THE LONG WEEKEND STARTS HERE:

...with POWER POP! A few of these may be well-known generally, like Cheap Trick's  "Way of the World" and Nick Lowe's "Cruel to Be Kind"... and some well-known to fans of the genre, like Shoes "Too Late," The Records' "Starry Eyes," the Flamin' Groovies' "Shake Some Action" and the Plimsouls'  "A Million Miles Away" (seen here in a rare live TV slot).  Others are well-known to longtime Pate fans, like the Three O'Clock's "Her Head's Revolving" or Let's Active's "Waters Part." 

TENNIS stopped by Morning Becomes Eclectic for a session.

THE STONE ROSES reunited at an unannounced free performance for 1000 fans.

THE SHINS: James Mercer visited Sound Opinions to showcase songs from the band's new album Port of Morrow (but there's a classic as well).

FOO FIGHTERS, joined by Mick Jagger and former and current SNL cast members, played last weekend's afterparty.

LEMONADE is advance streaming Diver.

ROXY MUSIC, Live at the Paris Theatre, London, circa 1972.

BON IVER, Live at the Haldern Pop Festival, August 15, 2009.

REDD KROSS drops the title track to "Researching The Blues," their first new LP in 15 years.

ELTON JOHN canceled four shows after being rushed to hospital in Los Angeles due to a "serious respiratory infection."  Time for some "Tiny Dancer."

SON VOLT's Jay Farrar talks to the Colorado Springs Independent about working from words by Woody Guthrie and Jack Kerouac. (Thx, LHB.)

THE 100 GREATEST GUITARISTS, according to SPIN.

THE WORST POP COVERS of all time, according to Gigwise.

NINE CLASSIC SONGS you may not know are covers.

CUTOUT BIN:  From David Bowie to the dB's, from the Black Keys to Carly Simon, from the Four Winds to the March Violets, plus Todd Rundgren, Duane Eddy, the Rolling Stones, Best Coast 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: Men In Black 3, which is currently scoring 65 percent on the ol' Tomatometer; and Chernobyl Diaries, which -- oddly enough -- did not screen for critics..

JOHN TRAVOLTA was heaped with fresh embarrassment after photos surfaced of him cross-dressing.

BILL CLINTON threw the "worst party ever"?  That's not the Bill we know and love.

GARY OLDMAN joins the cast of the Robocop reboot.

NICOLE KIDMAN's turn in The Paperboy with Zac Efron is... er, well, um...

FIVE VAMPIRE MOVIES that suck in a good way.

YEMEN: The US State Dept has launched a different sort of raid against Al Qaeda -- hacking into Al Qaeda websites in Yemen.

IRAN has earmarked 25 million bucks for blocking the parliamentary approval of the Afghan-US strategic cooperation agreement. Iran said it was aiming to launch its fourth satellite into orbit this week -- and people seem to care much less than when North korea does this sort of thing.

COAST GUARD CANINE saves a boy from drowning.

THE BUFFALO WHISPERER: RC Bridges and his wife Sherron share their Texas home with two enormous bison.

A MAN, A ZEBRA & A PARROT go for a joyride.  Alcohol may have been involved.

BABY GORILLA: Awww...some pics.

AN EMU has invaded a golf course in South Wales.

LIZ PHAIR dropped a video for "And He Slayed Her" in an unusual spot.

SILVERSUN PICKUPS stopped by KEXP for a pared-down set of spanking new songs.

ZEUS: The 70s-flavored Canucks stopped by World Cafe for a chat and mini-set.

MIIKE SNOW did a Morning Becomes Eclectic session backstage before their recent sold out show in L.A.

L.A. POST-PUNK: Boing-Boing can point you to a two-volume compilation of post-punk and experimental pop music in the Los Angeles area from the mid-seventies through the mid-eighties.

METRIC drops "Speed The Collapse" ahead of Synthetica.

BLACK SABBATH uleashed "Iron Man" at the first show of their reunion tour.

GARBAGE: Shirley Manson talks about female artists and more with The A.V. Club.

T-BONE BURNETT visits World Cafe to reflect on some of his most famous projects.

JULIA HOLTER talks to The Quietus about her musical training, her secret field recordings, the new LP, and more...

THE BEST OF 2010 (So Far), according to Stereogum, with embedded tracks.

JESSICA SIMPSON has a wedding date, having reached the level of celebrity where you don't keep it a secret anymore.

RYAN GOSLING & EVA MENDES are most decidedly still on - but he's not ready to play house just yet.

JOHNNY DEPP is trying to work things out with Vanessa Paradis.  And he's an adopted Comanche.

KELLY CLARKSON: Happiness is killing her creativity.

SNOOKI is having a boy, for those of you who bet on Son of Satan.

NATALIE PORTMAN is doing a Western.

THE GREAT GATSBY has a trailer online.

YEMEN: Twenty-two al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula fighters and seven Yemeni soldiers were killed in fighting in Zinjibar, Jaar, and Bajidar in Abyan province.

EGYPT's first free presidential election in modern times started yesterday, with the front-runners the Islamist Abdel Moneim Aboul Fotouh and Amr Moussa, a former longtime servant of ousted President Hosni Mubarak.

PAKISTAN: A Pakistani court sentenced the doctor who helped the CIA find and kill Osama bin Laden to 33 years in prison.

AFGHANISTAN: Security forces killed the Taliban's deputy shadow governor for Nuristan.

BEAGLE vs PIGLET: Who you got?

"GAY" PENGUINS have been given an egg to adopt as their own.  The penguins; caretaker emphasized that the penguins are not actually gay - they are just the best of friends. NTTAWWT.

YOSHI the FERRET gets £3,000 in spinal surgery.

A MOUNTAIN LION was shot in downtown Santa Monica; debate ensues.

HOSPITALITY plays Steely Dan's "Rikki, Don't Lose That Number" upbeat for the A.V. Club Undercover.

STEPHIN MERRITT of the Magnetic Fields stopped by WFUV for a chat and miniset.

THE MYNABIRDS: Laura Burhenn gave a solo preview of the band's next LP at WNYC Soundcheck, and drop "Body Of Work" as an advance track.

HERE WE GO MAGIC stopped by The Current for a chat and mini-set.

THE XX put live versions of five new songs on the Tube.

SIMON & GARFUNKEL tackle "Late In the Evening" in Central Park, circa 1981, iirc.

FIRST AID KIT: The Söderberg sisters are profiled at PopMatters.

PATRICK WILSON is profiled by Blurt.

LEE RENALDO talks to the Nashville Scene about his solo LP and tour. (Thx, LHB.)

SIXTEEN GUITARISTS talk to Paste about their pedal boards.

BRADGELINA: Pitt says his long-awaited engagement to Jolie was "something that made sense," but they have no set wedding date. Like he would tell anyone if they did.

MICHAEL McKEAN, who portrayed Lenny on "Laverne & Shirley" and David St. Hubbins in "This Is Spinal Tap" was hospitalized after being struck by a car on the Upper West Side of NYC on Tuesday afternoon.

WHITNEY HOUSTON's final recording, "Celebrate," a duet with her Sparkle costar, Jordin Sparks, is online.

LINDSAY LOHAN is getting nutty over the casting of the Richard Brurton to her Liz Taylor for the Lifetime biopic.

KATY PERRY has called it quits with her rebound rocker beau, Florence + the Machine guitarist Robert Ackroyd.

MELISSA ETHERIDGE has settled her two-year feud with fmr domestic partner Tammy Lynn Michaels.

BRITNEY SPEARS has taken up scaring golfers.

CHRISSY TIEGEN, a Victoria's Secret and S.I. swimsuit model, has been bombarded with violent, twisted threats from multiple Chris Brown fans.

COREY FELDMAN is being terrorized by a 300-lb woman.

TERROR in the USA: Ohio resident Hor Akl and his wife Amera, both dual US-Lebanese citizens, were sentenced to six and three years in prison, respectively, for plotting to send as much as a million dollars to the Lebanese terror group Hezbollah.

IRAN: United Nations nuclear agency chief Yukiya Amano announced an agreement with Iran that was expected to deepen inspections and clear up remaining questions about possible weapons-related work - issues that have plagued Iran's nuclear dossier for years. We'll see.

AFGHANISTAN:  The Taliban tightens its grip on rural schools.

SO, AN EMU WALKS INTO A BAR... and leaves something besides a tip.

ALLIGATORS to appear in court for an animal abuse case? (Unlikely.)

TURTLE REMAINS the size of a Smart Car have been unearthed in a Colombian coal mine.

MEET the SARCASTIC FRINGEHEAD, a fish that looks like a Predator.

BEACH HOUSE plays "Myth" at the Ed Sullivan Theater.

NEW RELEASES from Gossip, The Cult, Kimbra, Gaz Coombes and more are streaming this week at Spinner, along with the reissue of Paul McCartney's Ram.

EDWARD SHARPE and the MAGNETIC ZEROES are advance streaming Here.

HALLELUJAH THE HILLS is advance streaming No One Knows What Happens Next.

GRASS WIDOW is streaming Internal Logic.

ROBIN GIBB has an unreleased LP called Sing Slowly Sisters.

MICK JAGGER was backed by Arcade Fire, Foo Fighters and Jeff Beck on SNL for a more-than Twofer Tuesday, icymi.

SPIRITUALIZED: Jason Pierce talks to Pitchfork about the soundtrack of his life.

MAYER HAWTHORNE tells the Indianapolis Star five things you may not know about him. (Thx, Chromewaves.)

OF MONSTERS AND MEN... and ghosts, trolls and elves.

PAUL KRUGMAN: The Nobel-winning NYT pundit explains his taste for indie.

JOHN TRAVOLTA: Now the lawyer who filed a lawsuit against John Travolta on behalf of two masseurs is suing Gloria Allred for allegedly stealing his clients.

KIRSTEN DUNST spent a night out with Samantha Ronson. Will it become a habit?

JUSTIN BIEBER took an 18-year-old fan to the Billboard Music Awards; he's one of the few who could without raising eyebrows.

MATTHEW FOX has undergone a body transformation to play a serial killer. Whoa.

WES ANDERSON's 10 Favorite New York Movies.

SKYFALL: The next James Bond movie has a teaser trailer online.

ANCHORMAN 2 also has a teaser trailer online, without any footage shot.

YEMEN: An al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula suicide bomber killed more than 90 Yemeni troops as they practiced for a parade in Sana'a.

IRAN: The head of the UN's nuclear agency held talks in Tehran over Iran's nuclear program ahead of a six powers meeting scheduled for Wednesday. While the talks were described as "useful," no substantive agreements were reached.

AFGHANISTAN: NATO's secretary general said its countries are not running for the exit. New Zealand will withdraw its forces from Afghanistan one year early. NATO will close down ISAF's combat command and transfer operations to the Afghan military.

BOXING KITTYS: Not a mirror. 

A PSYCHIC PIG is set to take over where Paul the Octopus left off at the 2010 World Cup by predicting the results of matches at this year's European football championships in Ukraine and Poland.

A NURSE SHARK turns vegetarian after surgery.

DOZENS OF RACOONS invade Richmond, TX, want Doritos.

ROBIN GIBB, one of the three singing brothers of the Bee Gees, the long-running Anglo-Australian pop group whose chirping falsettos and hook-laden disco hits like "Jive Talkin" and "You Should Be Dancing" shot them to worldwide fame in the 1970s, died on Sunday. He was 62. The cause was complications from cancer and intestinal surgery.  Pate recorded, but never officially released, a great, crunchy cover of "Nights On Broadway."  The full NYT obit actually links a bunch of Tubes spanning Gibb's career.

REGINA SPEKTOR is advance streaming What We Saw From the Cheap Seats.

THE WALKMEN are advance streaming Heaven.

SIGUR ROS is advance streaming Valtari.

SAINT ETIENNE is advance streaming Words and Music by Saint Etienne.

GAZ COOMBES (Supergrass) is advance streaming Here Come the Bombs, and talks to The Guardian about old times and new directions.

BLONDIE covers Donna Summer's "I Feel Love," circa 1979.

STEVIE WONDER plays "Alfie" at the White House after Burt Bacharach and Hal David receive the Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song.  The full concert airs tonight on PBS.

JOHN LYDON talks to The Sun about the return of PiL: "I've been denied access to making music now for nearly two decades. So I've come out firing."

THE MACCABEES: Once dismissed as "landfill," they are now critically acclaimed. Where did it all go right for the Brighton band?

PAT SANSONE (Wilco, Autumn Defense) talks to the Columbus Dispatch about both bands, and the South. (Thx, LHB.)

BONO is not richer than Sir Paul McCartney after the Facebook IPO... but he spins like it.

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE:  The Avengers threepeat at the top of the chart with 55 million; that's the second-largest third weekend (below Avatar, playing over a New Year's weekend).  Marvel's marvel now has 457 million domestic-- breaking the 400 million barrier 4 days faster than The Dark Knight (Avatar took 23 days). The Men In Black arrive Friday, but it's unclear they will stop The Avengers from breaking 500 million in record time next weekend.  This seems a lock to become No. 3 of all time, but may fall short of Titanic (600 million) or Avatar (760 million), given the stiffer summer competition.  Battleship places with a 25.3 million debut against a 209 million budget. Ruh-roh.  Fortunately, the Hasbro flick has racked up 215 million overseas, because this one (like John Carter before it) is getting older audiences, not younger ones.  The Dictator whows with a 17.4 million debut, well short of Sacha Baron Cohen's prior pics, Borat and Bruno; audiences may be tiring of his shtick and th studio will have to work to recoup its 65 million budget.  Dark Shadows drops to the fourth slot with 12.8 million; its domestic total is 51 million and even Johnny Depp isn't saving it overseas, where it has made about 35 million (Hulk smash).  What to Expect When You're Expecting rounds out the Top 5 with a soft 10.5 million, about half of pre-release projections, and about a third of what How To Think Like A Man did in its debut.

NICK STAHL: The missing "Terminator 3" star has reached out to friends via email, telling them he's ok and pledging to go to rehab.  Stahl has told his wife he has checked in to rehab.

JOHN TRAVOLTA: Mandarin Oriental Atlanta hotel masseur John Truesdale is Accuser No. 2.

LINDSAY LOHAN, SAMANTHA RONSON and the FRENCH HOTEL: Together again.

JACKIE CHAN is giving up action movies so he can become "the Asian Robert De Niro."

CHYNA collapsed at a XXX convention in Miami.

MARK ZUCKERBERG inspires a million status update jokes by marrying Priscilla Chan.

COMMUNITY: Dan Harmon is out as showrunner after Sony Pictures Television opted not to renew his contract. Harmon reacts online.

IRAQ is planning on building a billion-dollar power plant in Anbar province.

AFGHANISTAN: French Pres. Hollande said France would pull its troops out of Afghanistan at the end of 2012, two years ahead of schedule. He said a "residual" number of troops would stay to provide training and help return equipment.

A PUPPY burps loudly after each meal. In some cultures, that's the polite thing to do.

TWO CHEETAH CUBS wrestle in the Tanzanian savannah.

MOOSE on the loose in Ogden, UT.

THE POLICE BLOTTER: "3:38 p.m. Two dogs on Helena Flats Road attempted to abduct a goose and a duck."

BABY SQUIRREL, adopted by CATS... Mass hysteria!