Sideshow: So long, Gene - it's been good to know ya

Lena Dunham posted an Instagram pic of her and her left hand - bedecked with sparkly ringlike jewels! Worlds hemorrhaged! Surely, this meant she was engaged to her bf, Jack Antonoff, he of that cool band Bleachers!

Nuh-uh, she says. So does her bff Jenni Konner, who also happens to exec-produce HBO's Girls, source of Dunham's fame. At an HBO premiere show for Season 4 of Girls, Konner said she and LD wear friendship rings and that's what it is so shut up.

Gene Shay, 79, the grand man of Philadelphia folk music, announced Tuesday that he'd do his final installment of The Folk Show for WXPN on Feb. 1. This man has done more than even a legend could do. He cofounded the Philadelphia Folk Festival in 1962, has been doing radio in our market since at least then, and has been on 'XPN since 1995. He turns 80 in February, and in remarks about his retirement, he mentions his health, his desire to be with his family, and just plain being tired. What an amazing career, with lasting impact on popular music of all description. Hail, brother Gene!

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Wednesday is a big day for the teeny principality of Monaco (population about 36,000, as of the 2011 census). Prince Albert, who rules the joint - and, by the way, is the son of Princess Grace, that is, Philadelphia's Grace Kelly - will formally present to the world his brand-new twins, born Dec. 10 to Princess Charlene. Their names are Princess Gabriella, Countess of Carladès, and Jacques, Hereditary Prince of Monaco.

They have released the 2015 lineup for the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, which is April 10-12 and 17-19, and which laterally and vertically explodes cosmically each year. We cannot list all the acts, or even all the big acts; it's a ridiculously stellar lineup. But among the names we saw on first sweep: Steely Dan, Raekwon & Ghostface Killah, David Guetta, AC/DC, FKA Twigs, War on Drugs, Run the Jewels, St. Vincent, Ryan Adams, Fitz & the Tantrums, DJ Snake, Lykke Li, Caribou, Father John Misty, Swans, Tyler the Creator,  Jenny Lewis, Hozier, Belle & Sebastian, and and and. . . . This is one festival with a deep commitment to rock-and-roll - but also note the hip-hop presence, the singer-songwriters, the electrodancemaniacs, the indies, and plenty of other genres. It's also a big fashion scene, a place for celebs to go be seen and be way cool. Wowzers.

Rapper Beanie Sigel, who was shot Dec. 5 at his brother-in-law's house in Pleasantville, N.J., was released from AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center over the weekend, police said Tuesday. More than a month in the hospital: That wound was no joke. Police also said he gave a statement before leaving, although what he said, exactly, they ain't sayin'. Beanie had been staying with his brother-in-law since being released from prison after serving two years on tax-evasion charges. He was also on tour when the shooting happened. Police at first said the shooting was an accidental, wrong-place-wrong-time thing, but they have stopped saying that now. Several family members are known to be persons of interest in the case. This is the second time Beanie's survived being shot.

Master romance author Nicholas Sparks, writer of The Notebook, The Wedding, and much else, is separating from Cathy, his spouse of 25 years. In a statement, he says that the decision was not "made lightly" and that they're still friends.