THE WEEKEND STARTS HERE:

...with STOREFRONT HITCHCOCK! The Jonathan Demme concert documentary, in its entirety.  Songs include: "Devil's Radio," "1974," "A Filthy Bird," "Let's Go Thundering," "I'm Only You," "Glass Hotel," "I Something You," "The Yip Song" "I Am Not Me," "You and Oblivion," "Airscape," "Freeze," "Alright, Yeah" and "No, I Don't Remember Guildford."

PETRA HADEN's cover of the Bellamy Bros' "Let Your Love Flow" is available for download from Toyota.

THE RAVEONETTES posted a demo of a new song, "Last Dance," via Twitter.

WYE OAK is streaming their new album, The Knot, via Merge Records.

BLACK LIPS did the three free songs thing for Daytrotter at SxSW.

SILVERSUN PICKUPS stopped by the World Cafe for a chat and mini-set streaming now via NPR.

TRENT REZNOR & STREET SWEEPER SOCIAL CLUB "Kick Out the Jams," with four-syllable profanity. Yep, that's Tom Morello on guitar, too.

BUILT TO SPILL: Doug Martsch does a Q&A with Westword about his son, touring vs. recording, and the NBA.

SON VOLT: Jay Farrar answers five questions at Muzzle of Bees. (Thx, LHB.)

WILCO: Jeff Tweedy talks to Metromix, while Nels Cline talks to CityBeat. (Thx, Chromewaves.)

JAY REATARD is profiled by Straight as he moves to Matador Records.

PRINCE could use a couple of spare hips.

CUTOUT BIN: From Ciccone Youth to Sonic Youth (covering the Kinks), from CSN&Y to Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings (covering Kenny Rogers), from Marvin Gaye to the Stooges, plus Eddie and the Hot Rods, the Beatles, the Clique, the Decemberists w/Peter Buck, the Lemonheads covering Gram Parsons 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 The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3, currently scoring 41 percent on the ol' Tomatometer, and Eddie Murphy's family comedy, Imagine That, currently scoring xx percent.

CHASTITY BONO is becoming a man, man.

DAVID CARRADINE: An independent autopsy requested by the late actor's family revealed he did not commit suicide.

BRET MICHAELS of Poison is showing off his Tony Awards injury.

MEGAN FOX talks to Entertainment Weekly about fame, creepy men, jealous women, and refusing to be a "publicity android."

SHUTTER ISLAND: Here's the first trailer for Martin Scorsese's next movie.

G.I. JOE: Director Stephen Sommers was reportedly removed from the movie after a disastrous test screening.  Producer Leonardo di Bonaventura denies it.

JESSICA ALBA is still under investigation for possible vandalism charges in Oklahoma City.

WHO WATCHES THE WATCHMEN? As people become disillusioned from financial woes and a downtrodden economy and look to put new purpose in their lives, everyday folks are becoming masked crimefighters. (Thx, Ken.)

PAKISTAN: The Pakistani military said more than 130 Taliban fighters were killed during a three-day-old offensive in Bannu, while a Taliban assault on two forts in the neighboring tribal agency of South Waziristan has been repelled.

AFGHANISTAN: A Taliban commander thought to have been killed in a US airstrike in western Afghanistan has survived the attack, while fighting in northern and western Afghanistan intensifies.

IRAQ and Turkey have signed a preliminary accord on military cooperation, according to the Turkish army.

SLINKY CAT: It comes down stairs, alone or in pairs.

ROTTWEILER & WOLF CUB, living together... mass hysteria.

BABY CHEETAH attacks a safari Jeep. Awww...some pic.

A WHALE sinks a British yacht in the Caribbean.  Obligatory Moby Dick or Kraken joke goes here.

MASS GEESOCIDE plotted by NYC.

IT'S RAINING TADPOLES: Now will you let the people go?

JOHN VANDERSLICE does an orchestral version of "Too Much Time" at ABCNews's Amplified blog.

PASSION PIT & HARLEM SHAKES played DC the other night; you can stream either set or both via NPR.

FOUNTAINS OF WAYNE played Mountain Stage; you can stream the gig on demand via NPR.

COWBOY JUNKIES also played Mountain Stage; you can stream the gig on demand via NPR.

RICHARD HELL is interviewed by The Virgins' Donald Cumming at ClashMusic. (Thx, LHB.)

MAYER HAWTHORNE goes full-on doo-wop for "When I Said Goodbye."

BAT FOR LASHES: Natasha Khan talks to Pitchfork about the new LP, touring, etc.

JARVIS COCKER is interviewed by director Wes Anderson for Interview magazine.

GOMEZ: Olly Peacock talks to the Dallas Morning News about trying to invade America and placing songs on House and Grey's Anatomy.

THE LEMONHEADS: Evan Dando is suing General Motors for re-recording "It's a Shame About Ray" using it in an ad.

BRITNEY SPEARS is dating her agent.

HUGH GRANT kicked a paparazzo in the groin.  Video at the link.

DAVID CARRADINE: More photos, more bizzare.

PHIL SPECTOR mugshot, sans funky toupee.

BRAD PITT spent almost a million bucks on a painting.

HARRY POTTER & THE HALF-BLOOD PRINCE has a new clip online.

JESSICA ALBA apologizes for some alleged vandalism.

JESSICA BIEL & JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE are being pressured to procreate by Timberlake's mother.

IRON MAN 2: USA Today has your first look at Mickey Rourke as Whiplash.

IRAN: Powerful cleric Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, issued an open letter on Tuesday complaining that the country's supreme leader has remained silent in the face of "insults, lies and false allegations" by incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.  But keep in mind this election is maybe a notch above WWE wrestling.

AFGHANISTAN: US strike kills Iranian-backed Taliban commander in western Afghanistan.  Meanwhile, the new American commander in Afghanistan has been given carte blanche to handpick a dream team of subordinates, including many Special Operations veterans, as he moves to carry out an ambitious new strategy that envisions stepped-up attacks on Taliban fighters and narcotics networks.

DARREN the WAVING GOAT: Let's go to the video.

A DOZEN DUCKLINGS, rescued by police officer Eileen Emiddio.  Awww...some pics at the link.

JIMMY the MONKEY is working on re-creating the works of Shakespeare.

MOONLIT MANATEE BEACH ORGY attracts peeping toms to Lauderdale-by-the-Sea.

GRIZZLY BEAR brought Feist onstage for "Service Bell" and "Two Weeks" at the Dark was the Night benefit.  The band also stopped by The Current for a chat and mini-set streaming now via MPR. 

SUNSET RUBDOWN is advance streaming their Dragonslayer album at NPR.

CAMERA OBSCURA stopped by The Current for a chat and mini-set streaming now via MPR.

DINOSAUR, JR. did the four free songs thing for Daytrotter.

A CAMP: Nina Persson talks to the Denver Post about the band's all-covers EP.  SPIN is streaming the cover of Grace Jones's "I've Done it Again," while Spinner has their take on Pink Floyd's "Us and Them." (Thx, Chromewaves.)

FOUNTAINS OF WAYNE: "Hey, Julie."

HANDSOME FURS: Dan Boeckner talks to the Seattle Times about his songwriting formula and why the Face Control LP sounds like it does.

RHETT MILLER talks to PopMatters about fatherhood, songwriting, plus Jeff Tweedy and Ryan Adams.

TEN CULT ROCK MOVIES you need to see, according to MusicRadar, with embedded video. (Thx, LHB.)

FREE MP3s and deals at Amazon include tracks from Neko Case, Robyn Hitchcock, Beirut, My Morning Jacket and more...

DAVID CARRADINE's third wife says the late actor was often fond of tying himself up in the bedroom of their California ranch, and even experimented with drowning himself in their pool.  Video at the link.

LINDSAY LOHAN & SAMANTHA RONSON: Together again?

LEO DiCAPRIO & BAR RAFAELI haven't split, a source close to the couple tells Us magazine.

MILEY CYRUS, otoh, has reportedly dumped Justin Gaston.

MEGAN FOX has reportedly dumped Brian Austin Green for Twilight star Robert Pattinson.  Tabloids had linked him with co-star Kristen Stewart, but she claims they are just friends.

THE 100 BEST MOVIE LINES in 200 seconds, according to LiquidGeneration.

MADONNA will be given the go-ahead to adopt four-year-old Malawian Mercy James, according to press reports.

RUSSELL CROWE and director Ridley Scott are said to be squabbling like a couple of gladiators on the British set of their latest collaboration, Universal's big-budget Robin Hood flick.

LIAM NEESON & BRADLEY COOPER are in talks to co-star in The A-Team.

NORTH KOREA: Journalist Shane Smith calls it "an alternate universe. It's like going back in time to Stalinist Russia. We used to joke about it being a sort of Disneyland ride of a socialist utopian state. It's crazy." He he hopes Pyongyang uses  the two American journalists held there as pawns, or they may starve to death in a war camp.

AFGHANISTAN: Heavy weapons are continuing to stream across the Afghan border from Iran. Quantities regularly run into the hundreds and the weapons are usually brand new.

SLEEPY KITTEH: Let's go to the video.

TOO MUCH BEAVER? Around the nation, decades of environmental regulation, conservation efforts and changing land use have brought many species, like beavers, so far back from the brink that they are viewed as nuisances.

RICK'S CUSTOM SQUIRRELS all look like militants.

A DOG out on a walk in Germany happened upon a live US grenade from World War II and eagerly delivered it to his master.

CHAIRLIFT has released a new video for "Bruises," a song more twee than its title.

NEW RELEASES from Sonic Youth, Rhett Miller, Kasabian, the Low Anthem and more are streaming in full this week via Spinner.

SONIC YOUTH, btw, is essentially taking over PitchforkTV this week.

SONGS OF THE WEEK: The logical extension of NPR's Song of the Day.

GREAT LAKE SWIMMERS played a Tiny Desk Concert for Bob Boilen at NPR.

GUIDED BY VOICES: "Auditorium/Motor Away" are your Twofer Tuesday.

BIG STAR drummer Jody Stephens tells Billboard about an upcoming box set with four discs worth of unreleased demos, alternate takes, rarities, and live cuts.

JENS LEKMAN talks to Straight about finishing his next album, and to the Santa Barbara Independent about moving from Sweden to Australia. (Thx, Chromewaves.)

CAT POWER: Flavorpill covers the biography Chan Marshall doesn't want you to read.

ROSE ELINOR DOUGAL: The former Pipette talks about her upcoming solo LP with Under The Radar.

DAVID CARRADINE, according to TMZ, the purported photo of the late actor tends to support the auto-erotica scenario.

LINDSAY LOHAN complained of feeling 'caged' and curled up in a ball on the floor of a London club, according to the ever-reliable Daily Mirror.

PETE DOHERTY was arrested in Switzerland after being accused of taking drugs on a British Airways flight.

BRET MICHAELS of Poison was injured at the Tony Awards after missing his mark in a production number. Let's go to the video.

BRITNEY SPEARS: The News of the World as entirely gratuitous topless photos of the pop wreck, taken during the 2007 video shoot for "Gimme More."

CONAN O'BRIEN addresses the similarity of his new Tonight Show set to the original Super Mario Bros. video game. (thanks, Lance.)

HEATHER GRAHAM explains the joys of tantric sex, playing poker, growing old disgracefully and why asking her to help you with your tax returns after a night of passion is a relationship killer.

STEPHEN COLBERT did his shtick for US troops in Iraq. The idea for taping the show here came about last summer, he said, at the suggestion of Bing West, a former assistant secretary of defense and a guest on "The Colbert Report."

KORTH KOREA sentenced two US journalists to 12 years in a labor camp Monday.

OUR FRIENDS, THE SAUDIS showed a movie for the first time in 30 years. Women were not invited.

PAKISTAN: Pres. Zardari said there is a possibility that its nuclear arsenal could fall into the hands of the Taliban if democracy "fails" in his country and the world doesn't help.

HAMSTER runs a dog agility course.

A FROG that constantly changes colour is being worshipped as a god in India.

A LION escaped from its cage in a China zoo and swam a river for nearly 400 meters before it tried to climb up into the campus of Rudong Shiyan Elementary School.

A CUB in Wisconsin was spotted with a bird feeder stuck on its head.  Silly old bear!

DINOSAUR, JR. may be "Over It," but they aren't over, if this song is andy indicator. Downright catchy.

OF MONTREAL stopped by the World Cafe for a chat and mini-set streaming on demand via NPR.

EELS: Mark Oliver Everett has an interview+tracks streaming from NPR's Weekend Edition.

YO LA TENGO have released an advance track, "Periodically Double Or Triple," from their upcoming Popular Songs album.

NEIL YOUNG: The long-awaited and voluminous Archives, Vol. 1: 1963-1972 is reviewed for NPR's All Tings Considered.

THE JAYHAWKS: "Blue," because its genius was recognized by The Office's Rainn Wilson on Twitter last week.

SONIC YOUTH is profiled by The Guardian, which says their upcoming album "taps into the rough-and-ready energy of a trio of late-80s releases - Evol, Sister and Daydream Nation - on which more conventional song structures coalesced out of powerful dissonance to vertigo-inducing effect."

THE LEMONHEADS: Evan Dando takes a pop quiz for the San Francisco Chronicle.

BOOKER T. surveys his ongoing musical journey with the Boston Herald.

IGGY POP tells the L.A. Times, "Rock is worse than 'Kumbaya.'"

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE: Up repeats at No. 1, with a modest 35 percent drop, taking in 44.2 million bucks.  Equally impressive -- and more surprising -- was the second-place opening of The Hangover, which took in 43.3 million, which had no stars but excellent reviews.  Land of the Lost had the stars, and bad reviews -- and came in third with 19.5 million, far below the 30-35 million many predicted.  Night at the Museum 2 came in fourth 14.7 million, dropping 40 percent; it is underperforming the original by enough that it will need another couple of decent weekends for this to stop looking like a shaky investment.  Star Trek rounds out the Top Five with another 8.4 million; this sort of legs, plus another 100+ million overseas puts the franchise back at warp speed.  Below the fold, Terminator Salvation continues to bomb like an attack from Skynet.  My Life in Ruins opened in ninth, suggesting lightining does not strike twice for Nia Vardalos of "My Big Fat Greek Wedding."

DAVID CARRADINE's family is "profoundly disturbed" by the publication of a photo that appears to be Carradine hanging in his hotel room.  Meanwhile The Smoing Gun found a reference to "deviant sexual behavior which was potentially deadly" in his 2003 divorce papers.

HEIDI MONTAG PRATT has been taken to a hospital in Costa Rica after falling ill on the set of I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!.

BROOKE SHIELDS has settled with the National Enquirer after alleging the tabloid checked her mother out of a New Jersey nursing home last month.

BRITNEY SPEARS has settled with a former manager on undisclosed terms.  The judge also signed off on 193K in legal fees for the singer's attorneys.

500 DAYS OF SUMMER has a new clip posted at Moviefone.

MEGAN FOX lost so much weight during a period of depression, her hair started to fall out.

GEORGE CLOONEY is reportedly moving a new cocktail waitress into his pad.

IRAN has sped up its production of nuclear fuel and increased its number of installed centrifuges to 7,200 -- more than enough, weapon experts said, to make fuel for up to two nuclear weapons a year.  The Islamic theocracy has blocked UN atomic inspectors for more than a year now from visiting a heavy-water reactor capable of being modified to produce plutonium that could be used in weapons.  In a separate report released Friday, the IAEA said it had found new evidence to support the claim that the complex that Israel bombed in the Syrian desert in 2007 was in fact a clandestine nuclear reactor. RTWT for the persistent Korth Koean connection.

LEBANON: The ruling pro-Western coalition appeared headed for a decisive political victory over its Iranian-backed Hezbollah rivals early Monday in the Middle East nation's most fiercely contested parliamentary election in decades.

D-DAY + 65 was celebrated Saturday, which means I really should have linked to Ike's message to the troops and Ronald Reagan's moving 40th Anniversary speech on Friday.  Better late than never.

SCRATCH-A-BEAVER: Let's go to the video. Hey, nice beaver!

THE SWARM: More than 10K honeybees appeared out of nowhere on Sunday and landed on the wing of a parked airplane at Beverly Airport in Massachusetts.

LEOPARD vs CROCODILE: Hal Brindley snapped the amazing moment a leopard snatched a crocodile at a South African game reserve on the only occasion this behavior has ever been documented worldwide.

COWS stare unamazed as they are the subject of an experiment to determine whether a change in diet will help them belch less methane, a potent heat-trapping gas that has been linked to climate change.