I love it when bands surprise me. For someone who thought Ra Ra Riot were like a lesser Vampire Weekend with a string section after 2008’s so-so The Rhumb Line, I was ready to push through The Orchard and let it down gently. Then I listened to it, and lo and behold, a band I had written off ends up backhanding me across the face with one of the better albums I’ve heard all year. Previous fans of the band will no doubt be delighted to hear that singer Wes Miles still sounds like Ezra Koenig, if a little more prone to falsetto, and that the band’s bouncy brand of pop-rock is still very much in evidence (just check out that ADD bass line on uber-catchy single “Boy”). But whereas The Rhumb Line was all meaty melodies and festival-ready sing-a-longs, The Orchard feels like a proper album of baroque pop - the songwriting is noticeably stronger, the band takes their time around the tunes rather than jumping headfirst into hooks, and the lovely strings of violinist Rebecca Zeller and cellist Alexandra Lawn seem far more integrated into the affairs here rather than the gimmick they at times appeared to be on their debut.

A controversial anti-abortion ad has been pulled from NBC’s Super Bowl line-up.
The ad, by Catholic Vote, challenges Americans to rethink the repercussions of abortion and life without Barack Obama, the 44th president of the United States. “Life, Imagine the Potential,” it states.

Controversial? Too much? Is NBC in the right, or are they overreacting?

Mickey Rourke and Evan Rachel Wood might be sharing more than the silver screen…saliva could be involved as well. Wait, did I really just write that? Gross. The two co-stars of “The Wrestler” could possibly be a couple as well. While the film was in production, it was rumored that the two actors were dating, but they have denied the fact that they are anything more than friends. And we believed them…until now… E! Online reports that Rourke and Wood were getting pretty cozy at a SAG after party, “The costars hung together all night at the Wrestler table, and Wood seemed to stare down any gal or fan that wanted to come up and say hello to Mick.” The LA Times even reports that the two were full-on making out, “According to Fox News Pop Tarts, the pair were spotted at Grey Goose’s official SAG after-party at the Shrine after the show. They then showed up at the late-night after-party at the Four Seasons Hotel…the actress “went upstairs with Rourke (whose second marriage ended over a decade ago) when he suddenly grabbed her for a lip-lock in the outside area of the swanky five-star hotel.”