The actual date (Oct. 9) is a few days off yet, but the hype over John Lennon's 70th birthday has hit overdrive.

ABC News has a roundup of commemorative events. Rolling Stone says Yoko Ono plans to relight the Imagine Peace Tower in Iceland on Saturday. The Toronto Star quotes Elton John imagining what Lennon would have been like in 2010. Spinner reports on a new documentary about Lennon's time in New York. And Ozzy Osbourne is covering a Lennon song for charity. (All this in addition to the product releases we've already noted.)

MUSIC

• The Michigan Daily has a preview of tonight's appearance by Lucy Wainwright Roche at The Ark.

• The Huffington Post reports on the perhaps surprising revelation that Velvet Underground drummer Maureen Tucker is a big fan of the Tea Party movement.

• The Don Was channel at My Damn Channel has video of Ann Arbor guitar icon Gary Quackenbush playing at the Concert of Colors earlier this year. There's a chance to see Quackenbush play — for no cover — this Thursday during the happy hour at Live at PJ's.

• OK, who would have thought 50 Cent would be dating Chelsea Handler?

THEATER

• Real Detroit Weekly writes about "Evil Dead: The Musical," opening Friday at the City Theatre.

MOVIES

• Robert De Niro has more to say about "Stone," the drama he shot partly in our area last year.

• Something called "Rabid" is the latest movie shooting in Michigan, The Detroit News reports.

ONLINE

• MLive.com has video of a Lady Gaga "flash mob in Grand Rapids.

BOOKS

• The Ypsilanti Courier has a feature about author Jim C. Hines, an Eastern Michigan University alum.

COMEDY

• Real Detroit Weekly has a preview of the Trailer Park Boys' upcoming appearance.

ART & EXHIBITS

• The Metro Times writes about a Facebook-themed exhibit at the Museum of New Art.

TELEVISION

• "Glee" got all serious last night with an episode built on the theme of religion (or lack thereof). MTV.com's Hollywood Crush blog liked the episode, while the New York Times' Arts Beat blog was less impressed. The Atlantic asked for some reaction from experts and got mixed answers.

• MTV.com reports on the latest "Dancing with the Stars" elimination.

• The Eastern Echo has a story about Saturday's "roast" of EMU alum "Judge Mathis."

• The debut of "Parker Spitzer" on CNN did not impress most critics. And the ratings were bad, too.

• Justin Bieber may be in line to host a relaunched "Punk'd."

• You could not pay me to watch "Harry Loves Lisa."

Renee Tellez and Kevin Ransom contributed to this roundup. Bob Needham is director of entertainment content for AnnArbor.com. Reach him at bobneedham@annarbor.com or 734-623-2541, and follow him on Twitter @bobneedham.