Links of the Week

Stars, 'The Five Ghosts' [Tunes]: As part of my re-introduction to good music years back, a friend burned for me a few Stars songs, including this haunting and eloquent number. Along with Arcade Fire and Broken Social Scene, these Canadian indie darlings tapped into a refreshing new sound, one where catchy pop could be full of joy or melancholy. Their new album contains such uplifting song titles as 'Dead Hearts' and 'I Died So I Could Haunt You,' and will be streaming online through June 22.

Arkady Fireovitch: You've gotta be a somebody in the indie rock world to be able to set the blogosphere ablaze by announcing the details of your new album via written letter posted on your website. Arcade Fire's The Suburbs (album cover above), is scheduled for release on August 2nd, and two songs off the new album can be heard online. Let the hype monster begin.

This is why they call it La-La-Land: Details reveal that Dodgers owner Frank McCourt was paying a Russian healer to send long-distance energy to help the Dodgers win baseball games. Not surprisingly, even this miracle healer is not a fan of Milton Bradley.

No Tippin' Pippen: Poor Scottie, first he gets out-personalitied by Jalen Rose to lose his spot on NBA TV broadcasts, now he's in a trial to try to undo some financial shenanigans that he was involved in. Perhaps worst of all, no one is recognizing that Pippen is Rajon Rondo's most valid comp, and that the Rondo-Kobe battles we are seeing right now are the closest thing we'll get to to seeing what the MJ-Pip showdowns must have been like at Bulls practices for a decade.

Cable and satellite TV? And I thought he was just wasting money: Not to be outdone, here's more news of how Eddie Curry chooses to spend his money. Highlights include $6000 per month for a personal chef, $30,000 on monthly expenses, and a personal loan taken out at the competitive rate of 85% interest. Feel free to skip the last paragraph of the article, unless you are the type to enjoy unburnable images in your memory.

Classics in Lego: The gas can in 'Monk on Fire' is deserving of a special nod from the Pulitzer committee.

Drafted Before Jeter: The five players who were drafted ahead of Jeter in 1992 are re-visited. The most amazing part of the article is reading how normal these guy's lives are in their late 30's, while Jeter continues to play at an All-Star level on the biggest stage in baseball.

I Think Someone's Found a Re-election Campaign Song: Was Barack Obama in the music video for "Whoomp (There It Is)"? Signs point to a clear maybe.

Lady Gaga's man digit: Is it me or is Gaga's middle finger sort of manish and completely lacking in style? Naturally, Gaga was following the Citi Field tradition of flipping off David Wright after every strikeout.

No report yet on whether the man is Plaxico Burress: Um, file this under headlines you never want associated with your name. That Lowe's in Lynwood must be one of the scariest big box stores in the country.

We need to hide this from Stasburg: Some shocking news out of San Diego regarding Mark Prior. I actually made a bet with a friend this guy would win at least two Cy Youngs in his career. Still holding out hope on that one...

A brief history in racist mascots: A rundown on World Cup mascots reveals, well, nothing much really other than these choices end up being pretty bad all around. On the plus side, at least none of these are one eyed monstrous cyclopses with crabclaw hands.

Brawl-off Home Run: The execution of this game winning brawl-off is pitch perfect. A slow trot around second, the in your face hand gesture around third, even the hokey country music playing in the background hits just the right note. Too bad Kendry Morales didn't see this before he decided to celebrate his walk-off dinger. Could have saved himself a broken ankle at least.

Can Wally Backman please get his own reality show? Forget Ron Artest, this man needs to be on television 24/7. Just imagine how entertaining ole' Wally would be at the race track? It would take about two seasons before Wally was chosen to replace Simon on American Idol. Note before watching, Wally's mouth is very very flithy.