THE WEEKEND STARTS HERE:

...with THE SWEET!  The bubble-glam rockers are probably best known for the trifecta of "Little Willy," "Ballroom Blitz" and "Fox on the Run," though they also charted with the harder-edged "Action" and the more ballad-y "Love is Like Oxygen."  All of those clips also feature the band's rather unique fashion sense, but you have to see the clip for "Wig Wam Bam" -- complete with headdress -- to see the band at its most ridiculous.

YUCK: Formed by childhood friends with a shared love for guitars and fuzz and melody, this band proves that lo-fi rock is in rude health.  But singer Danny Blumberg hasn't put much thought into labels. At the moment, it's easy to find streaming tracks on the ol' HM.

IVAN & ALYOSHA play a Tiny Desk Concert at the offices of NPR. Tim Wilson talks to Boise Weekly about th band as it kicks off a tour. (Thx, LHB.)

SONGS IN THE KEY OF PHILLY: A streaming mega-playlist from WXPN.

THE BEATLES: Artifacts, The Definite Collection Of Beatles Rarities 1958-1970.

THE ROLLING STONES, Live at Leeds, March 13, 1971.

THE REPLACEMENTS, Live at the Ritz Theater, NYC; July 27, 1987.

NICOLE ATKINS covers Roy Orbison's classic, "Crying" unpluggedy.

DEERHOOF guitarist Ed Rodriguez talks to Muzzle of Bees about the Deerhoof vs. Evil, the band's new label, their self-leaking of the album, and some of their favorite records.

THE SMITHS: Andy Rourke talks to the HuffPo about his time in Manchester's iconic band, the 80's music scene, music today and his current endeavors.

BRIGHT EYES: Conor Oberst talks to Vanity Fair about spirituality, aging, protest songs and the perils of writing confessional lyrics.

THE 50 DRUGGIEST ALBUMS, according to NME.

CUTOUT BIN: From John Williams to Led Zeppelin, from Queen to The Clash, from R.E.M. to The Heavy, plus the dB's, Beatles, Big Country, J. Geils, the Soul Survivors and more  -- this Friday's fortuitous finds are now streaming from the Pate page at the ol' HM.

NOW SHOWING: This weekend's wide releases include: the Sandler-Aniston rom-com Just Go With It, which is currently scoring 14 percent on the ol' Tomatometer; Justin Bieber: Never Say Never, currently scoring 60 percent; the animated Gnomeo and Juliet, scoring 51 percent; and The Eagle with 43 percent.

LINDSAY LOHAN tried walking out of the store with a diamond earring days before the necklace incident at the center of her felony case, according to the police report... but that report has inconsistencies a defense attorney could exploit.  She's interested in a no-jail plea deal (no, shinola, Sherlock).

SCARLETT JOHANSSON: Simtten with Sean Penn? That's one of the signs of the apocalypse, isn't it?

TOM CRUISE & KATIE HOLMES (and a custom RV) turn up in a story about the FBI's investigation of the CoS for human trafficking and using free labor.

CHARLIE SHEEN and Brooke Mueller have filed final divorce papers, and now they just have to wait it out a few months before they're officially former spouses.

KELSEY GRAMMER is officially divorced.

CRISPIN GLOVER talks to The Guardian, as odd as ever.

X-MEN: FIRST CLASS, the retro-prequel, now has a trailer online.

FERRIS BUELLER'S DAY OFF: Baseball Prosepectus figured out which Cubs game the gang attended in this part of the movie... and the day on which the gang was filmed at Wrigley Field.

ABRAHAM LINCOLN: Happy 202nd birthday to the 16th President of the United States. Two things you may not have known about Honest Abe: (1) he was an early adopter of the telegraph; and (2) he once sported a punky haircut.

PAKISTANI officials said Pres. Obama's national security advisor summoned Pakistan's ambassador to the White House Monday evening to deliver a threat from the president: Release Raymond Davis, an American being held in Lahore for killing two Pakistanis, or face the consequences.

EGYPT: The Lede continues to provide updates on street protests in Egypt. The big surprise yesterday that Mubarak is not leaving (though the spin is that he transferred his powers to VP Suleiman) likely means protests and possible revolt in the streets today, leaving open the question of how the military will respond.

IRAN: Opposition leader Mehdi Karroubi is under house arrest after calling for renewed street protests against the government. Opposition websites reported a series of arrests of political activists and journalists as the regime struggles to prevent the news of the planned protest from spreading. The Netherlands froze diplomatic relations with Iran over the execution of a Dutch-Iranian citizen. Iran's envoy to Russia said Iran is ready to resume talks with the West over a nuclear fuel-swap deal.

NIGEL GOES SLEDDING: Let's go to the video.

FERAL PIGS: Huge, ever-growing packs of wild swine are running rampant, destroying crops, killing wildlife and spreading disease everywhere they go, according to the US Dept. of Agriculture.

SNAKE attacks lawyer. Lack of professional courtesy punchline goes here.

RUBIX the CAT: Shot 19 times and lives. Sure, it was a BB gun, but still impressive.