THE WEEKEND STARTS HERE:
FRIDAY TIME-WASTER: “Paperback Believer” is a mash-up of monster guitar licks from the Fabs and the Pre-fabs, available as an MP3 download or as a glorious QuickTime video! You really don't want to miss John and Paul getting background vocals from Davey and Micky. Extra trivia: If you haven't noticed, the original background vocals in “Paperback Writer” are “Frere Jacques.”
YO LA TENGO is interviewed by Blog Up — a Canadian blog — in English and French.
LITTLE-KNOWN SONG Titles That Answer Questions Posed in Better-Known Songs are online at McSweeney's. Actually, there are answer songs, e.g., The Temptations' “My Girl was an “answer” to Mary Wells' “My Guy.”
SASQUATCH! FESTIVAL line-up is announced, for all you Washington staters.
BRAD AND JEN UPDATE: The estranged couple enjoyed a romantic meal together on Valentine's Day.
CULT OF THE iPod: MP3 players may revive the market for audio books. ALSO: Apple reconfigures its product line with eight price points.
CLASH OF THE CULTS: TiVo stock prices soared on speculation that Apple might buy TiVo.
AN EXPERIMENTAL TOOTHPASTE repairs small cavities.
ROGEREBERT.COM gives up “The Unwritten Rules of Oscar” for those of you in Oscar pools. You can also check out predictions at Gold Derby. FameTracker has an irreverent look at Oscar odds; InTrade is more serious.
CHRIS ROCK plans to joke about President Bush, Nicole Kidman, Michael Moore and The Passion of the Christ during his Oscar stand-ups. But one comedian who caught Chris’ pre-Oscar warm-up at the Comedy Store back in January told L.A. Weekly columnist Nikke Finke, “He’s going to need to work a lot harder. The act was not funny.” ALSO: Slate calls Rock “The William F-ing Buckley of stand-up.”
BOXERS OR BRIEFS? The answer seems to be “thongs,” if you want to protest the Bush Administration. Rock the Vote's latest efforts were dismissed by a White House spokesman, “We don't comment on undergarments.”
RUSSELL CROWE knows his classic punk bands. Too bad none of it rubbed off.
ELVIS COSTELLO is bringing out a double-disc edition of King of America, with 21 bonus tracks, including a cover of Richard Thompson's “End of the Rainbow.”
ANTHONY AND THE JOHNSONS are getting good buzz at L.A. Weekly.
THE DAVE MATTHEWS BAND is being sued over that human waste dumping in Chicago.
BLOGGERS AND RAPPERS: An article at Slate explores the parallels; Dan Drezner wants his doctorate.
BLOGGERS are also getting the news out of Nepal after the Royal Takeover and King Gyandendra censored the media.
MAN BITES DOG: Blind man, actually. No, really.
CHARM OFFENSIVE: fishbowl DC notes the ubiquity of the phrase in media coverage of President Bush's European Adventure.
WILL SMITH claims hottie Eva Mendez was cast as his love interest in Hitch because the studio was nervous about casting a black or white woman in the role.
PARIS HILTON'S HACKED SIDEKICK contains many NSFW photos and some very nasty rumors started by Lindsay Lohan.
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL is one of the few sites that has been profitable selling its content by subscription. But not to younger folks, which may not bode well for the future.