THROW ME THE STATUE goes on safari -- and to martial arts class --  for "Hi-Fi Goon."

YO LA TENGO played Washington, DC's 9:30 Club last Thursday; you can stream the gig on demand via NPR. Ira Kaplan talked to the Washington City Paper ahead of the show about the new Popular Songs LP.

SUPERDRAG did the four free songs thing for Daytrotter, including live audience participation on "Sucked Out."

ROGER McGUINN stopped by The Current for a chat and mini-set of Dylan covers, streaming now via MPR.

LANGHORNE SLIM also stopped by The Current for a chat and mini-set, streaming via MPR.

PAVEMENT's reunion (next year)  already has music bloggers re-posting the clip for "Cut Your Hair."

PEARL JAM has worked out various distribution deals for the Backspacer album, which you might still be able to stream in full today.

MERMAID AVENUE, VOL. 3 featuring more unpublished lyrics and unreleased songs of Woody Guthrie, will be recorded by Jay Farrar, instead of Billy Bragg and Wilco.

THE VIVIAN GIRLS get a meaty profile in the New York Times.

THE HARLEM SHAKES have split up, according to Brooklyn Vegan.

THE TOP 100 ALBUMS of the 2000s, according to The Rawking Refuses To Stop.

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE: Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs wins the weekend, taking in 30.1 million, based in part on its record number of 3-D screens.  This is about where folks thought it would be.  3-D flicks usually show good legs, and this one will need them, due to its 100 million budget.  The Informant! came in second with 10.5 million, which almost guarantees profit on a 22 million budget.  That's good news for director Steven Soderberg, who hasn't had a non-Ocean's hit since Traffic in 2000.  Tyler Perry's I Can Do Bad All By Myself drops to third with 10 million, a heavy 57 percent drop, but that's pretty common for Perry's movies. The opening weekend was already profitable, so this is gravy. Love Happens debuted as No.4, with 8.5 million; the low number of screens telling us that Universal knew what they had on their hands.  Jennifer's Body may have had Megan Fox and a script by Diablo cody on the hot subject of vampires, but it did not have much of an audience, rounding out the Top Five with a mere 6.8 million -- despite being on many more screens than Love Happens. Ouch.

JOHN TRAVOLTA will travel to the Bahamas to testify on behalf of the prosecution at the extortion trial involving the death of his son, Jett.

LINDSAY LOHAN was reportedly kicked out of the Bowery Hotel in NYC earlier this week after a blow-up fight with Samantha Ronson.

KHLOE KARDASHIAN and LAMAR ODOM are making wedding plans after dating for a month.

BRITNEY SPEARS deserves more respect, according to... Yoko Ono?

JENNIFER GARNER seriously pranked Ricky Gervais on the set of The Invention of Lying.

AL QAEDA warned that Germany would be attacked if Chancellor Merkel is re-elected and the country does not withdraw from Afghanistan. Meanwhile, the Afghan national at the center of a reputed Al Qaeda terror cell probe was trying to cut a deal Friday after two days of FBI grilling.  Three men have been arrested in the case so far.

IRAN: Ahmadinejad called the Holocaust a lie again on Friday, raising the stakes against Israel just as world powers try to decide how to deal with the nuclear ambitions of an Iran in political turmoil.  Ahmadinejad also said that Iran would "never" abandon its disputed nuclear program to appease Western critics.  A leaked report revealed that the UN inspection agency believes the Islamic republic has "sufficient information" to make a nuclear weapon and has "probably tested" a key component. Meanwhile, protests against the regime continue; Ahmadinejad had to cut short an interview on state-controlled television because chants of "Ahmadi! Ahmadi! Resign! Resign!" could clearly be heard in the background.

IRAQ: The government said talks with Syria have failed after the Syrians refused to hand over two Baathist leaders behind recent attacks in Baghdad.

BABY VS. CAT: Extreme patience.

A CHICKEN has been trekking up to the KFC in Jackson, Mississippi, nearly every day for the last few years.

A ROAD HOG makes trouble on I-80, outside Iowa City.

A FRANTIC KANGAROO storms the office of an Australian psychologist. The marsupial had issues.

BEARSHARKTOPUS: I'm hoping this is Photoshop.