THE ARCTIC MONKEYS paid tribute to Shirley Bassey by covering "Diamonds Are Forever" at Glastonbury 2007.

NICK LOWE doesn't mention her in the Brisbane Times, but it turns out he owes Whitney Houston a debt of gratitude.

PAUL McCARTNEY stopped by the World Cafe for an interview and mini-set, including "A Day In The Life."

LIVE EARTH, the concerts supposed to raise awareness of global warming, were held over the weekend, though the Arctic Monkeys, Bob Geldof, Roger Daltrey and Neil Tennant were among those noting the hypocrisy of energy-hungry pop acts touting the issue.  The event was estimated to directly generate at least 31,500 tons of carbon emissions and some 1,025 tonnes of waste at the concert stadiums - much of which will go directly into landfill sites.  In New York's Giants Stadium, trade unions blocked  attempts to recycle, and the 52,000-seat arena is not near public transportation.   And it's not clear whether those estimates included the 9000-LED backdrop Genesis used.  But some of those solid waste estimates may be high, as it appears that attendance at many of the venues was underwhelming.

GRIZZLY BEAR:  You can stream and interview and performance (or just the songs) from a recent session at KEXP via NPR.

TOM JONES, backed by JOE PERRY, cover the Arctic Monkeys' "I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor" at the Princess Di tribute concert.  Arctic Monkeys big-stage cover symmetry... catch it!

BILLY BRAGG, with help from Mick Jones, is on a campaign to provide musical instruments for prison inmates.  A similar program seems to have reduced the recidivism rate.

THE NEW PORNOGRAPHERS have another advance track, "Myriad Harbor," to stream and download.

AVRIL LAVIGNE responds to claims of plagarism on her website.  The Rubinoos are linking to her hit, their song (and various covers thereof) at their website.

AMY WINEHOUSE reportedly was propping up the bar at her London local The Hawley Arms when she was supposed to be entertaining paying fans.  Pals begged the singer to ditch her wild ways at what looked like a rehab-style intervention meeting in a London restaurant on Thursday night.

PETE DOHERTY-KATE MOSS UPDATE:  Model Lindi Hingston is so wracked with guilt over splitting the couplke that she had to spill her guts to London's Sunday Mirror.

BRITNEY SPEARS has set tongues wagging in L.A. after being seen several times with her former counsellor, John Sundahl, a 38-year-old real estate developer.  Sundahl reportedly told the National Enquirer he knows Spears is serious about the romance because she recently helped him recover from bowel surgery.

MADONNA has taken to badmouthing Britney Spears for her selfish behavior and failure to fully embrace Kabbalah.  Or maybe Madge is just trying to distract the press from noting that she -- a Live Earth headliner -- has invested millions in oil exploration, digging, and refining companies, and has a ginormous personal carbon footprint.

EVA LONGORIA and TONY PARKER got married in France, first in the obligatoty French civil ceremony, and again at a church.

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE:  Transformers takes the top spot with 67.6 million and 152 million so far on a 150 million budget (showing the import of controlling the budget).  It is already the sixth most successful release of 2007; that's Autobot momentum for you.  Ratatouille showed it has legs much bigger than rat-size, dropping only 38 percent, making 29 million and crossing the 100 million mark after the biggest ever opening week grosses for a Pixar film.  Live Free of Die Hard dropped 48 percent and made 17.4 million -- it has already exceeded its 110 million budget in global ticet sales.  License to Wed debuted in the fourth slot with 10.4 million.  Evan Almighty rounds out the Top Five with a 45 percent drop and still short of 100 million on a budget reportedly twice that amount.  1408 still showed some leg with a mere 33 percent drop and receipts more than double its 25 million budget.  Knocked Up was also leggy, with a 29 percent drop and a 132 million total on a 30 million budget.  The Fantastic Four continued its less-than-fantastic US run, dropping another 55 percent -- but it has made over 200 million on its 130 million budget so far.  Sicko dropped 19 percent, even as it added screens; it has made 11.5 million after three weeks, which is about half of what Fahrenheit 911 made its first weekend.  Rounding out the Top Ten is Ocean's 13, which added another 3.5 million for a worldwide gross of about 233 million.

A MIGHTY HEART, not performing so mightily at the box office, is getting triage from Paramount Vantage studios.

LINDSAY LOHAN was snapped partying with her mother and sister at a beach shindig in Malibu, though no one saw Li-Lo with any contraband.  Her ex-con dad is trying to force her mother to undergo drug testing, claiming Dina's drinking has contributed to Lindsay's recent troubles.

THE FRENCH HOTEL, who proclaimed herself a changed woman during her stint in jail, returned to attention whoring on the L.A. club scene over the weekend.

JIM CARREY will star in a Robert Zemeckis adaptation of A Christmas Carol, playing not only Scrooge, but also the ghosts of Christmas past, present and future.

MISS CONDUCT:  Miss New Jersey is refusing to give in to blackmail over a few supposedly racy pictures.  She recieved a second package containing a threatening letter -- and possible additional racy photos -- on Saturday.

DIVINE BROWN  claims her 1995 servicing of Hugh Grant made her a  millionairess.

SIENNA MILLER has been blamed for the break-up of American rapper P Diddy's long-term relationship with the model Kim Porter, the mother of his three children.  A spokesman for Diddy denied that he and Porter had split.  There's a pic of the couple looking cozier than this at the Concert for Diana afterparty.

TERROR in the UK:  Dramatic new video of the alleged Glasgow car bomb attack has been obtained by the BBC.  A top foreign intelligence source said that the London and Glasgow bomb plots were carried out with the approval of Osama bin Laden (which I take with a grain of salt), while senior security officials said at least one of the suspects was in recent contact with Al-Qaeda in Iraq (which seems more plausible -- or verifiable, anyway).  The FBI said Friday that two suspects had made inquiries about working in the US.  British Muslims are leading a new campaign condemning the recent attempted car bomb attacks.  A study of 172 al-Qaeda terrorists conducted four years ago by Marc Sageman, a forensic psychiatrist and former CIA case officer in Pakistan, found that 90 per cent came from a relatively stable, secure background.  Up to eight London police officers and civilian staff are suspected of links to extremist groups including Al Qaeda; political correctness is blamed for the decision not to sack them.

PAKISTAN:  Brainwashed children pleaded to die as martyrs in the Red Mosque siege.  Several key aides to Mullah Omar are reported to have been arrested the city of Quetta in western Pakistan.

IRAN:  Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has signalled a willingness to reinterpret Islamic law in favor of women's rights, but not following Western convention.  Meanwhile, an Iranian court has sentenced a women's rights activist to almost three years in prison and 10 lashes for attending a banned rally.  It's just one part of Pres. Ahmadinejad's continuing crackdown on reformists, women's rights groups and trade union leaders, to name a few.

IRAQ;  Muqtada al Sadr has returned to Iran, doing damage to his PR effort to remake himself as a nationalist and widening the rift between al-Sadr and Prime Minister al-Maliki, while clashes broke out between members of al-Sadr's Mahdi Army and Iraqi security forces in the southern city of Samawa, and evidence mounts that Iranian territory is being used as a base by al-Qaeda to help in terrorist operations in Iraq and elsewhere.  Gen. Petraeus predicted on Saturday that extremists were likely to try a series of high-profile attacks to grab the headlines ahead of his September report to Congress; don't know if he thought those attacks would come this past weekend.  Frustration with Iraqi forces caused prominent Shiite and Sunni politicians to call upon civilians to take up arms to defend themselves.  Even so, it's worth noting that at the current rate, the monthly civilian casualty figures would remain on the low end for the past year.  In the NYT, both Michael Gordon and John Burns had reports on progress in Baqubah and Diayala province.  One observation in the Burns piece -- "Not for the first time, the Americans learned a basic lesson of warfare here: that Iraqis, bludgeoned for 24 years by Saddam Hussein's terror, are wary of rising against any force, however brutal, until it is in retreat. In Anbar, Sunni extremists were the dominant force, with near-total popular support or acquiescence, until the offensive broke their power."  Which suggests what Iraq may resemble if the US retreats.

SKY the TABBY CAT has taken on two rottweiler puppies with her litter of kittens.  Awww...some pics at the link.

243 GOATS were killed Friday morning when a big-rig carrying them tipped over in San Rafael, CA's Canal area.  There were 157 survivors.

A RABID FOX was subdued by a five-year-old boy, who grabbed it by the neck and pinned it to the ground during a family barbeque, protecting six other children before his stepfather could kill the animal.

KNUT UPDATE:  The increasingly not-so-cuddly polar bear got his millionth visitor last Thursday.  Knut's public appearances with his trainer will soon be brought to an end.

HELPFUL HINT:  It doesn't hurt to check your toilet for the occasional iguana or frog.

NC GATOR has a way with b-o-l-o-g-n-a.