SHARON JONES & THE DAP-KINGS play "Got to Be the Way It Is" at Rock the Garden 2010.

DR. DOG stopped by Morning Becomes Eclectic  for a session.

WE WERE PROMISED JETPACKS did the four free songs thing for Daytrotter.

GOOD OLD WAR stopped by the World Cafe for a chat and mini-set.

LAURYN HILL is one of NPR's 50 Great Voices... and it was something of a coup to actually interview her.

TOM PETTY & THE HEARTBREAKERS: "Here Comes My Girl."

BRIAN WILSON Reimagines Gershwin.

GUIDED BY VOICES is reuniting for the Matador Records 21st Anniversary bash in Vegas. Pavement, Sonic Youth and others are also headed to the desert.

PHOSPHORESCENT: Matt Houck talks to PopMatters about hitting the road and writing Here's to Taking It Easy, which he calls a "really fun, classic rock record."

VAMPIRE WEEKEND say they plan to take "more time" in recording their forthcoming third album, compared to their previous two records.

TIGER WOODS is said by the ever-reliable Sun to be giving ex-wife Elin Nordegren 750 million bucks in exchange for her never speaking of their divorce or his affairs in public. And that's not all. It's also said the deal will ban Tiger from bringing a girlfriend to meet the pair's two children until he marries her.

LINDSAY LOHAN concocted a diabolical plan to defraud an L.A. boutique out of thousands of dollars ... according to a lawsuit that was to be filed Wednesday. Plus: Lohan's 2007 DUI case may have plea bargained quickly because the cop who took custody of the cocaine mistook it for a breath mint and threw it in the trash.

THE TWILIGHT SAGA: ECLIPSE became the all-time highest-grossing pic for midnight runs, taking in over 30 milion in a few hours.

ZOE SALDANA is engaged, but not to Spock.

SANDRA BULLOCK & JESSE JAMES trusted each other when it came to coming up with a value of the assets they each held and the debts they each owed for the purposes of their divorce.

BRITNEY SPEARS is accused of beating her sons with a belt, and feeding them food to which the were allergic and making them ill, according to fmr bodyguard Fernando Flores.

MILEY CYRUS is ditching her wholesome image... and her fans are ditching her.

30 POST-APOCALYPTIC VISIONS of the 21st Century.

TERROR in NYC: Counterterrorism officials have linked one of the nation's most wanted al Qaeda operatives to last year's thwarted plot to bomb the New York subway system.

AFGHANISTAN: Blogger Bill Ardolino has initial impressions from his embed with the 1st Battalion, 2nd Marines, in Musa Qala, Helmand province.

IRAQ: A rumor in Baghdad indicates the State of Law and Iraqiya parties may band together to form a government.

NISSA the BORDER COLLIE retrieves her Frisbee from a tree.

MANCHAS the CHIHUAHUA died protecting a four-year-old boy from two pit bulls that got into the owner's apartment.

70000 TURTLE EGGS are to be scooped up to save them from death in the oily Gulf of Mexico.

STOLEN PUPPY RECOVERED: Aw.

BLACK MOUNTAIN drop a grindhouse-y video for "Old Fangs."

GOGOL BORDELLO play a Tiny Desk Concert at the offices of NPR.

STEEL TRAIN did six free songs for Daytrotter.  Their new album is streaming at Spinner.

THE TOP 20 OF 2010 (so far), according to NPR listeners.

THE THERMALS drop "I Don't Believe You" as the single from their upcoming album.

JIMMY WEBB has a new album, with a bunch of duets on his classics, streaming in full via AOL.

BIG BOI is only occasionally my cup of tea, but he is streaming his new LP.

LaBELLE: "Lady Marmalade." I coulda used a little more cowbell.

JOHN WESLEY HARDING writes about David Bowie at Granta. (Thx, LHB.)

LAURIE ANDERSON is normally cool, but now she's angry, and getting angrier.

MUMFORD & SONS tell the BBC that their sophomore LP will sound "more urgent."

DICK CLARK is finally monetizing his back catalog.

THE TWILIGHT SAGA: ECLIPSE opens on over 4000 screens today, and is scoring 48 percent on the ol' Tomatometer.

STEVE CARELL says he's leaving The Office, but the show may go on.

AMY LOCANE (from the original Melrose Place) was charged in a fatal drunk-driving crash that killed a Montgomery woman Sunday night.

SUSAN SARANDON may be making a reality show -- about ping-pong. Yes, really.

OPRAH retakes the top slot on the Forbes Celebrity Power List.

KNIGHT & DAY: Fox's Tony Sella takes the blame for the flopping Cruise/Diaz flick.

COREY ALLEN, an actor-turned-director who played James Dean's leather-clad nemesis in ‘Rebel Without a Cause' and who was the last surviving member of the film's main cast, died of natural causes on Sunday.

IRAN: A man claiming to be an Iranian nuclear scientist whom Tehran alleges the United States kidnapped said he has escaped from US agents, in a video screened on Iranian television. Washington denied the Iranian accusations, with State Department spokesman Philip Crowley refusing to say whether or not Amiri was in the United States.  Meanwhile, Iran set tough terms for the resumption of nuclear talks, vowing to punish world powers for imposing new sanctions on the Islamic Republic.

AFGHANISTAN: The US military has systematically overstated or failed to adequately measure the capabilities of Afghan security forces, whose performance is key to the Obama administration's exit strategy for the war, according to a new government audit.

WHAT IF Lassie was a cat?

RAD RODENTS: A mischievous bunch of fearless mice, who love nothing more than catching a wave and shooting a curl. Pics and video at the link.

OSCAR the CAT is running again... on bionic paws.

LENNY KRAVITZ ran across a chuch choir playing "I'll Fly Away."

NEW RELEASES: Alejandro Escovedo, the Harvey Girls, Maps and Atlases and more are streaming this week via Spinner.

SHARON JONES & THE DAP-KINGS stopped by for a session at Morning Becomes Eclectic.

OF MONTREAL drops "Coquet Coquette" as an advance track to False Priest.

DANGER MOUSE, SPARKLEHORSE & DAVID LYNCH are advance streaming the long-delayed Dark Night of the Soul, sadly posthumously in the case of Sparklehorse.

CHARLIE LOUVIN: The country/bluegrass legend does four free songs for Daytrotter.

TEARS FOR FEARS: "Everybody Wants To Rule The World" and "Shout" both topped the charts in the first half of 1985.

NICOLE ATKINS talks to the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review about moving from Columbia to razor & Tie for her upcoming sophomore LP.

QUASI: Sam Coomes and Janet Weiss talk to The Line Of Best Fit about post-tour plans, playing cover songs, and more...

ROLLING STONE: Jann Wenner blames Bill Clinton for the magazine becoming boring in the 1990s. The problem with that theory is that it stunk in the 1980s, too.

THE NATIONAL: Scott Berninger triggered an airport evacuation. 

MEGAN FOX & BRIAN AUSTIN GREEN were married at a small, intimate ceremony at the Four Seasons Resort on the Big Island of Hawaii. 

MAD MEL UPDATE: Oksana Grigorieva has secret evidence against Mel Gibson in their explosive legal battle and she has stored it on a DVD, according to RadarOnline.

SANDRA BULLOCK finalized her divorce from her husband of nearly five years, Jesse James, Monday morning.

VINCE NEIL of Mötley Crüe was arrested for suspicion of DUI this morning in Las Vegas.

CHRIS KLEIN is facing a mandatory sentence of four days in jail if he's convicted of his second DUI offense, the L.A. City Attorney's office announced Monday.

ANGELINA JOLIE did a wide-ranging interview with Vanity Fair. Why, it's almost like she's got a movie coming out...

LINDSAY LOHAN will appear in a new reality show that will follow her mom, Dina, and her siblings. Inevitable, wasn't it?

KATY PERRY & RUSSELL BRAND: Already married?

HARRY POTTER and the DEATHLY HALLOWS has a full-length trailer online.

JORDAN is looking to go nuclear.

AFGHANISTAN: As Gen. Petraeus prepares to take command, Pres. Karzai's outreach to the Taliban is drawing warnings from some Afghan factions, particularly women and ethnic minorities.

THE GOAT BRIDGE: Let's go to the video.

PRINCESS ABBY the Chihuahua triumphed at the World's Ugliest Dog 2010 contest in Northern California. I think Rascal wuz robbed!

A HEN in Cornwall laid a record-breaking 14 eggs in one day.

SHARK ATTACK: A 13-year-old girl is expected to fully recover after being attacked by a shark while swimming near an island off the coast of North Carolina. Which makes it safe for the "Right at the height of tourist season" reference.

FRIGHTENED RABBIT is "Living In Colour" for their latest video.

SONNY & THE SUNSETS are fronted by Sonny Smith, but more people may know his bandmate Kenny Stoltz.  Timeless, retro-tinged pop in the M Ward/ She & Him/ The Band ballpark. Check em out.

VENICE IS SINKING did the four free songs thing for Daytrotter.

NEIL YOUNG: Roio shares 17 rarities from the Philip Cohen collection.

CHRISSIE HYNDE & JP JONES stopped by Sound Opinions for a chat and mini-set from their new project.

DAVID BOWIE: "Modern Love." from the Summer of 1983.

PAUL WELLER talks to JamBase about his latest, playing live, The Beatles and more...

OF MONTREAL's Kevin Barnes talks to Pitchfork about the Catholic Church, what the band's upcoming False Priest will tell you about your car stereo, and the touring extravaganza Of Montreal is planning with Janelle Monáe.

JOSH RITTER talks to LAist about So Runs the World Away, and the relationship between science and art.

FLAMING LIPS frontman Wayne Coyne talks to The A.V. Club about covering Dark Side Of The Moon, the creative process, and what new developments to expect in his ever-expanding live shows this summer.

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE:  No surprise that Toy Story 3 repeats at the top with 59 million, as 3-D ticket prices kept Pixar's drop at 46 percent.  The flick blew past the 200 million budget in nine days and now stands at 226.5 million in domestic receipts.  Grown-Ups places with 41 million, an opening more in line with Adam Sandler's movies before Funny People and Bedtime Stories.  Knight & Day showed with 20 million (28 million since opening last Wed) and that is bad news for Cruise, Cameron Diaz and the studio, which spent 120 million in production.  It still may make money overseas, where Cruise has less stink on him (a la Russell Crowe).  Karate Kid dropped to the fourth slot with 15.4 million, but has already made over 15 million on a 40 million budget, and should do well overseas as the Summer progresses.  The A-Team rounds out the Top Five with six million, and will have to look abroad to make money. This week: Teenage Vampires!

MAD MEL UPDATE: Sources close to Oksana Grigorieva tell TMZ ... Mel Gibson punched her in the face and knocked out her teeth in a fit of rage.  Camp Gibson says Grigorieva was bitter over a custody agreement she signed, and that's why she made up the story that Mel beat her up.

MENA SUVARI and concert producer Simone Sestito were married Saturday in a private church in Vatican City.

ROBERT PATTINSON & KRISTEN STEWART's Deliciously Suspicious Romance.  I believe they have a movie coming out this week, don't they?

FERGIE is on the verge of leaving the Black Eyed Peas permanently as tension in the band has become intolerable for her, according to RadarOnline.

PETER JACKSON is negotiating to direct The Hobbit two-parter. 

THE BEST MOVIES NEVER MADE, according to Slate.

IRAN: More than a year and a half after he was arrested in Tehran, Hossein Derakhshan, an influential Iranian-Canadian blogger also known as Hoder, was put on trial on Wednesday, according to Iranian news reports and statements by his family posted online.

CIA DIRECTOR Leon Panetta Sunday dismissed reports that the network of Sirajuddin Haqqani, a major element in the insurgency in Afghanistan and an ally of al-Qaeda, was open to a Pakistan-brokered reconciliation process that could usher the group into a power-sharing arrangement in Kabul. Panetta also said Iran has enough low-enriched uranium for two nuclear bombs but that it would take two years for the country to build the bombs and a weapon-delivery system. All such news should be read in light of the CIA's history at getting this sort of intell wrong, for decades and decades.  Not to be harsh, of course; it's not an easy job.

AFGHANISTAN: Sacked Gen. McChrystal issued a devastatingly critical assessment of the war against a "resilient and growing insurgency" just days before being forced out.

IRAQI officials see the US as neglecting the country. With Gen. Petraeus heading to Afghanistan, they fear a further reduction in attention.

DOG vs VUVUZELA: Serves the owner right!

MONKEYS have been found to be fans of heavy metal music after scientists in America found it calmed them down.

A PSYCHIC OCTOPUS has an uncanny knack of correctly predicting World Cup games.

OWLS flew in wedding rings someplace other than Hogwarts.

THE WEEKEND STARTS HERE:

...with MICHAEL JACKSON! I'm not making a habit of this, but he did die a year ago today, making it an apt moment to revisit his hits with the Jackson 5, like  "I Want You Back," "ABC," and "Never Can Say Goodbye," and solo hits like "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough," and "Billie Jean," which not only broke the color barrier at MTV, but also ushered in an era of big-budget videos that may have peaked with the John Landis-directed "Thriller," the title track of the mega-seller that also spawned smashes like "Beat It."  BONUS: Vanity Fair has a piece on The "Thriller" Diaries.

THE JAYHAWKS stoppeed by The Current for a chat and mini-set.

MAPS & ATLASES do the four free songs thing for Daytrotter.

TELEVISION: Captain's Dead has alternate takes from the Adventure LP to stream or download, which ties in nicely to yesterday's Adventure-related blurb.

MODEST MOUSE: Captain's Dead also has a very rare, very early cassette-only album to stream (with a link to a download).

THE VELVET UNDERGROUND & NICO: An NPR intern is forced to listen.

WEIRD AL YANKOVIC played a Tiny Desk Concert at NPR. Semi-related: Legendary radio host Dr. Demento talked to NPR's Morning Edition after leaving the airwaves for the Internet last month.

ELVIS COSTELLO: "The Other Side of Summer."

NEW PR0NOGRAPHERS frontman Carl Newman talks to the Washington City Paper about his smart, eccentric pop songs, how the band approaches recording albums, and his thoughts on his critics. And there are outtakes about making a living as a middle-class indie rocker, about what he dislikes about the term "power-pop," about the novels of David Mitchell.

DEVO: Mark Mothersbaugh and Jerry Casale spoke to TIME about the de-evolution of man, the fading record industry, and the subversive inspiration of Madison Avenue.

THE BEST OF 2010 (so far), according to Paste and Gorilla vs. Bear.

THE BEST INDIE ALBUMS, from the 1960s to the present, according to Motel de Moka, which inexplicably excludes The Replacements' Let It Be. (Thx, LHB.)

VANILLA ICE is actually a somewhat successful real estate developer.

THE CUTOUT BIN: From Dexy's Midnight Runners to Alice Cooper, from Big Brother & the Holding Company to Killing Joke, from Dr. John to the Violent Femmes, plus the Byrds, the Band, the Feelies, Sly & the Family Stone 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 Grown-Ups, currently scoring 09 percent on the ol' Tomatometer; and Knight and Day, which actually opened Wednesday and is scoring 52 percent. And yet, it's likely Grown-Ups will make more money, and that Toy Story 3 will crush both of them.

LINDSAY LOHAN's assistant, who quit earlier this month, has been offered a series of huge, five-figure deals to dish on her famous ex-boss.

JEREMY LONDON: The man accused of kidnapping the actor and allegedly forcing him to smoke drugs says they went on a consensual alcohol and drug induced "joyride for hours" on the night of June 10 in Palm Springs.

BRITNEY SPEARS reportedly has been sneaking phone calls to Adnan Ghalib, the paparazzo ex-boyfriend widely blamed for enabling the media circus of 2007-2008 that led to her infamous mental breakdowns.

VAL KILMER took the unusual step of going before a county commission in rural New Mexico to make amends with some of his neighbors who are angry over disparaging comments attributed to the actor over the years.

MISSION IMPOSSIBLE 4: Will Paramount choose not to accept it?

DEBBIE GIBSON vs TIFFANY: Syfy promises an epic battle between the former teen pop idols, who will star in "Mega Python vs. Gatoroid."

THE GREEN HORNET has a trailer online.

HALF OF AL QAEDA has been eliminated?

IRAN: The mothers of three American hikers held in Iran on suspicion of espionage said they hope a report that their children were arrested on the Iraqi side of the border will help lead to their release.

AFGHANISTAN: Gen David Petraeus, as the new US commander, will re-examine the rules of engagement, which some soldiers believe have prevented them from defending themselves.

CAT in a JAR, versus a dog.

THE BIRDS: Postal deliveries have been disrupted in a Devon seaside town after attacks by seagulls.

SWIMS WITH THE GATORS: A 37-year-old Tallahassee man was charged with disorderly conduct at Wakulla Springs State Park after jumping out of a tour boat to "swim with the alligators."

CHIPMUNKS with Star Wars and Lego figures.

SHARK vs SHARK: A ten-foot great white shark was nearly sawed in half in Queensland Australia - by what investigators believe was a twenty-foot great white shark.  What say you, Police Chief Brody?