DAVID VANDERVELDE stands in for Okkervil River in this clip for "Singer Songwriter" from the upcoming Okkervil River album The Stand Ins.

NEW RELEASES: Albums from The Verve and Matthew Sweet are among those streaming in full from Spinner this week.

PAUL McCARTNEY & BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN may help close Yankee Stadium.

JOHN COUGAR MELLENCAMP: You can download two free songs from the new Death, Love and Freedom via Vanity Fair magazine.

THE FELICE BROS. do the four free songs thing for Daytrotter, three previously unreleased.

BADFINGER: "No Matter What" and "Day After Day" make for a classic Twofer Tuesday, but I can't leave out "Baby Blue," can I?

BOB MARLEY is bringing together Serbs and Croats.

BARENAKED LADIES frontman Ed Robertson survived a plane crash in southeastern Ontario on Sunday.

ARCTIC MONKEYS' upcoming album to be produced by Josh Homme (QotSA).

VAMPIRE WEEKEND: The most punk band of 2008?

CHARLIE SHEEN and his wife, Brooke Mueller, are expecting a baby.

MADONNA & GUY RITCHIE made a last-ditch attempt to save their troubled marriage by renewing their wedding vows at a private kabbalah ceremony in London, according to the Daily Mail.

CHER to play Catwoman in a third Nolan Batman movie?

AMERICAN IDOL is adding a fourth judge: Grammy-nominated songwriter Kara DioGuardi. Paula Abdul is excited and concerned.

DANCING WITH THE STARS announces its new cast.  No Adam West, no peace!!!  Kim Kardashian has already managed to put her foot in some broken glass.

BRADGELINA are technically eligible for French child support payments, though it's highly unlikely the couple will accept the cash.  More likely -- Pitt shot Jolie and brood at the Chateau Miraval in the South of France last week for the November cover of W magazine.

BRITNEY SPEARS will not re-wreck her train at this year's MTV Video Music Awards.

JESSICA SIMPSON talks to the Sacramento Bee about emotional healing and working with Dolly Parton.

HEATH LEDGER is not enough to make US distributors jump on the quirky Terry Gilliam film, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus.

TOM-KAT UPDATE: Merrill Lynch is looking to renegotiate its deal with Cruise's beleaguered reboot of United Arists.

LEO DiCAPRIO & KATE WINSLET are targets of a Titanic prank on the set of Revolution Road, but the duo rises to the occasion.

MAD MEN: Jon Hamm (Don Draper) reveals the secrets of manliness in a postmodern world to Best Life magazine. At the other end of the scale, there was a moment of Mozart in last Sunday's episode.

STAR TREK: Like Watchmen, Kevin Smith may have seen this one also.

THE A.Q. KHAN NUCLEAR NETWORK: The Swiss gov't has detailed files on the intriguing tale of spies, moles and the compromises that governments make in the name of national security.

A BBC news girl complains the network is failing to show viewers the Taliban's "humanity." Presenter Lyse Doucet's astonishing statement comes as an Apache gunship hero revealed the fanatics aim to capture a British soldier and skin him alive on the Internet.

GEORGIA, GEORGIA:  The Russian parliament has voted unanimously to urge the president to recognize the independence of Georgia's two breakaway regions, South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

IRAN: Commerce Minister Masoud Mirkazemi has rejected recent reports that the country has imported over one million tons of wheat from the United States.

IRAQ: Prime Minister al-Maliki said Monday no security agreement with the US could be reached unless it included a "specific deadline" for the withdrawal of all American troops. Tens of thousands of Baghdad soccer fans cheered on their club in the top league's final game, the largest sports crowd the city has seen since the US-led invasion in 2003.

A CURIOUS CAT discovers more than one way to solve the problem of a half-empty glass.

THREE GIANT PANDAS have been born in southwest China, bringing the total number of new arrivals of the endangered species this year to at least 19, state media reported.

DRUG-SMUGGLING PIGEONS land behind bars in Bosnia.

CATS with a fondness for gourmet meals are threatening global fish supplies, an Australian scientist says.

THE DOG ate my USB drive, teacher.

BUDDY HARMAN, whose percussion work on more than 18,000 recordings established him as country music's best-known and most-recorded drummer, died Thursday of congestive heart failure. He was 79. You heard him on tracks like Roy Orbison's "Pretty Woman," Patsy Cline's "Crazy," Johnny Cash's "Ring of Fire," Tammy Wynette's "Stand By Your Man," Loretta Lynn's "Coal Miner's Daughter" and Elvis Presley's "Little Sister."

BON IVER: Justin Vernon chats and plays a couple for WNYC's Soundcheck.

CENTROMATIC has a new track, "Christmas '83 (Make Fun of My Sweaters)," while Will Johnson talks to the 'Gum.

THE DECEMBERISTS are launching Always the Bridesmaid: A Singles Series this Fall, both as downloads and on vinyl.

DRIVE-BY TRUCKERS: Patterson Hood gives the Independent Mail his Top Ten Favorite Albums, with alternates.  Hard to argue any of them.

JIMMY PAGE & LEONA LEWIS brought a "Whole Lotta Love" to the closing ceremonies at the Olympics in Beijing.  Some lyrics were avoided.

LUCINDA WILLIAMS  talks about her upcoming album, Little Honey, at Rolling Stone.

RODNEY CROWELL & JENNY SCHEINMAN played the World Cafe on Friday. You can stream the gig on demand via NPR.

FLESHMAP breaks down the percentage of various body parts found in various genres of music.

PAUL McCARTNEY has taken galpal Nancy Shevell to meet the family.

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE: Tropic Thunder repeats at number one, making 16.1 million.  It has made 65.7 million to date, giving it a decent shot at recouping its 92 million budget in the US during the dog days of cinema.  The House Bunny opens in second place with 15.1 million, probably not bad for Anna Faris's first star vehicle, esp. with a 25 mil budget.  Death Race opened in third place 12.3 million; it will have to make profit on its 45 million budget overseas (but likely will). The Dark Knight drops to fourth, but makes 10.3 million on a mere 37.1 percent drop; it has made over 870 million worldwide so far.  Star Wars: The Clone Wars rounds out the Top Five, but craters 61.3 percent with a 5.7 million take.  The longstots opened in eighth place, while The Rocker debuted in twelfth.

RACHEL McADAMS & RYAN GOSLING were... wait for it... caught canoodling by cameras in Toronto.

JASON LEE and galpal Ceren Alkac, are the parents of a girl. We can hope she won't be named Earl.

SCARLETT JOHANSSON is not Woody Allen's muse, though he thinks "she is one of the great American actresses."

LINDSAY LOHAN denies rumors that she was with Courtenay Semel before DJ Samantha Ronson.

MICHAEL PHELPS was... wait for it... caught canoodling Aussie Olympian swimmer Stephanie Rice, just weeks after she split from Aussie swimmer Eamon Sullivan. Not a shock once you learn that the Olympic City is thisclose to Sodom and Gommorah. BONUS: Another helping of Rice.

SHAQ has been slapped with a restraining order by hip-hopper MaryJane.

MILEY CYRUS is having her sweet 16 bash at Disneyland on Gay Day.  NTTAWWT.

MAD MEN: John Slattery ("Roger Sterling") thalks to TV Guide about the best job he ever had, and getting an Emmy nomination.

WATCHMEN: Kevin Smith has seen it: "It's f---ing astounding. The Non-Disclosure Agreement I signed prevents me from saying much, but I can spout the following with complete joygasmic enthusiasm: Snyder and Co. have pulled it off..."  Meanwhile, the New York Times picks up the story on the dispute over the film rights.

TOM-KAT UPDATE: The couple is not separated, but they are not exactly together, either.  If you want to see some of his work in Tropic Thunder, the lawyers have missed this Japanese site.  In this scene, Ben Stiller's character has been kidnapped by a Vietnamese drug ring and are trying to ransom him to his agent (Matthew McConaughey), who mistakes the drug ring for a rival agency.  Cruise plays the movie's ruthless producer, Les Grossman. Warning for language.

OUR FRIENDS, THE SAUDIS: A court in Saudi Arabia is reported to be preparing to hear a plea for divorce from an eight-year-old girl who has been married off to a man in his 50s.

TERROR in the USA: An unmanned drone plane being built by an engineer on Long Island sparked a large counter-terrorism investigation across the New York area. Pics, video at the link.

GEORGIA, GEORGIA: Russian troops are finally leaving Gori, though the US and France said the Russians are not living up to the ceasefire agreement.

IRAQ: Muqtada al-Sadr plans to live in Iran for years to come, a key aide says.  The WSJ covers how the improved Iraqi Army helped pave the way for the proposed US-Iraq security pact.

YODA the four-eared cat has become a celebrity since a Flickr photo was purchased by a UK agency. A a microchip has been placed in one of his four ears after adopting him to thwart would-be kittynappers.

COLIN the WHALE was actually Collette, scientists discovered after the lost humpback was euthanized.  It is believed a whale carcass being eaten by sharks near Eden on the NSW  South Coast may have been her mother.

A BABY ABANDONED IN WINTER by her 14-year-old mother was found safe in a dog pen with a mother dog and her brood of puppies near the city of La Plata, Argentina.

GATORS and SNAKES are among the critters roaming the flooded streets, backyards and doorsteps of central Florida in the wake of Tropical Storm Fay.

FOUR HORSES in the Olympic equestrian team jumping competition were suspended in a doping scandal.

THE WEEKEND STARTS HERE:

...with SHINDIG! This is a "best of" compilation of "Sixties Superstars." Part 1 features the Byrds ("Turn, Turn, Turn"), Donovan ("Catch The Wind"), The Turtles ("Let Me Be"), and Beau Brummels ("Laugh Laugh"). Part 2 features The Mamas & Papas ("California Dreaming"), The Yardbirds ("For Your Love"), and Donovan ("Colors"). Part 3 includes The Turtles ("It Ain't Me, Babe"), The Byrds ("I'll Feel A Whole Lot Better"), and The Gentrys "Keep On Dancing"). Part 4 has The Kingsmen ("Louie, Louie" - with clear lyrics), Sir Douglas Quintet ("She's About A Mover"), Roy Head ("Treat Her Right") and The Olympics ("Good Lovin'" with an assist from house organist Billy Preston). Part 5 includes The McCoys ("Hang On Sloopy"), The Hondells ("Little Honda"), The Righteous Brothers ("Let The Good Times Roll"), Part Six brings Dobie Gray ("The In Crowd"), Zsa Zsa Gabor ("High Heeled Sneakers." Really.), Jerry Lee Lewis ("Great Balls O' Fire") and The Isley Brothers ("Shout!").

MATES OF STATE: The husband-wfe duo stopped by the World Cafe for a chat and mini-set you can stream on demand via NPR.

THE VERVE is streaming their new album at VerveSpace.

JENNIFER O'CONNOR is profiled by the New York Sun, which observes that she is carelessly compared to Liz Phair when Townes van Zandt might be equally appropriate. She just did the four free songs thing for Daytrotter, including a previously unreleased cover of Stevie Wonder's "A Place In The Sun," so you can judge for yourself.

DAVID BYRNE has a new gig designing bike racks for NYC.

BLOC PARTY have surprise released a new album, which is streaming at their website.

GLADYS KNIGHT and the UN-PIPS: The magic of modern video effects insert Tropic Thunder stars Ben Stiller, Jack Black and Robert Downey, Jr. into the classic "Midnight Train to Georgia" during the American idol charity special.  (Here's the original clip.)

MATTHEW SWEET talks to the North County about the changing times and a possible lawsuit against the makers of Guitar Hero II. (Thx, LHB.)

THE BROKEN WEST: You can stream "Auctioneer" from the upcoming Now or Heaven album at Aquarium Drunkard.

JOANNA NEWSOM brings the humor to an interview with TimeOut Chicago in advance of her gig tonight with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.

GARY GLITTER continues his world tour, agreeing to return to London after being kicked out of Hong Kong and Thailand (twice.)

THE CONSTANTINES are profiled at Filter.

CUTOUT BIN: From Jimi Hendrix to Hugh Grant, from Jonathan Richman to The Spinners, from the Beach Boys to The Equals, from The Who to Tullycraft, from Stratocruiser to Alive & Kicking and more -- this Friday's fortuitous finds can be jukeboxed or streamed separately via the Pate page at the ol' HM.

BRITNEY SPEARS singing alone sounds pretty bad.  Maybe not as bad as the late Linda McCartney, but bad.  Will a duet with Justin Timberlake revive her career?

GWEN STEFANI & GAVIN ROSSDALE welcome a second son.

ELLEN DeGENERES & PORTIA de ROSSI: The newlyweds are thinking about having kids.

JESSICA SIMSPON looks at bf Tony Romo's phone call log?  She also says, "He's the first person I've spiritually connected with."  If so, should you need to snoop into his phone records?  And ex-husband Nick Lachey will appreciate the compliment, too.

AMY WINEHOUSE is not back in rehab (no, no, no).

NOW SHOWING: This weekend's wide releases are The Rocker, which opened Wednesday and is currently scoring 38 percent on the ol' Tomatometer; Anna Farris as The House Bunny, which appears to be unscreened for critics; the reimagining of Death Race, which is scoring XX percent; and The Longshots with XX percent.

SIENNA MILLER's London home was tagged by graffiti marking her as a "SLUT." The actress has attracted controversy for her relationship with married man Balthazar Getty.

SHARON STONE goes cougar with a 24-year-old boyfriend, who apparently could stand to learn a few things about tact and discretion: "I've started dating Sharon Stone, and she's pretty good for 50."

JODIE FOSTER is hoping to avoid a 25 million dollar galimony payout.

MAD MEN: Ratings for season two are eroding, though some may be watching on demand during the Olympics.

EMILY O'BRIEN explains a new method of capturing human performances for computer animation. And the version of soap actress in the video is not real. The Times of London has background.

WOLVERINE: Fox co-chairman and CEO Tom Rothman reportedly had a set repainted while the director was out of town to try to lighten the tone of the movie.  Because after the success of The dark Knight, we know the world is dying to see a happy-go-lucky Wolverine, right?

WHAT MAKES A TERRORIST? Two different views -- one more global, based on the Gallup Poll of the Muslim World, the other UK-centric from MI5.

GEORGIA, GEORGIA: Reuters reports that Russian armored units have begun pulling back into South Ossetia, though the Finnish Foreign Minister says the Russians have not budged from the strategic city of Gori and that that Russia has conducted an ethnic cleansing of South Ossetia.

IRAN plans to send a manned rocket into space in the next 10 years.  Pres. Ahmadinejad called Israel "a germ of corruption" to be "removed soon" in comments on his presidential website.  Iran has banned an award-winning young actress from leaving the country over her appearance in Ridley Scott's latest movie "Body of Lies" with Hollywood heartthrobs Leonardo DiCaprio and Russell Crowe.

IRAQ: Recent political progress in Diyala may unravel after a botched attempt to capture a provincial official at the main governmental center in Baqubah killed an assistant to the provincial governor. OTOH, over 1000 suspects have so far sought amnesty in a campaign aimed at lower-level insurgents in Diyala, a provincial official says.

SPAGHETTI CAT: A moment of zen.

TWO TORTOISES, FOUR WALKING CATFISH, A GATOR and a BLUE INDIGO SNAKE were spotted on a runway at the Melbourne International Airport in Florida, thanks to Tropical Storm Fay.

THE LOST BABY WHALE who mistook a yacht for its mother may have to be euthanized by Aussie officials.

WHEN COWS ATTACK: A jogger feared for his life during an attack by a cow in a popular park in Auckland, NZ that left him with a broken arm and extensive bruising.

THE SQUIRREL THREAT: This militant squirrel is in training for something.

POLAR BEARS are being sedated and marked for measurement with spray paint in Alaska.  Is PETA cool with this?

MAY THE CROCODILE bless you and eat you.

GUILLEMOTS go for a lo-fi look in the clip for "Kriss Kross" fro the Red album.

TV ON THE RADIO is streaming a new song, "Golden Age," at their website.

ROBYN HITCHCOCK has released a second box set, Luminous Groove, which focuses on Hitchcock's Eighties output with the Egyptians.  Yep Roc is streaming the previously unreleased "Bad Case of History."

DEPARTMENT OF EAGLES: The Grizzly Bear offshoot has released a track "No One Does It Like You," from the upcoming In Ear Partk LP.

JOSH RITTER: The acclaimed singer-songwriter recently played the Mountain Stage, so you can stream the six-song set on demand via NPR.

BETTYE LaVETTE has an atmospheric new video for her take on Elton John's "Talking Old Soldiers" from The Scene of the Crime.

LOU BARLOW (Dinosaur Jr., Sebadoh) shuffles his iPod for The A.V. Club in a particularly good edition of "Random Rules."

AMY WINEHOUSE is back in rehab (yes, yes, yes).

GARY GLITTER is flying to Hong Kong after being thrown out of Thailand and refusing to return to Britain after serving time in a Vietnamese prison for child molestation.

BEACHWOOD SPARKS: The country-psych outfit has reuinted and is touring with hopes of recording a new LP for release in 2009.

BRADGELINA: Estranged dad Jon Voight defends Jolie (and Pitt) from Roseanne Barr's attacks, calling Barr "evil" and noting that her family has branded her as a "psychopathic liar." I dunno about evil, but Barr's attacks are inaccurate.  She compalins that Bradgelina spends tiny percentage of their multi-million dollar earnings on charity, when it's well-documented that Jolie gives one-third of her income to charity, while Pitt gave a similar amount.  Barr also rages about "the Republican party's worldwide economic assault on Africa over the last few decades since Ronald Reagan," when even critics admit that Pres. Bush has done more for Africa than any other, quadrupling humanitarian and development aid to the continent.

JENNIFER GARNER is officially knocked up again.

ANGIE HARMON is officially knocked up again.

MATT.DAMON. and his wife, Luciana, welcome a baby girl.

JEN & JOHN: Mayer may be regretting talking to the press abut The Break-Up with Aniston, as tabloid types now turn up at his home daily; meanwhile, Team Aniston had to put the kibosh on her agents at CAA trying to set up dates with Hollywood bachelors.  The Mirror claims Mayer dumped Aniston by text message.

JESSICA SIMPSON will hawk a vitamin-enriched beer called Stampede Light Plus.  Extra has the ad.  I'm thinkin' that the slogan "Be Smart, Drink Smart" is under cut by the photo of Simpson.

RICKY MARTIN is a father to twin boys born via a surrogate.

RACHEL McADAMS & RYAN GOSLING reportedly have gotten back together, after splitting in 2007. Crazy delicious.

AMANDA BEARD denies dating fellow Olympian Michael Phelps, but says she was just joking when she said, "Eww, that's so nasty! ... Come on, I have really good taste."  OTOH, Lindsay Lohan thinks Phelps is amazing and wants to meet him.

JENNIFER LOVE HEWITT wishes she had been nude from the time I was 12 until I was 28, and wants to tell all young girls to walk around in bikinis all summer.  But if I say that, everyone will look at me funny.

THIS JUST IN: Females such as Scarlett Johansson, Raquel Welch and Marilyn Monroe with short slender bodies, large busts and slim limbs are the most sexually attractive to men, scientists claim.  That's a british study, but the US does its share of taxpayer-funded obvious studies.

ROYALE WITH CHEESE: The French have secretly surrendered... to "Macdoh."

GEORGIA, GEORGIA: Russia plans to establish 18 long-term checkpoints inside Georgian territory, including at least eight within undisputed Georgian territory. The plans appear to violate the terms of a French-endorsed cease-fire deal signed late last week by the presidents of Georgia and Russia.  Meanwhile, Moscow had informed Norway of a decision to freeze all joint work with NATO in the row over Georgia.

PAKISTAN: The ruling coalition, fresh from ending a six-month standoff by forcing Pres. Musharraf to resign, failed to resolve a festering dispute over reinstating judges he fired. While the two parties pledged to reinstate the judges in a March 9 agreement that formed the basis for the coalition, the leaders differ on how to achieve this.

IRAQ: Iraqi and US negotiators have completed a draft security pact that would see US troops leave Iraqi cities as early as June 30, 2009. New Iranian-backed splinter groups, like the Asaib al Haq (League of the Righteous) are being targeted by Multinational Forces Iraq. Sunni politicians accuse the Shiite-dominated security forces of carrying out political arrests, warning that this could push Iraq into another round of sectarian fighting.

A ROGUE MONKEY causes chaos at a Tokyo train station.  Videos at the link.

A GREYHOUND and an OWL have formed a bizarre friendship at an animal center.  Totally awww...some pics at the link.

AND NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT: A cat with four ears named Yoda. In Chicago, no less.  Pics at the link.

THE LOST BABY WHALE who thinks a yacht is its mother will be lucky to survive the week -- unless it finds a more likely guardian.

A TWO-HEADED TURTLE has gone missing from a NYC pet store.  Apparently, the police switchboard was skeptical.

BIGFOOT SCAMMERS are also looking for leads on leprechauns, the Loch Ness monster and dinosaurs.

OKKERVIL RIVER is promoting its upcoming The Stand-Ins album with video featuring "stand-ins" like the New Pornographers' A.C. Newman on an acoustic version of "Lost Coastlines." Newman kinda overpowers Will Scheff, though the two have a nice vocal blend.

ALL SONGS CONSIDERED: Advance tracks from Okkervil River and Of Montreal lead off the latest installment of the long-running NPR series.

SHE & HIM played the latest episode of Sound Opinions, which also found Greg Kot and Jim DeRogatis debating the merits of Brazilian Girls.

THE HOLD STEADY and DRIVE-BY TRUCKERS are hitting the road together, in a double bill to match last year's pairing of the Hold Steady with Art Brut.  Craig Finn & Co. show off their pre-show ritual at NME.

RADIOHEAD, for various reasons, has been taking grief lately from the Silver Jews' David Berman and The Hold Steady's guitarist Tad Kubler, not to mention Boing-Boing/NPR doyenne Xeni Jardin. Can't we all just get along? (Anyone who has seen Jack Black's turn in High Fidelity knows the answer is "no.")

GLEN CAMPBELL's album of mostly alt-covers gets a good review in the Boston Globe. Campbell talks to The Replacements' "Sadly Beautiful" in the USA Today and the San Francisco Chronicle, as well as an unrecorded John Lennon song given to him by Yoko Ono. He performs some of the new covers for AOL Sessions, including "These Days" (J. Browne/Nico), "Angel Dream" (T. Petty) and "Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)" (Green Day), as well as a couple of Campbell classics. Sounding pretty good at 72.

FINAL FANTASY: Indie violinist Owen Pallett talks to New York magazine about the joy of failure.  The piece also mentions that he gave away his 20K in Polaris Prize money to other musicians and his manager because it was sponsored by a cellphone company.

LOS CAMPESINOS! The Welsh speed-pop septet talks to PopMatters about their sudden ascent over the past two years. MP3 and video at the link.

PANDORA (and thus presumably other web radio services) may have to shut down due to high royalty fees lobbied on webcasters.  Negotiations to lower the rate for webcasters are ongoing.

THE ROLLING STONES: "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" wakes a British fan from a coma. Further evidence that Keith Richards is Lord of the Undead?

CHRISTINA APPLEGATE revealed that she has undergone a double mastectomy - even though cancer was only detected in one of her breasts. Her mother had breast cancer and Christina has the breast cancer gene, BRCA1. Over the next eight months she will undergo reconstructive surgery: "I'm gonna have cute boobs till I'm 90," she quipped.

MICHAEL PHELPS, record-breaking Olympic swimmer, has been linked to both Olympic swimmer Amanda Beard and model Lily Donaldson. Frankly, to do this story, the Telegraph could have found better pics of Beard and thrown in some of Donaldson. ALSO: Why isn't Aussie medalist Stephanie Rice in this mix?

BRITNEY SPEARS is racking up some hefty legal bills on the road to Wellville.

90210 2.0 is not being screened for advertisers or the media in advance of the program's premiere. Usually a very bad sign.

CHRIS KATTAN: the SNL alum has separated from his model wife after eight weeks of wedded bliss.

ROBERT DOWNEY, JR.: Iron Man reviews The Dark Knight, and does not give it a thumbs-up. And he talks about Tropic Thunder and Iron Man 2, natch.

GWYNETH PALTROW has angered animal rights activists by endorsing a new collection of luxury goods using fur.

WATCHMEN is in some legal peril after a federal judge has denied the WB's motion to dismiss 20th Century Fox's suit over the rights to develop, produce and distribute a film based on the graphic novel.  But don't panic; it seems like Murdoch's crew is looking for some "go away money."

INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS: Quentin Tarantino's WWII pic will move forward without Simon Pegg, who had to drop out over scheduling conflicts.

MAD MEN: The guys of Sterling-Cooper look at home at the Playboy Mansion.

THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK... at San Francisco.  Looking for revenge against George Lucas, I'll bet.

GEORGIA, GEORGIA: Russian President Dmitry Medvedev says Russian forces will withdraw from most of Georgia by Friday. This time for sure... nothing up his sleeve... Presto! Meanwhile, Russian soldiers took about 20 Georgian troops prisoner at a key Black Sea port in western Georgia on Tuesday, blindfolding them and holding them at gunpoint, and commandeered American HumVees awaiting shipment back to the US.

AFGHANISTAN: Afghan and NATO officials are seeing a rise in numbers of foreign fighters in Afghanistan at the same time US officials say attacks by Al Qaeda in Iraq have sharply dropped. The Pentagon will be sending 12K to 15K additional US troops there, possibly as soon as the end of this year.

IRAN is preparing to build more nuclear power plants. Meanwhile, the Islamic theocracy's attempt to launch a dummy satellite into orbit was a "dramatic failure" that fell far short of the country's assertions of success, a US official said on Tuesday.

IRAQ: The national government is making moves against US-backed Sunni Arab fighters in Diyala province. Iraqi soldiers stormed the governor's office in Diyala before dawn on Tuesday, killing his secretary and firing on local police. Iraqi troops also raided local government offices in Diyala on Tuesday, arresting a Sunni provincial council member and a university president. Iraq's largest Sunni party accuses the government security forces of sectarian bias.

HEY IS THAT A GIANT BURMESE PYTHON IN YOUR PANTS?  Weatherman Kurtis Gertz got some company on live TV at the Iowa State Fair.  KCCI has graciously posted not one, but two videos.

ABOUT 60 NEWLY-HATCHED SEA TURTLES lost their way during their ritual passage to the sea and marched into an Italian restaurant instead.

PEDIGREE DOGS EXPOSED: The oldest all-breed kennel club in the world is accusedby the BBC of Nazi-like practices in its emphasis on breed purity.  Again, Nazi comparisons are generally over-the-top in most cases.

A WILD DOLPHIN is apparently teaching other members of her group to walk on their tails, a behavior usually seen only after training in captivity.

WOMAN BITES MAN in attempted hamster food theft.