Karl 
IGNORANCE IS BLISS: Knowing very little about country music, Johnny Cash or even how to sing probably helped Joaquin Phoenix turn in an Oscar-worthy performance as the Man in Black in Walk The Line.
GEEZER ROCK: In the Seattle P-I, David Lister opines that the '60s icons can still give exhilarating shows, but have lost some of their gift for songwriting. Lister asked Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey of The Who about this; Daltrey seemed to agree, saying Townshend could yet be the great chronicler of middle-age angst. Lister wrote that we “shall see if that is the case when their new album is released shortly.” Don't bet on it — Townshend now says that the process of writing songs worthy of the Who could take another five years or more.
BRAINY GEEK ROCK, including Death Cab for Cutie, Modest Mouse, the Postal Service, the Shins, Bright Eyes and Iron & Wine, is racking up sales. Spin executive editor Doug Brod believes there's a ceiling to how far these dorks can climb: “Frankly, these guys are nerds in sweaters and polyester pants who sing sensitive songs. That can only take you so far.”
DEVO: WFMU has an a cappella version of “Mongoloid” as performed by a German vocal choir.
CAMERON CROWE lists music you should hear at Amazon. Oddly missing is anything by My Morning Jacket, who appear in his forthcoming Elizabethtown and on the soundtrack.
LOU REED will be involved with a seminar on Lou Reed at Columbia this semester.
SIGUR ROS: The Icelanders get a great review, with links to streams and MP3s from… National Review online.
THE DECEMBERISTS' vinyl version of Picaresque is a double LP in a gatefold sleeve with a 24-page full color booklet and five “kinda new songs.”
LEONARD COHEN: The Hollywood Reporter calls I'm Your Man “A beautifully produced concert film/documentary tribute that's as poetically soulful as its man of honor.” Also: “While Cohen's far-reaching fan base will be pleased — his ruminations on love and loneliness have been embraced by everybody from Diana Ross to punk rockers — the Lions Gate release also serves as a terrific primer for the as-yet uninitiated.”
THE SMITHS hang in the National Galley in London. Because the music that they constantly play, it says nothing to me about my life.
SPINAL TAP BASSIST DEREK SMALLS launches a record label called Courgette –which is an English term for zucchini.
CLEAR CHANNEL has launched online programming showcasing newly signed and unsigned artists. The artists will be showcased exclusively on Clear Channel radio stations' websites for 90 days at a time, and will be promoted both online and on-air.
KANYE WEST VS. GEORGE W. BUSH: An unbiased head-to-head comparison. For example, which wildlife each resembles.
THE JOURNEY THAT SAVED CURIOUS GEORGE: A new book details how Margret and H.A. Rey, German Jews who created Curious George, fled in June 1940 from the Nazis advancing on Paris. Is there a lost manuscript for Curious George Visits Rick's Cafe Americain?
THE FRENCH HOTEL fears we will mock her mock musical efforts. Don't fear it… bet on it! Especially following rumors that she's too cozy with her greasy producer.
MADONNA: one-armed Madge is pelted with food in a resttaurant. By her husband.
BILL COSBY gains custody of Fat Albert.
HEIDI KLUM gives birth to a baby Seal.
TINA FEY gives birth to a mean girl.
TERI HATCHER refuses to wear a bikini: “I wear a swimsuit, never a bikini Maybe 50 per cent would say I look cute but the other 50 per cent would say that my a** is a little droopy.” Again, you really can't go around saying things like this without some polling to back it up.
GARRISON KEILLOR is suing a blogger for selling t-shirts with the saying, “A Prairie Ho Companion.” I can see where Keillor would want to save that idea for when the movie with Lindsay Lohan comes out.
JOHNNY DEPP grilled a puppet for acting tips.
FRODO is tickled by websites suggesting he is very, very gay. Like this one.
BRADGELINA UPDATE: Jolie's daughter Zahara, who weighed a mere nine pounds when adopted, gains six pounds; Angie calls her “chubby.”
J-LO makes her employees call her “Mom.” That's not at all creepy.
SEN. HILLARY CLINTON is distracted by a roomful of hottie men in pinstripes. But not too distracted to collect 200K from them.
MARCH OF THE PENGUINS: At the beginning of this month The New York Times critic suggested the popularity of the movie might be a “a response to the Orwellian political climate.” Now the NYT suggests it's a weapon of a vast right-wing conspiracy. For 99.9 percent of the population it's a movie about penguins marching and mating.
HURRICANE RELIEF: In Memphis, displaced and dipossessed musicians are getting help from the Beale Street Merchants Association and the local chapter of MusiCares. ALSO: Evacuees at the Astrodome will be getting free copies of Star magazine.
IRAQ: President Talabani said that U.S. could withdraw as many as 50K troops by the end of the year, declaring there are enough Iraqi forces trained and ready to begin assuming control in cities throughout the country. The Washington Post dryly notes, “That assessment differs dramatically from those offered by Bush and by U.S. military commanders in Iraq.” Joint U.S.-Iraqi military efforts have damaged the network of foreign insurgents led by Zarqawi, but the indigenous Iraqi insurgents have been tougher to track down, according to Director of National Intelligence John Negroponte. Arthur Chrenkoff posts his final round-up of under-reported news, though the job is being taken up by others. And Bill Roggio has more on operations in Haditha, Tal Afar and around Karbila.
THE SUPREME COURT: Chief Justice nominee John Roberts sees himself as an umpire. But how cool would it have been for him to say that he always wanted to be a lumberjack, leaping from tree to tree as the float down the mighty rivers of British Columbia?
NASCAR DADS: Sitcom writer Jack Burditt pays a visit to the track.
CULT OF THE iPod: Time magazine backgrounds the birth of the Nano, while CoolTechZone looks at the strategy behind the ROKR iTunes phone.
SNOOPING on YOUR TYPING just from the sound of it is now possible.
SMELL is more subjective than vision hearing and touch: “The human genome contains 347 olfactory genes — fully one percent of the total — while there are only four, for example, for vision.”
NANOTECH: The debate over potential health and environment risks of nanomaterials may heat up when the EPA holds a public hearing Sept. 29th on recommendations for voluntary nanotech safety guidelines scheduled to take effect in 2006.
ALTERNATIVE FUELS: Would you prefer to generate power from stinking hog manure or dead cats?
L.A. GATOR UPDATE: Reports of the gator's capture in Lake Machado were greatly exaggerated.
ANOTHER SMUGGLED GATOR roams the busy city streets of Nicosia, Cyprus.
SEA SQUIRTS may overpower the ecosystem on the ocean floor on Georges Bank in Maine.
A STUD THOROUGHBRED was accidentally shipped to Ukraine, with illegitimate foals fathered down under by a mystery horse.
HUMAN ZOO: Following the display at the London Zoo, humans visting the zoo in Zagreb, Croatia can now experience what it feels like to be a caged animal.
