin here in the States. While beer has enjoyed greater popularity than wine over the past 15 years, this latest poll is the first since 2002 to show a difference of 10% or more between the two.

The office cubicle turns 40 this month.

The open-office style was originally known as the “Action Office,” and was introduced by West Michigan’s Herman Miller Company in 1968.

Well, I don’t know about action, but the cube farm has been the bane of my existence for the last few years. Pictured above is a cubicle I once occupied about three years ago. I miss the sanctity of my former office because — you know — it had a door. Not that I always kept it closed, but it was nice to have the option when I needed it.

Someday, I shall have a door again. Yes, I dare to dream.

If I was a fan of the Cheesecake Factory, I’d be all over their $1.50/slice offer on July 30, but I’m not. (link via Gooster)

It might be a fitting tribute to a recently departed “Golden Girl,” though.

MTV wants to remake the Rocky Horror Picture Show.

If it were anyone else besides MTV, I’d probably be marginally more interested. And really, it’s not as if there aren’t enough bad remakes of other classic flicks floating around.

From TMZ’s gallery of Muppets and their celebrity lookalikes, Janice the Muppet and Donatella Versace.

Wow, that’s just uncanny… and quite possibly an insult to Jim Henson’s creations.

Speaking of which, the Smithsonian’s Ripley Center currently features the exhibit “Jim Henson’s Fantastic World” now through October 5. The Smithsonian is the fourth stop on the exhibit’s tour, and will hit Atlanta, Chicago, Seattle and several cities in between through at least 2011.

Similarly, the AFI Silver Theatre in Silver Spring is running a film series featuring the Muppets and other Henson creations — “Muppets™, Music & Magic: Jim Henson’s Legacy” — through August 12. This weekend, the AFI Silver is running the Dark Crystal and Labyrinth, which coincides with their “Totally Awesome 2: More Films of the 1980s” series.

My housemates and I were at a car dealership just outside of Gaithersburg yesterday when I noticed this sign. I immediately thought it might be a good candidate for FAIL Blog.

Can anyone tell me why?

During yesterday’s hearing on the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell (DADT)” policy, Elaine Donnelly probably did more to convince lawmakers it should be repealed than anything else.

And she was arguing to keep DADT in place.

Donnelly treated the panel to an extraordinary exhibition of rage. She warned of “transgenders in the military.” She warned that lesbians would take pictures of people in the shower. She spoke ominously of gays spreading “HIV positivity” through the ranks.

Her arguments caused eyes to roll and — I imagine — tempers to flare. In response to her later statement that she respects the service of gay veterans, Republican Representative Chris Shays of Connecticut* pointedly said, “How do you respect their service? You want them out.”

She was totally pwned.

Via We Love DC, a time-lapse video of construction of Ocean Hall at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History. Ocean Hall is slated to open this September.