THE WEEKEND STARTS HERE:

...with STEVIE WONDER! His session at the Beat Club includes "Intro Jam," "Contusion," "Higher Ground," "Dont You Worry ‘Bout A Thing," "I Can See The Sun In Late December," "He's Misstra Know-It-All," "Living For The City" and "Superstition."

THE FLAMING LIPS & HEADY FWENDS is advance streaming via The Guardian.

FITZ & THE TANTRUMS get the party started at Capitol Hill Block Party 2012 via KEXP.

CRYSTAL STILTS also brought their neo-psychadelic, garage pop band to Capitol Hill Block Party 2012 via KEXP.

NEWPORT FOLK FEST PREVIEW, courtesy of All Songs Considered.

CHELSEA LIGHT MORNING, Thurston Moore's latest band, drops a new track called "Frank O'Hara Hit."

CEREMONY played the Violent Femmes' "Kiss Off" for The A.V. Club Undercover. That will go on their permanent record.

JENS LEKMAN talks to Drowned In Sound about his personal journey, yard shows, the new album, and more.

JAPANDROIDS drummer David Prowse talks to The A.V. Club abouthis musical firsts.

PASSION PIT: Michael Angelakos tells Morning Edition the new LP documents his recent struggle with what he calls self-medicating.

BETH ORTON names current pop culture faves for The Independent.

60 SUN-KISSED SUMMER SONGS, compiled by NME.

CUTOUT BIN: From Little Richard to Talking Heads, from the Cramps to Kenny Rogers, from War to the Posies, plus Flaming Lips, Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, Spoon, the Rolling Stones 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 Watch, which is currently scoring 14 percent on the ol' Tomatometer; and Step Up Revolution, scoring 26 percent.

KRISTEN STEWART is writing an apology letter asking for forgiveness from the wife of the director she cheated on Robert Pattinson with, according to RadarOnline. Pattinson is reportedly heartbroken and humiliated by the news of Stewart's cheating and has left the home they shared.

THE JACKSONS: Katherine Jackson has been temporarily stripped of her guardianship over Michael Jackson's 3 kids, and an L.A. judge just appointed Tito Jackson's son TJ to become the temporary guardian. Jackson's mother is "devastated" his children have been "taken away" from her while she was vacationing in Arizona and she planned to return to Los Angeles to be reunited with them.

LINDSAY LOHAN got in another fender-bender, lightly rear-ending a Mustang with her Porsche.

KOURTNEY KARDASHIAN's baby daddy Scott Disick is quite a catch, according to the ever-reliable Star magazine.

RUSSELL BRAND will be charged with a crime for throwing a paparazzi's iPhone through a glass window in New Orleans back in March.

CLOUD ATLAS: The latest from the Wachowskis has a six-minute trailer online.

THE TOP 25 MOVIE VILLAINS, according to Paste.

DREAMWORKS buys Classic Media, whose properties include Archie, Casper the Friendly Ghost, The Lone Ranger, Lassie, Speed Racer, Rocky & Bullwinkle, Gumby, Underdog, Fat Albert, Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, Godzilla, He-Man, Dick Tracy, Frosty the Snowman, and Mr. Peabody & Sherman. DreamWorks' animated Mr. Peabody & Sherman is already scheduled for Christmas Day 2013.

THE 100 MOST VALUABLE MOVIE STARS, ranked by Vulture, with help from my online acquaintance, Harry Enten.

AL QAEDA IN IRAQ threatens attacks in the United States.

AFGHANISTAN: The Afghan Ministry of Interior confirmed reports from US commanders that the Taliban is weaker in southern Afghanistan, pointing out that the Taliban rarely face Afghan security forces in the battlefield. The International Committee of the Red Cross warned in a new report that insecurity had greatly increased across more provinces of Afghanistan.

KITTEN vs KITTEN: Who you got?

LANCELOT ENCORE: A cloned dog fathers eight pups.

BEARS trash a family's home in Bearsville, NY. Porridge everywhere.

THE WELL OF SOULS: Thirty six venomous snakes seized from a west Omaha home last week at being held for the Nebraska Humane Society at Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium.

OLYMPIC GUINEA PIGS go for the photoshopped gold.

GASLIGHT ANTHEM covers "The House of the Rising Sun."

GRACE POTTER talks to World Cafe; she and The Nocturnals play World Cafe Live.

JC BROOKS & THE UPTOWN SOUND played the Rockwood Music Hall; you can stream the whole gig on demand via WFUV.

CITIZEN COPE played a full set at Electric Lady Studios for WFUV.

VAN HUNT and his band stopped by Sound Opinions to perform songs from their latest album, What Were You Hoping For?

MOUNTAIN GOATS drop "Cry For Judas" ahead of Transcendental Youth.

DEE-LITE finds that "Groove Is In the Heart," with a little help from Bootsy Collins and Q-Tip.

BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN revealed he's been seeing a shrink since 1982, when depression made him suicidal while he was on the cusp of superstardom.

THE SMITHS: The Quietus excerpts the chapter of The Severed Alliance detailing the band's last few weeks.

KATHRYN CALDER talks to Straight about moving on to Vancouver Island.

JIMMY CLIFF talks to the Telegraph about "Many Rivers to Cross" and his latest recordings.

THE VELVET UNDERGROUND & NICO is set to be re-released as a six-disc package on October 1.

KRISTEN STEWART issued a public apology for hurting her boyfriend of three years, Robert Pattinson, by having a fling with her Snow White and the Huntsman director, Rupert Sanders.

CARLY RAE JEPSON has told police she's the latest victim of a hacker who stole XXX photos of the "Call Me Maybe" singer.

DEMI MOORE has been secretly dating New Zealand-born actor Martin Henderson, 12 years her junior, according to the ever-reliable Life & Style.

THE JACKSONS: It was all out war at Katherine Jackson's house in Calabasas Monday ... complete with slapping and punching.

SHARON OSBOURNE is quitting America's Got Talent.

CHAD EVERETT, best known as the star of the 70s TV drama Medical Center, died Tuesday at his home in Los Angeles after a year-and-a-half-long battle with lung cancer. He was 75.

THE HOBBIT may expand to a trilogy.

ROBOPOCALYPSE: Chris Hemsworth will be working with Steven Spielberg?

YEMEN: An al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula bomb maker and two of his sons were killed in a premature detonation at their home. Oops.

SYRIA: Al Qaeda and other Islamic extremists are doing their best to hijack the Syrian revolution, with a growing although still limited success that has American intelligence officials publicly concerned, and Iraqi officials next door openly alarmed.

IRAQ: Al Qaeda in Iraq's political front, the Islamic State of Iraq, claimed credit for the July 23 bombings and attacks that killed more than 100 people.

BULLDOG PUPS and a baby. Awww.

PEPPER THE PYTHON reappears in the trailer park where she went missing.

CHEETAH CUBS debut at the National Zoo.

MONKEY-WHISPERING: It's a growth business.

THE RAVEONETTES' video for "She Owns the Streets" is pretty on the nose.

BEACH HOUSE shared songs from Bloom at WFUV's Studio A.

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

MY BEST FIEND bring their atmospheric psych-rock to the KEXP studio.

FIELD REPORT gets featured with a download twofer from World Cafe: Next.

LEMON PIPERS: "Green Tambourine." Actually heard this on the street the other day.

SOUL ASYLUM: Dan Murphy and Dave Pirner talk to the Mpls Star-Tribune about old haunts and new challenges as they drop their first disc in six years.

BLOC PARTY: Kele Okereke talks to Rolling Stone about readying the band's lo-fi album, Four, due in August.

ANDREW BIRD talks to Rolling Stone about hip-hop and his barn.

R.E.M., ranked by Stereogum.

KRISTEN STEWART reportedly had a fling with the married director of Snow White and the Huntsman.  That might explain why Robert Pattinson denies rumors he will be marrying Stewart soon.

MICHAEL JACKSON: Tito Joe Jackson, aka TJ, the 34-year-old son of Michael Jackson's brother Tito, is having his lawyer draft legal docs in a bid to become temporary guardian of MJ's 3 kids.  However, Tito is having none of it.

CHRISTIAN BALE was in Aurora, CO, Tuesday visiting victims of Friday's movie theater shooting. 

MIRANDA KERR denies rumors she and Orlando Bloom could be headed for divorce.

KATIE HOLMES got flustered in an interview the day before her plan to divorce Tom Cruise went public.

MODERN FAMILY cast members Ty Burrell, Julie Bowen, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Eric Stonestreet and Sofia Vergara have filed suit today in Los Angeles Superior Court to void their contracts.

SHERMAN HEMSLEY, best known as George Jefferson on "All in the Family" and "The Jeffersons," is movin' on up to that deluxe apartment in the sky. He was 74.

MARIAH CAREY will reportedly earn about 18 million to judge American Idol, even higher than initial reports.

SAUDI ARABIA: The government freed five women who are linked to al Qaeda leaders and operatives. Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula has demanded their release in exchange for a diplomat who was captured in Yemen; the Saudi government denied that the women's release is related.

IRAN: Alarmed by signs that Assad could well lose power, Iran is scrambling to retain influence in Syria, its staunchest Arab ally through three often turbulent decades. Also, Iran seems to have been hit again by a bizarre computer attack forcing nuclear plant workstations to pump the song Thunderstruck by heavy metal band AC/DC through the speakers at full volume.

SYRIA: Does the Syrian arsenal include a hoard of Iraqi weapons of mass destruction secretly smuggled out by Saddam Hussein in the days before the 2003 US-led invasion of his country?

JINX: Not quite down with the whole dog show.

JELLYRAT: US scientists have used rat cells and silicone to create an artificial jellyfish that swims and pulses just like the real thing.

A DOG births a CAT(?)...

MUTANT FOXES may be on the loose in the English countryside.

GUIDED BY VOICES "Keep It In Motion," which tends to be an understatement.

NEW RELEASES from Passion Pit, Alberta Cross, Fang Island, The Blakes, Shawn Lee and more are streaming this week at Spinner.

HOT CHIP played Celebrate Brooklyn; you can stream the whole gig on demand.

THE FAMILY BAND gets twofered on World Cafe Next.

QUESTION MARK & THE MYSTERIANS: "96 Tears" and " Girl (You Captivate Me)" for Twofer Tuesday.

BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN a long, meaty profile of the Boss runs at The New Yorker.

ANTONY HEGARTY struggles against an interview with The Independent.

PURITY RING talks to the New York Times about Edmonton, Soulja Boy, and more...

MINKA KELLY is the latest actress to star in a sex tape that is now being peddled to the highest bidder, but it's possible she was a minor when it was shot.

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE: As estimated, The Dark Knight Rises tops the chart with 160.9 million -- the biggest 2-D opening ever, but less than anticipated before the Aurora, CO theater shooting.The impact of the shooting on the film may never be known, nor cared about, with the possible exception of Warner Bros. accountants. Ice Age: Continental Drift places with 20.4 million on a steep 56 percent drop, perhaps suggesting a wider effect of the shooting.  The Amazing Spider-Man shows with 10.9 million, but that's a 68.5 percent collapse in the face of TDKR.  Ted takes the fourth slot with 10 million on a 55 percent drop and a projected 220 million total by the time it leaves theaters.  Brave rounds out the Top5 with six million on a comparatively decent 46 percent drop.

TOM CRUISE intends to be spending a lot more time in New York to be near daughter Suri, and he's shopping for a bachelor pad for himself.

CYBILL SHEPHERD got engaged to a psychologist.

MARIAH CAREY is confirmed as a new American Idol judge.

ORLANDO BLOOM & MIRANDA KERR have been spotted without their wedding rings, sparking rumors their marriage is in trouble.

MAN OF STEEL has a teaser trailer online.

YEMEN: Several Iranian diplomats were reportedly deported for spying and providing support to al Qaeda.

IRAN added a new batch of enriched uranium to a research reactor in Tehran.

SYRIA acknowledged for the first time on Monday that it had chemical and biological weapons, saying they could be used if the country faced foreign intervention.

AFGHAN military experts said that it was a lack of proper intelligence on the Taliban that allowed the insurgent militants to infiltrate the Afghan National Security Forces.

AN OTTER juggles a rock.

A 21-LB LOBSTER will be released back into the waters of Cape Cod.

THE SQUIRREL THREAT: Putting them on motorcycles will prove disastrous to manking in the long run.

A BABY SLOTH bonds with a two-year-old girl's teddy bear.

BEACHWOOD SPARKS don't "Forget the Song," fortunately.

MICACHU & THE SHAPES advance stream Never. Mica Levi is interviewed by The Guardian.

THENEWNO2, ft. Dhani Harrison, is advance streaming thefearofmissingout.

OUT OF MANY: 50 Years of Reggae Music.

NEWPORT: Folk Alley is streaming a mix of artists playing the Newport Folk Festival July 27-29, including tracks from Alabama Shakes, Billy Bragg & Wilco, Charles Bradley, Dawes, First Aid Kit, Iron & Wine, Jackson Browne, My Morning Jacket, Of Monsters And Men, Sharon Van Etten, Tallest Man On Earth, tUnE-yArDs and more...

TWO DOOR CINEMA CLUB drops "Sleep Alone" ahead of Beacon.

DIAMOND KNIGHTS: "Destination Diamonds".  For the 70s vibe in the heat of late July.

DIRTY PROJECTORS: Amber Coffman talks to Straight about the gestation of Swing Lo Magellan, for which 70+ songs were written.

CURTIS MAYFIELD gets a great 70th birthday tribute from The New York Times.

RHETT MILLER talks to NoiseTrade about his approach to full band and solo work, his first experience in the producer's chair and his creative efforts outside of songwriting. (Thx, LHB.)

IS PUBLIC ENEMY "RUBBISH"? Should a NPR intern's youthful individuality should be applauded?

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE: In the wake of the theater shooting in Aurora, CO, Warner Bros., other studios and Rentrak decided to delay reporting weekend box office numbers. Nikke Finke has some rough estimates and news of how studios and networks are addressing the evil act.

FRED WILLARD says his lewd conduct arrest at an adult movie theater was a "big misunderstanding" and says flat out, "It didn't happen." PBS said that Mr. Willard had lost his job as the wisecracking narrator of its new show "Market Warriors."  The L.A. City Attorney is willing to drop any prosecution if Fred enrolls in a 2-week course on obeying laws relating to the alleged offense.

MILA KUNIS & ASHTON KUTCHER, caught canoodling on camera at a party in L.A.

TOM CRUISE reportedly has issues with Paul Thomas Anderson's "The Master" - rumored to be based on the origins of Scientology.

KATIE HOLMES is bouncing back from her failed marriage to Tom Cruise by returning to Broadway in Dead Accounts.

MARIAH CAREY is finalizing a deal to join American Idol as a new judge, for a whopping 17 million.

TARA REID has been hospitalized in Nice, France for acute pancreatitis.

NICK STAHL: Back home, back in rehab.

THE UNITED STATES: Rezwan Ferdaus, a physics graduate student and al Qaeda supporter, pled guilty to plotting to fly explosives-laden model airplanes into the White House and the Pentagon, and was sentenced to 17 years in prison.

THE UNITED KINGDOM: Shasta Khan, a thrice-married hairdresser, was jailed for eight years for her role in planning terror attacks on Jewish targets in Manchester.

SWEDEN: A Scottish jury found Glasgow resident Nasserdine Menni guilty of financing the December 2010 Stockholm suicide bombing.

SYRIA: Government forces staged counterattacks against rebel-held districts of Damascus. Heavy fighting broke out in Aleppo. Rebel forces seized a second of three border crossings between Iraq and Syria. Refugees flooded into Lebanon. The UN Security Council extended its monitor mission for 30 days.

AFGHANISTAN: Taliban militants lashed two men in public on Saturday, witnesses and officials said, just weeks after a video surfaced of a woman being executed for adultery before a crowd of cheering men.

A BARKING BIRD makes a good watchdog.

A GOPHER lives under a rocket pad in Kazakhstan. Varmint.

...AND THERE WERE SARDINES all over the road.

EULAGISCA, the giant Antarctic scaleworm... now in the one-gallon jug.