BONNARUFUS!  The White Stripes, Lily Allen and Flaming Lips frontman Wayne Coyne were among those interviewed by Rufus from Pancake Mountain at the Bonnaroo festival.  Part One includes Coyne and Northern State's Hesta Prynn singing karaoke with Rufus (only slightly less fabulous than the classic Coyne-Rufus karaoke).  The Stripes are in both parts, but in Part Two, they teach Rufus "John the Revelator."  PLUS:  Jack White gives a more conventional interview to Pitchfork.

NEW RELEASES:  Kinda slow week, sad to say.  Ryan Adams is probably the premium platter.  Bad Brains, Beastie Boys, Scissors For Lefty and Bryan Ferry's Dylan covers are among those streaming from Spinner.  Frank Black has a "Best Of" compilation, with a new track or two.  And there's the new Nick Lowe LP I mentioned yesterday.

ROBERT POLLARD:  Somehow, I missed that Luna Music has put out Crickets: The Best of The Fading Captain Series as a 56-track double-disc.  Probably worth it just for the anthemic GbV live staple, "Alone, Stinking and Unafraid."

BOOKER T. and the M.G.'s:  1971's Melting Pot, which ranges from agitated funk to humid swamp-rock to revival-tent gospel and molasses-slow blues, is the current "Shadow Classic" at NPR, where you can stream three tracks.

THE NATIONAL:  The Boston Globe reports on the band's (not-so) sudden success, while guitarist Bryce Dessner disclosed six secrets to that success to the San Francisco Chronicle.

MIKE WATT + the MISSINGMEN cover "Three Girl Rhumba" and "Ex-Lion Tamer" from Wire's classic Pink Flag LP for Twofer Tuesday.

VINYL:  Don't call it a comeback, but those round, black objects that sound better than MP3s continue a resurgence in indie circles.

THE LONG WINTERS:  John Roderick does the Daytrotter interview, along with the usual free songs to stream and download.

THE 100 WORST COVER SONGS, according to Retrocrush, with a fair amount of embedded video.

PETE DOHERTY-KATE MOSS UPDATE:  The supposedly sober supermodel and the troubled singer play Cleopatra and Brando in their first joint ad campaign.

FRENCH HOTEL at the GREYBAR HOTEL:  Barbara Walters says doing a post-jail interview with the heirhead would be "tawdry" and beneath her.  Yet when her network was still bidding for that interview, Walters was publicly floating the idea of having the celebutante co-host The View.  BONUS:  Her appearance on Larry King Live is bumping Michael Moore off the show Wednesday night.

ROSIE O'DONNELL confirms that it's unlikely that she will get The Price Is Right gig she coveted.  Don't be shocked if she resurfaces on MSNBC, where she could better showcase her special brand of crazy.

EVA LONGORIA and TONY PARKER are selling their wedding photos to OK! magazine for more than two million bucks.

NICOLE KIDMAN is the new face of... wait for it... Nintendo?

JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE reportedly threw things and spat at his fans from a hotel balcony in Sweden.  At least no babies were dangled.

TOM-KAT UPDATE:  Cruise is launching a PR campaign for the rebirth of United Artists as a slap at Sumner Redstone, who nixed Cruise's renewal at Paramount.  However, UA's second pic, in which Cruise will play Claus von Stauffenberg -- a leading figure in a failed 1944 assassination attempt on Adolf Hitler -- is "bound to be rubbish," according to the Stauffenberg family.  Indeed, Germany has barred the fimmakers from using German military sites because Cruise is a Scientologist.

TMZ, oft linked here, is the subject of a New York Times piece on the site's financial success and growing clout in Tinseltown.

A MIGHTY HEART:  Asra Q. Nomani, one of Daniel Pearl's colleagues at The Wall Street Journal, is not thrilled at the amount of license taken by the movie: "Danny had a cameo in his own murder."

INDIANA JONES has put his hat on again, incymi.

WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE: /film has the first photo from the Spike Jonze adaptation of the Maurice Sendak classic. 

WITHOUT BREASTS, THERE IS NO PARADISE:  That's the name of the successful Colombian telenovela NBC is developing as a likely primetime project.

JOHNNY DEPP clearly was not expecting a kiddie pirate musical to break out on Japanese TV.

ROBOTS:  Doing the jobs migrant farm workers just won't do.

AUSTRALIA'S NEW TOP MUSLIM CLERIC declares his support for Hezbollah.  He had already  refused to accept Osama bin Laden was responsible for the 9/11 attacks.

TERROR in the GAZA STRIP:  Palestinian intelligence chief Tawfiq al-Tirawi says Iran played a big role in the seizure of the Gaza Strip.  Al-Qaeda deputy leader Ayman al-Zawahri called on Muslims worldwide to back Hamas with weapons, money and attacks on US and Israeli interests, urging Hamas to unite with al-Qaeda after its takeover of Gaza.  An AQ cell in Egypt is also calling for support of Hamas.

IRAQ:  Michael Yon reports that some AQI leaders may be trapped in Baqubah.  He also notes that "Whereas the Iraqi Army is coming into the fight, and playing increasingly critical roles, the local police force is less impressive."  The AQI had installed Sharia courts that -- among other things -- sanctioned the amputation of the two "smoking fingers" for those who violated anti-smoking laws.  US and Iraqi forces discovered what appeared to be an Al Qaeda-run "execution house" as well.  Not to mention an entire neighborhood rigged with explosives.  As Gen. Petraeus suggested the other day, AQI is launching its own "surge" in the form of a wave of suicide bombings killing dozens in Baghdad, Hilla and Baiji.  The Baghdad hotel bombing killed six Iraqi tribal leaders opposed to AQI.  In Newsweek, Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari describes the relationship between Iraqi Prime Minister al-Maliki and Gen, Petraeus, as "difficult."  There is continued support for the "surge" in Baghdad, if the writing on the walls is any indicator.  GRAIN OF SALT:  London's Sun reports that Iranian forces are being choppered over the Iraqi border to bomb British troops in the south.

THE HARE THREAT:  A hoarde of hares recently closed Milan's Linate Airport, after confusing radar equipment and getting caught in the wheels of at least two aircraft during take-off and landing.  Let's go to the video.

THE WORM THREAT:  Turns out the wrigglers produce a significant amount of greenhouse gases.

A BOA CONSTRICTOR will usually squeeze its prey, but it will also bite you in the face, as snake "expert" Brady Barr found out while filming a show for the National Geographic Channel.  Pics at the link.

PET HOARDING:  I was reminded to note the over 50 dogs found in "deplorable condition" in NY, as well as the 43 dead cats placed in a refrigerator alongside condiments and other food items in Quebec by a German Press Agency story of vets calling animal hoarding a mental illness.  Who'da thunkit?

THE LOCH NESS MONSTER:  The latest theory is that it's an elephant.  No, really.