Karl 
THE ARCTIC MONKEYS' Lauren Laverne worries that if “I Bet You Look Good on The Dancefloor” is too big a smash, the band could become a one-hit wonder.
THE DECLINE AND FALL OF ELTON JOHN, at PopMatters.
DYLAN, McCARTNEY, HENDRIX and MORRISON memorabilia is going on the block at Christie's in November.
R.E.M. REUNION: Bill Berry claimed the throne for a brief set at the wedding of ex-roadie Dewitt Burton. The original quartet snuck on while the regular band was between sets.
ELVIS SINGS opera. Guess he doesn't want to bite the hand that feeds him so bad anymore.
RON WOOD is so unstylish his wife is afraid to let him dress himself.
LESLIE FEIST sounds like she's going to be busy for a while, but my favorite part is her description of her songwriting: “The backbone is melody — very simple melody and not a lot of complication. Whether that's because I don't know how to play lots of chords,” she laughs, “or if it's just my esthetic, I don't know.” Though you currently cannot listen to Feist at Listen To Feist, you can stream her completely solo KCRW performance.
THE CUTE ONE: Sounds like Sir Paul did a bit of a tribute to Lennon on his woulda-been 65th birthday at the MCI Center: “Happy Birthday” (not “Birthday”), “I Will,” “Good Day Sunshine,” “For No one,” “Let It Be,” “Magical Mystery Tour”, “Drive My Car”, “The Long and Winding Road”, “Blackbird”, “Eleanor Rigby”, “Yesterday”, “She Came In Through The Bathroom Window”, “Penny Lane”, “Back In The USSR”, “Hey Jude”, “Get Back”, “Please Please Me”, “Sgt. Pepper”, “Helter Skelter”and “The End.”
GbV: Former member Jim Greer's book on the band isn't supposed to reach stores before November, but Amazon is shipping it now.
THE STOOGES are playing the Big Day Out down under. How 'bout some US dates, Ig?
THE FALL: Some one at I Love Music just “got” the band.
MASH-UPS: The Morning News imagines some unlikely pairings, such as Fugazi Z Top's Eliminator.
THE SPECTACULAR FANTASTIC: A band so named has to have confidence. Cincinnatii's City Beat calls them country-tinged psychedelia and indie pop, which seems accurate enough, though “inspired by Uncle Tupelo” would get you into the ballpark also. The band is streaming its new album and offering the I Love You EP as a free download. I'm gald to say that the EP contains a cover of Del Shanon's “Runaway” and that it's not the best thing on the EP.
PETE DOHERTY-KATE MOSS UPDATE: A security guard is to sue the troubled singer for allegedly whacking him over the head with a microphone during a gig. Elton John thinks Doherty needs a hug.
BLACK REBEL MOTORCYCLE CLUB impressed the Hollywood Reporter with its transformation from noise pop to gospel-tinged blues. You can stream a couple of the new ones from MySpace. I thought the old BRMC was alright, but the new ones are better, imho.
MY SPACE: Speaking of which, the site's acquisition by Rupert Murdoch seems to be attracting big name advertisers, as early member concerns about MySpace changing under Murdoch's ownership has died down.
ROD STEWART was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Tuesday.
BRADGELINA UPDATE: Jolie is getting Pitt to stop smoking. And last night, she accepted the Global Humanitarian Action Award at a UN Association gala in NYC.
TOM-KAT UPDATE: Like Brad Pitt, Cruise had a security guard photograph a trailing crowd of paparazzi outside the Scientology Celebrity Center, only to have the guard take a beating from a photog.
BRITNEY SPEARS is calling Shar Jackson for advice about K-Fed? And spending a million to lose the baby weight? Given the subject, we cannot dismiss such rumors of gross stupidity.
JOHNNY DEPP: It appears that Ed Wood rubbed off on him a bit.
THE FRENCH HOTEL doesn't get it when her ex says she “earned” her engagement ring. Don Cheadle and Ryan Gosling would like to send her to Darfur.
MENA SUVARI is considering retiring from acting at age 26, because she doesn't find it mentally stimulating enough. Her ginormous forehead suggests there might be something to it.
ELIZABETHTOWN: Kirsten Dunst tells Cinema Confidential director Cameron Crowe is so enthusiastic as to be distracting.
DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES: Is the hit show having a sophomore slump?
THE NAME IS BLOND: Dave Craig, fresh from seducing Sienna Miller from under the nose of his friend, Jude Law, is the new 007.
UNCURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM, if you're a transvestite. Larry David was already loved by lesbians, so it's a natural next step…
WALLACE AND GROMIT vow to make more films in the aftermath of a devastating warehouse fire. The sets from their new film were not damaged as they had been in an exhibition and not in the warehouse.
MARILYN MANSON: Who doesn't want to smell like him?
HURRICANE KATRINA: Engineers studying the levees say the preliminary data suggests that better design and construction might have prevented the catastrophe.
IRAQ: One of Iraq's main Sunni Arab parties will endorse the country's new constitution in Saturday's crucial referendum, after negotiators agreed that a parliamentary committee will have four months after the elections to consider amendments to the document. There's a bit of a parallel to US history here. Bill Roggio looks at al Qaeda and the Iraqi Security Forces. As for the latter, I saw retired Maj. Gen. Robert Scales, a military historian and former commandant of the Army’s War College — and a critic of the defense Department's post-invasion planning — on TV today. He reported that he was impressed with the Iraqi mechanized unit he reviewed and noted that the “Highway of Death” from the airport to central Baghdad was bustling and much-improved from his prior trips.
CULT OF THE iPod: Stereogum (via Kottke) has tips on maintaining the Nano. Or you could just get the wooden cover. In Japan, you will be able to get your iPod at the 7-Eleven.
YAHOO is testing a new approach to delivering news search results, combining traditional media sources with “citizen journalism” from blogs and images from its Flickr photo sharing site. Jeff Jarvis notes that distinction between the “regular” news results and blog commentary can be rather arbitrary, providing examples.
MISTER SOFTEE and REAL NETWORKS have settled their antitrust case and forged a partnership to promote digital music and games in three agreements worth 761 million bucks.
IRAQ II: USA Today ran a story Monday titled, “Iraq rebuilding slows as U.S. money for projects dries up.” The paper's current and archived stories show that USAT has not covered reconstruction projects. At least readers who reach paragraph eleven will mow discover the 2,800 projects launched since last summer, 1,700 of which have been completed. The paper correctly notes that Iraq now generates more electricity than before the invasion. Iraqis have power about half the day because demand has increased about 60%, as Iraqis bought new refrigerators, televisions, air conditioners and satellite dishes. The story then paints a dire picture of Iraq's economy, without explaining how that squares with all those new refrigerators, televisions, air conditioners and satellite dishes. It's doubly odd that the story quotes Michael O'Hanlon of the Brookings Institution, as Brookings' own Iraq Index (pdf) shows that GDP increased an estimated 46.7% last year and is projected to rise 3.7% this year and by double-digits in 2006, '07 and '08. When I finished reading, I wondered whether reconstruction would be slowing as much had outlets like USA Today treated it as important in the first place.
GREAT PUMPKIN UPDATE: The US reclaims its lead from Germany by producing a 1,443 pounder in Rhode Island.
AMISH STINK: Residents of In Loyal, WI, are complaining about the growing amount of manure left by Amish horses on buggy trips to the town.
AMAZON FOLLIES: The Holiday season seems to kick off sooner each year, leading to the discovery that Amazon is pushing crotchless panties for Christmas.
WHO YOU GONNA CALL? Increasingly, mainstream scientists are studying the afterlife.
HOBBIT jawbone found in a remote Indonesian cave.
DEMON DUCKS OF DOOM go on display at the University of Washington in Seattle.
FLYING MONKEYS are officially extinct.
PYTHON vs. CAT UPDATE: Evidence piled up Monday against a 12-foot Burmese python suspected of eating a beloved house cat: An X-ray revealed the bulge in the snake's gut is a small mammal, likely a feline.
EARTHWORMS, CAT were among those taking part in a Blessing of Animals ceremony in Fargo.
150 LIVE LOBSTERS LIFTED: Inspector Bob Smith said: “Whoever committed this crime knew what they were looking for.”
NEW LIZARD SPECIES discovered in the Caribbean.
