NEWS ROUND-UP

One day – maybe tomorrow, or perhaps sometime next week – we’ll go back to writing blogs with singular topics. But not today. Not when the blogosphere is abuzz with talk about Eagles reunions, Britney Spears collaborations, and other assorted news-worthy nuggets. Read on, digest, and enjoy.

Although the Philadelphia Eagles lost this year’s NFL divisional playoffs, expect a comeback from a different team of sorts: the guitar-plucking, harmony-singing, Hotel-California-visiting Eagles. Singer Don Henley has been talking to various newspapers – the Baltimore Sun, the Las Vegas Review-Journal - and it seems like a studio album is imminent. "It's coming out in 60 to 90 days, if we don't kill each other first," says Henley, whose band reunited in the mid-‘90s but hasn’t released an album of new material since 1979’s The Long Run.

Bill Gates and Microsoft held an unparalleled throw-down to celebrate Vista’s launch this week. Forbes has a detailed account of the party, from the swanky menu (smoked salmon and spinach/ricotta cannelloni) to the DJ’s playlist (Gnarls Barkey’s "Crazy," circa 2006, and Seal’s "Crazy," circa 1991). Later that night, Angels and Airwaves rocked the Nokia Theater with a cover of Louis Armstrong’s “What a Wonderful World.” Tom DeLonge is certainly more marketable than Starship, but we still think Bill Gates needs to work on his music collection. What’s on his iPod, we wonder? Ooops – we mean, what’s on his Zune?

As if Jay-Z wasn’t rich enough already, the Def Jam president recently received a quick $3 million for agreeing to relaunch Cherry Coke. How does one relaunch a drink? We don’t know… but apparently it's happening next Wednesday.

California radio station KCRW – i.e. the people behind the wonderful "Morning Becomes Eclectic" show – have partnered with Starbucks for an upcoming CD release. "Sounds Eclectic: The Covers Project" is a 15-track compilation featuring live performances from R.E.M., Robert Plant, k.d. lang, and Damien Rice. It’ll be sold at Starbucks locations starting in March. The tracklisting looks good, but c’mon – Gary Jules’ cover of “Mad World?” We’ve been rocking that song on the Donnie Darko soundtrack since 2002. It’s time for Mr. Jules to tackle “Head Over Heels” and add some variety to our lives!

And finally, the Pet Shop Boys have denied rumors that they’ll be working on Britney Spears’ next album. Good call, men. Next on Britney’s list is Dr. Luke, the man behind Kelly Clarkson’s “Since U Been Gone.” Does the Doctor specialize in flailing careers and PR train wrecks? Let’s hope.