THE WEEKEND STARTS HERE:

...with DANNY & DUSTY!  Among americana aficionados, 1985's The Lost Weekend is one of those classic under-the-radar epistles of twang.  In the original days of Pate, the album was in frequent rotation at the Music Works ("It's not a record store, it's a hangout!")  Harp magazine talked to Green on Red's Dan Stuart (Danny) and the Dream Syndicate's Steve Wynn (Dusty) as they headed out for a European D&D tour in support of their second album.  We have clips of the current lineup taking on old faves "Baby, We All Gotta Go Down" and "King of the Losers," along with new tracks like "The Good Old Days" and "Cast Iron Soul."  BONUS:  Here's a re-link to that rare 1986 clip of the original D&D line-up bashing through "The Word Is Out."

 THE LIFEHOUSE METHOD:  You may think of Lifehouse as the sci-fi rock opera The Who abandoned, with remnants surfacing on Who's Next and elsewhere in the early 70s.  But Pete Townshend still wants to take your musical portrait with The Lifehouse Method -- much as Baba O'Riley is said to be based on the reading of his then-guru, Meher Baba.  (Thanks, Ken.)

TEDDY THOMPSON:  His new album of old skool country gets an audio feature and review from Ken Tucker on Fresh Air at NPR.  Or you can go right to the video of Thompson playing the George Jones classic, "She Thinks I Still Care."

THE WHITE STRIPES:  Harp magazine covers Jack's love of his adopted home of Nashville and Meg's contibutions to the new album.  The Young Go-Getter blogs "9 things I learned about business from The White Stripes."

THE WACKIEST COVER SONGS ON THE WEB, according to Blender magazine, has Tubed versions of mostly indie-types tackling the mainstream charts.

EVERY MOTHER'S SON wants you to "Come On Down To My Boat, Baby."

SONIC YOUTH COVERS:  Copy, Right? posts others' takes on the avant-rockers, including tracks from Camper Van Beethoven, The Go! Team and Yeah Yeah Yeahs.  You can jukebox 'em via the ol' HM.

DAMON ALBARN, of Blur, Gorillaz, and The Good, the Bad and the Queen, has scored an opera -- Monkey: Journey to the West -- which had its début run in Manchester.  Sasha Frere-Jones writes, "There is even a catchy song about peaches that could possibly make it as a pop single, if the English-speaking world were ready for a hit in Mandarin."

NICK LOWE did an interview and in-studio performance (new stuff, a bit of "634-5789") with Terry Gross for Fresh Air at NPR.  Lowe talks about having a toddler at age 58, and his son's love of rockabilly, and much more.

BOB DYLAN has agreed to let Mark Ronson, the dance world's hottest producer, weave his remix magic on "Most Likely You'll Go Your Way (And I'll Go Mine)," the bittersweet break-up song from his iconic 1966 album Blonde on Blonde.

THE CUTOUT BIN:  This Friday's fortuitous finds on the ol' HM are: Christopher Walken - More Cowbell; Asia - Heat Of The Moment; Badfinger - No Matter What; The Cure - Friday I'm In Love; Chris Bell - I Am The Cosmos; Matthew Sweet & Susanna Hoffs - Different Drum; David Byrne - I Wanna Dance With Somebody (W. Houston); Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings - This Land Is Your Land; Ryan Shaw - Do The 45; The Jackson 5 - ABC; Neko Case - Deep Red Bells; Teddy Thomson & Rufus Wainwright - King Of The Road; Michael Nesmith - I Fall To Pieces (Patsy Cline); Juan Cash - Fuego d'Amor; The Raveonettes - I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry; The Ramones - Rockaway Beach; Iggy and The Stooges - Search and Destroy; Sonic Youth - Teen Age Riot; The Jam - When You're Young; The Merseybeats - I'm Gonna Sit Right Down and Cry; Ben Folds - March To Reenergize Iowa; and Marshall Crenshaw - Let Her Dance (Bobby Fuller Four).

THE SIMPSONS MOVIE is pretty much exactly what you would expect.  Oh sure, it's a little more "sophisticated" in having an overarching plot, with subplots and even a little character development (however temporary).  A bit more risque in a couple of images and words that might not meet FCC muster for TV.  It's even a little more technically sophisticated, with some elements clearly done in 3-D by computer and converted into Simpsons-esque 2-D.  But it is, at heart, a long (but short in movie-time at 87 minutes) well-written episode of The Simpsons.  A great opening sequence, funny throughout, laugh-out-loud funny in several spots (which is high for me).  Stay for the credits.

NOW SHOWING:  In addition to The Simpsons Movie, currently scoring 85 percent on the ol' Tomatometer, this weekend's wide releases include Caterine Zeta-Jones making No Reservations and scoring 38 percent, plus Lindsay Lohan as a stripper in I Know Who Killed Me and a hip-hopped take on Caddyshack called Who's Your Caddy? -- neither of which was screened for critics (shocka!).

NAOMI WATTS & LIEV SCHREIBER are proud parents of a baby boy.

TOM-KAT UPDATE:  The Arizona man who has been dubbed the "Sultan of Sleaze" for his role in the distribution of celebrity sex tapes was arrested this week for his alleged role in an extortion plot targeting Cruise, according to The Smoking Gun.  On a lighter note, US Weekly has a photo of Cruise and Holmes dirty dancing.  This is best viewed with your back turned to the monitor and using two pieces of card board, one of which has a pinhole to let the light from the monitor project onto the second piece of cardboard.

NATALIE PORTMAN:  Valleywag lists the "Six reasons why Natalie Portman will be the world's best lifecaster."

DAVID HASSELHOFF credits the drunken video of him eating a burger off the floor with bringing "closure" to a troublesome period in his life.

LINDSAY LOHAN may claim that the cocaine found in her possession was not hers and that she was wearing someone else's pants.  The developing spin from Camp Lohan seems to be to blame Lohan assistant Tarin Graham and her mother for the incident, though the NY post helpfully throws in the curse of Zelig-like socialite Dori Cooperman.  Listening to the 911 tape, however, might tell a different story... as do the video interviews with the guys in Lohan's car.

THE 50 CRAZIEST CELEBRITY BABY NAMES:  Glamor model Jordan and her husband, former pop star Peter Andre naming their daughter Princess Tiaamii has inspired the Times of London to listmania.

SCARLETT JOHANSSON just bought an eight-million-dolllar mansion in the Hollywood Hills, boasting seven bedrooms and seven bathrooms.

BRADGELINA:  Jolie is reportedly "devastated" by the audience rejection of her movie A Mighty Heart, which has earned just nine million at the cineplex.  The flick might have drawn more if Jolie had looked like she does in Beowulf.

THE 25 WORST MOVIE REMAKES of ALL TIME, according to Moviefone.  (Thanks, Dad.)

THE DARJEELING LIMITED:  The trailer for Wes Anderson's upcoming movie can be seen on the Tube or in glorious Quicktime, with some Lola-era Kinks as your soundtrack.

VP DICK CHENEY once confused Jessica Simpson with Jessica Lynch, undoubtedly due to some very bad intell.

IRAQ:  US troop casualty figures that jumped this spring have been gradually dropping as US and Iraqi forces stabilize volatile and dangerous areas, though Lt. Gen. Raymond Odierno says he needs more time to be sure it's "a true trend."  Attendance at a convention of Iraqi insurgents in Syria was underwhelming, though attendees were cautiously optimistic that they would be able to throw out the constitution, dissolve the parliament, cancel all resolutions issued from the Bremer era on, and disband the existing security forces after a US withdrawal.  Michael Yon's latest dispatch takes you inside a Tactical Operations Center, where attacks against insurgents are directed with help from an F-16 and a "Shadow" Unmanned Aerial Vehicle.

IRAQ in the MEDIA:  The New Republic's "Baghdad Diarist" is revealed to be Private Scott Thomas Beauchamp, as TNR continues to seek corroboration of his gruesome tales.  Did TNR know that Pvt. Beauchamp blogged about his antiwar views and ambition to write a book about his service?  Or that he used to be associated with the University of Missouri's creative writing program?  (Semiotician John Barnes must be smiling.)  Pvt. Beauchamp's statement at TNR complains that he is being questioned by people who didn't serve in Iraq, when in fact he was challenged by Iraq vets at blogs like the Mudville Gazette and Blackfive.  He was also challenged by Michael Yon, a former Green Beret who embedded at FOB Falcon.  Indeed, there seem to be any number of military-types who see Pvt. Beachamp as the typical company malcontent.  Columnist Jeff Emanuel is headed to FOB Falcon in September and has offered to help TNR independently investigate Pvt. Beachamp's war stories.  BONUS:  TNR apparently fired someone who revealed that Pvt. Beauchamp is married or engaged to a TNR reporter.  And the Army has launched an formal investigation into the matter, which will certainly end badly for Pvt. Beauchamp -- if his stories are true, heads will roll; if his stories are false, heads will roll.  But Pvt. Beauchamp may yet get his book deal, maybe even a movie deal; after all, it worked for Stephen Glass.

VORACIOUS GIANT SQUID are invading central California waters and preying on local anchovy, hake and other commercial fish populations.  So where's the Nautilus when you need it?

HORNY HEDGEHOGS are disturbing the peace in Germany.  Dins-dale!

IF YOUR ENGINE PURRS LIKE A KITTEN, check under the hood.

BRIAN the HAMSTER, who made a great escape after being dumped in a pile of rubbish, starts a brand new life... as a female.

THE CROW THREAT:  Just outside Enköping, Sweden, a crow flew into an electrical cable, burst into flames and set a field of hay on fire.