You’re taking a stroll through Boston Public Garden. You stop to acknowledge the fingerpicking fellow busking nearby, maybe throw him a dollar, and then you realize — surprise! It’s Bruce Springsteen. Well-known rockers rarely take to busking, since they don’t have much need for petty cash, but impromptu public jams from Bruce and other musicians are always appreciated. We’ve gathered some noteworthy street sessions after the cut.

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1. Despite its questionable portrayal of African American women, The Help topped the weekend box office, pulling in $20 million in its second week. Not quite so popular: All of the new films that hit theaters over the weekend, including Conan the Barbarian ($10 million), Fright Night ($8 million), and One Day ($5.1 million). [via THR]

2. Fans of An Idiot Abroad will be excited to see this preview of what Ricky Gervais and Steve Merchant have planned for Karl Pilkington in the UK reality series’ second season.

3. People magazine paid $1.5 million for the exclusive photos from the Kim Kardashian wedding, but if you’re feeling curious about what went down at 6:37 PDT on Saturday night, find some video and “all of the romantic details” here.

4. Despite reports that Bono was treated for chest pains and heart palpitations last week in Monaco, his spokeswoman is denying that it was anything more than a routine checkup and says that he is “in good health and enjoying a family holiday in the south of France.” [via NME]

5. Lil Wayne has announced that he’ll release his long-awaited album Tha Carter IV online at midnight on August 29 — a few hours after he performs at the MTV Video Music Awards — and then later in stores that same day. [via THR]

Bonus Buzz: 25 Awesome Quotes From Comics On Marc Maron’s WTF Podcast

1. Abercrombie & Fitch wants The Situation to stop wearing its clothes — and is offering up a “substantial payment” to make sure that it happens. From the company’s official statement: “We understand that the show is for entertainment purposes, but believe this association is contrary to the aspirational nature of our brand, and may be distressing to many of our fans.” [via Speakeasy]

2. Following outcry from fans and objections by the singer’s estate, Kiss has been dropped from the bill of an upcoming Michael Jackson tribute concert because Gene Simmons has previously said in interviews that he believes the pop star was a child molester. [via Rolling Stone]

3. After Universal unceremoniously ditched the project last month, Ron Howard and Brian Grazer are looking for new ways to distribute their adaptation of Stephen King’s Dark Tower series — including Netflix — but don’t look for anything to happen until next year. [via THR]

4. Beloved film critic (and Flavorpill favorite) Roger Ebert has posted the opening pages of his forthcoming memoir on his website. Life Itself hits shelves on September 13. [via PopCandy]

5. Bono — who bought $210 million worth of shares in Facebook back in 2009 — is about to make $1 billion on his investment thanks to this week’s $65 billion valuation of the social networking site. Hopefully he won’t spend all of that cash on giant claws… [via NME]

Bonus Buzz: Juggalo Justin Bieber

1. Some bad news for your Oscar pool odds: The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has officially changed the rules so that at least five but no more than ten films can be nominated in the Best Picture category. [via Collider]

2. Danny Cohen, Controller of BBC One, has confirmed that even though Matt Smith is on board, Doctor Who will not be coming back for a full 14 episodes next season; instead, there will be a “special run for the anniversary in 2013.” [via io9]

3. The Weinstein Company has named Christmas Day 2012 as the release date for Quentin Tarantino’s next movie, Django Unchained, which just so happens to be the fifteen year anniversary of Jackie Brown. Now he just needs to figure out who’s going to star in the Western-influenced film. [via Slashfilm]

4. This is surprising: Debunked director Julie Taymor not only walked the red carpet last night at the official opening of Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark, she also got a standing ovation from the audience and smooched Bono multiple times. [via Vulture]

5. Natalie Portman had her baby yesterday, and while we don’t know the kid’s name yet, we do know that it’s a boy and that he’ll definitely be a good dancer! [via People]

Bonus link: ‘America’s Next Top Restaurant’ Already Closed in New York

1. We’re not sure what to think about the fact that Lenny Kravitz has been cast as Cinna, Katniss Everdeen’s subversive stylist, in the forthcoming film adaption of The Hunger Games. Says director Gary Ross: “When I saw Lenny’s work in Precious I was just knocked out. It was quiet and strong and understated and open hearted; all qualities which define this character. I’m really looking forward to this ride.” [via THR]

2. Bono and the Edge are set to perform songs from Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark on tonight’s American Idol season finale alongside cast members of the Broadway musical. What we’re wondering: Do you think there’s any overlap between the kind of people who like U2 and the ones who care whether Scotty McCreery or Lauren Alaina wins? [via Billboard]

3. In case you missed the awkward flirting last night, find the best parts from Lady Gaga’s first ever interview with David Letterman here.

4. The History Channel has given the go ahead to The Bible, a “10-hour, CGI-heavy miniseries” from Survivor producer Mark Burnett, making it his first scripted TV project. Considering what the network did to The Kennedys, we’re betting that poor Charlton Heston is turning over in his grave. [via USA Today]

5. The dangers of Middle Earth: Two people have been hospitalized after an accident on the set of Peter Jackson’s much beleaguered two-film adaptation of The Hobbit. According to a publicist for the movie, it occurred in a production workshop when “a couple of the guys” were drilling on a statue, and they sustained “mild burns but nothing serious.” [via ArtsBeat]

Bonus link: Ten Commencement Speakers You Wish You’d Had

We recently got a press release from Cassettes Won’t Listen (a.k.a. Jason Drake), proclaiming that he’d had to change the name of his album Kevin Spacey to Evinspacey after getting a cease-and-desist letter from the famously press-shy actor. As far as publicity stunts go, it was a pretty shameless one – but it worked, didn’t it? After all, here we are writing about it. Anyway, the whole thing got us thinking about other bands who’ve “borrowed” the names of celebrities and other prominent people for their music over the years, generally with the inevitable legal denouement. Here’s our selection of ten of the most amusing/offensive/potentially libelous such instances.

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1. Former California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and his wife of 25 years, Maria Shriver — who were introduced by Tom Brokaw at a charity tennis tournament in 1977 — have announced that they are separating. From their prepared statement: “This has been a time of great personal and professional transition for each of us. After a great deal of thought, reflection, discussion, and prayer, we came to this decision together.” [via The Daily What]

2. Google is set to launch an unlicensed test version of its digital music service in San Francisco this afternoon; Music Beta will allow users to upload their personal music libraries to their own account on Google’s servers. [via NME]

3. In order to avoid the kind of gallery rage caused by blockbuster exhibits packed with patrons, The National Gallery has announced that its forthcoming Leonardo da Vinci: Painter at the Court of Milan show will reduce the number of admissions from the 230 per half-hour slot it is allowed under health and safety rules to 180. Hopefully museums stateside will take note. [via The Guardian]

4. “What was great about ‘Turn Off the Dark’ 1.0 was unusual and rare: magic, a pop-up Pop-Art opera with a bit of rock ’n’ roll circus thrown in. What was not right about it was a catalog of commonplace problems — story knots, bad sound and finally a failure to cohere, meaning that the whole was not greater than the sum of the parts, as wonderful as some of those parts were.” – Bono — who was notably mum during its previews — explains why the original version of the Spider-Man musical failed

5. Spinal Tap star Tony Hendra has created a New York Times parody site called The Final Edition with writers like Terry Jones, Peter Sagal, and Mike Meyers, along with staffers from Saturday Night Live, The Daily Show, The Onion, and Real Time with Bill Maher. Check it out here.

Bonus link: 20 Interesting Logo Mash-Ups

1. According to the New York Times, Bono, who was “away for much of the show’s preview period,” has now “taken a direct role” in talks about whether Julie Taymor should stay or go as director of Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark. The super-delayed musical was set to open on March 15th, but it looks like there’s no way that’s still happening.

2. Warner Bros. has become the first movie studio to offer movie rentals through Facebook. Currently the only film available is The Dark Knight (at the cost of 30 Facebook credits or $3), but they’re planning to offer other titles in the not-so-distant future. [via The Wrap]

3. Now that he’s been officially fired from Two and a Half Men, Charlie Sheen met with executives at Live Nation Entertainment about the possibility of doing “a series of live theatrical shows.” Says Sheen: “I need to gobble up all these fuckin’ posers and bootleggers and make them go away. Then we’re gonna deliver the real fuckin’ t-shirts and mugs and hats.” [via Deadline]

4. As if yesterday’s spoilers weren’t exciting enough, you can now see the first clip from Season 4 of True Blood, and Alexander Skarsgård is half-naked in it. [via Vulture]

5. “I love these sophisticated cities. It’s fantastic to have the possibility to work there, like when I shot Manhattan in New York, Match Point in London and Vicky Cristina Barcelona in Barcelona … Each time, it’s like a declaration of love for certain places. I project onto the big screen my feelings for places which count a lot in my life. I hope to do the same thing with Rome.” – Woody Allen is shooting his next project in Rome.

Bonus link: The World’s First Goateed Robot Is Unbelievably Creepy

Oh boy. Just when you thought everyone possible had weighed in on Julie Taymor and Bono’s disastrous Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark… it’s time for Glenn Beck to have his say. And guess what? The Fox News host and amateur cultural critic freaking loves the musical, thinks that New Yorkers (with French accents, of course!) hate it because they’re snobby, and goes on to explain how it’s a huge, brilliant metaphor for everything he believes. As Benjamin Sutton at The L Magazine sums it up, according to Beck, “Turn Off the Dark, it turns out, is a musical blockbuster about the American academic-scientific industry’s god complex, the lies surrounding global warming rhetoric, and the villainous research funded by big government.” Aha. Listen to the whole, surreal rant after the jump and follow along as we pick out Beck’s craziest theories and funniest words of praise.

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Christmas may almost be upon us, but viral videos never sleep. Hence the newest creation from the jokesters at Taiwan’s Next Media Animated — a very brief send-up of Julie Taymor and Bono’s Broadway catastrophe, Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark. Prepare yourself for a superhero hospital in which a doctor has to revive a nearly dead “Script,” angry fans shaking fists at the show’s poster, and dudes in suits pulling a giant plug.

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