JAMES BROWN: PopMatters has an incisive eulogy for Soul Brother #1, noting that the Hardest Working Man in Show Business was big o­n the philosophy of self-reliance (much like Ray Charles). Which is a good excuse to add that Mr. Dynamite had three costume change in three days for his various memorial services. It's also a good excuse to hook you up to these phenomenal clips of JB and the Famous Flames performing "Out of Sight" (introduced by Jan & Dean), "Prisoner of Love/Please Please Please" and especially "Night Train" o­n The T.A.M.I Show. It's no wonder The Rolling Stones were terrified to follow him.

THE YEAR AHEAD: The Denver Post has its own calendar of notable upcoming releases. If I was the Major, I'd be circling Feb 13th, as Lucinda Williams would make a great Valentine's Day gift.

CALEXICO'S Joey Burns shuffled his iPod for the A.V. Club and ended up discussing artists from Theolonius Monk to Scott Walker. I feel bad that I haven't mentioned Scott Walker more often, as The Drift got plenty of rave reviews. But it's pretty rough going, as you can stream for yourself via the ol' HM.

THE POLICE is rumored to be planning a reunion tour to mark their 30th anniversary, coinciding with an anniversary release by the record label A&M in June. Meanwhile, many miles away, something crawls from the slime at the bottom of a dark Scottish lake...

DEERHOOF: "Matchbook Seeks Maniac" is o­ne of the Best Songs of 2007, according to Gorilla vs. Bear, which also quotes fab indie rock author Michael Azerrad: 'Matchbook Seeks Maniac' pulls a "99 Luftballoons" breakdown move in the middle, rocks a Brahms interval in the pop-narcotic chorus, and the Beach Boys and the Who are all over the mix - it's o­ne of the most glorious things I've ever heard..."

SEEN YOUR VIDEO: "Alright Alright" by the Sahara Hotnights, rawk grrls in the mode of The Runaways and The Donnas. Rawr!

SEBADOH: Lou Barlow is a busy man in 2007. He not o­nly plans to tour with the original Sebadoh lineup, but also is part of the first Dinosaur Jr. album in 18 years. Sebadoh is also hosting bootlegs ranging from 1991-2003 o­n their official site.

TOM WAITS: "Lie To Me," the opening track of the Orphans set, made NPR's Song of the Day, with Tom Moon calling it "two minutes and 10 seconds of pure, unfiltered rock 'n' roll bliss."

QUEEN edged out the Beatles to win the title of greatest British band of all time in a vote organized by BBC Radio. They really are the Champions?

PETE DOHERTY-KATE MOSS UPDATE: The supposedly sober supermodel's rep denies multiple reports that she married the troubled singer in Phuket, Thailand: "Contrary to various entirely false media reports today, there has not been any kind of marriage ceremony in Thailand. She is o­n holiday."

JESSICA SIMPSON and JOHN MAYER rang in 2007 "full-on making out" at the Hudson Hotel party thrown by Christina Aguilera. Creepy dad-manager Joe was upset that his pneumatic daughter passed up a paycheck to do so. How long until Stereogum revokes Mayer's Strange New Respect? Meanwhile Nick Lachey and TRL host/ET infobabe Vanessa Minnillo were caught canoodling o­n camera, with Minnillo sufficiently excited or drunk to drop an "F" bomb o­n the MTV.

CAMBERLAKE: Are Justin Timberlake and Cameron Diaz dunzo? Star magazine claims they are...

MADONNA: The father of the Malawian boy being adopted by Madge wants to ask her how his son is getting o­n, but he doesn't have her phone number or mailing addresses.

TERI GARR -- already diagnosed with multiple sclerosis -- is recovering after surgery to treat a brain aneurysm. Her rep says: "The prognosis is very, very good."

COURTNEY LOVE has made a lengthy list of New Year's resolutions. Learning to spell is not o­ne of them.

BRADGELINA: Jolie tells Vogue: "I don't trust anyone." Pitt, meanwhile, is sharing skin cream with Cate Blanchett. It seems that the bald cap must be irritating him.

NICOLE KIDMAN broke down in a roadside rage after requesting a police escort to help reach her Rosedale holiday home. It's the first sign that Kidman is not coping well with the public scrutiny of her marriage and hubby Keith Urban's fall off the wagon. Meanwhile Urban's tattoos may disprove claims he was two-timing Kidman during their engagement.

MISS-CONDUCT: Former Miss Nevada USA Katie Rees -- dethroned after racy photos of her surfaced o­nline -- will not get a second chance from Donald Trump, according to pageant officials.

VICTORIA PRINCIPAL and her plastic surgeon hubby have finalized their divorce, agreeing to split more than 50 million in assets and setting aside a prenup.

RUPERT EVERETT usually does not interest me, but he has some amusing observations about being gay: "Being gay is a young man's game. Who wants an old gay man? No o­ne let me tell you. I could set myself o­n fire in a gay bar, and people would just light their cigarettes from me."

JESSICA ALBA: As post-holiday ennui creeps in, America's Sweetheart comes to the rescue with not o­ne, but two new bikini appearances.

GLOBAL WARMING: Amid the shouting lately about whether global warming is a human-caused catastrophe or a hoax, some usually staid climate scientists in the usually invisible middle are speaking up. MIT's Carl Wunsch: "Denying the risk seems utterly stupid. Claiming we can calculate the probabilities with any degree of skill seems equally stupid."

SOMALIA: As Islamists flee the country, southern sea routes were being patrolled by the US Navy, hunting for three al-Qaeda suspects wanted for the 1998 bombings of U.S. embassies in East Africa.

IRAN: A top advisor to Pres. Ahmadinejad claimed in an interview that Adolf Hitler's parents were both Jewish and that Hitler himself was o­ne of the founders of the State of Israel. Which would have been quite a surprise to the Nazis.

WHO IS CAPT. JAMIL HUSSEIN? Although the name appears as a quoted source in over 60 Associated Press stories from Baghdad, former CNN Chief News Executive Eason Jordan, now blogging from Iraq, writes that "If an Iraqi police captain by the name of Jamil Hussein exists, there is no convincing evidence of it" and that "Until this controversy is resolved, every o­ne of those AP reports is tainted." The response from the AP is more stonewalling, with exec. editor Kathleen Carroll stating that she had not read Jordan's item, and likely would not.

IRAQ: Multiple media reports suggest that Pres. Bush is planning to send more US troops to bring greater security to the population, rather than to train Iraqi forces. Some sort of campaign against al-Sadr's Mahdi Army may also be involved. This would mark a change from the strategy championed by Gen. Casey and hasten his departure from Iraq. It also differs from the Iraq Study Group report, which recommended increased troop levels to accelerate traning the locals. The Belmont Club picks up an analysis from the Small Wars Journal suggesting such an approach would likely increase the rotation time of Marine units from 7 to 12 months and Army units from 12-15 months.

FLUORESCENT GREEN PIGS: Made In China. They are not the other white meat.

"SICK THIEVES stole my dead hamster!" I wouldn't even try to top that hreadline.

COWS stare unamazed as Huey and Black Hawk helicopters airlift hay to cattle stranded in blizzard-stricken areas of Colorado and Kansas.

SNAKE knocks out a power grid in Florida. What will happen if the snakes join forces with the suicide squirrels?

AUSTIN the PUG ricochets around the Ritz-Carlton hotel room, bouncing from bed to chair and leaping high to lick the face of his personal masseuse.