HAIL TO THE KING: Dr. (and Pate fan) Ken King, that is. Of the hundreds of awards that the Boy Scouts of America presents each year to those o­n the local council, regional, and national levels, the Silver Antelope award, granted for outstanding service to youth within the territory of a BSA region, is o­ne of the most prestigious. I am informed that Ken will be awarded this honor in May. Congrats, Ken!

FOUNTAINS OF WAYNE: Out-of-State Plates, their disc of rarities and b-sides, has been pushed back to June 28th, but it's going to be a double disc, with two new songs and a bunch of covers, including ELO's "Can't Get It Out of My Head" and Britney Spears' "...Baby o­ne More Time."

ON THE PITCHFORK: A good review for The Lucksmiths. A bad review for The Bravery, which, despite a few highlights, "is still rock made o­n an assembly line-- predictable, economically efficient, and about as dynamic as a Model T." Ouch.

SXSW video is online, including an interviews with Elvis Costello and Roky Erickson, panel discussions o­n MP3s, filesharing and blogging, and a feature o­n eating nuclear tacos at Brush Square Park.

HAVE YOU EVER BEEN EXPERIENCED? Carl Wilson blogged Last weekend's Experience Music Project Pop Conference, to amusing results. One panel covered Eric Lott's Love and Theft, the seminal book o­n minstrelsy which also became the title of a Bob Dylan album; Lott claimed he was naming his next book Blonde o­n Blonde. On Day Two, Wilson discovered that Cleveland mid-sixties monster-movie TV show host "Ghoulardi" was the father of movie director Paul Thomas Anderson.

DOES ZARQAWI HAVE A DIRTY BOMB? The Washington Times is often summarily dismissed because it is owned by the Moonies and has a conservative tone. But reporter Bill Gertz gets intell so good that the CIA has investigated him to try to plug the leaks. Gertz now writes: "Recurrent intelligence reports say al Qaeda terrorist Abu Musab Zarqawi has obtained a nuclear device or is preparing a radiological explosive -- or dirty bomb -- for an attack, according to U.S. officials, who also say analysts are unable to gauge the reliability of the information's sources." That's bad on two counts, including the inability to figure out whether the reports are reliable.

JACKO JUSTICE: Cap'n Wacky takes a shot at developing a sequel to Frank Miller's Sin City, with a new cast of celebrities and using their own words. Michael Jackson is just o­ne of them. FWIW: Matt Drudge reports that the prosecution may introduce evidence involving a Michael Jackson request for Vaseline. Safe for work, but creepy nonetheless.

CATS AND DOGS: PetPlace lists the top names for cats and the top names for dogs. Also, women are more attched to their pets than men. Indeed, women are much more likely to take their pet to a pet psychic, groomer or therapist.

PROFILING SEAFOOD AND SHELLFISH: It's the law of the land.

A GIANT TURTLE dwells in The Lake of the Returned Sword in the center of Hanoi.

JOURNOS IN TRAINING: A Colorado State Collegian staffer reports: "In an attempt to bridge the gap between the gay community and the community at large, Sacha Sacket, a Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and the Transgendered (GLBT) singer known for his innovative and unique music, performed a free concert at CSU Monday night." I could be wrong and often am, but I'm going to say Mr. Sacket can't be all of the above.

POPE BENEDICT XVI: The Moderate Voice has a massive round-up of reaction to the election of the new Pope.

IRAQ: Iyad Allawi, Iraq's caretaker prime minister, survived an assassination attempt by a suicide bomber on Wednesday. The attack seems to be part of an insurgent strategy targeting top government officials and military recruits. That such attacks are launched on the eve of an expected announcement of a new government should not be surprising. Fortunately, U.S. and Iraqi security forces say they are gaining ground on insurgents and criminals because Iraqis are phoning more and better tips to a hotline set up in October. Related: Austin Bay examines the linkage of insurgencies and gang warfare.

SIDEWAYS: Grape Radio is a podcast and blog for oenophiles. Sideways co-star Sandra Oh has filed for divorce from husband Alexander Payne, who directed and co-wrote the film. Though Oh stars in ABC's new hit television series Grey's Anatomy, she's seeking spousal support. And did you know that the CIA is offering a course in wine tasting?

THE CURRENT is streaming a bunch of in-studio gigs from artists I've mentioned here, including The Shins, Crooked Fingers, Mark Olson, Bloc Party, Stars, The Hold Steady and more.

WHAT WAS TOPPING THE CHARTS ON YOUR BIRTHDAY? This Day In Music has the answers, for both the U.S. and U.K. charts.

INDY wants to be your intelligent internet radio.

EAT! IT WON'T KILL YOU most of the time. Being overweight is nowhere near as big a killer as the Centers for Disease Control thought, ranking No. 7 instead of No. 2 among the nation's leading preventable causes of death, according to a startling new calculation. The CDC now estimates that obesity accounts for 25,814 deaths a year in the U.S.; as recently as January, the CDC came up with an estimate 14 times higher: 365,000 deaths. Plus, the new study found that people who are modestly overweight actually have a lower risk of death than those of normal weight.

CULT OF THE iPod: Britney Spears' Celebrity Playlist. I like "Teenage Wasteland" by Bob O'Reily, but my favorite may be track 11.

IF THAT MOVIE SEEMED A LITTLE BLURRY in the theater, it's probably not you.

OIL-FOR-FOOD SCANDAL: Two senior investigators with the committee probing corruption in the U.N. oil-for-food program have resigned in protest, saying that the committee is going soft on secretary-general Kofi Annan and not following the trail of evidence. Maurice Strong withdrew as U.N. envoy for Korea on Wednesday while investigators probed his ties to a lobbyist suspected of bribing U.N. officials with Iraqi funds. Claudia Rosett, who has covered this story longer than just about anyone, has more on Mr. Strong.

DRIVER SMACKED IN NOSE by a flying sausage. Police are o­n the case.

BLOGGER ETHICS: The Online Journalism Review looks at the potential conflicts that may come when companies pay bonuses to bloggers who increase site traffic and when bloggers are both the editorial and business side of a blog.

A BIG WIN FOR LIONEL HUTZ in Moscow, as the Simpsons are cleared of charges that their show piqued a young son's interest in cocaine and prompted the child to insult his mother.