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.

RAPHAEL SAADIQ drops a video for "Good Man."

CROOKS did the four free songs thing for Daytrotter.

SXSW: Here's over 140 free songs from artists performing at this year's fest.

TOM JONES shares songs of romance and heartache for Valentine's Day as Guest DJ of All Songs Considered.

THE STROKES: The full track for "Under Cover of Darkness" is now online.

J MASCIS drops "Is It Done" (ft Band of Horses' Ben Bridwell) in advance of Shades of Why.

THOSE DARLINS' just wanna "Be Your Bro."

DESTROYER: Dan Bejar talks to Interview about songwriting, the new sound of Kaputt, etc.

THE KINKS are deluxe reissuing seven albums, including my favorites, Face to Face and Something Else.

DUM DUM GIRLS' Dee Dee shares a few of her favorite things for a Pitchfork Guest List.

THURSTON MOORE disses Steve Albini in the foreign press. In fairness, Albini started it.

ELTON JOHN, PAUL SIMON & NEIL YOUNG are among the presenters for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 2011 induction ceremonies.

GUITAR HERO is officially dead.

M. WARD & JIM JAMES started a blog about creme brulee. Yes, really.

LINDSAY LOHAN has been officially charged with felony grand theft. The L.A. County District Attorney believes Li-Lo is a seasoned fashion thief, and that's a primary reason why she's being prosecuted. Lohan pleaded not guilty; additional bail was set at 20K.

ASHLEE SIMPSON & PETE WENTZ are divorcing. Perhaps the surprise is the lack of prenup. Reportedly, no third party is involved.

CHARLIE SHEEN may be undergoing at-home rehab, but it hasn't stopped the star from achieving another ratings high with Two and A Half Men. Sitcom imitates sleaze. More than 9 of 10 viewers say Sheen's personal problems don't matter. Sheen has notified members of the show's crew that he will pay a portion of their salaries for the two weeks the show has been down.

MARK SANCHEZ: This is a story about a famous Jets quarterback's courtship of a 17-year-old girl and the girl's conflicting emotions about fame.

KATY PERRY & RUSSELL BRAND: Katy "started asking friends to recommend a marriage counselor," an "insider" tells Life & Style, which means you should take it with a shaker of salt, despite its palusibility.

KIM KARDASHIAN is interviewed by... Elizabeth Taylor.

JULIA ROBERTS will be playing the Evil Queen on The Brothers Grimm: Snow White. SEMI-RELATED: Famke Janssen will play the leader of the witches in Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters.

ZOOEY DESCHANEL is in negotiations to star an untitled single-camera comedy pilot for Fox.

ISLAMISM in INDONESIA: A Muslim mob rampaged in Java after a court passed down a five year sentence to a Christian accused of insulting Islam. The mob torched two churches and stormed the courthouse.

EGYPT: The Lede continues to provide updates on street protests in Egypt. The Muslim Brotherhood said Wednesday it wants to promote democracy but does not intend to field a candidate for president. The MB spox added that they "reject the Islamist state," decades of evidence to the contrary. Yussuf al-Qaradawi, the Qatar-based Muslim Brotherhood preacher who exiled himself from Egypt in 1961, is a prosepective Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini in this situation. Vice President Omar Suleiman said that al Qaeda operatives and fighters from "other armed Islamic organizations" escaped from prisons during riots last week. Members of the Muslim Brotherhood and Hezbollah are also known to have escaped. Meanwhile, Suleiman warns that the "soft coup" of the military could turn into a hard one if the protests continue.

IRAN: Iran's state prosecutor warned the opposition to not host protests in solidarity with Egyptian protesters.

AFGHANISTAN: Gen. Petraeus said he is expecting a brutal fight in the spring when Taliban insurgents try to return from their winter safe havens to areas already in control of international forces.

SLO-MO KITTEH: Let's go to the video.

THOROUGHBRED HORSES are getting their own beauty contest in Turkmenistan.

COCKFIGHTING is dangerous? Who knew?

PARROTS foil a robbery in Palmetto, FL.

CAT POWER unveils a new song at the Fillmore, before covering Fleetwood Mac's "Dreams."

TWILIGHT SINGERS are advance streaming Dynamite Steps.

THE DEARS are advance streaming Degeneration Street. 

MOGWAI is advance streaming Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will.

OKKERVIL RIVER drops "Mermaid," from a new single.

THE RAVEONETTES drop a ballad, "Forget That You're Young," in advance of Raven in the Grave.

SAM COOKE & JACKIE WILSON unexpectedly meet up on "Everybody Loves To Cha Cha Cha."

SXSW releases its music schedule, festival-goers!

JON SPENCER talks to PopMatters about the Blues Explosion reissues (and their hip-hop influences).

EBSEN & THE WITCH gives Drowned In Sound a track-by-track tour of Violet Cries.

THE XX's Jamie Smith talks to Pitchfork about the band and side projects.

AEROSMITH's sales have spiked since Steven Tyler joined American Idol.

LINDSAY LOHAN in the Superman reboot? Or Team Li-Lo desperately trying to change the story to something other than a possible grand theft charge today? BTW, Li-Lo's flunkies plan to say she didn't steal the necklace.

HALLE BERRY & GABRIEL AUBRY: Berry tells Ebony that she feels her daughter is black, just after her anonymous people accused Aubry of freaking out about the topic.

OLIVIA WILDE separated from her Italian prince eight years after the two eloped.

CHARLIE SHEEN will be returning to the set of Two and a Half Men before the end of the month, according to his lawyer.

JUDE LAW & SIENNA MILLER are dunzo. Again. For now.

CHRISTIAN BALE rips a movie critic who thought the actor's weight loss for The Fighter was a gimmick.

KATY PERRY talks to Elle about her chest and other stuff.

TINA FEY dispels myths about balancing career and motherhood in The New Yorker.

THE SPIDER-MAN MUSICAL opens to horrific reviews.

EGYPT: The Lede continues to provide updates on street protests in Egypt.  The government made fresh pledges to create committees to study proposed democratic openings, but demonstrators came out in force to insist that they wanted more than an evolutionary plan by the existing authorities. And the protesters extended their range on Tuesday, with thousands storming the gates of Parliament demanding that it be dissolved. At Foreign Policy, historian Daniel A. Bell warns that Egypt's revolution could evolve later into a reign of terror.

IRAN: Turkey announced that it would not take action against Turkish citizens accused of smuggling missile components into Iran.

PAKISTAN: The Obama administration has suspended all high-level dialogue with Pakistan, a key US partner in the Afghanistan war, over the case of an American diplomat the Pakistanis have detained on possible murder charges, US and Pakistani officials said.

IRAQ: Is Prime Minister al-Maliki not running for a third term? Meanwhile, people in Kirkuk are united in their concern over what happens when the US pulls out.

TWO PUGS, ONE SLED: Let's go to the video.

AN UNWELCOME BEAR was chased away from Boulder Community Hospital by country music. Presumably, the opposite is true at Disney World.

PARROTS, like humans, choose to use one side of their body more than the other, with more of them left handed -- or, more precisely, left footed than anything else.

COW delivers rare set of Three Stooges.

NEW PR0NOGRAPHERS dropped a video for "Moves" with cameos from Paul Rudd, Bill Hader, TedLeo, Horatio Sanz, John Hodgman, Donald Glover and more...

NEW RELEASES: New stuff from Nicole Atkins, Cut Copy, Trail of Dead, Boxer Rebellion and more is streaming at Spinner this week.

MOONDOGGIES did three free songs for Daytrotter.

YOUNG RIVAL did the four free songs thing for Daytrotter, including a cover of "All I Have to Do is Dream." In a weird way, they're sorta like a more serious Young Fresh Fellows.

PAUL SIMON drops "The Afterlife" in advance of So Beautiful or So What.

LOVE TRACTOR plows through "Paint" and "Fun To Be Happy" in Athens, GA, circa 1983, for an instrumental Twofer Tuesday.

GANG OF FOUR: Andy Gill talks to the San Francisco Chronicle about the pressure of the reunion tour and their KISS moment.

RICHARD THOMPSON talks to PopMatters about his songwriting methods, his political frustrations, and what makes him such a great guitarist.

JONATHAN RICHMAN: The A.V. Club offers new fans entry points to his body of work.

YO LA TENGO: I missed them perform an episode of Seinfeld. Dang.

LINDSAY LOHAN will be charged with felony grand theft this week, according to RadarOnline. She reportedly told her advisors she had not been in the jewelry store which reported the theft of an expensive necklace... until the surveillance video proved otherwise.

SHIA LeBEOUF has been looking for a bar fight?

KELSEY GRAMMER and soon-to-be ex-wife Camille Grammer have struck a deal which will allow Kelsey to get a quickie divorce and marry his girlfriend.

CHARLIE SHEEN: Adult video actress Kacey Jordan is poised to star in a re-creation of her wild 36-hour bender with the Two and a Half Men star, according to RadarOnline.

PAUL HAGGIS, an Oscar-winning screenwriter, serves as key source in The New Yorker's 26-page undressing of the Church of Scientology.

THE WRITERS GUILD AWARDS went to these folks. Congrats! The wins for The Social Network and Inception may slow the momentum behind The King's Speech (though it may simply be that the Speech was ineligible).

SUPER 8: J.J. Abrams talks a bit about his latest secret project, not that it's been advertised during the Super Bowl.

FANTASTIC VOAYGE: Shawn Levy will direct the James Cameron-produced 3D tent pole remake.

TURA SATANA, whose authoritative presence, exotic looks and buxom frame commanded the attention of viewers of Russ Meyer's 1965 cult movie "Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!", died on Friday evening in Reno, NV.  In later decades, the influence of Ms. Satana's no-nonsense attitude could be seen in pop-cultural artifacts ranging from "Xena, Warrior Princess" to Quentin Tarantino's "Kill Bill" movies.

EGYPT: The Lede continues to provide updates on street protests in Egypt.  Mubarak seems to be pursuing a rope-a-dope strategy to exploit the generational divide in the protest movement.

IRAN's opposition leaders take inspiration from protests in Egypt.

AFGHANISTAN: As many as 900 Afghan fighters have agreed to lay down their arms, but it is too soon to say if a drive to bring in low-level fighters can be decisive in curbing bloodshed. Meanwhile, the Taliban has established the rudiments of a civilian administration to complement their shadowy combat force, running schools, collect taxes and adjudicate civil disputes in Islamic courts.

SLO-MO CHIPMUNK: Let's go to the video.

A "SUPER-PACK" of 400 WOLVES has been terrifying a Russian town after leaving more than 30 horses dead in just four days.

A CHICKEN HOTEL opens in Cornwall.

A RACCOON ended a North Dakota team's bid for a fourth consecutive regional championship in high school wrestling.

MICE are being trained to detect would-be bombers and drug couriers at airports.

GARY MOORE, former guitarist for Thin Lizzy, died in his sleep at 58.  He didn't play on "The Boys Are Back In Town," so I offer you his solo UK hit cover of "Friday On My Mind."

PJ HARVEY is advance streaming Let England Shake.

ADELE is advance streaming 21. She also played World Cafe Live on Friday; you can stream the gig on demand.

JAMES BLAKE is streaming four tracks from his self-titled LP. It's not really my bag, but it might be yours.

THE STROKES drop a :30 teaser from "Under the Cover of Darkness," which recaptures their early sound.

GRUFF RHYS of Super Furry Animals discusses his new solo LP an play "Sensations in the Dark" live with the aid of an acoustic guitar, a Casio keyboard and a Velcro Horn.

LCD SOUNDSYSTEM have announced that they will play their final show on Saturday, April 2, at New York City's Madison Square Garden.

DRIVE-BY TRUCKERS: Patterson Hood talks to the Telegraph about the history of the band, and plays "I Do Believe."

ELBOW frontman Guy Garvey explains the inspiration behind their latest album to The Quietus.

THE RADIO DEPT's lead singer and guitarist Johan Duncanson talks to the Boston Globe.

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE: On Super Bowl weekend, The Roommate tops the chart with a bettr-than-expected 15.6 million against a 16 million budget (though some reports say it was half that).  Screen Gems has practically turned the bad-but-profitable PG-13 horror-thriller into a science.  Sanctum comes in second with 9.2 million, which was also better than expected. Was this cabin fever following the big bizzard? Hmmm. No Strings Attached shows with 8.4 million, on a 37.4 percent drop that suggests football counter-programming.  NSA has already doubled its 25 million production budget.  The King's Speech is at No. 4, pulling in 8.3 million as Oscar buzz propels it toward the 100 million mark (the same could be said of Black Swan in th tenth slot).  Rounding out the Top 5 is The Green Hornet with 6.1 million.  Hornet likely suffered from the Big Game competition, but has more than recouped its budget worldwide.

LINDSAY LOHAN will be charged with felony grand theft as early as today, according to TMZ.  The charge would carry a potential three year sentence, not to mention its effect on her current probation.

CHARLIE SHEEN: There's video of him dancing crazily with three women at the outset of his last 36-hour bender.

HALLE BERRY & GABRIEL AUBRY:  Team Halle claims Gabriel "went nuts" whenever anyone would refer to their daughter as "Black"  and that she dropped out of the ensemble comedy New Year's Eve to focus on her "serious concerns" about Nahla's well-being while in Aubry's care.

SHIA LeBEOUF was placed in handcuffs after a fight at a bar over the weekend, but was eventually released.  RadarOnline claims the fight started after another patron used a gay slur.

VICTORIA & DAVID BECKHAM are having a baby girl, according to the ever-reliable Sun.

THE KING'S SPEECH gets two thumbs up from the Queen.

THE AVENGERS: How I Met Your Mother star Cobie Smulders has emerged as the front runner for the role of SHIELD Agent Maria Hill in the Joss Whedon-directed Marvel crsssover-pic.

CAPTAIN AMERICA aired its first trailer during the Super Bowl. Blink and you'll miss the Red Skull.

SUPERMAN: Three actresses are vying for the role of Ursa? Can General Zod and Non be far behind?

JAMES FRANCO is in early talks to star in Oz, the Great and Powerful, Disney's prequel-ish take on The Wizard of Oz tale being directed by Sam Raimi, with Robert Downey, Jr. off the project.

GISELE BUNDCHEN angers cancer experts (and presumably Baz Luhrmann) by saying people shouldn't wear sun lotion.

WAYNE'S WORLD returned to SNL with Dana Carvey as host.

EGYPT: The Lede continues to provide updates on street protests in Egypt.  A former Egyptian military chief of staff claims Islamic militants from Iran, Lebanon and Palestine contributed to Egypt's unrest after "infiltrating" the country. Vice President Omar Suleiman insisted Sunday that President Hosni Mubarak could not step down, and in a significant but limited move held a first meeting with members of the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood and youth opposition groups.

IRAN: Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov disapproved of new sanctions on Iran, saying they "will basically be aimed at suffocating the Iranian economy." An Iranian official claimed gasoline production has exceeded national consumption.

SYNCHRONIZED KITTEHS practice their routine.

A POT-BELLIED PIG outshines the canines on an agility team. That'll do, pig.

A 3 FOOT LONG BOA CONSTRICTOR that slithered away from its owner on a Boston subway car a month ago has been found in an adjoining car.

A SQUIRREL is obsessed with a dog statue outside Moscow.