THE WRONG TROUSERS don't seem old enough to know that "Video Killed the Radio Star," but they seem to have studied it pretty well.

NEW RELEASES:  The White Stripes release Icky Thump and take over an old Tower Records store for the occasion.  Art Brut, the Polyphonic Spree, Mooney Suzuki, Rocky Votolato and more are streaming in full from Spinner.  The very trippy sophomore LP from Jennifer Gentle is streaming in full from HisSpace. Minus Story (from Lawrence KS) is also psychedelic, in a Flaming Lips sorta way.  And Lightning Dust -- a side project of the Black Mountain collective -- is streaming a few tracks, too.

A HISTORY of the FLEXI-DISC at Stylus has a money quote from Randy Johnston, who owns the Toronto-based record shop Molten Core:  "I used to consider flexis to be a cheap throwaway, but...(now) I can see flexis as a perfect piece of pop art. We're living at the end of a cheap, throwaway culture, after all."

MONTEREY POP turned 40 over the weekend, so Heather Browne is streaming some highlights of the legendary music fest.

DINOSAUR, JR, now reuinited, talk to Harp magazine about how their personalities have changed over the years.  Built to Spill leader Doug Martsch touts the band's influence, and J Mascis's guitar-noodling ability, to the AP.

OF MONTREAL backs AXE RIVERBOY (a pseudonym for Tahiti 80 frontman Xavier Boyer) on covers of The Zombies' "Care of Cell 44" and David Bowie's "Starman" for a La Blogotheque Take-away Show.  Add in Axe Riverboy's "Roundabout" and Of Montreal's "Wraith Pinned to the Mist and Other Games," for a Twofer of Twofers Tuesday. 

ROBERT POLLARD is not only realeasing two albums this Fall, but will also dip back into live shows, icluding one at Chicago's Metro.

PHIL SPECTOR TRIAL:  Former defense team member Sara Caplan was held in contempt of court Monday for continuing to refuse to testify about forensics expert Henry Lee's actions at the scene of Lana Clarkson's death.

RYAN ADAMS considers it a miracle he did not die.  Others consider his upcoming Easy Tiger LP focused and perhaps his best yet.

SUFJAN STEVENS:  GvsB wonders whether Stevens has new material about the state of Oregon, or whether it's a hoax.  Pichfork called his label, which says it's a hoax.

PETE DOHERTY-KATE MOSS UPDATE:  The supposedly sober supermodel acted as a roadie for the troubled singer, toting his acoustic guitar as she arrived at London's Royal Festival Hall for that Disney tribute concert.  Doherty is rumored to be reuniting with Libertines bandmate Carl Barat for a performance at this year's Glastonbury Festival.

FRENCH HOTEL at the GREYBAR HOTEL:  Shivering in the cold of her cell (at least it's cold to someone paper-thin), the heirhead made her dad a Father's Day card.  So cute.  She is probably out of jail next week, and her neighbors are unhappy.

BRITNEY SPEARS is threatening legal action against a Florida radio station that used a bald-headed photo of the pop tart on billboards that appear to call her sanity into question.  Interestingly, the lawyers' letter complains of commercial exploitation of her likeness, not libel.

ROSIE O'DONNELL:  Barbara Walters said that, while "it's very hard for anyone to follow Rosie" on The View, the co-hosts now are able to talk about matters like "heterosexual sex" that they couldn't discuss when O'Donnell was the moderator.  If you think Walters is exaggerating, note that O'Donnell reportedly said, "I've been hanging around with those heteros for a full year and it's not fun..."

JULIA ROBERTS gives birth to the too-normally-named for a celebaby Henry, largely wiping out coverage of Keri Russell giving birth for the first time.

KRISTY SWANSON, the original vampire slayer, was arrested late Saturday night for allegedly assaulting the ex-wife of her baby daddy and former skating partner, Lloyd Eisler.  Swanson claims she was the real victim.

LINDSAY LOHAN is being offered a free car service to ensure she gets from nightclubs to her home safely, when she comes out of rehab.  New York-based company Georgi clearly has great confidence in Li-Lo's ability to stay clean once she gets out of the Promises clinic.  US Weekly was reporting that Lohan canceled her 21st birthday party at PURE nightclub in Las Vegas on July 2nd, but the story seems to have vanished from the mag's website. 

KEIRA KNIGHTLEY and SIENNA MILLER:  Knightley hoped some of Miller's social skills would rub off on her, but the two are staying in and playing board games.

TOM-KAT UPDATE:  Cruise is at the highest level of "clear" in Scientology - and now he may even perform a wedding for a friend, Australian heir James Packer, one of the church's richest benefactors.  Cruise renewed fears he may "inject" Scientology propaganda into a new film about German WWII officer Count Claus Schenk von Stauffenberg by turning up at Scientology's UK HQ. The couple was spotted partying until 7 a.m. with the Beckhams in Madrid after David Beckham's final game in Spain.  And there was the traditional Tom-Kat PDA photo-op at the game.

MORE CANOODLING!  The New York Post's Page Six is likely to expand to three pages, which is one of the signs of tha apocalypse.  Just a little Mark of The Beast humor.

BRADGELINA:  Jolie says she's open to making peace with her estranged father, Jon Voight.  Maybe she looks at Shiloh and sees a mini-Voight.

PAUL POTTS, the 36-year-old mobile phone salesman turned opera singer, will spend the £100,000 won from Britain's Got Talent on dental work.

SHARON STONE and other celebs are headed to Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates, to raise money for AIDS victims - but are they doing it on the backs of that country's human-rights victims?

THE DARK KNIGHT:  Entertainment Weekly shows you Batman's new suit -- which is starting to look enough like the Joel Schumacher era to make me uneasy.  However, I do want to see more of the new Batpod.

JERI RYAN married French chef Christophe Eme in the French countryside over the weekend.  Jeri had accused her frst husband of asking her to perform sexual acts with him in public, and in adult clubs in New York, New Orleans, and Paris.

RATATOUILLE:  Speaking of French chefs, I saw the sneak preview of Pixar's latest over the weekend.  I'm waiting until closer to the June 29th opening to do a review, but circle your calendars. In the meantime, Jason Kottke makes some good points, including one about Pixar doing its homework on kitchens.  You can watch trailers and clips galore at Yahoo!

LIFE IMITATES MONTY PYTHON:  Dead guy not so dead after all.

TERROR in the US?  Large teams of newly trained suicide bombers are being sent to the US and Europe, according to evidence contained on a new videotape obtained by ABCNews.com.  U.S. intell officials call it propaganda; former White House counterterrorism official Richard Clarke takes it seriously.

THE UNITED NATIONS supposedly reformed its Human Rights Council, but the body now prepares to place Israel under a permanent indictment while eliminating expertsreporting on violations by Cuba and Belarus, and threatening those reporting on Burundi, Cambodia, North Korea, Democratic Republic of Congo, Haiti, Liberia, Burma, Somalia and Sudan.  Indeed, Incoming UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said that the slaughter in Darfur was triggered by global climate change.

IRAN:  Some 200 exiled Iranian dissidents of various political stripes gathered in Paris to launch a movement called "Solidarity Iran," seeking to devise more and better-coordinated ways of boosting efforts by people within Iran itself to replace the country's terrorist-sponsoring and brutal Islamic regime with secular, democratic rule.

IRAQ:  The US military began a major attack by more than 2000 American troops against Sunni insurgent positions in Baquba -- the capital of Diyala Province -- overnight, part of a larger operation aimed at blunting the persistent car and suicide bombings that have terrorized Iraqis and thwarted political reconciliation.  Bill Roggio has background on the major operations starting in the "belts" surrounding Baghdad and on joint Iraqi-British strikes on Iranian-backed terror cells in the south.  In Diyala, US soldiers also are willing to risk teaming up with militias to fight Al Qaeda-aligned groups.   Iraqi Prime Minister al-Maliki warned that US troops sometimes create new militias by arming Iraqi tribes, urging that such decisions be left to his government.  It's a fair point, though it would carry more weight if Maliki weren't backed by the Mahdi Army, while the tribes being armed are mostly Sunni.  CNN notes that raids aimed at disrupting the flow of weapons and fighters between Iraq and Iran resulted in the deaths of at least 20 militants early Monday in eastern Iraq.  Saudi Arabia calls on Iran not to interfere in Iraq's internal affairs, which is unlikely to deter Iran in any way.  Even Moqtada al-Sadr is continuing to criticize Iran to boost his nationalist cred; a high-level Sadr aide accuses Iran of helping Al Qaeda.  Basra's police chief has been reassigned or fired in the wake of two attacks against Sunni mosques in the city, reportedly sectarian reprisals for last week's attack on mosque in Samarra.  Iraqi officials do not expect a major Turkish incursion in the north.  In Baghdad, US soldiers found and rescued boys starving and chained to beds in a government-run orphanage for special needs children.

PAUL the BABY HIPPO is challenging polar bear cub Knut for public affection at the Berlin Zoo.

A ONE-EYED SNAKE was saved from being run over and shot in Rayville, LA.  And it wasn't even Mardi Gras.

THE SQUIRREL THREAT:  A giant flying squirrel has been found in Jharkhand, India arousing the curiosity of forest officials and a bit of concern among tribals.

ALABAMA KITTENS may buy Mitchell Morris a new boat motor and a new heart.

A BLACK SEA BASS had to be deflated by the Harbor Patrol in Avalon, California, last week.