THE WEEKEND STARTS HERE:

... with THE BANGLES! Their last No. 1 single, "Eternal Flame," was dropping off the charts about 20 years ago, which put me in the mood to watch them bust out "Hero Takes A Fall"  and Kimberley Rew's "Goin' Down To Liverpool" for Dave in 1984. It was that sort of rawk (and the hotness of Susanna Hoffs) that got Prince to give them "Manic Monday," their first mainstream hit, from the A Different Light album, which included Jules Shear's "If She Knew What She Wants," Alex Chilton's "September Gurls," and -- inevitably -- Liam Sternberg's "Walk Like An Egyptian."  Nevertheless, their fondness for the genres of the mid-60s was still evident in their take on Simon & Garfunkel's "Hazy Shade of Winter" for the Less Than Zero soundtrack, and the psych-garage-pop of "In Your Room" on the Everything album.  The draw from that period is a constant I saw them in a club, on a big stage and in a club again -- the last time was at a House of Blues, where they covered the We Five's "You Were On My Mind."  However, I'll confess that I put off featuring the band for about a month, until the Susanna Hoffs solo cover of Bad Company's "Feel Like Makin' Love" popped back up on the Tube after an absence. That woman knows how to shake her tambourine.

RAPHAEL SAADIQ stopped by The Current for a chat and mini-set streaming via MPR.

BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN: Captain's Dead is streaming a gig from February 1975.

HEARTLESS BAST^RDS: Erika Wennerstrom takes Black Book's Pop Quiz.

THE SHINS: What next, now that their contract with Sub Pop has run out?

NENA: "99 Luftbalons." This should be funny to all, doubly funny to some at the moment.

DOVES talk to Drowned in Sound about their new album, the best curry house in Manchester, and more.  Videos at the link, too.

DRIVE-BY TRUCKERS talks to The A.V. Club about albums set in the past and present, and more...

PETER BJORN & JOHN: John Eriksson talks to New York magazine about hit songs, playing with Kanye, and the possibility that the new P B & John album will be recorded on a crocodile farm.

WILCO: Filmmaker Brendan Canty talks to Creative Loafing about his upcoming documentary on the band.

CUTOUT BIN: From Duane Eddy to Ciccone Youth, from vinatge U2 to new Bob Mould, from The Sweet to the Vaselines, from Nico to Styx, plus James Brown, Wilco, Art Brut, The Clash, Rush and more  -- this Friday's fortuitous finds are streaming from the Pate page at the ol' HM.

NOW SHOWING:  This weekend's wide releases are Monsters vs. Aliens, which is currently scoring 73 percent on the ol' Tomatometer; The Haunting in Connecticut, currently scoring 20 percent; and 12 Rounds, which was not screened for critics.

MADONNA officially shopping for a new kid from Malawi.

LINDSAY LOHAN's new movie is going straight-to-cable. Ouch.

BRIMEY SPEARS wishes her fans "Merry Christmas." On March 24th. Let's go to the video.

ASHLEE SIMPSON & PETE WENTZ are having domestic problems, according to the ever-reliable Page Six.

JEFFREY DEAN MORGAN, who plays The Comedian in Watchmen, recently found out that he has a four-year-old son. Ahem.

GWYNETH PALTROW to design her own fashion line. Inevitable.

ADVENTURELAND: The red-band trailer is very red-band, ie.e., NSFW.

100 MOVIES TO SEE BEFORE YOU DIE, courtesy of Yahoo! Movies.

NBC's weekly primetime average viewership fell below 6 million average viewers for the week, a dramatically low number approaching the level of Spanish language Univision in every demo category. Except in the adults 18-34 demo, where NBC finished behind Univision.

NICOLAS CAGE: Worst Movie Star Alive?

WOODY ALLEN has a story in the New Yorker that is like The Metamorphosis meets Annie Hall.

ISLAMBERG, a private Muslim community in the woods of the western Catskills, was founded in 1980 by Sheikh Syed Mubarik Ali Shah Gilani, whom the Feds say  also co-founded Jamaat al-Fuqra, a terrorist organization believed responsible for dozens of bombings and murders across the US and abroad.

THE STANS: The Taliban's widening campaign in southern Afghanistan is made possible in part by direct support from operatives in Pakistan's military intelligence agency, despite Pakistani government promises to sever ties to militant groups fighting in Afghanistan, according to American government officials.  The Times of London surveys the Taliban-controlled Swat region of Pakistan.  After years of often testy cooperation with NATO and resentment over unequal burden-sharing, the US is taking unabashed ownership of the Afghan war.

IRAQ: A US withdrawal by 2011 will be a "massive and expensive effort" that is likely to increase rather than lower Iraq-related spending during the withdrawal and for several years after its completion.  The report also highlights lingering weaknesses in the Iraqi gov't.

APOCOLYPSE MEOW is the SFW ttile for this Japanimated tale of Cats and Bunnies at war.

BIZARRE SOUTH AMERICAN ARMORED FISH discovered in a calm Leicestershire canal.

TOAD DAY OUT: It's all very cute, right up to the mass extermination in the freezers.

A SEEING-EYE HORSE kicks up controversy in Texas.

MANATEE HEATERS are to be installed at Florida power plant converting to natural gas.

EXPLODING BATS were an obstacle to wind power; scientists think they have cracked the problem.

A PACK OF WILD DOGS terrorizes the plains of eastern Colorado.

ZIGGY the PEKINGESE discovers his hidden talent for producing abstract works of art.

METRIC: "Gimme Sympathy," the first video from their upcoming Fantasies album, which asks the mucsical question, "Which would you rather be, The Beatles or The Rolling Stones?"

LEONARD COHEN is advance streaming Live in London via NPR.

M WARD played the World Cafe, so you can stream the set on demand via NPR.

A.C. NEWMAN stopped by The Current for a chat and mini-set streaming via MPR.

THE BROKEN WEST also did The Current thing.

MASON WILLIAMS: "Classical Gas." Between this and the Moody Blues twofer, It's just been that sort of week.

THE DECEMBERISTS: You can get the MP3 version of The Hazards of Love for 3.99 via Lala.

THE NEW YORK DOLLS talk to the L.A. Times in a piece about their upcoming album, which is produced (like their debut) by Todd Rundgren.

VETIVER: Andy Cabic talks to the Red and Black about the band's new album and his full plate of projects.

INDIE ROCK UNDERWEAR participates in a charity auction.

BRADGELINA: Jolie causing concern on the set of her new film Salt with a crazy diet called liquid detox.

BRUCE WILLIS picked his wife in a casting call. Shocka.

JENNIFER ANISTON swears off marriage? Oh, sure.

JIM CARREY & EWAN McGREGOR: Too gay for US theaters?

THE THREE STOOGES: Sean Penn, Jim Carrey and Benicio Del Toro sounds about right. And they may get to do a movie.

NATALIE PORTMAN: Intrigued by Ryan Gosling or... wait for it... caught canoodling with Sean Penn?  Even New York magazine doesn't want to believe it.

WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE: Finally, a trailer. 

ANNE HATHAWAY will play Judy Garland on stage and screen.

PAUL RUDD, Entertainment Weekly loves you, man!

NORTH KOREA  has positioned a Taepodong-2 missile on the launchpad.

PAKISTAN: Can opposition leader Nawaz Sharif, a populist politician close to Islamic parties, be a reliable US partner?

IRAQ: Attacks are their lowest levels since August 2003. But the US military is shoring up support for the new gov't along the border with Syria.

GUINEA PIGS answer the lunch bell at Chiba Zoological park.

THE SWARM: And there were bees all over the highway.

RABBITS costumed for the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo. Don't be shocked when they go all Monty Python & the Holy Grail on us.

KOMODO DRAGONS kill an Indonesian fisherman.

HEY, IS THAT an elephant trunk in your pants? Almost...

IDA MARIA: "I Like You So Much Better When You're Naked." Words to live by, with an 80's punk-pop look.

PETER BJORN & JOHN are streaming their new album, Living Thing.

JOHN WESLEY HARDING aswers the infamous 20 Questions for PopMatters.

ALL SONGS CONSIDERED: Bonnie "Prince" Billy plays Guest DJ in the latest installment of the long-running NPR series. He's also profiled by the Vancouver Sun and SF Weekly.

INGRID MICHAELSON is streaming a new song about Twitter.

MORRISSEY brings a "Black Cloud" to Jimmy Fallon.  But then, Moz pretty much always brings one.

ELVIS COSTELLO is working with T-Bone Burnette, Emmylou Harris, Loretta Lynn and members of the Krauss/Plant band on a largely acoustic album.

WAVVES, a/k/a Nathan Williams is profiled at the L.A. Times.

JILL SOBULE, who kissed a girl way before Kay Perry, talks to CNN about her new album, which was funded by fans (including one who paid for a duet).

PHIL SPECTOR: Closing arguments at his murder retrial are underway.

MADONNA's tryst with a Brazilian model and rumored hookups with Yankee slugger Alex Rodriguez may get in the way of her plans to adopt another child from Africa. So it may well be that she dumped Jesus.

JENNIFER ANISTON reportedly cut John Mayer loose over his Twitter obsession.

BRITNEY SPEARS is surrounded by lawyers. And i'm not discounting the guy in the gimp outfit, either. At least 2.7 million in attorneys' fees and costs have been paid since a judge ruled the singer was not competent to manage her life and music empire.

LINDSAY LOHAN wishes people believed in her.  So I'm clapping, just like I would for Tink.

ANNA NICOLE SMITH IS STILL DEAD, but following the arrests of Anna Nicole Smith's lawyer and doctors, officials in Florida are reexamining the circumstances surrounding her death.

MICHAEL JACKSON has invited the young stars of the Harry Potter films to be access all areas guests at the opening night of his sellout summer shows. Aren't they a bit old for him?

IRON MAN VS. BRUCE LEE: It's on like Donkey Kong.

NORTH KOREA said on Tuesday any attempt by the UN Security Council to punish it for trying to put a satellite in space would mean the collapse of international disarmament talks aimed at ending its nuclear program.

HEZBOLLAH spends millions to rebuild its stronghold in Beirut, Lebanon.

PAKISTAN: Villagers along the Afghan border pay the price for resisting the Taliban.

AFGHANISTAN: The US State Dept. denies reports that the US and key allies want to create a new senior post in the Afghan government to bypass President Hamid Karzai.

IRAQ has fired 62000 employees accused of corruption and is dismantling sectarianism among its police -- signs that it has turned a corner en route to eventual self-rule, according to Interior Minister Jawad al-Bolani.

ANTEATER GETS HIS DRINK ON: Let's go to the video.

A PARROT that alerted his owner about a baby who was choking was recognized as a hero by the Red Cross.

CHIHUAHUA saves lost dwarf in Snowdonia.

A PIG NAMED SUE learns to herd sheep. Complete with Babe jokes.

WICHITA POLICE HORSE spooked by bachelorette party prop, prompts arrest.

CAMERA OBSCURA have a new video out for "French Navy."

NEW RELEASES: Albums from The Decemberists, Gomez, 1990s, Red Red Meat, Pete Doherty, Harlem Shakes, Pearl Jam and more are streaming in full this week at Spinner. Smart metal band Mastadon releases Crack The Skye.

THOSE DARLINS do the four free songs thing for Daytrotter, all previously unreleased.

RAPHAEL SAADIQ brought his '60s-style soul to the World Cafe, so you can stream the gig on demand via NPR.

NEKO CASE talks to Pitchfork about wild animals, softy Sadies, Richard Adams, and "nude" songs.

THE MOODY BLUES "Ride My Seesaw" on French TV for Twofer "Tuesday Afternoon."

DEVO featured here recently, talks to Whitney Matheson at SxSW about tour plans, Wes Anderson, flowerpt hats and more...

SxSW can be a place to stoke careers, but it's not all a party, as indie labels talk survival in Austin.

MICK JONES opened his own Rock & Roll Library in a Chelsa gallery.

KINDIE MUSIC: Adam Levy has gone from The Honeydogs to Bunny Clogs.

LINDSAY LOHAN is blowing through her cash, and Samantha Ronson's credit.

DAVID LETTERMAN and his longtime girlfriend, Regina Lasko, have gotten hitched.

ROBIN WILLIAMS underwent heart surgery and is recovering at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio.

AMY WINEHOUSE: Marriage over, new tracks rejected by her label.

DANNY BONADUCE got engaged to his girlfriend of about two years. He has presumably checked under the dress.

WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE: Oddly enough, at USA Today.

JASON SEGEL tals to Jimmy Fallon about writing the next Muppets movie, is interrupted by Statler & Waldorf.

WHERE IN THE WORLD IS MATT LAUER? Resting after hitting a deer.

SYLVIA PLATH's son kills himself.

OUR FRIENDS, THE SAUDIS: A group of Saudi clerics has urged the Kingdom's new information minister to ban women from appearing on TV or in newspapers and magazines.

AFGHANISTAN: The US and its European allies are ­preparing to plant a high-profile Prime Minister in the heart of the Kabul government in a direct challenge to Afghan Pres. Karzai?

CAT & FOX, living together... mass hysteria.

AND NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT: A drunken Silverback gorilla.

FUGITIVE KANGAROOS bust out of French theme park.

WILD TURKEYS terrorize truckers in Jackson, Mich.  It's usually truckers on Wild Turkey doing the terrorizing.

MEET MAX, the jail dog.

MODEST MOUSE previewed "Satellite Skin" from their upcoming EP, at the Ed Sullivan Theater.

THE DECEMBERISTS are streaming The Hazards of Love album via Entertainment Weekly.

LAMBCHOP: Kurt Wagner stopped by Oregon Public Broadcasting for a chat and mini-set including covers of Crooked Fingers and Bob Dylan, plus originals. He tends to remind me a bit of a pre-Islam Cat Stevens.

ELVIS PERKINS has an interview plus tracks streaming via NPR's Morning Edition.

SxSW: NPR's microsite has archived live sets from The Decemberists, Blitzen Trapper, The Avett Bros, Dirty Projectors, Heartless Bast^rds and more...

NEKO CASE drops the video for "People Got A Lotta Nerve."

JEFF TWEEDY gives GQ a preview of Wilco's still untitled new album and reviews the catering at Neil Young shows.

RHETT MILLER talks to the San Francisco Chronicle about The Old 97s cameo in The Break-Up, feeding the kids, and more..

PARTY SONGS are the latest installment of 1000 Songs You Must Hear, with the usual opportunity to nominate songs they missed.

SEVENTEEN MILLION PEOPLE stopped buying CDs in 2008, but overall music sales increased ten percent.

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE: Nic Cage is Knowing success at No.1, with 24.8 million, an okay number, though far less than Ghost Rider or the National Treasure sequel in recent years.  Ticket-buyers also said "I Love You, Man," to Paul Rudd and Jason Segel, as 18 million is pretty darn good for an R-rated comedy, right in the Role Models/ Forgetting Sarah Marshall ballpark. Julia Robers and Clive Owen settled into third place with Duplicity at 14.4 million.  That's an okay opening, but far below Julia's salad days (and less than her paycheck for the film).  Race to Witch Mountain dropped 47 percent to the fourth slot with 13 million, which is okay, but not great. It's likely to take a big hit when Monsters vs. Aliens opens next week.  Watchmen rounds out the Top Five with 6.7 million -- a 62 percent drop. It has almost recouped its 150 million budget worldwide, but Paramount has to turn over some of that to FOX in that lawsuit settlement.  Below the fold, Taken,  Slumdog and Coraline continue to show legs, while Paul Blart finally drops from the Top Ten.

BRUCE WILLIS wed model Emma Heming Saturday at his home on Parrot Cay, on the Turks and Caicos islands in the Caribbean.

HARRISON FORD proposed to Calista Flockhart after 7 1/2 years.

JULIA ROBERTS: TMZ wonders whether her youthful look is the product of doctors.

LINDSAY LOHAN worries about unemployment. Finally.

GWYNETH PALTROW worries about employment. Obliviously.

THE TUDORS' Season 3 premiere is streaming, albeit edited to a TV-14 rating.

JOE JONAS does the slanty-eyed photo thing, because Miley Cyrus was getting all the attention for offending Asian groups.

GREY'S ANATOMY:  T.R. Knight is a TV doctor, but he plays one in real-life after getting into a three-car crash.

PAKISTAN: An intense, six-month campaign of Predator strikes has taken such a toll on Al Qaeda that they have begun turning violently on one another out of confusion and distrust, US intelligence and counter-terrorism officials say. US Envoy Richard Holbrooke said US and NATO troops would not cross into Pakistan to fight the Taliban. The Taliban forced the closure of more than a hundred CD shops in Mardan.

AFGHANISTAN: Scores of Taliban fighters and several Afghan officials were killed in the opening of the spring fighting season, as both side surge forces for what is expected to be the toughest year of fighting since the US invasion in 2001. The US is prepared to discuss the establishment of a political party for the Taliban, a US diplomat says.

IRAQ: The release of hundreds of prisoners from the US-run Camp Bucca has facilitated the revival of Shiite militias and Sunni insurgents in Basra, Baghdad and the borderless expanse along the Euphrates, according to police chiefs, intelligence officials in the Interior Ministry and residents.

THE BIONIC CROC: We can rebuild him, make him stronger.

ROBO CARP: I'd buy that for a dollar.

ORANGUTAN & CHILD saved from tree on flooded river by rope.  Pics at the link.

PINK ELEPHANT on parade, here he comes, hippity-hoppitty.

A DINOSAUR-AGE HATCHLING has been found in mainland New Zealand, the first of its kind to be seen there in over 200 years. Spared no expense.

WORDS DEADLIEST SPIDER, found at a Whole Foods store in Oklahoma, can kill a person in about 25 minutes, or stimulate an hours-long erection in men. Yes, really.