This Week in Awesome (6/21/09)

A belated Happy Father's Day to all of you dads out there. And it's a belated TWIA as well, because (a) I was visiting my own dad yesterday, and simply forgot about it when I got home, and (b) I was a little light on content this week. But never fear, the awesome is here...

Supposedly the creator of this colorful bit of roadside art was arrested for his creation. You'd think the highway department would have hired the guy to be its PR liaison, or something. (Jalopnik)

Way, way back in the paleolithic era of television (otherwise known as the 1950s), Jim Henson's Muppets were eking out a showbiz living as advertising spokespuppets (one of them looks a lot like a proto-Kermit). These ads are seriously strange, in a wonderfully twisted way. Just try to imagine a company wanting to run ads like these today. (TV Squad)

The new season of Top Gear premiered last night in the UK. For those of you who don't know, Top Gear is a BBC show about cars that's really more about being ridiculously entertaining than anything else. The Mrs., whose interest in cars covers only that her own car is safe and has gas in the tank, thinks it's terrific. I guarantee you you'll find it far more satisfying than any ludicrous "reality" trash. If your cable or satellite company has the BBC America channel, you can find Top Gear on almost as often as Law & Order reruns are on TNT, USA, Bravo, etc. Anyway, BBC did a couple of cute promo spots for the new season, with boys representing younger versions of the three hosts. (The one in the helmet is their test driver.) (BBC via YouTube)