THE JAYHAWKS played Taste of Chicago over the weekend and I went when the storms foretold failed to materialize (though a few minutes of rain was a welcome respite to a baking sun and humidity).  The reunited quintet opened with "Wichita" from Hollywood Town Hall; the set leaned heavily on that LP and Tomorrow The Green Grass (the reissues of these albums being the focus of their current tour). Certainly, the latter LP's "Blue" got the biggest round of applause of a well received set, though "Waiting For the Sun" was also a highlight.  The band also unveiled a few from their upcoming Mockingbird Time album, including "She Walks in So Many Ways" and "Black Eyed Susan."  Folks who were there for the free music seemed to enjoy it and were perhaps surprised at the band's cover of Grand Funk's "Bad Time."  The attitude of the band was as sunny as the day turned out; they seemed to view it as a chance to add to their rabid fan base, and likely succeeded.  Not having seen The Jayhawks in their initial run was on my regrets list and I am glad to cross it off, particularly as their harmonies (not merely the incredible blend of Gary Louris and Mark Olson, but also the occasional spice of Karen Grotberg and Tim O'Reagan) seem as strong as ever.

EVEREST opened for the Jayhawks, and if you listen to this Morning Becomes Eclectic, it's not surprising that Neil Young signed the band to his label. But even more than Young, the band reminded me of the fictional Stillwater from Almost Famous, absent the Jagger/Richards or Plant/Page dynamic.  That is, Everest is very much in the genre of classic rock without sounding too much like any of those bands in particular (not a bad thing, imho).

ELEANOR FRIEDBERGER is advance streaming Last Summer.

THE HORRORS are advance streaming Skying.

THE SUNDELLES did five free songs for Daytrotter.

LOLLAPALOOZA: Get your free MP3s from Spinner.

THE REPLACEMENTS played their final show 20 years ago yesterday. Stream it.

RYAN ADAMS covers "Nutshell" (Alice in Chains) and offers a new track, "Empty Room," a collaboration with the missus (Mandy Moore).

GUIDED BY VOICES: NYC Taper joins the band in offering two streaming tracks from McCarren Park, June 18, 2011; the whole set (and all their reunion gigs) may be purchesed from the band.

THE DOORS:  Over the weekend, former members of the band have marked the 40th anniversary of the death of Jim Morrison by lighting candles at his grave in Paris.  So why not "Light My Fire" and "Touch Me" for Twofer Tuesday?

BOB MOULD talks to NY mag's Vulture about his memoirs.

THE BEST OF 2011 (So Far): According to Drowned in Sound; Paste staffers Bonnie Stiernberg, Josh Jackson, and Max Blau; SPIN and The Queitus.

BLONDIE: Debbie Harry talks to the Daily Mail about new artists, Botox and more...

RICK SPRINGFIELD: Charged with two counts of DUI.

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE: To the surprise of no one, Transformers 3 cleans up with 97.5 million over the weekend, and 162.2 million since opening Wednesday.  That's actually about 38 million less than what Transformers 2 took in over a similar period, despite the 3-D premium price.  But it has already grossed 391 million worldwide, so we have likely not seen the last of the autobots, even if Shia LeBeouf is making noise like he's done.  Cars 2 skids a remarkable 62 percent to the second slot with 25.1 million -- was it just the Transformers, or a quality problem? Hmmm.  Bad Teacher dropped 55 percent to the third slot with 14.1 million, but is already well in the black on its 20 million budget.  Larry Crowne debuted at No.4 with 13 million, which is a sure disappointment for a Hanks-Roberts vehicle, though it won't likely count as a financial flop, given its 30 million budget.  Rounding out the Top 5 is the 7.6 million debut of Monte Carlo, which ain't bad against a 20 million budget.

ARNOLD & MARIA: Shriver filed for divorce from Arnold Schwarzenegger, revealing there is no prenup, which reportedly means they will split as much as 400 million dollars. (Note the media savvy of dumping the divorce filing on the Friday night before the July 4th weekend.)

RYAN REYNOLDS & SCARLETT JOHANSSON are officially divorced.

KATE MOSS got hitched to rocker Jamie Hince.

SALMA HAYEK's billionaire husband fathered Linda Evangelista's child.

DANIEL RADCLIFFE: Why I Don't Drink Alcohol Anymore.

CHARLIE SHEEN's ex, Brooke Mueller, is out of rehab.

ASHTON KUTCHER is having a Twitter fight with the Village Voice over child prostitution. He has gone so far as to tweet advertisers about the Voice's Back Page personal ads.

PRINCE ALBERT II wed longtime love Charlene Wittstock in a civil ceremony inside the palace in Monaco on Friday afternoon.

AL QAEDA: Toward the end of his decade in hiding, Osama bin Laden was spending as much time exchanging messages about al-Qaeda's struggles as he was plotting ways for the terrorist network to reassert its strength.

IRAN's elite military unit, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, has transferred lethal new munitions to its allies in Iraq and Afghanistan in recent months, according to senior US officials, in a bid to accelerate the US withdrawals from these countries.

EGYPT: Liberals and secularists now fear that at least some of their newfound freedoms may be backfiring. But if the revolution has had an uncomfortable lesson for Egypt's discordant and inexperienced liberals, it has the same catch for the Islamists: with free expression comes diversity, and not everyone is going to agree.

IRAQI commandos are taking the lead in rooting out insurgents, but want US special ops to stay in-country.

DOVE vs CAT: Who you got?

TWO RACCOONS carjacked a German motorist.

RATS rampant at Arizona's Capitol building.

A WAYWARD BABOON that apparently escaped from an amusement park and became a mini-celebrity -- appearing at a golf course and being followed on Twitter -- was captured Saturday after spending three days on the lam.

THE LESSER WATER BOATMAN is the loudest creature in the world thanks to the insect's noisy 'singing penis', scientists have discovered.

THE FOURTH of JULY WEEKEND STARTS HERE:

...with THE BEACH BOYS!  Yep, time to "Do It Again."  Because folks my age will always remember their mammoth July 4th concerts at the Washington Monument -- as with this 1980 take o­n "Good Vibrations." Given the time of year, I have to include this 1964 clip of "Surfin' U.S.A." which I think is from the same gig that produced these takes on "Little Deuce Coupe," "In My Room," "Shut Down," "Surfer Girl" and "Fun, Fun Fun." Their take on "Dance, Dance, Dance" from Shindig! later that year is like a slice of Christmas in July.  There's also a nifty twofer of "I Get Around" and "'When I Grow Up (To Be A Man)" from their first UK TV appearance o­n Ready Steady Go!  The Andy Williams Show serves up "Help Me, Rhonda," while The Jack Benny Hour produced these quick takes o­n "Barbara Ann" and "California Girls."  There's a primitive video for "Wouldn't It Be Nice" that starts with a cameo from Brian Wilson's dogs (Banana and Louie), who appear at the end of the Pet Sounds LP.  And I'll finish with a live version of "God Only Knows" from the 1967 European tour -- one of the last Brian would do for a decade or so.

RAY CHARLES performs "America The Beautiful" like no one else.

INDEPENDENCE DAY: Bruce Springsteen, circa 1978, before it came out on The River.

JAMES LILEKS: Truth.

THE STAR-SPANGLED BANNER: From 2008, Hidden Track serves up 12 video versions. And the only ones not working now are Jimi Hendrix and Whitney Houston.

THE UNITED STATES prepares to celebrate the anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence, declaring independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain on July 4, 1776. As the Wikipedia notes, this is a little arbitrary: New Englanders had been fighting Britain since April 1775; the first motion in the Continental Congress for independence was made o­n June 8th; and the Congress voted 12-0 for independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain o­n July 2, 1776. Even so, the publication of the Declaration was momentous .  If you're not in DC, the best way to see and learn about the Declaration may be through the Charters of Freedom website. But you can watch Mel Gibson, Michael Douglas, Renee Zelleweger, Kevin Spacey, Wynona Ryder and other Hollywood folk read the Declaration, after a short introduction by Morgan Freeman.

Of course, the holiday more broadly celebrates the American Revolutionary War, and the Founders' unlikely victory. People with the highest standard of living and the lowest taxes in the Western World fought a sometimes unpopular war for our freedom. Early o­n, the Revolutionaries (also known as "Americans" or "Patriots") had the active support of about 40 to 45 percent of the colonial population. By 1779, there were more Americans fighting with the British than with Washington, which is why Washington needed help from the French, the Spanish and freed Blacks. You can separate fact from fiction regarding the sacrifices and fates of the Founders at Snopes. You can hear two-time Pulitzer Prize winner David McCullough read from the first chapter of his 1776 via NPR. Or watch a nifty clip on the passage and public reading of the Declaration from the John Adams miniseries.

DAVE ALVIN: Hey, baby, it's the "4th of July."

POPULAR SONGS: Who Really Owns Them?

NINE HIT SONGS Musicians gave Away to Other Artists.

RETROMANIA: Simon Reynolds talks to PopMatters about his new book and pop's addiction to its own past.

IS THERE A FORMULA FOR HIT SONGS? Two grad students are working on it at Rutgers.

CUTOUT BIN: From Elvis Costello to Led Zeppelin, from Best Coast to Wilson Pickett, from Let's Active to Tom Petty, plus the Modern Lovers, David Byrne, the Beach Boys, the Feelies, Don Covay and more -- this Friday's fortuitous finds are now streaming from the Pate page at the ol' HM.

NOW SHOWING: In addition to Transformers 3, which opened Wednesday scoring 36 percent on the ol' Tomatometer, this weekend's wide counter-programming includes Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts in Larry Crowne, which is scoring 33 percent; and Selena Gomez in Monte Carlo, scoring 43 percent.

SHIA LeBEOUF & MEGAN FOX: More details leak after LeBeouf self-leaked to Details.

JONATHAN RHYS MEYERS (The Tudors) was hospitalized in London this week after a possible suicide attempt involving pills, according to the ever-reliable Sun.

DENISE RICHARDS adopted a baby girl domestically.

LINDSAY LOHAN stumbles leaving a social club on her first night out after the end of her house arrest.

JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE takes a minority stake in MySpace after its acquisition by online advertising network Specific Media and will help the company develop its new strategy and creative direction.

TOBEY MAGUIRE categorically denies he participated in illegal celebrity poker games.

PRINCE HARRY is having secret trysts with lingerie and swimwear model Florence Brudenell-Bruce, according to the ever-reliable Sun.

CHRIS HANSEN of To Catch a Predator was caught cheating on his wife by the National Enquirer.

AMERICAN IDOL: Steven Tyler and Randy Jackson re-sign as judges; J-Lo remains on the fence.

THOR 2 is pencilled for Summer 2013, albeit without director Kenneth Branagh.

YEMEN: Islamic militants linked to Al Qaeda gained ground on Wednesday in fierce fighting with security forces just outside the strategic southern port city of Zinjibar.

EGYPT: The Victorious Islamists.

IRAQ: June was the bloodiest month for American forces in two years.  US Military officials in Baghdad and at the Pentagon blamed the mounting death toll on the growing sophistication of weapons that insurgents and Iranian-backed militia groups are using, including powerful rockets, armor-piercing grenades and jam-resistant roadside bombs suspected of coming from Iran.

TWIGGY: For the Fourth of July weekend, why not another look at the water-skiing squirrel? Great story. Compelling and rich.

A POLAR BEAR and his trainer...playing together...Mass hysteria!

MISTER PIP: World's Grumpiest Cat?

A GIANT SQUID was found dead off Port Martin, FL.

A SMALL, PLANT-EATING DINOSAUR that became extinct 65 million years ago was the king of the head butt.

GIVERS defy gravity in the clip for "Up Up Up." For fans of Vampire Weekend.

SONDRE LERCHE plays a session at Morning Becomes Eclectic.

THE CIVIL WARS played a Tiny Desk Concert at the offices of NPR.

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

ALL SONGS CONSIDERED: Tracks from Fountains of Wayne, Wilco, Gillian Welch, Paul McCartney and more feature in the latest installment of the long-running series.

WHISKEYTOWN, Live at the 7th Street Entry, October 30, 1997.

LINDSEY BUCKINGHAM drops the title track to "Seeds We Sow."

THE 12 MOST MEMORABLE McCARTNEY SOLO SONGS, according to PopMatters.

THE 13 BEST SMITHS SONGS, according to PopMatters.

HOODOO GURUS: "Come Anytime" was the first single from Magna ***** Louder, which came out 22 years ago this week. Get. Off. My. Lawn.

BJORK talks to Pitchfork and Stereogum about the upcoming Biolphilia album/app/thingamajig.

MIKE WATT talks to Aquarium Drunkard about the influences on Hyphenated-man -- Hieronymous Bosch and the Minutemen (who were in turn inspired by Wire).

JOHN LENNON: Closet Reagan Republican? Imagine...

CLARENCE CLEMONS: Eulogy by Bruce Springsteen.

DAVID BAZAN talks to Birmingham Weekly about the making of Strange Negotiations. (Thx, LHB.)

KATE BUSH talks to Interview about The Director's cut, American pop, and more...

LINDSAY LOHAN's painfully relaxing stint under house arrest is finally over.

QUENTIN TARANTINO is on the business end of a nasty and perhaps hoaxy viral email.

CHARLIE SHEEN claims he took steroids for his role in Major League.

DAVID DUCHOVNY & TEA LEONI are separated. No shocka there. A long time coming, really.

PIPPA MIDDLETON was spotted with her supposed ex bf at Wimbledon.

TRACY MORGAN has offended the mentally disabled, just weeks after profusely apologizing to the LGBT community.

MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE 4 has a trailer online.

THE HOBBIT has new images online.

OUR FRIENDS, THE SAUDIS detained at least five women accused of defying the men-only driving rule in the ultraconservative Arab kingdom.

IRAN: Britain accused Iran of testing nuclear-capable missiles. the US said Iran is "bragging" about its missile program. Ahmedinejad denounced the arrest of four of his followers in the government.

SYRIA: Security forces killed seven civilians during operations against anti-regime protesters in the villages of Mareyan and Ahsem. Britain accused Iran of supporting Syria's crackdown on anti-regime elements.

LIBYA: France confirmed that it is providing weapons to Libyan rebels fighting Gaddafi.

EGYPT: Security forces wounded more than 1000 protesters at Tahrir Square in Cairo. The protesters demand the prosecution of security officials who killed demonstrators earlier this year.

NANCY the CHIHUAHUA: World's Tiniest Sheepdog. Video at the link.

TURTLES forced a runway closure at NYC's JFK airport.

RABBITS enjoy the ganja, like the dormouse said.

A WATER BUFFALO gored an Australian pensioner to death in the Philippines after the man slammed into the beast while driving home from a nightclub on his motorbike.

SLOAN plays Gary Numan's "Cars" for The A.V. Club Undercover. And nail it, imho.

WILCO: Highlights from the Solid Sound Festival, including new songs and a cover of Split Enz's "I Got You," with Neil Finn.

BLACK JOE LEWIS & THE HONEYBEARS stopped by WFUV for a chat and mini-set.

TUNE-YARDS plays a session at Morning Becomes Eclectic.

MATT POND PA drops "Love to Get Used" from the Spring Fools EP.

THE BEATLES: Off-White (1968 demos from George Harrison's house in Esher).

EVERY MOTHER'S SON: "Come On Down to My Boat," baby.

RICHARD THOMPSON received an OBE from Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace yesterday. (via Jon Hahn.)

FRIENDLY FIRES: Ed Macfarlane talks to BlackBook about the importance of drinking before shows, losing his bassist to another band, and reconciling with New York. (Thx, Chromewaves.)

THE HORRORS take The Quietus on a track-by-track tour of Skying.

PASTE magazine relaunches as a multimedia application.

FEIST was the unlikely subject of a fight between Shia LaBeouf and Michael Bay on the set of Transformers: Dark of the Moon.

TRANSFORMERS: DARK OF THE MOON opens today, scoring 35 percent on the ol' Tomatometer (as if it matters).

SHIA LeBEOUF: Hollywood's Last Bad Boy? The juice in that piece is that he hooked up with Megan Fox, but didn't know if she was with Brian Austin Green at the time.

BLOW-UP: GQ has an oral history of Michael Bay, the most explosive director of all time. And the beat goes on.

TOM HANKS & JULIA ROBERTS showed up at Grauman's Chinese Theatre for the premiere of their new movie Larry Crowne...but it wasn't exactly a mob scene.

MAD MEL UPDATE: Gibson and soon-to-be ex-wife Robyn have settled their divorce case.

HALLE BERRY went to family court, complaining her baby daddy, Gabriel Aubry, violated the custody agreement they struck over their daughter Nahla.

EMMA STONE talks to Vanity Fair about dropping out of High School, adjusting to fame, and her hardest H'wood moment to date.

A STAR IS BORN: Clint Eastwood hopes to team Leo Dicaprio with Beyoncé, who's already set for the musical.

THE DARK KNIGHT RISES: Anne Hathaway's Catwoman costume reportedly will hew closer to the comic than past movies.

YEMEN: Wounded Pres Saleh, not seen in public since an attack on his palace in early June, is well enough to return soon to Yemen and will make a media appearance within the next couple of days. The ancient port city of Aden is now virtually surrounded by roving gangs of Islamist militia fighters - some linked to Al Qaeda - who have captured at least two towns, stormed prisons and looted banks and military depots in the south.

EGYPT: One of the country's richest men has been accused of mocking Islam after tweeting cartoons of Mickey and Minnie Mouse wearing conservative Muslim attire.

AFGHANISTAN: Analysts across the political spectrum say there is no clarity about what troops will be fighting for in the years to come.

DOZER the goldendoodle is running half-marathons now.

TWO DOLPHIN CALVES pass away at the Baltimore Zoo.

SAN FRANCISCO considers banning all pet sales.

AN INFLATABLE SHARK is among a treasure trove of hundreds of new species may have been discovered in the Philippines.

ARCHERS OF LOAF went "Wrong" on Fallon. Eric Bachmann watched the show and told Vulture about his encounter with Madonna back in the day.

NEW RELEASES incuding Marianne Faithfull, YACHT, Handsome Furs, Jolie Holland, Alina Simone, plus the Buddy Holly tribute, a Capitol soul comp, plus releases from Fleet Foxes, The Antlers, Black Lips, Yuck and Smith Westerns and even more are streaming this week at Spinner.

MY MORNING JACKET plays Rock The Garden.

BOOKER T. JONES also plays Rock The Garden.

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

THE TUBES: "She's A Beauty" and "Talk To Ya Later" are your Twofer Tuesday.

IAN MacKAY (Minor Threat) talks about music and other things that matter at Tablet.

BLOOD ORANGE: Dev Hynes (last known as Lightspeed Champion) talks to The Fader about his new project.  Dev's home recordings are also embedded. (Thx, LHB.)

YUCK guitarist Max Bloom talks festival gigs at DIY.

BOB MOULD: Another excerpt from his autobiography, this time at the SF Chronicle.

CHARLIE SHEEN lost another Goddess, and his Two and a Half Men character is being killed off, but he inked a deal for a new sitcom with Lionsgate Television and with a bidding war underway he is set to make more money than ever.

MICHAEL JACKSON's "Thriller" jacket sold for 1.8 million at auction.

PRINCE HARRY denies any sort of fling with Pippa Middleton.

SHIA LeBEOUF gets a Transformers-promoting profile in the L.A. Times.

MADONNA: Back on with her latest boy toy.

ANNE HATHAWAY talks to Harper's Bazaar about her many figurative hats.

GREEN LANTERN may well get a sequel, according to THR.

IRAN unveiled underground missile silos as part of military exercises on Monday.

LEBANON: The United Nations special tribunal investigating the assassination of former prime minister Rafik Hariri will indict five Hezbollah members for the 2005 killing, the Asharq Alawsat newspaper reported on Monday.

LIBYA: The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Gaddafi, his son, and his military intelligence chief for "crimes against humanity."

EGYPT: Opposition groups seek to postpone September elections amid fears that the more unified Muslim Brotherhood and members of the former regime will gain too much influence.

SOMETIMES, the shark jumps you.

THE LOST PENGUIN in New Zealand is more lively and eating fish after undergoing endoscopic surgery Monday to remove some of the beach sand and twigs it swallowed, apparently mistaking it for snow.

COOKIE the COCKATOO turned 78 at the Brookfield Zoo near Chicago, the oldest Major Mitchell cockatoo in any zoo.

NORMA LYON, the "butter cow lady" whose sculptures were a primary Iowa State Fair attraction for decades, died of a stroke early Sunday, relatives said. She was 81. Lyon's apprentice, Sarah Pratt of West Des Moines, became the Fair's fifth butter sculptor in 2006, so food-on-a-stick will presumably taste as sweet.