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New Okkervil River and Of Montreal, Glen Campbell, Pants Python   Printer-friendly page   Send this story to someone
Wednesday, August 20, 2008 - 08:00 AM
Posted by: Karl

Karl

OKKERVIL RIVER is promoting its upcoming The Stand-Ins album with video featuring "stand-ins" like the New Pornographers' A.C. Newman on an acoustic version of "Lost Coastlines." Newman kinda overpowers Will Scheff, though the two have a nice vocal blend.

ALL SONGS CONSIDERED: Advance tracks from Okkervil River and Of Montreal lead off the latest installment of the long-running NPR series.

SHE & HIM played the latest episode of Sound Opinions, which also found Greg Kot and Jim DeRogatis debating the merits of Brazilian Girls.

THE HOLD STEADY and DRIVE-BY TRUCKERS are hitting the road together, in a double bill to match last year's pairing of the Hold Steady with Art Brut.  Craig Finn & Co. show off their pre-show ritual at NME.

RADIOHEAD, for various reasons, has been taking grief lately from the Silver Jews' David Berman and The Hold Steady's guitarist Tad Kubler, not to mention Boing-Boing/NPR doyenne Xeni Jardin. Can't we all just get along? (Anyone who has seen Jack Black's turn in High Fidelity knows the answer is "no.")

GLEN CAMPBELL's album of mostly alt-covers gets a good review in the Boston Globe. Campbell talks to The Replacements' "Sadly Beautiful" in the USA Today and the San Francisco Chronicle, as well as an unrecorded John Lennon song given to him by Yoko Ono. He performs some of the new covers for AOL Sessions, including "These Days" (J. Browne/Nico), "Angel Dream" (T. Petty) and "Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)" (Green Day), as well as a couple of Campbell classics. Sounding pretty good at 72.

FINAL FANTASY: Indie violinist Owen Pallett talks to New York magazine about the joy of failure.  The piece also mentions that he gave away his 20K in Polaris Prize money to other musicians and his manager because it was sponsored by a cellphone company.

LOS CAMPESINOS! The Welsh speed-pop septet talks to PopMatters about their sudden ascent over the past two years. MP3 and video at the link.

PANDORA (and thus presumably other web radio services) may have to shut down due to high royalty fees lobbied on webcasters.  Negotiations to lower the rate for webcasters are ongoing.

THE ROLLING STONES: "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" wakes a British fan from a coma. Further evidence that Keith Richards is Lord of the Undead?

CHRISTINA APPLEGATE revealed that she has undergone a double mastectomy - even though cancer was only detected in one of her breasts. Her mother had breast cancer and Christina has the breast cancer gene, BRCA1. Over the next eight months she will undergo reconstructive surgery: "I'm gonna have cute boobs till I'm 90," she quipped.

MICHAEL PHELPS, record-breaking Olympic swimmer, has been linked to both Olympic swimmer Amanda Beard and model Lily Donaldson. Frankly, to do this story, the Telegraph could have found better pics of Beard and thrown in some of Donaldson. ALSO: Why isn't Aussie medalist Stephanie Rice in this mix?

BRITNEY SPEARS is racking up some hefty legal bills on the road to Wellville.

90210 2.0 is not being screened for advertisers or the media in advance of the program's premiere. Usually a very bad sign.

CHRIS KATTAN: the SNL alum has separated from his model wife after eight weeks of wedded bliss.

ROBERT DOWNEY, JR.: Iron Man reviews The Dark Knight, and does not give it a thumbs-up. And he talks about Tropic Thunder and Iron Man 2, natch.

GWYNETH PALTROW has angered animal rights activists by endorsing a new collection of luxury goods using fur.

WATCHMEN is in some legal peril after a federal judge has denied the WB's motion to dismiss 20th Century Fox's suit over the rights to develop, produce and distribute a film based on the graphic novel.  But don't panic; it seems like Murdoch's crew is looking for some "go away money."

INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS: Quentin Tarantino's WWII pic will move forward without Simon Pegg, who had to drop out over scheduling conflicts.

MAD MEN: The guys of Sterling-Cooper look at home at the Playboy Mansion.

THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK... at San Francisco.  Looking for revenge against George Lucas, I'll bet.

GEORGIA, GEORGIA: Russian President Dmitry Medvedev says Russian forces will withdraw from most of Georgia by Friday. This time for sure... nothing up his sleeve... Presto! Meanwhile, Russian soldiers took about 20 Georgian troops prisoner at a key Black Sea port in western Georgia on Tuesday, blindfolding them and holding them at gunpoint, and commandeered American HumVees awaiting shipment back to the US.

AFGHANISTAN: Afghan and NATO officials are seeing a rise in numbers of foreign fighters in Afghanistan at the same time US officials say attacks by Al Qaeda in Iraq have sharply dropped. The Pentagon will be sending 12K to 15K additional US troops there, possibly as soon as the end of this year.

IRAN is preparing to build more nuclear power plants. Meanwhile, the Islamic theocracy's attempt to launch a dummy satellite into orbit was a "dramatic failure" that fell far short of the country's assertions of success, a US official said on Tuesday.

IRAQ: The national government is making moves against US-backed Sunni Arab fighters in Diyala province. Iraqi soldiers stormed the governor's office in Diyala before dawn on Tuesday, killing his secretary and firing on local police. Iraqi troops also raided local government offices in Diyala on Tuesday, arresting a Sunni provincial council member and a university president. Iraq's largest Sunni party accuses the government security forces of sectarian bias.

HEY IS THAT A GIANT BURMESE PYTHON IN YOUR PANTS?  Weatherman Kurtis Gertz got some company on live TV at the Iowa State Fair.  KCCI has graciously posted not one, but two videos.

ABOUT 60 NEWLY-HATCHED SEA TURTLES lost their way during their ritual passage to the sea and marched into an Italian restaurant instead.

PEDIGREE DOGS EXPOSED: The oldest all-breed kennel club in the world is accusedby the BBC of Nazi-like practices in its emphasis on breed purity.  Again, Nazi comparisons are generally over-the-top in most cases.

A WILD DOLPHIN is apparently teaching other members of her group to walk on their tails, a behavior usually seen only after training in captivity.

WOMAN BITES MAN in attempted hamster food theft.

3718 Reads

New Releases, New Annuals Byrne+Eno Oasis, Hwy Buffalo   Printer-friendly page   Send this story to someone
Tuesday, August 19, 2008 - 08:00 AM
Posted by: Karl

Karl

BECK alludes to Warhol and Man Ray (imho) in the video for "Gamma Ray."

NEW RELEASES:Laura Marling, Lykke Li and Death Vessel are among the albums streaming in full this week at Spinner.

DAVID BYRNE & BRIAN ENO are streaming their album at their website, which is also sole point-of-purchase.

ANNUALS have released a new song, "Confessor," on Spinner.

SILVER JEWS: David Berman talks to Pitchfork about the weather, ducks, health insurance, his corneal transplant, the younger generations... and music!

OASIS has put out a trailer video for their upcoming Dig Out Your Soul album, but the video for "The Shock of Lighning" (complete with Rolling Stones homage) has leaked, as well as audio for tracks like "Falling Down." Plus, the WB is officially streaming the audio for "Shock..."  I think that adds up to at least Twofer Tuesday.

RYAN ADAMS has a new blog; the most recent entry involves a number of odd swords (with pictures).

LANGHORNE SLIM does the five free songs thing for Daytrotter, two previously unreleased.

EDDIE FLOYD has a new album out... on the Stax label.

DODGE, of My Old Kentucky Blog, is profiled by the Indianapolis Star.

CHRISTINA APPLEGATE tells Good Morning America that she is "absolutely 100 percent clear and clean" of breast cancer.

ELLEN DeGENERES & PORTIA de ROSSI: Wedding photos.

JEN & JOHN: Aniston's pals were rolling their eyes over the weekend about Mayer's unofficial press conferences discussing the couple's breakup.  A source close to the actress says, "Jen will never kiss and tell, but it's she who ended the relationship." Why would she need to kiss and tell?  She has pals to do it for her.

MADONNA had a small, low-key 50th birthday party for her close family and friends.  Small enough that she complained about the no-shows.

HARRY POTTER and the HALF-BLOOD PRINCE delayed by Daniel Radcliffe's Broadway run in Equus? I dunno; it makes sense for WB to put it in the same slot The Dark Knight had this year, esp. as Order of the Phoenix did so well as a summer movie.  ALSO: Radcliffe has revealed he suffers from dyspraxia, meaning he sometimes still has trouble tying his shoelaces.

BRADGELINA: Safe to say that Roseanne Barr is not a fan of the couple.

RACHEL McADAMS goes a bit goth and tals about her sociopathic tendencies with T Magazine.

PHIL COLLINS has handed over £25million to his third wife in the biggest-ever divorce payout by a British showbiz star.

KATE MOSS says her most memorable kiss was with... Frank Sinatra.

BERNIE MAC: The Chicago Tribune has full coverage of the late comic actor's memorial service.

JAMES FRANCO talks about kissing Sean Penn in the upcoming drama Milk.

KATE WINSLET found it awkward to have love scenes with Leonardo DiCaprio directed by her husband Sam Mendes in the upcoming drama Revolutionary Road.

ROBERT WAGNER is to break his silence about the mysterious death of wife Natalie Wood. Christopher Walken has a cameo, sans cowbell.

ANTI-AMERICANISM IN BRITAIN is based on ignorance of the facts on key issues such as crime, health care and foreign policy, according to a new survey.

GEORGIA, GEORGIA: Vladimir Putin apparently ordered the Russian Army to ethnically cleanse Georgians out of the city of Gori. Russian soldiers demonstrated their seriousness by randomly shooting residents. Russia says it has started to pull troops out of Georgia despite reports that they are moving deeper into Georgian territory. The deputy head of Russia's general staff said "there is a distinction between the understandings of a 'pullback' and a 'withdrawal.'" Putin puppet Dmitry Medvedev said Georgian actions would not go "unpunished."

PAKISTAN: Pres.Musharraf, facing impeachment on charges drawn up by the governing coalition, has announced that he is resigning.

IRAN said it had sent a rocket carrying a dummy satellite into space on Sunday, triggering fresh concern in Washington that the technology could be diverted to ballistic missiles. Iran said on Monday it was ready to help fellow Muslim states launch satellites into orbit.

IRAQ: The WaPo's Sudarsan Raghavan walks the Road of Hell with the Iraqi Army in Diayala province; photo gallery at the link.

A LOST BABY HUMPBACK WHALE has bonded with a yacht it seems to think is its mother.  It may be a fatal mistake. Video at the link.

BUFFALO caused traffic in both directions to stop on I-55 near Chicago's far southwest suburban Braidwood Monday morning while they stood in a grassy median. Video at the link.  Their owner put them down.

AVARA, A DISABLED TURTLE, has found romance since being fitted with a custom skateboard to overcome paralysis of her hind legs.

200 FERAL CATS living in an old horse stable in San Jose, CA face rescue or extinction by Oct. 15th.

WILD ANIMALS are not wild about the paparazzi in the woods.

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Jerry Wexler RIP, Scott McCaughey, Calexico, Nils Olav   Printer-friendly page   Send this story to someone
Monday, August 18, 2008 - 08:00 AM
Posted by: Karl

Karl

JERRY WEXLER, who coined the term "rhythm and blues," and who as co-founder of and producer for Atlantic Records helped lead the genre to mainstream popularity, died Friday at age 91.  The NYT obit is quite good, as is the one at Rolling Stone.  Rolling Stone is still streaming Wexler's playlist of the songs he was the most proud of from his half-century career in music.  Selections for Tubers include: Professor Longhair's "Tipitina" (1953); Big Joe Turner's "Shake, Rattle and Roll" (1954); Ray Charles smashes "I Got a Woman" (1954) and "What I'd Say" (1959); Booker T. & the MG's with "Green Onions" (1962); Wilson Pickett's "In the Midnight Hour" (1965); Aretha Franklin's cover of "Respect" and "Chain of Fools" (both 1967); Dusty Springfield's "Son of a Preacher Man" (1969); and Dr. John's take on "Iko Iko" (1972).  And though he was never as big a fan of rock as R&B, Wexler did sign Led Zeppelin, so there's that.

SCOTT McCAUGHEY hits for the cycle in an online chat session with readers at ESPN.com.

BENJI HUGHES, who has drawn comparisons to Beck and The Magnetic Fields' Stephin Merritt, got a feature on All Things Considered.

BARACK OBAMA & JOHN McCAIN: Their Top Tens are analyzed by Randy Newman and Girl Talk.  Not sure what planet Newman is living on to think McCain would pick Streisand, though.

TYLER RAMSEY does the five free songs thing for Daytrotter.

CALEXICO has put the video for "Two Siver Trees" up on PitchforkTV.

THE OCTOPUS PROJECT does the four free songs thing for Daytrotter.

DUFFY doesn't mind the hype for the album she took three years to make.

GARY GLITTER: The convicted child molester will be met by police on his return to the UK from Vietnam next week and required to sign the sex offenders' register.

LYKKE LI discusses three songs from her debut album with... The Wall Street Journal. Say what you will about Rupert Murdoch; the paper's indie rock coverage is much improved since he bought it.

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE: Tropic Thunder topples The Dark Knight, topping the box office with 26 million. TT has made 37 million since opening Wednesday, which makes it a risk to make back a 92 million budget, as comedies like this often do not rake it in overseas.  Batman places with 16.8 million; it has made 471 million in the US and 734 million in total to date. Star Wars: The Clone Wars shows with 15.5 million.  The horror flick Mirrors debuted in fourth with 11.1 million.  Pineapple Express rounds out the Top Five with ten million, though it cratered 57 percent in the face of Tropic Thunder.  Nevertheless, the stoner action comedy has made 62 million in the US on a 27 million budget.  Below the fold, The Mummy 3 came in sixth; its 86.6 million in US receipts looks bad against a 145 million budget, but much less bad with global receipts of 228.8 million.  Woody Allen's Vicky Cristina Barcelona debuted in tenth -- his best debut since 2000's Small Time Crooks.  Hot women kissing = success.

TROPIC THUNDER was entertaining, and probably deserved to be making more than it did.  Not a gutbuster, but with some nice satire on Hollywood itself (which may explain first sentence).  Indeed, as good as Robert Downey Jr. is as Kirk Lazarus, an Oscar-winning Aussie who has his skin dyed black for the movie within the movie, the picture is largely stolen by someone named in many reviews, but whom I will leave unnamed here, just in case.  He plays a crazed amalgam of Viacom head Sumner Redstone and producer Scott Rudin and it is this actor's finest performance in years -- and I say that as someone who regularly mocks him.  It is an odd thing to write that he and Downey are funnier than Jack Black and Ben Stiller.  Or Jack Black, anyway... but that's a good thing.  As for the controversy about "retarded" jokes, Stiller was right -- the jokes in question are on Hollywood, not the mentally challenged.

VICKY CRISTINA BARCELONA does not rank with Woody Allen's best work, but was charming enough to at least get into the same ballpark as Match Point, if a notch or two below Hannah and Her Sisters. Allen relies a bit too much on narration, though that may have been a decision meant to boost the film in Europe (a new narrator is less obtrusive than overdubs).  As I suspected after reading the Allen interview linked here last week, the movie is mostly carried by the performances of its main stars.  Although most of the attention has been on te lovely Scarlett Johansson and Penelope Cruz, the movie would not work without the charisma of Xavier Bardem and the overlooked Rebecca Hall, who represents Allen's neurotic streak.  But this is hardly the first movie whose success depends mostly on casting, so I give Allen credit for matching the cast and script so well to the location that provided the financing.

ELLEN DeGENERES & PORTIA de ROSSI wed in an intimate ceremony at their home in Beverly Hills, California, Saturday night.  Portia wore a dress; Ellen wore the pants.

JEN & JOHN: Mayer denies reports of lying or cheating on Aniston: "I ended a relationship to be alone, because I don't want to waste somebody's time if something's not right."

LINDSAY LOHAN is either converting to Judaism for Samantha Ronson or may leave her for a may-yun.

POP ICONS at 50: Madonna turned 50 over the weekend, but she's only 36 in Kabbalah years )and is reportedly miffed at Britney Spears). The Times of London surveys the careers of Madge and Michael Jackson, who turns 50 later this month.  USA Today adds Prince, who turned 50 in June.

BILL MURRAY kicked off the 50th Chicago Air and Water Show by skydiving with the US Army Golden Knights to support the Illinois United Service Organizations.  Let's go to the video.

AMY WINEHOUSE does not want to be asked about her health, okay?

MIKE MYERS has been cast by Quentin Tarantino for Inglourious Basterds as British Gen. Ed Fenech, a military mastermind who takes part in hatching a plot to wipe out Nazi leaders.  QT knows when someone's carrer needs rehab.

HAWAII fought off a coup attempt over the weekend.

GEORGIA, GEORGIA: Russian leaders failed to follow through on a new agreement to withdraw troops from Georgia. Maybe today will be the day. But with US officials saying the Russian military had been moving launchers for short-range ballistic missiles into South Ossetia, maybe not.  Russia is considering arming its Baltic fleet with nuclear warheads for the first time since the Cold War. Europe has been feckless as usual, even though the threat to Europe is bigger.

PAKISTAN: Women who say their husbands threw acid at them or burned them find help in becoming self-reliant through salon work.

IRAN continues to finance, train, arm, and support Shia terror groups in Iraq. The Qods Force, via its Ramazan Corps command operating in eastern Iran, remains active in subverting the Iraqi government and attacking US and Coalition forces.

IRAQ: Moktada al-Sadr called on his followers to sign in a blood oath of loyalty; only a few hundred people turned up. There was a series of bombings targeting Shiites heading to Karbala for a major religious festival over the weekend.  The L.A. Times covers further progress in Anbar, with video.

NILS OLAV, a 3-foot tall King penguin, was awarded a knighthood by Norway on Friday. It's a tradition. Let's go to the video.

SHEEP & GOAT OLYMPICS: There's no Michael Phelps -- but it has sheep and goats!

BIGFOOT remains as mythical as Spiny Norman, as one of the two samples of DNA said to prove the existence of the Bigfoot came from a human and the other was 96 percent from an opossum. Chewbacca was very disappointed.

PET HOARDING: A Central Florida school teacher known as the "cat lady" who was fighting to keep nearly 150 cats at her home will get to keep her pets on property. Pics at the link.

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Elvis, Dr. Dog, Cutout Bin, Squeaky the Wonder Pig   Printer-friendly page   Send this story to someone
Friday, August 15, 2008 - 08:00 AM
Posted by: Karl

Karl

THE WEEKEND STARTS HERE:

with ELVIS PRESLEY! The King died 31 years ago tomorrow, but remains a global pop phenomenon, so it's worth a recap of highlights from the bigh 30th anniverary last year.  Canada's Star-Phoenix, which discusses ten important parts of Elvis history worth reliving, notes: "His was a sequined coat of many colours: '50s Greaser Elvis. Military Elvis. Hollywood Elvis. Aloha from Hawaii Elvis. Vegas Elvis. And, ultimately, Dead Fat Elvis."  The BBC has friend and aide Sonny West recall life with The King. 

ACTION NEWS 5 has posted its local coverage from Aug. 16-17, 1977, on the Tube, where you can also see funeral footage from the BBC Archive.  Here's read the obit that ran the next day in the Washington Post. Elvis Presley News recaps the international headlines from the event and links to the eulogy at his funeral.  Geraldo Rivera had national coverage that night, though he would later wallow in the King's drug habit.  On a happier note, check out what is likely the first footage taken of Elvis, with backstage shots of Carl Perkins, Johnny Cash and Buddy Holly in 1955; shades of Walk The Line!  You can also see him play "I Got A Woman" live o­n his first TV appearance in 1956. I also include his performance of "Hound Dog" o­n The Milton Berle Show six months later, not o­nly because it's historic, but also because Paul Miller and I often reached for it when we would stumble into our KUSR shift at the last minute -- Uncle Miltie vamps for awhile, which gave us time to pull records for the show.  He was also iconic in "Jailhouse Rock" that year.  Elvis sang a mashup of "Love Me Tender" and "Witchcraft" with Frank Sinatra when he got back from the Army.  All of his movies -- such as "Viva Las Vegas" --made money, but his musical career stalled in the 1960s until he electrified and charmed the public with his televised '68 Comeback Special, which you can see uncut and unedited on the Tube.  1970 finds him singing "In The Ghetto" and "Suspicious Minds" in the jumpsuit, though pre-bloated.  I'm going to throw in "Little Sister" just 'cause I like it.  Sadly, in a few short years, bloated jumpuit Elvis would be delivering a wacked-out take on "Are You Lonesome Tonight?" -- though to be fair, this audio-only version from 1969 is even more demented and he knows it.  I would rather remember Jumpsuit Elvis for the signature horns that open "See See Rider."  a tribute to his enduring legacy as the fact that he could hit the charts decades after his death with a remix of "A Little Less Conversation," a video subtly recalling "Jailhouse Rock,"  followed by Paul Oakenfold's remix of "Rubberneckin'" and even the bizzare CGI Elvis duet with Celine Dion on American Idol last year. The King may be gone, but the brand lives on, making millions and recruiting new fans under the watchful eyes of Elvis Presley Enterprises and CKX, Inc. 

MYSTERY JETS just released the video for "Half In Love with Elizabeth," which takes a surprising turn.  More info on getting free downloads of the band's upcoming EP at the link, under "More Info." Tricky.

DR. DOG does the latest Lilywhite Session for NPR.

LIGHTSPEED CHAMPION, a/k/a/ Dev Hynes, talks to Filter about transitioning from Test Icicles to his current work.

CAVE SINGERS guitarist Derek Fudesco talks to Drowned In Sound about transitioning from Pretty Girls Make Graves to his current band.

BEST OF 2008 (SO FAR), according to eMusic, complete with streams. I'm still amused that the Cool Kids' cover art pays homage to the the Beach Boys' lost Smile album.

GRIZZLY BEAR: Ed Drozte is blogging their tour with Radiohead at Rolling Stone.

PITCHFORK TV is coming to IFC.

CUTOUT BIN: From Ryan Adams & Elton John to George Thorogood, from Bob Dylan to The Embarrassment, from Jamie Lidell to Steve Miller, from Johnny Rivers to the Lyres, from Manfred Mann to the Replacements and more -- this Friday's fortuitous finds can be jukeboxed or streamed separately via the Pate page at the ol' HM.

NOW SHOWING: This weekend's wide releases are the action-comedy Tropic Thunder, which is currently scoring 83 percent on the ol' Tomatometer (which opened Wednesday); Star Wars: The Clone Wars, currently scoring 23 percent; and the unscreened horror pic Mirrors. Plus, Woody Allen's Vicky Cristina Barcelona opens on about 700 screens with 89 percent. 

WOODY ALLEN tells The A.V. Club that Vicky Cristina Barcelona could have been made in any number of cities, the more he talks, the more you get the idea that it would have been a totally different movie.

HARRY POTTER and the HALF-BLOOD PRINCE was pushed back on Thursday to July 2009 from its original slot in November 2008. Warner Bros said it made the change to bolster its release schedule for the lucrative summer movie season.

ELLEN DeGENERES & PORTIA de ROSSI will wed this weekend in California, according to US Weekly.

JULIA CHILD, actor Sterling Hayden ("Jack D. Ripper"), Chicago White Sox catcher Moe Berg and IRS Records founder Miles Copeland served in an international spy ring managed by the Office of Strategic Services, an early version of the CIA created in World War II by FDR.

JOHNNY DEPP, COLIN FARRELL & JUDE LAW, filling in for the late Heath Ledger in Terry Gilliam's film The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus, are donating their salaries to Ledger's daughter, Matilda.

MADONNA & GUY RITCHIE reportedly plan to adopt a girl from Malawi.  Madge's rep denies these reports... as she did before the last time the couple adopted.

CHRISTIAN BALE escapes criminal charges in connection to an assault allegation filed by his mother and sister.

JEN & JOHN: The latest gossip out of Team Ansiton is that Mayer was a three-time cheater.

PAM ANDERSON is reportedly dating a member of Abu Dhabi's royal family, whom she has codenamed Milk-Sheik, or Milk for short.

ALEC BALDWIN: The outtakes from his interview with the L.A. Times are even funnier than the original.

ERNEST BORGNINE: More than you ever wanted to know. Really. I warned you. Consider yourself warned.

GEORGIA, GEORGIA: As US military transport planes landed in Tbilisi, the Russian Army undertook search-and-destroy missions with impunity, defying the ceasefire agreement brokered by President Sarkozy of France. Tanks and soldiers continued to occupy Gori despite promising to leave by yesterday. Georgia's president said that Russian tanks and vehicles were moving toward the country's second-largest city, and that Russian forces already control a third of Georgian territory. The latest Pentagon information did not show any major movement by Russian troops or tanks Thursday. However, more than 100 Russian armored vehicles were massed near the center of Zugdidi, a major town in western Georgia, a Reuters witness said.  While Russia's ground forces have generally had their way, Georgian air defenses have been noticeably more effective. And Ukraine threatened to blockade the Russian Black Sea Fleet, which is based in the Ukrainian port of Sevastopol.

PAKISTAN: Faced with desertions by his political supporters and the neutrality of the Pakistani military, Pres. Musharraf is expected to resign in the next few days rather than face impeachment charges.  Meanwhile, there are currently 157 training camps and "more than 400 support locations" spread throughout the tribal areas and the settled districts of the Northwest Frontier Province, senior intelligence officials speaking on the condition of anonymity told The Long War Journal.

IRAQ: The Long War Journal looks at the payment of the local "Sons of Iraq" security forces in Tarmiyah, and Diyala Governor Ra'ad Rashid al Tamini surviving an assassination attempt and a coup d'état in a two-day period.  In Baghdad, Coalition forces killed one AQI operative and detained five while targeting the group's financial infrastructure.

SQUEAKY THE WONDER-PIG herds cows, loves pizza. Video at the link.

BIGFOOT: The photo expected to be shown today is already online. The Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization is already debunking the hoax.

SEALS are having radios glued to their heads to help measure global warming.  Where is PETA on this?

VENOMOUS LIONFISH prowls the Caribbean: "This may very well become the most devastating marine invasion in history," said Mark Hixon, an Oregon State University marine ecology expert who compared lionfish to a plague of locusts.

JENNY, a "special needs" elephant, has a champion in Lily Tomlin.

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Bowerbirds, Okkervil, Holsapple, Bad Veins, Tiny Turtle   Printer-friendly page   Send this story to someone
Thursday, August 14, 2008 - 08:00 AM
Posted by: Karl

Karl

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