Writer, performer, and frequent NPR contributor David Rakoff has died following a three-year battle with cancer. Rakoff was born in Montreal, and lived, variously, in Toronto, London and Japan before settling in New York City, which he called "the great love of my life" and was the subject of much of his writing. Rakoff worked as an actor — usually playing, he later wrote, "Jewy McHebrew" or "Fudgy McPacker" — and in publishing before quitting to become a full-time writer, penning the interview column "The Way We Live Now" for The New York Times Magazine for several years in addition to his work as a freelance journalist and contributor of personal essays to This American Life.

Rumored to be in development for some time now, it seems the long-awaited second sequel to Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure will finally see the light of a movie-theater projector in the very near (though not near enough) future.

That's what doctors would like to know.

Here is a true story ripped directly from the pages of real life: at the gym, on a crowded week night, there was some dude, just as proud as he could be, doing yoga in front of the weight rack. The weight rack that I needed to use. Stone-cold down on one knee, neck twisted, hand aloft, in the "Can You Believe I'm Actually Doing This Right Here" pose. Can you believe this dude? You know?

Jessica Simpson's father/manager/minister/lover Joe Simpson was arrested for DUI last week. He spent a night in jail.

Try not to let this devastating drought and historic heat wave get you down; soon, we'll have a succession of hurricanes to cool us all off.

A tipsy Norwegian tourist who fell asleep on the luggage belt in Italy's largest airport reportedly made his way around the main baggage area for 15 whole minutes before someone noticed.

Destin at Smarter Every Day answers everything you ever wanted to know about why cats (almost) always land on their feet, but were too afaird to pick up and drop your own cat multiple times from varying heights to find out.

Bears breaking into places and behaving like adorable gluttons is totally a thing now. First, the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory incident, and now a Norwegian bear party.

Apparently there are rumors that Vanilla Ice died in a car accident. They have "gone viral all around the world."

Happy birthday, Whitney Houston. You live on in your daughter's memory — and in her new wrist tattoo.

Even in death, Adam "MCA" Yauch is sticking it to the man: the late Beastie Boys member's will prohibits his image and music from being used in any advertising.

Even the staunchest pro-gun advocates agree that when ordering a TV online, you shouldn't receive a semiautomatic.

At a hearing today, lawyers for Aurora mass shooter James Holmes said their client is mentally ill. Many have speculated that this will pave the way for a "not guilty by reason of insanity" defense.

Harry Reid's accusation that Mitt Romney is hiding something by not releasing his tax returns — specifically not paying taxes for 10 years — isn't going away any time soon.

Remember when we told you late last year that gonorrhea, an STD that can cause infertility and death, is "possibly becoming untreatable"? Well, now the disease is closer to untreatable than it has been since doctors devised a way to treat it in the first place. We're down to just one antibiotic that can effectively fight the disease, and after that, uhh, umm—have we tried fire?

Pop superstar Rihanna is curled up on a sundrenched yacht licking her wounds today after a weird German robot lashed out at her because he doesn't understand sexy things.

I love space travel as much as the next huge dork. I still have my personalized certificate for participating in NASA's 2008 "send your name to the moon" project somewhere in my file cabinet. (Not to mention the certificates for "Space Hitler," and "Poophead McGee," whose names I also sent to the moon. Hey, I was in college.) I'm thrilled that the Curiosity rover is on Mars beaming back awesome panoramic pictures. But NASA's bubbly anthropomorphized Twitter account for the rover is creeping me out.

Justin Kryzanowski of Scranton, Pennsylvania, was hoist with his own cellphone yesterday after he accidentally butt-dialed the police during a meeting with his drug dealer.

Seeking an even less user-friendly alternative to vinyl, singer Beck has announced that his upcoming album will be released solely as individual pieces of sheet music, placing the onus of "playing music that can be heard" on consumers themselves.