THE WEEKEND STARTS HERE:

...with HARRY NILSSON! The BBC aired "The Music of Nilsson" in 1971, including a mashup of "Mr. Richland's Favorite Song" and "One," "Gotta Get Up," a medley of "Walk Right Back," "Cathy's Clown" and "Let The Good Times Roll," and really moving take on "Life Line." Then there are two videos from The Point!  -- "Think About Your Troubles" and "Are You Sleeping" -- sandwiching "Joy." The set concludes with "Without Her," "Coconut" and "1941."

EDWARD SHARPE & THE MAGNETIC ZEROES played World Cafe Live; you can stream the whole gig on demand.

JOEY RAMONE: Hear his posthumous LP at Rolling Stone... ya know?

SHARON VAN ETTEN plays a mini-set on video for Sound Opinions.

PORTASTATIC, Live at the Duke Coffee House, Aug. 9, 1994.

DONNA SUMMER, the multimillion-selling singer and songwriter whose hits captured both the giddy hedonism of the 1970s disco era and the feisty female solidarity of the early 1980s, died from cancer on Thursday at her home in Naples, Fla. She was 63. As a card-carrying member of the Insane Coho Lips back in the day, I cannot claim to have been a fan, but if I had to pick two, they would be "On The Radio" and "Last Dance."  I also recall hearing her remake of "MacArthur Park" a lot at the roller rink.

MUSIC'S 12 BEST INSULTS & JABS, according to the Houston Press. (Thx, LHB.)

METRIC: Emily Haines talks to Stereogum about the making of Synthetica.

KELLEY DEAL talks to We Love DC about her newest band, R.Ring. (Thx, LHB.)

THE ROLLING STONES-WINNIE THE POOH CONNECTION: It's a house, man.

CUTOUT BIN: From Joan Jett to Jim Croce, from the Clash to Barry White, from Fun Boy Three to Three Dog Night, plus Tommy James and the Shondells, Soul Asylum, David Bowie, price 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 Battleship, which is currently scoring 37 percent on the ol' Tomatometer; What to Expect When You're Expecting, which is scoring 26 percent; and The Dictator, which opened Wednesday with 62 percent. Hulk smash.

JOHN TRAVOLTA:  Accuser No. 2 dops his sexual battery lawsuit. Travolta says he's not paying these men off.  Did he try to grope... Jeff Conaway?

BOBBY BROWN is releasing a single about Whitney Houston three months after his ex-wife's death.

NICK STAHL was spotted after his wife reported him missing.

RUSSELL BRAND on KATY PERRY: "I still love her." Aw.

JENNY McCARTHY is baring all again for Playboy as she prepares to celebrate her 40th birthday in November.

JIMMY KIMMEL beats Jay Leno.

YEMEN: The military claimed it ejected AQAP from Lawdar, Modia, and Al Wadea. A senior Southern Movement leader is urging his followers to fight AQAP.

EGYPT: On the campaign trail for the presidential election, now only nine days away, the Muslim Brotherhood has taken a sharp turn rightward, becoming bolder in saying it wants to bring a state where religion and Islamic law play a major role - and insisting that it has the right to rule. Shocka.

NORTH KOREA resumed construction on a nuclear reactor that would have the capacity to produce fuel for nuclear weapons. China pressured North Korea to abandon its efforts for a third nuclear test.

AFGHANISTAN: American officials acknowledge privately that the bar has been significantly lowered on how success in Afghanistan is defined after 11 years of combat.

A CAT trains a puppy to roll over.

200 BUFFALO escaped from a ranch in northwest Iowa and have been spotted in five counties.

AN ARABIAN HORSE got spooked during a California beachside photo shoot Tuesday and swam a mile out to sea before rescuers got to him and helped him back to shore

COYOTES stalk dogs in Golden Gate Park. Will San Francisco import Roadrunners?

HARBORING a WALLABY results in a year's probation in Butler, PA.

GILA MONSTER SPIT may reduce food cravings.  I would think so.

SPINTO BAND drops Afrobeat into their animated clip for "The Living Things."

M WARD performs new material live for WNYC Soundcheck.

DAR WILLIAMS played World Cafe Live; you can stream the whole gig on demand.

PATRICK WILSON stop by WNYC Soundcheck play songs from their new album, "Adventures in Your Own Backyard."

BAND OF SKULLS stopped by World Cafe for a chat and mini-set.

MYSTERY JETS drop "Greatest Hits" in advance of Radands.

THE KINKS are "The Village Green Preservation Society." God bless 'em.

GARBAGE: Shirley Manson talks to Vulture about Not Your Kind of People, going indie, why the nineties were better, and her penchant for dressing up as Bette Davis.

JASON RINGENBERG, founder of Jason & the Scorchers, talks to Tulsa World about his other career in childrens' music under the Farmer Jason moniker. (Thx, LHB.)

JOHN VANDERSLICE: SF Weekly spends time in his Tiny Telephone studio.

NANCY SINATRA is still pretty ticked at her stepmother.

JOHN TRAVOLTA: Meet Accuser No. 4, a gym employee who accuses the Grease star of groping and fondling him against his will.

NICK STAHL, who played John Connor in "Terminator 3," is missing, according to his wife.  Police seek to question cyborgs.  Too soon?

JENNIFER LOPEZ is the possibly surprising leader on the Forbes Celebrity 100 ranking of the richest and most powerful actors, actresses, athletes, writers and musicians. Is she leaving American Idol?

ROBERT DOWNEY, JR., the lone exception to Marvel's strict cost controls, is set for a highflying payday of about 50 million once box-office bonuses and backend compensation for The Avengers are factored in.

JOEY LAWRENCE just inked a deal with the man-stripper crew at Chippendales in Vegas.

RYAN SEACREST bought Ellen DeGeneres' Beverly Hills estate for the low, low price of ~49 million bucks.

ALGERIA: An Islamic leader of the street protests that forced the Algerian regime to introduce democratic reforms for the first time in 1988, now opposes elections.

SYRIA: Opposition and government forces fought in the city of Rastan. Syrian rebels have begun receiving significantly more and better weapons in recent weeks, an effort paid for by Persian Gulf nations and coordinated in part by the US.

PAKISTAN has delayed the decision on the issue of reopening NATO supply lines to Afghanistan; the US is confident the supply lines will be reopened.

IRAQ: The trial of Vice President Hashemi, who is outside the country, has begun.

CATS play teherball.

MAYBE THE MOOSE ripped the roof off your car. Remember?

TWIGLET the HEN may have laid the world's tiniest egg.

DOGS: The difference between mankind and Neanderthals.

A DUCK survives a fall down a chimney into a roaring fire.

TENACIOUS D drops a seven-minute, NSFW clip for "Roadie," with an appearance from Danny McBride.

KEANE visited Morning Becomes Eclectic for a session.

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

FATHER JOHN MISTY stops by KEXP for a raucous, playful and above all fantastic live set.

LEE RENALDO and his band join WNYC in studio to play some songs off his new solo album.

THE WALKMEN drop "The House You Made," the B-side of the first single from the forthcoming Heaven LP. Because who cares about what's on the flip side? I do.

NICK LOWE (as part of Rockpile) plays "So It Goes," circa 1978.

THE HIVES do a two-part interview with Drowned in Sound.

DONALD "DUCK" DUNN: A personal rememberance via All Things Considered.

THE 70 BEST ALBUMS of the 1970s, according to Paste.

THE 100 BEST TRACKS of the 1990s, according to NME.

JOHN TRAVOLTA's lawyer says the actor has been completely vindicated after Accuser No. 1 dismissed his sexual assault lawsuit.

TOM CRUISE returns to the publicity circuit to support Rock of Ages, with interviews at W Magazine and Playboy. Look Ma... no couch!

MICHAEL FASSBENDER talks to GQ about Prometheus and his rapid rise in Tinseltown.

HOWARD STERN's judging debut on America's Got Talent included penis jokes. Shocka.

JENNIFER LOVE HEWITT gets vajazzled for special occasions. Howard Stern unavailable for comment.

ALAN RICKMAN has signed on to play Hilly Kristal, the legendary owner and founder of CBGB, in Randall Miller and Jody Savin's project revolving the seminal New York rock club.

LADY GAGA was banned in Indonesia following Islamist protests.

SYRIA: The opposition claimed a military victory in the city of Rastan. Saudi Arabia's foreign minister said the UN-sponsored peace plan was failing.

IRAN: A senior UN nuclear agency official urged Iran to allow access to a suspected nuclear weapons site. A drawing created by a purported witness depicts a nuclear weapons testing chamber. Recent satellite photos show an effort to clean up the site.

AFGHANISTAN: Isaf will support Afghan security forces in combat operations beyond 2014 if necessary, Isaf spokesman, Gen. Carsten Jacobson said.

AN AFRICAN GREY PARROT imitates R2-D2.  But can it speak the language of binary load-lifers?

RATTLESNAKE in a Wal-Mart striving for an authentic garden section.

SEVEN RIDICULOUSLY EXPENSIVE Cat and Dog Breeds.

SHAVED ALPACAS: A great name for a band, particularly one sporting mullets.

EDWARD SHARPE & THE MAGNETIC ZEROES play "Man on Fire" at the Ed Sullivan Theater.

NEW RELEASES from Best Coast, Beach House, The Gossip, Tenacious D, Garbage, Willie Nelson, Cornershop, The Cribs and more are streaming this week via Spinner.

BRENDAN BENSON stopped by Morning Becomes Eclectic for a session.

'ALLO DARLIN stopped by World Cafe for a chat and mini-set.

SHEARWATER stopped by the WFUV studios for a chat and mini-set.

THE KILLERS cover The Raspberries' "Go All the Way" in Dark Shadows... but it's not on the soundtrack?

THE BEACH BOYS' first UK TV appearance, on Ready, Steady, GO!, November 6, 1964.  "I Get Around" and "When I Grow Up," for Twofer Tuesday.

REGINA SPEKTOR is profiled by The Guardian.

JUSTIN TOWNES EARLE talks to the Boston Globe about weathering the years and songwriting in the moment.

QUEEN guitarist Brian May has confirmed plans for a live stage appearance from the band's deceased singer, Freddie Mercury. May tells the BBc it won't be a hologram, so perhaps it will be Zombie Mercury.

TWENTY MUSICIANS talks about using their college majors.

JOHN TRAVOLTA: Accuser No. 2 wants a private trial.  Accuser No. 3 gives detail that do not appear in a cruise ship incident report.

SARAH JESSICA PARKER and KATE HUDSON  will guest-star in multi-episode arcs on the fourth season of Glee.

DEMI LOVATO officially signed her deal and will be a judge on the next season of "The X Factor".

MENA SUVARI's broke ex wants 17K in monthly spousal support.

TYSON BECKFORD: A sex tape featuring the male supermodel is being shopped around the adult entertainment community. Beckford warns it's not very good.

MOONRISE KINGDOM: The NYT reports on Wes Anderson and his upcoming, lo-tech film.

PROMETHEUS puts its first clip online.

SPYING ON AL QAEDA: The double agent who broke up a recent al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula plot is just the latest example.

IRAN: Lebanon's Hezbollah may not want a new war with Israel but an order to attack would come from Tehran in the event of a strike on Iran, a senior military official in Israel's northern command told AFP.

PAKISTAN: From his prison cell, a senior Pakistani officer accused of plotting an Islamist takeover of the military high command has issued a call for the army to break its anti-terror alliance with the US, which he contends is forcing Pakistan to fight its own people.

AFGHANISTAN: Arsala Rahmani, senior member of the Afghan High Peace Council, was gunned down in Kabul.

IRAQ: In the face of spiraling costs and Iraqi officials who say they never wanted it in the first place, the State Department has slashed - and may jettison entirely by the end of the year - a multibillion-dollar police training program that was to have been the centerpiece of a hugely expanded civilian mission there.

A DUCKLING ODYSSEY, minus the music.

BROWN TREE SNAKES are fought with parachuting posioned mice in Guam.

BUFFALOS:  A water buffalo injured 10 people in central Vietnam while rampaging down crowded streets, across a river and through a house before being gunned down at a kindergarten, an official said Monday. Meanwhile, the Lakota Sioux Tribe mourned the death of a sacred rare white buffalo calf.

ARE DONKEYS STUBBORN? Scientists investigate.

DONALD "DUCK" DUNN, the pioneering bass player whose grooves drove Booker T and the MGs and a slew of sothern soul hits for Stax artists including Otis Redding, Sam & Dave, the Staple Singers and many more, died in his sleep at age 70, while in Tokyo for shows with fellow MG Steve "The Coronel" Cropper and Eddie Floyd.  So after a two-minute bio, let's watch the Duck live on Booker T's seminal "Green Onions" and Otis Redding's "Try a Little Tenderness."  He would later help revive southern soul music for future generations backing The Blues Brothers on covers of songs like Solomon Burke's "Everybody Needs Somebody to Love."  I saw him play with both the Blues Bros. and Eric Clapton; he was fantastic on both occasions.

SPIRITUALIZED played DC's 9:30 Club; you can stream the whole gig on demand.

MOUNT EERIE is advance streaming Clear Moon.

KIMBRA is advance streaming Vows.

SOUL ASYLUM frontman Dave Pirner talks to The Current and drops "Gravity" from the band's upcoming LP. Oh yes.

THE CIVIL WARS put their spin on "Billie Jean." Yes, that one.

WILCO: Jeff Tweedy talks to the Birmingham News about Olive Oyl, Woody Guthrie and the ageism of rock. (On the last subject, I find it hard to believe he doesn't understand the ageism comes from the sociopolitical roots of the genre. Pete Townshend, anyone?)

BEACH HOUSE talk the internet, leaks and their new album with DIY and about sampling, licensing and more with Pitchfork.

R.E.M.: The A.V. Club posts the fourth part of its history of the band.

HEARTLESS BAST^RDS are profiled by Orlando Weekly. (Thx, LHB.)

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE:  The Avengers repeats atop the chart with 103.2 million smackers.  No film has ever earned more than 100 million in its second weekend -- not Avatar (75.6), and not The Dark Knight (75.2).  The domestic total stands at 373.2 million, the worldwide total breaks one billion dollars.  It will likely become the third biggest grosser ever within three weeks.  Dark Shadows was always going to debut in the second spot; it did so with 28 million, a bit below the 30-40 million most trackers expected (and before The Avengers' stunning opening, some had thought Dark Shadows might make as much as 50 million in its debut).  Johnny Depp may have to carry this one into the black overseas.  Think Like A Man shows with 6.3 million in a remarkably leggy performance, having taken in 82 million against a 12 million budget.  The Hunger Games takes the fourth slot with 4.4 million.  Its 387 million domestic total is impressive, but The Hunger Games needed 52 days to become the 13th biggest film of all-time; The Avengers will do it in under 14 days.  The Lucky One rounds out the Top 5 with 4 million.

CHRIS HEMSWORTH (Thor) and his wife welcomed a baby girl on Friday.

LADY GAGA denies engagement rumors.

STEVIE WONDER: A man claiming to be the singer's nephew has been charged with attempting to extort him by threatening to go to the tabloids and say he's the product of an incestuous relationship between Stevie and Stevie's sister.

WHITNEY HOUSTON's family is launching a reality show -- and maybe Bobbi Kristina's career -- on Lifetime.

SOFIA VERGARA: People claims details of her split with Nick Loeb.

REESE WITHERSPOON showed up in court Friday addressing her father's alleged illegal second marriage and mental incapacity.

YEMEN: US drones killed 11 al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula fighters, including an Egyptian, in two strikes in Marib. Yemeni officials denied that US troops are in combat in southern Yemen.

HEZBOLLAH leader Nasrallah accused the US and Israel of stoking terrorism in Syria. He also claimed Hezbollah had weapons that could hit any part of Israel.

SYRIA: After three decades of persecution that virtually eradicated its presence, the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood has resurrected itself to become the dominant group in the fragmented opposition movement pursuing a 14-month uprising against President Bashar al-Assad.

EGYPT: With landmark elections set to begin May 23, many of the country's Christians fear that the next president could turn Egypt into a conservative Islamic state that does not have room for their community of at least 8.5 million.

40 SAFARI PARK BABOONS tear apart a Hyundai. Video at the link.

A GIANT JELLYFISH was caught by underwater cameras recently during deep-sea drilling near the United Kingdom.

A HUNGRY 5-FOOT PYTHON headed for a pizza parlor.

DOG DUO Ashleigh and Pudsey have won ITV's Britain's Got Talent, scooping a £500,000 prize.