Karl 
ROGER McGUINN, the leader and guitar maestro of the Byrds, talks to PopMatters about preserving folk music through the Folk Den Project, a catalogue of traditional folk songs he and his wife have recorded and uploaded to his website for over a decade, liking Wilco and the Fountains of Wayne, what's new about a Byrds box coming in August, various genres he helped pioneer, and more. There's a YouTube video of McGuinn playing “Eight Miles High” — backed by former Wilcoite Jay Bennett and others — at the end of the interview, but the vocal performance is not among his best (even for 1997), so you may want to check out earlier Byrds clips like the live vocal version of “Mr. Tambourine Man” and the truncated-for-TV version of “Chestnut Mare” from the Beat Club.
PRINCE: Page Six claims that his divorce may be related to the inordinate amount of time he's spending with his new protégé, Tamar.
U2 was bootlegged by fans lurking outside a villa in the south of France. Reportedly, one of the songs appears to be a Strokes number.
PITCHFORK FEST RECAPS: YANP posted a rave review and nice pics of Man Man. There are also two more general recaps posted at Chicagoist that seem largely in line with the recap I did Monday (though I'm now regretting not getting closer to the Futureheads). It turns out I wasn't the only one who thought about buying concert shirts just to change out of the inevitable sweat-soaking of the shirt worn to the fest.
HALFTIME REPORT: A “best of 2006 so far” is streaming from NPR's All Songs Considered.
THE MTV VIDEO MUSIC AWARDS nominees are announced. After noting that “video” comes before “music” in the title, I'll quote Art Brut (who are not nominated, natch): “Popular culture no longer applies to me.” Gnarls Barkley and the RHCP are about the best they offer this year.
RICHARD THOMPSON talks to the Cambridge Evening News about his son Teddy, indie labels vs. the majors, his two versions of Britney Spears' “Oops, I Did It Again,” among other things. Watch RT play “Mingus Eyes” on Austin City Limits via YouTube. BONUS: YouTube also has what looks like an RT home recording of “1952 Vincent Black Lightning.” And since it's one of Sylvia Hauser's favorites (and mine), I throw in bluegrass legend Del McCoury's award-winning version of “1952 VBL” at no cost to you whatsoever.
PINK FLOYD are rumored to be considering a reunion concert in memorial to former guitarist Syd Barrett, who died earlier this month. We had multi-media coverage of Syd's death, in case you missed it.
CRACKER played the World Cafe last Friday; you can stream the set from NPR now.
JAMES BROWN UPDATE: Bloomberg reports that The Godfather of Soul is seeking a 25.2 million dollar loan through Royal Bank of Scotland in connection with his suit against David Pullman, who issued so-called “Bowie Bonds” based on JB's future royalty stream.
THE FAB FOUR: Sadly, the He's A Whore blog — which offered Part1 of an alternate White Album — is being discontinued; best wishes to the blogger. However, Heather Browne of I Am Fuel, You Are Friends has posted some rarities, which you can stream from the Hype Machine at July 20.
PETE DOHERTY-KATE MOSS UPDATE: The supposedly sober supermodel, who tops Vanity Fair's best-dressed list this year, has invited the troubled singer on a dream holiday in Bali — if he kicks drugs. Sorta like a game show!
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MAD MEL UPDATE: As Hollywood debates Gibson's future following his anti-Semitic remarks during a DUI arrest (with a cameo from agent Ari Emanuel — the inspiration for Jeremy Piven's character on HBO's Entourage), Gibson entered a rehab program. TMZ scored another scoop with a report that Gibson has been stopped for reckless driving two other times in Malibu, but was allowed to leave without a ticket or arrest.
FAILING UPWARD: PopWatch at EW starts with Colin Farrell as an example of someone whose gossipworthiness kept getting him bigger roles despite repeated box office flops, but there are others…
CAMBERLAKE: The UK's Daily Record claims that Justin Timberlake and Cameron Diaz looked happy and relaxed as they put rumors of a rift behind them with a day of surfing in Hawaii. The pictures tell a different story.
BRADGELINA: Trans-Atlantic TV presenter Graham Norton thinks that Jolie is “thick as a plank.” Meanwhile, scientists suggest that the couple was in the grip of evolutionary forces that made it almost inevitable that their child would be a girl.
THE 50 TOP COMEDIES OF ALL TIME are the subject of a slideshow at Premiere magazine's website. But they go in chronological order to avoid controversy, which partially defeats the controversy-provoking function of such a list.
LINDSAY LOHAN reacted to a scathing letter from the studio head of her latest movie detailing her lack of professionalism by heading to Vegas for more partying. TMZ has the video. However, the young diva's laziness caused Island Records to drop her in the UK.
KEIRA KNIGHTLEY: Her distinctive jaw has a blog. Who knew?
ASHLEE SIMPSON: Marie Claire magazine — and its readers — are slamming her for extolling the virtues of appreciating one’s body as it is — right before she got a nose job.
EVA LONGORIA thinks the Desperate Housewives could use some hot lesbian action, though I note she did not include her character in that scenario. NTTAWWT.
ACTORS DON'T GOT BACK: At Slate the Explainer column looks at the exciting world of butt doubles.
INSIDE THE ACTORS STUDIO: My Dad has recently discovered the James Lipton interview show on Bravo, which used to be pretty stuffy, but now interviews The Simpsons.
IRAQ: Newsweek hasa remarkably balanced (for Newsweek piece from Ramadi, where the Marines are employing different tactics against the insurgency. I would quibble, however, with Scott Johnson's assertion that “Iraq these days doesn't get any worse than Ramadi,” as I think folks in Baghdad would beg to differ. Iraq's top Shiite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, has warned that the Muslim world will not forgive countries which stand in the way of a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, a statement probably influenced in part by competition with Moktada-al-Sadr. Hezbollah head Nasrallah is close to the Sadr family, as well as to prominent clerics in Iran.
MIDEAST CONFLICT: While the appearance of a familiar face and the seemingly impossible speed with which a sophistiated banner attacking Sec. of State Rice over the Qana bombing raised further questions over whether the aftermath was staged, Bill Roggio suggests that the bad PR from the air war is just part of why Israel may suffer a strategic defeat in the conflict (disregard Sun Tzu at your peril). Should Hezbollah “win,” Walid Jumblatt — the leader of the Druze in Lebanon — believes the terror group will try to seize total control of Lebanon. Sayed Ali, a cleric in the Hezbollah stronghold of Tyre, agrees that Hezbollah would settle the score with the Lebanese politicians. However, Lebanon's internal politics may yet break in the other direction. ALSO: Dilbert offers a solution for the root cause of the Mideast conflict.
IRAN, meanwhile cannot seem to decide whether it will emerge stronger — or unexpectedly weakened by the conflict. Analysts and former government officials say that Iran has focused on trying to preserve Hezbollah’s influence and deterrence capability. Even so, Candian intell from dissidents suggests Tehran may be girding for a wider war. The Iran Policy Committee claims to have intell on the location of a roadside bomb factory in Tehran that manufactures IEDs for shipment to Iraq. Henry Kissinger offers thoughts about the next steps for the US, UK, France, Germany, Russia and China in dealing with Iran.
EVEN LLAMAS are drawn into the Mideast conflict.
HOLLIE THE COLLIE survives a month trapped in a well, despite being unable to bark for help.
A PIGEON brought Denmark's public transportation to a standstill, but did not live to tell the tale.
WIENER DOG narrowly escapes becoming a hotdog.
