THE ST. PATRICK'S DAY WEEKEND STARTS HERE:

...with JOE STRUMMER and THE POGUES!  There will be much parading and drinking this weekend, so enjoy Joe, Shane and the band putting a Celtic spin on "London Calling" and "I Fought The Law" for St. Patrick's Day, 1988. Follow that up with the Dropkick Murphys' videos for "I'm Shipping Up to Boston" (which you may have heard in Martin Scorsese's The Departed) and "The Wild Rover."  Round it out with an Old Grey Whistle Test of my Fave Pogues songs, "Sally MacLennane" and a Shamrock Shake.

SWEET APPLE: A new combo led by Dinosaur Jr's J. Mascis drops "I Got a Feeling (That Won't Change)" as an advance track to their debut LP. Yum.

THE SOFT PACK played a mini-set at the World Cafe.

THE BIRD & BEE: Filter rounds up all the streams from the band's Hall & Oates tribute LP.

SERENA-MANEESH are advance streaming S-M 2: Abyss In B Minor (and premiering the video for "I Just Want To See Your Face") at the 'Gum. 

WILL SCHEFF interviews ROKY ERICKSON to promote their collaboration.

THE NATIONAL debuted "Terrible Love" on Late Night TV.

FANFARLO arrives for SxSW and talks to the Daily Texan and Spinner. (Thx, Chromewaves.)

THE HOLD STEADY will advance release their next album on vinyl, for Record Store Day. And "Sequestered in Memphis" is now available on Rock Band. (Thx, television's Andy Levy.)

OK GO leaves EMI after long-running disputes over their video promotion.

PINK FLOYD stops EMI from selling their songs individually online.

BILLY CORGAN Has No Love for Courtney.

THE CUTOUT BIN: From Red Kross to Bob Dylan, from Dusty Springfield to Faith No More, from the Isley Bros to Men Without Hats, plus Spoon, That Petrol Emotion, the Cars, Joe Cocker, Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich and more -- this weekend's fortuitous finds are streaming from the Pate page at the ol' HM.

NOW SHOWING: This weekend's wide releases include: Green Zone, which is currently scoring 50 percent on the ol' Tomatometer; She's Out of My League, currently scoring 47 percent; Remember Me, scoring 31 percent; and Our Family Wedding at 05 percent.

COREY HAIM had pulmonary congestion, an enlarged heart and water in his lungs, according to the L.A. County Coroner's Office, but the Coroner has not determined that any of those conditions caused Haim's death.  Law enforcement sources tell TMZ the pill bottles retrieved in the apartment of Haim's mother are hydrocodone (Vicodin), diazepam (Valium), haloperidol (an antipsychotic med) and Soma (a muscle relaxer).

SEAN PENN was thanked by Hugo Chavez for defending him in the media. And by 'defending," he means ranting on HBO that Chavez's critics should be jailed.

CHARLIE SHEEN's defense in the domestic violence case against him in Colorado will be: It never happened.

CONAN O'BRIEN isn't making a single cent off his upcoming 30 city comedy tour, but is employing his former "Tonight Show" staff.

RICHARD BELZER denies chokng an Apple Store employee.

HEIDI MONTAG has dumped husband Spencer Pratt... as her business manager.

MERLIN OLSEN, who starred with the old Los Angeles Rams and later became a broadcaster and actor ("Little House on the Prairie" and "Father Murphy"), has died at age 69 in Los Angeles. He had mesothelioma, a form of cancer.

PAKISTAN: How Not to Wage a Counter-Insurgency. Meanwhile, Pakistan's spy chief has been granted an unusual one-year extension in his job, a move that may also pave the way for a longer term for the head of the army, Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, who is scheduled to step down this year.

AFGHANISTAN: US and Afghan officials are beginning a major overhaul of the Afghan police with the goal of cleaning up a force whose recent history of corruption has undermined confidence in the Afghan government and fueled the insurgency.

CAT & DOG, living uneasily together... Mass hysteria!

A ZOMBIE ELEPHANT CALF believed to have died during a nine-day labor is feeding itself and has earned the nickname "Mr. Shuffles" since learning to stand.

A NEWLY DISCOVERED WASP enslaves spiders, then eats them.

HOW CAN I help my dog age gracefully?

GIANT SNAILS illegally smuggled into Florida for religious rituals.

CHIHUAHUA escapes after being carried away by large bird. Aw. (Thx, Duchess.)

BROKEN BELLS stripped down "The High Road" at the Ed Sullivan Theater.

MGMT drop "Flash Delirium" as an advance track to their Congratulations LP. You can stream it via Spinner.

THE WATSON TWINS stopped by Morning Becomes Eclectic for a chat and mini-set.

LAURA VEIRS also stopped by Morning Becomes Eclectic for a chat and mini-set.

SxSW: All Songs Considered is streaming a sampler, but torrent listeners can listen to torrents of all MP3s submitted for the festival.

JOAN JETT & THE BLACKHEARTS drop "Cherry Bomb" on Jay to promote The Runaways movie. Here's Dakota Fanning's version.

THE TOP 10 GEEK ANTHEMS, according to CNN, with embedded audio.

LIARS talk to Prefix about NYC, LA, and performing in a chair.

LAURA MARLING talks to The Observer about her second album, I Speak Because I Can, and about seeing her personal life dissected in the press.

DEER TICK: John McCauley talks to MOG about the infamous Pitchfork review, his pill-popping adolescence, his new collab with the Delta Spirit, and why he needs to be babysat.

OK GO: I am informed by television's Andy Levy that frontman Damian Kulash will be appearing on FNC's Red Eye late tonight to discuss the band's latest video.

COREY HAIM died yesterday of an apparent overdose -- possibly accidental. He was 38. As a member of "The Lost Boys," Haim helped pioneer the genre of teen vampire cinema. Corey Feldman issued a statement, natch.

DEMI MOORE gave daughter Rumer Willis a pole-dancing lesson at a party at the Chateau Marmont hotel in Hollywood.

24's time is almost up.

JENNIFER ANISTON and GERARD BUTLER continue to flog the faux relationship rumors to promote The Bounty Hunter.

FARRAH FAWCETT wasn't included in the Academy Awards' In Memoriam segment on purpose because the actress was better known as a TV star.

CHRISTOPHER NOLAN, director of The Dark Knight, speaks cryptically about his Superman reboot.

THE WIZARD OF OZ might get an "Alice in Wonderland"-style re-imagining.

JIHAD JANE: Federal prosecutors filed charges against Colleen R. LaRose of Pennsburg, Pennsylvania, with plotting to murder an individual in Europe and providing material support to terrorists.

IRAN: With the apparent failure of Obama's initiative to open negotiations, the administration turns toward support of the opposition and a focus on sanctions targeting the powerful Revolutionary Guard. The US will now allow exporting social media technology to Iran, as the regime cracks down on Internet-based opposition.

IRAQ: As troops massed on his border near the start of the Persian Gulf War, Saddam Hussein weighed the purchase of a 150 million dollar nuke "package" deal that included not only weapons designs but also production plants and foreign experts to supervise the building of a nuclear bomb, according to documents uncovered by a former UN weapons inspector.

BURRITO, THE GOLFING DOG: Let's go to the video.

VOMITING VULTURES are a long-standing problem in Greeneville, TN.

A BURMESE PYTHON is on the loose in a housing estate in Lingwood, Northampton.

PARROT REPOSSESSED: Bank of America apologizes.

SHE & HIM are "In the Sun." Zooey. Dancing.

IAN McCULLOCH of Echo and the Bunnymen did the four free songs thing for Daytrotter.

CURSIVE dropped a new track, "Discovering America," at the 'Gum.

THE BIRD & BEE are streaming "Sara Smile" from their Hall & Oates tribute via Entertainment Weekly.

CAROLINA CHOCOLATE DROPS got a lengthy feature plus tracks on Fresh Air.

SPOON "Got Nuffin" but rawk at the Ed Sullivan Theater.

NEIL YOUNG & RONNIE VAN ZANDT: Thrasher's Wheat looks at the pseudo-feud between two classic rockers. (Thx, LHB.)

BASIA BULAT talks to the Portland Mercury about her autoharp and her Subaru commercial.

MAJOR RECORD LABELS are still important, say major record labels!

RADIO SILENCE: The Slow Death of Rock 'n Roll on the Airwaves.

TRON: LEGACY has new trailer online.

LINDSAY LOHAN is suing the financial company E-Trade, insisting that a boyfriend-stealing, "milkaholic" baby in its latest commercial - who happens to be named Lindsay - was modeled after her.

CHARLIE SHEEN will be out of rehab to resume taping his hit show Two and a Half Men on March 19.

TIGER WOODS and his wife were... wait for it... caught canoodling, according to the ever-reliable RadarOnline.

MICHAEL JACKSON enjoyed spending time with his children, cruising the Vegas strip and even ordering fast food through a drive through, but his life was filled with "stress, paranoia and pain," according to three of his former bodyguards.

CONAN O'BRIEN is following one person on Twitter -- and it has changed her life.

DAVID LETTERMAN: Robert "Joe" Halderman pleaded guilty to attempted grand larceny, acknowledging he tried to chisel two million from the late-night icon. The plea deal also spares Letterman the prospect of a trial that could have put his private life on display.

HEIDI MONTAG is poking fun at her own 10 plastic surgeries.

CAPTAIN AMERICA may well be John Krasinski -- which gives me the exact opposite feeling I had about Robert Downey, Jr., as Iron Man. Small wonder that Marvel is expanding its search.

THE REAL HURT LOCKER: Foreign Policy has a photo essay of an actual Iraq Bomb Disposal Unit.

AFGHANISTAN: Defense Secretary Gates says recent military offensives against the Taliban in southern Afghanistan had gained momentum but that a reconciliation effort proposed by Afghan Pres. Karzai was unlikely in the near term to cause senior Taliban leaders to lay down their arms.  Indeed, the Taliban has been fighting their allies Hezb-i-Islami -- which may prove to be a major boon to Afghan President Hamid Karzai.

BUCKING BULL escapes Texas rodeo.

RASCAL took the Ugliest Dog title in Del Mar, California this year. Slideshow of nominees at the link.

PABS: A chastity belt for dogs.

A GREAT WHITE SHARK is photographed painfully close to caged divers. Did no one see this movie?

JOANNA NEWSOM played "Soft As Chalk" at 30 Rock, but not on 30 Rock.  Add in Flett Foxes' Robin Peckhold rehearsing a cover of her "On a Good Day," and you have Twofer Tuesday.

NEW RELEASES: Broken Bells, Ted Leo, Pavement, BRMC, Morning Benders, Jason Collett, Besnard Lakes, The Runaways' soundtrack, and more are streaming this week via Spinner.

THE WHITE STRIPES are advance streaming their live album via NPR.

THE BIRD & BEE are serving up "She's Gone" and "One on One" from their upcoming Hall & Oates tribute LP.

BEN SOLEE and DANIEL MARTIN MOORE did the four free songs thing for Daytrotter, all upcoming or unreleased.

THE KINKS: "Victoria," live in Rhode Island, circa 1979.

LIARS talk to Pitchfork about how living in different cities has impacted their music, the group's creative process, and the merits of escapist music during dark times.

BESNARD LAKES: Captain Jace Lasek gives a decidedly trippy interview to The Quietus.

SPARKLEHOUSE: PopMatters is among those paying tribute to the late Mark Linkous.

TOM MORELLO is contributing to the soundrack for Iron Man 2.

IRON MAN 2: Speaking of which, here's the new trailer.

THE OSCARS had their best ratings in years, which is not surprising given the rise in movie attendance in the past year, and the fact that they nominated big hits like Avatar, instead of snubbing them (as they did last time with The Dark Knight).  Salon probes the show's "Kanye moment."  More folks are upset that Farrah Fawcett and Bea Arthur were left out of the memorial clip.

MO'NIQUE was apparently a rude pain in the rear to Barbara Walters. Shocka.

SEAN PENN was banned from the post-Oscars Governors Ball after a confrontation with Hurt Locker producer Greg Shapiro, who just happens to be dating Penn's ex, Robin Wright.

MILEY CYRUS thinks that she are her co-star/by are "deeper than normal people,"  Which is what a lot of teenagers think about themselves.

BETTY WHITE will appear on Saturday Night Live in the near future.

JOHN HUGHES: The late writer has at least one unproduced screenplay that may go into production.

ROMAN POLANSKI's wife is officially bummed out that her fugitive, child-molesting husband may have to face justice.

IRAN: Vitol, Glencore, and Trafigura agreed to stop supplying refined petroleum products to Iran. China signed a deal with Iran that allows it to drill in the Persian Gulf.

AFGHANISTAN: Gen. McChrystal talks about lessons of the Marja offensive, esp. for future ops in Kandahar.

IRAQ: Candidates and coalitions began positioning themselves in an evolving political landscape on Monday, following an election on Sunday that keeps the withdrawal of American troops on pace.

TRAMPOLINE DOG: Let's go to the video.

THE SQUIRREL THREAT: Militant rodents fashion helmets from coconuts.

SWISS DOGS lost their bid for legal rights.

A BABY MAMMOTH is going on display at Chicago's Field Museum. Yes, they have extracted DNA. What could go wrong?

SPARKLEHORSE: Mark Linkous took his own life over the weekend, an event all the more tragic in light of his near-death experience in the Nineties.  Many will pay tribute by linking his collaboration with Radiohead's Thom Yorke on Pink Floyd's "Wish You Were Here," but Frank Yang adds covers of Rod Stewart's "Maggie Mae" and GbV's "Smothered in Hugs." Fans can look forward to the posthumous, delayed release of Dark Night of the Soul, a collaboration with Danger Mouse and director David Lynch.

JIMI HENDRIX -- and the posthumous Valleys of Neptune -- got a lengthy feature from the World Cafe.

TODD SNIDER played the World Cafe on Friday; you can stream the whole gig on demand via NPR.

MEGAFAUN did the four free songs thing for Daytrotter.

RY COODER & THE CHIEFTAINS are advance streaming San Patricio, which is Spanish for St. Patrick, but which is probably not about what you might think.

REDBONE: "Come and Get Your Love."

SHE & HIM both talk to BlackBook about inspirations outside music.

JOANNA NEWSOM talks to The Independent about the structure of her triple LP and her beverages of choice.

ROGUE WAVE: The Boston Globe and The A.V. Club both cover the band's new, more danceable turn.

THE CLIENTELE talks to the L.A. Times about how a British band ends up with West Coast influences.

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE: Alice in Wonderland blew away expectations with a 116.3 million debut, far beyond the tracking estimates of 65-75 million (mind you, Avatar opened with 77 million).  It's the sixth biggest opening ever, and the biggest March opening ever.  Brooklyn's Finest's second place debut also exceeded expectations, bringing in 13.5 million.  Shutter Island drops to No. 3, but a 41 percent drop -- and another 13.3 million -- isn't bad at all.  The No.4 film, Cop Out, drops 50 percent, but has made back its production budget and is (sadly) Kevin Smith's biggest movie.  Avatar rounds out the Top Five, dropping 44 percent as it lost IMAX screens and 3-D screens to Alice.

THE OSCARS went to these folks. Kudos to The Hurt Locker and director Katherine Bigelow, to Best Actor Jeff Bridges (Dude!) and Sandra Bullock for collecting hers in person. James Cameron had to consloe himself with a midnight swim in his money bin. Kudos to the Academy for doing a special tribute to the late John Hughes. Anti-kudos for leaving Farrah Fawcett out of the memoriam montage.

THE RAZZIES went to these folks. Special kudos to Sandra Bullock for collecting hers in person.

THE INDEPENDENT SPIRIT AWARDS went to these folks. Congrats to (500) Days of Summer for Best Screenplay.

ANGELINA JOLIE had an affair with Mick Jagger whilst he was still married to Jerry Hall, a new book has sensationally claimed.

TOM CRUISE was reportedly injured in a motorcycle accident, though I presume he healed himself with his Scientology powers.

NICOLE KIDMAN was replaced by 17-year-old Selena Gomez on Monte Carlo, a movie produced by Kidman.

SEAN PENN wishes that his critics "die screaming of rectal cancer," because he's so compassionate.

MICKEY ROURKE boasted of sleeping with 14 women in one night, according to the ever-reliable Sun.

BEN ROETHLISBERGER: The Steelers QB has been accused of sexual assault by a young woman in Georgia.

IRAN is building a massive rocket launch site with North Korean assistance, Israel Radio quoted IHS Jane's as reporting overnight Friday.  Ahmadinejad on Saturday called the September 11 attacks on the United States a "big fabrication" that was used to justify the US war on terrorism.

PAKISTAN: American born Al Qaeda member, Adam Gadahn, may or may not have been arrested.

IRAQ: Violent attacks on election day didn't stop large numbers of Iraqis from successfully casting their votes in key parliamentary elections Sunday.

A BABY BUNNY and  A FLOWER: Let's go to the video.

A MONKEY that has eluded capture in the Tampa Bay area for more than a year has again escaped from Florida wildlife officials.

DOGS may get the right to an attorney in Switzerland.

SHARK ATTACKS are on the decline. Gonna need a smaller boat. I blame global warming.