OVER FIVE MILLION SERVED:  Thanks for making Pate a part of your day...

THE VELVET UNDERGROUND:  A "new" live recording from the VU has surfaced, featuring a "new" song.  You should be able to stream it at the moment via the ol' HM.  The new song is "I'm Not a Young Man Anymore."  The video is a NSFW live take on the classic "Sweet Jane" from their reunion concert.

THE BOY LEAST LIKELY TO have another advance track, "I Box Up All the Butterflies" streaming via Pitchfork.

THE RAVEONETTES continue their blog interview tour at The Tripwire.

LES SAVY FAV stopped by KEXP's Seattle studio for a chat or mini-set to support its new album, Let's Stay Friends, which you can stream on demand via NPR.

ERIC CLAPTON & STEVE WINWOOD:  USA Today reviews the former Blind Faith bandmates' opening night of a three-show gig at Madison Square Garden, their first full concerts together in almost 40 years.  So, would you like to see a little of "In the Presence of the Lord?"

BEACH HOUSE:  The indie duo tells the Baltimore Sun that they were inspired by the music of the Zombies, Elliott Smith and the early Brill Building pop of Dusty Springfield. I would say it's a bit more ethereal than that, but you can check out "You Came To Me," the first video from their sophomore album, and judge for yourself.  You can stream the whole album this week via Spinner.

DUFFY talks to the Irish Independent about sudden notoriety: "Lots of people want to talk to me, but I'm honestly not that interesting... People should just listen to my record - it says everything about me."  Or they can check out the live BBC session she has posted at DuffySpace (not in the regular player, just scroll down a bit).  She performs "Mercy" and Hot Chip's "Ready For the Floor."

VAN HUNT:  The neo-soul man's third album, Popular, may be "lost" in the turmoil that has enveloped EMI, but his story is told in the Philadelphia Weekly and at Obscure Sound, with streaming tracks at the latter.

NICK CAVE, at 50, tells the Guardian that in some ways, life is no longer worth living; in others, it has never been better.  He tells the Scotsman: "The more alienated an artist becomes, the more interesting they become..."

TEGAN & SARA tell Laura Barton of the Guardian that their album, The Con, refers to... life.  According to Sara: "Well, it prevents you from thinking about what the reality is, which is that we're all just shuffling towards death and we're all going to lose everything."

NATALIE PORTMAN is infatuated with SCARLETT JOHANSSON's breasts: "Seriously, I would really want to grab Scarlett's breasts. She's got beautiful ones."

THE FRENCH HOTEL is returning to reality television and dating the brother of Nicole Richie's baby daddy.

NAOMI CAMPBELL was hospitalized in Sao Paulo and treated by one of Brazil's top specialists in infectious disease, the hospital's press office said Tuesday.  The temperamental supermodel reportedly had a small cyst removed.

SEAN PENN & DENNIS KUCINICH opened for a metal band the other weekend.  Dude!  That's my skull!

MISCHA BARTON:  The former OC hottie has been charged with four criminal counts related to a DUI arrest in December of last year.

TILDA SWINTON went to the Oscars with her German artist boyfriend Sandro Kopp, but phoned her long-term partner and the father of her ten-year-old twins to tell him she won, as their Scotland home has no TV.

EVA MENDES is back from the Cirque Lodge rehab center in Utah and is looking good after having been a presenter at the Independent Spirit Awards.

PAM ANDERSON is now seeking to annul her brief marriage to Rick Salomon rather than getting a standard divorce, according to court papers.

MADONNA went to jury duty in L.A. on three hours of sleep after the Oscars.

BRITTANY MURPHY is driving the crew on her new movie crazy with her increasingly bizarre behavior.

HARRY POTTER star Daniel Radcliffe was held tightly for an embarassingly lingering kiss from a male fan at an awards show in London.  NTTAWWT.  Pics and video at the link.

DREW BARRYMORE & JUSTIN LONG make each other's cheeks hurt... from all the smiling.

ELIZABETH BANKS & SETH ROGEN complete the effing trifecta with the incredibly NSFW and unbleeped video, "I'm Effing Seth Rogen," from the set of Kevin Smith's Zack And Miri Make A Porno.  Hey, once Matt Damon and Ben Affleck had done it, you just knew Kevin Smith would want to jump on the pile.  Who else was going to out-gross Sarah Silverman?

TERROR in the UK:  A man said to be one of the most important recruiters for Islamist extremism in the UK has been convicted at the end of a major trial.  Among those to have passed through Mohammed Hamid's camps were the four failed suicide bombers of July 21, 2005.

PAKISTAN inadvertently cut-off worldwide access to YouTube on Sunday, leaving network administrators and Internet activists wondering whether such a disruption could be reproduced by someone with more malicious intent.

AFGHANISTAN:  France may send hundreds of ground troops to east Afghanistan where NATO-led forces are fighting al Qaeda-backed insurgents, Le Monde newspaper reported on Tuesday.  The US is heading a campaign for what it calls a fairer sharing of the burden in the fight against Taliban insurgents. Britain, Canada, Poland and others have backed the US demand.  Germany, Italy and Spain have troops in relatively secure areas and have refused to send troops to southern and eastern provinces where the militants are most active.  ALSO:  Al Qaeda operatives are monitoring Facebook, possibly looking for personal info to attack the friends and families of soldiers.

IRAN:  Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei praised the handling of the nation's nuclear controversy by Pres. Ahmadinejad, who has often alarmed the West with speeches vowing no compromise.  "One example of an advance by the Islamic system has been the nuclear issue, in which the Iranian nation has honestly and seriously achieved a great victory," Khamenei was quoted by state radio as telling Iranian officials.

IRAQ:  Michael J. Totten blogs a patrol in Anbar province that shows the degree to which Iraqis are starting to run things, though this entry has an explosive ending.  The Defense Department is projecting that when the US troop buildup ends in July, there will be about 8000 more troops on the ground than when it began, a senior general said Monday.  I would think that would be the case at least through October, when Iraq has scheduled the provincial elections.

POLICE DOGS in Duesseldorf, Germany, will soon be equipped with blue plastic fiber shoes.

PET HOARDING:  Open up Shirley Neely's two fridges and you will find 75 hibernating tortoises.  Pics at the link.

IT'S ELEPHANT SEASON in South Africa, for the first time since 1994.

THE SQUIRREL THREAT:  A militant squirrel threatens Homer Simpson's food supply.

HORSES wandering along Interstate 64 stopped eastbound traffic at the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel in Virginia for about 30 minutes Tuesday morning.