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 has died at the age of 59, evidently from a heart attack while taking a morning walk in Manhattan (though he spent most of his time on a farm in Northen Illinois).  Ben Stein, who will always be known for "Bueller," remembered Hughes today on FBC. Newsweek covers the careers he launched. The L.A. Times covers the fashions of his films.  But 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 audio of 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.

WILCO stopped by the World Cafe for a chat and mini-set, which (after a week) is finally streaming via NPR.

ROBYN HITCHCOCK stopped by the WFUV studios for a solo session streaming via NPR.

PATTERSON HOOD and the SCREWTOPIANS did five free songs for Daytrotter, one previously unreleased.

THE NOISETTES stopped by The Current for a chat and mini-set streaming on demand via MPR.

NO AGE is streaming their new EP through SubPop.

NEKO CASE is interviewed by the Edmonton Journal and SEE.

BLITZEN TRAPPER singer Erik Earley talks to OnMilwaukee about the band's range of sounds and influences, and more...

OUT: THE ALBUM, In: The App?

CUTOUT BIN: From the Replacements, Soul Asylum and Husker Du to the Beatles, the Byrds and the Kinks, plus T. Rex, the Velvet Underground, more trubute to John Hughes 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 G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, which is scoring 59 percent on the ol Tomatometer -- but which was not screened for most of the big critics, Nora Ephron's Julie & Julia, currently scoring 61 percent on the meter, and A Perfect Getaway, which is scoring 46 percent overall, but 78 percent with the big critics.

STEVEN TYLER of Aerosmith was airlifted to a hospital after falling from stage during a concert at the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally in western South Dakota. Let's go to the video.

PAULA ABDUL may be returning to American Idol, as the conflict is ultimately all about money ... and buzz leading up to season 9.

VANESSA HUDGENS of High School Musical won't be commenting on the nude pics surfacing on the Internet.

BRAVE NEW WORLD: Aldous Huxley's classic has been greenlit for a big screen treatment by director Ridley Scott, and possibly Leonardo DiCaprio.

THE VAMPIRE'S ASSISTANT, starring John C. Reilly, has a trailer online.

PAKISTAN: "There is strong indication" that Pakistani Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud was killed in a US drone strike Wednesday, a senior administration official told ABC News.  The Long War Journal hears that Meshud probably lives. UPDATE: ... or maybe he is dead!

AFGHANISTAN: New NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen in a surprise visit to Kabul pledged to minimize the level of civilian casualties.  The Small Wars Journal will hook you up with a report on going tribal. 

IRAQ: In the first such meeting in a year between the two rivals, Prime Minister al-Maliki and Kurdish Pres. Barzani pledged to resolve disputes over land and oil that have threatened to spill into fighting.

A LLAMA works as caddy  -- a clip twice as funny because the dude at the far right looks like Carl Spackler.

AND NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT: Animals with casts.

MOMMA DUCK rescues her young.

A GIANT CATFISH attacked an Austrian tourist while he was fishing on a lake outside Gyor, west Hungary, lifeguards said.

ZOOEY DESCHANEL and JOSEPH GORDON-LEVITT made a special video for She & Him's "Why Do You Let Me Stay Here?" to promote their movie, 500 Days of Summer.  Deschanel and Gordon-Levitt say they hope to team up repeatedly and have aspirations of being a regular screen couple.

FRANCES did the four free songs thing for Daytrotter, three previously unreleased.

MOUNT EERIE is advance streaming the Wind's Poem album at NPR. Heavy stuff I think Pate bassist Mike Kelly might like.

THE BLIND SHAKE stopped by The Current for a chat and mini-set streaming via MPR.

THE DECEMBERISTS: You can stream the two new tracks the band debuted at Newport via YANP.

THE OCTOPUS PROJECT has a new video for "Wet Gold."

LOLLAPALOOZA: Fuse has plenty of free downloads from the fest's featured artists.

THE TOP 20 JEFF TWEEDY SONGS, according to American Songwriter's Evan Schlansky.  It's sure to provoke disagreements (this is the function of lists) so readers can chime in also.

THE PRETENDERS: Chrissie Hynde tells the Winnepeg Sun (among other things) that the current doom and gloom about the record industry is really just a correction of the excess that preceded it.

MATT and KIM shuffle Kim's iPod for The A.V. Club, because she "was afraid things that are too wussy would come up" on Matt's.

INGLORIOUS BASTERDS: The trailer for "Nation's Pride," the movie within Quentin Tarantino's movie, is online.

TRUE BLOOD: Real-afterlife co-stars Anna Paquin and Stephen Moyer are engaged to be married.

PAULA ABDUL quit American Idol via Twitter, reportedly after demanding a 20 million dollar deal. She may turn up as a judge on "So You Think You Can Dance."

PENELOPE CRUZ pregnant by Javier Bardem? The rumor is building.

BRAD PITT talks to Parade about his decision to become a father, why he won't marry Angelina Jolie and the risks he'll take for love.

SIENNA MILLER has regrets about romancing Balthazar Getty.

PAUL GIAMATTI talks to The A.V. Club about choosing his roles, playing "himself" Cold Souls, playing real-life people, and what's up with the sequel to Bubba Ho-tep.

THE FIRST ATOMIC BOMB WAS DROPPED ON HIROSHIMA 64 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 was 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.

RUSSIAN NUCLEAR ATTACK SUBMARINES have been patrolling off the eastern seaboard of the US in recent days, a rare mission that has raised concerns inside the Pentagon and intelligence agencies about a more assertive stance by the Russian military.

IRAN: Ahmadinejad took the oath of office Wednesday, as security forces guarded the building and nearby streets in anticipation of protests.

IRAQ: The towering concrete blast walls that have both protected and suffocated Baghdad streets for the past two years will come down within 40 days.

BABY vs. DOG: Let's go to the video.

TWO BELUGA WHALES at Chicago's Shedd Aquarium are pregnant, with calves expected to be born this fall.

AN ALLIGATOR CAPTURE led to the arrests of some north Florida apartment tenants who forgot to hide their drugs.

POLICE DOG tracks a burglary suspect to a freezer.

MODEST MOUSE released the video for "King Rat," directed by the late Heath Ledger.

BRENDAN BENSON is advance streaming his My Old, Familiar Friend album via NPR.

FRUIT BATS stopped by the World Cafe for a chat and mini-set streaming via NPR.

EDWARD SHARPE and the MAGNETIC ZEROS stopped by The Current for a chat and mini-set streaming via MPR.

THE RAVEONETTES premiere a new song, "Suicide," at Pitchfork.

THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS: "I'm an Adult Now."

KIM DEAL of the Breeders and the Pixies talks to PopMatters about everything from addiction to mixtapes to Battlestar Galactica.

PERRY FARRELL talks to ArtistDirect in advance of Lolloapalooza.

KAKI KING tells The Phoenix she loves Feist and Neko Case, "but that sh^t's easy listening for the twentysomethings."

THE HEALING POWER OF DEATH METAL at Walter Reed Army Hospital.

MEGAN FOX: Seth Rogen talks to Jimmy Kimmel about being publicly rejected by the actress on Kimmel's show. PLUS: The Top 9 Best Things to Come From Megan Fox's Mouth.

BRITNEY SPEARS has been nominated for seven MTV Video Music Awards. But Beyoncé and Lady Gaga tie for the most with nine each.  The pop wreck was also spotted dancing with Lindsay Lohan at The Grand Star Jazz Club in LA.

PAM ANDERSON and TOMMY LEE were... wait for it... caught canoodling at Las Vegas club Body English at the Hard Rock Hotel.

JENNIFER ANISTON does not mind being the emblem of "the lonely girl getting on with her life."

ANGELINA JOLIE dropped off Vanity Fair's best dressed list this year.

MISCHA BARTON, who had a breakdown last month, was back to her weird ways over the weekend.

SHERLOCK HOLMES: Guy Ritchie's plan to put a gay-friendly spin on the relationship of Holmes and Watson in his new movie could backfire.

CAMERON DOUGLAS: The son of Academy Award winner Michael Douglas has been arrested once again -- this time in the Big Apple for getting in the middle of a deal to sell an eye-popping pile of crystal meth.

BURMA: What's in the box? Something nuclear?

NORTH KOREA: Two US journalists who had been detained by North Korea were traveling back to the US with former President Clinton hours after being pardoned, a Clinton spokesman said.

IRAQ: The Iraqi government is moving to ban web sites deemed harmful to the public, to require Internet cafes to register with the authorities and to press publishers to censor books. Opponents of the proposals question why Iraq would seek to impose the same sorts of censorship that had been among the most loathed aspects of daily life under Saddam Hussein and suggest that they are another example of Prime Minister al-Maliki's working to consolidate his power.

HIGHLY TRAINED KITTEH: Let's go to the video.

DOGS ARE SMARTER THAN CATS, according to a new study from England's Canterbury Christ Church University.

BRITAIN'S BIGGEST CARP, 25-year-old Benson, has been found dead after he was poisoned in a lake.

LOOSE BULL roams the streets of Idaho Falls. Video at the link.

ARMED WITH EXPLOSIVES, two men are heading to Mongolia's Gobi Desert to find the fabled acid-spitting and lightning-throwing Mongolian death worm.

BAT FOR LASHES released a video for "Sleep Alone."

NEW RELEASES: Modest Mouse, Fruit Bats, Yim Yames (Jim James) , Patrick Wolf and more are streaming this week via Spinner.

NEWPORT REDUX: NPR has more archived performances from the Newport Folk Festival, including sets from Neko Case, Deer Tick, Iron and Wine, Del McCoury, and more...

DANIEL JOHNSON did the four free songs thing for Daytrotter at SxSW.

WILD BEASTS also did the four free songs thing for Daytrotter at SxSW. Tom Fleming talks to Drowned In Sound, with embedded videos.

TOM JONES sings "It's Not Ununsal" and the new "If He Should Ever Leave You" on Canadian Idol, which opens with some great archival footage.

JOE PERNICE talks to Wicked Local about his new novel and soundtrack album. (Thx, LHB.)

GUIDED BY VOICES: The A.V. Club lists gateways into the band's extensive discography.

MAGNETIC FIELDS: Stephin Merritt drops hints to Spinner about his next album, likely due in January.

TORI AMOS: Decider lists five reasons the singer-songwriter is cooler than you think.

TRON LEGACY has a trailer online (where else?).

NAOMI CAMPBELL has been accused of attacking a photographer and putting him in hospital.

RYAN O'NEILL hit on his daughter Tatum at Farrah Fawcett's funeral. And gave his son cocaine at age 11.  Other than thta, a super dad, I'm sure.

LINDSAY LOHAN sparkles in the photoshoot where thieves stole £24,000 of gems.  Will she appear in Machete?

STEVEN SPIELBERG plans to remake "Harvey," which seems like  bad idea.

JUDD APATOW: Is his hot streak over?

BURMA: Defectors have provided evidence which suggests Burma has enlisted North Korean help to build its own nuclear bomb within the next five years.

IRAN: The Obama administration is talking with allies and Congress about the possibility of imposing an extreme economic sanction against Iran if it fails to respond to President Obama's offer to negotiate on its nuclear program: cutting off the country's imports of gasoline and other refined oil products.

AFGHANISTAN: Michael Yon goes on patrol, and comments on the US rules of engagement.

A FERRET gets CPR.

AND NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT: The bra-wearing donkey.

ARE YOU A MOSQUITO MAGNET? Tips for people like me.

GIRAFFE MANOR: Where the giraffes join you for breakfast. Pics and video at the link.

CROC on a PLANE: None of the passengers on Friday's EgyptAir flight claimed ownership.

YO LA TENGO drops the clip for "Here To Fall" -- a startling selection from the upcoming Popular Songs album.

NEWPORT FOLK FESTIVAL: NPR is streaming a variety of sets from the historic fest, including The Decemberists, Gillian Welch, The Avett Bros, Fleet Foxes, Billy Bragg and more...

MINDY SMITH played the World Cafe of Friday; you can stream the whole gig now via NPR.

WHAT HAPPENS IN VEGAS: A lucky 13 Sin City songs, courtesy of Spinner, with embedded audio.

THE AVETT BROS.: Scott Avett talks to the Boston Globe about the band's upcoming major-label debut, Lionel Richie, and more...

MATTHEW SWEET & SUSANNA HOFFS cover "Rain," which strangely does not appear on their second "Under the Covers" LP.

DAVID BYRNE talks to the Times of London why he and his partner, Cindy Sherman, are nothing like Hill and Bill, and how he became obsessed with cycling.

PATTERSON HOOD talks to JamBands about the Drive-By Truckers, Booker T. and the future.

DAVID BAZAN: The Chicago Reader profiles the former Pedro the Lion frontman -- and his struggle with his faith -- as he returned to the Cornerstone Christian music festival.

M WARD talks to the Austin American-Statesman abot childhood, touring, and the usefulness of bad songs.

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE:  Funny People takes the top slot with 23.4 million -- but that's underperforming for both Adam Sandler and director Judd Apatow (one of a string of underperforming Universal pics), leading to an underperforming weekend overall.  Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince drops 40 percent with 17.7 million; it is now slightly ahead of Order of the Phoenix at the same point of its run. G-Force takes third with 17 million, but that 46 percent drop is a bit steep for a 3-D family film.  The Ugly Truth dropped 53 percent (even worse for a rom-com) to fourth with 13 million. Aliens in the Attic rounds out the Top Five with a 7.8 million debut -- given the huge number of screens, this one seems unlikely to have legs.

ALI LARTER got hitched, though not to me.

JAMIE PRESSLY got engaged, though not to me.

MARK WALBERG got hitched... and I would have turned him down.

THE SEINFELD CAST will reunite for a five-episode arc of HBO's "Curb Your Enthusiasm."

GHOSTBUSTERS (1954). Sort of.

KATHERINE HEIGL: The L.A. Times explains why she is so disliked.

JESSICA ALBA hits the beach with her husband for Gratuitous Monday.

DARK SHADOWS wil be Tim Burton's next project, with Johnny Depp tapped to play vampire Barnabas Collins.

ALIEN: Ridley Scott plans to helm a prequel to the 1979 classic.

VENEZUELA's top prosecutor insists that freedom of expression "must be limited" and proposed a law to slap additional restrictions on the country's news media.

ISLAMISM in the UK: A senior Tory MP has asked the home secretary whether al-Qaeda sympathisers were mistakenly recruited by MI5.

IRAN has perfected the technology to create and detonate a nuclear warhead and is merely awaiting the word from its Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, to produce its first bomb, Western intelligence sources have told The Times.

AFGHANISTAN: Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal is preparing a new strategy that calls for major changes in the way US and other NATO troops there operate, a vast increase in the size of Afghan security forces and an intensified military effort to root out corruption among local government officials.

CASPER the COMMUTER CAT: Let's go to the video.

GIRAFFE and GOAT, living together.. mass hysteria!

KADOGO, the world's only bald gorilla.

A BUFFALO, A CROC-INFESTED RIVER, and a truck full of cucumbers.