SLY STONE: Yet another version of the Grammy story. In this o­ne, Sly demanded (and got) a police escort to the show and fled o­n a motorcycle. And I finally found (with help from Coolfer Glenn) the video of the tribute.

THE NEW PANTHEON AWARDS: Several critics at Stylus give a rundown of the finalists. For example, Todd Hutlock o­n The Decemberists' Picaresque: "The fact that this, Arcade Fire, Sufjan, Antony, and Death Cab all got nominated makes me fairly confident which way this award is leaning... it's like they threw in Kings Of Leon just to the big kids wouldn't kick sand in their faces and steal their girls."

KILLING MUSIC: rbally has downloads of Jenny Lewis' recent BBC performance and Art Brut live in Vienna.

MEAT LOAF: His jet shot off a Manchester runway due to weight problems. So. Many. Punchlines.

BJORK is profiled by London's Guardian. Turns out she's a UNICEF goodwill ambassaor. And she talks about the infamous swan dress.

"BLACK BETTY" by Ram Jam has been banned from being played at University of New Hampshire hockey games after more than a decade because it is "theoretically racist." It seems unlikely that Leadbelly -- who wrote or adapted the song -- was a racist, so maybe it should just be "theoretically banned."

SEEN YOUR VIDEO: "My Funny Valentine" as rendered by Rufus Wainwright with mom Kate McGarrigle o­n piano, and Chaka Khan. ALSO: Now that The New York Times has found YouTube, I wouldn't be surprised to find musicians and their lawyers swing into action.

RHETT MILLER: You can stream four advance tracks from the Old 97's frontman's upcoming solo album, The Believer (including a cover of Jon Brion's "I Believe She's Lying") via -- where else -- MySpace (if you get an error page, hit your "F5" button.).

JOY DIVISION: Casting has been announced for the upcoming Ian Curtis biopic, Control. Mostly unknowns, except Samantha Morton, Oscar-nominated for her work in Woody Allen's Sweet And Lowdown and Jim Sheridan's In America, who will play Curtis' widow, Deborah.

HIT SONGS are based partly o­n our perceived preferences of other people, according to a new study.

THE WRENS: PopMatters talks to the folks from Little Quill productions about making a documentary o­n the band. There's footage at Little Quill's website. You can stream and download "She Sends Kisses" from MySpace.

PETE DOHERTY-KATE MOSS UPDATE: Hours after vowing o­n national television to stay away from crack and heroin, the troubled singer was reportedly kicked out of a football match for taking heroin in the toilets. At this rate it's hard for the BBC's Doherty timeline to stay current! Meanwhile, the latest rumor about the supposedly sober supermodel's visit to a brain doctor is that she fears she is losing her short term memory. So she may not be able to remember, for example, whether she ever took cocaine. It would also explain why she kept making up with Doherty. Look for the pair to star in a remake of 50 First Dates.

VALENTINES: If you forgot to order your Law & Order: Special Valentine Unit cards, you may still have a chance to send an e-card featuring Tom Cruise, Tara Reid or the French Hotel. from the Gallery of the Absurd. Sadly, you can't get Ernest Borgnine or The Olsen Twins in that format. BONUS: "A Valentine's ode to TomKat: "It's love when your sweetie passes over a long list of Hollywood prospects, including Jessica Alba, Kate Bosworth and even 18-year-old Lindsay Lohan, for you!"

FIRST KISSES: Celebs share their generally embarrassing stories. And Heather Graham reveals she has terrible business sense.

MEMORABLE SCREEN KISSES are categorized -- e.g., "The desperate kiss," "The kiss in the rain," etc. -- at MSNBC.

ANTI-VALENTINES: The Washington Post asks readers to listen to and vote o­n a playlist of rage, regret and revenge. I'm not ant-valentine, but I'm impressed with the list, which ranges from Dolly Parton to Stevie Wonder to Wire, Husker Du and Neko Case. E-filmcritic has a nice list of breakup movies, including the brilliant Albert Brooks feature Modern Romance (which finally comes out as a DVD in May). And Forbes ranks the best love films by the amount of money they made, because what's more romantic than that?

ALEC BALDWIN was disappointed when he was set-up o­n a blind date with Cindy Crawford, because she wasn't beautiful enough.

BRADGELINA: If you need to reach Jolie when she's away from home, she's under the name "Miss Lollypop."

TOM-KAT UPDATE: Cruise is threatening to sue acclaimed biographer Andrew Morton after discovering he has hired a gay porn star to shed light o­n Cruise's private life.

CLAY AIKEN'S second album has been put "on hold" until the sex allegations of former Green Beret John Paulus blow over. Pun intended?

SIR IAN McKELLEN has attacked Hollywood's continuing homophobic attitude towards gay stars: "The film industry is very old fashioned in California. It is very, very, very difficult for an American actor who wants a film career to be open about his sexuality. And even more difficult for a woman if she's lesbian." Sorry, I'm not buying that last part.

BANDIDAS: Penelope Cruz and Salma Hayek are starring in a melange of Bad Girls, The Magnificent Seven, and Buth Cassidy & the Sundance Kid. And they are reportedly more than happy to allow rumors that they are involved romantically to promote it.

BRITNEY SPEARS will celebrate Mardi Gras in New Orleans later this month, because she wants the city to continue its annual traditions. She'll be the chick looking for those beaded necklaces, y'all!

HEATHER LOCKLEAR and RICHIE SAMBORA: Star magazine has a non-steamy pic of the woman they claim was pictured in the X-rated e-mail to Sambora. along with a description of the the latter.

JUDE LAW and SIENNA MILLER: I love it when a gossip site reports that the two have permanently split and that they are rumored to have rekindled their stormy romance six hours later.

IRAQ: At Iraq the Model, Omar notes that the Shia (UIA) bloc's nomination of Jafari to become the new Prime Minister will most likely complicate the process of forming the government and potentially split the UIA. Bill Roggio notes that as the political process moves forward at a frustratingly fitful pace, Iraqi forces are leading a number of counter-insurgency ops in northern and western Iraq.

IRAN: German prosecutors have charged two men with violating export laws apparently involving delivering weapons technology to Iran. A European Union diplomat claims that a larger group under investigation is believed to have ties to the nuclear black market run by Pakistan's now-disgraced nuclear scientist A.Q. Khan. Iran abruptly postponed talks with Moscow o­n a plan to enrich Tehran's uranium o­n Russian territory. A major American attack o­n Iran's nuclear sites would kill up to 10,000 people and lead to war in the Middle East, according to a report from the Oxford Research Group. Daveed Gartenstein-Ross looks at exploiting Iran's internal political fissures; Amir Taheri goes even deeper o­n the subject. BTW, the White House press corps asked two questions about Iran on Monday, one of which suggesting that we should be concerned about the growing nuclear threat posed by Brazil. In contrast, there were several dozen questions asking why the White House press corps didn't find out about Dick Cheney's hunting accident earlier.

GETTY TRUST CHIEF Barry Munitz resigned Friday as CEO of the world's richest arts institution, under a cloud of allegations about his salary, perks and lavish spending. Instead of leaving with a 2.4 million lump sum severance package, as his contract stipulated, Munitz promised to pay the trust 250K to cover what its board's chairman described as "disputed items."

EDU-BLOGGING: Almost forgot the first Anniversary Edition of The Carnival Of Education is o­nline. Ken King may have a professional interest in it, but the rest of you will just want to scroll to the part about teen orgies.

VALENTINE'S GOAT: Oh sure, some people send flowers, but nothing says Love like a baby goat bearing a perfectly shaped heart o­n its fur. Video at the link.

GIGANTIC WHITE WORM smells like lillies. Come to think of it, that would have been a good backup to the Valentine's goat...

SHARK ATTACKS dropped in 2005 because people are fighting back more often when threatened and the ranks of ocean predators are thinning, but Jaws author Peter Benchley didn't live to hear it.

DOGS have regional accents just like their owners, a study claims.

RICHARD THOMPSON was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards in London Monday. Thompson also has a big box set out; the AP review suggests it's for the hardcore fan, with more casual fans being better served by collections like Watching The Dark.

NEW RELEASES: The Life Pursuit by Belle & Sebastian has a guilt-free MP3 of "Another Sunny Day" available at Matador; the album (currently scoring 76 at Metacritic) is streaming at AOL Music. Beth Orton's Comfort of Strangers, which is currently scoring an 81 at Metacritic, is also streaming from AOL Music. Idols of Exile, a solo effort from Broken Social Scenester Jason Collett is streaming from his label. The Minus Five, a/k/a The Gun Album, is fresh from Scott McCaughey & friends -- it's scoring 72 o­n light reviews at Metacritic and you can check out the audio feature from NPR and pick up the guilt-free MP3s from YepRoc. BTW, the -5's west coast dates feature Robyn Hitchcock, whereas the rest of the tour has The Silos opening. And if you get o­n the Minus 5 mailing list, Scott McCaughey may write a song about you.

A REMINDER: An exclusive Jon Pratt solo track, "Geologic Time," and a rare Pate track, "Chalk It Up to Fate," from Pate's 1991 reunion gig, are available in the "Downloads" section via the navigation bar o­n the left (and at the top, also).

TED LEO is moving from the Lookout! label to Touch & Go: "T&G is a label that has provided me, personally, with amazing music for 25 years... it's an honor to now be a real part of their o­ngoing ruling-ness."

MORE COWBELL! The Wikipedia is compiling a list of songs featuring the cowbell. That entry cross-references the Wikipedia entry for "More Cowbell," which describes and measures the impact of the viral SNL sketch featuring Will Farrell and Christopher Walken.

SEEN YOUR VIDEO: The Who's classic performance of "My Generation" o­n the Smothers Bros. Comedy Hour, which opens The Kids Are Alright. Keith Moon had stagehands double the explosives in his kit, which put a chunk of drum shrapnel in Moon's arm, set Pete Townshend's head o­n fire, and supposedly got the guitarist's tinitus off to an unhealthy start. You can see Pete putting his hair out near the end of the clip.

THE KING OF FRANCE: I first meant to check out this band when a blurb in The New Yorker not o­nly namechecked Blondie, Television, and the Pixies, but also mentioned that the drummer is Michael Azerrad, the author of the fabulous Our Band Could Be Your Life. But it slipped my mind until I read that the band is touring with Nada Surf and Rogue Wave, despite having a name not related to water. You can stream some nifty pop from MySpace and grab the guilt-free downloads of "Mexico" and "White Confection."

SPRING TOURS have been announced by Neko Case and The Magic Numbers.

STING is suing his chauffeur for claims the rock star's marriage to Trudie Styler is in trouble. But he's suing for "breach of confidence," not defamation.

THE UNDERTOW ORCHESTRA: Frank at Chromewaves has an excellent post o­n the conglomerate tour of Will Johnson (Centro-Matic), Dave Bazan (ex-Pedro The Lion, Headphones), Mark Eitzel (American Music Club) and Vic Chesnutt. Especially cool is the guilt free download of AMC's entire Everclear album, but there are other links and downloads to check out as well.

SONY CD SETTLEMENT: If your computer was infected with spyware or rootkits when you tried to play a Sony BMG CD o­n it, Sony owes you money, music and an uninstaller. Boing-Boing has the highlights, plus a link to the details. This does not mean companies like SunComm are going away, natch...

THE RACONTEURS -- Jack White and Brendan Benson, backed by The Greenhornes' rhythm section -- will have an album out in May, which is a good excuse to remind everyone to check out their single at their retro-cool website.

KEIRA KNIGHTLEY and SCARLETT JOHANSSON grace the cover of the Hollywood issue of Vanity Fair, with guest artistic director Tom Ford sitting in for Rachel McAdams, who backed out at the last minute, as noted here in December. Angelina Jolie will be similarly unclothed inside the mag, which comes out today, iirc. I don't know what Jane Austen would say about it, but I'll bet Woody Allen buys a dozen. Knightley and Johansson were said to be a little embarrassed about posing nude; Keira says as much o­n the the sadly safe-for-work video, which is also posted o­n YouTube. Scarlett was rocking a vintage Police tour jersey after the shoot.

THE GRAMMYS, airing tonight, are hazardous to your relationship, if Sheryl Crow, Madonna and Springsteen are any indicator. PLUS: The opening slot set off a Mariah-Madonna catfight, but Cream is blowing off the ceremonies.

JACK BLACK grew up in a sex cult where his father and mother were in a nightly menage a trois. Which explains a bit about Jack Black.

SIENNA MILLER may be the latest to go o­n the Skeletor diet. She's playing Edie Sedgwick in Factory Girl, so maybe she just wants to look strung out for the role.

JUDE LAW is set to play late Beatles manager Brian Epstein in the biopic mentioned here Monday.

BRITNEY SPEARS has defended photos of her holding her baby son o­n her lap while driving, saying she was trying to escape the paparazzi. At least, that's what she probably told the LA County Sheriff's Dept...

BLOCKBUSTERS may be slowly dying -- the revenue from Top 25 films as a percentage of total box office is dropping, even as their cost as a percentage of total box office is rising. Long Tail blogger Chris Anderson writes: "It's not nearly as dire as in music, but it's trending in the same direction."

...AND NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT: Terry Gilliam cuts off his nose to spite his face. A man looking for movie money probably should not attack the Weinsteins.

LOST has a new episode tonight. Viewers can recap the last o­ne at TVgasm. Anyone getting interested in the show can find character basics and weekly revelations at MSNBC, which is quite a tribute from a rival network.

RALPH FINNES has been forgiven by his 62-year-old galpal for his two-year affair with a woman half her age, as she knows that she cannot "fulfill all his sexual needs." Otoh, his ex-wife, ER star Alex Kingston, was devastated by the affair.

DENISE RICHARDS secretly took an AIDS test because she's convinced that soon-to-be-ex CHARLIE SHEEN had been cheating o­n her with hookers throughout their attempted reconciliation? Granted, it's in the Enquirer, so it may well be untrue... but it might not be a bad suggestion.

BRADGELINA: The media has a fever... and the o­nly prescription is... more Bradgelina! Pitt's publicist Cindy Guagenti told Reuters there was no truth to the rumor about an imminent Italian wedding, adding cryptically, "They are not getting married. I don't want a story about they're not getting married. I think you guys should just drop the whole thing."

CULT OF THE iPod: Apple's stock rose after the company introduced a new o­ne-gigabyte iPod Nano and cut prices o­n the iPod Shuffle. The Chicago Tribune looked at workers rocking the cubicle.

IRAQ: Insurgents are receiving millions of dollars from smuggling oil through a network of supporters working in Iraq's oil industry. Defense Secretary Rumsfeld told a Senate panel that such corruption could damage efforts to create a democracy, adding that coalition officials are doing more to investigate those problems within the government. Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told the Senators that the National Guard and Reserves will play a much smaller role next year. Meanwhile, The House Permanent Select Committee o­n Intelligence is studying audio recordings between Saddam Hussein and his top advisers that may provide clues to the fate of Iraq's weapons of mass destruction. Chairman Peter Hoekstra of Michigan: "I am trying to find out if our postwar intelligence was as bad as our pre-war intelligence."

IRAN has told the International Atomic Energy Agency to remove surveillance cameras and agency seals from sites and nuclear equipment by the end of next week in response to referral to the UN Security Council. Implementing some version of the "Russian Proposal" offers small chance to avoid conflict, but falls short as a non-proliferation mechanism. Former Democratic Rep. Mel Levine argues that sanctions actually could prevent a nuclear Iran, albeit at the cost of higher oil prices.

CORETTA SCOTT KING'S FUNERAL: Pres. Bush praised MLK's wife. The Rev. Joseph Lowery and former Pres. Jimmy Carter attacked Pres. Bush. Turning a funeral into a political event turned off independent voters in the 2002 election cycle, but some people are slow learners.

THE LOST WORLD: An astonishing mist-shrouded "lost world" of previously unknown and rare animals and plants high in the mountain rainforests of New Guinea has been uncovered by an international team of scientists. In a jungle camp site, surrounded by giant flowers and unknown plants, the researchers watched rare bowerbirds perform elaborate courtship rituals. The surrounding forest was full of strange mammals, such as tree kangaroos and spiny anteaters, which appeared totally unafraid, suggesting no previous contact with humans. The golden-mantled tree kangaroo is o­ne of the creatures in the slideshow at Yahoo!

IT TAKES A VILLAGE to pull a hunter from the jaws of a man-eating crocodile in northeastern Zimbabwe.

SHAC TRIAL: Jury selection began Monday for six members of the Philadelphia-based Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty, o­n charges with animal enterprise terrorism, conspiracy and interstate stalking, part of a plan to drive Huntingdon Life Sciences out of business. "Anything they can pin o­n the defendants is an act of free speech," says a SHAC spokeswoman.

B.B. KING has lost his two-year-old Maltese, Lucille, and the blues legend is offering an autographed copy of o­ne of his signature "Lucille" guitars in an effort to get her back.