THE WEEKEND STARTS HERE:

with ELVIS PRESLEY! The King died 34 years ago next week, but remains a global pop phenomenon, so it's worth a recap of highlights from his legendary career.  For the 30th anniversary, Canada's Star-Phoenix, discussing ten important parts of Elvis history worth reliving, noted: "His was a sequined coat of many colours: '50s Greaser Elvis. Military Elvis. Hollywood Elvis. Aloha from Hawaii Elvis. Vegas Elvis. And, ultimately, Dead Fat Elvis."  The BBC had friend and aide Sonny West recall life with The King. 

ACTION NEWS 5 still has its local coverage from Aug. 16-17, 1977 (here, here, here and here) on the Tube, where you can also see funeral footage from the BBC Archive.  Here's read the obit that ran the next day in the Washington Post. Elvis Presley News recaps the international headlines from the event and links to the eulogy at his funeral. On a happier note, check out what is likely the first footage taken of Elvis, with backstage shots of Carl Perkins, Johnny Cash and Buddy Holly in 1955; shades of Walk The Line!  You can also see him play "I Got A Woman" live o­n his first TV appearance in 1956. I also include his performance of "Hound Dog" o­n The Milton Berle Show six months later, not o­nly because it's historic, but also because Paul Miller and I often reached for it when we would stumble into our KUSR shift at the last minute -- Uncle Miltie vamps for awhile, which gave us time to pull records for the show.  He was also iconic in "Jailhouse Rock" that year.  Elvis sang a mashup of "Love Me Tender" and "Witchcraft" with Frank Sinatra when he got back from the Army.  All of his movies -- such as "Viva Las Vegas" --made money, but his musical career stalled in the 1960s until he electrified and charmed the public with his televised '68 Comeback Special, which you can see on the Tube.  1970 finds him singing "In The Ghetto" and "Suspicious Minds" in the jumpsuit, though pre-bloated.  I'm going to throw in "Little Sister" just 'cause I like it.  Sadly, in a few short years, bloated jumpuit Elvis would be delivering a wacked-out take on "Are You Lonesome Tonight?" -- though to be fair, this audio-only version from 1969 is even more demented and he knows it.  I would rather remember Jumpsuit Elvis for the signature horns that open "See See Rider."  a tribute to his enduring legacy as the fact that he could hit the charts decades after his death with a remix of "A Little Less Conversation," a video subtly recalling "Jailhouse Rock," and Paul Oakenfold's remix of "Rubberneckin'". The King may be gone, but the brand lives on, making millions and recruiting new fans under the watchful eyes of Elvis Presley Enterprises and CKX, Inc.

GREETINGS FROM GRACELAND:  It must be said, however, that Elvis Presley Enterprises did not have a good handle on the King's affairs in the years immediately following his death.  Chicago radio personalities Steve Dahl and Garry Meier won a local emmy for their 1981 comedic look at what was then a very seedy exploitation of Elvis in Memphis. (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7.)

WOODEN SHJIPS is advance streaming West.

FAIR OHS is streaming Everything is Dancing.

BRAID is advance streaming the Closer to Closed EP.

ASTRID SWANN streams Hits, a electronic-y Pavement covers collection. (Thx, LHB.)

THE VACCINES stopped by KEXP for a brief mini-set.

OUTSIDE LANDS: Rolling Stone has a streaming playlist of acts playing the eclectic San Fran fest.

GUIDED BY VOICES: The Carefree Kitchens Are a Blast.

JIMMY CLIFF drops a cover of The Clash's "The Guns of Brixton," part of an upcoming collaboration with Rancid's Tim Armstrong.

NEKO CASE joins MY MORNING JACKET on "Islands In the Stream," written by the Bee Gees and a hit for Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton.

SONDRE LERCHE talks to PopMatters about his first proper song, the new album's hit single "Private Caller," and the importance of remembering one's dreams.

ICEAGE -- staking out a rough patch of turf somewhere in the badlands between U.K. postpunk (think Wire and Joy Division) and American hardcore (think Minor Threat) -- is profiled at Straight.

MTV's WEIRD VIBES, Ep. 1: It's Not Easy Being a Buzzband.

ACE FREHLEY talks about his upcoming memoirs. Had to post this for Pate bassist Mike Kelly. BONUS: Paul Stanley has a fourth child.

JANI LANE, former lead singer of the rock group Warrant, was found dead in a Los Angeles-area hotel Thursday night, TMZ reported.

CUTOUT BIN: From the Clash to the Sweet, from the Jam to Robert Plant, from Elvis Presley to Buzzcocks, from Roy Orbison to Joan Jett, plus the Specials, Wonder Stuff, Small Faces, 13th Floor Elevators and more -- this Friday's fortuitous finds are now streaming from the Pate page at the ol' HM.

NOW SHOWING:  This weekend's wide releases include Final Destination 5, which is currently scoring 53 percent on the ol' Tomatometer; 30 Minutes or Less, which is scoring 46 percent; The Help, which opened Wednesday with 73 percent; and the Glee 3-D concert movie, scoring 67 percent.

LINDSAY LOHAN  is firing back at reports that she was spotted in Venice Beach buying something that looked suspiciously like an illegal substance from someone that gave her a Ziploc baggie.

GEORGE LOPEZ gets cancelled on TBS.  Some wonder whether it's Conan's fault, as opposed to the sheer awfulness of the Lopez show.  At least George still has Sandra Bullock as his fairy godmother.

BLAKE LIVELY: A "Rules" Girl?

KATE MOSS wedding pics.

ERNIE & BERT "remain puppets, and do not have a sexual orientation."

THE BEST TV SERIES with over 5000 votes at IMdB.

THE LEAST LIKELY SCREEN COUPLES, according to writers at The A.V. Club.

YEMEN: Tribesmen claimed they killed Yassir al-Shalily, a leader of the AQAP front group Ansar al Shariah, during fighting in Mudiyah.

JORDAN: The state security court is trying 150 Salafists for their role in an attack on police in Zarqa that wounded 83 officers.

AFGHANISTAN: Secret exploratory peace talks between the United States and the Taliban leadership have broken down after details of the negotiations were leaked.  US special operations forces killed the Taliban commander and the shooter who were responsible for last weekend's downing of a helicopter in Wardak.

ONE of these DOGS will be affected by static.

RUNAWAY COW: Hunters, animal rights activists and even her best friend have failed to lure Yvonne the German cow back to the farmyard. Now they're bringing in the bull.

A BEAR breaks up a Monopoly game in New Hampshire. No one passes "Go" or collects 200 dollars.

A SNAKE HANDLER has been slammed in Australia after he let 'deadly' snakes bite his 10-year-old daughter to prove they had been de-venomized.

CONAN O'BRIEN joins EDWARD SHARPE & THE MAGNETIC ZEROS on a partial cover of Radiohead's "Creep."

VETIVER stopped by Morning Becomes Eclectic for a session.

NOAH & THE WHALE play a Tiny Desk Concert at the offices of NPR.

MISTER HEAVENLY (ft. members of  Man Man, Islands, and Modest Mouse) are advance streaming Out of Love.

THE REPLACEMENTS: Live in Dekalb, IL, April 5, 1985.

THE SHINS debuted a new song and covered Bowie in Oregon.

NME is streaming 25 Acts You Need to Hear.

THE NATIONAL's video for "Exile Villify" (from the Portal 2 videogame) is a contest winner.

FEIST talks to Rolling Stone about Metals, her first album in four years.

YUCK compiled a list of songs influencing their debut album beyond the usual references.

20 ESSENTIAL PAVEMENT SONGS, according to PopMatters.

THE AMERICAN MUSIC PRESERVATION PROJECT: Along with two collaborators and a travel-trailer-turned-recording-studio, 32-year-old Joshua Smith aims to recognize and record the nation's best unknown musicians...and to get the collection into the Library of Congress.

STEVE ALBINI, who shared an airport shuttle with rappers Odd Furure, said he hasn't "wanted to strangle anybody that much in a real long time". Unsurprisingly, Tyler the Creator responded.

LINDSAY LOHAN wants to go to Europe with the Hilton sisters, rather than complete her court-ordered community service.  Maybe she should argue that her leaving the country is community service.

JENNIFER ANISTON & JUSTIN THEROUX have talked at length about getting married and starting a family, according to Us Weekly.

ARETHA FRANKLIN sang her way out of a parking ticket on NYC's Upper East Side.

ALEC BALDWIN wants to be Mayor of NYC... but not in 2013.

TV's BIGGEST SALARIES, according to TV Guide.

JENNIFER GREY backs the Dirty Dancing remake.

BEWITCHED may be headed back to the small screen.

BLACK DYNAMITE: The cartoon pilot is streaming via Adult Swim.

EGYPT's new military rulers are increasingly: portraying pro-democracy activists as spies and saboteurs, blaming the country's economic crisis and sectarian strife on foreign infiltrators, and blasting the US for funding agents of change.

OSAMA BIN LADEN was protected by elements of Pakistan's security apparatus in return for millions of dollars of Saudi cash, according to a controversial new account of the operation to kill the world's most wanted man.

IRAQ's oil-rich south has concerns about the neighbors.

JESSE the Jack Russell Terrier does the chores and grocery shopping.

THOUSANDS of SCORPIONS were released at a residential complex in Shenzhen to force residents to move out in order to make way for a new construction project.

JONATHAN, a tortoise captured on a Boer War photograph has been declared the oldest in the world after researchers found that it is still alive. He is believed to be 178 years old.

MANDRILLS learn to cover their eyes when they want to be left alone.

THE DECEMBERISTS play Sugar's "If I Can't Change Your Mind" for The A.V. Club Undercover (just like Bob Mould did last week).

BLOOD ORANGE, a/k/a Dev Hynes (Lightspeed Champion) is advance streaming Costal Grooves.

THE CIVIL WARS do the four free songs thing at Daytrotter.

ASLEEP AT THE WHEEL also did the four free songs thing for Daytrotter, including "Route 66."

BURTON CARROLL did six free songs for Daytrotter... so there!

PAPER LACE: "The Night Chicago Died." Live.

ANARCHY IN THE UK: Numerous independent record labels -- including Domino, 4AD, XL and Beggars Banquet -- fear catastrophic losses in a fire at a distribution warehouse in north London during the riots in the capital on Monday night.

ADELE: Prefix examines theories explaining her massive success, but omits "All of the above."

ST. VINCENT: Annie Clark is profiled by the London Evening Standard. (Thx, LHB.)

MARSHALL GRANT, founding bassist of Johnny Cash's original band the Tennessee Two and the singer's longtime road manager, died Aug. 7 in Jonesboro, Ark., after suffering an aneurysm. He was 83.

BRADGELINA:  Jennifer Aniston ordered Brad Pitt to leave their Beverly Hills home after he admitted that he was in love with Angelina Jolie, according to a sensational new book.

JESSICA SIMPSON & NICOLE RICHIE are locked in an ugly feud on the set of their new reality show "Fashion Star," according to the ever-reliable National Enquirer.

KIM KARDASHIAN's wedding guest list is star-studded... but how many actually attend?

GAVIN DeGRAW: The pop singer was viciously beaten by a pack of thugs on the Lower East Side early today - and then hit by a taxi as he stumbled off, police sources said.

ASHTON KUTCHER: As the special guest editor of Details' online-only social-media issue (find it on Facebook, Flipboard, Twitter, and Tumblr), the next star of Two and a Half Men delivers his verdict on power-tweeting, oversharing, sex apps, and the future of Facebook.

ZOE SALDANA had a nervous breakdown after Avatar. Then again, so did I.

QUENTIN TARANTINO's Cinematic Reality.

YEMEN: Pres Saleh vowed he would return to Yemen and continue to lead the government.

IRAN: A member of parliament said that Iran is again delaying the launch of the Bushehr nuclear power plant.

NORTH KOREA has nothing to reform or open up, the ruling party's newspaper reported on Tuesday, accusing the United States of trying to impose its own ways to stifle socialism. But the economy is in trouble.

AFGHANISTAN: Afghans' trust in Afghan national security forces is increasing, but people urge the international troops to stay committed to enduring support to Afghan forces, a report by TOLOnews said on Tuesday. NATO and Russia are working on an agreement to expand the current supply route of troops through Russian soil, reports say.

PIT BULL vs KITTEN: Who You Got?

THE SQUIRREL THREAT: According to Level 3 Communications, which maintains an 84,000-mile fiber network, militant rodents do 17 percent of the damage to their fiber optic network.

A BLUE SHARK is discovered in the New Hampshire woods.

ROSIE, the first judicially approved courtroom dog in New York, was in the witness box nuzzling a 15-year-old girl who was testifying that her father had raped and impregnated her.

WHO IS HARRY NILSSON (AND WHY IS EVERYBODY TALKIN' ABOUT HIM)? is streaming in full via SnagFilms. Courtesy of... Goldman Sachs, no less.

NEW RELEASES from Scattered Trees, Pepper Rabbit, Dom and more are streaming this week at Spinner.

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

THE OLD 97s share Too Far to Care demos.

BLACK MOUNTAIN: Live at the Grey Eagle, Nov. 10, 2010.

BJORK has a "Virus" for you from Biophilia.

THE RACCOONISTS: Jeff Tweedy and sons have a new single.

FOUNTAINS OF WAYNE play the new "Richie and Ruben" along with the classic "Survival Car" as a web exclusive on Fallon, just in time for Twofer Tuesday.

DANIEL HYNES, f/k/a Lightspeed Champion, talks to The Guardian about his new project, Blood Orange.

ELLIE GOULDING talks to the San Francisco Chronicle about playing festivals, the Royal Wedding and more...

AUSTRA: Katie Stelmanis talks to PopMatters about shifting from classical to punk to synth.

FROM VINYL TO DIGITAL: Music critic Jim Farber's journey.

MILA KUNIS says she likes funny guys. But I'm thinking hansome funny guys. Just a theory.

ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER, wearing a shirt that says, "I survived Maria" - the woman whom he betrayed so badly.

AMERICAN IDOL: Jennifer Lopez's huge new deal has prompted her fellow judge, rocker Steven Tyler, to urge Fox to bump up his own payday.

JESSE EISENBERG does a short chat with GQ to promote 30 Seconds or Less.

JANE LYNCH, despite appearing in the trailer, doesn't appear in the Glee 3-D concert movie. Apparently, she'll be on the DVD, for maximum milking of the product.

DIRTY DANCING is getting a remake by Kenny Ortega, who choreographed and came up with the grinding "dirty dancing" that made the original sleeper hit one of the most profitable independent films ever made to that point.

JERRY LEWIS sat for an 11-hour interview with GQ.

SYRIA: The opposition has admitted that armed insurgents are operating on the fringes of the uprising against Assad, raising fears that extremists could take the country into civil war.

AFGHANISTAN: A helicopter which crashed killing 30 US troops in Afghanistan was shot down after the Taliban laid a trap to lure US forces into the area, an Afghan government official said on Monday. Not sure I buy that, but it's not the first time I've heard the theory.

IRAQ: Muqtada al Sadr threatened to attack US trainers if they remain in Iraq past the December 2011 deadline for withdrawal.

X

ORPHAN KITTY plays Jungle Kitty.

A STOWAWAY BIRD got on board a Delta Air Lines flight from Madison, Wisconsin to Atlanta. Video at the link.

TOADS force road closures in British Columbia.

SNAKES get a lobbyist in DC to preserve the right to import boa constrictors and eight varieties of pythons and anacondas and to transport them across state lines. Insert snake/lobbyist punchline here.

LYKKE LI performs "Youth Knows No Pain" for Jay.

BEIRUT is advance streaming The Rip Tide.

FRIGHTENED RABBIT played World Cafe Live; you can stream the whole gig on demand.

TOTAL BABE did the four free songs thing for Daytrotter.

RABBIT PEPPER is advance streaming Red Velvet Snowball.

ELVIS COSTELLO: "The Other Side of Summer." Gotta fee-vah.

BATTLES talks to The Guardian about making one of the albums of the year after losing their frontman.

IMELDA MAY talks to PopMatters about her myriad influences, her long road to success, and how to come across well in a traditional Irish sing-song.

TITUS ANDRONICUS guitarist (and solo singer-songwriter) Amy Klein talks to The Awl about climbing on top of speakers, Patti Smith, Joanna Newsom, why everyone should read Rat Girl, and Girls Rock Camp.

NOEL GALLAGHER talks MOJO through the music, movies, gigs and books that have shaped his life.

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE: Rise of the Planet of the Apes conquered the cineplex, opening with a suprirsingly large 54 million take, about 15 million more than expected.  That's a great start on a 93 million budget (and looks better than the 100 million budgeted Tim Burton version).  The Smurfs hold the second slot for a second week with 21 million; so far the total is 76 million domestic against a 110 million production budget, so overseas tickets will make the difference between okay and sequel.  Cowboys and Aliens drops 57 percent from first to third with 15.7 million; with 67 million so far against a 163 million budget, overseas tickets will make the difference between loss or profit.  The Change-Up comes in fourth with 13.5 million, about in line with expectations; it is unlikely to have the legs needed for a 52 million budget.  Rounding out the Top 5 is Captain America, which made 13 million on a 49 percent drop -- a possible victim of the Apes.  However, Cap has recouped its production budget domestically and taken in another 80 million worldwide so far.

RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES was an interesting and highly entertaining beast. It's also a big departure from the original franchise.  In some ways, this movie owes more to the Frankenstein tale than it does to original Apes series.  Although allusions to the original abound in names and props, the nuclear context seems abandoned (perhaps as an post-Cold War anchronism), and the civil rights or animal rights (in the case of Tim Burton's reimagining) subtext is largely gone as well.  What's left is a visually stunning, but surprisingly character-driven reboot, on both the human and simian sides of the ledger.

TWO AND A HALF MEN: More and more and more leaks about the Sheen-less season premiere.

ETHAN HAWKE and wife Ryan Shawhughes welcomed their second child, a daughter, India.  It's actually his fourth child.

JESSICA SIMPSON: Pregnancy rumors continue.

THE DARK KNIGHT RISES: First look at Anne Hathaway as the Catwoman, icymi. And a second.

THE FIRST ATOMIC BOMB WAS DROPPED ON HIROSHIMA 66 years ago yesterday. The act that ushered in the nuclear age, but also helped end World War II, still stokes controversy. Three men involved in the attack o­n Hiroshima share their memories with the BBC. Film showing the effects of the attack was classified for decades, as were the complete (unredacted) "Magic" military intercepts, which tend to show Japan was not about to surrender. Those interested in a relatively neutral view of the events leading to the bombing could do worse than 1995's Hiroshima, a joint Canadian-Japanese production for Showtime.

OUR FRIENDS, THE SAUDIS revised an anti-terrorism law and made it less severe than a leaked version that was heavily criticized by human rights groups.

LIBYA: The government of Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi distanced itself from comments that his son made the previous day, when he vowed in an interview to strike an alliance with a faction of radical Islamists among the rebels challenging his father's rule. Which doesn't mean it won't happen.

PAKISTAN: As US-Pakistani relations spiral downward, the specter of a showdown between the increasingly antagonistic allies is garnering more attention, including the worst-case scenario of the US attempting to "snatch" Pakistan's 100-plus nuclear weapons if it feared they were about to fall into the wrong hands.

HORRIFYING SQUID comes to life, jumps off plate.

PIG SWARM engulfs a German woman and her 2-year-old child, requiring a police rescue.

A DRUNKEN HORSE and trap driver who ran a red light tried to claim it was the animal's fault - as it was color blind.

DUCKY the CAT is reunited with his family, more than 10 weeks after the Joplin, MO tornado.