KEITH RICHARDS, Lord of the Undead, suffered a mild concussion after falling from a coconut tree at a resort in Fiji. The Rolling Stones guitarist was airlifted to a hospital in New Zealand. But anyone who has heard Keef speak in the past few decades has to wonder whether doctors have mistaken his usual affect for a mild concussion.
JOHNNY ROTTEN has done a podcast for an exhibit on British fashion at The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
PEARL JAM: You can stream the new self-titled album from AOL Music.
JOAN JETT is looking for a few good lesbians. Was she inspired by kissing Carmen Electra?
SLOW MUSIC: A group formed by REM's Peter Buck, King Crimson's Robert Fripp and others, is touring the West Coast and sounds like it will sound strange.
JAMES HUNTER brought his old skool R&B to the World Cafe, so you can stream it from NPR now.
DAVID BYRNE & BRIAN ENO: “New Feet,” one of seven previously unreleased experiments from 1981's My Life in the Bush of Ghosts, made Song of the Day at NPR.
FRANK BLACK of the Pixies is a father again. Congrats to Frank and his wife Violet, especially for naming their new daughter Lucy, instead of cursing her with something ridiculous.
SEEN YOUR VIDEO: James Brown (no, not the Godfather of Soul, y'all) has a fairly gonzo profile of Primal Scream in London's Guardian as the band returns with Riot City Blues in June. The single, “Country Girl” comes out May 22nd, but you can see the white-trashtastic video now on YouTube or in glorious Quicktime.
LAURA CANTRELL: As Bob Dylan prepares to make his DJ debut, the alt-country singer — and sometime DJ — penned a piece for The New York Times about DJ greats from John Peel to Hank Williams. And Matador has new Cantrell streams and downloads for you.
ALEJANDRO ESCOVEDO is profiled in The New York Times, with a focus on his recovery from Hepatitus C and his new albim, The Boxing Mirror.
LED ZEPPELIN: Jetifoblog has posted a bootleg from Knebworth, ‘79. You can stream it from the Hype Machine.
SUFJAN STEVENS has offered up another free download, “Dear Mr Supercomputer,” this time for Pitchfork.
PITCHFORK: Speaking of which, the Washington Post followed Ryan Schreiber around SXSW and chronicles the impact — for better or worse — of his influential website.
DAVID BOWIE: After his heart attack, there's no mistaking him for the Thin White Duke.
PETE DOHERTY-KATE MOSS UPDATE: London's Sun has run pictures showing the troubled singer injecting an unconscious fan with a syringe. At his bulletin board, Doherty claims the photos are both stolen and staged. However, that didn't prevent Doherty's arrest on Saturday, just prior to a planned anti-racism gig in Trafalgar Square. Even Doherty's uncle says this time he should be put in jail. Meanwhile, the supposedly sober supermodel is set to star in her first Hollywood film, taking on the role of drug addict Paula Yates. Not much of a stretch for the rookie. The role could reuinite Moss with former beau Johnny Depp.
JOHNNY DEPP, meanwhile, is suing West Hollywood officials who authorized a Sunset Strip construction project that he insists would ruin the scenic view from 5.4 million dollar Hollywood Hills property. Depp asserts that the project would block the view his two children have while playing outside the 7,430-square-foot home, while developers note that Depp has declared that the kids will be raised in France.
NOW SHOWING: The Robin Williams-piloted family vehicle RV won the weekend with 16.4 million, while United 93 took second with 11.6 million and the highest per-screen average. If you've heard that at the end, all you will hear from the audience is silence punctuated by crying, you heard right. It's a powerful film and thus a very tough watch. There will be critics at places like The New York Times and Slate (twice) that seem to take issue with the film's very existence, but that says more about them than the film.
DENISE and HEATHER and RICHIE and CHARLIE: Sheen's manager is furious over Richards' claims that Sheen likes gay porno and gambling and makes death threats, telling Page Six it's all about the couple's child-custody dispute: “Did he gamble on sports? Big deal. Every guy I know does. Show me a guy who hasn't seen porn on the Internet. Does that mean he's not a good father? No.” Page Six also reports that Richards fired her divorce lawyer and her longtime public-relations gurus because they wanted to keep the divorce out of the press.
PAMELA ANDERSON writes about Chimpanzee rights for The Wall Street Journal: “(W)hen I see chimpanzees being used as on-screen comedians, dressed up in silly costumes to sell credit cards, I think, Is this any way to treat a relative?” Which might explain how she ends up with Tommy Lee and Kid Rock.
TOM-KAT UPDATE: That's Tom-Kate to you, mister! Cruise has named Kanye West and Jamie Foxx as Suri's uncles; I'm sure they will set great examples for the young lass. Cruise is thinking about hiring imitation Beatles for his imitation wedding. And the Sydney Morning Herald takes a wide-angle look at “The Trouble with Tom,” noting “there is an unintentional touch of art imitating life to M:I 3. Hunt is newly married, his wife is a bit Stepford-like in her devotion and she thinks he's a transportation policy bureaucrat. Hunt is grappling for the right balance between his public persona and the authentic private life he craves. And Michelle Monaghan, who plays the spouse, is the spitting image of Holmes: two years older, a couple of centimetres shorter, equally brunette.” I don't know whether the movie is a bomb, but folks in Santa Clarita though the movie.s promo material was a bomb… literally.
NICOLE KIDMAN and KEITH URBAN are expected to tie the knot in a Catholic church in north Sydney on June 25, according to the New York Post.
JENNIFER LOVE HEWITT got a haircut and now looks like someone's mom. Maybe she's trying for a MILF vibe.
SIENNA MILLER wants to get women into her jeans.
BRITNEY SPEARS hubby Spenderline says he “wouldn't bet” the pop tart is pregnant again.
LINDSAY LOHAN knows you can't pick your family. Her uncle, Paul Sullivan, just pleaded guilty to ripping off a 9/11 victims' relief fund, while her estranged dad, Michael Lohan, is currently in the slammer on a drunk-driving rap.
BRADGELINA: The couple's mere presence is boosting the Namibian economy. They are reportedly investigating having a water birth. Jolie made the TIME 100 of people whose power, talent or moral example is shaping our world. Jolie has fired her talent agency CAA after 13 months there, but Pitt is still a client… for now.
DARFUR: Thousands gathered on the National Mall in DC Sunday to urge US and world leaders to do more to stop the genocide in Sudan. Speakers included George Clooney, US House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, Reps. Donald M. Payne and Michael E. Capuano, NJ Gov (and former Sen.) Jon Corzine and the Rev. Al Sharpton. I note them because each of them opposed forcibly deposing Saddam Hussein, who ethnically cleansed hundreds of thousands of Shia and Kurds during his reign of terror in Iraq. Lawrence F. Kaplan noted the double-standard in The New Republic.
THE SWEDISH MUSLIM ASSOCIATION has demanded that Sweden introduce separate laws for Muslims, according to Swedish television. Sweden's equality minister Jens Orback called the proposals “completely unacceptable.” Liberal Party leader Lars Leijonborg also slammed the idea of separate laws.
IRAN has ignored a UN Security Council call to freeze uranium enrichment and is stonewalling efforts to determine if it is developing nuclear arms. Pres. Ahmadinejad was defiant: “The Iranian nation won't give a damn about such useless resolutions.” Mohammad Saidi, the vice-president of Iran's Atomic Energy Organisation says that Iran is developing an advanced centrifuge that would speed up purification of uranium towards the 90 per cent level required for bomb-making.
IRAQ: Iraq's National Security Adviser said he expects current US troop strength to be cut to less than 100,000 by the end of 2006 and an “overwhelming majority” should be home by the end of 2007. President Talabani met with reps of seven armed groups and is optimistic they may agree to lay down their weapons. Prime Minister-designate al-Maliki hopes to name his Cabinet by May 10, but US Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad doubts it. At ITM, Omar thinks it might happen, but notes that blocs that used to fight for the interior ministry are now trying to avoid it. Mohammed looks at the issues raised by proposals to disbanding and integrating the militias into gov't forces. The Army Times has a good piece on the hunt for Zarqawi. Joseph E. Robert Jr., the chair of an investment firm, just returned from Iraq with praise for the millitary on reconstruction, but criticism of State, Justice, Commerce and Agriculture.
GITMO: A long-running effort by the Bush admin. to send home many of the terror suspects held at Gitmo has been stymied in part because of concern among US officials that the prisoners may not be treated humanely by their own governments.
ALLIGATORS are not just for Florida anymore. Now they're turning up in Maine. I would have thought they would wait for summer to vacation in a cooler clime.
ILLEGAL ALIEN PUPPY has been granted what amounts to unconditional amnesty. Indeed, he was adopted by a Minuteman volunteer from Phoenix.
WATUSI RODEO: Two women were trambled by horses breaking through electric fencing at the Clovis Rodeo in Cali.
THE GREAT APE PROJECT wants the UN to grant gorillas, chimpanzees, orangutangs and bonobos something comparable to human rights. The members may also want to get laid by Pamela Anderson.
A CHINESE PANDA bred in captivity was the first to be released into the wild. The bear scampered into a nearby bamboo forest where he will be “>monitored by satellite.
SHEEP can learn how to medicate themselves.
