THE WEEKEND STARTS HERE:

...with ECHO and the BUNNYMEN!  Live at the Royal Albert Hall, circa July 1983.  Your setlist includes: "Going Up," "With A Hip" and "All That Jazz"; "All My Colours (Zimbo)" and "Silver"; "The Cutter" and "The Killing Moon"; "Rescue" and "Never Stop"; and "Over the Wall." Your encores are "Crocodiles" and "Do It Clean."

GRANT HART has a chat and twofer with the World Cafe to promote Hot Wax, which arrived last fall after a 10-year hiatus.

THE CONSTANTINES did the four free songs thing for Daytrotter, one previously unreleased.

THE RETRIBUTION GOSPEL CHOIR stopped by The Current for a chat and mini-set, streaming via MPR.

ROCKY VOTOLATO is advance streaming the True Devotion LP via Paste.

NURSES did three free songs for Daytrotter, one previously unreleased.

GLOSSARY, a band hailing from Murfreesboro, TN, get a review and twofer from the World Cafe.

SHEARWATER drops a video for "Hidden Lakes," from The Golden Archipelago.

MY SHARONA:  Sharona Alperin, the subject of The Knack's signature hit, is profiled by the L.A. Times and the BBC. (Thx, TV's Andy Levy.)

WILCO: Jeff Tweedy talks to the Calgary Herald about the response to his latest work: "I think it's absurd..." (Thx, Chromewaves.)

SAM COOKE: His career is essayed at Gaper's Block.

GORDON LIGHTFOOT: The reports of his death were greatly exaggerated.

CUTOUT BIN: From the Replacements to the Beach Boys, from Marvin Gaye to Muse, from Jerry Lee Lewis to the Jesus & Mary Chain, plus CCR, the Go-Gos, the Morning Benders, Mickey & Sylvia and more -- this weekend's fortuitous finds are streaming from the Pate page at the ol' HM.

NOW SHOWING: This weekend's wide release is Martin Scorsese's Shutter Island, which is currently scoring 64 percent on the ol' Tomatometer.

TIGER WOODS: Will his wife be there when he makes his big public apology? Radar reports that she will be a no-show.

ANGELINA JOLIE: Did she have work done?

SIMON COWELL is denying online reports that he is engaged to American Idol makeup artist Mezhgan Hussainy.

JESSE JAMES and SANDRA BULLOCK got their dog back. Aw.

ROGER EBERT reviews the Esquire profile linked here yesterday.

GARY COLEMAN FREAKS OUT: Let's go to the video.

IRAN: An International Atomic Energy Agency report expresses worry that Iran may be working on a nuclear warhead, despite a 2007 US intelligence assessment that found the Islamic Republic stopped such work in 2003. The report by the new head of the IAEA, Yukiya Amano, appears to raise greater concerns about Iran's capabilities than the assessments of his predecessor, Mohamed ElBaradei. At some point, it should become obvious to the media that (a) the 2007 NIE was a political document drafted to protect the agencies that over-estimated Iraq's program; and (b) ElBaradei was never interested in stopping Iran from getting nuclear weapons. But I'm not betting on it.

PAKISTAN: A third senior Taliban leader was captured -- Mullah Mir Mohammed, "shadow governor" of Baghlan Province.  And there have been about a dozen arrests of Taliban leaders as part of this effort. Senior government officials claimed both Mullah Baradar and those arrested with him were giving information they believed would lead to others in the Taliban's new Karachi and Sindh headquarters. I have been rhetorically asking why Pakistan has started cooperating on this level. The answer may be that Pakistan feared losing influence within peace overtures between the US and the Afghan Taliban.

AFGHANISTAN: Snipers -- and sniper teams -- are the latest Taliban tactic against NATO forces in the Marja campaign.

WHEN A PELICAN ATTACKS: Let's go to the video.

CAPTAIN ROUS: The world's largest pet rodent is an Internet star.

A CIRCUS ZEBRA escaped his handler and led police on a chase through downtown Atlanta Thursday afternoon.

FAT BIRDS have more fun.

THE CANE TOAD PLAGUE down under has met its match. The key is... cat food?

SQUIRREL and CAT, living together...