THE WEEKEND STARTS HERE:

... with THE BYRDS!  Pretty much because I dig them as we turn into Spring (or Fall).  Let's start with a rare 1965 clip of their breakthrough smash cover of "Mr. Tambourine Man."  There are screaming girls, plus go-go dancers when they hit Shivaree for "All I Really Want to Do" and "Feel A Whole Lot Better."  Next up is a rare sync of "I Knew I'd Want You." There are even more dancers when they cover Buddy Holly's "Not Fade Away" for Shindig! on June 23, 1965, while I'm pretty sure that's Ed Wynn introducing "Chimes of Freedom."  You might recognize the voice introducing "Bells Of Rhymney" from poolside in August 1965 and "It Won't Be Wrong" from a corral in January 1966 on Where The Action Is.  BONUS:  Want a couple in color?  Here's "Turn, Turn, Turn!" and "Mr. Spaceman." DOUBLE BONUS: A rare 1967 sync of "Eight Miles High."

CHROMATICS are streaming the acclaimed Kill For Love, which starts with a song many of you may recognize.

BOOKER T. JONES hits the Mountain Stage with classics and songs from his collaboration with The Roots.

WHITE RABBITS stopped by Morning Becomes Eclectic for a session.

ALL SONGS CONSIDERED features new tracks from Father John Misty (ex-Fleet Foxes, Patrick Watson, Norah Jones (w/ Danger Mouse), Sigur Ros and more.

VAN SHE advance drops the bubbling title track to “Idea Of Happiness.”

BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY: The DUI arrest video, icymi.

FEIST & M WARD cover the Jesus & Mary Chain's "Sometimes, Always."  Also, M talks to Prefix about his process, collaborators, and whether there will be any Zooey sightings on his upcoming tour.

ALABAMA SHAKES co-founder and drummer Steve Johnson talks to Spinner about buzz, influences and more.

THE 25 GREATEST SIXTIES BREAKUP SONGS, according to Nerve. Includes Love's fabulous "Alone Again Or."

CUTOUT BIN: From the Animals to Asia, from Cracker to Nilsson, from Flatt & Scruggs to Hamilton Joe Frank & Reynolds, from Dusty Spring field to the dB's, plus Fountains of Wayne, Patty Loveless, Dexy's Midnight Runners, 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 Wrath of the Titans, which is currently scoring 25 percent on the ol' Tomatometer; and the year's first Snow Wite reboot, Mirror Mirror, which is scoring 50 percent.

LINDSAY LOHAN is a semi-free woman, after Judge Stephanie Sautner declared she successfully completed her probation requirements.

JENNIFER LAWRENCE moves from The Hunger Games to the cover of the Rolling Stone.

WHITNEY HOUSTON: As new details emerge about her death, loved ones are concerned about how her daughter, Bobbi Kristina Brown, is holding up.

GINNIFER GOODWIN has been secretly dating her Once Upon a Time costar Josh Dallas since last fall.

ANCHORMAN 2: Ron Burgundy announced a sequel on Conan.

THE TOP 10 QUENTIN TARANTINO FILMS, ranked at PopMatters.

YEMEN:  America has dramatically escalated its drone strikes war, with the tempo of attacks rising to parity with incidents in Pakistan since the installation of a new government this month.

SYRIA: Assad said he would cooperate with UN peace plan if rebels halted violence. The opposition said it would cooperate with the plan only if Assad's forces halted violence. Arab League leaders called for its immediate implementation. Iran also backed the plan.

AFGHANISTAN: Some parliamentarians on Thursday said the Taliban had suspended peace negotiations in a bid to mount to pressure on the United States to accept their demands. The chairman of Afghanistan's Senate accused Iranian president Ahmadinejad of "clear interference in Afghan affairs."

PYGMY GOATS, Hall & Oates.

WHEN A SWAN ATTACKS: A stretch of Britain's longest canal has been branded a no-go zone after a spate of attacks by Tyson.

BABY PYGMY HIPPO: Awww...some pics.

THE SNAIL FACIAL: Um, no thanks.

MEMORYHOUSE plays The Police's "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic" for The A.V. Club Undercover.

BOWERBIRDS stopped by WNYC Soundcheck to talk and play music from The Clearing.

DR. JOHN stopped by WNYC Soundcheck to pay tribute to Louis Armstrong and play new material.

VERONICA FALLS played in WBEZ's High Fidelity series.

FUN stopped by World Cafe for a chat and mini-set.

DREAMS SO REAL are reuniting for a pair of rare concerts next month. Slicing Up Eyeballs has an unreleased demo and vintage video of the Athens combo.

GARBAGE drops "Battle In Me" ahead of Not Your Kind of People.

ANDREW BIRD played "Eyeoneye" for Fallon.

LEE RENALDO talks to PopMatters about Between the Times and the Tides.

DAMON ALBARN talks to The Quietus about Doctor Dee, the future of Blur, the Olympics, David Cameron and Alex James' cheese.

KILLING JOKE: Jaz Coleman picks his 13 favorite albums.

MADONNA: Still the Queen of Pop?

ROBIN GIBB, who recently declared he was in remission from liver cancer, was re-admitted to hospital to have surgery on a recurring twisted bowel.

EARL SCRUGGS, whose banjo-picking technique on hits such as “Foggy Mountain Breakdown” changed the way people play the instrument, has died of natural causes. He was 88.

ASHTON KUTCHER is close to a multi-million dollar deal for another season of Two and a Half Men.  Meanwhile Rhianna denies they're an item.

MICHELLE WILLIAMS and... Jason Segel?

BRADLEY COOPER & ZOE SALDANA are dunzo.

MEGAN FOX is pregnant, according to the ever-reliable Star.

JESSICA SIMPSON has rented out an entire hospital wing for the delivery of her daughter - just like Beyonce did in January, according to the ever-reliable InTouch mag..

PETER FACINELLI & JENNIE GARTH: He filed the divorce papers; she claimed she tried to save the marriage.

CHRISTIE BRINKLEY's ex-husband claims the supermodel's teary appearance on "Today" was nothing more than a "cunning and shameless" stunt.

DENNIS RODMAN is "extremely sick," "broke" and is in no position to pay hefty child and spousal support payments, according to court documents. Shocka.

LIBYA: A tribe in southern Libya threatened to form a separate state after bloody clashes with a rival tribe.

SYRIA: Violence continued in spite of Assad's acceptance of a peace plan on Monday. The UN secretary general and Arab foreign ministers urged Assad to implement the plan.

EGYPT: The Muslim Brotherhood is locked in a power struggle with ruling generals over how much influence the army will have after civilians take over in three months time, a dispute that could decide whether democracy thrives after Hosni Mubarak's ouster.

IRAN: Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan arrived in Tehran for talks over Syria and Iran's nuclear program. Iran's foreign minister announced a date, April 13, for renewed nuclear talks with the group of the five permanent UN Security Council members plus Germany.

THE DECORAH BALD EAGLES hatched an eaglet yesterday. Watch live.

GEORGE the BASSET HOUND saves his own life with an emergency call.

GREAT PU$SY PURGE puzzles French Town.

LION CUBS: Awww...some pics.

BELLE & SEBASTIAN cover The Primitives' "Crash" for the latest Late Night Tales comp.

VETIVER: The San Francisco band led by Andy Cabic brings it's laid-back, and slightly-psych folk-pop sounds to the KEXP studio.

PLANTS & ANIMALS: The Montreal indie-rockers play a set live from the KEXP Radio Day Stage at SXSW 2012.

THE BIG PINK play a live set of electro-pop from the KEXP Radio Day Stage at SXSW 2012.

COWBOY JUNKIES are streaming Wilderness.

THE CARS, Live at El Mocambo, Sept. 14, 1978.

REGINA SPEKTOR drops "Don't Leave Me (Ne Me Quitte Pas)" and "All The Rowboats" as heard on Regina's forthcoming record, What We Saw from the Cheap Seats.

HOW THE TEMPTATIONS made "Just My Imagination (Running Away With Me)."

MAGNETIC FIELDS: Stephin Merritt talks to Kelly Hogan about pop, touring, dogs, White Castle and more...

OF MONSTERS AND MEN: Paste examines how they became the Next Big Thing.

KING CRIMSON: PopMatters essays Robert Fripp, his latest crew, and A Scarcity of Miracles.

THE WEDDING PRESENT: David Gedge talks to The A.V. Club about touring something old and something new.

SCARLETT JOHANSSON's cellphone hacker faces up to 60 years in prison and a 2.2 million dollar fine. Jobless Christopher Chaney, 35, also pleaded guilty to nine other counts - including the hacking into the email accounts of singer Christina Aguilera and actress Mila Kunis.

ALICIA SILVERSTONE feeds her 10-month-old son by chewing up food in her mouth then spitting it directly into his mouth like a bird.

LINDSAY LOHAN is in final negotiations to guest star in one of this season's final episodes of Glee. Meanwhile, if she doesn't screw up in the next 24 hours, she will be off formal probation for the first time in more than 4 years.

CHRISTIE BRINKEY breaks down talking about her messy divorce from husband Peter Cook.

JAMIE-LYNN SIGLER is dating Washington Nationals infielder Cutter Dykstra, son of former Mets star Lenny Dykstra.

JEREMY PIVEN: TMI.

CHLOE MORETZ has been offered the lead in the Carrie remake.

TERROR in NORWAY: The day after being sentenced to prison for making death threats, Ansar al Islam founder Mullah Krekar was arrested for issuing more threats.

TERROR in SPAIN: Police arrested "M.H.A.", a key al Qaeda operative, in Valencia.

EGYPTIAN liberals and leftists wary of Islamist dominance of an assembly drafting a new constitution said on Tuesday they would write their own, deepening a row overshadowing a major element of the transition from Pres. Mubarak's rule. Meanwhile, with presidential elections set to begin in May, the Muslim Brotherhood is sharply divided over whether the group should field a candidate.

FINALLY: The Squirrel-tracking water cannon.

A SEA MONSTER washes up on a South Carolina beach.

OBESE DOGS get their own stairlift.

THE KING OF WASPS has been discovered during an expedition to the Indonesian island of Sulawesi.

LA SERA drops a Twofer Tuesday video for "Real Boy" and "Drive On" to mark the release of her album today.

NEW RELEASES from Paul Weller, Retribution Gospel Choir, Astra, THEESatisfaction and more are streaming this week via Spinner.

BEAR IN HEAVEN is advance streaming I Love You, It's Cool.

THE JOY FORMIDABLE stopped by The Current for a chat and mini-set.

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

EDWARD SHARPE & THE MAGNETIC ZEROS drop "Man On Fire" in advance of Here.

SIGUR ROS drops "Ekki Múkk" ahead of Valtari.

RICHARD HAWLEY drops "Leave Your Body Behind You."

ARETHA FRANKLIN just turned 70, but her take on "Respect" and "(You Make Me Feel ike a) Natural Woman" are timeless.

THE SHINS: James Mercer faces a pad full of theories and questions from the Drowned In Sound community.

CULTS are profiled by the Santa Barbara Independent. (Thx, LHB.)

THE MORNING BENDERS are now Pop Etc.

MEGAN FOX & BRIAN AUSTIN GREEN are being sued by a paparazzo over alleged beach brutaility.

BOBBY BROWN was booked for driving under the influence and for driving with the blood alcohol content of .08 or higher.

MILEY CYRUS & LIAM HEMSWORTH: Not engaged.

SIMON COWELL had quite the scare over the weekend when he came face-to-face with a female intruder at his London home Saturday.

LINDSAY LOHAN: Chatted up by Gerard Butler at Chateau Marmont.

ANGELINA JOLIE talks Maleficent and more.

QUEEN ELIZABETH: Wedding Crasher?

TERROR in FRANCE: Footage of Mohamed Merah's killing spree was mailed to Al Jazeera the day police besieged his apartment.

SYRIA's opposition groups, meeting in Istanbul, tried to form a more united front. Turkey and the United States planned to provide "nonlethal" aid to Syrian rebel groups. Turkey closed its embassy, following similar closures by several other countries.

TURKEY's former military chief of staff went on trial for "terrorism."

EGYPT: The country's main Islamist party is asserting increasing authority over the political system and openly confronting the powerful military.

AFGHANISTAN: US negotiation efforts with the Taliban have failed and the United Nations should take the lead to optimize the chances of ending almost 11 years of war, a think tank said on Monday.

A BLIND DOG is rescued from a trash pile.

A BUSINESSMAN's SNAKE vomits cash. Sources said the snake was linked to a Sabanga suburb man who owns a mansion but was viciously attacked by residents who accused him of witchcraft.

GIANT GAMBIAN RATS on the Grassy Key.

POLAR BEAR CUBS: Awww...some pics.

TENNIS reveals their "Origins" for Leno.

M WARD is advance streaming A Wasteland Companion.

OF MONSTERS AND MEN is advance streaming My Head Is An Animal.

GRAHAM COXON is streaming A + E and talking about it at The Observer.

ZOLA JESUS stopped by World Cafe for a chat and mini-set.

ARCADE FIRE drops a preview of "Horn of Plenty" from The Hunger Games soundtrack.

THE WHO drop a video for "5:15" a mere 39 years after Quadrophenia.  It won a contest.

BEST COAST: Bethany Cosentino talks to Fuse about he "quarter-life crisis, cat gifts and more... (Thx, LHB.)

MIKE DOUGHTY talks to PopMatters about soundwriting and memoir writing.

LOU BARLOW talks to Prefix about the reissued, remastered version of Weed Forestin’ that for the first time presents his original vision of the album.

HOW INDIE LABELS Changed the World.

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE: The Hunger Games rakes in 155 million dollars against a 78 million production budget.  It holds the record for biggest March opening and biggest opening weekend ever for a non-sequel; it is the third largest opening evah (behind the final Harry Potter and The Dark Knight).  21 Jump Street played fairly well as counter-programming, taking in another 21.3 million on a 41 percent drop; it totals 71 million against a 42 million budget.  The Lorax dropped similarly, making another 13.1 million for a 177.3 million total against a 70 million budget.  John Carter gets truly crushed by the Hunger Games, down to 5 million on a 63 percent drop; although Disney is taking a massive writedown on this film, it has grossed 234 million worldwide.  Act of Valor rounds out the Top Five with 2 million and a 65 million total against a 12 million budget.

THE HUNGER GAMES raked in truckloads of money, but I was underwhelmed by the first adaptation from the popular book series. The rules of the game itself and the importance of sponsors are not fully explained.  What is meant to be a romantic triangle is mostly left to future films.  However, someone who has read the book suggests these are not flaws from the book.  This would not surprise me, inasmuch as it is otherwise a bit baffling what drew so many tween girls to this franchise.  (I am not a fan of the Twilight series, but the movie showed me why tween girls are.)  The contest itself is obviously meant as a commentary on reality TV, but this has been done better as far back as Network, and with more trashy glee as far back as The Running Man. Jennifer Lawrence is fine as our protagonist, Katniss Everdeen, but she deserved a sharper script -- which is odd, given the top screenwriting credits go to director Gary Ross (Pleasantville, Seabiscuit) and the book's author, Suzanne Collins. Ross directs the actual drama well enough, but occasionally lets the action devolve into lazy shaky-cam incoherence.  It's not a bad movie; I didn't feel cheated.  On the other hand, I was only intermittently fully engaged.

KIM KARDASHIAN has decided she will press charges against a woman who flour-bombed her on a red carpet Thursday night.

ASHTON KUTCHER & RHIANNA have been secretly dating for eight weeks, according to the ever-relaible Sun.

TORI SPELLING is pregnant for the fourth time, just five months after giving birth.

EDDIE GRIFFTH is getting divorced after six months of wedded bliss.

TERROR in the USA: A senior NYPD official said Iran currently poses the "number one" terror threat to New York. In recent years, 13 individuals linked to the Iranian government have been questioned on suspicion of conducting surveillance for terror strikes; all were released.

TERROR in FRANCE: Authorities are questioning Abdelkader Merah, a brother of Toulouse gunman Mohamed Merah, in connection with the recent murders of seven people. According to police, Abdelkader said he was "proud" of his brother's actions, and traces of explosive material have been found in Abdelkader's car.

SYRIA: The Syrian army bombarded the cities of Homs and Saraqeb. Thousands demonstrated across the country. A high-level army defector announced that armed rebel groups have united under the Free Syrian Army.  Iran is providing a broad array of assistance to Assad to help him suppress anti-government protests, US and European security officials say.

EGYPT began selection of a constituent assembly charged with drafting a new constitution. Islamists and secularists clashed over control of the process.

AFGHANISTAN: Gen. Allen said Pakistan's ISI still supports the Taliban and the Haqqani Network. The Taliban killed a former member of parliament, a tribal elder, and two bodyguards in an IED attack in Uruzgan.

WORLD'S TINIEST PUPPY Cheats Death!

TINY LIZARDS discovered in Madagascar.

THE SQUIRREL THREAT: A militant squirrel attacked park officials in Bialystok, Poland.

A DOPED GOAT will be allowed to compete in the Colorado State Fair. The goat wuz framed!