If he was still with us, Hunter S. Thompson would have turned 70 today.

That's a good enough reason for a party -- we followers of the good doctor would be remiss in not holding an appropriate soiree in his honor.

But there's another reason to celebrate today -- two Nebraskans, Crete's Beef Torrey and Omaha's Kevin Simonson have recently released a book they compiled of "Conversations with Hunter S. Thompson" that is already doing well on the sales front.

They're throwing a bash at the Nomad Lounge, 1013 Jones St. in beautiful downtown Omaha that incorporates all things Gonzo.

The event starts at 5:30 p.m. and will run until the bar shuts it doors. There'll be a couple of djs at work and, appropriately enough, specials on shots of Wild Turkey, among other drinks.

But the bigger draw, at least for me, is that Torrey and Simonson will be showing their collections of Gonzo memorabilia and there's a good chance that Thompson's collaborator, illustrator Ralph Steadman, will be sending some originals in for the night.

I'm planning head to Omaha later tonight to check it out.

And if you're a Hunter fan, have a drink and read a little "Fear and Loathing" today in his honor.

And remember -- when the going gets weird, the weird turn pro.

"The Dark Knight" is great...I can't say much more than that now.

But if you're reading this post after midnight, you can find my review of the new Batman movie here on GZO.

I'll add some more tomorrow and I'm hoping that others will weigh in, too.

All the midnight screenings at the Grand have already sold out and I'm guessing the same is true for any other midnight shows in town -- I'm not sure which theaters are having them.

In any case, if you've seen the picture, what did you think?

Let's hear it for the cable networks.

The recent Emmy nominations show that AMC, FX and premium stalwarts HBO and Showtime are now major television players.

For the longest time, cable networks were places for reruns from broadcast network (NBC, Fox, etc.) shows. But now many of them have original programming as good as or better than their broadcast counterparts.

"Mad Men" (AMC) and "Damages" (FX) deserved their nomations. There could have been more. I was disappointed to see Comedy Central's Sarah Silverman get shut out of the best actress category for comedy. I also was bummed "Battlestar Galactica," arguably one of the best shows on TV, not show up in any of the major categories.

But "Weeds," "Dexter," "The Closer" and "Saving Grace" are there. How 'bout that.

William Petersen will leave CBS ratings-juggernaut "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" midway through next season.

Petersen has played the wise, somber senior forensics officer Gil Grissom since the show debuted in October 200.

"Billy is leaving," executive producer Carol Mendelsohn told EW.com, which broke the news. "But he will remain throughout the run of the series an executive producer. And he will, whenever CBS asks, come back. I don't think you've seen the last of Gil Grissom."

EW.com reported Petersen will appear in the first 10 episodes.

He joins a growing list of departing cast members. Jorja Fox left midseason last year, and Gary Dourdan's character was killed off in the season finale.

Nebraska native Marg Helgenbeger is still around. I expect her role will grow more in stature with Petersen's exit.

I don't watch Omaha news stations much, but I know a lot of people in Lincoln do, so this is worth mentioning.

KETV recently announced Julie Cornell is stepping away from the anchor desk to spend more time with her family. She is married to KETV meteorologist Bill Randby. The couple have three children.

Replacing her, beginning Aug. 3, will Brandi Petersen, a University of Nebraska-Lincoln graduate who started her career at Channel 7 as an intern in 2001.

Cornell's last day on the desk will be July 31. She'll continue to provide segments for "Julie's Diary" and other reports.