THE BASEBALL PROJECT impressed Letterman last week with "Past Time," the lead-off track from their new album.  It's an All-Star lineup.

THE DEAD MILKMEN will reunite to headline an evening during the Fun Fun Fun Festival being held November 8 and 9 at Waterloo Park in Austin, TX.

THE AEROVONS, in all of their Beatle-esque glory, are blurbed with streaming tracks at WFMU. Totally gear.

RUSH will be appearing on The Colbert Report tonight. Alert Craig O'Neill.

THE FLAMING LIPS: Wayne Coyne talks to the newly-launched The Quietus about the band's next LP: "Some of it sounds like John Lennon, but if he got together with Miles Davis and they went back in time, but there was a supercomputer that they could figure out how to work!"

R.E.M. goes C.G.I. for the new clip of "Man-Sized Wreath," premiering at Spinner.

LYKKE LI is profiled in the Times of London, with a video link. Interesting comments on Portugal and Sweden also.

BODIES OF WATER does the four free songs thing for Daytrotter. Languid and jammy.

CROOKED FINGERS is going direct to retail with the upcoming Forfeit/Fortune album. Eric Bachmann tells Billboard: "We realized that we could sell a fraction of the number of copies the last albums sold and still be more profitable if we decided not to sign a label or distribution deal."

BEN & JERRY & ELTON: Hello, Yellow Brickle Road.

SIENNA MILLER has been caught frolicking in the nude with married father of four Balthazar Getty - but don't call her a homewrecker.

MADONNA is "loving" the attention she's getting from the Alex Rodriguez scandal, friends said - and as of Sunday, she was reportedly planning to cheering him on her close friend at last night's All-Star game at Yankee Stadium.  Her rep denied it.

LINDSAY LOHAN is making all the right moves in satisfying her DUI probation requirement -- including a trip to the morgue.

GYLLENSPOON: Jake has to play by the rules at Reese's house.

UMA THURMAN pregnant... or just a little overweight?

DR. HORRIBLE'S SING-ALONG BLOG, a 'net musical created by Joss Whedon (Buffy, Firefly) and starring Neil Patrick Harris, Nathan Fillion and Felicia Day, is a site-crashing success.  You can try to watch Act I on the new server.

MEGAN FOX was forced to gain 10 pounds in three weeks for her role in the second "Transformers" movie following a dramatic and dangerous weight loss for her last film, "Jennifer's Body."

DAVID LEE ROTH impersonator identified by the Ontario Provincial Police.

IRAN: A top US diplomat will for the first time join colleagues from other world powers in meeting with Iran's chief nuclear negotiator, according to the AP.

IRAQ: AQI conducted a successful dual suicide attack on an Army recruiting center in Baqubah as the Iraqi military is preparing to launch a new offensive in Diyala province. More than 250 new lieutenants joined the Iraqi Army and Air Force after graduating from the Iraqi Military Academy Rustamiyah July, 14. Parliament failed to approve a draft provincial elections law on Tuesday because of disagreement over what to do about voting in the disputed oil city of Kirkuk.

"LUCKY GRILLS," a male koala, cheated death after being hit by a car at 100 kmh (about 60 mph) and dragged with his head jammed through the vehicle grill for 12 kms (about 7 miles) by an unwitting motorist north of Brisbane.  Let's go to the video.

MIRACLE KITTY "EDISON" survives a suspected microwave cooking.

A CHEEKY RAM is certainly not the black sheep of the family after he made himself at home in his rescuer's house.  Pics at the link.

ORPHANED WHITE TIGER CUBS are bottle-fed at a German zoo.  Awww...some pics at the link.

GREAT WHITE SHARK turns up dead on a beach near Sheep Pond Road in Nantucket. A second reported sighting turned out to be a hoax... or so they say.  What say you, Police Chief Brody?

FEIST comes to play "1 2 3 4" on Sesame Street.  Four is one less than five, one more than three.

NEW RELEASES: The Hold Steady, Black Kids, BadReligion, Little Jackie, John Mellencamp and more are streaming in full this week via Spinner. Wire releases Object 47. The Del Fuegos reissue their first three albums.

THE HOLD STEADY is profiled by Joshua Ferris for New York magazine and by Michaelangelo Matos for Salon.

THROW ME THE STATUE does the three free songs thing for Daytrotter. Fab light pop for a summer's day.

GUNS N' ROSES plans to put out a new song in September - on the video game Rock Band 2. The inclusion of the song on a game suggests that the Guns N' Roses album "Chinese Democracy" will come out this fall, after years of delays.  And we will all get our free can of Dr. Pepper.

OTTER (featuring Friend of Pate Scott Jasper) will be playing the Progressive at 118 Hayward in Ames tonight at 8:30, if you're in town....

CAT STEVENS performs energetic versions of both "The Wind" and "Moonshadow" in a single clip from 1976, just so for Twofer Tuesday.

OF MONTREAL frontman Kevin Barnes talks to YANP's Matt Jordan about the band's upcoming album.

THE MIXTAPE: Don't call it a comeback. "Nowadays, any old Casanova can whip off six CD burns in a night for six different girls. Where does that leave the nerds of the world, who once, at least, had the advantage of elite musical knowledge and a social life barren enough to put in the time and effort required to select, compile and record the tracks for a cassette tape? *** Mix tapes can also have mass appeal. The genres of mix tape are many and varied, though the most common is the courtship tape and its corollary, the break-up tape... There's the walking tape, the summer tape, the dance party tape."

THE JAMES BROWN COLLECTION: Place your bids at Christies.  BONUS: USA Today covers the rock memorabilia market.

 THE BEATLES come to the iPod... but only 100 of them.

JIMMY KIMMEL & SARAH SILVERMAN have called it quits after five years of dating, by mutual agreement. Matt Damon and Ben Affleck were unavailable for comment.

WILL & JADA PINKETT SMITH apparently have an open marriage,

JENNIFER LOPEZ & MARC ANTHONY are going through nanines like cocktail peanuts. J-Lo also apparently insists on dressing her five-month-old twins in new designer gear every day.

MADONNA's estranged brother, Christopher Ciccone, characterized her husband, Guy Ritchie, as a homophobe who destroyed Ciccone's close relationship with his sister. Ciccone also said that his "controlling" star sister is beginning to "crack" under the pressure of turning 50 and is struggling to maintain her choreographed, mythological image. Video and a book excert at the link.  AdAge's Bonnie Fuller claims Madge has just proven once again that she is the No. 1 marketer in the nation, maybe even in the world.

MISS USA Crystle Stewart stumbled over her gown and toppled over at the Miss Universe pageant. It was the second year in a row that a Miss USA has fallen over at the contest. Pics and video at the link.

THE DARK KNIGHT: New York magazine film critic David Edelstein is public enemy number one after publishing the first negative review of the much-anticipated and lauded The Dark Knight. Batman fans and fellow critics are firing back, saying he just didn't "get" the film.  The New Yorker's David Denby has since delivered a negative review; I'm aware of others not yet in print.  However, it's stil scoring 88 percent at RottenTomatoes at the moment.

JESSICA SIMSPON stepped out with Tony Romo, dressed like a pr0n star.  Which is not great, but probably better than if Romo dressed that way.

HEF'S HAREM HOSTILE? Rumors are swirling about the discontent brewing in the Playboy manse between Hugh Hefner's youngest "girlfriend," Kendra Wilkinson and his other ladies, Bridget Marquardt and Holly Madison.

PERIL AT PARAMOUNT?  The studio is denying the financing crisis detailed in tomorrow's Financial Times.  The paper claims Paramount was forced to suspend plans for a 450 million dollar film financing that would have funded up to 30 films, including possible blockbusters such as the sequel to Transformers and the new version of Star Trek.

IRAN: Pres. Ahmadinejad said on state TV that he would again go to New York to attend this year's UN General Assembly session. The regime arrested two student leaders after massive protests that were held last week, on the 9th anniversary of the most widespread and violent public protests since the early years of the Iranian Revolution.

IRAQ: Prime Minister Maliki may not support a timetable for withdrawal of US troops after all.  Their national-security adviser,  Muwaffaq al-Rubaie, emphasized that the Iraqi government wants broad, general "timeline horizons," depending on the readiness of the Iraqi security forces. Iraq and the US have agreed on most points of the joint cooperation agreement.  Baghdad is going solar to improve security and relaibility. Seventy insurgents surrendered to US forces in Baiji. An Iraqi SWAT team detained two Special Groups operatives during raids in Hillah and Al Kut.

LIKE A BULL crashing a pool party.  Exactly like that, actually.

AN AFRICAN LION is loose near Colorado Springs -- or it's a big dog. Hard to tell, really.

JUMPING THE SHARK jumps the shark. BONUS: Leave the sharks, take the cannoli.

JANOSCH the CAT climbed unnoticed into an open box and was shipped 700 km in the parcel across Germany but emerged from the journey unscathed.

BISEXUAL KOALA ORGIES, and other tales from the Wid Kingdom.

THE HOLD STEADY play a 5-song set for The interface. Craig Finn and Tad Kubler talk to the Wall Street Journal about tracks on the Stay Positive album that officially comes out tomorrow; audio clips at the link.  Finn also talks to Gothamist about the album, having a higher profile, and more...

THE FACES -- minus the late Ronnie Lane -- are reportedly reuniting for a tour, and possibly an album.  Ian McLagan tells the BBC: "I think what we'd probably do is a couple of gigs in London and then there's talk of some in America. I think we should do Austin to rock Austin. I don't care about LA but I mean Chicago and Detroit - they made the Faces."  Guitarist Ronnie Wood may be looking to get out of the house now that he's fallen for an 18-year-old Russian waitress.

XPoNENTIAL MUSIC FEST gigs from artists like Alejandro Escovedo and Beth Orton should be streaming on demand via NPR by the time you read this.

THE SUB POP SINGLES CLUB: The Return of the Return of Khan.

PATRICK PARK does the four free songs thing for Daytrotter, which calls them "examples of finding the most silent and yet prevailing tragedy of low self-worth and convoluted identity (no real, honest place in the world to call one's own) and trying to straighten those things out with grit and a notion."

BACHMAN-TURNER OVERDRIVE: "You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet."  Because it's summer. Plus, cowbell.

SHE & HIM:  The lovely and talented Zooey Deschanel talks to the Guardian.

WYNTON & WILLIE talk to NPR's All Things Considered before an appearance on The Tonight Show.  Music tracks at the link also.

PATTI SMITH is interviewed by The New York Times about punk, poetry and family life.

LYLE LOVETT says he has "never made a dime" from album sales during his two-decade career, and hopes to rectify that situation when his contract with Curb/Universal expires.  I can't say I've ever heard an artist say something nice about Curb Records.

BRADGELINA: Jolie gave birth to twins Knox Leon and Vivienne Marcheline as unicorns pranced beneath rainbow-filled skies in Nice, France.

MAMA LYNN SPEARS talks to OK! magazine about how she's going to be there to help her 17-year-old's mothering skills.

NICOLE KIDMAN & KEITH URBAN buy a 4.7 million dollar pad in Beverly Hills; so much for getting grounded in Tennessee.

MILEY CYRUS seems to have had some quasi-jailbaity photos hacked from her iPhone.

DAVID LEE ROTH was not saved from an allergic reaction by highway cops; it was an imposter: "The only thing I'm allergic to is criticism."

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE: Hellboy II: The Golden Army takes the top slot with 35 million. This was right in line with tracking numbers, and suggests that the pic will make money in US theaters and will not have t wait to become a hit on DVD sales, as the original did (making 51 million there alone).  I saw it and enjoyed it, though I didn't fall in love with it, despite a fantastic musical moment I won't spoil. Hancock placed with 33 million, better than expected, given the strength of the July 4th numbers. Journey to the Center of the Earth came in third with 20 mill, knocking WALL-E into fourth with 18.5 mill.  After a big opener, the robot may fare worse overall in the US than some other Pixar pics, though international biz may make up for it (the sparse dialog helps overseas).  Wanted drops to fifth, but has already made back its production budget (if only Jolie had given birth on Friday!). Meet Dave flops, opening in seventh place. Get Smart breaks 100 mill; Indiana Jones breaks 300 mill.

MADONNA: The Daily Mail has excerpted her brother's tell-all book, including a lesbian liason with someone named Ingrid.

AMY WINEHOUSE: New video of apparent drug-taking.

JOSH BROLIN, JEFFREY WRIGHT and others filming Oliver Stone's "W" were arrested Saturday during a bar fight at a downtown Shreveport, LA.

THE DARK KNIGHT: Michael Caine predicts Heath Ledger will get a posthumous Oscar nod for his turn as the Joker.  Director Christopher Nolan tells the Telegraph why he thinks Ledger's performance will blow people away. Some gurus think the flick could make 130 million in its opening frame.

SIENNA MILLER was... wait for it... caught canoodling on camera with new boyfriend Balthazar Getty during a secret romantic break on the Amalfi Coast in Italy. Some of the pics at the link are NSFW.

ISLAMISM in the UK: A BBC drama has triggered a barrage of complaints after it showed gruesome images of a Muslim being beheaded. The show sparked new claims of anti-Christian bias in BBC programs.

NORTH KOREA: The latest phase of six-nation talks on North Korea's nuclear program ended Saturday with agreement on a timetable for North Korea to disable its nuclear facilities. Japan has refused to take part, saying Pyongyang must first resolve the issue of Japanese citizens abducted in the 1970s and 1980s.

IRAN: Popular Mechanics examines what an Israeli airstrike on Iran's nuclear facilities migh look like.  The Information Dissemination blog looks at international political signposts along the way to any attack that might come this autumn.  The Times of London claims that Pres. Bush has told the Israeli government that he may be prepared to approve a future military strike on Iranian nuclear facilities if negotiations with Tehran break down.

IRAQ: US and Iraqi negotiators reprotedly have abandoned efforts to conclude a comprehensive agreement governing the long-term status of US troops in Iraq before the end of the Bush presidency. The Bush administration is considering the withdrawal of additional combat forces from Iraq beginning in September, according to administration and military officials, raising the prospect of a far more ambitious plan than expected only months ago.  ABCNews looks at the feasibility of withdrawing US combat brigades within 16 months (here's the video version).  The Iraqi gov't is handing out street money to rebuild basic services and jumpstart the economy by quickly distributing as much of the country's glut of oil revenue as possible.

PAY NO ATTENTION to that kangaroo behind the curtain!

DOGS are looking forward to the Olympics in China.

PET-FRIENDLY RESTAURANTS are revieiwed by the London Telegraph.

INDIANA DAIRY FARM will be visited by state environmental officials this week as part of an effort to determine what is causing huge bubbles in the operation's manure lagoon.

AN AUSSIE SHARK was found in a swimming pool at one of Sydney's most popular beaches on Friday, apparently swept into the baths by a freak wave.

THE WEEKEND STARTS HERE:

...with THE 1965 NME POLL WINNERS' CONCERT!  The Animals perform "Boom Boom," "Please Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood." and "Talkin' Bout You/ Shout"  The Moody Blues play "Bo Diddley" and "Go Now."  Wayne Fontana & The Mindbenders play "Game Of Love" and "Just A Little Bit Too Late." Herman's Hermits play "Wonderful World" and "Mrs. Brown You've Got A Lovely Daughter." Donovan plays "You're Gonna Need Somebody On Your Bond" and "Catch The Wind." The Kinks crank out "You Really Got Me" and "Tired Of Waiting For You." The Rolling Stones play "Everybody Needs Somebody To Love/ Pain In My Heart," "Around And Around" and "The Last Time." The Beatles play "I Feel Fine," "She's A Woman" "Baby's In Black," "Ticket To Ride," and "Long Tall Sally."

GREEN RIVER is reuniting and playing previously unreleased songs at the two-day 20th anniversary bash of Sub Pop Records

MATES OF STATE stopped by KUT's Studio 1A for a chat and mini-set you can stream on demand via NPR.

RON SEXSMITH talks to the Associated Press about the biz and his new album, which is streaming through the weekend via Spinner.

DUNGEN is currently streaming "Satt Att Se," the new single and album opener from their upcoming LP.

BRIAN WILSON rolls out a trailer for his upcoming concept album "That Lucky Old Sun," which finds him back at the studios beneath Capitol Records.

T-BONE BURNETT is profiled by PopMatters.

SAM BUCK ROSEN does the four free songs thing for Daytrotter, including one unreleased.

PHIL SPECTOR is getting sued by Ronnie Spector, Darlene Love, Fanita James (Bob B. Soxx) and others for unpaid royalties.

CUTOUT BIN: From the Bay City Rollers to Bob Dylan, from The Stooges to Steely Dan, from Otis Redding to Josie Cotton to Mitch Ryder & the Detroit Wheels and more -- this Friday's fortuitous finds can be jukeboxed or streamed separately via the Pate page at the ol' HM.

JESSICA BIEL talks about marriage, kids, Dancing with the Designers and more at Harper's Bazaar.  There's behind-the-scenes video of the photoshoot also.

NOW SHOWING: This weekend's wide releases include Hellboy II: The Golden Army, currently scoring 87 percent on the ol' Tomatometer; Eddie Murphy's Meet Dave, currently scoring 27 percent; and the Disneyfied, 3D is some theaters Journey to the Center of the Earth, which is scoring a surprising-to-me 60 percent.

CHRISTIE BRINKLEY DIVORCE TRIAL ends in a sudden settlement, after a negotiations seemed to fall apart the otther day. Brinkley received sole custody of their two children (w/ sole decision-making power), and gets to keep all 18 properties in the Hamptons, for 2.1 milion.

MADONNA & BRITNEY SPEARS will reportedly appear together almost naked apart from tiny leather bondage pants and knee-high boots in the video they have made for Madge's upcoming tour.

JACKO hits a toy shop in pajamas, a surgeon's mask, a rasta wig and a wheelchair. Pic at the link.

INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS: Quentin Tarantino has just sent out his long-anticipated WWII movie script  to four studios, and it appears to have landed with New York magazine's Vulture blog, which proclaims it "exactly as batshit over-the-top insane as we hoped... it reads like Kill Bill meets The Dirty Dozen meets Cinema Paradiso." No cast is yet in place, though Brad Pitt's name has surfaced.

BRUCE CAMPBELL talks about Burn Notice, the Evil Dead and more in a video series for Entertainment Weekly.

JEN & JOHN: Did Aniston find "a batch" of love letters from Mayer's ex-girlfriend Jessica Simpson in his guitar case? A source claims they were surprisingly well-written, so I'm doubting it.  BONUS: Pics from Simpson's birthday party.

SACHA BARON COHEN & ISLA FISHER have been forced to postpone their wedding over religious issues.

UMA THURMAN's engagement may be bumming out Elle Macpherson.  OTOH, Uma is probably not thrilled about her ex Ethan Hawke marrying the ex-nanny of their kids, either.

IRAN test-fired more long-range missiles overnight in a second round of exercises.  However, Iran's Revolutionary Guards doctored a photo of the first missile test to conceal a failure of one the missiles to launch.  The fauxtography was caught by Charles Johnson's Little Green Footballs, which has previously uncovered fauxtography during the recent Israeli-Hezbollah conflict and played a major role in exposing the 60 Minutes document scandal that caused Dan Rather to get the boot from CBS.

IRAQ's army and police will be fully manned and operational by mid-2009, possibly as early as April. Turkey and Iraq signed trade and security agreements, while Kuwait will name an ambassador to Iraq. US troops captured a "key" Special Groups leader in Baghdad. Iraqi forces captured five Special Groups operatives in central Iraq. Iraqi troops captured 20 insurgents in Babil, 19 in Baghdad, and 10 Islamic State of Iraq fighters in Mosul. Coalition forces detained 30 al Qaeda fighters.

BIKER DOGS seems to be a new trend. Here's Minnie.

A SERVAL was captured in Midtown Atlanta Thursday morning. No, I'm not going to tell you what a serval is.

BABY ELEPHANT debuts at the Pittsburgh Zoo. Awww...

TURNING CATS INTO HATS: More ewww than awwww.

TINY CREATURES, otoh, are definitely awww....

A LARGE SHARK has been spotted just off the beach at Martha's Vineyard. What say you, Police Chief Brody?

THE FLAMING LIPS rehearse the "Tommy Medley" they will perform in tribute to the Who at VH1's annual Rock Honors concert in Los Angeles.

BEST OF 2008 SO FAR: You can stream the top picks of the NPR Listeners' Poll, with a linkthrough to the full list of results.

ALEJANDRO ESCOVEDO is interviewed at Aquarium Drunkard, along with two MP3s -- one of which is a cover of the Gun Club's "Sex Beat."

THE WATSON TWINS stopped by the World Cafe for a chat and mini-set (including a cover of The Cure's "Just Like hEaven") you can stream on demand via NPR.

STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN? Market value is over half a billion dollars US.

ALBERT HAMMOND, JR. has a brand new video out for "GfC," which sounds a bit like the Strokes, but perhaps more Wilco-ish.

CALEXICO has a new behind-the-scenes trailer for their upcoming alum.

BON IVER is profiled (w/audio) at JamBase.

EXENE CERVENKA is interviewed on NPR's Day to Day, with a take on creating in a vacuum.

DEVO: Four out five dentists recommend it.

MADONNA: New York Yankee Alex Rodriguez was smitten with Madge six months ago when he was exchanging text messages with her while dining with a friend in Miami. When Lenny Kravitz learned he was being accused of having an extramarital affair with Alex Rodriguez's wife, Cynthia, he "looked like he was going to throw up," according to a witness.

CHRISTIE BRINKLEY DIVORCE TRIAL: Hopes of a settlement -- raised by an unexpected recess yesterday -- were stalled when both parties returned to the courtroom before adjourning for the day.

JAMIE LYNN SPEARS, 17-year-old mom, has the baby pics coming to OK! magazine.

MATTHEW McCONAUGHEY sold the first baby pics of his newborn to OK! for a cool three million, reportedly. Well, alright alright alright...

BRADGELINA baby bic will sell for megabucks, but the buyer must agree not to call the couple Brangelina.  Well, I never do.

BEN AFFLECK & JENNIFER GARNER are expecting their second child, according to new reports.

PAM ANDERSON has made a career out of flaunting her figure, but the Hollywood sex siren won't be stripping off in the Aussie Big Brother house, where she is set for a three-episode arc. Leaking that won't kill the ratings.

DENISE RICHARDS has reportedly put her Hidden Hills, California home on the market after neighbors complained to local officials about the actress using the estate for her reality show.

AMY WINEHOUSE hit a pubgoer in the face during a night out, it has been claimed.

HONOR KILLING in GEORGIA? A Clayton County man was behind bars Sunday, accused of killing his own daughter. Investigators said 54-year-old Chaudhry Rashad was so outraged at his daughter, Sandela Kanwal, and her plans for divorce that he killed her after a heated argument at the family's home.  Investigators said Rashad confessed to strangling the 25-year-old woman.  Rashad wept in court Tuesday, saying, "I have done nothing wrong." Rashid, who is being held without bond, told the judge he wanted to observe his Muslim beliefs in the Clayton jail.

IRAN's Revolutionary Guards test-fired nine missiles in war-game maneuvers on Wednesday, including at least one the government in Tehran described as having the range to reach Israel -- presumably to supplement their peaceful generation of nuclear power.

IRAQ: Two perspectives on Prime Minister al-Maliki's talk of a timetable for withdrawal of US troops, via the Wall Street Journal, and Iraq The Model's Mohammed Fadhil.

A ZOOKEEPER'S CAT has adopted a baby red panda abandoned by its mother and is nursing the cub along with her own kittens, the Artis zoo said Wednesday.

TUNNELING INTRUDER is stopped by Odie, a 4-year-old male Chihuahua, and his owner, who was packing a .357 Magnum.  But mostly by the owner with the Magnum.

HEY IS THAT A BAT IN YOUR PANTS, or are you... oh, it is a bat.  And this is not the "bat in a bra" story linked here yesterday.

TICKS ON A PLANE delayed a Des Moines bound United Airlines flight from Denver for six hours.

REDUCING COW EMISSIONS 'is key to tackling climate change.'  Lovely pic of a cow with a plastic collection tank.