Question: Do you think any one of the five remaining American Idol contestants have any idea who were in the original Rat Pack?

Answer: Sure, Emilio Estevez, Judd Nelson, Anthony Michael Hall, Molly Ringwald, Ally Sheedy, Demi Moore and Rob Lowe.

No, that was the Brat Pack. American Idol is honoring the original Rat Pack, which is actually not the Las Vegas Rat Pack. The Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis, Jr., Peter Lawford and Joey Bishop pack of the 1960's Sands Hotel was in fact an outgrowth of the Rat Pack that Humphrey Bogart and Sinatra first formed in the late 1940s.

I've been catching up on episodes of The Sopranos in preparation for the new season, and I just got done with the second season. I also received a great Rat Pack CD set for Christmas, which has been getting heavy play here at Casa De Budke. So, between those two things and last night's episode of Family Guy, I've gotten an unexpectedly large dose of Frank Sinatra Jr. over the past couple of weeks. Not a bad thing per se, just an odd thing. If I were to create a "New Rat Pack" from animated characters on TV now, I'm almost certain that Brian and Stewie would be on it as well, (and probably Timmy from South Park, and Bender from Futurama just for good measure). On with the show!