Karl 
BIG STAR: Stereogum is killing music with a track from the band's upcoming album. I would not be surprised if it sounded very much like… Big Star. There's also a download of Chris Bell's “I Am The Cosmos.”
THE POSIES' new album gets a mere 6.8 on the Pitchfork. I agree that the album is a bit uneven, but I was more generous without giving a number.
NOW THAT'S WHAT I CALL INDIE COVERS, VOL. 1 popped up at Salon after it was taken down at You Ain't No Picasso. It's proven so poular that it's back up for a few days at YANP. I would never encourage anyone to kill music, but it's apparently very popular.
FOUNTAINS OF WAYNE founders Adam Schlesinger and Chris Collingwood reveal the top five things that make a great cover song.
RICHARD THOMPSON: To celebrate RT's new album, Chromewaves is killing music this week with Thompson's cover of “Oops… I Did It Again.”
PETE DOHERTY UPDATE: If it's Thursday, the troubled singer must be back with galpal Kate Moss after smashing his guitar and setting his bed on fire.
RACHEL McADAMS, riding high between Wedding Crashers and Red Eye, is declared the new hotness over her old and busted Mean Girls co-star, Lindsay Lohan. A little ironic, given that McAdams is almost ten years older than la Lohan.
LOHAN LOWDOWN: After attending the Four Brothers premiere, la Lohan spent a lot of the after-party in the bathroom, according to Perez Hilton.
TOM-KAT UPDATE: Feathers were ruffled on the Paramount Pictures lot when Soundstage 17 completely swathed — a la Christo — in black canvas so no one could watch Cruise walk from his trailer to the set of Mission Impossible 3. Cruise ex Nicole Kidman was jumping out of her front-row seat at Madison Square Garden, grabbing her crotch and dancing “hip-hop style” to Eminem? Cruise is going to read that and think she's still possessed by a Thetan. BTW, Cruise super-lawyer Bert Fields wants everyone to know that the story that Cruise once had doubts about Scientology is false.
IRAQ: At Iraq the Model, Mohammed covers a protest for womens' rights under the new constitution, as well as a counter-protest, complete with photos and an interview. The New York Times ra a piece reporting that the Mayor of Baghdad was deposed by a Shiite militia, but the ex-Mayor's interview on Radio Free Iraq adds some context lacking in the NYT, which failed to note that the Mayor — who was installed by the U.S. — had already offered to resign and the new acting Mayor was elected by the local council. I'm not saying what happened was right, but the case is a bit more murky than reported.
BOZO IS NO BOZO and gets to hold on to his sweet rent-controlled apartment on West 58th Street in NYC.
MICK JAGGER denies that a song from the new Rolling Stones album, “Sweet Neo Con,” is “personally aimed at President Bush,” thereby alienating not only Bush supporters, but also Bush critics who wish it was about him or see Jagger's comment as a dodge. Last October, Jagger had said, “I'm from the school that considers it impolite to comment on other people's elections.” Now the election is over; perhaps more important, the tour tickets are sold. And the new Stones album will almost certainly sell more than Mick's last solo effort.
COURTNEY LOVE is putting the “court” back in Courtney, as a California judge ordered her to appear in court next week to respond to accusations that she took drugs while on probation. Will prosecutors enter these pictures from the Pam Anderson roast as evidence?
ALTHOUSE MUSIC: Prof. Ann Althouse has been music-blogging, with posts about over-the-top classic rock, and asking which five music performances would you like to have seen? Although my brother saw Rush open for Kiss for five bucks, one of the Althouse commenters to the first link (Jim Lindgren, who blogs at the Volokh Conspiracy) actually saw — among others — Jethro Tull and Led Zeppelin for five bucks, which is a pretty good deal. There's also a post about whether products remind you of songs, where the commenters seem to show that songs more often remind us of people.
THE 9/11 COMMISSION will investigate the claim that a military intelligence unit identified ringleader Mohammed Atta and three other hijackers as a likely part of an al-Qaida cell more than a year before the hijackings but were stopped from sharing the information with law enforcement agencies by Pentagon lawyers.
WOMAN SUES OVER HER RESCUE, saying she was rescued too late to prevent serious brain damage. RELATED: Superheroes enter relocation program.
THE MAGIC NUMBERS, a band noted here recently, walked out on Top of the Pops after taking their introduction to be a joke about their members' weight. The band generally take comments about their size in good humor.
THE HOLD STEADY tour dates are posted at More Cowbell! Many dates in cities where Pate fans live. The Constantines will open.
DUNGEN is making another swing in the U.S. Longtime Pate fans should note that one date is at a Unitarian Church.
STACY'S MOM totally bogarted the hot wings.
OIL-FOR-FOOD SCANDAL: Alexander Yakovlev, the U.N. procurement officer pleading guilty to fraud, could give prosecutors valuable evidence of wrongdoing at the organization. Benon Sevan, the head of the program accused of taking kickbacks, allegedly did so after losing money in a stock fraud. Also, Sevan has returned to Cyprus, which does not extradite its citizens.
RED-HEADED WOMEN are less likely to feel pain, according to preliminary findings that will be investigated in a study to be launched in Britain.
JESSICA SIMPSON: Via CNN, we learn that she blew her audition for the Mickey Mouse Club after hearing Xtina Aguilera. And her creepy ex-preacher manager Dad can't help but mention Jessica's accessories: “Somehow double D's don't really fit on the overall picture of what works in white Christian music.” Page Six reports that despite rumors of marital dischord, Simpson seemed territorial over her hubby at an NYC club recently.
BRITNEY SPEARS is denying any involvement in the pellet-gun shooting of a photographer who was staking out a private baby shower for the singer in Malibu.
BRADGELINA UPDATE: A binoculars-toting reporter for People magazine was arrested Saturday for trespassing on Brad Pitt's oceanfront property in Santa Barbara, where a fourth birthday party was being held for Angelina Jolie's son, Maddox. Seems more reasonable than shooting him with a pellet gun.
SCARLETT JOHANSSON seems to be getting blamed for the flop of The Island by the movie's producers. Of course, one of the producers also says, “It was a big risk to go out with an original,” which is a laugh-snorter to anyone who compares The Island to this dog (as noted here earlier).
SAUDI ARABIA: While King Abdullah pardons political dissidents seeking more freedom in the kingdom, the Saudi Interior Ministry announced the release of five Saudis after they were returned to SA from Guantanamo Bay.
SORCERER'S APPRENTICES are studying at a Hogwarts-style college in Austria, which is doing well on the coattails of Potter-mania.
KELLY CARLSON: The Nip|Tuck hottie got possession of the life-size sex doll exactly in her image used on the show. She can't bring herself to sell it.
JOHHNY DEPP: Director Tim Burton graciously (and rightly) gives credit to Depp's role as Capt. Jack Sparrow in Pirates of the Caribbean for making studio execs comfy with the quirky actor. For his part, Depp jokes that he should make a porn flick with Burton.
KEVIN SMITH: The director and pal of Ben Affleck seems a bit miffed that he was not invited to Affleck's secret wedding to Jennifer Garner. But if Smith is going to crack a Gigli joke, he should expect that someone remember that the original Bennifer appeared in Smith's Jersey Girl, even though few probably will.
HEATH LEDGER AND MICHELLE PHILLIPS are engaged, which is nice, given how pregnant she is.
CINDY CRAWFORD: Caught partying hardy in St. Tropez.
TEACHER CLEARED of kiddie porn charge. An investigation turned up a violation of the school's “technology policy,” but the school would not elaborate.
CULT OF THE iPod: Microsoft and Apple are engaged in ongoing legal combat over MP3 player-related patents, including some related to the iPod's super-cool touch-wheel controller.
LAPTOP LOJACK: Homing technology is coming to Gateway computers.
GOOGLE NEWS is now available via RSS feeds. For those who are unfamiliar with RSS, it is a way to syndicate material; for example, the entertainment headlines above my stuff at the top of the main page here is provided by an RSS feed. I think the random photo is also generated that way. And they are one of the ways I am able to survey as much junk as I do to bring to you here.
YAHOO! says its search engine indexes nearly twice as many items as Google. Nevertheless, Yahoo admits that size isn't everything.
BLOG STUDY QUESTIONED: The comScore Media Matrix marketing study on blogs released this week is coming under fire, with some reason. I was a bit dubious when it came out, so I'm glad people are taking a hard look at improving the measurement of the reach of blogs as a medium.
FALLOW DEER bag a million dollar pad at the new nature zoo on Belle Isle in Detroit.
DOGS are divas in Hollywood.
CATS are getting toilet-trained. Video at the link.
SNAKES turn up in a post office box and in a UPS truck. You just cannot trust those snakes — always trying to travel on the cheap.
IRVINE THE SEA LION set an Orange County distance record for wayward sea lions, swimming nearly five miles inland up a creek channel into the civic center in Irvine, CA.
NINJA TURTLES FACE DEPORTATION from Britain to Italy after horrified pre-school children witnessed them eating ducklings in a pond in north London.
GOAT crowned King of Ireland. No, really… but it's only temporary.
DOZENS OF DECAPITATED KANGAROOS discovered on the Yarrambat Park golf course near Melbourne, Australia.
TWO NEW LEMUR SPECIES have been discovered in Madagascar. one of them is being named after Steve Goodman, a Field Museum scientist who has devoted nearly two decades to studying the animals. The other should be named after Steve Goodman, the folk musician who wrote songs like “City of New Orleans” and “A Dying Cub Fan's Last Request.”
