THE WEEKEND STARTS HERE...

...with the wicked, wicked WILSON PICKETT, live from Germany, circa 1968. This disappeared from the Tube, but I've managed to find almost all of it reposted there or elsewhere.  His band warms up the crowd with the instrumental "Soulfinger," but Pickett electrifies from the moment he enters for "Everybody Needs Somebody" and doesn't let up through "Ninety-Nine and a Half (Won't Do)," "Mustang Sally" and "Stagger Lee." He takes it down just a half-notch for "I'm In Love" before cranking it back into top gear for "Funky Broadway," during which people dancing in front of the stage start turning up o­nstage.  The tumultuous finale of "Land of 1000 Dances" from amid the crowd remains missing, but this other "Land of 1000 Dances" from 1966 is almost as wild, and in color to boot. Raw and riveting; if this can't put you in a weekend state of mind, probably nothing can.

THE TOP 200 ALBUMS OF THE 2000s, according to Pitchfork (scroll to the bottom of the page).

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

NIRVANA: A previously unreleased live track from the Bleach reissue is streaming via Pitchfork.

DANIEL JOHNSON? There's an app for that.

SUFJAN STEVENS gets covered by string quartet Osso; Entertainment Weekly has your streaming A|B boss comparison.

THE DIRTY PROJECTORS performed a brand new song called "When The World Comes To An End" for Fallon.

ARCTIC MONKEYS frontman Alex Turner talks to Metro about recording the band's latest album, while drummer Matt Helders talks to JAM about it, as well as staying at the Joshua Tree Inn, where Gram Parsons died. (Thx, Chromewaves.)

KRIS KRISTOFFERSON is profiled by PopMatters in advance of his 20th album.

THE FISH FRY: Friend of Pate Sylvia Hauser tipped me to KCUR's weekly serving of blues, R&B, soul, jumpin' jazz and zydeco.  Their archives -- with playlists -- are streaming on demand, and there will be two new ones this weekend.

CUTOUT BIN: From Sly and the Family Stone to Ed Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, from Eddie and the Hot Rods to Ronnie Hawkins and the Hawks, from the Modern Lovers to James Brown, plus Bob Dylan, the Feelies, Monsters of Folk 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 Zombieland, currently scoring 90 percent on the ol' Tomatometer; the roller-derby comedy Whip It, which is scoring 78 percent on the Tomatometer; Ricky Gervais's The Invention of Lying, which is scoring 58 percent; and the 3-D re-issues of Toy Story and Toy Story 2, scoring 100 percent.

THE FUNNIEST SCENES IN ZOMBIE MOVIES, courtesy of Moviefone.

WHIP IT director Drew Barrymore talks to The A.V. Club, while Kristen Wiig talks to the L.A. Times about training for roller derby.

A RAMONES BIOPIC gains momentum with Fox Searchlight.

DAVID LETTERMAN revealed that he was the target of a two million dollar extortion plot and admitted he had indeed slept with several women who work for him.

MICHAEL JACKSON was pretty healthy, for a dead guy.

WILL FERRELL is set to become a dad for the third time.

KATE HUDSON and A-ROD are not having a kid.  Neither is Halle Berry. 

EMMA WATSON was stalked by jerks at Harvard.

GREEN HORNET photos, video, etc. is rounded up at /Film.

JON GOSSELIN is trying to shut down his failing reality show, after his name was removed from the title.

THE TOP TEN WHITE TRASH HEROES OF CINEMA, according to Spike.

THE WORST MOVIES OF THE DECADE, according to Rotten Tomatoes.

IRAN's nuclear program is making Arab governments, especially the small, oil-rich nations in the Persian Gulf, are growing increasingly anxious. The NYT quotes a number of people advancing various agendas based on said anxiety, but the important observation is that a nuclear Iran will likely start an arms race in the region.

PAKISTAN: Bill Roggio crunches stats on US airstrikes. Looks like the intell is getting better.

AFGHANISTAN: The Boston Globe posts an impressive, wide-ranging gallery of large-size photos.  The UN fired its No. 2 official in Afghanistan on Wednesday after the diplomat, Peter W. Galbraith, wrote a scathing letter accusing the head of the mission here of concealing election fraud that benefited the campaign of the incumbent president, Hamid Karzai. Michael Yon worries about the coalition and the government.

A PARROT massages a cat's head.

AN 800 LB. GATOR was caught by a 5-year-old boy: "Well, its pretty much simple." Video at the link.

A BABY PIGMY HIPPO, barely bigger than a lettuce leaf. Awww...some pics at the link.

BEAR VS. BEAR: Officials at a German zoo say that a male brown bear attacked and killed a female bear in front of horrified onlookers.

SOME SHARKS can reproduce asexually.

SUNNY DAY REAL ESTATE played DC's 9:30 Club last night; you should be able to stream the reunion gig today via NPR. They played "Seven" for Jimmy Fallon the other night. And they are profiled at the Houston Chronicle.

WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE: At imeem, where the soundtrack is streaming.

ALL SONGS CONSIDERED: Tracks from Built to Spill, the Feelies, and the Mountain Goats feature in the latest installment of the long-running series.

RHYTHM ANGELS did a video mini-set of Americana for Folk Alley.

RICHARD HAWLEY answers Clash's questions about how he would spend his last day on Earth.

THE MINUS 5 were joined by BILL BERRY and MIKE MILLS for "The Ballad of John & Yoko" and "Hang on Sloopy" Monday night at the 40 Watt Club.

ST. VINCENT: Annie Clark talks to Radar about the New Moon soundtrack and to Vanguard about things in general.

STEVE EARLE talks to the Times of London about his Townes Van Zandt tribute.

THE FUTUREHEADS' guitarist Ross Millard has been updating the BBC on the progress of their new album.

THE RURAL ALBERTA ADVANTAGE singer-guitarist Nils Edenloff talks to Decider about open-mic learning curves, forward momentum and, of course, Alberta.

JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE and JESSICA BIEL: US Weekly claims they have split. TMZ and X17 say they are still together.

DENNIS HOPPER was rushed to a New York City emergency room by ambulance, suffering flu-like symptoms and complaining of a stomach ailment. 

ROSE McGOWAN and ROBERT RODRIGUEZ call off their engagement.

BEN STILLER and CHRISTINE TAYLOR may be splitting up.

JIMMY KIMMEL and SARAH SILVERMAN sex tape? Sorry, not buying that.

JOHN TRAVOLTA leaving Scientology?

JON GOSSELIN may no longer be in the title of his show, but he claims he is still on his show.

THE BEST FILMS OF THE FIFTIES, according to Moviefone.

IRAN: Ahmadinejad voiced his concern about the UN chief's 'biased' remarks on Tehran's nuclear work and urged him to take the IAEA's opinion into account. The IAEA reported that no radioactive material has been transferred to Iran's new enrichment plant in Qom. The IAEA made plans to discuss a timetable for an inspection of the new plant.  Britain's intelligence services say that Iran has been secretly designing a nuclear warhead "since late 2004 or early 2005", an assessment that suggests Tehran has embarked on the final steps towards acquiring nuclear weapons capability. Iran's nuke chief welcomes new sanctions.

AfPAK: US and international intelligence officials say that improved recruitment of spies inside the al-Qaeda network, along with increased use of targeted airstrikes and enhanced assistance from cooperative governments, has significantly reduced the terrorist organization's effectiveness.

IRAQ: The senior US commander in Iraq says he could reduce American forces to 50K troops even before the end of next summer if the expected January elections went smoothly. That could free up combat units for duty in Afghanistan.

CAT and BIRD, hugging it out...

AN OBESE SKUNK has been put on a strict diet to help wean him off his addiction to bacon sandwiches.  Mmmm... bacon.

MONSTER EGG: Two and a half times the normal size, weighing over a quarter of a pound.

BADGERS face a cull in Wales, in a bid to eradicate bovine TB.

A BIZARRE FAUN-LIKE CREATURE was born in Lower Gweru, Zimbabwe, but died a few hours later. Pic at the link.

PHOENIX played "Lisztomania" for Fallon.

NOAH AND THE WHALE is advance streaming First Days of Spring, which NPR is calling "the breakup album of the year - maybe even the album of the year."

ARCTIC MONKEYS stopped by The Current for a chat and mini-set streaming via MPR.

THE JAYHAWKS (SORT OF) get a mini-set at the World Cafe.

ROSANNE CASH is advance streaming The List -- a collection of songs recommended to her by Johnny Cash. Rosanne duets with Jeff Tweedy, Elvis Costello, and more.

THE TROGGS: "With a Girl Like You." Inspired by last week's cover from Yo La Tengo.

JON AUER (also of the Posies and Big Star) talks to Arizona Central about his various projects, having songs bundled with Windows Vista, bootlegging and more, with an embedded playlist of solo songs. (Thx, Chromewaves.)

THOM YORKE and FLEA are forming a band. Look at them, they formed a band!

GILLIAN WELCH has a new album coming, and The Guardian's Alan McGee is excited.

LUCY IN THE SKY WITH DIAMONDS is dead at 46.

CONAN O'BRIEN'S HEAD KONK: Let's go to the video. The man is a trouper.

KHLOE KARDASHIAN and LAMAR ODOM are not legally married ... and they won't be until a prenup is signed.

JON CRYER and his wife, Lisa Joyner, adopted a baby girl.

MAD MEL UPDATE: Gibson will ask a judge to expunge the DUI heard round the world.

FRED DURST (Limp Bizkit) and his wife are dunzo after three blissful months.

DJ AM's died from accidental "acute intoxication" due to the combined effects of cocaine, oxycodone, hydrocodone (Vicodin), Ativan, Klonopin, Xanax, Benadryl and Levamisole.

JENNIFER LOVE HEWITT is denying problems with co-star/bf Jamie Kennedy.

WHOOPI GOLDBERG defends convicted underaged rapist Roman Polanski on the grounds that it wasn't "rape-rape," which is certainly not the impression you get from the grand jury testimony.  Whoopi might want to spend a moment at Salon. Maybe, someday, she can have Polanski on to share some words of wisdom.

KATE PLUS 8 Minus Jon.  Not that anyone is still watching.

CARRIE FISHER talks to New York magazine and is as quotable as always, by which I mean not fit for family consumption.

THIS LITTLE PIGGY is a firefighter.

UGANDAN GORILLAS turn to Facebook and Twitter for survival.

GIANT PETS enroll in Pet Fit Club.

A TINY BIRD hitch-hikes on a hawk,

VENICE IS SINKING: "Okay," from the EP of the same name.

NEW RELEASES: The Avett Bothers, the Raveonettes, Panther, Langhorne Slim, the Whip It sndtk, the Black Seeds, Hope Sandoval, and a variety of classic rock collections are streaming in full this week via Spinner.

RAPHAEL SAADIQ performs a Tiny Desk Concert at the offices of NPR.

DAVID BAZAN does three free songs for Daytrotter.

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

ANDY KIM, the Canadian version of Neil Diamond, covers "Baby, I Love You" and his own "Rock Me Gently" for Twofer Tuesday with Cheese.

THE TOP 200 ALBUMS OF THE DECADE are being counted down at Pitchfork.

MONSTERS OF FOLK talk to SPIN about indie super-goupdom, with embedded audio.

THOMAS DOLBY talks to Drowned In Sound about The Golden Age Of Wireless and The Flat Earth.

LUCY IN THE SKY WITH DIAMONDS: She's gone, at age 46.

PENELOPE CRUZ is profiled at Vanity Fair.

KHLOE KARDASHIAN, newly and quickly wed, is not knocked up, according to stepdad Bruce Jenner.

CLAIRE DANES and HUGH DANCY got hitched in France, according to the ever-reliable Life and Style.

LINDSAY LOHAN: The second of three reported thieves of her home has turned herself over to authorities.

BEYONCE KNOWLES reportedly had Lindsay Lohan thrown out of her own dressing room at the F1 Rocks concert in Singapore because she wanted it for herself.

COURTNEY LOVE and... Venezuelan Pres. Hugo Chavez? "It was the third wink that sold me. He's a sexy dawg."

GWEN STEFANI's London mansion was targeted by robbers while the singer is out on tour.

JOHNNY DEPP may be replaced after Pirates of the Caribbean 4, making a bad idea even worse. 

FRIENDS reuninting on the big screen, according to the uber-uber-reliable News of the World.

TERROR in the USA: Investigators have identified possible accomplices of an Afghan immigrant accused of plotting a terrorist attack on New York, a law enforcement official said Monday, but the whereabouts of the helpers or any bomb-making materials they procured are unclear.

IRAN warned Israel yesterday that it faces destruction if it attacks, only hours after Tehran provocatively test-fired missiles capable of hitting targets across the Middle East.

AFGHANISTAN: US Defense Secretary Gates said setting a withdrawal time line "would all be a strategic mistake." The UN said 2009 is already the deadliest year for Afghan civilians.

THE ORANGUTAN and the HOUND, living together... mass hysteria!

"SUPERCATS" PLAGUE BRITAIN: Ferocious feline chimeras menace dogs, children!

REMOTE-CONTROLLED BEETLES unveiled at the University of California Berkeley.

A TREE FROG swallows a Christmas tree bulb, looks ornamental.

MONSTERS OF FOLK "Say Please" on the Tonight Show.

FANFARLO has an interview plus tracks streaming via All Things Considered.

THE RURAL ALBERTA ADVANTAGE stopped by The Current for a chat and mini-set streaming via MPR.

ERIN McKEOWN palyed the World Cafe Friday; you can stream the gig on demand via NPR.

THE AVETT BROS did a World Cafe chat and mini-set streaming via NPR.

U2 played "Breathe" and "Moment of Surrender" from No Line On The Horizon and closed with "Ultraviolet (Light My Way)" fromAchtung Baby live on Sat. night.

PETE YORN and SCARLETT JOHANSSON have an interview plus duets streaming via NPR.

THE BASEBALL PROJECT: Steve Wynn talks to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution about his side gig: "It's pretty funny. I've been making records for 25 years. But it took me going back to sports writing to get on the Letterman Show."

BUILT TO SPILL: Doug Martsch talks to the Mpls City Pages about touring, recording, etc.

JOHN VANDERSLICE talks to Austinist about his latest work, 2009's Romanian Names, which he'll be showcasing at the ACL Festival next month.

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE:  Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs repeats at No.1 with 24.6 million, on a mere 19 percent drop.  It will lose some screens next weekend to the Toy Story 3-D re-releases.  Surrogates comes in second with 15 million -- which looks pretty bad against an 80 million budget.  The Fame remake debuts in third with 10 million, which looks better against an 18 million budget.  The Informant! came in fourth with 6.9 million, and is doing better than most thought, having just about recouped its 22 million production budget.  Tyler Perry's I Can Do Bad All By Myself rounds out the Top Five, and is doing about average for a Perry flick.  Below the fold, Pandorum opened in sixth with 4.4 million, against a 40 million budget. Ouch.

ROMAN POLANSKI was arrested by Swiss police as he flew in for the Zurich Film Festival and faces possible extradition to the US for having sex in 1977 with a 13-year-old girl. Since there are people in showbiz and the media who will try to paint this as some sort of injustice, I'm linking to Bill Wyman's writings on the Polanski documentary, as well as the 13-year-old's grand jury testimony in the cae. Those who cite the now grown woman's support of Polanski tend to omit mention that she reached an out-of-court settlement with him.  They also tend to forget that criminal cases are brought by the State on behalf of its people, not a particular victim.

CONAN O'BRIEN reportedly suffered a concussion after hitting his head while filming a stunt for the show on Friday with Desperate Housewives actress Teri Hatcher.

KHLOE KARDAHIAN and LAMAR ODOM: Hitched.

BIJOU PHILLIPS says she knew about Mackenzie's claim of a ten-year relationship with their father "Papa" John Phillips -- and gives a modified limited hangout reaction.

JAIME PRESSLY got hitched to entertainment lawyer Simran Singh in an evening ceremony Saturday.

PAMELA ANDERSON is more than a million bucks in debt.

TAWNY KITAEN was busted on suspicion of DUI. There she goes again on her own.

MILEY CYRUS will be in Sex and the City 2.

IRAN admitted it is building a clandestine underground nuclear fuel manufacturing plant, which Iran's leaders have hidden from weapons inspectors. Pres. Obama said "the size and configuration of this facility is inconsistent with a peaceful program."  Experts say Iran must be building at least one other unreported facility.  The classified version of our 2007 National Intelligence Estimate suspects that Iran has 10 to 15 other nuclear-related facilities, never opened to international inspectors, where enrichment activity, weapons work or the manufacturing of centrifuges might be taking place.

AFGHANISTAN: US forces are welcomed in the provincial capital of Day Kundi in central Afghanistan. Osama bin Laden on Friday issued a fresh warning to European countries to part ways with the US and withdraw their forces from Afghanistan. The most dangerous course, according to some military strategists and diplomats in Afghanistan, is the middle ground.

WILD TURKEYS are wreaking havoc in a Cherry Hill, NJ neighborhood.

STINKY THE CAT: Eight lives left.

A TINY INSECT threatens California's 1.6-billion dollar citrus industry.

KITTEH in the engine.