Karl 
SOMEBODY'S GOING TO SEE TOM WAITS, nyah nyah nyah nyah nyah. Sorry… couldn't help myself. Need Coffee will hook you up with a slew of Waits clips from YouTube, but not “Downtown Train,” which ended up as a hit for Rod Stewart.
FIFTY ALBUMS THAT CHANGED MUSIC: London's Observer has an introduction noting the 50th anniversary of the UK albums chart that anticipates and attempts to explain its list, which is topped by The Velvet Underground and Nico, but includes Robert Johnson's King of the Delta Blues Singers in its top five.
THE 100 BEST LIVING SONGWRITERS: Paste has finally posted its list with supporting essays (Tom Waits and Kathleen Brennan place fourth). As such lists are intended to stir the pot, I'll note that the commenters at Chromewaves and Stereogum point out a few flaws in the list.
GOLDEN SMOG: The New York Times (of all places) has five free MP3s from the album coming out tomorrow, offered in conjunction with an article about the “death” of alt-country (a view held by the writer, when the interviewees never saw themselves as part of such a school). Even if you have to do the free registration at the NYT, I'd recommend it for tracks like “Corvette” (a wonderful, summery pop tune) and the dreamier “5-22-02.”
NICK DRAKE: The living British poet pays tribute to the late British folk-rocker who shares his name. There's a selection of Drake tunes streaming via the Hype Machine including the two probably most associated with his semi-popular revival — “Pink Moon,” which was licensed for the Volkswagen commercial, and “One of These Things First,” which is part of the Garden State soundtrack.
500 RECOVERED BEATLES TAPES, at the center of a trial noted here last week, are raising hopes among fab fans of new releases from the lovable moptops.
THE NEW YORK DOLLS: Reunited with Sylvain Sylvain after 30 years, with a new album coming, David Johansen remains eminently quotable in articles from Reuters and London's Guardian: “Well, I think this album falls apart as well, but in all the right places. It's a rock'n'roll record, and not a lot of people make rock'n'roll records today. They make weird marching music, or Hitler Youth rally music.”
PITCHFORK'S INFINITE MIXTAPE adds a cover of Joy Division's “Love Will Tear Us Apart,” by Susanna and the Magical Orchestra.
THE PIPETTES are blazing a trail for a new generation of bands in the thrall to old-style girl groups, but chafe at the notion that they are wedded to nolstalgia: “We don't want to copy the music of that era,” says Rose. “What would be the point? We're trying to bring a fresh approach and we're very aware of the music of our time.” You can stream plenty of Pipettes via the Hype Machine.
KEEF RICHARDS, LORD OF THE UNDEAD, was allegedly drunk when he fell out of a tree while on holiday in Fiji in April. Also, I have discovered that there is gambling at Rick's Cafe Americain.
DRIVE-BY TRUCKERS played DC Saturday night. You can stream the show from NPR.
HALFTIME REPORT: At My Old Kentucky Blog, Dodge is steaming selections from his picks. He also has an extensive list of honorable mentions.
SYD BARRETT: Another view of the late and former Pink Floyd frontman, from his sister, who is also a nurse.
WEEKEND BOX OFFICE: As expected, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest won a second weekend with an estimated 62 million take, which breaks the ten-day opening record previously held by Star Wars: Episode III and becomes the fastest film to break 200 million. New releases Little Man and You, Me and Dupree placed a distant second and third with a little over 20 million apiece. Superman Retturns took another big drop. The Devil Wears Prada rounds out the top five.
SUPERMAN had a hissy fit because his makeup made him look wimpy. NTTAWWT.
THE McCARTNEYS: Sir Paul reportedly threw a “moving-on” party this past weekend to mark a new era without estranged wife Heather Mills. He's also pulling out of a major fundraising event for her Adopt-A-Minefield campaign — so he doesn't overshadow things, natch. And he's hired Prince Charles' divorce lawyer, which I'm sure is also for Heather's benefit somehow.
AVRIL LAVIGNE and Sum 41 frontman DERYCK WHIBLEY got hitched on Saturday, which I merely note for the record.
CHRISTIE BRINKLEY reportedly kicked her fourth husband to the curb after she found out he was cheating on her with his 19-year-old assistant, according to the ever reliable National Enquirer. The tab adds that Brinkley learned of the affair when the teen's cop stepfather confronted Cook in her presence.
VAUGHNISTON: Jennifer Aniston has been singing the praises of her Vince Vaughn, admitting he’s better in bed than any of her previous partners, including Brad Pitt. Me. Ow. Not that anyone should be surprised. The beautiful people sometimes think the beauty is enough.
TOM-KAT UPDATE: TMZ has an update on the forthcoming book on Cruise by Richard Morton, who reportedly has spent the last several months in L.A. interviewing people close to Cruise about the star's career, his religion, even his sexuality. US Weekly notes that for all the press generated by Tom-Kat, the couple has said next to nothing. South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone regret mocking Tom Cruise and Scientology because theyare now constantly asked about him and fear they have a “Tom Cruise stink” on them.
DENISE & HEATHER & RICHIE & CHARLIE & DAVID: Charlie Sheen's restraining order has been extended.
MADONNA has cancelled plans to tour Australia, supposedly because her kids will have to be going to school. Appaerntly, Madge didn't know when her kids were due back in school when the planned the tour. She can still sell out gigs in NYC, though Madge and hubby Guy Ritchie allegedly got into a fight at the party to celebrate it, when Madge started getting down on the dancefloor with ex-beau Lenny Kravitz.
JACKO won and lost in court, mostly losing to the tune of 700K to the former gay porn producer who sued for unpaid royalties, loans and expenses he claimed were owed him from various projects the two collaborated on several years ago.
JACK BLACK has quit smoking and started going to bed at a reasonable hour, now that he's a dad.
M. NIGHT SHYAMALAN: The man behind The Sixth Sense and Signs is about as weird as you might expect, if EW's excerpt from an upcoming book on the making of Lady In The Water is any indication.
TRAILER REMIX: Fans of Hugh Jackman wil love or hate the trailer for X-Men-3: The Last Standing Ovation, which includes clips from Jackman's work on Broadway.
IRAQ: At ITM, Mohammed looks at the bigger picture: “In spite of what we are facing here every day I find myself, just like many others, so attached to following what's going on between Israel and Lebanon and that's mostly because of the close resemblance between the two cases. In both cases we see a weak government suffering to control a powerful militia that is challenging the will of the rest of the country and engaging in a proxy war making the people suffer the results of regional conflicts that in no way can benefit their country…” For that matter, despite religious differences, al Qaeda and Hezbollah have had past ties. The International Crisis Group, a Brussels-based think tank, argues that Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr and his forces are vital to Iraq's stability and must be engaged to avoid an all-out civil war. Regular visitors here know that al-Sadr's militia is seen as a major threat by the new gov't, though al-Sadr has disclaimed responsibility for recent attacks. The Organization of the Islamic Conference is preparing to bring together Shiite and Sunni scholars in an effort to prevent sectarian conflict.
MIDEAST CONFLICT: Op|For suggests that Israel's operations in southern Lebanon are designed to prep a battlefield for the insertion of ground forces. Thoms P.M. Barrett argues that the conflict is a well-timed and well-placed launch of pre-emptive war. The notion that Iran is trying to buy time by fueling the conflict would jibe with its public statement that Western incentives to halt its nuclear program were an “acceptable basis” for negotiations, bth of which coincide with the UN Security Council resolution banning member states from selling material or technology for missiles or WMDs to North Korea.
AND NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT: A kitten with two faces. Video at the link and through AOL.
A MAINE LOBSTER is a good candidate to play Two-Face in the next Batman movie.
SNAKES IN A CAR: More than 20, in fact. Samuel L. Jackson was unavailable for comment.
A WHITE ALLIGATOR has gone public display at the Riverbanks Zoo in South Carolina. The gator is leucistic, which is not the same as being albino. Pics and video at the link.
A GAY BODYBUILDER is suing the feds for the right to sunbathe in the nude on Fire Island with his rat terrier, Cheekies. He claims he suffers from a disabling skin condition caused by 9/11 and the antidote is exposure to sun. He claims he needs the dog for emotional support. Like I could make that up.
