TEGAN & SARA drop a video for "Northshore."

FIRST AID KIT did the four free songs thing for Daytrotter.

FERRABY LIONHEART also did the four free songs thing for Daytrotter.

MAVIS STAPLES plays a Tiny Desk Concert at the offices of NPR.

JERRY GARCIA died 15 years ago this week. Mother Nature Network has videos of better times.

NICK GILDER: "Hot Child In the City." It's been a fishbowl all week.

BECK & NIGEL GODRICH discuss the music of 'Scott Pilgrim vs. the World'.

RUFUS WAINWRIGHT talks to Consequence of Sound about his massive new theatrical tour. (Thx, LHB.)

TOKYO POLICE CLUB sits down with PopMatters to talk about its new album Champ, the movie that forever traumatized its drummer, and relishing the lost of art of a simple conversation with a stranger. 

BEATLE BOB attends his 500th consecutive show.

CHARLIE SHEEN, sentenced to rehab, was totally sober at the Playboy Mansion, says... Ron Jeremy.

MAD MEL UPDATE: Sources connected with Oksana Grigorieva say Gibson is going to great lengths to avoid sitting for his deposition.

LINDSAY LOHAN: Judge Marsha Revel has removed herself from the Lindsay Lohan case after allegations the judge improperly contacted people involved in the case.

FANTASIA BARRINO: The "American Idol" winner was hospitalized Monday night for a medication overdose. Last week , as wife filed a complaint saying that her husband is having an affair with the singer.

JENNIFER LOPEZ won't be a judge on American Idol after all, according to a source close to the situation.

ALANIS MORISSETTE is pregnant.

BRITNEY SPEARS will appear on Glee, according to Ryan Seacrest.

LAURENCE FISHBURNE's daughter has been offered a multi-picture deal... as an adult actress, after her debut DVD quickly sold out.

JESSICA ALBA smiles her way out of a traffic ticket.

LEO DiCAPRIO's rare first-dollar deal will make Inception his biggest paycheck to date.

IRAN: Brazil agreed to abide by UN sanctions on Iran. Toyota stopped shipments to Iran. The foreign minister said US claims of Iranian interference in Iraq are "baseless."

AFGHANISTAN: Pres. Karzai will set a deadline for disbanding all private security firms, his office said on Tuesday, with the government working on a plan to avoid a security vacuum in their absence.

IRAQ: US and Iraqi Interests May Work Against Pullout. Shocka.

MARU the CAT returns, this time in awesome super slo-motion.

GORILLA steals a Nintendo DS at the San Francisco Zoo. It's on like Donkey Kong.

A DOG that ate a beehive is among three finalists for a national award recognizing the most unusual pet health insurance claim.

A RARE WHITE ELEPHANT was transported from the jungles in northwest Burma to Yangon, the country's capital, where it was celebrated by the ruling junta with a lavish ceremony.

THE SWELL SEASON plays Neutral Milk Hotel's "Two-Headed Boy" for The A.V. Club Undercover.

AMOS LEE does a free, six-song mini-set for Daytrotter.

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

MASSIVE ATTACK stopped by Morning Becomes Eclectic for a (rare) session.

NO AGE drops "Glitter" and "Inflorescence" as advance tracks.

999: "Homicide." You better believe it.

ARCADE FIRE -- and what their success says about the industry -- is essayed by Sasha Frere-Jones.

WEEZER: Rivers Cuomo talks to the L.A. Times about the upcoming Hurley LP.

GREIL MARCUS talks to 3 Quarks Daily about Van Morrison, the subject of his latest book.

VAN HALEN is working on a new album with David Lee Roth, after a quarter-century or so,

MAD MEL UPDATE: Detectives will present their evidence in the Mel Gibson domestic violence investigation to L.A. County prosecutors in two weeks.

LINDSAY LOHAN was hardly treated like a typical inmate. Shocka!

CHARLIE SHEEN celebrated his sweet plea deal at the Playboy Mansion. I think the rehab is really going to stick this time.

HAYDEN CHRISTENSEN & RACHEL BILSON have officially ended their engagement. Did someone show her the Star Wars prequels?

JOHNATHON SCHAECH & JANA KRAMER have split after only a little more than a month of marriage.

KELSEY GRAMMER is "deeply in love" with a young blonde just weeks after his divorce was filed.

LEO DiCAPRIO talks about the break-up of Kate Winslet's marriage.

RESSE WITHERSPOON looks to be singing onscreen again.

IRAN plans on opening the Bushehr nuclear plant in September. A former commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said graves are being dug for US servicemen in anticipation of an American attack.

AFGHANISTAN: The United Nations said the Taliban is responsible for 76 per cent of all civilian casualties.

CAT adopts BUNNY... Mass hysteria!

THE BIRDS: Postal workers in Moose Jaw, Sask., are taking cover after hawks have started to dive-bomb them.

THE SWARM: A tree trimmer stung about 500 times by Africanized killer bees on Saturday described the attack.

MOTHER DUCK, er, delays commuter trains for hours.

SONNY & THE SUNSETS "Don't Act Dumb" in an acoustic version, separate from their official set at PitchFest.

NEW RELEASES:  The Scott Pilgrim sndtrk, the Budos Band, Stornoway and more are streaming this week via Spinner.

RAY LaMONTAGNE is advance streaming God Willin' and the Creek Don't Rise.

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

LOLLAPALOOZA: Rolling Stone has a variety of video from the big fest.

SOUNDGARDEN leaks "Black Rain," an outtake from Badmotorfinger.

WEEZER drops "Memories" as an advance track.

THE CHESTERFIELD KINGS cover the Moving Sidewalks' "99th Floor" (introed by Martha Quinn) and psych up even more on "Sunrise (Turn On)" for Twofer Tuesday.

ARIEL PINK: How he got his groove back.

CROCODILES: Chuck Rowell talks to The Quietus about lazy comparisons, San Diego and the Dum Dum Girls.

JOSH RITTER's Secrets of Success.

THE BEST of 2010 (so far), according to ARTISTdirect.

CHARLIE SHEEN claims the infamous Christmas Day incident with his wife Brooke Mueller all started after she learned that Charlie and one of his daughters shared "an affinity" for a song by the band Train.

MIA FARROW challenges Naomi Campbell's testimony at the war crimes trial of the former Liberian leader Charles Taylor.

ROD STEWART is going to be a dad again.

PATRICIA NEAL, the molasses-voiced actress who won an Academy Award and a Tony but whose life alternated surreally between triumph and tragedy, died at home at 84.

JESSICA SIMPSON describes her "therapy."

BILL MURRAY and his eccentricities are profiled at TIME.

GREEN LANTERN: A sequel is already in the works.

THE 11 CRAZIEST SCI-FI CROSSOVERS in TV History.

IRAN: The chief of Iran's judiciary criticized President Ahmadinejad for statements made concerning the restriction of the press. A senior Sunni cleric escaped an assassination attempt carried out by Jundallah.

AFGHANISTAN: Taliban insurgents publicly executed an Afghan woman for alleged adultery, a police official said Monday, in a reminder to the era when the militant group ruled the country.

BABY PYGMY HIPPO: Let's go to the video.

WORM-CHARMING FESTIVAL: FAIL.

HEY, IS THAT A LOBSTER IN YOUR PANTS, or are you... oh.

KOOKABURRA & TINY DUCKLING, living together... Mass hysteria!

DEAD CONFEDERATE is "Giving It All Away" in the first video from their Sugar LP.

THE PHARMACY has your prescription -- and it's five free songs at Daytrotter.

PETER FRAMPTON played the World Cafe, you can stream the set on demand, if you feel like I do.

SOUL SIDES: Oliver Wang cooks up a Gospel/Funk Mixtape for Aquarium Drunkard.

BJORK is featured as one of NPR's 50 Great Voices.

CREAM whipped up "Strange Brew" for Beat Club in 1967.

DEAN WAREHAM talks to The A.V. Club about not getting his old band back together, the difficult of writing 12 good songs, and discovering an unreleased Velvet Underground song to score Reed's screen test.

JIMI HENDRIX: As the 40th anniversary of the great guitarist's death approaches, The Observer speaks to some of the people who knew him best and unearths a funny, if driven, superstar.

PHOENIX: Laurent 'Branco' Brancowitz does a phoner from paris with Rock Candy.

MAVIS STAPLES talks to Spinner about political songs, her new album and Lollapalooza.

THE BEACH BOYS, contra prior reports, are not suing Katy Perry over "California Gurls."

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE: The Other Guys land in the No. 1 spot with 35.6 million, in line with expectations and a relief for stars Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg (whose recent outings have been less than stellar). Inception drops a notch, but takes in another 18.6 million after crossing to 200 million mark earlier in the week (and almost 400 million worldwide).  Step Up 3-D debuted in third with 15.5 million, which is below expectations, but strong enough; the series has done well overseas, so they will make a hefty profit fairly easily.  Salt drops over 43 percent to the fourth slot with 11.1 million; this has been a lackluster outing for Jolie, but the overseas and DVD money will put it in the black.  Dinner for Schmucks rounds out the Top Five which plunged a steep 55 percent, but still brought in 10.5 million (blame The Other Guys).  Below the fold, Despicable Me is still leggy and highly profitable, even before getting rolling overseas.  Toy Story 3, in ninth palce, will cross the 400 million mark this week.

MAD MEL UPDATE: A five-hour deposition of Oksana Grigorieva focused on money - specifically where it's coming from.

LINDSAY LOHAN has a very strict guest list at UCLA rehab - in fact, the only people allowed to visit her while she's inside the facility are blood relatives.

TOM CRUISE sees his upfront salary slashed for Mission Impossible 4.

TIGER WOODS: Mistress No.1 Rachel Uchitel has checked out of Celebrity Rehab and into Non-celebrity rehab.

AMY POEHLER & WILL ARNETT welcome their second son.

EMMA THOMPSON is taking a work break to deal with mild depression.

ROSIE O'DONNELL is returning to daytime TV with a show on Oprah Winfrey's startup network.

SEAN PENN is "very suspicious" of Wyclef Jean's bid to become president of Haiti.

IRAN "remained the most active state sponsor of terrorism" in 2009, according tot the US State Dept.

AFGHANISTAN: Obama administration officials fear that a move by Afghan Pres. Karzai to assert control over US-backed corruption investigations might provoke the biggest crisis in US-Afghan relations since last year's fraud-riddled election and could further threaten congressional approval of billions of dollars in pending aid.

IRAQ: Al Qaeda in Iraq is offering money to Sunni tribesmen in an attempt to regrow their ranks. Awakening leaders say al Qaeda is trying to take advantage in Iraq's political deadlock and delays in payments for Awakening fighters. Pres. Obama has sent a letter to Iraq's top Shiite Muslim cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, urging him to prevail upon Iraq's squabbling politicians to finally form a new government, according to an individual briefed by relatives of the reclusive religious leader.

A DEER steals a man's wife.

RADIOACTIVE BOAR on the rise in Germany.

PIRANHA SMUGGLER on the lam.

SEA SPONGES share almost 70 percent of human genes.

THE WEEKEND STARTS HERE:

...with JOHN HUGHES! The sportos, motorheads, geeks, sluts, buds, wasteoids, dweebies and dickheads, they all adore him. They think he's a righteous dude. The writer/director behind "Sixteen Candles," "The Breakfast Club," "Pretty in Pink," "Ferris Bueller's Day Off," "Weird Science," National Lamppon's "Vacation" movies, "Home Alone," "Planes, Trains & Automobiles" and many more died at the age of 59, a year ago today.  Hughes masterfully married music to movies, so I pay video tribute to him today, starting (of course) with "Don't You Forget About Me" by Simple Minds from The Breakfast Club (the drumming o­n this song is impeccable), and Karla DeVito's "We Are Not Alone," along with the Ramones playing "Blitzkrieg Bop" (from National Lampoon's Vacation), David Bowie's "Young Americans" and The Vapors o­ne-hit wonder, "Turning Japanese" and Billy Idol's "Rebel Yell" (all from Sixteen Candles, which opens to a clip of veteran WLS DJs Larry Lujack and Tommy Edwards), Van Halen's cover of "(Oh) Pretty Woman" and General Public's "Tenderness" (both from Weird Science), the Psychedelic Furs re-recorded title track from Pretty In Pink, which also featured Jon Cryer lip-synching to Otis Redding's "Try A Little Tenderness" (that last clip is a blistering live take from the 1967 Stax tour -- and excellent, btw), The Smiths' "Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want" (a Hughes perennial), and OMD's "If You Leave," plus two more from Ferris Bueller's Day Off, "Twist and Shout" (which was shot o­n Dearborn and Randolph Streets in Chicago, with International Polka Queen Vlasta atop the float), and Yello's unforgettable-no-matter-how-you-try "Oh, Yeah." Videos are scarce for Some Kind of Wonderful, but I found Flesh for Lulu's "I Go Crazy" and the March Violets' take on the Stones' "Miss Amanda Jones."  Rest In Peace, John Hughes... and thank you.

DALE EARNHARDT JR, JR did the four free songs thing for Daytrotter, including a cover of "God Only Knows."

BECK & DEVENDRA BANHART drop "Life During Wartime," which is not a Talking Heads cover.

UNCLE TUPELO: The Long Cut + Five Live promo disc, courtesy of Captain's Dead.

FRAZEY FORD (of the Be Good Tanyas) gets a twofer from World Cafe: Next. 

THE BEST NEW BANDS of 2010, according to the Guardian. (with streaming audio)

TOP TV THEMES, according to a Stuff (NZ) columnist, with video links.

SLY & THE FAMILY STONE rip through a medley of "Everyday People" and "Dance to the Music," plus "Hot Fun in the Summertime," "Don't Call Me N*gger, Whitey," and "I Want to Take You Higher" on network TV, circa 1969.

EELS: Mark Oliver Everett talks to Drowned in Sound about being mistaken for a terrorist, the upcoming LP and more...

PATTERSON HOOD: The Drive-By Trucker keeps a tour diary at Flagpole. (Thx, LHB.)

THE ODDEST MUSICAL PAIRINGS: A discussion launched at All Songs Considered.

THE BEACH BOYS are suing Katy Perry over her hit, "California Gurls."

SUMMER SONGS: Time lists its 10 best and 10 worst.

CUTOUT BIN: From Fleetwood Mac to the Dead Kennedys, from Devo to Sly & the Family Stone, from Hayseed Dixe to the Buzzcocks, plus Big Star, She & Him, Yo La Tengo, Fountains of Wayne 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 Other Guys, which is currently scoring 79 percent on the ol' Tomatometer; and Step Up 3-D, which is scoring 48 percent.

MAD MEL UPDATE: Gibson underwent hypnosis just two weeks ago to help him deal with the stress of the scandal that has erupted around his breakup with Oksana Grigorieva, according to RadarOnline.  Also, Grigorieva wanted Gibson to undergo psychological testing and treatment, and that demand was a key reason why her arbitration agreement with Gibson blew up.

LINDSAY LOHAN: How Taiwanese news covered her ordeal. Priceless.

LILY ALLEN is knocked up.

SEAN PENN & ROBIN WRIGHT finalized their divorce.

TARA REID reportedly falls off the wagon.

JULIA ROBERTS talks to Elle about family, acting, botox, etc.

SIEGFRIED & ROY: The latter has been accused of sexually assaulting his male assistants...and the attacks have been captured on film, according to the ever-reliable Enquirer.

THE FIRST ATOMIC BOMB WAS DROPPED ON HIROSHIMA 65 years ago today. 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.

TERROR in the USA: A number of people in Minnesota, California and Alabama are being charged with providing support for the terrorist group al-Shabab in Somalia.

IRAN claimed to have purchased four S-300 surface-to-air missile systems: two from Belarus and two from an unspecified nation. Belarus rejected the report. China dismissed US concerns that it would not fully comply with sanctions.  But letters provided to the AP show Tehran intends to stiff the world over its nuke program.  Shocka.

IRAQ: One courageous US Iraqi is leading efforts to restore unique wetlands of southern Iraq drained by Saddam Hussein as punishment to the locals. Saddam Hussein's most loyal deputy, Tariq Aziz, calls for the US to stay.

DO BIG CATS LIKE CATNIP? Let's go to the video.

DON'T TAZE THE BEARS until it's proven to work.

DOG PARK SHOOTING investigation reopened, by public demand.

AFRICAN ELEPHANTS, shot from below (with cameras).

SAVE THE SNOT OTTER: Researchers are helping develop conservation techniques to sample and freeze the sperm from some these endangered salamanders.