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Memorial Day, Brian Wilson, Lily Allen & Blondie, Monster Pig   Printer-friendly page   Send this story to someone
Monday, May 28, 2007 - 08:00 AM
Posted by: Karl

Karl

MEMORIAL DAY has become -- in the minds of some -- a day devoted to uncovering their swimming pools and barbeques. So take a moment (preferably at 3 p.m. local time) to remember what it's really about.  Or you could read the messages in The Hill from the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Peter Pace, Army chief of staff Gen. George W. Casey Jr., chief of naval operations Adm. Mike Mullen, Air Force chief of staff Gen. T. Michael Moseley, Marine Corps commandant Lt. Gen. James Conway, Coast Guard commandant Adm. Thad Allen, and National Guard Bureau chief Lt. Gen. H. Steven Blum.  Milblogger Blackfive has messages from soldiers and family members about those who have given all, as well as links to tribute videos.  The Wikipedia entry for Memorial Day notes a race track connection unrelated to the Indy 500 -- and even mentions the Drive-By Truckers.  But that DBT number is nowhere near as well-known as Sgt. Barry Sadler's No. 1 smash, "Ballad of the Green Beret."

ROGER DALTREY has blasted this summer's Live Earth concerts, branding them "un-environmental" for the amount of air pollution flying the stars in for the gigs will cause: "The last thing the planet needs is a rock concert..."

BRIAN WILSON is interviewed by the Pasadena Weekly; it's a good companion piece to the assorted Beach Boys videos embedded at Pitchfork to mark the release of The Warmth of the Sun compilation last week.

RADIO, RADIO:  WOXY is streaming the Modern Rock 500 today, while (as noted on Friday) WLS brings its music and DJs back for the day.

R.E.M. began recording a new album in Vancouver earlier this month... but no mention of Bill Berry.

LILY ALLEN joined BLONDIE for "Heart of Glass" on NBC's Today Show.  And if you keep watching, you'll get "Call Me" also.

ROBERT POLLARD and fellow ex-GbV member Chris Slusarenko have plenty of indie cameos on their next album as The Takeovers; you can stream and download four tracks at TheirSpace.

PETER BJORN & JOHN visited the World Cafe, so you can stream a mini-set on demand via NPR now.

THE EDITORS have a new song, "Smokers Outside the Hospital Doors," streaming via Spinner.

SNAP.FM, coming in August, looks to be a combination of a music-centric social bookmarking site and a Daytrotter-esque showcase for indie bands.

LINDSAY LOHAN was busted on suspicion of DUI Saturday.  Splash News has near-immediate post-crash video.  Beverly Hills cops say they found a "usable amount" of a drug they say was cocaine at the scene.  Svedka vodka has decided against sponsoring her 21st-birthday bash in Las Vegas.

ROSIE O'DONNELL, as previously rumored, has left The View, though her contract wasn't up until June 20.  She reportedly capped her on-air meltdown by trashing her dressing room, while her chief  writer was allegedly escorted from the building after she was caught drawing moustaches on photographs of Elizabeth Hasselbeck that hang in The View's studios.  But we have one last video of Rosie warming up The View audience with 9/11 conspiracy theories.

CHARLIE SHEEN is rumored to be "having second thoughts" about being involved in an updated version of the 9/11 conspiracy flick, Loose Change.

THE McCARTNEYS:  Heather Mills has been dropped from a week-long guest slot on The View after a tiff with host Barbara Walters, according to London's Daily Mirror.

PIRATES 3:  I'll wrap up the holiday box office tomorrow, but the regular weekend box office for Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End was 112 million (126 when you add in Thursday night showings).  Believe it or not, that may be considered a disappointing number.

JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE loves JESSICA BIEL, a source close to the singer tells People magazine, adding, "She's the coolest chick ever."

JESSICA SIMPSON writes that she is cowering from her true identity, while others write that she was following Leonardo DiCaprio around like a lost puppy in Cannes.

BRADGELINA:  Caught canoodling in Cannes; video at the link.  Meanwhile, the Daily Mail asks whether Jolie and Pitt are Hollywood saints or just bonkers.  I'm not so sure those are mutually exclusive; they may be synonymous.

HEIDI KLUM has named them Hans and Franz.  I guess she knows they are here to pump... you up.

KELLY CLARKSON:  Crossing mogul Clive Davis is probably not the smartest career move, but it appears he may have gone too far in his feud with the American Idol.

X

STAR WARS TURNED 30 this weekend, with the largest Star Wars party in history, which organizers expected would draw more than 25000 would-be Wookiees and stormtroopers over the long weekend.  Time's Richard Corliss explains how the movie changed everything in Hollywood.  And it's a good excuse to relink Gnarls Barkley at last year's MTV Movie Awards.

COUNTER-INSURGENCY:  At the Small Wars Journal blog, Brigadier General (Ret.) Huba Wass de Czege -- founder of the Army's elite School for Advanced Military Studies (SAMS is also known as the "Jedi Knight program.") notes the import of the fact that serving field grade officers -- Majors, Lt. Cols and Cols -- have far more sustained combat experience than the younger generation of retirees acting as contractors or serving on CGSC and War College faculties.  He also highlights the "outside the box" thinking that SAMS grads can provide. 

IRAN claims its nuke program is peaceful, but Pres. Ahmadinejad has told the Islamic Revolution's Guards Corps that "Once Iran is established as a nuclear state, all the world nations would come under the political flag of Iran.."   Meanwhile, Iran's financial system suffered a jolt last week, with panic selling on the stock market after Ahmadinejad abruptly ordered banks to cut interest rates sharply, despite surging inflation.

AL QAEDA deputy leader Ayman al-Zawahiri has urged supporters in Iraq to extend their jihad to Lebanon, Palestine and Syria.  If only Lebanon, Palestine and Syria had not invaded Iraq... oh, wait...

AL QAEDA in IRAQ's TORTURE MANUAL:  In a recent raid on an al-Qaeda safe house in Iraq, U.S. military officials recovered an assortment of crude drawings depicting torture methods like "blowtorch to the skin" and "eye removal." 

IRAQ:  There is one matter on which US military commanders, many Iraqis and some of the Bush Admin's staunchest congressional critics agree: If the US withdrew its forces from Baghdad's streets this fall, the murder and mayhem would increase.  Iraq vet Phillip Carter has a step-by-step plan for withdrawal, while Iraq vet Owen West and former assistant secretary of defense Bing West have a plan for transitioning to an "adviser" presence.  The NYT claims that the admin is developing concepts for reducing US combat forces in Iraq by as much as half next year -- though reducing from 146K to 100K is not reducing by half (poor math skills at the NYT). Apparently, no top scenario has emerged.  It does look like the US is choosing the diplomatic track with Iran and Syria.  And with AQ now threatening to turn on Syria, something might come of it.

IRAQ II:  Moqtada al-Sadr re-appeared for the first time in months and again demanded that US troops get out of Iraq.  Sadr's aides have described the cleric's orders to stop fighting Iraqi forces as intended to improve his credibility and dispel allegations that the Mahdi Army was fueling sectarian violence.  Lt. Gen. Odierno, the No. 2 commander of US forces in Iraq, said he believed Sadr had returned to Iraq to shore up his organization.  At ITM, Omar is hearing a similar strategy.  Coincidentally, the same day Sadr popped up, Iraqi special forces killed the leader of the Mahdi Army in Basra after he tried to resist arrest.  Approximately 45 local sheiks met with Diyala provincial leadership in Baqouba to discuss their tribe's concerns, reconcile grievances and discover solutions to rid terrorism from the province.  And info from locals in Diyala led to a US raid on an al-Qaeda hide-out northeast of Baghdad on Sunday that freed 42 Iraqis imprisoned inside, including some who had been tortured and suffered broken bones.  Newsweek discovers the tribal salvation councils you have heard about here for about six months.  Michael Yon has a new dispatch from Anbar, with a bit about Mosul, also.  In Ramadi, 200 members of a Marine batallion have chosen to extend their enlistments, for no bonus money.

MONSTER PIG:  An 11-year-old boy used a pistol to kill a wild hog his father says weighed a staggering 1,051 pounds and measured 9 feet 4, from the tip of its snout to the base of its tail.  If the claims are accurate, Jamison Stone's trophy boar would be bigger than Hogzilla, the famed wild hog that grew to seemingly mythical proportions after being killed in south Georgia in 2004.

HAMSTERS are taking Viagra to cure jet lag.  That's their story, and they're sticking to it.  Richard Gere was unavailable for comment. (Thanks, Lance.)

A SWARM of BEES grounded a Boeing 737 bound from England to Portugal, just two days after the swarm of 20000 bees descended on Bournemouth Pier.

GIANT SQUID have returned to the waters of Southern California, and it appears that one has washed up on the beach in San Diego.

REGGIE the GATOR, who eluded would-wranglers in L.A.'s Lake Machado and managed to disappear for 18 months until it recently resurfaced, was reportedly wrestled into captivity Thursday and rushed to a zoo with TV news helicopters providing live coverage of its freeway journey at rush hour.

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