HAPPY 65TH BIRTHDAY, Bob Dylan! Did you remember to sign up for Social Security? The linked story has a quote from Warren Zanes of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, which is running a special exhibit. And if you're guessing that Warren was in the Del Fuegos, you're as big a geek as I am… and correct (Indeed, you can hear Warren play at NPR). But I digress. YouTube has Gregory Peck introduce a short biodoc from the Kennedy Center Honors. You might also dig “All I Really Wanna Do” from the '64 Newport Jazz Festival, the iconic “Subterranean Homesick Blues” footage from Don't Look Back, his TV duet with Johnny Cash on “Girl From the North Country,” his performance of “Forever Young” with “new Dylan” Bruce Springsteen at the Hall 'o' Fame in '95 and the Oscar-winning “Things Have Changed” from Wonder Boys, a movie I highly recommend. And as Dylan was so oft-covered, here's Jimi Hendrix's deliciously whacked-out version of “Like A Rolling Stone” from the Monterey Pop Festival. Plus, you should be able to stream loads of Dylan and Dylan covers from the Hype Machine, including rare Basement Tapes of Bob and The Band, like “All You Have To Do Is Dream” (not the Everly Bros. song), Neko Case covering “Buckets of Rain” and (relative) newcomers Page France covering “I'll Keep It With Mine.” BONUS: Like I'm not going to link you to William Shatner's classic version of “Mr. Tamborine Man.”
DAN ZANES: Speaking of former Del Fuegos, Warren's brother is profiled in the Village Voice, where he explains why he's selling his latest kids' album at Starbucks: “We share the same values: We aren't interested in marketing to kids… Starbucks is selling coffee—they're not trying to build brand loyalty in eight-year-olds.” I hooked you up with audio clips from the album last week.
BONO, after guest-editing London's Independent, blogs at the Guardian about why proud to be working with Gap and Nike to raise money to fight AIDS. However, I'd note that while the Nike Foundation is donating money, the “Red products” site actually features Converse shoes.
MISSION OF BURMA: The Phoenix covers the art-punk pioneers during a DJ gig. You can hear the new album at the Obliterati site. At Chromewaves, Frank is running a contest to win a limited-to-500 edition of eight MoB single-sided 12-inchers. He's also killing music with a live REM cover of “Academy Fight Song.”
HARRY NILSSON: PopMatters has a piece on “The Unraveling of Nilsson.” Folks tend to forget that he was there for John Lennon's infamous “Lost Weekend,” “cutting the album Pussycats with him, a Chiltonesque self-destruct-o-rama on which you can hear his vocal cords shredding.” Remember, there's a Nilsson comp streaming in full from AOL Music this week.
AXL ROSE vs. TOMMY HILFIGER: The untold story.
THE LITTLE ONES are getting good buzz in the music blogosphere at the moment for an EP of tunes that recall bands like the Shins and Built to Spill. You can stream a few of those tunes via the Hype Machine.
PROTEST MUSIC: The Louisville Courier-Journal compares and contrasts Neil Young's “Living With War” and Pearl Jam's self-titled album.
BRIAN ENO tells London's Guardian amusing stories about the difficulty of playing with others, even if those others are Paul Simon and his former band Roxy Music.
ART BRUT make Song of the Day at NPR with “My Little Brother.” Bruce Warren aptly describes frontman Eddie Argos as “a weird combination of Jonathan Richman and Pulp's Jarvis Cocker.” And you should check 'em out on MySpace also, if you haven't already. Don't cheat yourself, you'll only kick yourself later.
ANDERSON COOPER: The CNN anchor is trying to boost his indie street cred. Given his lackluster ratings, maybe he should consider a career as a DJ.
DEERHOOF bassist/guitarist Chris Cohen announced that he is returning to his pre-Deerhoof band the Curtains, but the split was so amicable that Deerhoof celebrated by posting a new EP of four covers and five live cuts as one giant, free MP3.
UK INDIES: London's Independent profiles four indie labels, with histories and top tips for '06.
SONY CD-PROTECTION DEBACLE: Coolfer Glenn hooks you up with the details of the class-action settlement. Check to see if you're owed some free music!
PETE DOHERTY-KATE MOSS UPDATE: The troubled singer reportedly vows to kick drugs to win back the supposedly sober supermodel. But I think we've heard that before.
DENISE & HEATHER & RICHIE & CHARLIE: Contrary to prior reports, it looks like Denise and Richie remain an item. That's the couple caught canoodling in Italy. Meanwhile, Richards announced her intent to go after Sheen's pension funds.
BRITNEY SPEARS told the world a short time ago that she was dropping Kabbalah because her baby was her religion. But it may be that her mom told her to drop Kabbalah because the Center kept asking for money.
JESSICA SIMPSON has her goons close public bathrooms for her.
THE ARTIST CURRENTLY KNOWN AS PRINCE was the World's Sexiest Vegetarian, by an annual online poll conducted by PETA. He shares the title with Veronica Mars star Kristen Bell, who says she's always loved her Brussels sprouts. And what's sexier than that?
JON FAVREAU is using MySpace to solicit fan input on the Iron Man movie he's slated to direct.
TODAY'S ODD CELEB BABY NAMES: Ex-Spice Girl Geri Halliwell has named her daughter Bluebell Madonna. Penn Gilette (of Penn & Teller) has a new son named Zolten. To be fair to Penn, it appears that Zolten is his wife's maiden name, though he adds, “most importantly, it's the name of Dracula's dog.”
BRADGELINA: Pitt sent an e-mail to the Cannes Film Festival, saying he was unable to attend because of the “imminent arrival” of his new baby. How imminent is open to question; Jolie is rumored to be trying to induce labor with yoga. Meanwhile, half of Namibians voting in an informal radio survey believe the day Jolie gives birth should be declared a national holiday. Finally, In Touch magazine claims that Namibian Gov. Samuel Nuuyoma will announce Friday that the couple is letting him name the baby.
VAUGHNISTON: Jennifer Aniston has decided that it is sometimes good to get divorced. And she thinks Vince Vaughn is the “cream of the crop”… as a comedic actor. But she kept her distance from him on the red carpet at Monday's L.A. premiere of The Break-Up.
TERI HATCHER: The Desperate Housewife is sufficiently desperate that she's begged for love scenes. Series creator Mark Cherry joked: “I think she pushes me to have her date on the show because it's the only action she gets.” Hatcher may want to consider that being so publicly desperate may perpetuate a vicious circle, as men start to wonder why no one else will date her.
THE GALLERY OF THE ABSURD wonders whether the celebrification of the culture will filter into US schoolbooks, to wickedly satirical results.
THE FRENCH HOTEL gets paid six and seven figures to show up and wave at charity events. Is that good money management by these charities?
KEVIN COSTNER says not to believe any reports that he and his wife may be splitting. Those rumors seem to have popped up after Costner was revealed as the guy who insisted on a “happy ending” to a hotel massage.
HUGH JACKMAN has to wear his Wolverine outfit to spice up his sex life.
JODIE FOSTER covers Eminem. Where is Hannibal Lecter when you need him?
IRAQ: The story suggesting that the US would join the Uk in announcing troop reductions inched closer, from the Raw Story blog to London's Guardian. And Pres. Bush said the US would take a fresh look at the situation with the newly-installed government, though Brig. Gen. Ham was cautious at Tuesday's Pentagon presser. However, Ham also had an animated slide showing the degree to which Iraqi forces have been taking the lead since last October. The New York Times took a break from its usual coverage to note the civil society and charitable organizations that have sprung up since Saddam was toppled.
IRAN: As the five permanent UN Security Council members and Germany work toward a reslution threatening sanctions if Tehran refuses to abandon uranium enrichment, it's no surprise that Iran is both trying to request bilateral talks with the US on the one hand and test-firing the Shihab-3 intermediate-range ballistic missile — which Iran has modified to carry a nuclear warhead — on the other. (BTW, has Iran explained why they modded their missiles if they only want a peaceful nuclear power program?) No doubt such tactics are an attempt to bolster China and (to a lesser degree) Russia in their typical do-nothing posture.
NSA SURVEILLANCE: The Senate Intelligence Committee voted 12-3 to recommend former NSA head Gen. Michael Hayden to head the CIA, which means even a majority of the panel's Democrats voted for him. While voting for him, Sen. Carl Levin couldn't help himself, claiming that “George Tenet shaped the intelligence, distorted the intelligence, and exaggerated the intelligence as Director of the CIA” to held get the US to invade Iraq. Aside from the fact that Tenet was a holdover from the Clinton Administration, Sen. Levin seems to have forgotten that he voted for an Intell Cmte Report that says exactly the opposite (Conclusions 83 and 84). Sen. Levin might want to review how the US got there.
FLORIDA GATOR ATTACKS: Trappers captured the 6-foot gator they believe killed Malibu, a Yorkie-Maltese mix in the wrong place at the wrong time. Yesterday, a gator stopped rush-hour traffic on Florida's Turnpike to cross the road. During the past week, three Florida women were killed by gators, but experts say they are attacking with no greater frequency.
A MOUNTAIN LION tried to eat someone's dog in Fort Collins, CO without considering how well armed the locals are. It was a fatal miscalculation by the big cat.
HISS THE BOA CONSTRICTOR, who happens to be 10 ft. long, scared off a “bloke in a hoodie” who was breaking into his owner's shed. Wonder if the bloke saw the snake's shedmate — Legs the tarantula.
ESCAPED COW charged a police car as officers tried to move the animal from a busy road in Wiltshire, England. No police officers were injured, but there was damage to the car. Police said the cow was coaxed into a field just after midnight and the animal's owner was called to collect it.
BOO BOO, the famous exotic chicken recently saved by mouth-to-beak resuscitation, has passed away, her owner said Tuesday. However, Boo Boo lived to lay three eggs before dying, inspiring Sir Elton John to write another song about the circle of life.
A STORK is accused of stalking a couple living in Brandenburg an der Havel, Germany. The allegedly obsessed animal even taps on their bedroom window if they stay indoors. What some people will do to avoid having a child.