THE WEEKEND STARTS HERE:

...with OTIS REDDING!  Otis and the Bar-Kays crank up the energy to 11 for a Ready Steady Go special, crashing through "Satisfaction,"  "My Girl" and "Respect," then "Hold On, I'm Coming," sung by Eric Burdon. Chis Farlowe sings "It's A Man's World," then Otis with "Pain In My Heart" and "I Can't Turn You Loose", followed by "Shake" morphing into "Land of a Thousand Dances" performed by Otis, Burdon and Farlowe.

BILLY BRAGG stopped by Oregon Public Broadcasting for a chat and mini-set in audio and video.

ADELE stopped by The Current for a chat and mini-set.

GANG OF FOUR have a three-track EP to stream or download (if you don't mind parting with an email address).

NICOLE ATKINS is streaming two new tracks -- "Vultures" and a cover of Can's "Vitamin C' -- via Spinner.

THE MOUNTAIN GOATS: John Darnielle flags a video of "You Were Cool" -- an unreleased song he says will not be on the next MG's LP.

BEATLES vs STONES, courtesy of Sound Opinions. BONUS: The 100 Best Beatles Covers, courtesy of Paste.

EASYBEATS: The fish, the barrel, the smoking gun!

AMANDA PALMER talks to the Riverfront Times about the Dresden Dolls reunion.

LOCAL NATIVES: Taylor Rice talks to FasterLouder about going global. (Thx, LHB.)

WARPAINT is blurbed by BlackBook.

THE CONCRETES e-mailed Prefix about Rubix Cubes, loneliness, and recording their first album in three years.

WILD FLAG: The indie supergroup is profiled at The Atlantic.

CUTOUT BIN: Duos? We got 'em! Matthew Sweet & Susanna Hoofs, She & Him, Nancy Sinatra & Lee Hazlewood, and Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell are all there, plus Iggy Pop, the Replacements, Bobby Womack, Moby Grape, Mott the Hoople and more -- this Friday's fortuitous finds are streaming from the Pate page at the ol' HM.

NOW SHOWING: This weekend's wide releases are Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1, which is currently scoring 77 percent on the ol' Tomatometer; and The Next Three Days, scoring 47 percent.

EVA LONGORIA & TONY PARKER: One report claims that Longoria initially denied that the couple was divorcing because she wanted to blindside him with the filing, as revenge for his sexting relationship with another woman.  Another report claims that Parker knew she would be filing for divorce in Los Angeles.  Parker apparently had a "sexting relationship" with Erin Barry, the estranged wife of former San Antonio Spur Brent Barry, but it ended months ago.

MAD MEL UPDATE: Oksana Grigorieva told Larry King that Gibson hit her, choked her and waved a gun at her during a violent encounter in January. Meanwhile, Gibson moved to strip Grigorieva of custody of their daughter.

LINDSAY LOHAN's stage mom Dina is spitting mad at "Glee" after last night's show featured a scene in which Gwyneth Paltrow, playing a substitute Spanish teacher, instructed her students in the language by asking them questions related to the troubled actress.

KATY PERRY: Her cups runneth over...and her reps don't like it!

KATE GOSSELIN made a small fortune from her reality show and ‘Dancing With The Stars,' but insiders say most of that money is now gone, leaving Kate worried about her financial future.

HARRY POTTER's young wizards try to speak American.

10 CLASSIC MOVIE OPENING SEQUENCES, according to Den of Geek.

IRAN tested its home-made version of the Russian-made S-300 air defense missile.  Experts dissecting the Stuxnet computer worm suspected of being aimed at Iran's nuclear program have determined that it was precisely calibrated in a way that could send nuclear centrifuges wildly out of control.

AFGHANISTAN: A top NATO official's warning that the alliance may miss a 2014 deadline for handing over control of Afghan security exposed a gulf between political timelines and complex military reality just before a major summit on the war.

IRAQ: President Jalal Talabani said Christians would be safe from sectarian attack if they move to Kurdistan in the country's north. He said the stay would be temporary until Iraqi special forces could guarantee their security.

MARCH of the DUCKS: Let's go to the video.

HEY, IS THAT A TURKEY IN YOUR PANTS, or... oh.

MAYBE THE DOG ate your passport.

WILD HORSES battle for domination and mating rights.

ADELE is back, slightly more rootsy and "Rolling in the Deep."

ALEJANDRO ESCOVEDO did the four free songs thing for Daytrotter.

JONSI played Washington, DC's 9:30 Club last week; you can finally stream the gig on demand via NPR.

ROBERT RANDOLPH & THE FAMILY BAND played the World Cafe Live in Philadelphia; you can stream the whole gig on demand.

ALL SONGS CONSIDERED: Tracks from The Decemberists, John Vanderslice, Paul Simon and more are featured in the latest installment of the long-running series.

SPRINGSTEEN on FALLON: ICYMI.

GUIDED BY VOICES: The vintage lineup played "Don't Stop Now" at Matador 21.

THE BEATLES dominated the iTunes album chart on their release; individual songs, not so much.

THE NATIONAL: Scott Devendorf talks to Drowned in Sound about the band's quite successful year.

EDWYN COLLINS, solo artist and former Orange Juice leader, tlaks to Pitchfork about the music of his life, including Bowie, Dylan, and Oasis.

ELF POWER answers 20 Questions for PopMatters.

JIM MORRISSON may get a posthumous pardon for a pair of convictions on profanity and indecent exposure charges after a chaotic concert in Miami on March 1, 1969.

EVA LONGORIA & TONY PARKER have split after three years of marriage' Us Weekly claims Longoria discovered that Parker has been exchanging hundreds of personal texts with a mutual female friend for nearly a year.  Indeed, Longoria told Mario Lopez that Parker had inappropriate relations with two women, one of which is his teammate's wife.  She shot down a TMZ story that Parker filed for divorce in Texas, but Longoria filed for divorce herself on Wednesday. Why do I think that the websites who accepted Longoria's denials will take their pound of flesh? Maybe because TMZ is already mocking her request for spousal support.

RYAN REYNOLDS is People's Sexiest Man Alive...but the mag's readers voted on Facebook for... Vin Diesel?

LINDSAY LOHAN now thinks her mom is part of the reason she's in the state she's in, after Dina's appearance on the "Today" show.

DAVID ARQUETTE's mistress says it was quick and painless.

DEMI LOVATO hopes to be out of treatment by Thanksgiving.

COWBOYS & ALIENS has a trailer online.

THE WIZARD OF OZ: Warner Bros is in early talks with Robert Zemeckis to direct a live-action remake and plans to use the original script from the 1939 classic? Zemeckis' rep emphatically denies it.

THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E. may be headed to the big screen under the direction of Steven Soderbergh.

THE SWARM may be coming again. Ever get the feeling Hollywood is low on new ideas?

TERROR in the USA: Federal prosecutors charged Nima Ali Yusuf with aiding Shabaab, al Qaeda's affiliate in Somalia.

IRAN: BP shut down the Rhum gas field in Aberdeen because the joint venture with Iranian Oil Company violated international sanctions.

AFGHANISTAN could face "eye-watering violence" after NATO troops leave. A coalition representative in Kabul says 2014 deadline for ending combat ops might not be met.

A BULL jumped into the grandstands at the Plaza de Toros.

A KOALA walks into a bar ... no, seriously.

GAY VULTURES will be separated by a German zoo -- to set them up with a female.

HUNGOVER OWLS: Tumblr of the Day.

LYKKE LI is a witchy woman in the video for "Get Some." I am diggin' that rhythm.

ELVIS COSTELLO did a special solo set at Avatar Studios for WFUV.

JUNIP stopped by The Current for a chat and mini-set.

FERRABY LIONHEART did a session for Morning Becomes Eclectic.

SYL JOHNSON, a classic Chicago R & B singer, gets a feature plus tracks via NPR and Oliver Wang of Soul-Sides.

PAUL SIMON is already "Getting Ready for Christmas Day" on his next LP.

ARTHUR BROWN is the god of hellfire... and he brings you "Fire!" It's a crazy world.

REGINA SPEKTOR talks to Prefix about her live LP/DVD, coming Nov. 22nd.

THE FEELIES: Glenn Mercer gives Stereogum a progress report on the band's first album in 20 years.

NEIL YOUNG: A three-alarm blaze that caused 1.1 million in damage to a warehouse filled with the rock legend's music equipment and memorabilia appears to have started in a one-of-a-kind hybrid car stored at the site.

SMASHING PUMPKINS: Billy Corgan is busting on Pavement.

PRINCE WILLIAM & KATE MIDDLETON are engaged. He gave her Diana's ring. The Daily Mail is all over it.

JESSICA SIMPSON may have bought her own 100K ruby engagement ring.

LEEZA GIBBONS is engaged, and has been since June.

LINDSAY LOHAN, in addition to her well-documented family and drug issues, is struggling with anxiety associated with the continued fallout from her infamous 2007 DUI arrest. Meanwhile, she may get dumped from her next film.

EVA LONGORIA & TONY PARKER, contra some reports, are not getting divorced.

BEYONCE's parents are reconciling -- for now.

CAREY MULLIGAN will play Daisy Buchanan in Baz Luhrmann's take on The Great Gatsby.

JEFF BRIDGES, JAMES FRANCO, STEPHEN COLBERT & DRAKE are GQ's Men of the Year.

TINA FEY's comments about Sarah Palin are getting snipped in the PBS broadcast of the Kennedy Center's Mark Twain Prize for American Humor.

DANIEL RADCLIFFE sings Tom Lehrer's "The Elements."

GREEN LANTERN has a trailer online.

YEMEN: The US is seeking to expand counterterrorism intelligence gathering and operations in Yemen.

IRAN: New research on the Stuxnet worm demonstrated that it was designed to infect equipment used in uranium enrichment.

AFGHANISTAN urged the UN Security Council on Monday to remove additional members of the Taliban from its sanctions blacklist, a move it has sought to promote a political solution to the nine-year Afghan war.

US ARMY STAFF SGT. SAL GIUNTA received the Medal of Honor for acts of gallantry at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty.  It's the first MoH since Vietnam not awarded posthumously.  60 Minutes profiled him recently; CNN can show you what Giunta and his squad faced in the Korengal Valley, Afghanistan on October 25, 2007.  The Army has a multimedia showcase about the man and his uncommon valor.

HIDDEN KITTEN: Let's go to the video.

GIANT VORACIOUS CRABS may invade Antarctica, due to global warming.

A HERO DOG from Afghanistan was mistakenly killed by an Arizona animal shelter.

A PET DEER killed its owner in Harrison County, TX.

SPOON goes lo-fi in the clip for "Nobody Gets Me But You."  Add "You Got Yr. Cherry Bomb" from their prior LP and you have Twofer Tuesday.

NEW RELEASES from Springsteen, Mason Jennings, Orange Juice, Norah Jones and more are streaming this week from Spinner.

LANCE, the technical master of this domain, also has a new release -- a daughter! Congrats to him and his wife, who presumably did most of the labor.

GIRL TALK posted the All Day album as a free download. And given it may take that long to download, so here's a few things to do while you're waiting.

SHARON VON ETTEN played a Tiny Desk Concert at the offices of NPR.

RICHARD HAWLEY is streaming a new track, "The River," from an upcoming EP based around a recent visit to the Glenfiddich whisky distillery in Dufftown, Scotland. Link through for access to a second track for those who live in the UK (or pretend to).

PAUL WESTERBERG played at Fantasy Sudios for KFOG, Sept. 12th, 1996.

THE AMERICAN BREED does some wonderfully bad lip-syncing in this wonderfully cheap clip for "Bend Me, Shape Me."

BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN talks to Ed Norton about Darkness on the Edge of Town.

SHEARWATER's Jonathan Meiburg talks to The Other Paper about his albums, the people of Bikini Atoll and his ornithology exploits, as well as the crazy dreams those exploits have inspired. (Thx, Chromewaves.)

HOWARD WOLFSON, New York City deputy mayor and former communications director for Hillary Clinton's 2008 presidential run. talks indie music with Politico.

THE ISLAND FIVE: A staple of all High Fidelity types.

JOHN LYDON, a/k/a Johnny Rotten, is placing 100 golden tickets in his upcoming new book, entitling the bearer to a 10-minute webcam interview with the punk icon.

JESSICA SIMPSON is not getting a prenup, much to her stage dad's chagrin. And for once, I can see his point. Simpson's pals have been concerned over the romance.

MAD MEL UPDATE: Gibson admits slapping Oksana Grigorieva because he says she was so hysterical she was endangering the baby ... but he denies hitting her.

BILL CLINTON joins the cast of The Hangover 2. Yes, really.

LINDSAY LOHAN has been given the green light by Betty Ford to venture around Southern California and will petition for a trip to NYC.

HEIDI MONTAG & SPENCER PRATT Do they want to direct, rather than star, in adult entertainment?

SEBASTIAN BACH (ex. Skid Row) was arrested in Ontario, Canada after cops say he smashed a wine glass at a downtown bar ... and then bit the owner.

ROBERT PATTINSON & JASON STAHAM almost got in a bar fight over Kristen Stewart. My money would have been on Statham.

BRITNEY SPEARS's parents are reconciling eight years after their divorce.

CHRISTIAN BALE may kill someone yet.

SCARLETT JOHANSSEN is GQ's Babe of the Year.

IRAN arrested five human rights lawyers for "security-related offenses."

AFGHANISTAN: Gen. Petraeus and Secretary of State Clinton defended US military operations after criticism from Pres. Karzai. A Karzai spokesman denied any rift in US-Afghan relations from the critique.  Mullah Omar called reports of negotiation "propaganda" and urged the Taliban to continue the fight.

TURKEYS invade Staten Island.

HUNGRY HIPPO demonstrates that the new tranquilizer dart doesn't work as well as hoped.

POLAR BEAR mugs for the cameraman in Cape Churchill, Canada.

FLAMINGOS in flamingo formation.

ARCADE FIRE played "We Used to Wait" and "Sprawl II" on SNL.

BEST COAST stopped by Morning Becomes Eclectic with a session. The L.A. Times profiled the band.

BEN FOLDS & NICK HORNBY stopped by the World Cafe for a chat and mini-set. Ben talked to Phillyist about the record, his songwriting, and what it's like to play in Philly. (Thx, LHB.)

DAWES stopped by The Current for a chat and mini-set.

SILVER JEWS tour doc is streaming this week at Pitchfork.

RODRIGO Y GABRIELA, Live In Dublin on video.

SHARON VON ETTEN's new single is streaming via MBV Music.

TWO COW GARAGE gets a twofer on World Cafe: Next.

BIZ MARKIE and... JEFF GOLDBLUM performed "Just a Friend" on Fallon.

THE DECEMBERISTS: Colim Meloy walks SPIN through key tracks on the new album (which Meloy says is not conceptual).

HUSKER DU is the subject of a new book, reviewed at PopMatters.

ANTONY HEGARTY does a wide-ranging Q & A with The Guardian.

DAVID BOWIE: Saturday was International Bowie day, which had SPIN and Rolling Stone wondering where the Thin White Duke has gone.

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE: Megamind held the top slot, taking in another 30 million on a decent 35 percent drop, for an 89.8 million total against a 130 million budget. Unstoppable placed with 23.5 million -- almost exactly what every Denzel Washington-Tony Scott vehicle has opened with this decade, going back to Déjà vu.  But maybe the very good reviews will make this one a bit more leggy.  Due Date drops 52.5 percent to the third slot with 15.5 million; it totals 59 million so far against a 65 million production budget.  Skyline debuted at No.4 with 11.7 million against a 10 million budget.  Morning Glory rounds out the Top Five with 9.6 million -- and a disappointing 12.2 million since Wednesday on a 40 million budget.

JESSICA SIMPSON got engaged to free agent NFL player Eric Johnson, just days after the news broke that her ex-husband, Nick Lachey, popped the question to Vanessa Minnillo. I'm sure there was no pressure.

JOHN TRAVOLTA rushed home from a promotional trip in Australia after receiving word that pregnant wife Kelly Preston has gone into labor. UPDATE: Travolta's rep denies the story.

LINDSAY LOHAN demanded security officers at her apartment building remove her father, Michael Lohan.

MAD MEL UPDATE: Gibson had a pet name for Oksana Grigorieva - his "dark eyed beautiful little communist" - according to love letters entered into court. Gibson also emphatically denied injuring their daughter.

DEMI LOVATO: The Disney Channel has come up with a way to keep hit its sitcom "Sonny with a Chance" alive while the show's starlet rides the road to recovery in treatment for what her rep called "emotional and physical issues."

KANYE WEST's media trainer quit after just three days of working with the hotheaded rapper following his disastrous interview on the "Today" show this week.

BILLY RAY CYRUS flipped out during a Friday radio interview when host asked about his headline-making split from his wife of 17 years.

HEIDI MONTAG & SPENCER PRATT are renewing their wedding vows in a continuing bid to hold someone's attention.

NATALIE PORTMAN is writing a raunchy comedy for Anne Hathaway.

ZSA ZSA GABOR was expected to return home sometime this weekend after being rushed to the emergency room at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center Friday afternoon after developing a blood clot in her leg and an infection.

IRAN, Venezuela and Nicaragua to plan create a "Nicaragua Canal" linking the Atlantic and Pacific oceans that would rival the existing Panama Canal.

PAKISTAN: The WaPo ran the first part of a ProPublica piece on the man behind the Mumbai massacre and why he's still loose -- a story with serious implications for US foreign policy. The second part should run today.

IRAQ: Iyad Allawi, the leader of the Iraqiya party, said a power-sharing deal with Prime Minister al-Maliki is off the table, although some members of his party may join the government.

A HORSE RIDING IN A CAR: Let's go to the video.

A JACK RUSSELL TERRIER treed a Mountain Lion on a farm in South Dakota.

TWO TIGER CUBS got their first glimpse of the public at the Pittsbugh Zoo.

HOW CATS DRINK WATER without getting wet.