THE WEEKEND STARTS HERE:

...with THIN LIZZY! Won't be long 'till Summer comes, now that Thin Lizzy is back in rotation. Here's Phil Lynott & Co. live at the Sydney Opera House in 1978, playing "Jailbreak," "Bad Reputation," "Cowboy Song," "The Boys Are Back In Town," "Waiting For An Alibi," and "Are You Ready?"

GLEN HANSARD stopped by Morning Becomes Eclectic for a session.

KELLY HOGAN stopped by WFUV for a chat and mini-set.

RHETT MILLER visited the basement of KUT's Studio 1a to chat and play.

ROCKY VATOLATO visited KEXP to perform an intimate set of songs from his latest album, "Television of Saints."

INDIE JAMS OF THE SUMMER? Seattle Weekly reviews the candidates. (Thx, LHB.)

RAY DAVIES turned 68 yesterday, so we conclude a week of big belated birthday wishes with "You Really Got Me" and "Waterloo Sunset."

DENT MAY talks to the Oxford American about his songwriting process, his complicated relationship with Oxford, and the real reason why he won't be returning to the ukulele any time soon.

PATTI SMITH is profiled by The Telegraph.

THE BEST SONGS of 2012 (So Far), according to NME.

THE TOP 10 FEMALE PUNK BANDS, according to PopMatters.

CUTOUT BIN: From AC/DC to Iron & Wine, from Paper Lace to Warren Zevon, from Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers to the Minuteme, plus Soundhog, Beach Boys, the Undisputed Truth, R.E.M. and more -- this Friday's fortuitous finds are streaming from the Pate page at the ol' HM.

NOW SHOWING: This weekend's wide releases include: Pixar's Brave, currently scoring 70 percent on the ol' Tomatomter; Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, currently scoring 34 percent; and Seeking a Friend for the End of the World, scoring 54 percent.

BRAVE is an entertaining and often engaging movie, but not an entirely successful one.  Pixar's latest offering, like all of its offerings (excepting possibly Cars 2), has the ambition to not only entertain, but also to do so in ways that are both inventive and deeply emotional.  For example, Up has a plot unlike any other movie, yet has a tear-jerking opening sequence unlike any in the field of animation (and few live action films are that emotionally gripping right out of the gate).  As was suggested by the trailer, the Brave tale of Princess Merida moves Disney into an era where its princesses are not always damsels in distress.  The movie certainly succeeds on that level.  However, Brave strives to be not only a tale of girl power, but also an exploration of how daughters relate to their mothers as they become women.  The movie is less successful on this level, for reasons not easy to explain without spoiling the plot.  Suffice it to say that the quirky plot twist in the second act, while fully consistent with a sort of classic fairy tale storytelling, tends to impede fully developing the character of Queen Elinor.  Thus, the mother-daughter relationship develops in a way that meets the inventiveness quotient in a way that detracts from the emotional resonance a bit (for me, anyway; perhaps mothers and daughters will feel differently).  This would be less of a problem if the other characters were better developed, but they mostly play the role of comic relief.  Overall, I enjoyed Brave, and I think most will... but it will likely suffer a bit when measured against the very high exectations Pixar has set since the original Toy Story.

JOHNNY DEPP has been maintaining a bachelor's lifestyle for a while and it's being reported that things ‘seem to be heating up' between Depp and Amber Heard.

LINDSAY LOHAN seems to be, er, having problems on the set of Liz & Dick.

KIM KARDASHIAN and here family were trashed in conversations and text messages from Kris Humphries to his former girlfriend.

KATY PERRY talks fame love and religion with THR.

MONSTERS UNIVERSITY, the Monsters Inc. prequel, has teaser trailers online.

THE TOP 10 USES OF MUSIC in Modern Film, according to PopMatters.

THE TOP 10 EVIL MOVIE CORPORATIONS, according to TIME. It's such a cliche as to be a target-rich environment.

SWEDEN: Sniffer dogs near the reactor of the Ringhals nuclear plant south of Gothenburg found a plastic explosive device attached to the underside of a truck used on the premises.

IRAN: With high-stakes negotiations over Iran's nuclear program at an impasse, the Obama administration is under mounting pressure to rethink a diplomatic exercise that many argue is simply stringing along the rest of the world.

PAKISTAN: A judge ordered the arrest of President Asif Ali Zardari's preferred candidate for prime minister, just a day after he was nominated.

LION CUB plays with a DOG & RABBIT...

SEALS AND A POLAR BEAR escaped from the Lake Superior Zoo, amid floods that killed a donkey, sheep and goats.

GIANT WOMBAT GRAVE discovered in Queensland.

MACARONI PENGUIN CHICKS keep the Tennessee Aquarium busy.

MILLIE the CAT guards a toy warehouse in the UK.

BEST COAST drops a video for "The Only Place."

ALEJANDRO ESCOVEDO stopped by Studio A to talk about his new songs and perform a few of them for a lucky audience of WFUV members.

BONNIE "PRINCE" BILLY visited KEXP to perform an intimate set of reworked classics from his nearly 20 year career.

JD McPHERSON brought their vintage rock to KEXP for a set featuring tracks from the album "Signs & Signifiers."

MOTION CITY SOUNDTRACK stopped by The Current for a chat and mini-set.

PATTI SMITH guest DJs All Songs Considered, including tracks from Maureen Gray, Neil Young and Jimi Hendrix.

BRIAN WILSON turned 70 yesterday, so some belated "Good Vibrations" to him, as well as the backstory of his materpiece.

VAN DYKE PARKS, one of Brian's prized collaborators, is profiled by The Guardian.

SMASHING PUMPKINS: Billy Corgan talks to Rolling Stone about his sometimes contentious relationship with Pumpkins fans, his new wrestling league, the greatness of Led Zeppelin and why his current bandmates are here to stay.

CLAP YOUR HANDS SAY YEAH frontman Alec Ounsworth talks to Weld about touring, technology and more... (Thx, LHB.)

KELLY HOGAN talks to Paste about threee songs from I Like To Keep Myself in Pain.

KIM KARDASHIAN served Kris Humphries' ex-girlfriend, Myla Sinanaj, with a subpoena in the divorce case. Meanwhile, a source claims that Kris has plenty of evidence to show that Kim did cheat on him during their 72-day marriage.

HALLE BERRY has been ordered to shell out nearly a quarter of a million bucks a year in child support.

ALEC BALDWIN ran over a reporter's foot while dodging questions about his punching a photog.

WYNNONA JUDD married Cactus Moser in a sunset wedding June 10.

MOLLY SIMS and her husband Scott Stuber welcomed their son on Tuesday.

NICK & VANESSA LACHEY are expecting a boy.

JIM CARREY bails on a Dumb and Dumber sequel.

TWILIGHT: BREAKING DAWN, PART 2 has a trailer online.

THE UNITED STATES indicated that it plans to maintain a force of 13500 US troops in Kuwait.

FRANCE: A man claiming affiliation with al Qaeda seized four hostages at a Toulouse bank not far from the home of Toulouse shooter Mohammed Merah.

YEMEN: Police officials claimed to have broken up a plot to attack foreign embassies in Sana'a.

IRAN: Two days of talks between Iran and the six powers over Iran's nuclear program produced no agreement. Shocka. The United States and Israel jointly developed a sophisticated computer virus nicknamed Flame that collected intelligence in preparation for cyber-sabotage aimed at slowing Iran's ability to develop a nuclear weapon, according to Western officials with loose lips.

A WHALE spouts a rainbow.

THE SWARM was blessed by the bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of New York.

WHAT YOUR DOG says about your sex life. Woof?

BABY ROBIN cuddles with a CAT... Mass hysteria!

THE POLYPHONIC SPREE plays Neil Young's "Heart of Gold" for the A.V. Club Undercover.

IVAN & ALYOSHA drop The Cabin Sessions EP of demos for free (or a tip).

TRAMPLED BY TURTLES stopped by The Current for a chat and mini-set.

ELECTRIC GUEST stopped by Morning Becomes Eclectic for a session.

NILS LOFGREN stopped by World Cafe for a chat and mini-set I missed the first time around. Includes my favorite Nils tune, "No Mercy."

CAT POWER drops "Ruin" ahead of her upcoming Sun LP.

FIONA APPLE & THE ROOTS played "Anything We Want" and McCartney's "Let Me Roll It" for Fallon.

GLEN HANSARD talks to Rolling Stone (and the NYP) about the Tonys, his solo album, and Springsteen.

BEIRUT: Zach Condon talks to Hot Press about The Rip Tide, shivering ‘naked' before the world and why, under the surface, he feels Irish. (Thx, LHB.)

LLOYD COLE essays David Bowie's Low LP at Salon.

DAVID LOWERY (CVB, Cracker) schools an NPR intern on "Free Culture" at The Trichordist.

ALEC BALDWIN punched a photog after obtaining his marriage licence with Hilaria Thomas.

JOHNNY DEPP & VANESSA PARADIS have "amicably separated" after 14 years and two children. Presumably ,"amicably" is French for "generously."

LINDSAY LOHAN was barred from driving while shooting "Liz and Dick," for insurance reasons. Oops.

KRISTEN STEWART has vaulted to the top of the annual Forbes list of the highest-paid actresses in Hollywood. Number two may be even more surprising.

KATE UPTON is (ahem) profiled in GQ.  And here are 21 Upton GIFs for Gratuitous Wednesday.

BOBBY BROWN and fiancée Alicia Etheredge tied the knot Monday.

NICK STAHL's family and friends are once again searching for the Terminator 3 actor.

ANGELINA JOLIE looks as much like Maleficient as you would guess.

EGYPT: Hosni Mubarak was on life support in hospital on Wednesday, Egyptian military officials said, denying a report that the ousted president was clinically dead. However, Generalissimo Francisco Franco is still dead.

SYRIA: Government forces surrounded and began shelling Sunni districts in the city of Homs.

IRAN and the six powers started a new round of talks over Iran's nuclear program. Ahmadinejad has said he plans to leave politics next year after his second term as president ends.

PAKISTAN: The Supreme Court dismissed Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani on Tuesday, drastically escalating a confrontation between the government and the judiciary and plunging the political system into turmoil.

17 DOGS, 1 SURFBOARD: That's a record.

AN OCTOPUS got the joyride of its life last week when it somehow became stuck on the gential slit of a bottlenose dolphin.

A FARMER herds 5000 ducks throuch a town in China.

A GATOR T-boned a car on Interstate 275.

SCHOOL OF SEVEN BELLS drops a video for "The Night."

NEW RELEASES from Smashing Pumpkins, Glen Hansard, Delta Rae, Beat Connection, and more are streaming this week via Spinner.

A PLACE TO BURY STRANGERS is advance streaming Worship.

GLEN HANSARD plays a Tiny Desk Concert at the offices of NPR.

ADULT SWIM is offering free tracks weekly again this summer.  Plus, the freebies from 2010 and 2011 are still available.

PAUL McCARTNEY turned 70 yesterday, so it's a belated "Brithday" for him, along with a Polyphonic Spree cover of "Live and Let Die" for Twofer Tuesday.  Plus,  how the Guardian and the Observer originally reported his key Days in the Life.

THE BEST of 2010 (So Far), based on aggregated reviews at Acclaimed Music.

GARBAGE: Shirley Manson tlks to Drowned In Sound about feelings of inadequacy, career longevity and more... 

THE SILVER JEWS are essayed at the Jewish Daily Forward. (Thx, LHB.)

INDIE LABELS still depend on major label distribution.

JENNY McCARTHY accidentally sent a naked shot of herself to her son's 80-year-old dentist. The photo was intendwd for her boyfriend, Chicago Bears linebacker Brian Urlacher.

JACK OSBOURNE has been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.

LINDSAY LOHAN partied until 1 a.m. the day after being treated for "exhaustion."

SHIA LeBEOUF does full-frontal nudity in the new Sigur Ros video.

SCARLETT JOHANSSON & BRADLEY COOPER: Giving it another try?

CHARLIE SHEEN plans to retire after Anger Management.

MAD MEL UPDATE: Gibson parties until 4 a.m. at Maria Menounos' home.

GIULIANA & BILL RANCIC are expecting a boy.

BRET MICHAELS reviews Rock of Ages.

WOODY ALLEN spoke to the New York Times about four movies by Italian filmmakers that influenced him most profoundly.

EGYPT: News organizations declared Mohamed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood the winner of the country's first competitive presidential race on Monday just hours after the ruling military council issued an interim constitution granting itself broad power over the future government, all but eliminating the president's authority in an apparent effort to guard against just such a victory. After the last-minute power grab Sunday night, the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) pledged Monday to honor its promise to hand over power to the newly elected president by the end of this month.

SYRIA: The UN suspended its observer mission due to the danger from increasing levels of violence.

IRAN: Time is running out for a diplomatic solution to Western concerns about Iran's nuclear program, Israeli President Shimon Peres said Monday in an interview with CNN.

BABY MEERKATS: Let's go to the video.

RUPERT: The biggest domestic cat ever?

A PYTHON surprises a motel worker.

TURTLES & TORTOISES have terrifying sex organs.

GLEN CAMPBELL drops a video for his final single, "A Better Place," which includes a Josh Homme cameo.

BEACHWOOD SPARKS are advance streaming The Tarnished Gold.

THE BEACH BOYS: Highlights from several recent concerts are streaming via NPR.

RAMONA FALLS stopped by Oregon Public Broadcasting for a chat and mini-set.

PETER BUCK: "10 Million BC" is the first track from the fmr REM axeman's solo LP -- debuted on radio by the Dream Syndicate's Steve Wynn.

CEREMONY covers The Ramones "I Don't Wanna Be Learned/I Don't Wanna Be Tamed."

DAVID BYRNE & ST. VINCENT drop "Who" from their upcoming album, Love This Giant.

POP MUSIC: Are you ever too old for it? Let's talk about it.

RADIOHEAD'S drum tech died in a stage collapse.

THE BEST of 2012 (So Far), according to The Guardian.

THE POGUES get a memoir from accordionist James Fearnley.

THE POLARIS MUSIC PRIZE Long List is out.

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE: Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted tops the chart with another 35 million on a mere 41 percent drop. This will be one of the sleeper hits of the summer, but will face stiff competition from Pixar's Brave next weekend.  Prometheus places again with 20.2 million on a steep 60 percent drop; it will still turn a tidy profit globally... but what might have been, eh?  Rock of Ages debuts at No.3 with 15.1 million, which seems problematic against a 75 million budget.  Snow White and the Huntsman checks into the fourth slot with 13.8 million on a likely relieving 40 percent drop; thereimagining has made 242.2 million worldwide against a reported 170 million production budget (and a larger rumored budget).  The debut of That's My Boy rounds out the Top 5 with 13 million, in which Adam Sandler begins to show he cannot turn out a 20 million opening for every awful project he does.  And against a 70 million budget, too.

LINDSAY LOHAN: Paramedics were called after she was "unresponsive" at the Ritz Carlton Hotel in Marina del Rey -- but she was not hospitalized.

DRAKE is or is not facing arrest in the Chris Brown bar fight.

RYAN REYNOLDS & BLAKE LIVELY are nesting.

JONAH HILL is set to play a role in Quentin Tarantino's Django Unchained.

ALFRED HITCHCOCK: From silent film director to the inventor of modern horror.

ADAM SANDLER: That's My Boy is just the latest in a long string of excruciating comedies. Why is he still a box-office star?

RODNEY KING, whose beating by Los Angeles police in 1991 was caught on camera and sparked riots after the acquittal of the four officers involved, was found dead in his swimming pool Sunday at 47.

PRES. OBAMA publicly acknowledged for the first time on Friday that United States military forces had taken "direct action" against groups affiliated with Al Qaeda in Somalia and Yemen.

SYRIA: Syrian rebels have held meetings with senior US government officials in Washington as pressure mounts on the US to authorize a shipment of heavy weapons, including surface-to-air missiles to combat the Assad regime. Russia's chief arms exporter said Friday that his company was shipping advanced defensive missile systems to Syria that could be used to shoot down airplanes or sink ships if the United States or other nations try to intervene to halt the country's spiral of violence. The US government has enlisted Britain's help in a bid to stop a ship suspected of carrying Russian attack helicopters and missiles.

EGYPT: Turnout over two days of voting that ended on Sunday night will help delineate the legitimacy of the country's first post-uprising president, but the people's mandate may matter little with the military controlling crucial executive and legislative powers.

IRAQ: Thirty-two people were killed in a pair of car bombings that again targeted Shia pilgrims in Baghdad.

BABY RACOONS: On the deck. In the house. Sampling the nuts.

WILDLIFE EXPERTS trying to reunite a pair of giant tortoises who split up after a 115 year romance have shelled out 4,500 GBP - on a life-sized replica 'other woman.' It's not going as planned.

A MOOSE abruptly ends a 100 mph car chase.

IT'S A CROC EAT CROC world out there.