THE WEEKEND STARTS HERE:

... with THE BYRDS! To everything there is a season, and when the leaves start turning, my thoughts turn to this rare live threefer of "Turn! Turn! Turn!", "Bells of Rhymney" and "Mr. Tambourine Man", introduced by... David McCallum? There are more screaming girls, plus go-go dancers when they hit Shivaree for "All I Really Want to Do" and "Feel A Whole Lot Better."  There are even more dancers when they cover "Long Tall Sally" and "Not Fade Away" for Shindig! on June 23, 1965, while I'm pretty sure that's Ed Wynn introducing "Chimes of Freedom."

BOB MOULD performs on WNYC Soundcheck.

BENJAMIN BOOKER plays songs from his debut LP at KEXP.

JD McPHERSON stopped by The Current for a chat and mini-set.

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

COUSTEAU: "The Last Good Day of the Year." Or close to it.

GUIDED BY VOICES breaks up again.

JEFF TWEEDY talks to The Atlantic about Daniel Johnston and subconscious songwriting.

JACK WHITE had words for Rolling Stone and Foo Fighters; he took back some of them, sort of.

R.E.M.'s TOP 10 COVERS, according to Stereogum.

THE CUTOUT BIN: By popular demand, it's another special back-to-school edition streaming from the Pate page at the ol' HM.

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE: This weekend's wide releases include The Maze Runner, currently scoring 64 percent on the ol' Tomatometer; This Is Where I Leave You, currently scoring 42 percent; and A Walk Among the Tombstones, scoring 58 percent.

JOAN RIVERS' personal doctor, contra prior reports, did not take a selfie while the comedienne was under anesthesia.

MILEY CYRUS could go to jail for an onstage stunt with a Mexican flag.

JENNIFER LAWRENCE was the guest of honor at boyfriend Chris Martin's Coldplay gig in L.A.; she knew all the words.

DARRELL HAMMOND wil replace the late, legendary Don Pardo as the SNL announcer.

AUBREY PLAZA will be the voice of Grumpy Cat.

MATTHEW McCONNAUGHEY won't return for the Magic Mike sequel.

MATT SMITH (Doctor Who) has joined the cast of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.

SCOTLAND, as I write this, isn't breaking up with the United Kingdom.

UKRAINE: President Petro O. Poroshenko of Ukraine on Thursday implored the US Congress to provide Ukraine’s soldiers with heavy military equipment as his country seeks to repel what he called a continuing invasion by Russian forces. But after meeting with President Obama in the Oval Office later in the day, Mr. Poroshenko said he was satisfied with American support that falls short of his request.

FRANCE: President Hollande said France would provide air support Iraqi army efforts against the Islamic State in Iraq, but would not participate in strikes on the IS in Syria and in any cause would not be providing ground troops for the effort against the group.

SYRIA: Islamic State fighters besieged a Kurdish city in northern Syria on Thursday after seizing 21 villages in a major assault, prompting a call to arms from Kurds in neighboring Turkey who urged followers to go and help resist the group's advance.

IRAQ: Three top Iraq Shiite militias, which receive considerable backing from Iran, warned the United States not to reoccupy the country—and leading the charge was Muqtada al-Sadr. U.S. aircraft have targeted a training camp for Islamic State jihadists in northern Iraq, bombing buildings, troops and vehicles in the first such air strike, military officers said Thursday.

THIS DOG WEDDING is elaborate.

A YARD-LONG TEGU LIZARD was mistaken for a crocodile on the loose in Huntington Park in L.A. County.

LEASH YOUR BEAR before going into the pub.

DOGS possess skills similar to those of a five-month-old baby, researchers have revealed.