Marge Simpson in Playboy

Great expectations: Some argue that President Barack Obama has no business winning the Nobel Peace Prize after just nine months in office.

And you've got to admit that the expectations for Obama are higher than ever. If he doesn't win the NBA Slam Dunk Contest in February, let the Jimmy Carter comparisons commence.

By the way, the prize's full title is the Nobel Prize for Peace/Fox News Guaranteed Weekend Airtime Filler.

Overhead crabgrass: The “green roof” on the Mukilteo City Hall building is overgrown with weeds and needs to be redone.

The city could have paid homage to many Snohomish County lawns, and saved some money to boot, by leaving the weedy roof as is and plopping a 1989 Chevrolet Corsica, a rusty charcoal grill and some plastic kiddie toys up there.

If only we could hear her: Marge Simpson is going to become the first animated character to appear in a pictorial in Playboy magazine.

Playboy executives say it won't really catch readers off-guard. They're used to seeing women who look like cartoon figures.