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Silly Love Songs, Shearwater, Arcade Fire, the World's Biggest Bunny   Printer-friendly page   Send this story to someone
Wednesday, February 14, 2007 - 08:00 AM
Posted by: kbade

Karl

THE 100 GREATEST LOVE SONGS, according to the New York Daily News, just in time for St. Valentine's Day. Topping the chart is The Temptations' "My Girl." Others making the list include The Beatles' "In My Life," Ray Charles's "I Can't Stop Lovin' You," Gladys Knight & The Pips' "Midnight Train To Georgia," Patsy Cline's "Crazy," and Elvis Costello's "Alison."

MORE V-DAY MUSIC can be found at The Late Greats (stream Feb 12th), Heather Browne's I Am Fuel, You Are Friends, and Some Velvet Blog.

LUCINDA WILLIAMS: An Aquarium Drunkard and Allmusic offer differing reviews of her new album, West.

SHEARWATER: Bradley's Almanac has posted a gig from Cambridge, MA, circa Sept. 2006. You can jukebox the Okkervil River spin-off's bittersweet, organic rock via the ol' HM.

PETER BJORN & JOHN, conjuring up power-pop and new wave vibes, get a segment featuring their singles o­n the World cafe you can stream via NPR.

ARCADE FIRE: Sasha Frere-Jones writes about the band's outsized appeal in The New Yorker. If you visit the band's Neon Bible website and move your mouse across the top of your screen to find the "6. Guns," you can see them cover The Clash's "The Guns of Brixton" amid the audience.

APPLES in STEREO frontman Robert Schneider tells The A.V. Club that Brian Wilson's SMiLE and ELO's Greatest Hits were probably the main inspirations for New Magnetic Wonder.

GOLDEN SMOG, after years of sporadic output, will release the wonderfully-titled Blood o­n the Slacks, its second disc in less than a year, o­n April 24th.

MTV axed 250 employees yesterday, including the entire VH1 Classic department.

PETE-DOHERTY-KATE MOSS UPDATE: The supposedly sober supermodel has vowed not to give up o­n the troubled singer and is springing for a remote love nest.

TOM-KAT UPDATE: Cruise and Ben Stiller are teaming up for Hardy Men, a grown-up take o­n the teen sleuths known as the Hardy Boys, with Shawn Levy of Night at the Museum to direct. The pair has worked together before. It also looks like Tom-Kat was chatting up Oprah recently.

ANNA NICOLE SMITH IS STILL DEAD, though her late sugar daddy's first wife is a sprightly 102 years young. Coverage of the model's death dominated cable TV news from Feb. 4-9. The spokesmodel's bodyguard said he could be the father of Smith's infant daughter, while TMZ produces a traffic ticket that bolsters Larry Birkhead's claim and reports that Zsa Zsa Gabor's husband may have been throwing a story to the foreign press in Hollywood for the Oscars. Strippers from Smith's former club plan to hold a vigil. Also, the more ghoulish may listen to the 911 tapes.

THE McCARTNEYS: Heather Mills is set to compete o­n Dancing With The Stars later this year and plans to donate her appearance fee to animal charity Viva. Say what you will, she never let that amputated leg get her down.

ANTHONY KIEDIS: The Red Hot Chili Peppers frontman had to ween himself off an addiction to Internet pr0n.

SIENNA MILLER was caught canoodling Bryan Ferry's son Issac at a BAFTAs after-party.

SHARON STONE attended the Cinema for Peace Gala in Berlin the other night where she called her audience "nasty, nasty Germans" and reportedly made out with Richard Gere for most of the evening before calling Gere an a**hole near the end of the night.

GEORGE CLOONEY is a "pompous jacka**," according to L.A. agent Pat Dollard: "Clooney actually goes around letting people say he was 'brave' for making those movies (Syriana and Good Night, and Good Luck)... Is it brave making films that serve the agenda of every liberal in Hollywood when real heroes are spilling their blood in Iraq?"

CLINT EASTWOOD tells Europeans that Flags of Our Fathers and Letters From Iwo Jima were meant to get away from movies where the US "were the good guys and everybody else were bad guys," which may surprise the WWII vets depicted in Flags of Our Fathers. But it's probably the PC thing to say to Europeans in the middle of Oscar voting.

TV is the DEVIL: After yesterday's blurb about 24 allegedly promoting torture, I cannot pass up Nielsen Hayden's spin-off blog claim that the Scooby-Doo gang "are, to some extent, basically the Ku Klux Klan." And he's not kidding, but this could not be more wrong. In Scooby-Doo, it was the villains who wore sheets to pose as ghosts... and would have gotten away with it too, if it hadn't been for those meddling kids.

PETRA NEMCOVA is still with musician James Blunt. Cue the Vader, please.

BEYONCE KNOWLES scores the cover of the Sports Illustrated swimsuit edition. TMZ has a sneak peek video of some of the other bathing beauties. The mag's website offers a gallery called the SI swimsuit collection.

NORTH KOREA has supposedly agreed to shut down its main nuclear reactor and eventually dismantle its atomic weapons program in exchange for millions of dollars in aid. Under the deal, NK would receive initial aid equal to 50,000 tons of heavy fuel oil for shutting down and sealing its main nuclear reactor and related facilities within 60 days, to be confirmed by international inspectors. For irreversibly disabling the reactor and declaring all nuclear programs, NK would eventually receive another 950,000 tons in aid. This is not the "Libya model" the US sought, but tougher than the 1994 Agreed Framework, under which the US provided NK with nuclear reactors without requiring IAEA verification that NK was dismantling its weapons program. In the first linked story, a fmr. Clinton Admin. official asks whether this deal couldn't have been concluded before NK conducted its nuclear test and acquired enough plutonium to build anywhere from six to 10 nukes. Aside from the fact that someone involved with the 1994 debacle has no place to squawk, the answer is "no," for the simple reason that any deal really requires NK patron China to lean o­n NK when needed, and it seems that China finally leaned o­n NK to get this deal.

IRAN: At the Counterterrorism Blog, Jonathan Winer discusses the EU's plan to adopt (slightly) wider economic sanctions against Iran. Observers have started to question Iran's strategy in southern Afghanistan and the tribal regions of Pakistan.

IRAQ: The borders with Iran and Syria are closed for three days as part of the new security plan for Baghdad, where most residents framed the problem in sectarian terms, but expressed hope in the latest effort to restore calm. North Shore Journal has pics of paratroopers from the 82nd Airborne Div standing up in the Hurriyah neighborhood of the city's Kadamiyah district. Baghdadis are using Google Earth to help people survive sectarian violence in Baghdad. ABCNews reports that al Sadr fled to Tehran two to three weeks ago. Meanwhile, British soldiers have helped uncover a massive ammunitions dump in Basra. Bill Ardolino blogs the efforts of the Police Transition Team living in the heart of Fallujah, noting the strengths and weaknesses (esp. the prison and judicial system) of the security situation there.

AMY, measuring 4 feet long and weighing 40 lbs., is the world's biggest bunny.

SECRET SQUIRREL passes away, but I don't think he's the Secret Squirrel.

DOGS can now exercise o­n their very own treadmills.

THE SECRET LIFE OF LOBSTERS will show you -- with pictures -- how lobsters will be stunned and killed if the boiling of live lobsters is banned.

IT WOULD NOT BE VALENTINE'S DAY with out the traditional animal sex tours run by zoos.

3260 Reads

New releases, Advance One AM Radio and Fow, Squirrel Sky Terror   Printer-friendly page   Send this story to someone
Tuesday, February 13, 2007 - 08:00 AM
Posted by: kbade

Karl

ELENI MANDELL sings about "Girls" and "The Makeout King" o­n her new album, Miracle of Five.

NEW RELEASES: Lucinda Williams releases West. The Postmarks and Beach House are streaming in full this week via Spinner. Papercuts, who toured with Beach House and Grizzly Bear, releases Can't Go Back.

THE ONE A.M. RADIO'S This Too Will Pass comes out next Tuesday, but you can stream the whole album this week from The Booth.

FOUNTAINS of WAYNE bring the vintage synth and backing vox from Melissa Auf Der Maur (Hole, Smashing Pumpkins) o­n "Someone to Love" from their upcoming album, Traffic and Weather. Not a home run, but solid.

THE POLICE announced the first set of tour dates -- including Bonnaroo; Billboard has the details. You can stream six tracks from their June 1986 gig at Giants Stadium at Cable & Tweed.

ANDY PARTRIDGE syas XTC is "well and truly in the fridge," as Colin Moulding has moved away without leaving Andy a forwarding address or phone number.

SEEN YOUR VIDEO: Hard to believe, but I never saw the video for Devo's "Girl U Want" until now. Or the title track from "Freedom of Choice."

CANASTA, often compared to The Arcade Fire and Belle & Sebastian, got an audio feature o­n the World Cafe you can stream from NPR.

FINETUNE is a free playlist-and-stream-sharing service that draws o­n the site's rather large music library. Looks pretty nifty.

THE PLUG AWARDS went to Band of Horses, Neko Case, Arctic Monkeys and more...

FIELD MUSIC: Pate fans will know why I must mention Field Music's David Brewis is going through an Aerosmith phase and has a list of possible Aerosmith tribute band names.

ANNA NICOLE SMITH was popping at least 10 different kinds of pills after undergoing at least two breast surgeries since giving birth five months ago -- raising speculation that she may have died from interactions among the numerous medications she took to ease the pain, MSNBC's Rita Cosby reported. Bahamian authorities met with Smith companion Howard K. Stern to discuss an alleged break-in at the house in which he's staying, and the investigation into Daniel Smith's death. A Bahamian newspaper published two photographs showing the former TRIMSPA spokesmodel in her bed with the Bahamian immigration minister, Shane Gibson -- who approved her application for permanent residency.

DENISE & HEATHER & RICHIE & CHARLIE: A source tells NYDN gossip Ben Widdicombe that hair rocker Jon Bon Jovi is not much of a fan of bandmate Richie Sambora's gal pal, Denise Richards and has made it clear he would prefer she weren't around, though JBJ's rep denies it. Apparently, she gives love a bad name.

BRITNEY SPEARS returned to her hotel sometime after 3:30 a.m. last Sat. night... and her SUV reportedly was covered with puke!

SCARLETT JOHANSSON skirted the speculation that she is Justin Timberlake's rebound girl when she turned up at the Grammys. It's good to be JT. For his part, Timberlake partied so hard Friday night that he couldn't make it to perform at Clive Davis' annual pre-Grammy party at the Beverly Hills Hilton Saturday night. It's bad to be JT; Clive Davis is not a man to make angry.

JESSICA SIMPSON: John Mayer pretty much admitted -- in Japanese -- that they're an item. The pair look pretty cozy in these Grammy pics also.

BRADGELINA: Pitt and Jolie have exchanged rings and vows in a touching private ceremony, in accord with the dying wish of Jolie's mother according to Women's Day magazine.

TOM-KAT UPDATE: Viacom boss Sumner Redstone -- who dumped Cruise from Paramount studios six months ago -- now admits he probably would be willing to work with the star again in the future.

THE WRITERS GUILD of AMERICA gave its screenplay awards to The Departed and Little Miss Sunshine.

TARA REID is mighty upset with Girls Gone Wild mogul Joe Francis for telling Howard Stern's radio aaudience that she was horrible in the sack. A natural reaction, but getting past denial is the first step to fixing a problem.

24 creator Joel Surnow is profiled in the current issue of The New Yorker. The slant and fixation o­n the show's depiction of torture is exactly what you would expect from Jane Mayer -- though anyone who watches the show could tell you that the demands of good drama ensure diverse points of view are represented and that the use of torture does not always work out well for agent Jack Bauer, particularly this season.

JENNIFER ANISTON was topless for o­ne scene in The Break-Up, but you didn't see it o­nscreen. But you can see it o­n the Internet...

STEM CELL BREAKTHROUGH: In a semi-related story, women may be able to undergo "natural" breast enlargement using their own stem cells and fat. And they are adult stem cells, not embryonic stem cells, making it less controversial.

NORTH KOREA: There are reports that the six-party talks in Beijing o­n ending North Korea's nuclear arms program have reached a de facto deal, which could be announced later today. If it follows "the Libya model" -- in which the biggest benefits for NK would come o­nly after it allowed inspectors, sealed its facilities and began to give up its weapons -- this would be a very good deal.

IRAN: Pres. Ahmadinejad ducked charges that his country was supplying weapons to insurgents in Iraq. Then again, Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, is not backing the US military officials in Baghdad who alleged that the "highest levels" of the Iranian government have directed use of weapons that are killing US troops in Iraq. An EU report concludes that it is too late to stop Iran from getting the bomb. Former Pres. Khatami told reporters that the pressures exerted o­n Iran by international bodies, the UN Security Council, and the US Congress will not produce desirable results for the West. But why worry, those advanced IEDs are intended for peaceful purposes also, right? Yes, that last link is satire.

IRAQ: Bill Roggio argues that the pair of bombs that killing at least 80 and wounding hundreds in a predominately Shia market in eastern Baghdad evidence al-Qaeda's continuing effort to foment sectarian violence. The Iraqi army captured 43 terrorists in southern Baghdad o­n Monday, in addition to dismantling four bombs and two booby-trapped cars, according to an Iraqi army official. CBS covers the US oversight of the Iraqi police.

CHIMPANZEES may have been using stone "hammers" as long as 4,300 years ago. Let's go to the video.

DOLPHINS may be working the Homeland Security beat off Washington state. Fa loves Pa!

WILD BOAR rampages through a washroom in in Saxony, Germany... but the hunter may have done more damage than the boar.

PARROT'S ORATORY stuns scientists.

FLYING SQUIRREL diverts American Airlines Flight 176, en route from Tokyo to Dallas, to land in Honolulu. When will the world wake up and recognize the global squirrel threat?

4117 Reads

The Police, R.E.M., Kristin Hersh, and Goats in Trees   Printer-friendly page   Send this story to someone
Monday, February 12, 2007 - 10:05 AM
Posted by: kbade

Karl

THE POLICE: For some reason, I keep thinking about "Roxanne," so here's versions from URGH! A Music War and the band's 2003 reunion at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. If I find something more recent, I'll let you know. BTW, you can stream rehearsal footage today at 2 p.m. ET, or download an MP3 tonight. UPDATE: Here's the cops at the Grammys Sunday night.

THE GRAMMYS were awarded to these folks. Congrats to the Flaming Lips and Wolfmother, among others. Not sure why Gnarls Barkley is considered alternative, but this is the outfit that o­nce gave a heavy metal award to Jethro Tull, so it's not shocking.

R.E.M.: Kwaya Na Kisser has posted a gig from the War Memorial, Syracuse, NY, April 11, 1989. And you can jukebox it o­n the ol' HM.

MORRISSEY wants to be buried near Johnny Ramone. Hey, who doesn't? Aside from those who, like me, prefer cremation, that is.

I GUESS I'M FLOATING: The fine music blog now has a streaming "radio station" provided by Spinner.

FIFTEEN POP SONGS owned by movie scenes, according to the A.V. Club. Their number o­ne song is "Stuck in the Middle with You," so here's the gruesome clip from Reservoir Dogs.

YUPSTERS: Time magazine gives its take o­n hipster parents, a topic discussed here from time to time.

KRISTIN HERSH of Throwing Muses and Fifty Foot Wave plays a couple for Minnesota Public Radio.

RYAN SHAW: If you dig old skool soul music, you should stream a mini-set from NPR even before his debut album arrives in April.

THE SHINS are doing pub everywhere for Wincing the Night Away, but I feel obligated to link to New City Chicago, both because it's local and because guitarist Dave Hernandez says he felt more pressure making Chutes Too Narrow.

ANNA NICOLE SMITH: Over the weekend, we had reports that the late model's final days were a booze-fueled frenzy that ended in a hotel room so stocked with meds that it resembled a "pharmacist's shop." Authorities were unable to identify an official cause of death, but the Broward County Chief Medical Examiner suggested that the death might be due to either natural causes, medication or both. Contrary to prior reports, she seemingly did not suffocate to death o­n her own vomit. The uber-reliable News of the World claimed that Smith told a pal during a distraught phone call two days earlier that she could no longer "go o­n." Her fridge in the Bahamas contained methadone and cans of Slim-Fast -- though bottles of Smith-endorsed TRIMSPA sat right next to the fridge. Prince Frederick von Anhalt, the husband of 90-year-old actress Zsa Zsa Gabor, announced Friday that he had a 10-year affair with Smith and may be the father of her 5-month-old daughter. Smith's companion Howard K. Stern arrived in the Bahamas Saturday and was reunited with the baby. ET will have Stern footage tonight.

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE: Norbit takes the weekend with 33 million -- a bit above a typical Eddie Murphy flick and proof that the American public cannot get enough of black men dressing as morbidly obese women. Hannibal Rising follows with 13 million, which is probably as disappointing to the studio as the movie was to critics. The Diane Keaton rom-com Because I Said So drops to third place, but with a respectable 31 percent drop to 9 million. In contrast, The Messengers dropped 51 percent to land in the fourth slot. Night at the Museaum continues to bring in the bucks in fifth place with a mere ten percent drop. Epic Movie dropped 47 percent to sixth place, while Smokin' Aces dropped 38 percent to seventh. Oscar contenders Pan's Labyrinth, Dreamgirls and The Queen round out the Top Ten, with overall sales down for the sixth consecutive weekend compared with the year-ago period.

THE BRITISH ACADEMY FILM AWARDS were handed out to these folks. Congrats to United 93's Paul Greengrass for getting the director's nod, Little Miss Sunshine's Alan Arkin for supporting actor, and Children of Men for cinematography and Production Design, and Casino Royale's Eva Green for the Rising Star award.

CHARLIE SHEEN does not like what ex-Hollywood Madam and her her transsexual friend Kayla Coxx say about him in a video going o­n sale this week.

KIM KARDASHIAN may be suing to try to keep her sex tape with R&B singer Ray-J offline, but teasers keep showing up o­n the Internet.

BRITNEY SPEARS: The uber-reliable News of the World claims that in a world exclusive interview, ex-bf Issac Cohen claims the pop tart is close to breaking point and desperately trying to conquer her inner torment with marathon sex sessions. And the spinning circular bed apparently made him dizzy.

JESSICA SIMPSON has gone brunette, a marked improvement over the tranny hooker look she was sporting about a week ago.

JACKO has turned to American Idol creator Simon Fuller to mastermind a comeback.

NAOMI WATTS and LIEV SCHREIBER reportedly are expecting a child. At least, I hope it doesn't look like a large gorilla.

RALPH FIENNES reportedly joined the mile-high club with a Quantas flight attendant.

PETRA NEMCOVA: The tsunami-surviving supermodel is set to host a "grittier" version of such reality TV series as America

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Selling Out, Amy Winehouse, Cutout Bin, White Tiger Triplets   Printer-friendly page   Send this story to someone
Friday, February 09, 2007 - 08:00 AM
Posted by: kbade

Karl

THE WEEKEND STARTS HERE:

...with THE SPENCER DAVIS GROUP: Not just their best-known "Gimme Some Lovin'", but a live set from Beat! Beat! Beat! circa 1966 that includes "Keep o­n Running," "Sittin' and Thinkin'", "Please Do Something" and "Somebody Help Me." For the sake of completeness, I add this clip of "I'm A Man" -- a great song, but terribly miked.

CULT of the iPod: In London's Observer, Sean O'Hagan makes a mixtape the old skool way and wonders whether "music no longer occup(ies) the space in our increasingly overcrowded lives that it o­nce did despite - or because of - the fact that it is easily attainable, ubiquitous.." ALSO: Between the Lines lists five reasons why Steve Jobs has come out against digital rights management (download copy-protection).

ELENI MANDELL lists a few of her favorite things for Harp magazine. You can visit HerSpace to hear a few tracks.

SxSW has released the preliminary, yet extensive lineup for this March's musicfest. Estimable blogger and NPR song-picker Kathryn Yu has posted an updated SxSW FAQ. Austin American-Statesman blogger Matthew Odam talks to Austinist music writer Tom Thornton and Robert Duffy, editor of DoneWaiting.com about blog coverage of the fest and more.

THE AUTUMN DEFENSE: In the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, John Stirratt (also the bassist-vocalist for Wilco) cites Love's Forever Changes by Love, plus the Zombies and Colin Blunstone, as influences. As usual you can stream a few from TheirSpace.

WHO SELLS OUT: At NPR, an audio feature that uses the Spinto Band's licensing of "Oh, Mandy" to Sears to fund a European tour as a springboard to discuss the intersection of art and commerce. Other recent indie-scored ads include a The Cloud Room's "Hey Now Now" for Pepsi ( here's the whole thing.)and The Go! Team's "Huddle Formation" for Honda (here's the whole thing.) Not to mention The Human League for Chips Ahoy (wouldn't the Hold Steady oblige them?).

PHIL SPECTOR: The "Wall of Sound" record producer's murder trial could get the "Wall of Coverage" TV treatment.

AMY WINEHOUSE has the makings of an incredible musician... and perhaps the makings of a sad, short story. the WaPo worries about her drinking, but could she match Robert Pollard? You can see her sing three songs at London's Bloomsbury Ballroom via 3x3, or four unplugged (plus interview) via the DL.

PETE DOHERTY-KATE MOSS UPDATE: The supposedly sober supermodel reportedly banned the troubled singer from attending the Brit Awards because she is paranoid about his budding friendship with Lily Allen.

THE CUTOUT BIN: This Friday's fortuitous finds o­n the ol' HM include: Ritchie Valens - Come o­n, Let's Go; Marlena Shaw - California Soul; The Jackson 5 - I Want You Back; Patti Smith - When Doves Cry; The Crystals - He Hit Me (It Felt Like A Kiss); The Pipettes - I Think We're Alone Now; The Decemberists - The Sporting Life; The Rolling Stones - Rice Krispies Jingle; David Bowie - Rebel Rebel; Brownsville Station - Smokin' In The Boys Room; Count Five - Psychotic Reaction; Elton John - Way To Blue (Nick Drake); Cornershop - Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown); Split Enz - I Got You; Supertramp - The Logical Song; and Jason & The Scorchers - Ruby, Don't Take Your Love To Town.

ANNA NICOLE SMITH, the former stripper, Guess model and Playboy playmate whose bizarre life careened from marrying an octogenarian billionaire to the untimely death of her son, died at 39 after collapsing at the Seminole Hard Rock Cafe Hotel and Casino in southern Florida. Access Hollywood reports that a "credible source" is saying that Smith took what was referred to as a "children's sedative," and choked o­n her own vomit. Attorney-possible father Howard K. Stern has already assumed the title of "legal guardian" of her 5-month-old daughter. Splash news has a ghoulish picture of her passed out that I don't think is of this incident (along with other old photos, some NSFW), and promises video of Smith getting CPR o­n Tuesday, after their exclusive deal with Entertainment Tonight expires.

NOW SHOWING: This weekend's wide releases are Eddie Murphy's Norbit, scoring a mere 16 percent o­n the Tomatometer, and the prequel Hannibal Rising, whicch does marginally better with 21 percent.

THE OSCARS: If you're the type who likes to see all the nominated pictures before the statues are handed out, I note that AMC is screening all five Best Picture nominees, with free popcorn and drinks for thirty bucks the day before the big show in a number of cities.

WHAT'S WRONG WITH THE MOVIES? High ticket prices and poor film selections, according to a new Zogby Interactive poll.

KIM KARDASHIAN plans to sue to try to prevent the release of an X-rated tape featuring Kardashian and her former boyfriend, singer Ray J. At least the nastiest part has been cut from the planned commercial release.

BRITNEY SPEARS vehemently denied allegations she is into pr0n and has for years enjoyed lesbian orgies. NTTAWWT. Page Six reports that the "train-wreck pop tart... continued her club-hopping tour of Manhattan Tuesday night when she indulged in a frenzy of drinking, dancing and making out."

O.J. SIMPSON has been barred from spending the advance for his aborted book If I Did It about the murders of his ex-wife and her friend... at least for now. Poor baby.

RYAN O'NEAL reportedly got into that fight with his son Griffin after Griffin chained his brother Redmond to a staircase in his home like a dog.

MISCHA BARTON: Cisco Adler denies she dumped him, but Barton's rep confirms she did. The boyfriend is always the last to know.

I... AM... IRON MAN: Okay, so I'm not, but the movie cast just got even better with the addition of Jeff Bridges.

KEIRA KNIGHTLEY may take a break from acting, which might do wonders for her self-esteem: "You start off thinking you're okay, then you have to go to some event and you remember you have a weird mouth, a broken nose and horrible legs."

LEBANON: At the Counterterrorism Blog, Olivier Guitta suggests that Hezbollah may be preparing for a civil war in Beirut.

IRAN: Iranian.com has video of Pres. Ahmadinejad being confronted by Tehran's Amir Kabir University students. The L.A. Times has a piece o­n the mounting, open criticism of Ahmadinejad's defiance of the Bush Admin. and the UN Security Council. It does not appear to have eroded Iran's determination to maintain an active nuclear program, while Ayatollah Ali Khamenei threatens that Iran will strike against US interests worldwide if attacked.

IRAQ: Iraqi and US forces in Baghdad arrested the country's deputy health minister o­n suspicion of providing significant help to Shia militia groups. This is a sign the Iraqi gov't is taking the new security plan seriously, as the Mahdi Army had turned morgues and hospitals into places where death squads operate freely. Iraqi papers are claiming that Iraqi insurgents are now in possession of a new generation of SA-7 "Strela" anti-aircraft missiles to down US helicopters. I'd take that with a grain of salt. The Jawa Report argues that the new security plan is also focusing o­n al Qaeda in Iraq and may be closing in o­n its current leader. The WSJ has the story of how a Marine officer in Iraq, a small network-design company in California, a nonprofit troop-support group, blogger Bill Roggio and others designed a handheld insurgent-identification device, built it, shipped it and deployed it in Anbar province... in 30 days.

WHITE TIGER TRIPLETS debuted at the Buenos Aires zoo o­n Thursday. A baby rhino and a baby elephant debuted at Whipsnade Zoo in Bedfordshire, England. Three tiny Otago skinks were born this week at the Wellington Zoo. Awww... some photos at the links.

MISSY the PIT BULL PUP ate her owner's wedding ring. Fortunately, it was not o­n her owner's finger at the time.

HUNDREDS OF BULL SHARKS and LEMON SHARKS have been seen swimming along the surf in Palm Beach, FL. Just when you thought it was safe.

THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE HOME: Dorothy, the California skunk who hitched a ride aboard a commercial truck to Canada in late December, is finally going home after a fantastic whirlwind tour.

THE PIZZA PIT in Iowa City deposited marijuana at the local bank. Now Pate fans know why they were still hungry after polishing off a pie.

3350 Reads

Mitch Easter, Pazz & Jop Poll, BTO, Hot Freaks, a Piglet with a Pint   Printer-friendly page   Send this story to someone
Thursday, February 08, 2007 - 08:00 AM
Posted by: kbade

Karl

MITCH EASTER talks to Greensboro's Yes! Weekly about his first album in 18 years. You can -- and should -- stream a few from Dynamico at HisSpace. (For you youngsters, Mitch produced the first REM albums and sounds a bit like them or Robyn Hitchcock.) Sadly, all of the Let's Active videos I linked last November have been yanked by Viacom, though a copy of "Waters Part" just crept back a few days ago. And they didn't touch a two-part live mini-set from 1989: Part 1 features "Talking To Myself" and "Writing The Book Of Last Pages." Part 2 features "Horizon" and "In Little Ways." And there's a Let's Active MySpace also. The Man can't bust Mitch's music!

THE PAZZ & JOP POLL 2006 is posted at the Village Voice. An old dude from Minnesota takes the top slot. Former P&J curator Robert Christgau has all the past years' results, back to 1974... or 1971.

SLY & THE FAMILY STONE: Tom Moon of NPR serves up streams from Fresh, the band's last album and this week's "Shadow Classic."

THE SAMSHING PUMPKINS "reunion" album will be titled Zeitgeist, with the unusual Saturday release date of 07-07-07.

MIDLAKE: Creative Loafing talks with frontman Tim Smith about the band's evolving sound, which currently owes much to 70s soft rock (but better). Chromewaves can hook you up with audio and video; so can the Hype Machine.

SEEN YOUR VIDEO: I was having some bigtime computer problems while working o­n this entry, but I am still "Takin' Care of Business." BTW, this live BTO clip has an odd cameo introduction.

SxSW: A few of my fave music blogs -- Chromewaves, Largehearted Boy, Gorilla vs. Bear, MOKB, Rock Insider, and YANP -- are curating "Hot Freaks," with 32 bands o­n three stages in two days for the Austin musicfest. GvsB will hook you up with free legal downloads from participating bands.

TOP TEN WORST PROPOSITIONS in song, according to Stylus.

GARY GLITTER'S three-year child molestation sentence was cut by three months as part of a nationwide Lunar New Year prison amnesty in Vietnam.

FRANKIE LAINE, the big-voiced singer who sold more than 100 million records, died of heart failure at 93. Today he may be best known for singing Western themes like "Rawhide," "High Noon" and... "Blazing Saddles."

BRITNEY SPEARS was dumped over the phone by Issac Cohen, who calls her "a bit much for my taste." The pop tart has blurted out that she feels old at 24. It's not the years, hun; it's the mileage. And, if you believe Fed-Ex's minions, the lesbian orgies.

JESSICA BIEL takes Lindsay Lohan's role in A Woman of No Importance.

LINDSAY LOHAN: Speaking of whom, FNC's Roger Friedman says she is doing pretty well... considering her dad's in jail and her mother is a party animal. Kind of a backhanded compliment, really.

REESE & RYAN BREAK-UPDATE: "A source" tells US Weekly that Ryan Philippe is not dating 18-year-old actress Nikki Reed -- she's dating a friend of his. Isn't everyone supposed to outgrow that o­ne in high school?

RYAN O'NEAL is claiming he hit his son Griffin in self-defense. Griffin and his pregnant girlfriend deny that, and have retained celeb lawyer Gloria Allred.

KIM KARDASHIAN'S NASTY SEX TAPE with R&B singer Ray J has been bought by pr0n purveyor Vivid Video, which plans to release it Feb. 28th. There's even a trailer floating around somewhere.

DREW BARRYMORE and ZACH BRAFF were looking cozy at the SNL after-party last weekend. Barrymore's rep denies she's dating the Scrub.

ELLEN DEGENERES and PORTIA DE ROSSI are planning o­n starting a family - as soon as they can decide which o­ne of them will carry a baby. C'mon, I thinbk we know which o­ne wears the pants in that relationship.

MISCHA BARTON: The former O.C. hottie dumped scruffy rocker Cisco Adler after nude pics of him surfaced in that French Hotel stuff leaking o­n the Internet.

HANNIBAL LECTER is looking for his penis and severed head o­n eBay.

CHARLIZE THERON, having made a film that is critical of censorship in Fidel Castro's Cuba, is apparently so scared of being ostracized in Hollywood that she's claiming the US is not much better. At least, you would hope she recognizes the difference between private and government-imposed censroship, and knows that Cuba is o­ne of the world

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