REMARKABLY LITTLE in the way of what passes for "news" here. There's this:

BRAD PITT is not dating Sienna Miller or Elle Macpherson, contrary to recent reports.

OTHERWISE, I'll see you tomorrow.

BEACH FOSSILS skateboard (presumably on their own branded decks) in the video for "Sugar."

JASON ISBELL plays three songs on CBS This Morning.  BONUS: Isbell also covered "Whipping Post" with Gregg Allman Band's Scott Sharrard in NYC.

THE BLIND BOYS OF ALABAMA share four tracks from their upcoming LP.

JADE JACKSON stopped by World Cafe for a chat and mini-set.

GRIZZLY BEAR shares "Four Cypresses."

THE RAMONES: "California Sun."

THE SHAGGS play their first show in 18 years.

THE NATIONAL talks about their new LP, lyrics, politics and more.

THE BEATLES' "All You Need Is Love" turned 50 over the weekend.

ALISON MOYET talks to The Guardian about crying when John Noakes died, her childhood dreams of being a policewoman and why she loves television soaps.

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE: Transformers: The Last Knight tops the chart with 45.3MM (and 69MM since Wed.) against a 217MM budget; it's the lowest debut of the franchise. But it made almost 200MM overseas, 123MM in China alone, and thus will likely profit based mostly on foreign receipts, much like the prior installment of this series.  Cars 3 placed with 25.2MM on a 53 percent drop itprobably couldn't afford, esp. as this franchise is not one of Pixar's strongest overseas.  Wonder Woman shows with 25.2MM (it's a tie for second given it's estimates) on a leggy 39 percent drop, crossing the300MM mark domestically and the same again in foreign markets. 47 Meters Down takes the fourth slot with 7.4MM and a 24.3MM total so far against a reported 5MM budget.  All Eyez on Me rounds out the Top Five with 5.9 million on a staggering 78 percent drop that suggests all of Tupac's fans went the first weekend.  Below the fold, The Mummy skidded another 60 percent. Ouch.

JOHNNY DEPP apologized for joking about assassinating Donald Trump.

CHARLIES SHEEN is reportedly being sued (again) for exposing a woman to HIV.

PITCH PERFECT 3 shares a trailer online.

SIGOURNEY WEAVER stars in Rakka, an experimental short sci-fi film.

SOPHIA COPPOLA talks to the Wall Street Journal about making The Beguiled.

A BUNNY, A DOGGO, and a RAT, living together...mass hysteria

THE WORLD'S UGLIEST DOG isn't very ugly this year.

A GOOSE was rescued from a skimpy red thong.

AN AGGRESSIVE BEAVER attacked two swimmers on the Rhine.

THE WEEKEND STARTS HERE:

... with POWER POP (REDUX)! For whatever reason, I have considered Summer the ideal season for gems like Badfinger's "No Matter What" (which Pate covered on occasion) and "Baby Blue", and even Todd Rundgren's "I Saw the Light" and Cheap Trick's "I Want You to Want Me."  Ditto for more obscure tracks like The Rubinoos "I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend" (see also their vintage cover of "Please Please Me"), Off Broadway's "Stay In Time" and "Full Moon Turn My Head Around," and Pezband's "Baby It's Cold Outside" and "Close Your Eyes."

BEACH HOUSE advance streams B-Sides And Rarities.

JAMES ELKINGTON advance streams Wintres Woma.

JIM LAUDERDALE advance streams London Southern.

GUIDED BY VOICES shares "Just To Show You."

PRINCE: An oral history of the Purple Rain tour.

THE TROGGS: The first Punk band?

THE DRUMS: PopMatters profiles surviving member Jonny Pierce.

APPLES IN STEREO's Robert Schneider is working on unfinished Olivia Tremor Control recordings.

TRANSFORMERS: THE LAST KNIGHT is this weekend's sole wide release; it opened Wednesday scoring 15 percent on the ol' Tomatometer.

YOUNG HAN SOLO: Ron Howard takes over as director. And Entertainment Weekly is on how it came to this point.

BILL COSBY wants to spread the word to young people about sexual assault  ... how to avoid being accused of it. Also, a juror in the Bill Cosby sexual assault case said that after dozens of hours of grueling deliberations in a tiny room, 10 of the 12 jurors agreed he was guilty on two counts. 

TOM CRUISE: Curtis Armstrong writes about the making of Risky Business, and a star.

MADONNA may have a new boy toy.

JURASSIC WORLD: The sequel has a title.

WET HOT AMERICAN SUMMER's second streaming season gets a trailer.

A FAMILY OF BEARS climb a fence.

A WASP flew into the mouth of Costa Rica's president.

CATS of the Tall Ships. Yaahhr.

DOG PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR Contest Winners.

ARIEL PINK drops a video for  "Another Weekend."

SUMMERTIME: World Cafe kicks off the season with a Summer playlist on Spotify.The World Cafe Tumblr listed a variation on the theme,with a helping of Yacht Rock.

PHOENIX stopped by Morning Becomes Eclectic for a session.

GIRLPOOL stopped by World Cafe for a chat and a song.

TWIN PEAKS (the band) shares “Who It’s Gonna Be.”

JOLIE HOLLAND & SAMANTHA PARTON team up on Townes Van Zandt's "You Are Not Needed Now."

LO TOM shares "Covered Wagon."

BIG AUDIO DYNAMITE: "The Bottom Line."

THE 50 BEST LPs of 2017 (So Far), according to Rolling Stone.

FUTURE ISLANDS and ANDY SAMBERG sort of interview each other at Magnet. There's talk about the thing in the box.

BETH DITTO talks about her Southern roots on Weekend Edition.

BILL MONROE: The bluegrass legend's name and likeness is for sale along with his house and unreleased albums.

GEORGE CLOONEY and his partners sold their tequila business for up to one billion dollars.

KIM KARDASHIAN & KANYE WEST have made a deal with a surrogate to have another child.

KATE BECKINSALE was caught canoodling actor and comedian Matt Rife.

SCARLETT JOHANSSON was spooted holding hands with attorney Kevin Yorn.

GAME OF THRONES dropped a second trailer online.

SPIDER-MAN: HOMECOMING - How Sony let Marvel take the wheel of a major vehicle.

CONFIRMED: Gal Gadot made the same amount upfront if not slightly more on Wonder Woman than Henry Cavill made on 2013's Man of Steel.

DC FILM's Jon Berg and Geoff Johns spoke with Variety about what’s next for Wonder Woman, their reaction to the poor reviews for Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and Suicide Squad, and why there will be more female superheroes and villains in upcoming DC films.

WATCHMEN may be headed for HBO with Damon Lindelof (Lost, The Leftovers), not movie director Zack Snyder.

SAUDI ARABIA tries to block journalists from reporting on Yemen's civil war as the U.S. signs an arms deal with the Gulf kingdom.

PROTIP: If you're a reporter, don't leave email suggesting you're interested in arms dealing. The More You Know. Swoosh.

A BALD EAGLE boosts a salmon from a fishing boat.

PODS OF ORCAS are stalking halibut and black cod fishermen in Alaska.

CHIMP "DEATH PATROLS" keep rivals off turf.

AUSSIE SCIENTISTS went looking for deep sea creatures and pulled up your nightmares instead.

GRANDADDY shares a video for "Brush With The Wild."

VALERIE JUNE played a session for Morning Becomes Eclectic.

THE REVIVALISTS play WNYC Soundcheck.

ALL SONGS CONSIDERED features tracks from Zola Jesus, Bernice, and Chelsea Wolfe and more.

THE DREAM SYNDICATE returns with "How Did I Find Myself Here?"

FILTHY FRIENDS (ft members of Sleater-Kinney, Young Fresh Fellows, and R.E.M.) share "The Arrival."

KING KHAN & THE SHRINES work it like Wilson Pickett in "Land of the Freak."

JASON ISBELL is profiled by the Village Voice.

HUSKER DU: Everything Falls Apart comes to streaming services.

DON'T STOP BELIEVIN': Critic and poet Michael Robbins explains his enduring, totally not-shameful love of Jourrney.

MANIC STREET PREACHERS: James Dean Bradfield talks about the longevity of the band, politics in music, and working on their new album.

GAL GODOT, contra some reports, is not making 46 times less as Wonder Woman than Henry Cavill is as Superman.

DANIEL DAY-LEWIS, widely considered one of the preeminent actors of his generation, is retiring from acting.

STAR WARS: Phil Lord and Christopher Miller are no longer directing the Han Solo Star Wars spin-off.

JOHNNY DEPP's ex-business managers are fighting to subpoena his longtime reps as part of the ongoing dispute over whether the actor knew the dire state of his finances — and have made public emails they say prove their case.

BACHELOR IN PARADISE will resume filming after an internal investigation by Warner Bros. Television found no misconduct occurred on the set of the reality series.

PRODIGY, one half of Mobb Deep, has died in Las Vegas.

SHERLOCK's creative team will tackle Dracula.

VALERIAN AND THE CITY OF A THOUSAND PLANETS has a new featurette online.

HOW DID CATS become house pets?

A COMMON BUTTERFLY has an uncommon sex life.

TURKEY MASSACRE: Deaths most fowl in South Carolina.

THE SQUIRREL THREAT: A pet squirrel that gained fame by thwarting a home burglary in Idaho has returned to the wild.