Karl 
THE WORST RECORD COVERS OF ALL TIME, according to Pitchfork.
THE ARCTIC MONKEYS: ChartAttack reports that the band exceeded the hype at its North American debut gig in Toronto. At Stereogum, Scott reports the band's first US show was “fun, but I wasn't blown away.” Brooklyn Vegan was skeptical at first, but warmed up at the NYC show. As BV notes, you can stream the band at MySpace.
THE TOP 40 BANDS IN AMERICA TODAY makes its annual appearance at Information Leafblower, where Kyle polled over 40 “music/MP3 bloggers,” many of which I regularly link here. Knock a few off in favor of a few listed in the comments posted there and you've got a pretty darn good list.
BIG STAR PODCAST: I just noticed that Rykodisc has stuff like Jody Stephens discussing the history and quasi-comeback of the legendary band available for download.
WE ARE SCIENTISTS frontman Keith Murray chats with ChartAttack about the band's facial hair, whether the group really has buzz, and The O.C.
JEFF TWEEDY: The Albany Times-Union reviews the Wilco frontman's solo gig: “Tweedy's set demonstrated that Wilco's success is based first and foremost on his skill as a tunesmith.”
THE KAISER CHIEFS are forced to cancel Spanish gigs due to a “highly contagious and rare virus.”
BELLE AND SEBASTIAN: The BBC has video of a concert including tracks from the upcoming album. (via YANP) But it's not clear whether that ulbum is the previously announced Life Pursuit or the semi-secret one due in three weeks. I'm speculating that the semi-secret one could be a holiday album.
SMITHS REUNION? Rumors run rampant about a January charity fundraiser in Machester being organized by former bassist Andy Rourke.
THE POGUES are re-releasing their classic song “Fairytale Of New York” next month, but didn’t have a copy of the original single’s sleeve from 1987 — forcing the band to pick up a copy on eBay.
LISA LOEB will star in an unscripted series for the E! channel called “#1 Single,” that will follow the newly single singer-songwriter as she wades back into the dating pool.
DEL McCOURY gets a good review for The Company We Keep (which came out in July, but better late than never): “Even if one does not especially like bluegrass music, there is nothing about this band that does not cook with hotness.”
PETE DOHERTY-KATE MOSS UPDATE: The shamed supermodel Moss wants to reinvent herself as an actress and is asking her film star friends for advice.
TARA REID threatens the Clinton political machine. Surprisingly, the story has nothing to do with Bill. It seems that Chelsea has been hanging with the nip-slipping party girl, much to the chagrin of Sen. Hillary Clinton. A Capitol Hill staffer tells Radar: “All I know is I hear Hillary went nuts. She’s getting ready to run for President and her daughter is hanging out with Hollywood’s biggest mess.”
MATTHEW MCCONAUGHEY is officially People magazine's “Sexiest Man Alive,” though regular Pate visitors already had the heads-up. The mag has a gallery of hunks for the ladies… and CNN's Anderson Cooper for the gay men (NTTAWWT).
BRITNEY SPEARS' hubby Cletus — who is supposed to be a professional dancer — has broken his hand after spinning out of control on the dance floor.
ORLANDO BLOOM is being sued by The Firm, his former management agency, for commissions on the Pirates of the Caribbean sequels. Bloom jumped ship from The Firm in favor of Brillstein-Grey Entertainment in July.
KEIRA KNIGHTLEY is baffled by reports that romantically linked her to Aussie pop star Kaz James: “I never met him. Never. I only know about him because I've become rather obsessed with it, and I keep looking on the Internet.” I'm sure her model boyfriend is thrilled to hear that.
SHARON STONE agreed to drop her lawsuit against a plastic surgeon she accused of libelously claiming he'd given her a facelift, in return for his performing free surgery for children with facial deformities.
ANNA NICOLE SMITH goes out to play bingo and goes home with a pretty blonde barmaid in handcuffs. I know that's why I play bingo…
BRADGELINA UPDATE: Jolie has been asked to play seductive Russian agent Vesper Lynd in the next Bond flick,Casino Royale — but she wants her role toughened up. In the meantime, Pitt and Jolie have reportedly signed a pre-nup in advance of a December wedding. We'll see.
TOM-KAT UPDATE: Radar reports that South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone are a bit nervous about possible blowback from Wednesday night’s episode, “Trapped in the Closet,” which targeted Scientology and Tom Cruise — topics previously deemed “off limits” due to the actor’s close ties to Comedy Central’s sister company, Paramount Pictures.
TYRA BANKS and NAOMI CAMPBELL: The supermodels take their catfight from the catwalk to the closed set of Banks' TV show Friday.
DICK CLARK and REGIS PHILBIN will both be dropping their balls on New Years' Eve. Put your money on Dick; he's got that portrait in the attic.
SILLIEST CELEB QUOTES EVER, excerpted from a book in London's Sun. I dunno… there is stiff competition every day in this category.
MADONNA suspects the US government was “somehow in on” the 9/11 attacks?
IRAQ: Gary Sinise, co-founder of Operation Iraqi Children, blasts the media for one-sided, negative reporting on Iraq. Jessica Biel, Esquire magazine's Sexiest Woman Alive, has joined Serving Those Who Serve, to adapt the house of a soldier who lost his legs during the war: “Now I see how much these soldiers need to know that we support them, respect them and honour them.”
IRAQ II: Operation Steel Curtain continues, netting one of the five senior al Qaeda in Iraq terrorist leaders in the al Qaim region. Bill Roggio also links to a report on Provincial Reconstruction Teams, which were used in Afghanistan with great success, now being assembled in Iraq. Kevin Sites writes from Fallujah on success stories and problems with the Iraqi Army, which leads some to believe might keep the Iraqi forces from standing up completely on their own for as many as five more years. The key word there is “completely.” The Counterterrorism Blog sees the failed female suicide bomber as a “treasure trove of intelligence.”
FRENCH RIOTS: The government approved a law extending emergency powers by three months, even though number of towns affected by unrest dropped to 79. Olivier Guitta argues that Islamist extremists stand to gain from the ongoing violence. French Employment Minister Gerard Larcher argues that polygamy among immigrants is one cause of the rioting. I dunno 'bout that, though I think it's worth asking whether hyper-macho cultures — especially those lacking paternal discipline — do seem to breed violence, e.g., our old Wild West, street gangs in our housing projects, or Islamist gangs in French housing projects.
TECH-BLOGGING: The Wall Street Journal's Walter S. Mossberg rounds up his favorite tech blogs.
THE UN-TERNET: At the World Summit on the Information Society in Tunisia, negotiators from more than 100 countries agreed to leave the US in charge of the Internet's addressing system. “The Internet lives to innovate for another day,” said U.S. Assistant Secretary of Commerce Michael Gallagher.
EDU-BLOGGING: The latest Carnival of Education is online.
KINKAJOU attacks an 82-year-old woman in Pontotoc, Mississippi. The animal, native to the tropical rainforest zone of Central and South America, is often referred to as “night monkey,” but is kin to the raccoon. Indeed, it was a kinkajou that attacked the French Hotel last weekend. It's just funnier to write that she got mugged by her monkey.
SPARROW UPDATE: The Dutch animal protection agency is investigating the shooting death of a sparrow that knocked over 23,000 dominoes during an attempt to set a world record. The bird was a common house sparrow — a species placed on the Netherlands' endangered list last year. Meanwhile, the animal worker who shot the sparrow has asked for police protection after receiving death threats.
DUCK with a plastic six-pack holder stuck on its head is on the loose in Frederick, MD. That's daffy, but the party has to end sometime.
WATCH OUT, BOO-BOO! Hunters eventually could be allowed to kill grizzly bears in and around Yellowstone National Park, now that the population hs increased. Environmental groups are split over the issue. Already, federally protected bison that wander outside the park into Montana may be hunted in an effort to contain the possible spread of brucellosis.
