Musician and rock archivist Jim Laspesa has been sharing some drool-worthy pics on his Facebook page. The most recent batch comes from a swap meet in Pasadena, California and shows several rock and roll legends mixing it up (with one even wearing a bathrobe). The source of the images is unknown, but whoever shot the likes of Jagger, Bowie, and Jimmy Page must have attended the best damn parties ever. Hit the jump for more vintage photos you wish you owned. Read More »

There’s nothing like a well-stocked library to enhance a home. Especially when that library has been outfitted with books chosen by some of the choosiest readers of all — the authors themselves. We recently caught a peek at the literary collections of a few contemporary novelists in Leah Price’s excellent and newly released Unpacking My Library: Writers and Their Books, but we admit that our library-lust wasn’t quite sated, and we had to go hunting for more. We’ve already shown you a choice selection of the libraries of the rich and famous, but here, inspired by Price’s book, we’re focusing on the libraries, studies, and carefully organized bookshelves of the authors themselves. Click through to see a few snapshots of the libraries of famous authors, and let us know which ones inspire you to curl up and read in the comments. Read More »

1. Hollywood big shot Brian Grazier has stepped in to replace Brett Ratner as the producer of this year’s Oscars. Despite some initial speculation, Grazier now says that there’s no way that he’s going ask Eddie Murphy to reconsider his exit as host. [via Deadline]

2. Ricky Gervais says that NBC wants him to host this year’s Golden Globes, but with only two months to go before the event, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association is still unsure. One potential reason for the holdup: Deadline reports that there’s at least “one A-lister who is threatening not to attend if Gervais emcees.” Any guesses who it is?

3. The Criterion Collection — or at least 46 of its titles — is now available on iTunes! But wait, there’s a catch: even if you purchase a film, you won’t have access to the extensive special features, which is kind of the whole point, right? [via Slashfilm]

4. A list of the musicians who will be making cameo appearances on Season 2 of Portlandia includes Eddie Vedder, Sex Pistols guitarist Steve Jones, Johnny Marr, and Joanna Newsom. [via THR]

5. The Rolling Stones (apparently sans frontman Mick Jagger) are meeting up in a London studio later this month, sparking rumors of a 50th anniversary show. Keith Richards denies the reports: “We’re just going to play a little together, because we haven’t played for three or four years. You don’t necessarily want to rehearse or write anything – you just want to touch bases.” [via NME]

Bonus Buzz: Presidential Super Heroes

There’s always that girl — the one in the songs, the one in the photographs, the one in the memoirs. The one who walks into a room and sets it aglow. She’ll tear up a rock ‘n’ roller’s heart, put it back together, and inspire the hell out of him, leaving her lasting mark on both his discography and biography. Yes, we’re talking muses, but not just any ol’ muses; we’re noting those who graduated from their tumultuous lives as expert inspirers to become successful in their own right. Check out some professors, artists, and cake shop proprietors after the jump.

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1. In what many UK papers are calling “the real Slumdog Millionaire,” 27-year-old Sushil Kumar, a poor government clerk from Bihar, has become the first person to win 50 million rupees (worth over $1 million), on an Indian game show. [via Guardian]

2. Earlier in the week, Keith Richards and Johnny Depp played a cover of “Key to the Highway” at the after-party for Depp’s new film, The Rum Diary. Watch a clip of their impromptu performance here.

3. Reality TV star Tonya Cooley, who most recently appeared on The Real World/Road Rules Challenge: The Ruins, is suing MTV, Bunim/Murray Productions, and her co-stars Kenny Santucci and Evan Starkman; according to her claims, the men sexually assaulted her with a toothbrush while she lay unconscious and the cameras remained rolling. [via TMZ]

4. Anger Management, the new sitcom based on the Adam Sandler comedy of the same name that Charlie Sheen has been shopping around since getting fired from Two and a Half Men, has finally found a home at FX. The network has ordered 10 episodes of the series, which it plans to premiere next summer. [via Vulture]

5. In case you’re as confused as we are by all of the recent changes, Gawker explains what Facebook’s new “trusted friend” category really means.

Bonus Buzz: Halloween Costumes No One Will Get But You

1. Katy Perry, Lady Gaga, and The Backstreet Boys are among the many pop artists whose songs have recently been banned by China’s Ministry of Culture for containing “vulgar content.” The offending tracks must be removed from Chinese websites by September 15, or their owners will face prosecution. [via Guardian]

2. Here is your first look at Tobey Maguire and Leonardo DiCaprio on the set of Baz Luhrmann’s adaptation of The Great Gatbsy in Australia.

3. We’re excited to see that Bravo has announced the 14 contestants who will be competing in the upcoming season of Work of Art; Simon de Pury, China Chow, and the rest of the gang will return to our lives on October 12 at 9pm. [via THR]

4. The lovely Charlotte Gainsbourg will release a new double album called Stage Whisper on November 7 that will be made up of live and unreleased studio material, and includes collaborations with Beck, Noah And The Whale, Conor O’Brien of Villagers, and Connan Mockasin. [via NME]

5. We know that people love sex, drugs, and rock ‘n roll, but we can’t help but be surprised by the news that Keith Richards’s memoir Life has sold over 1 million copies since coming out last fall. [via USA Today]

Bonus Buzz: Then And Now: The Worst Frontmen In Alternative Rock

“Everybody needs his memories,” Saul Bellow once wrote. “They keep the wolf of insignificance from the door.” These days, the same can be true of fame. It’s no surprise then that celebrity memoirs and autobiographies continue to flood the market — much to our personal glee. As self-proclaimed aficionados, we’ve decided to help you navigate the waters; here are a few contemporary titles, paired with a soft focus homage to their vintage predecessors, never to be forgotten. If you’ve got a recommendation to add to our list, be sure to leave it in the comments.

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There is no such thing as a boring Keith Richards interview. He tells rambling, inappropriate stories, indiscriminately insults other famous people (often including Mick Jagger), and just generally impresses all of us by the sheer feat of having remained alive all these years, after all those drugs. And while he often seems to terrify his interviewer, Richards met his match in 1993 when — after what appear to have been numerous, drawn-out, and hilarious negotiations — he sat down with Hunter S. Thompson.

The conversation is just as incomprehensible and free-associative as you might imagine. In his preface, Thompson exhorts us that he and Keef have a sense of history and we, the viewers, do not. The pair discuss the afterlife and reincarnation; Thompson asks what J. Edgar Hoover might be reborn as, and Richards suggests “a fart.” About The Rolling Stones’ origins, Richards admits, “There would have been no Stones without The Beatles,” explaining that “they already looked bizarre.” Watch the entire interview, which also includes Richards’ recollections of the Stones’ tragic 1969 Altamont performance, after the jump.

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Our friends at Gothamist report that Theodora Richards — Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards’ 25-year-old daughter, and a successful model who has appeared in the pages of Vogue, Glamour, and Rolling Stone — was arrested last night after cops caught her tagging “TNA” on the side of a convent in SoHo with a paint marker. (Any guesses as to what that means? Perhaps she’s anti-nun?!) She was also found to be carrying around both marijuana and Xanax. Theordora is currently being held in the custody of the NYPD awaiting arraignment, which most likely will happen later today. We can’t help but wonder: When someone who is as wild as Keith Richards is your dad, should you get in trouble for this kind of (admittedly relatively tame) bad behavior, or is it simply part of your genetic code?

Well, here’s one way to try and save print media: Rolling Stone is opening it very own eatery. Rolling Stone Los Angeles will be “the first Rolling Stone Restaurant & Lounge” — which we assume means that if it’s successful, we should expect more to pop up. Should the Hard Rock Café be shaking in its studded boots?

Honestly, we’re not sure the world needs a music magazine-themed dining experience. But since it’s happening whether we like it or not, we thought we’d provide the new executive chef with ideas for some dishes inspired by some of Rolling Stone‘s recent covers.

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