Lots of Morrissey, Smiths references in this interview in The Guardian (Aug. 18). First with the link is Stian Stang Christiansen:

Marr's attacks

Guitar hero Johnny Marr is back - and this time he's a frontman, railing against the blandness of modern pop. He tells Dave Simpson how he combines a love of heavy rock with his interest in psychics

Excerpt:

..."I'd never, ever write about Morrissey. That would be silly showbiz tack." In fact, mention of the Smiths makes Marr defensive. He can understand the enduring fascination, but is wary of the "negativity" surrounding inquiries into the band. When pressed, Marr will admit that he understood Morrissey "more than anyone else in the whole world".

Another excerpt:

...Few characters from his past musical lives remain with him. He last saw Morrissey two years ago: "We have hung out since the Smiths, but after an hour what do you do? We used to write songs... that wouldn't be right now."

From David T (Different):

A new British film has been made called "Five Seconds To Spare", about a young man coming to London to promote his band, but who witnesses a murder.

It features various well known British actors, and also a cameo by John Peel (BBC story), the DJ who "discovered"/extensively promoted the Smiths in the early years. He plays "a grumpy old man who spends his whole life filing records".

So no prizes for spotting the various Smiths connections there. . . The synopsis of the plot from Winchester Films is as follows:

(more)

nam writes:

Ryan Adams (lead singer of Whiskeytown) has a new solo album titled Heartbreaker out on September 5th on Bloodshot Records, described as the "Morrissey record for the country set." Anyway, the first track is Ryan and a bandmate arguing which album "Suedehead" is on (Bona Drag vs. Viva Hate, or both?) It's quite amusing and the album is good, if you're into alt.country type stuff.

See the Bloodshot Records site for more info...

Mike writes:

I just downloaded an MP3 of Ben Folds Five covering the Oasis Song 'Champagne Supernova' from Napster. At the beginning there is some on stage chatter to the audience. Ben sings the first line of 'Stop me if you think that you've heard this one before' just before they break into Oasis.

Just found it funny.

Since it's been so slow lately, I thought I'd share some of the latest rumors and strange emails I've received lately - none have been verified whatsoever and are for entertainment purposes only...

Mark writes:
Moz and Gene
I hear rumors of Gene coming back to America to open some shows for Morrissey. Does anyone have any information on this?

An anonymous person writes:
Sorry no tour
I think you all may be dreaming about a tour, as I have it on very good authority, Spencer and Alain Whyte were seen together on Kensington high street on Monday night and Alain seems very keen to work with Spennie and not with Morrie!!! The band are bored with the eccentric Mr Steven and as it seems most of his tour personnel are very busy with other projects. Could this be the winter of his discontent!!!

John writes:
Barry Manilow?
I heard that Morrissey will be touring with Barry Manilow in the future. Is this true? The reason, I heard was "because we both write the songs that make the young boys cry."