Karl Bade 
TOM WAITS is suing Warner Bros. over the royalty rates for downloads of his early recordings. Somewhat similar suits have been filed by voice artists from classic Disney films when those movies were released in a new format, e.g., videotape and DVD.
THE NEWPORT FOLK FESTIVAL (now sponsored by Dunkin' Donuts) has announced its schedule, which defines “folk” loosely enough to include Elvis Costello & the Imposters, Kasey Chambers and Buddy Miller. Of course, it still would be cool to see them along with Emmylou Harris, Richard Thompson and the rest.
THE HOLD STEADY get a rave review for their live show from the Hollywood Reporter.
JOHN FOGERTY: Guitar tech Tom Spaulding is blogging Fogerty's tour at Caught Up In The Fable. UPDATE: My co-clerk Debbie informs me that her boyfriend, Andon Davis, had to fix Willie Nelson’s guitar on a recent tour. (And Andon’s no slouch on the instrument himself)
ON THE PITCHFORK: Dinosaur, Jr. expands its reunion tour. The New Pornographers announce their tour dates also.
JUDGE WILLIAM H. PRYOR JR. was confirmed by the Senate for an appointment to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit, after fierce partisan debate on June 9th. His opponents objected to his comments and writings on abortion and homosexuality. Pryor has served on the court since early last year due to a recess appointment by President Bush.
ON THE DAY Judge Pryor was confirmed by the Senate, he authored an opinion is the case of Zibtluda, Inc. v. Gwinnet County (Adobe Acrobat pdf), a case in which Zibtluda (“adult biz” spelled backward) challenged county ordinances regulating — you guessed it — adult businesses. Zibtluda operates a business in metro Atlanta called “The Love Shack.” The allegedly prudish Judge Pryor's opinion noted that the law in question “regulates commercial entertainment akin to the 'Huggin' and a kissin', dancin' and a lovin', wearin' next to nothing' that the B- 52s famously described as occurring in a 'funky old shack.' The B-52s, Love Shack, on Cosmic Thing (Reprise Records 1989).”
THE CHRISTIAN RIGHT may not always fit the stereotype, having helped force the State Department to place a higher priority on battling religious persecution, set the stage for a cease-fire in Sudan, enact legislation aimed at reducing prison rape in the USA, push for more funds to fight AIDS in Africa, more foreign debt relief and for action on global warming.
CELEBRITY E-MAIL VIRUSES: An anti-virus software company has ranked the celebs most often used to spread e-mail viruses on the internet. You might guess which one is ranked most toxic.
MOBILE MUSIC: Napster and Ericsson are creating a music service that mobile phone operators can offer to their subscribers. Also, Sony Ericsson, has unveiled a Walkman-branded cell phone, while Motorola has said it will release a phone that works with Apple's iTunes service.
VHS R.I.P.? Wal-Mart will stop selling movies on VHS after the holdiay season, following Target, which is discontinuing them in September.
JACKO JUSTICE: Thriller is climbing the chart at Amazon. I wonder whether sales are up in brick-and-mortar stores, where you actually have to be seen buying it. A Jackson family friend and a top Hollywood talent agency are pitching a six-party reality-TV series focusing on how the Jacko family dealt with the months following Jackson's November 2003 arrest; the series was on the drawing board even before Jackson's acquittal. Jacko could still face a civil case, O.J.-style. But for now, Jackson's acquittal was welcome news to one group in particular…and it's not the BSA.
LUCAS AND SPIELBERG: Covert, passive-aggressive sibling rivalry. Imho, the basic thrust of this Slate piece is correct, though (imho) it's unfair to say that “Lucas' career rests precariously on a single film, directed back in 1977.” That dismisses American Graffiti, which not only was named to the Natonal Film Registry, but also made 140 million bucks on a total budget (production, prints and marketing) of under 3 million. It also ignores the immense impact he's had on movies outside of directing them.
CINDERELLA MAN A GREAT PUMPKIN: Executives and filmmakers behind the critically acclaimed boxing movie are trying to figure out why it's bombing. Some blame themselves for releasing it during the summer; others blame Russell Crowe's unheroic real-life antics.
DUDLEY DOES-RIGHT: The RCMP discovered al-Qaeda and Taliban “action reports,” information about fugitive terrorists, downloaded clips of Osama bin Laden’s voice, songs (including “I Am a Terrorist”), a video clip of a 2003 attack on a compound used by Westerners in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia and cassettes about insurgent attacks in Afghanistan in a laptop computer and materials seized at Toronto's airport in February. The laptop's owner, Zaynab Khadr, whose late father is officially identified as Canada’s highest-ranking member of Al Qaeda, claims the stuff on her computer is not hers: “This sort of thing ain't my bag, baby.”
BIN LADEN is alive and probably living in the rugged mountains bordering Afghanistan, according to Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf.
SEN. DICK DURBIN (D-IL) refused to apologize Wednesday for comments he made on the Senate floor comparing the actions of American soldiers at Guantanamo Bay to Nazis, Soviet gulags and a “mad regime” like Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot’s in Cambodia. In refusing to apologize, Sen. Durbin tried to change the subject to the Bush Administration’s alleged abandonment of the Geneva Conventions. That’s highly debatable, but if Dick is right, the soldiers at Camp X-Ray are committing war crimes. “Just following orders” is not a defense to such crimes, so Dick is smearing our troops, whether he wants to admit it or not.
BRADGELINA UPDATE: Jennifer Aniston goes on the record in Vanity Fair, suggesting that Mr. & Mrs. Smith split Mr. & Mrs. Pitt.
LI-LO UPDATE: The TVGasm post I previously noted was filled with “allegedlys” is now M.I.A. I smell a lawyer… But every picture tells a story, don't it?
SPAIN: Police arrest 16 people suspected of having links to Islamic terror groups; five were held for alleged involvement in the Madrid train bombings of March 2004, 11 are thought to have links to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.
WHY DID THE E.U. CONSTITUTION FAIL IN FRANCE? Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, the architect of the proposed constitution, has the answer: “It is not possible for anyone to understand the full text.”
THE END OF EUROPE: Economist Robert J. Samuelson writes that “unless Europe reverses two trends — low birthrates and meager economic growth — it faces a bleak future of rising domestic discontent and falling global power.” He later adds: “Too many people benefit from the status quo to change it; but the status quo isn't sustainable. Even modest efforts in France and Germany to curb social benefits have triggered backlashes. Many Europeans — maybe most — live in a state of delusion.”
A CASE IN POINT: In France, the unemployment rate has been stuck between 9 and 10 percent for a quarter of a century and not a single enterprise founded there in the past 40 years has managed to break into the ranks of the 25 biggest French companies. By comparison, 19 of today's 25 largest U.S. companies didn't exist 40 years ago. Thus, France looks to the U.S. for lessons, but wants to have more government as the solution. Good luck on that.
TOM-KAT UPDATE: Defamer is on a roll with an item about Cruise interrupting a business meeting for Mission Impossible 3 to order that an aide deliver cupcakes to Katie Holmes at Barney’s. He also invents a fun photo game called Rapture, Acquittal or Cruise? The two-twenty blog imagines Holmes' Scientology audit, which even comes with an MP3. Cruise wants to make Victoria Beckham (a/k/a “Posh Spice”) a star. Of course, Cruise has been trying to get the Beckhams into Scientology, too.
BILL MURRAY spanks a fan seeking a photo, but in that fun, playful way.
IRAQ: Following gloomy assessments of the state of Iraqi forces in The New York Times and Washington Post, Bill Roggio provides a wide-ranging review of the training and state of readiness of Iraqi Army units at Winds Of Change. Add to his coverage that Iraqi forces played a key role in freeing an Aussie hostage. Austin Bay blogs from Baghdad that “In at least nine out of ten security operations, the new Iraqi military is providing half of the forces,” according to Lieutenant General John Vines, the Commander of the Multi-National Corps.
IRAQ II: Mackubin T. Owens, a professor of national security affairs at the Naval War College, analyzes the progress of the overall campaign from a strategic perspective. Also, buried at the end of the AP story on insurgent attacks, it's noted that Iraqi legislators seemed close to agreement on a demand by Sunnis for more participation in drafting the new constitution. Though this has been an obstacle, we should remember that a few months ago, Sunnis were boycotting the political process; now they demand to be included.
DAVID BLAINE is sued by God's messenger on Earth. What took so long?
WHEN SEAGULLS ATTACK in Sheboygan, it's less like The Birds and more like High Anxiety.
DOGS: A golden retriever named Murphy has received a summons to appear in court in Newton, MA, to answer a complaint that he was being walked without a leash and was not up to date on his license.
NAKED JOB INTERVIEWS are inappropriate. So are naked medical class demos.
KANSAS STUDENT BUSTED FOR VOMITING on his Spanish teacher.
BARTER SYSTEM: You cannot exchange chicken for sex. Similarly, you cannot exchange a pygmy goat for crack cocaine.
QUOTE OF THE DAY: “I'm in love with my wife. You know when you're in love. It's like seeing pornography. You know it when you see it.” — Larry King, who has seen it five times.
