Karl 
THE DECEMBERISTS: You can stream The Crane Wife album in advance from MTVu.com. But first, enjoy the band's encore cover of ELO's “Mr. Blue Sky” in San Francisco, just about a year ago. Sadly, the lovely and talented Petra Haden will not be on the upcoming tour.
RYAN ADAMS: Thank Stereogum for noting that the prolific alt-country singer-songwriter posted a bizzare, NSFW rap number at his website, which you can stream via the Hype Machine.
COVER ME: At MKOB, Dodge courted controversy with his posting of over 15 versions of Radiohead's “Creep.” You can jukebox 'em via the Hype Machine, though the artists may not be accurately identified there. Dodge has taken down the Pearl Jam/Eddie Vedder version, but it lingers at the Hype Machine.
AMY MILLAN: The Broken Social Scenester talks to Metromix about her country-folk solo debut and what makes whiskey a good drink for late-night relationship mourning: “I guess it's like the nutty sweetness that can smell like love, mistaken love. It's just the warmth of a friend that might not be around sometimes.” You can stream some Honey From the Tombs via the Hype Machine.
DRIVE-BY TRUCKER Patterson Hood is working on a Hurricane Katrina song, but tells offBeat “there’s a weird kind of guilt that accompanies writing about something like this.”
THE POLICE: They were hip, then they were huge. You can watch some of Stewart Copeland's home movies in the trailer for his documentary, Everyone Stares, which is out now on DVD. And chase that down with the first public performance of “Message in a Bottle,” a song that was in Pate's early setlists.
THE SCISSOR SISTERS' Ta-Dah album has been blackballed from nearly 1,100 record stores in 26 states, after frontman Jake Shears complained at the National Association of Recording Merchandisers convention that Trans World Entertainment's record prices were too high. But the band was on Dancing with the Stars last night, playing their ABBA-esque hit single, “I Don't Feel Like Dancing.”
THE HOLD STEADY: Stereogum hosted a podcast by frontman Chris Finn, who spins and discusses favorite tunes by The Replacements, Bad Brains, Soul Asylum, Gorilla Biscuits, and The Descendents. He barely mentions the band's upcoming album, but you can stream not only the podcast, but also “Most People Are DJs” via the Hype Machine.
PET SOUNDS: The podcasts for “I Know There's An Answer” and “Here Today” are posted at the album's 40th Anniversary blog, along with a link to an interview with Jim Fusilli, who wrote the book on the album for Continuum's “33 1/3” series.
ETTA BAKER, a blues guitarist who influenced generations of musicians, from 1960s folkies to modern-day blues rockers, died on Saturday at 93. Her style inspired Bob Dylan to write “Don't Think Twice, It's Alright.”
PETE DOHERTY-KATE MOSS UPDATE: The supposedly sober supermodel made a brief cameo onstage at the Babyshambles gig in Dublin, while London's Sun gets up close to look at the mystery white blobs up her nose during the gig. Pogues frontman Shane MacGowan also turned up to sing “Dirty Old Town.” I could not find video of that, but did find his recent cameo at the Benicassim Festival in Spain.
KATE HUDSON and CHRIS ROBINSON BREAK-UPDATE: Hudson is “filing for divorce imminently,” according to US Weekly. “As soon as she files, it relieves a lot of the pressure of going out with Owen (Wilson),” says a friend of the actress.
TOM-KAT UPDATE: Cruise wants to star in a movie with Holmes, with a source telling Life and Style Weekly: “Tom is looking for a movie that will make the most of their chemistry.” Is it too soon for a remake of The Next Best Thing?
JESSICA SIMPSON: During an appearance on the Howard Stern show, Jacka**: Number Two star Bam Margera claimed he bedded the pneumatic blonde in April 2005, before she split from Nick Lachey. Creepy dad-manager Joe was not pleased: “As a father, I want to go beat the crap out of people who say things like this.” But he probably cannot do that, so he should go see Bam's new movie, in which I hear he's attacked by a snake — which would be very close.
SCREECH SEX TAPE!? Dustin Diamond, a/k/a “Screech” from Saved By The Bell, apparently engages in a very kinky threesome with two women on a video in the hands of David Hans Schmidt, who has brokered some of Hollywood's biggest celebrity-skin deals. NYDN gossip Lloyd Grove sums it up: “The sex vid's working title is Saved by the Smell. Ewwwww.”
ANNA NICOLE SMITH: The death of the model's 20-year-old son Daniel was caused by a lethal combination of methadone, Zoloft and Lexapro, according to pathologist Cyril Wecht. Howard K. Stern, Smith's longtime lawyer, stated last night that he is the real father of the former Playboy Playmate's newborn daughter. Photojournalist Larry Birkhead has asked for a paternity test.
JACKO: Speaking of paternity, the custody and visitation case between Michael Jackson and ex-wife Debbie Rowe is about to be settled.
LINDSAY LOHAN, who reportedly split with boyfriend Harry Morton over the weekend, was spotted with ex-boyfriend and reputed swordsman Wilmer Valderrama at Hollywood hotspot Shag Monday night. However, the two left separately.
KATIE COURIC is No. 2 in the network news ratings, according to estimates released Monday by Nielsen Media Research. Indeed, she was only one-tenth of a point ahead of third-place World News with Charles Gibson.
DAVID HASSELHOFF rubbishes rumors that he made a 911 call claiming his daughter attempted to commit suicide, though The Hoff's publicist says the 911 operator may have interpreted it that way.
WINONA RYDER, who's been hanging around with her new best friend Kate Moss lately, wandered into the SoHo shop Lounge on Sunday and did not know where she was. But she did not steal anything, which is a plus.
IRAQ: As predicted, violence in Baghdad is spiking for start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. Remember when folks were saying the US could not invade or bomb Afghanistan during Ramadan? Turns out the jihadis aren't as culturally sensitive. British and Iraqi troops have started an ambitious mission to pacify the southern city of Basra, root out its corrupt police and help the residents rebuild. Coalition forces killed four suspected terrorists and wounded two others during a raid targeting a terrorist tied to extremist leaders of al-Qaida in Iraq in Iraq's Diyalah and Salah ah Din provinces. Sunni tribal leaders who have vowed to drive al Qaeda out of Anbar province met the Shiite premier, marking a possible breakthrough alliance against the jihadis. Bill Roggio analyzes the letter written by Attyia al-Jaza’ri to the late al-Zarqawi; it shows a gloomy outlook and infighting not too different from our side.
IRAQ in the MEDIA: The Washington Post ran a story with this lede: “A strong majority of Iraqis want U.S.-led military forces to immediately withdraw from the country, saying their swift departure would make Iraq more secure and decrease sectarian violence, according to new polls by the State Department and independent researchers.” It turns out the State Dept's question refered to the departure of US and other foreign forces. A question worded that broadly could apply to the enemy, too. The WaPo also cites a poll by the Program on International Policy Attitudes at the University of Maryland, which found that 71 percent of Iraqis questioned want the Iraqi government to ask foreign forces to depart within a year. You could crunch the same poll numbers to show 63 percent will give the US a year or more. The WaPo also chose not to report that the same poll found that al Qaeda and Osama bin Laden are rejected by overwhelming majorities of Shias and Kurds and large majorities of Sunnis.
RAMADAN VIOLENCE is not linited to Iraq, either. Rioting has resumed in Belgioum during the holy month for a second year.
BILLY GOAT REDEEMED: A six-year-old mascot for a British army battalion demoted for lack of decorum during a parade marking Queen Elizabeth's official birthday in June, has been reinstated to Lance Corporal.
SNAKES on… well, pretty much everything on a property in Idaho. Indy, why does the floor move?
DOGS and CARS in the UK: A breakdown patrol man who came to the rescue of a woman motorist got her car started using her dog. Meanwhile, a drunk-driver cut off his electronic tag, fixed it to his dog and went boozing, a court heard. Guess what his defense was?
A DOG LEASH GETS CAUGHT IN ELEVATOR DOORS: The dog is doing fine; the dog's 95-year-old owner, not so much.
OPOSSUM DISPUTE ends with police shooting a Rottweiler and arresting a man after stunning him with a Taser gun in San Diego.
