"Artist found burned to death on top of his masterpiece."

"Artist Jorge Selaron may have taken his own life by setting himself on fire on the very steps of his masterpiece, a brilliantly colored public staircase that became a symbol of Rio de Janeiro..."

The stairs, his life's work, were declared city patrimony in 2005, when Selaron was made an honorary carioca, as Rio residents are called. The steps have been featured in Snoop Dogg's "Beautiful" and U2's "Walk On" music videos, as well as part of the video that Brazil made for their 2016 Olympic bid.

Here's the Snoop Dogg video. Here's the U2.

Snoop Dogg is now Snoop Lion... and he's the reincarnation of Bob Marley.

The new music will be reggae, not rap. He's 40 years old now and he's "got to give something" that the children can listen to, because "That's what you do when you're wise."

He says he's "born again" — born again as a Rastafarian.

Snoop didn't explain why he was switching from "Dogg" to "Lion," but it's likely a reference to the Lion of Judah, a religious symbol popular in Rastafarian and Ethiopian culture....

He said that in Jamaica, where he stayed for 35 days, he grew closer to his wife....

PR/religion? Who knows? But the sense of growing older and needing to provide for the next generation.... And since Bob Marley's son Rohan is happy with all this leveraging on Bob Marley, sure, go ahead. It's for the children.

Via Throwing Things.

Oh, but Rohan is not Bob Marley's only child.

Bob Marley had a number of children: three with his wife Rita, two adopted from Rita's previous relationships, and several others with different women. The Bob Marley official website acknowledges eleven children.

Those listed on the official site are:

Sharon, born 23 November 1964, to Rita in previous relationship
Cedella born 23 August 1967, to Rita
David "Ziggy", born 17 October 1968, to Rita
Stephen, born 20 April 1972, to Rita
Robert "Robbie", born 16 May 1972, to Pat Williams
Rohan, born 19 May 1972, to Janet Hunt
Karen, born 1973 to Janet Bowen
Stephanie, born 17 August 1974; according to Cedella Booker she was the daughter of Rita and a man called Ital with whom Rita had an affair; nonetheless she was acknowledged as Bob's daughter
Julian, born 4 June 1975, to Lucy Pounder
Ky-Mani, born 26 February 1976, to Anita Belnavis
Damian, born 21 July 1978, to Cindy Breakspeare

"If you woke up this morning thinking, 'What I need is a clip of Snoop Dogg hanging out on The Price Is Right helping a lady win at Plinko'..."

"...  then you are in luck."

Snoop Dogg and Martha Stewart make mashed potatoes.

This is really very charming and funny -- from Snoop's puzzlement over the peeling of potatoes to the controversy over white, not black, pepper to the risqué rearrangement of the red dress on a bottle of cognac:



(I need to "via" someone for this link, but I've forgotten the source. Sorry.)

ADDED: Oh, Metafilter. Sample comments over there:

The fact that Snoop forgets what they're making half way through is hilarious....

She has done more jail time than Snoop...

He's lucky she didn't shank him....

Who's the star of the movie that is filming right under my window beginning tomorrow at 5 a.m.?

Snoop Dogg!

Bob Dylan versus Howard Stern.

Can XM beat Sirius with Bob Dylan to counter Howard Stern? I have XM myself and love it, and in fact, it's already way ahead of Sirius with twice as many subscribers. But it's worth noting that a one-hour weekly show with Bob Dylan is not at all equivalent to what Howard Stern has been signed on to do for Sirius. Stern brings a long history of success as a radio performer, has contracted to remain at Sirius for 5 years, and will do hours of programming a day. Dylan is just experimenting with something new and probably very low-key. He's only going to be on once a week. And we haven't heard that he's committed for any length of time (though you will have to make a commitment to listen to XM or Sirius, when you choose your radio and subscribe to a service).

The hiring of Mr. Dylan underscores a key component of the two rivals' similar strategies. Each is trying to draw new consumers with a blend of programming that attracts a broad audience - like major-league sports events - and talent that appeals to smaller but extremely devoted segments of fans, as is the case with the arrangement with Mr. Dylan....

Mr. Dylan's move also comes as an array of other stars are signing on to use satellite radio to maintain a link to their fans - at least those who subscribe - and broaden their reach by creating programming beyond their own songs. Eminem and Jimmy Buffett have offered their brand names to designated channels on Sirius; XM has tapped Snoop Dogg to produce programming on one of its rap channels, the Rhyme.

Dylan's is the first one I'm going to make a point of listening to. I kind of like this strategy of catering to "extremely devoted segments" of listeners. It's something satellite radio, with all those channels, should be good at doing. In a sense, Bob Dylan really does beat Howard Stern. That is the programming strategy represented by Bob Dylan beats the programming strategy represented by Howard Stern. Unlike broadcast radio, satellite radio doesn't need a dominant radio personality to hold the listeners in one place for hours. We've already bought the radio and the subscription, and one company owns all the many channels. The ideal strategy is to have lots of channels serving lots of distinct niches and impressing the customers with all the cool stops along the spectrum. Endear yourself to me before I buy my next radio.

UPDATE: Minor Tweaks imagines how Dylan-the-DJ will sound. Feel free to write your own Dylan-the-DJ scripts, here in the comments or on your own blogs and email me and tell me about it -- using my last name followed by @wisc.edu -- so I can give you some front page links.