THE SPECIALS reunited on Fallon, playing "A Message to You, Rudy" and "Little B^tch." It's like Twofer Thursday.

LCD SOUNDSYSTEM is advance streaming This Is Happening.

THE BLASTERS stopped by KEXP's Shake the Shack for a chat and mini-set.

ALL SONGS CONSIDERED: Tracks from Broken Social Scene and Passion Pit highlight the latest edition of the long-running NPR series.

GEORGE HARRISON & ERIC CLAPTON: "Taxman." Obligatory.

DEATH CAB FOR CUTIE plays "Take Me Out To The Ballgame" and John Fogerty's "Centerfield" at the Seattle Mariners' opening day game at Safeco Field. It's like Twofer Thursday, times two.

SHE & HIM talk to Filter about having a baby... artistically speaking. Zooey also refers to her interview with Brian Wilson, which was featured at Pate at the time. For some reason, Zooey was able to get Brian to talk more than some music journo dude.

RUFUS WAINWRIGHT talks to Details about coming out, meth, maple syrup and more...

AU REVOIR SIMONE: Annie Hart and Erika Forster talked to NiteTalk about tacos, dive bars and French disco. (Thx, LHB.)

COUNTRY MUSIC is the new classic rock?

CHARLIE SHEEN was snapped sneaking into and out of his mistress Angelina Tracy's Studio City home, according to InTouch magazine.

TIGER WOODS: Divorce looming? Elin reportedly met with a divorce lawyer shortly before flying to Scottsdale, Arizona.

STEVEN SEAGAL: The woman accusing him of treating her like a "sex toy" once appeared on an episode of "The Tyra Banks Show" - where she claimed to be a "lipstick lesbian," who can "trick" men.

BRITNEY SPEARS released the unretouched photos from her latest photoshoot for Candie's.

LARRY KING: Divorce No.8. Apparently, there was a nuclear argument, and allegations he cheated.

MAD MEL UPDATE: Gibson and Oksana Grigorieva, his Russian musician-singer girlfriend and mother of their 5-month-old daughter, have split after over a year of dating.

JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE and JESSICA BIEL's notoriously on-and-off relationship is once again on the rocks as the singer cozies up to ex Cameron Diaz.

DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES: The main stars are siding with series creator Marc Cherry over Nicollette Sheridan's claim of battery.

DENNIS HOPPER's directorial career is surveyed by IFC.

SYRIA has transferred long-range Scud missiles to the Lebanese Shiite militant group Hezbollah, Israeli and US officials alleged, in a move that threatens to alter the Middle East's military balance and sets back a major diplomatic outreach effort to Damascus by the Obama administration.

IRAN: Ahmadinejad, who said last month that the 9/11 terrorist attacks were "a big fabrication," wrote to the UN secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, to ask him to open an investigation into the events of that day.  US Defense Secretary Gates said Iran is at least a year away from producing a nuclear weapon.

AFGHANISTAN: Closing the Korangal Outpost, a powerful symbol of some of the Afghan war's most ferocious fights, and a potential harbinger of America's retreat, is a tacit admission that putting the base there in the first place was a costly mistake.

KITTEH + iPAD: Let's go to the video.

TADPOLES of one frog species let out an audible "scream" when they come under attack, scientists have discovered.

ZOOKEEPER nuts about new job nursing orphaned squirrels.

500 VENOMOUS SNAKES released in attempt to win feud.

MAYER HAWTHORNE ends his tour with a cover of "I Left My Heart in San Francisco."

MERLE HAGGARD is advance streaming I Am What I Am via NPR. Spinach not included.

NATALIE MERCHANT gets a feature plus tracks from NPR's Morning Edition.

THE DUTCHESS & THE DUKE did the four free songs thing for Daytrotter.

THE NATIONAL drop "Afraid of Everyone" as an advance track to High Violet.

MOJO'S FAVE ALL-GIRL BANDS (with embedded media) has some notable omissions, though I suppose they could argue that The Slits and The Raincoats weren't always all-girl.

PUBLIC IMAGE, LTD. played "Rise" and "This is Not a Love Song" for Kimmel. Call it Twofer Wednesday.

HANK WILLIAMS wins a Pulitzer Prize for lifetime achievement, 57 years after his death. Gawker lays on the mockery.

FRED SCHNEIDER talks to DOA about his new project, The Superions, and his main band,The B-52s. (Thx, LHB.)

HOW PUNK CHANGED MY LIFE: Veterans of the British scene share memories with The Independent after the death of Malcolm McLaren.

LAST.FM will stop streaming full on demand songs to users, instead providing integrated streaming from 3rd parties.

STEVEN SEAGAL is being sued for sexual harassment and illegal trafficking of females for sex. Seagal's lawyer calls it "a ridiculous and absurd claim by a disgruntled ex-employee who was fired for using illegal narcotics."

SANDRA BULLOCK and JESSE JAMES: Mistress No.5 kept DNA evidence.

OPRAH WINFREY and... John Tesh?

KATE GOSSELIN is rejected by Playboy, in a small, yet surprising victory for civilization.

LADY GAGA is urging fans to practice abstinence.

JIM CARREY claims he's not having a breakdown.

BRET MICHAELS (formerly of Poison) underwent an emergency appendectomy. Every hair metal singer has his thorn.

BEN ROETHLISBERGER: The Steelers QB will not be charged for sexual assault over an alleged incident on March 5 in Milledgeville, Georgia. But the findings of the investigation don't sound good at all.

SIGOURNEY WEAVER launched a blistering attack on the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, saying James Cameron didn't win the Oscar for Best Director because he "didn't have breasts."  Is she sure about that? The breasts, I mean.

THE AVENGERS may be directed by Joss Whedon, which would be awesomely awesome.

TERROR in the USA: Pakistani authorities are holding a fourth suspect in the alleged plot last summer to bomb trains on the New York City subway, U.S. law-enforcement officials said. Among the suspected targets were trains at Grand Central and Times Square. Meanwhile, the US believes al-Qaeda is actively in search of a nuclear bomb and fears it could get one through criminal gangs or by infiltrating nuclear labs in Pakistan or other vulnerable nations.

IRAN: Russian Pres. Medvedev said the US Congress' proposals for sanctions on Iran will not receive international support. China does not back additional sanctions on Iran. Defense Minister Vahidi said Iran has plans to develop a long-range missile defense system.

STANDING PUSS IN BOOTS: An awesome remix of the standing cat featured here recently.

SHEEP ON METH tazered for a scientific study.

GEORDIE THE GOAT was vandalized with anti-police graffiti.

GUARD DOG sacked after sleeping through pub's only burglary in 12 years.

APPLES IN STEREO hits the "Dance Floor" with guest star Elijah Wood.

NEW RELEASES: MGMT, Freelance Whales, Kaki King, Coheed and Cambria, The Flatliners and more are streaming in full this week via Spinner.

JOSH RITTER (whose album is also streaming this week at Spinner) did six free songs for Daytrotter, including a cover of "Moon River."

ALL SONGS CONSIDERED: New tracks from The National, Black Keys, Stars, Laurie Anderson, Horse Feathers and more provide a Spring Music Preview in the latest installment of the long-running series.

THE MAGIC NUMBERS release "Pulse" as an advance track to The Runaway album.

THURSTON MOORE: "(There's) Always Something There to Remind Me." Yes, really. And it might beat Naked Eyes. 

THE SADIES are advance streaming their Darker Circles album.

PETER WOLF, formerly of the J Geils Band, gets a lengthy feature plus tracks from his upcoming, country-influenced solo LP.

BECK's Record Club continues covering INXS's Kick album, with a creepy "Devil Inside" and an airy "New Sensation" making a nice Twofer Tuesday.

SUPERGRASS breaks up after 17 years.

THE NATIONAL: Drowned in Sound has a track-by-track tour of the upcoming High Violet LP.

FLAMING LIPS: Wayne Coyne talks to Mother Jones about Pink Floyd, plastic disks, and the sublime beauty of watching an asinine Radiohead fan get beat up at Lollapalooza.

THE WEDDING PARTY frontman David Gedge talks to the New York Press about the 21st anniversary tour for the band's Bizarro LP.

SANDRA BULLOCK and JESSE JAMES: Mistress No.1 apologizes, while RadraOnline spills e-mails with Mistress No.5.

CONAN O'BRIEN is headed to TBS, which Alan Sepinwall thinks is the right move for Coco.

LINDSAY LOHAN can't even get on the cover of the Mean Girls video game. Can Quentin Taratino save her career?

ELIZABETH TAYLOR denies the ninth engagement rumor.

JESSICA SIMPSON chopped off her hair? More likely a wig.

ROBERT DOWNEY, JR. talks to Men's Journal about how an a$$-kicking martial art helped him find his focus and resurrect his career.

SOUTH PARK: Matt Stone talks to Pitchfork about his favorite musical moments in the show's history, as well as what it was like to work with Radiohead, Isaac Hayes, and Primus.

GREEN LANTERN's costume will be mostly CGI.

OUR FRIENDS, THE SAUDIS are currently holding closed-door sessions to discuss two important issues affecting the kingdom; the financing of terrorism, and Takfiri fatwas.

IRAN's first indigenously built anti-aircraft missile is ready for use, according to state media. Grain of salt.

AFGHANISTAN: The sudden deterioration of relations between the United States and Pres. Karzai could not have come at a worse time. And it may distract people from the big picture.

KITTEN and PUPPY, reclining together... Mass hysteria!

ORANGUTANS kickbox and parade in bikinis for cheering tourists on the outskirts of Bangkok. I don't wanna be like you.

A 53-YEAR-OLD WELDER on Merritt Island, FL, couldn't wait for animal control to handle a six-foot rattlesnake.

AGEING TIGER, Crouching Postmen.

LUCKY SOUL released a video for "Whoa, Billy!"

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

THE XX stopped by The Current for a chat and mini-set streaming via MPR.

POMPALMOOSE, a Tube sensation for their covers of current pop hits, is profiled by All Things Considered, with embedded audio.

THE MUSIC OF JOHN HUGHES in a big ol' mix for download.

THE HOLD STEADY dropped "Barely Breathing" as an advance track at the 'Gum.

SUZANNE VEGA and THE ROOTS played "Tom's Diner" for Fallon.

JOHNNY ROTTEN talked about the late Malcolm McLaren and PiL on TV's Red Eye.

JENS LEKMAN talks to the Jakarta Post about future plans, the Swedish indie scene, etc. (Thanks, LHB.)

DRIVE BY-TRUCKERS: Mike Cooley talks to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette about the theme that emerged on the band's latest LP.

THE ANTLERS: Peter Silberman talks to PopMatters about the fast growth of the band, overdosing on indie rock and how it feels to have such personal art fuse connections to strangers.

DEVO wants you to pick the songs on its next album.

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE: Date Night wins the weekend witha  27.1 million debut, edging out Clash of the Titans, which pulled in 26.9 million.  Titans dropped a nasty 56 percent, which won't stop it from amking some decent cash world wide, but probably rules out a 200 million finish in the US.  How to Train Your Dragon wasn't far behind with 25.4 million on a mere 12.6 percent drop, bringing its worldwide total to 256 million on a 165 million budget.  Why Did I Get Married Too? takes the usual nasty Tyler Perry 2nd weekend drop -- 62 percent this time -- but has pulled in 48.2 million on a 20 million budget.  The Last Song proved to have some legs, rounding out the Top Five with another 10 million; it's 42.4 million is almost as good as the Petty flick.

TIGER WOODS came in fourth at The Masters, finishing with a 69 on Sunday.  Off the course, I guess we can put Jim Carrey on Team Tiger.

CHARLIE SHEEN says his salary demands to continue Two and a Half Men are not a surprise to WB or CBS.

CHLOE MORETZ, starring in next weekend's Kick-A$$, is profiled in the New York Times. Not bad for 13.

ELIZABETH TAYLOR is reportedly engaged for the ninth time, to 49-year-old Jason Winters.

DIXIE CARTER, best known for her role as Julia Sugarbaker on the hit sitcom "Designing Women," has died.  She was 70 years old.

MEINHARDT RAABE, the coroner of Munchkinland, is clearly most sincerely dead at 94.

THE SPIDER-MAN REBOOT may have found a lead in Logan Lerman, star of 'Percy Jackson And The Olympians: The Lightning Thief'.

TOY STORY 3  has a new clip online.

KYRGYZSTAN's self-proclaimed new leadership said on Thursday that Russia had helped to oust President Kurmanbek Bakiyev, and that they aimed to close a US airbase that has irritated Moscow.

IRAN: Ahmadinejad, taunting the US for trying to halt Iran's nuclear program, unveiled a new centrifuge on Friday which officials said would enrich uranium much faster then existing models.

AFGHANISTAN: Pres. Karzai took small but public steps on Saturday to signal he was still friends with the US after a war of words that tested their alliance. OTOH, Karzai has also cast doubt over Nato's planned summer offensive against the Taliban in the southern province of Kandahar.

IRAQ: There was a dramatic drop in deaths in Mosul, the last urban stronghold of the insurgency.

A FRENCH BULLDOG has fallen, and he can't get up.

FISHZILLA, now with an awesome picture.

CAMEL WRESTLING: Big in Turkey and Afghanistan. "When male camels get aroused, streams of viscous milky saliva start frothing from their mouths and nostrils. Oh, and camel liquid doesn't stop there..."

FISH IN A BARREL: Sort of.

THE WEEKEND STARTS HERE...

with MALCOLM McLAREN! The svengali behind the Sex Pistols (after a stint promoting the New York Dolls), the Burundi drumming sound of post punk (e.g., Adam Ant and Bow Wow Wow Wow), and the hit "Buffalo Girls,"  died at 64 after a long bout with cancer. Obviously, the Pistols' "God Save the Queen," "Holidays in the Sun," and "Anarchy in the UK" are the order of the day, along with Bow Wow Wow's remake of the Strangeloves hit "I Want Candy." NME collects statements from John Lydon (Johnny Rotten), NY Doll Sylvain Sylvain, ex-partner Vivienne Westwood, Boy George, Echo and the Bunnymen and more.

BEACH HOUSE stopped by The Current for a chat and mini-set streaming via MPR.

CITIZEN COPE stopped by Morning Becomes Eclectic for a chat and mini-set streaming via KCRW.

FLORENCE and the MACHINE gets a feature on All Things Considered, with a link to an unplugged set for WFUV.

KILL ROCK STARS has a free 21-song sampler for download, including tracks from the Decemberists, Bikini Kill, Elliot Smith, Sleater-Kinney, Horse Feathers and more...

KEITH RICHARDS, LORD of the UNDEAD: Captain's Dead offers the complete "Honeymoon Tapes" to stream and download.

CURSIVE attacks Starship's "We Built This City" for The A.V. Club Undercover. Awesome use of the Omnichord and melodica, dudes.

SUPERCHUNK: Mac McCaughan talks to Spinner about the bands upcoming LP -- its first since 2001.

LAURA MARLING talks to the NYT's T Magazine about her new LP, growing up, reading lists, her childhood soundtrack, etc.

MOUNTAIN GOATS: John Darnielle talks to Under the Radar about prose, the liturgical function of music, and people on the fringe. (Thx, LHB.)

M.I.A. talks to NME about Lady GaGa, Sleigh Bells, the punk ethos and more...

CUTOUT BIN: From Adam and the Ants to Kenny Rogers and the First Edition, from the Clash to Dee Dee Warwick, from the Juliana Hatfield Three to Jack Nitzsche, from Magazine to Norman Greenbaum, plus the Sex Pistols (natch), Duane Eddy, the Three O'Clock, Ted Leo and more -- is streaming from the Pate page at the ol' HM.

NOW SHOWING: This weekend's wide release finds Steve Carell and Tina Fey in Date Night, which is currently scoring 60 percent on the ol' Tomatometer.  Opening near-wide is Letters to God, a Christian-themed drama not widely screened for critics.

SANDRA BULLOCK and JESSE JAMES: He's denying that he's in at least a dozen sex tapes with other women featuring Nazi-themed paraphernalia. RadarOnline claims James spent several hundred thousand dollars on his various mistresses.

TIGER WOODS: Scolded from the grave to prop up his merch empire. Because Earl was a shining example.

DEMI MOORE now admits she had an "extreme obsession" with her body, yet still manages to be miffed that people speculate over how much she spent on plastic surgery.

NICOLAS CAGE: What if you had to auction off your swank properties... and no one was interested?

KATE GOSSELIN will once again be inflicted on the North American TV audience.

PIXELS: An 8-bit attack.

KYRGZSTAN: The president of Kyrgyzstan was forced to flee the capital, Bishkek, on Wednesday after bloody protests erupted across the country over his repressive rule, a backlash that could pose a threat to the American military supply line into nearby Afghanistan.

PAKISTAN: The parliament voted unanimously in favor of measures which limit key presidential powers.

IRAQ: The Iraqi political group of radical Shia cleric Moqtada Sadr has rejected both of the front-running candidates for prime minister. The Sadrist bloc of 40 parliamentary seats could have swung the decision for either Allawi or Maliki.

A GOLDFISH is trained to play fetch.

SOME BIRDS have more influence than others when it comes to controlling a flock's soaring flight, according to a new study of homing pigeons that wore little backpacks equipped with GPS devices.

CHICKEN ON THE LAM meets a violent end in Lower Merion Township, PA.

A NEWLY-DISCOVERED LIZARD is very manly.

A SAVAGE PREDATOR known as "Fishzilla" and a perch capable of climbing trees could soon reach the far north of Queensland.

AN ORPHANED OWL raised by humans is scared of heights?