THE WEEKEND STARTS HERE:

...with THREE DOG NIGHT! Once again, I'm enjoying the guilty pleasure of enjoying "Eli's Coming" with fellow fans of the late, lamented SportsNight. That, along with memories of The Service's cover of "Shambala" led me to compile a few more, including "Mama Told Me Not to Come," "Joy To The World," "One," "Liar," and "Celebrate."

RICHARD THOMPSON played a full set at the Clearwater Great Hudson River Revival Festival.

EELS stopped by Morning Becomes Eclectic for a session. 

JOLIE HOLLAND plays a mini-set in the KEXP studio.

WUSSY plays a live set in the KEXP studio.

DEE-LITE finds that "Groove Is In the Heart," with a little help from Bootsy Collins and Q-Tip.

MADE IN MINNESOTA: Bob Mould, Tommy Stinson, Craig Finn, and Lori Barbero tour their Twin Cities for you.

AC/DC guitarist Malcolm Young is in the hospital.

RYUICHI SAKIMOTO was diagnosed with throat cancer.

THE 25 BEST LPs of 2014 (So Far), according to Paste.

CUTOUT BIN: From the Jesus & Mary Chain to Run-DMC, from Shoes to Sam and Dave, from Roxy Music to Titus Andronicus, plus the Three Degrees, Los Lobos, Bob Dylan, Elton John 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 Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, which is currently scoring 93 percent on the ol' Tomatometer; and Begin Again, which expands to 939 screens scoring 79 percent.

DAWN OF THE PLANET OF THE APES picks up a decade after the successful reboot of htis franchise in Rise of the Planet of the Apes. The simian flu--a side effect of the experimental treatment that boosted the apes' intelligence--has swept Earth, but at least one pocket of humanity is trying to make a comeback. The movie plays out as the humans and the apes both have factions that are trying to avoid or encourage a war.  Comparing this sequel with the reboot is surprisingly like apples and oranges.  The humans are less compelling than those in Rise, though that's because the humans were more of the focus of that story and a large part of that film's success.  Here, the focus is more on the apes; fortunately, the decade of elapsed time has made them a rich and compelling culture, led by the performance of Andy Serkis as Caesar and Tony Kebbell as Koba.  Even with today's computer graphics, this is an audacious move, but it pays off handsomely--even moreso in the dramatic scenes than in the action set pieces. Rise was a surprising and clever take on ideas that could not have been done in full before the CGI era; Dawn is even more serious and humanistic  sci-fi that's just broad enough fort the audience to never feel nerdy about it.

EMMYS nominations went to these folks.

RYAN GOSLING & EVA MENDES: A forensic artist predicts what their baby may look like. (I'm guessing likke a baby.)

SELENA GOMEZ had some work done?

ROBIN THICKE: How bad are sales of his Paula LP? Really, really, really bad.

JIMMY KIMMEL and wife Molly McNearney welcome a daughter.

MARGOT ROBBIE (The Wolf of Wall Street, About Time) is profiled by Vanity Fair.

UKRAINIAN forces regained more ground but sustained further casualties on Thursday in clashes with separatists, while two Western allies urged Russia's Vladimir Putin to exert more pressure on the rebels to find a negotiated end to the conflict.

ISRAEL  claimed to have hit over 750 targets in Gaza so far on the third day of its offensive, including 320 Hamas targets such as underground tunnel networks and rocket launching sites. Of the 250 missiles and mortars launched from Gaza towards Israel in recent days, the Iron Dome interceptor has shot down 70 missiles, a near-90 percent success rate. As a result of the incoming fire, nine Israelis have been slightly injured and 59 treated for shock. Israeli officials, concerned about the long-range missiles being employed by Hamas, said they are not seeking a ceasefire but rather to dismantle Hamas' rocket infrastructure. A military official for the southern command said preparations are underway for expanding the operation; Israel's UN envoy stated that a ground offensive would be prevented if Hamas stopped firing rockets into Israel. Palestinian officials said Israeli strikes in Gaza that began on July 8 have killed at least 77 Palestinians so far. Militants in Gaza continued to launch missiles into Israel; both Islamic Jihad and Hamas' Al Qassem Brigades have claimed attacks. President Abbas has denounced the Israeli attacks, and has not criticized Hamas for launching missiles at Israel.

SYRIA: The American-supported Free Syrian Army was forced to withdraw from a key city on the Iraq-Syria border last week after its pleas for help went unanswered by the United States.

IRAQ: Kurdish members of parliament as well as cabinet ministers said that they would boycott the government. The military claimed it killed 35 Islamic State fighters in Fallujah and Ramadi, 30 more in Rabiah, and an additional 25 Islamic State fighters in Babil. The Islamic State killed four policemen near Tikrit.

A HORSE in a wading pool.

EASTERN HELLBENDERS, a/k/a/ snot otters, are big ol' salamanders who may be headed for the federal endangered species list.

IMPOTENT CHICKENS pump up poultry prices.

A 4-FT LONG VENOMOUS SNAKE in a toilet in Hueytown, AL.

CHRISTOPHER OWENS drops the catchy, countrified "Nothing More Than Everything To Me" ahead of A New Testament.

LUCINDA WILLIAMS played a headlining set at the Clearwater Great Hudson River Revival Festival.

DEAN WAREHAM plays a mini-set at the KEXP studios.

ROCKY VOTOLATO performed live in the KEXP Studio.

BAND OF SKULLS stopped by Morning Becomes Eclectic for a session. 

HALF JAPANESE drops "In Its Pull" ahead of Overjoyed, their first album in 13 years.

ROSES, the new project of former Abe Vigoda member Juan Velasquez, drops the new-wavey "It's Over" ahead of the Dreamlover EP.

THE NASHVILLE TEENS, with a stompin' cover of "Tobacco Road."

BILL CALLAHAN, DAN BEJAR, WILL OLDHAM & CASS McCOMBS talk songwriting.

CULT MUSIC HEROES: Artists on their unsung idols.

FRANK BLACK, a/k/a Black Francis, talks to The Observer about the soundtrack of his life.

PHOX talks to All Songs Considered about their confident debut.

EVAN MENDES & RYAN GOSLING are expecting a child in two short months.

JUSTIN BIEBER copped a plea bargain in his egg vandalism case.It requires anger management.

GEORGE CLOONEY denies a report that his mother-in-law is unhappy with the upcoming nuptuals.

ANGELINA JOLIE's drug dealer has some video for you.

JUSTIN THEROUX is profiled by Details.

COURTNEY LOVE joins the Sons Of Anarchy.

RUSSIA: Four months after Vladimir Putin’s government annexed Crimea, the U.S. and European Union have failed to deliver on threats to cripple Russia’s economy, penalizing fewer than 100 people and companies.

SYRIA: The 1000-strong Dawud Brigade defected to the Islamic State this week, a sign that the extremist group continues to build strength after seizing vast territories in western Iraq and eastern Syria.

IRAQ:  Insurgents have seized nuclear materials used for scientific research at a university in the country's north; a U.S. government source familiar with the matter said the materials were not believed to be enriched uranium and therefore would be difficult to use to manufacture into a weapon.

AFGHANISTAN: Fighting is spreading into populated areas and taking a record toll on civilians, the UN warned Wednesday, as presidential candidates urged supporters not to raise tensions after the disputed election result.

MILLIONS OF ANCHOVIES spotted off the California coast.

HOW TO SURVIVE THE BULLS IN PAMPLONA author not as expert as he thought.

A TORTOISE attacked a policeman in Uganda.

A RAGING COW tossed a police officer into the air and tap-danced on a patrol car in Mt. Vernon, WA.

CROSBY, STILLS & NASH played “Teach Your Children" aplus Stills' “So Begins The Task,”and were joined by Jimmy Fallon as Neil Young fora cover of Iggy Azalea and Charli XCX’s "Fancy."

HONEYBLOOD is advance streaming their self-titled debut.

LANDLADY is advance streaming Upright Behavior.

MELTED TOYS is streaming their self-titled LP.

LEWIS: The mysterious oddity L’Amour is reissued and streaming online.

DEATH FROM ABOVE 1979 drops "Trainwreck 1979" ahead of The Physical World, their firstLP  in 10 years and only the second one they ever made. Oh yeah.

KING TUFF drops “Eyes Of The Muse” ahead of Black Moon Spell. Oh yeah.

TAYLOR SWIFT explains the future of the music industry.In the Wall Street Journal, no less. Behold, a pale horse.

MANIC STREET PREACHERS  talk to Music Radar about Futurology, songwriting and Simple Minds. (Thx, Frank Yang.)

PINK FLOYD is releasing a "new" album, without Roger Waters, comprised of worked-up versions of songs first started during sessions for their last album, 1994’s The Division Bell.

THE BEST SONGS of 2014 (So far), according to SPIN.

ZOOEY DESCHANEL talks geneder stereotypes, her insanely busy schedule and more at InStyle.

ROSIE O'DONNELL is returning to The View. Behold, a pale horse.

PAMELA ANDERSON  is pulling the plug on her marriage to Rick Salomon. Again. By which I mean it's her second divorce from this dude.

JOHN CLEESE is starring in a Baywatch-inspired movie that can't refer to Baywatch. David Hasselhoff and Pamela Anderson are expected to appear.

KATIE HOLMES talks to Glamour about life post-Cruise.

MADONNA was called for jury duty, but was excused after two hours.

JAWS is ridiculous, say...Ben and Emily Dreyfuss.

ISRAEL: Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip unleashed their most far-reaching rocket attack ever on major Israeli population centers, as Israel said it was launching a protracted assault on the territory's Islamist rulers.

BAHRAIN: declared US Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor Tom Malinowski "unwelcome" for allegedly interfering in Bahraini affairs, after he met with senior members of the country's main opposition group, the Shiite organization Al-Wefaq. Various NGOs in Bahrain condemned the move. Malinowski had also met with leaders of other groups.

SYRIA: Regime forces are beginning to close in on Aleppo, and the Islamic State is moving into the countryside north of Aleppo.

IRAQ: The Islamic State extremist group has taken control of a vast former chemical weapons facility northwest of Baghdad, where remnants of 2,500 degraded chemical rockets filled decades ago with the deadly nerve agent sarin are stored along with other chemical warfare agents, Iraq said in a letter circulated Tuesday at the United Nations. The U.S. government played down the threat from the takeover, saying there are no intact chemical weapons and it would be very difficult, if not impossible, to use the material for military purposes. The Islamic State is only one small part of a larger Sunni revolt in Iraq that sectarian groups have been preparing for years, according to Iraq’s exiled Vice President Tariq al-Hashimi. Iraq’s parliament has announced that it will convene on Sunday, amid mounting pressure to form a new government that can deal with a litany of challenges that threaten to tear this country apart.

AFGHANISTAN: The U.S. risks being blamed for taking sides in Afghanistan’s election as Secretary of State John Kerry travels to Kabul this week in an effort to mediate the dispute between the country’s rival presidential candidates.

GoatPRO: Let's go to the Goast-Cam.

COPPERHEADS overrun property near Houston.

POLICE DOGS sniff out kiddie pron.

IDA: The Fluffiest Bunny Evah.

THE FLAMING LIPS, MOBY, and, um...MILEY CYRUS drop a video for "Blonde SuperFreak Steals the Magic Brain." (NSFW language) Oh dear.

LAKE STREET DIVE played a full set at the Clearwater Great Hudson River Revival Festival.

SHARON VAN ETTEN stopped by World Cafe for a chat and mini-set.

CLOSE LOBSTERS stream the Kunstwerk in Spacetime EP, the group's first new recordings in 25 years

ANAND WILSON & MAXWELL KARDON advance stream Break Line The Musical.

COLDPLAY & CAT POWER teamed up on the title track for the movie Wish I Was Here.

TWEEDY: Jeff and Sencer drop "Summer Noon" ahead of their debut.

ALT-J drops “Left Hand Free” ahead of This Is All Yours.

MENACE BEACH serves up "Tennis Court" as a single.

WHAT IS CLASSIC ROCK? FiveThirtyEight breaks it down, in time and geography.

JUDAS PRIEST: Rob Halford talks to The Guardian about briefly quitting the band, his sexuality and more...

BRIAN ENO is profiled by Sasha Frere-Jones at the New Yorker.

DEATH GRIPS: A Pitchfork Eulogy.

MILA KUNIS talks to W magazine about a new genre (sci-fi), a new look (bye-bye, bell-bottoms), and a new life (hello, baby).

SOFIA VERGARA is dating actor Joe Manganiello (True Blood, Magic Mike).

JESSICA SIMPSON  and Eric Johnson pimp their wedding at People.

ZAC EFRON & MICHELLE RODRIGUEZ were caught canoodling on camera during a holiday in Sardinia.

KANYE WEST was booed by the crowd as he moaned about being followed by the paparazzi, comparing having his photograph taken to rape.

GEORGE CLOONEY: Maybe the future mother-in-law is not as thrilled as reported.

SOLANGE KNOWLES addressed, and quickly brushed off, her infamous elevator scuffle with Beyonce and Jay Z in an inteview with Lucky magazine.

BRANDON ROUTH: The former Supreman returns to the DC fold.

SAUDI ARABIA: A court sentenced four al Qaeda supporters, one in absentia, to jail terms ranging from two to five-and-a-half years. The suspects had tried to travel to Iraq, and had also helped others travel "to fight in troubled nations."

EGYPT: The trial of former president Mohamed Morsi and 130 others, including Muslim Brotherhood leaders Mohamed Badie and Khairat al-Shater, as well as members of Hamas and Hezbollah, most of whom are at large, was postponed to July 13.

IRAQ: State-run Iraqiya TV said Monday that Parliament has been postponed for at least a month, a day before lawmakers were scheduled to return to form a new government and begin the process of selecting a prime minister. Jihadists who overran Mosul last month have demolished ancient shrines and mosques in and around the historic northern Iraqi city, according to residents and social media.

WEINER DOG RESCUE: A six-second response time.

THE WASPS OF YOUR NIGHTMARES: They're giant, have an intensely painful sting and build nests with ants' corpses.

THE SQUIRREL THREAT: A killer squirrel has the world's bushiest tail.

A 12-FOOT PYTHON was trapped in a barbecue grill to kick off the long weekend.

PINK MOUNTAINTOPS are on fire for the "Second Summer of Love."

MORRISSEY advance streams World Peace is None of Your Business.

TRAMPLED BY TURTLES advance streams Wild Animals.

LULUC advance streams Passerby.

RADIATOR HOSPITAL (ft members of Swearin', Waxahatchee, All Dogs) is streaming Torch Song.

THE GASLIGHT ANTHEM "Get Hurt."

THE WRENS posted a minute-long outtake from their seemingly endlessly forthcoming LP.

STEAM: The one-hit wonder with a synced take on "Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye."

HOSPITALITY is profiled by Drowned In Sound.

FIRST AID KIT lists their country influences at Rolling Stone.

FAITH NO MORE debuted two new songs in a show at London's Hyde Park.

THE BEST SONGS of 2014 (So Far), according to Flavorwire.

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE: Transformers: Age of Extinction repeats atop the chart with 36.4 million; that's a 64 percent drop from its opening, but this film is perhaps a milestone on how little the domestic take means to Hollywood these days, as the fourth installment of the franchise has raked in 400.1 million in other markets, and did bettr in China than the US during its first five days in release.  That's how you get Variety publishing "‘Transformers': A Splendidly Patriotic Film, If You Happen To Be Chinese."  Tammy places with a 21 million debut; that's much less than Melissa McCarthy's prior pics, Identity Thief and The Heat -- the terrible Cinemascore of C+ suggests audiences hated this as much as critics did (and yet it could still make money unless it truly crashes next weekend). Deliver Us from Evil shows with a 9.5 million debut (15 mill since opening); the summer's first horror flick had better have been low-budget if Screen Gems hopes to profit. 22 Jump Street takes the fourth slot with a respectable 9.4 million -- a reflection of Tammy's weakness. This sequel is well in the black.  How to Train Your Dragon 2 rounds out the Top 5 with 8.8 million, but worldwide grosses are just below 300 of the 400 million it likely needs.  Below the fold, Earth to Echo had an 8.3 million debut, which likely makes Disney happy they sold the distribution rights to Relativity Media.

JESSICA SIMPSON tied the knot with former NFL player Eric Johnson at the San Ysidro Ranch in Santa Barbara, California.

JOAN RIVERS walked out on a CNN interview.

BRYAN SINGER filed a motion Thursday to dismiss a teen sex abuse case in Los Angeles, asserting that there was no legal basis for the suit and that it improperly was brought anonymously by a British actor identified only as "John Doe 117."

KATY PERRY still feels like she's 13, not 30, which explains a lot. Kinda like that movie.

CHRIS MARTIN is no longer vegetarian following his split from Gwyneth Paltrow.

BRADGELINA paln to film their new movie in Malta.

ANTHONY CUMIA , the host of SiriusXM's popular “Opie and Anthony” show, has been fired following " racially-charged and hate-filled remarks on social media.”

UKRAINE's military retook the key city of Slovyansk after heavy artillery and armor attacks left parts of the town “in ruins.”

NIGERIA: More than 60 women and girls abducted last month by suspected Boko Haram militants northeast Nigeria have escaped their captors, sources said Sunday.

EGYPT: A court sentenced 10 Muslim Brotherhood supporters to death (eight in absentia) for murder and other crimes; and issued life sentences to 37 others, including supreme guide Mohamed Badie. Sheikh Yusef al Qaradawi, a Qatar-based spiritual leader of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood, said the Islamic State's recent declaration of a caliphate violates sharia law.

IRAQ:  A defiant Nuri al-Maliki announced Friday that he would not withdraw his name as a candidate for prime minister, a statement that came hours after a leading lawmaker alleged he had agreed not to put his name forward to make it easier to pick a new leader. The stoty of how the US stuck with Maliki is sobering.  Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of the Islamic State, emerged from the shadows to lead Friday prayers at Mosul’s Great Mosque, calling on the world’s Muslims to “obey” him as the head of the caliphate declared by the Sunni jihadist group. The Iraqi military claimed the sermon was faked. Even if it wasn't faked, will it backfire? The IS may be losing ground in Iraq, but gaining it in Syria. Nevertheless, Baghdad prepares for attack.

NINE BEAGLES raised in cages run free for the first time.

RUSTY the PANDA who previously esacaped the National Zoo, is now a Dad.

AN AGITATED SHARK bit a Manhattan Beach swimmer in the chest...right at the height of tourist season.

A DOZEN DOGS who don't realize they're not pups any more.