• Try, try again: Ambassador Crocker and General Petraeus took a breather from the Iraq hearings to appear on Nightline Tuesday. Looking as charismatic as ever, Crocker told Terry Moran that talks with Iran on Iraqi security had not "produced any demonstrable results" (No, really?), but he is ready to give it another go.

• Hard copy: Prepare yourself for Hardballer Chris Matthews showing up at your home this Sunday, when his crazy face appears on the cover of the New York Times Magazine. Inside, learn more about his Tim Russert inferiority complex.

• A loving God: A priest accused of stalking Conan O'Brien has plead guilty and signed a two-year protection order to stay away from the funny guy.

WAIT, THERE'S MORE: Beef bans and Damien Hirst; San Francisco's torch dreams; and Condi and McCain!

• Where's the beef?: Artist Damien Hirst's famous cow -preserved-in-formaldehyde piece had a rough time getting into Japan, which banned beef imports from Britain after an outbreak of mad cow disease. Concern over the toxic formaldehyde fumes further complicated the piece being shown in a retrospective at a Tokyo's Mori Art Musuem.

• Rice dream: Condi Rice says she isn't looking to score McCain's VP slot and will "happily go back to Stanford" when Bush's time is up.

• Light a fire: Protesters in San Francisco are ready and waiting for the Olympic torch, which arrived in the city yesterday and is scheduled to wind through its streets today. SF is the only U.S. stop for the torch.