Karl THE WEEKEND STARTS HERE:
YOUR FRIDAY TIME-WASTER: The addictive bounce of Poom.
FREE DOUGHNUTS AT KRISPY KREME TODAY to celebrate National Doughnut Day.
THIS WEEKEND, I'm fulfilling requests. If you don't know what I mean, don't sweat it.
THE FAME: The New York Press think piece on this unsigned band manages to namecheck The Raspberries, Cheap Trick, Off Broadway, Artful Dodger, Dwight Twilley and Shoes in the space of two paragraphs. Read, then listen. And maybe change your pants.
JACK WHITE apparently got married in Brazil, though the announcement is suspicious… or maybe just as odd as Jack White. His new bride is model Karen Elson, who appeared in the White Stripes' video for “Blue Orchid.”
“I WANNA BE YOUR DOG:” 27 versions, from Iggy & The Stooges to Radio Birdman to Sonic Youth and Wilco.
“DON'T FEAR THE REAPER:” Copy, Right? has eight versions, including takes by The Beautiful South, Apollo 440 and Goo Goo Dolls. Of course, all of them could… well, you know…
ELVIS COSTELLO refused to refund an audience after arriving on stage late because he was watching the Liverpool vs AC Milan Champions League Final. Stereogum leaves a better taste in your mouth with a download of a live version of “Chemistry Class” from 1978.
THE HOLD STEADY talk about the Replacements, Kiss, BTO and The Boss. Metromix notes a great Springsteen-inspired lyric on the band's new album: “Tramps like us, and we like tramps…”
LIVE 8 can't seem to make it's mind up whether it is a concert or an insurrection. Organizer Bob Geldof has called on children to quit school and people to abandon their jobs in order to descend on Edinburgh for the G8 summit, causing local officials to panic and sending co-organizer Midge Ure (Ultravox) into damage control mode. UK press reaction has been mixed, though not predictably so. Geldof has also faced anger from African bands over the predominantly white lineup of artists he has chosen. The Telegraph and the Scotsman have different takes on the agenda of the G8 summit and Live 8. The coverage seems to assume that the concerts will have anti-Bush overtones, though in the past, Geldof has praised the Bush administration as one of Africa's best friends in its fight against hunger and AIDS. Moreover, after a recent meeting, South African President Thabo Mbeki is “absolutely certain that President Bush is committed” to helping Africa on market access and ending agricultural subsidies, a major issue for the G8 and Live 8. The main disagreement will probably be over foreign aid, which President Bush is unlikely to get from Congress absent conditions requiring further democratic reforms in Africa. ALSO: No Rock and Roll Fun blogs the terrifying possibility of a Sting-Madonna duet.
ANASTASIA BARONE remembered the thick padlocked chain around her neck, her husband's steel-toed boot striking her over and over in the face, and then the dizziness that overcame her as she slowly slipped into unconsciousness on the tile floor of her Dix Hills basement. Not to mention the leopards…
S&M SLAVE freed from car trunk in Berlin. After discovering that this was not a kidnapping and deciding the trunk was not safe for the man, officers told him to sit inside the car and sent him and his mistress on their way.
JOURNALIST TARGETED FOR ASSASSINATION with a car bomb in Beirut, Lebanon. Opposition figures were quick to point the finger at Syria's allies, not the United States, so journalists here won't care.
OUR FRIENDS THE SAUDIS: Consultative Council member Mohammad al-Zulfa proposed conducting a study into the feasibility of reversing the ban on women drivers. He now faces phone text messages calling on Allah to freeze his blood and calls to remove him from the council and strip him of his Saudi nationality.
DOGS: Tragedy struck the Naples-Fort Myers Greyhound Track when a fire early Wednesday killed at least 10 dogs and injured dozens more. Even so, firefighters pulled dogs from their metal crates, carried them out of the concrete building and administered oxygen with masks meant for people. ALSO: Flashback, Sylvia Hauser's rescued Greyhound, is out of the hospital and remains on the mend.
HOW TO BECOME AN EARLY RISER: A window into my world and some of yours.
XXX WEBSITES soon to be masters of their domain.
GET RHYTHM as an infant. They don't call it rocking the cradle for nothing.
GENERATIONAL MOVIES are discussed at Daniel W. Drezner's blog. I think he's confusing the idea of a generational movie with “the Tron effect.” There may be overlap, but I do not think they are identical concepts.
SMOOSH, the indie rock duo of sisters Asya, 13, and Chloe, 11, have played SXSW and Sasquatch and get some local pub from the Tacoma News-Tribune.
GANG OF FOUR tore the roof off… somewhere.
THE KILLERS, in a rare moment of modesty, decline the top slot at the Glastonbury festival that became vacant when Kylie Minogue was forced to pull out after being diagnosed with breast cancer.
MUSIC DOWNLOADING GROWS, legally and otherwise.
JEFF TWEEDY, Larry Lessig and others recently did a panel on “Who Owns Culture?” at the New York Public Library. I've mentioned it before, but it's finally available online.
CULT OF THE iPod: The Superior Court of California for San Mateo County has conditionally approved a settlement in a class action suit brought against Apple Computer by consumers who purchased a first-, second-, or third-generation iPod model on or before May 31, 2004, and experienced “battery failure.”
EDDIE MONEY on a bad cellphone is pretty amusing.
TOMMY LEE is already done with Tara Reid and has set his sights on model Adriana Lima. I wouldn't bet against him.
HILLARY'S HOLLYWOOD HOEDOWN was infiltrated by Defamer.
DEEP THROAT: Kudos to Edward Jay Epstein for picking W. Mark Felt as DT in July 1974. He also explained how little Woodward and Bernstein had to do with exposing the Watergate conspiracy.
CAMPAIGN FINANCE REFORM hurt the ability of the historic system of African-American community groups to register and mobilize black voters, according to the president of the National Urban League and mambers of the Congressional Black Caucus.
TOM-KAT UPDATE: Cruise has reportedly told Katie Holmes to nix her plans to star as Andy Warhol protege Edie Sedgwick in Factory Girl because Edie was on psychotropic drugs and in mental institutions — both of which are taboo to Scientologists. Katie, that's what happens when you let Tom help you prep for the role.
BRITNEY SPEARS says that she loves being pregnant, because sex is “better than it was before.” That's so sweet.
MAJOR RECORD LABELS wise up momentarily and open their vaults to DJs for remixes and mash-ups.
THE FUTURE OF THE CAR: Radar, lasers, wireless radio networks and other embedded tech will enable our cars to sense faraway traffic and stop accidents before they happen. But who will be in the driver’s seat? I know Craig O'Neill's answer. Imho, an electric car that is as fast as a Ferrari would be a good place to start.
THE FRENCH REJECTION of the EU Constitution was due in part to bloggers.
GUN TABLE LAMP: I doubt there's a big market for them, which would explain the hefty price tag.
GITMO A GULAG? Amnesty International, not knowing when to stop digging, defended its description of Guantanamo prison as a “gulag” Thursday, even though William F. Schulz, AI USA's director, said earlier that he would expend “no energy” in defending AI Secretary General Irene Khan's use of the word “gulag.” Given that Schultz previously served on the board of directors of People for the American Way and Planned Parenthood, as well as contributed the maximum 2,000 bucks to Sen. John Kerry's presidential campaign (as did Joe W. “Chip” Pitts III, AI USA's board chairman), his refusal ought to tell AI how this story is playing. Even NPR commentator Peter Klein, who has been researching some family history about Soviet gulags, says that AI is off-base. As I've noted before there are people having serious discussions of the issues raised by Gitmo, but AI's hype is going to drown them out.
GITMO II: As Amnesty's report re-raises the issue of classifying Gitmo detainees as unlawful combatants, I would note that Bill Whittle's latest essay, “Sanctuary,” explains why the difference between unlawful combatant and P.O.W. is important, though he does so in language not for the faint of heart. The Pentagon has posted posted quite a bit about the general treatment of detainees and the information gained from them. And it's worth remembering that not every detainee released from Gitmo claims abuse.
NANOTECH: A team from the University of Alberta has created a molecular transistor, which could could revolutionize the field of electronics, providing a leap ahead for everything from computers to batteries to medical equipment.
IT'S NOT HORSE-TRADING: Sweden's state-owned forestry firm has launched a moose stock exchange for would-be hunters.
THINGS THAT DON'T EXIST: A free lunch, a general solution to the quintic polynomial using only a finite formula involving the four arithmetic operations and the extraction of roots, the ability to go back in time to reverse the decision of going back in time, a book called A Connecticut Yankee in Osama bin Laden's Pants… It's a long list.
PORTABLE TOILET EXPLODES: lawsuit to follow.
