R.E.M. released the two-disc Live at the Olympia today, giving fans a dose of working rehearsals that took place in 2007 as they prepared for their Accelerate album.

Live at The Olympia, recorded over five shows in Dublin, features nine songs from Accelerate, including “Living Well Is the Best Revenge,” “Man-Sized Wreath” and “Disguised,” an early version of “Supernatural Superserious.”

The 39-track set also features songs from such classic R.E.M. albums as Reckoning (”So. Central Rain”), New Adventures in Hi-Fi (”New Test Leper”) and Murmur (”West of the Fields”).

A DVD of the shows, This Is Not A Show, is also available in a combination package with the CDs, as is a box set containing the album on four vinyl LPs, in addition to the two CDs and the DVD.

ESSEX, Md. (AP) – A Baltimore city police officer delivered the fright of a lifetime to a haunted house employee, pulling a gun on the chain-saw-wielding man at the end of his act, authorities said Monday.

Sgt. Eric Janik, 37, was charged with assault and reckless endangerment for pointing his service handgun at the worker, who was dressed as Leatherface, the killer from “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre,” Baltimore County police said.

The employee, Mike Morrison, followed Janik and several other people up a staircase Sunday night at the end of the haunted house tour in a bid to get “one last scream” out of them, police said.

When the group exited into a parking lot, Janik pulled his gun and pointed it at Morrison from less than 10 feet away, according to police and Morrison, who said he dropped the chain saw, put his hands up and backed away. The saw had no chain.

Only then did Janik identify himself as a police officer, said Morrison, who retreated into the building.

“I started shaking pretty bad,” he told The Associated Press.

Another employee of the House of Screams called police.

According to charging documents, Janik smelled of alcohol and told police two different stories about what he did with the gun. First, he denied drawing the weapon, but later he said he pointed it at the ground.

According to Bruce Springsteen’s Official Site, the band cancelled last night’s show at the Sprint Center in Kansas City due to the death of Lenny Sullivan, Bruce’s cousin and assistant road manager of the E Street Band for the last ten years. Lenny was 36.

No word yet if additional tour dates will be cancelled.

CTA officials confirmed that they are talking with Apple about overhauling the North and Clybourn Red Line station for a $4 million dollar price tag. In addition to getting their choice of the best advertising space, Apple could receive naming rights to the station if the deal goes through.

Perhaps we’ll see mobile charging stations, software centers and Apple care representitives as well. Good way to save some time and lines at the Apple store.

Michael Jackson’s This Is It film is set to premiere worldwide, with advance screenings beginning today. The documentary chronicling the last days of the King of Pop will officially hit 3,000 U.S. screens and nearly 19,000 international theaters for a limited two-week run.

“It’s powerful. It’s moving, it’s entertaining. It’s big,” the film’s director, Kenny Ortega told Rolling Stone.