Karl 
THE RAVEONETTES' Sune Rose Wagner is interviewed at Suicide Girls about songwriting, recording and vintage clothing.
THE ROLLING STONES claim that Angela Merkel, the Christian Democratic Union's candidate for Chancellor in Germany, is using “Angie” as a theme song without permission. A spokesman for the CDU disputed the claim, saying the party cleared usage of excerpts from the song with the German music distribution rights regulator, Gema. ALSO: A woman was hospitalized with broken bones after she climbed onto the rafters of Fenway Park during Sunday night's Rolling Stones concert and fell 35 to 40 feet. Would it be a Stones tour without fan injury stories?
DEADHEADS want Jerry Garcia on a postage stamp. Click through for an amusing online poll.
ROBERT MOOG, whose self-named synthesizers turned electric currents into sound, revolutionizing music in the 1960s and opening the wave that became electronica, has died at 71. An inoperable brain tumor had been detected in April. Though folks tend to think of Keith Emerson, Walter (WendY) Carlos and others from the 1970s when they hear the name, Moog's current customers included Nine Inch Nails, Pearl Jam, Beck, Phish, Sonic Youth and Widespread Panic.
COURTNEY LOVE claims to be pregnant. The putative father's denial may deserve the benefit of the doubt for now, given that Courtney is… a little wacky.
NEIL YOUNG'S upcoming album, Prairie Wind, is tinged with gospel and blues, making the Grand Ole Opry an ideal place for Jonathan Demme to film its debut.
THE NEW PORNOGRAPHERS' Twin Cinema, which is out today, racks up a 9.0 on the Pitchfork. Remember, you can download two tracks for free at Matador's website.
THE PIXIES are essayed in London's Guardian, with Frank Black telling his version of how the band reunited.
BAUHAUS re-re-unites.
BEASTIE BOYS a cappella MP3s for your remixing pleasure.
STING has seven houses to keep him grounded. Not working, is it?
MADONNA is working her Kabbalah to accelerate her recovery from that horse-riding accident.
IS BRITNEY SPEARS A BIGAMIST? Richard Bacon, a presenter on the BBC's Top of the Pops, claims he was legally married to Spears shortly after her split with Justin Timberlake. Spears' reps deny the claim, natch. ALSO: Spears has reportedly planned a Kabbalah water birth.
THE FRENCH HOTEL: is her engagement off?
SIENNA MILLER is heartbroken. I Don't Like You In That Way has the pictures.
SEX (AND THE CITY) TOURISM: Greenwich Village takes its cut.
NATASHA LYONNE, perhaps best known from the American Pie movies (though Rufus Wainwright wrote a song about her, too) is worse off than Tara Reid and arguably worse off than Courtney Love.
ORLANDO BLOOM is reportedly set to marry sweetheart Kate Bosworth.
EVA LONGORIA: The Desperate Housewife claims she got in touch with her inner sexual self after a Brazilian wax. I'm restraining myself as the broad side of the barn passes by.
SUMMER TV RATINGS are slumping like summer movie attendance.
SEAN PENN'S REPORTS FROM IRAN have started as a week-long series in the San Francisco Chronicle.
IRAQ: At Iraq the Model, Omar reported on the role of Islam in the proposed constitution: “it was agreed upon that no laws that are against the widely agreed upon values of Islam can be issued and no laws that are against the values of democracy and human rights can be issued.” That language seems confirmed in London's Independent. Though not ideal, it may be better than the language found in the constitutions of countries like Egypt, Syria and Kuwait, none of which are theocracies. It will be interesting to see what the current draft specifically says about womens' rights. That the parliamentary vote on the draft has been delayed for three days to try to win more Sunni support is probably a good sign — or at least a recognition that the Sunni vote could veto the draft at the referendum.
AFGHANISTAN: Taliban fighters will not attack polling stations during next month's election, a spokesman said, but he vowed that the war against the government and U.S. forces would go on. I would take that with a truckload of salt, though it's possible that the Taliban noticed the backlash against such attacks in Iraq.
TOM-KAT UPDATE: Holmes is already on record as wanting a simple wedding, so we can only surmise that the reported plan for a million dollar Arabian Knights-themed wedding in Spain was hatched by her over-the-top, couch-jumping fiancee.
BRADGELINA UPDATE: Pitt and Aniston now have a judgment for dissolution, which frees them to marry again starting October 2nd.
IN PRAISE OF FEMALE SEXUALITY, by Paul Sheehan, is posted at the Common Dreams News Center, a self-described progressive website… but I wonder what NOW, NARRAL and Planned Parenthood think of this paragraph: “This is society's real problem. Teenage pregnancy is trivial by comparison to suppressed pregnancy.”
FIRST-BORN CHILDREN achieve the most success in life, according to a new study. I'm doomed!
DEMOCRATIC DIAGNOSIS: Democrats are split on how to approach Iraq and Supreme Court nominee John Roberts. These disagreements may be part of a larger rift, as Democratic consultant and uber-blogger Markos Moulitsas Zúniga declares war on the Democratic Leadership Council. As he wants “to make the DLC radioactive,” maybe it's nuclear war.
THE FRENCH PRESS examines the sources of the strong anti-French sentiment in central and eastern Europe, with special reference to the Czech Republic.
CLONED WILDCATS produce healthy wildkitties.
DOGS: It looks like the skateboarding dog video has been around for a while, but if you haven't seen it, you should.
PET-PAMPERING HOTELS are featured at Expedia (Thanks to Debbie).
FROGS INVADE FRANCE: Giant California bullfrogs, introduced illegally to France 37 years ago, can grow to more than 4lbs in weight and almost 2ft long, consuming other frogs, fish, lizards and even small birds. Hunters working for the government's wildlife agency will be stalking ponds in south-west France this weekend, aimed with flash-lights, rifles, silencers and night-vision sights.
CHIMPANZEES like humans, show social conformity, according to a new study. Take a look at the BBC's picture — I think all that's missing is the monolith.
COLUMBIAN COW jailed after a car accident.
IGUANAS are a growing problem in southern Florida: “It was like Jurassic Park in my toilet.”
