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hey hey! despite the fact i heard hancock wasn’t getting the best reviews - i decided to go see it earlier this afternoon down at the grove (of course first i grabbed a quick bite to eat at the farmers’ market) the theater was quite packed and i wouldn’t say it was the best movie i ever saw but i really do like will smith - i usually try to catch most of his flicks - and then you’ve got charlize theron (who can actually give angelina jolie a run for her money in the looks department - she’s super gorgeous!) tossed in with the always adorable & endearing jason bateman - some laughs & thrills and a plot twist i didn’t see coming (but i should have…) all in all i liked it a lot - it wasn’t too deep - just a totally fun summer flick! (i did like wanted a lot better but it’s a totally different movie) however i don’t think there’ll be a ‘hancock’ franchise - i think one film is probably enough! next up for me at the movies is wall-e and the dark knight (when it opens on july 18th - it’s already receiving rave reviews) i can’t wait to see both of ‘em! i hope everyone is enjoying the 4th of july holiday - i’m about to grill up some hotdogs - people are lighting firecrackers outside (plus i can hear the fireworks going off at the hollywood bowl) the sound is driving my dogs nuts - oh good times! popbytes over & out for tonight…xxoo

David Archuleta the runner-up from the seventh season of American Idol has released his first video blog.  He is so adorable!  He spent a lot of time thanking all of his fans.  You can tell that he’s still getting used to being in the spotlight on this scale - too funny.  He talked about his […]

A little while ago we saw and heard “Three Women,” the brassy lead track from Stereolab’s forthcoming Chemical Chords. The band’s getting ready to hit the road — Synch festival in Greece this weekend — and included the track in a set they played last night. It was their first live show in over two years, a “secret warm-up” that took place at the Windmill, Brixton in the UK for 100 fans, who found out about it via the band’s mailing list. We weren’t there, but Annette Lee was, and she snapped some photos while someone scribbled down the set list, a mix of old favorites and Chemical Chords material.

Herein lies the first listen of the new High Places record. Yesterday we received the “Vision’s The First / Namer” 7″, out now on sturdy UK label, Upset The Rhythm (you maybe remember it most for the super, dare I say, classic No Age “Get Hurt” 12″). Today, Chris at Upset let us know the A-Side “Vision’s The First…” is going to be on HP’s forthcoming self-titled Thrill Jockey debut (out at the end of September), and that the album’s cover is a photo of Mary’s nephew. As far as this 7″, Side B, “Namer,” is a subtle, dreamy, hushed, but swiveling dance track about leaving home (”In those eighteen years and nine months I’ve been living here / I always knew there’d come a day when I’d be leaving here”), taxonomy, and an old dog (”Namer of Names”), that finds Mary and Rob exploring gorgeous new sonic terrain. Complimenting it well, the more upbeat “Vision’s The First…” is a sunny, spiraling, gamelan-tinged song we first heard at our SXSW party. It shows up here in a more crystalline, multi-layered form.

That was a quick change of character. Can you do a hillbilly accent?

Bossip: G-Unit talks about groupie love
Drunken Stepfather: Alicia Douvall is topless. I don’t know who that is.
Bastardly: Natalie Portman still with Devendra Banhart
Asylum: McCain girls return with McCainiac

Celebitchy: Charlie Sheen and Denise Richards are fighting again
CoEd: Miss CoEd: Jules Asner
CityRag: Paris Hilton has …

George Clooney is said to have dumped Sarah Larson last month, who supposedly found out about it through a magazine, because she ignored his advice on not getting a boob job. In Touch Weekly writes:
“George really didn’t want her to get the boob job. Although she asked George if she could do her recovery at …

The new album Micah P Hinson And The Red Empire Orchestra, by gravelly Texas songwriter Micah P. Hinson and his Red Empire Orchestra, is out 6/14 on Full Time Hobby. The first single, “When We Embraced,” showed up 6/2, but another track — in our opinion, the album’s standout — showed up for the first time in today’s Drop. We asked Hinson what inspired the song and, more specifically, “Who are the ghosts chattering down the hallway?” Hinson responded indirectly, but his honesty offers straightforward insight into the track. You can read his response and listen here. Also, if you’re curious about the single “When We Embraced,” it’s at his freshly minted MySpace.

On top of the gift of a free Hinson track, this week’s Drop offers a chance to win a jam-packed 1993-2003 Radiohead flash drive, the 7-CD Radiohead box set, and Radiohead: The Best Of in multiple formats.

American Idol winner, David Cook, sang the national anthem when the Boston Celtics visited the LA Lakers at the Staples Center last night.  It was a great game (the Lakers have insured that they will not be swept by winning Game 3). 
I think the rendition started a little rocky but got better in […]

Hulk Hogan went on Larry King live yesterday to talk about his son, Nick’s, jail sentence and those recently released conversations he had where he called John Graziano a negative person. Hulk said the tapes were taken out of context and the media is obviously putting a negative spin on it. Hulk claimed Nick “wasn’t …