THE WEEKEND STARTS HERE:

...with THE BOX TOPS!  Before tackling the power pop of Big Star and becoming an icon of proto-indie rock, Alex Chilton cut his musical chops as the singer for this blue-eyed soul group out of Memphis.  Best known for their take on Wayne Carson Thompson's "The Letter," which ruled the charts in 1967, the follow-up, "Neon Rainbow," would get as high as No. 24 later that year. "Cry Like a Baby" was a major hit in 1968.  They hit the Mike Douglas Show for a twofer of "Turn On a Dream" and "Soul Deep," the latter being their final Top 40 hit.  The group became increasingly disenchanted with the managers, lawyers, and promoters that exploited them; the band would dissolve by February 1970.

ALL SONGS CONSIDERED show cases "great music from bands we'd never heard of before," including Bowerbirds, Amber Rubarth and Try Me Bicycle.

THE LAST SHADOW PUPPETS, a/k/a Alex Turner of Arctic Monkeys and Miles Kane of The Rascals, did a chat and stripped-down mini-set for the World Cafe you can stream on demand via NPR. You can stream their full album of symphonic, '60s-tinged pop through the weekend via Spinner.

THE CAVE SINGERS vocalist Pete Quirk talks to DC's Express about switching to neo-folk from the post-grunge sound of the now-defunct Pretty Girls Make Graves.

EL PERRO del MAR: Sarah Assbring talks to Vancouver's Straight about how mortality affected the recording of the just-released From the Valley to the Stars.

THE TING TINGS: "Shut Up and Let Me Go" is the track of the new iPod ad, which is a good excuse to relink the new single, "That's Not My Name."

PAUL WELLER turns 50 this month. The Telegraph surveys three distinct chapters of his life in music.

VAMPIRE WEEKEND also gets a profile in the Telegraph, talking about all of the band's perceived influences.

THE KILLS get a profile in Metro Toronto and a rave live review from Frank Yang at Chromewaves, with plenty of A/V linkage.

CUTOUT BIN: From Marilyn Monroe to Richard Hell, from Smoosh to The Supremes, from the Woodentops to Wilco, Elvis Costello and the Starland Vocal Band, this Friday's fortuitous finds can be jukeboxed or streamed individually on the Pate page at the ol' HM.

SPEED RACER, as you'll see in the next blurb, is getting mostly bad reviews, with some critics really hating it.  I completely understand why, but cannot bring myself to hate it, and not just because I love the original cartoon.  The script is a disaster.  It is on the one hand over-plotted, with too many bit characters whose relevance is never fully explained.  On the other hand, it often fails in basic exposition in ways that distance you from the movie.  A number of the bad reviews find the Wachowskis' "car-fu" so unrealistic that they never feel as though the characters are in real peril.  I did not have as much of an issue with that as with the failure of the script to establish a particular level of cartoon action, so that you know what the rules of "car-fu" are.  Thus, the race that works best is the road rally in the second act, because we instinctively understand the more realistic environment better.  The track races which bookend the film are less satisfying because their exposition is non-existent, leaving the viewer clueless as to the relative import of the twists, turns, obstacles, etc.  The Wachowskis would even have done well to take the remixes of the Speed Racer music that plays over the end credits and bring them into the movie itself; the limited animation of the 60s original required that the tension and drama be carried in no small part by that music.  All of that being said, the movie is a psychedelic visual feast.  There is plenty of racing action for the kids, and some solid family messages for a family movie. I found myself leaving the theater liking it, despite its major flaws.  But I would have loved to love it.

NOW SHOWING: In addition to Speed Racer, which is currently scoring 35 percent on the ol' Tomatometer, this weekend's other wide release is the rom-com What Happens in Vegas, which is scoring 42 percent. It is probably another big weekend for Iron Man, methinks.

LIV TYLER & ROYSTON LANGDON have decided to separate, her rep confirms to People magazine.  Wasn't my fault.

MINNIE DRIVER denies that musician Craig Zolezzi is the father of her unborn child, adding that he is English and "sort of in the same business." And she's got a countrified music albuum coming out, with cameos from Ryan Adams and his band The Cardinals, as well as Liz Phair.

BRITNEY SPEARS: Part of her return appearance from CBS's How I Met Your Mother is already online. The ever-reliable Star magazine claims that the pop wreck and Fed-Ex are having weekly steamy phone sex sessions, which if true disproves the existence of God.

JEN & JOHN: After filming for three months in Miami, Jennifer Aniston has big plans for the wrap party of Marley & Me, including a special performance by her new man, John Mayer.  Plus, we have a lovely new profanity-laden video, "Makin' Music with John Mayer," courtesy of FunnyOrDie.

LINDSAY LOHAN has a new song, "Bossy," posted online. She really needs to get movie work. Really.

KATHERINE HEIGL would like to leave Grey's Anatomy for more movie works, but she's under contarct to the ABC show.

INDIANA JONES and the KINGDOM OF UH-OH: An early review at Ain't-It-Cool-News (w/spoilers) is not good.

THE SPIRIT: Will Eisner's 1940's classic comic is headed for the big screen, thanks to Frank Miller (The Dark Knight Returns, Sin City, 300).  Trailer at the link (current temp score from The Untouchables).

JESSICA ALBA competes in a staring contest to boost boyfriend Cash Warren's Internet startup, iBeatYou.  Video at the link.

GLOBAL WARMING may cause Greenland to gain independence from Denmark.

IRAN & IRAQ: Iran has protested to Iraq over reports that Baghdad had backed the United Arab Emirates' claim to three islands in the Gulf, the foreign ministry said on Wednesday.

IRAQ: Iraqi soldiers for the first time warned residents in Sadr City to leave their houses, signaling a new push by the US-backed forces against Shiite extremists who have been waging street battles for seven weeks.  The leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq, Abu Ayyub al-Masri, was arrested in the northern city of Mosul, the Iraqi Defense Ministry spokesman said Thursday. News of the arrest was also reported by Iraqi state television, but the US military has not confirmed the report. I'll believe it when I see it.  Bill Roggio has  background on al-Masri.

BABY HEDGEHOGS: Awww...

BABY GIRAFFE: Awww...

A MISSING CAT in Cornwall, England, is spotted by a woman nearly 4000 miles away in America, via webcam.

THE SQUIRREL THREAT: Militant squirrels are secretly behind the kamikaze iguana who took down the electrical grid in Taramac and Pompano Beach, FL.