JACK WHITE: He's a dad, as model/wife Karen Elson gave birth to Scarlett Teresa, their first child, in their new home state of Tennessee. He's telling NME that the Raconteurs is “a long-term project” for him. And the American Chronicle looks at issues raised by Jack's Coke ad, with links to videos of the ad and the Rolling Stones' Rice Krispies ad (both of which are worth seeing, if you missed them here).
BOB DYLAN kicked off his DJ stint on XM radio with a show about weather, including tracks from Fats Domino, Jimi Hendrix, Judy Garland and Muddy Waters. Because you don't need to be a weatherman to know which way the wind blows.
THE FIERY FURNACES tell Entertainment Weekly about their childhood, their past day jobs, and what they have in common with John Mellencamp. There's also a link to their brand new video for ''Benton Harbor Blues.'' Matt Friedberger will release a solo double-disc this August. You can hear music from Bitter Tea at the band's website.
DESTROYER frontman (and New Pornographer) Dan Bejar tells Seattle Weekly — among other things — that his songwriting process is usually more about rhythm than rhyme. I think you can still stream the Rubies album from Merge Records.
BOB MOULD gets an apology of sorts from the aptly-named Let's Kiss and Make Up blog, which posts an acoustic bootleg recorded in May 1991 at McCabes Guitar Shop in Santa Monica, CA. You can stream it all from the Hype Machine; whet your whistle with an acoustic “Makes No Sense At All.”
ROBERT POLLARD: The former Guided by Voices front man remains ever-prolific, with four new releases coming this year, three of them this month.
SHEARWATER has a new album coming next week, with Jonathan Meiburg as the sole songwriter (a duty previously shared with his Okkervil River bandmate Will Sheff). There are two downloads from Palo Santo available through the band's label. Just between you and me, I prefer Scheff's work, but that's the opposite of faint praise.
SEEN YOUR VIDEO: “(Do You Remember) Rock 'N' Roll Radio” by the Ramones? Its wall of sound was produced by the legendary murder suspect Phil Spector.
KEITH RICHARDS reportedly suffered a small brain hemorrhage when he fell out of that palm tree and is due to have his skull drilled. This is not expected to affect Keef, who is, after all, Lord of the Undead.
TEDDY THOMPSON, son-of-you-know-who and you-know-who, played the World Cafe. The set is streaming from NPR.
MY MORNING JACKET is performing with the legendary Boston Pops for Pops on The Edge June 21 and 22. Freebird!
SYSTEM OF A DOWN isn't really my bag (baby), but if you're a fan, you should know the band is going on hiatus, but not breaking up.
GARY LOURIS and MARK OLSON: The ex-Jayhawks talk about the past and their future plans to Reuters. Kudos to reporter Dean Goodman for starting with a “Blue” reference! If you haven't heard that great song, you can stream “Blue” from the Hype Machine.
DAVID BOWIE is “fed up with the industry” and is going to spend the next year watching Woody Allen movies.
GARY GLITTER: The BBC received scores of complaints after airing an interview that gave the disgraced former glam rocker a prime-time platform to deny his crimes against young girls.
TOM-KAT UPDATE: After riding the crazy train around NYC, Cruise guzzles olive oil and tells David Letterman he can't wait to marry Holmes. He's been saying that for awhile, but might mean it now that the pair have inked a 40 million dollar prenup which they've been working on for the past few weeks. A 15 million dollar trust has been set up for Holmes and Princess Tom-Kitten regardless of whether she marries Cruise, but if they do marry and later divorce, Holmes will receive an extra 25 million bucks. Meanwhile, Perez Hilton claims that OK magazine has paid heavily to score the first pics of Princess Tom-Kitten.
BRITNEY SPEARS has scheduled a press conference for today — but hasn't revealed what she's going to natter about. Maybe she's planning to move from Hollywood to Louisiana, in a Bizzaro World version of The Beverly Hillbillies. Meanwhile, Spenderline has been nattering about wanting a threesome with Jessica Alba, choosing to save Sean Preston over Britney Spears if they were both drowning in the ocean, and thinking Britney Spears is better in bed than Shar Jackson. While I often resort to a certain kind of humor here, I honestly believe that I have a better shot at a threesome with Jessica Alba than he does. Really, who doesn't, aside from people with AIDS?
DENISE & HEATHER & RICHIE & CHARLIE… & DAVID: From the “small world” file, we learn that Sheen and Locklear share the same lawyer. Us Weekly reports that Richards hopes to marry again. Sheen contends he’s a victim of Richards' “psychological terrorism.”
BRADGELINA: People magazine surveys and rubbishes the current round of rumors about the couple. To be fair, however, while Jolie is not planning to buy a small African nation of her own, she was reportedly buying Richard Branson's man-made version of Ethiopia, located in Dubai.
NICOLE RICHIE admits she has a weight problem. But she doesn't know what it is.
DEAD MAN'S CHEST: A full trailer for the Pirates of the Caribbean sequel has leaked onto the 'net, but be warned… spoilers ahead, matey!
SIENNA MILLER: Everyone thought she was done with her Factory Girl co-star, Hayden Christensen — but maybe not.
JESSICA SIMPSON: Is the pneumatic blonde crushing on British pop star James Blunt? Star magazine thinks so…
ANOTHER SOPRANO ARREST: on the heels of Artie Bucco, actor Louis Gross — who plays Tony Soprano's muscleman — has been charged with criminal mischief. He also is accused of roughing up a Manhattan merchant in February.
EVA LONGORIA: The Desperate Housewife has to run naked around the outside of the house when she loses at air hockey to beau Tony Parker. Take note, Teri Hatcher.
ANNA NICOLE SMITH, fresh off a Supreme Court victory, is rumored to be pregnant. That's going to be one marinated fetus.
OVERPRICED STARS: Entertainment Weekly claims Jim Carrey, Nicole Kidman, Will Ferrell and Eddie Murphy are too pricey. Tom Hanks is thought to be “worth every penny,” while Jake Gyllenhaal and Rachel McAdams are considered bargains. I'm guessing their respective agents got some uncomfortable phone calls.
C IS FOR COOKIE: There isn't a release date for V for Vendetta yet, so make do with this uncompromising vision of snack time.
EDU-BLOGGING: The 65th Carnival of Education is online. And I have timely linked two weeks running — a new record!
IRAQ: Iraq's president says he had met with Sunni Arab insurgent leaders and claims that the insurgents “do not think that the Americans are the main enemy. They feel threatened by what they call the 'Iranian threat.'” I'm not shocked, as the US has been siding with Sunni (and Kurd) efforts to moderate the majority Shia bloc on key issues these past few months. The Belmont Club obtained a copy of retired General Barry McCaffrey's report on his latest trip to Iraq (April 13-20). The Iraq skeptic concludes in part: “There is no reason why the US cannot achieve our objectives in Iraq… It was very encouraging for me to see the progress achieved in the past year.” And after Christopher Hitchens criticized one of Prof. Juan Cole's, Cole responds by calling Hitchens a drunk, though Andrew Sullivan says Hitch was sober… and right. Cole's piece ends with, “One, two, three, four. We don't want your stinking war!” Which, aside from its professorial tone, is kind of embarassing from someone falsely claiming to have been a war opponent all along.
IRAN: The Iranian military rejected a statement from a top Revolutionary Guards commander that Israel would be targeted in response to any US attack. Iran's nuclear chief says his nation had enriched uranium to the upper end of the range needed to make fuel for reactors. Russia's new UN ambassador, Vitaly Churkin said Moscow would be prepared to back a Franco-British draft resolution on the Iranian nuclear crisis if its concerns were addressed… but remained opposed to the use of force or sanctions to resolve the nuclear standoff with Tehran. BTW, Churkin is a longtime diplomat-bureaucrat, going back as least as far as when Gorbachev ran the USSR. That's when I met Churkin — yes, I'm a terrible name-dropper!
KRAZY KAT UPDATE: Lewis the cat, who was ordered confined to Cisero's High Street home after he attacked several women, including an Avon representative, is going on trial.
SNEAKERS THE CAT is being reunited with his owner in Seattle, after turning up in Sacramento ten years later.
PUPPIES, unlike bombs, can move in a travel bag.
A GOAT demands an education in Plano, TX.
AN INJURED 500-POUND LOGGERHEAD SEA TURTLE was rescued from the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway by Georgia wildlife officials. So what's the turtle going to do? It's going to Sea World!