DR. DOG performs "The Old Days" for the redhead on the Peacock.

NEW RELEASES: Dr. Dog, CSS and compilations of The Individuals and Dio-era Sabbath are among the albums streaming in full this week from Spinner.

PAUL WESTERBERG is offering 49 minutes of music for just 49¢.

CALEXICO debuts a new track, "Two Silver Trees" at Paste magazine.

JOANNA NEWSOM, the best indie harpist evah, plays a new song, after joking, "it's not like people can put recordings of this song and place them in some sort of metaphysical forum for other people to see and comment on."

TODD RUNDGREN's  "pinball-like" career is surveyed by the Houston Chronicle ahead of his next album, Arena.  So here is the Nazz with "Open My Eyes" and Rundgren's classic "Hello, It's Me" for Twofer Tuesday.  BONUS: "We Gotta Get You A Woman" is just audio... but what audio!

BON IVER does the four free songs thing for Daytrotter.

JAMES McMURTRY tells the L.A. Times he now embraces those who describe his music as literary, and explains why he formed a rockin' trio.

FLEET FOXES offer no apologies for drawing on music's past. "We try to draw from the traditions of folk music, pop, choral music and gospel, baroque psychedelic, sacred harp singing, West Coast music, traditional music from Ireland to Japan, and film scores," says frontman Robin Pecknold.

BLACK MOUNTAIN gets some in-depth local vove from the Vancouver Sun.

MADONNA is at the center of a £1million sex-video scandal, according to the uber-reliable Daily Star. A sleazy cameraman is trying to flog a tape he alleges shows the singer romping with US baseball hunk Alex Rodriguez. Legal experts say if his claims are true the lensman could face prosecution for voyeurism and burglary. Meanwhile, friends of Alex Rodriguez claim the Yankee slugger is actually an "emotionally abused" husband whose wife, Cynthia, gave him permission to see other women.

JESSICA SIMPSON, whose debut country performance drew boos at the Country Thunder USA Festival, may also have a sex tape with her ex-husband Nick Lachey, according to the Daily Sport, which I have never heard of before now.

THE DARK KNIGHT is even bigger than thought -- grossing an official $158.3 million over the weekend.  Michael Caine talks to the WaPo about Heath Ledger and more.

CHARLIE SHEEN & DENISE RICHARDS both say they couldn't be happier with the latest courtroom custody battle -- which appears to have to do with the kids "acting out" at home.  Sounds like Sheen is the happier one.

AMY WINEHOUSE didn't turn up to see husband Blake sentenced to 27 months in prison today for grievous bodily harm and perverting the course of justice.

BILL MURRAY will be skydiving at Chicago's Air & Water Show to bring attention to the USO of Illinois and the work that organization does on behalf of American troops here and overseas.

TOM CRUISE has been asked to dust off his aviator shades for a Top Gun sequel.

PATRICK SWAYZE is looking like his old self again, even in the midst of fighting cancer.

HALLE BERRY offered her first glimpse of daughter Nahla Ariela Aubry since her March 16 birth. Berry never sold sold baby photos.

EBERT & ROEPER are both leaving the "Ebert & Roeper" movie-review show, apparently due to contract problems with Disney. "&" was unavailable for comment at presstime.

THE NAME IS BOND: To celebrate the centenary of Ian Fleming's birth, Times Online have created an exclusive 100 year interactive Fleming and Bond timeline. Packed with articles and photography from the Times Archive and the original reviews of Bond novels and films, it shows how closely Bond's fictional life paralleled Fleming's.  BONUS: Sean Connery his son Jason that he would never receive a penny of his £85million fortune.

THE END: Critics from the Times of London pick the best movie endings ever, from E.T. to Casablanca. But be warned -- it does contain spoilers.

IRAN was not being serious at weekend talks about its disputed nuclear program, despite the presence of a senior US diplomat, and may soon face new sanctions, according to Sec of State Condoleezza Rice. Iran's chief nuclear negotiator said on Monday that Iran wanted no confrontation over its nuclear program and was optimistic about the future course of the nuclear talks. Iran and the six world powers negotiating a settlement to the standoff over the Islamic state's nuclear program have both requested Turkish help.

IRAQ's government spokesman is hopeful that US combat forces could be out of the country by 2010. The Multi-National Forces (captured on Monday a suspected propaganda specialist of the Hezbollah Organization during a raid in the New Baghdad district.  Iraqi authorities have trained 130 women from Sunni tribes to seek out and prevent attacks carried out by al-Qaeda's aspiring female suicide bombers.  The Counterterrorism Blog looks at whether Iraq remains the "central front" in America's war on terrorism.

FISH PEDICURES: The latest in spa pampering.  Slideshow and video at the link.

FERAL AUSSIE DONKEYS: The key to a better sex life?

SNAKE UNDER THE BED in Montreal.

IGUANA: Exploding in Monroe County, FL.

CURIOUSITY got the cat's head stuck in a Mason jar.

PEARL JAM -- esp. axeman Mike McCready -- rock "The Real Me" at VH1's Rock Honors for The Who.  There are plenty of other clips from the telecast at the link, including Daltrey and Townshend ironically romping through "My Generation."

ROBYN HITCHCOCK performed a set for the World Cafe; you can stream the gig on demand via NPR.  Selections include "I Often Dream of Trains," "Full Moon in My Soul," and various Venus 3 tracks, like "Museum of Sex." and "Ole Tarantula."

CONOR OBERST of Bright Eyes is profiled by London's Independent.

AMOS LEE played a mini-set at NPR's Studio 4A you can stream on demand along with a video of "Truth."  He also answers five questions for the Detroit Free Press.

ANDREW BIRD talks to the Aspen Times, mostly about how influenced he is by living in Chicago: "It's another place, like Minneapolis or Iceland, where in the winter, people have to disappear and make art to avoid going crazy..."

THE HOLD STEADY were not "Sequestered in Memphis," but probably best to not mention where they were.

RHETT MILLER does an interview and mini-set for WHYY's FreshAir.

THE B-52's are profiled by the Times of London as they land on British shores this week for their first UK tour since reforming nine years ago.

LEONARD COHEN is profiled by the Times of London as he embarks on his first British tour in 15 years. 

COURTNEY LOVE claims that Ryan Adams used 858K of Frances Bean Cobain's money to fund his 2003 album Rock n Roll.

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE:  The Dark Knight crushes all competition with 155.3 million in estimated receipts, edging out Spider-Man 3. Among the records broken: biggest midnight show gross; biggest single day gross (Friday); largest number of venues; biggest film for the month of July; biggest comic book adaptation; and biggest three-day opening.  It will also help set a record for the biggest non-holiday weekend overall.  The question of legs will be interesting, given pent-up demand and the possibility that families with young children may be put off by the darker tone of the sequel.  Mamma Mia! placed with 27.6 million -- which is impressive, regardless of TDK, particularly given the tepid reviews.  It could make 100 million domestic.  Hancock and Journey to the Center of the Earth each dropped a notch, but Hellboy II was hammered with a 70 percent drop at the hands of TDK. Hellboy II has a total of 56.4 mill and is now in danger of not reaching its 85 million production budget in theaters.

BRADGELINA: Jolie and her twins left the hospital early Saturday.

SHANNEN DOHERTY is indeed returning to the 90210 reboot, where she will play the director of West Beverly High's musical -- on the show within the show.  A high school musical; how original.

CHRISTIE BRINKLEY, fresh from settling a bitter and very public divorce, attended her first ex Billy Joel's concert at New York's Shea Stadium Friday night.

BRITNEY SPEARS won formalization of increased visitation with her kids, but now must pay Fed-Ex 20K monthly for child support. 

JENNIFER GARNER is pregnant, according to multiple sources.

WATCHMEN: The trailer running before The Dark Knight was linked here Friday; Entertainment Weekly has a "first look" at Zach Snyder's adaptation of Alan Moore's highly -acclaimed 1986 graphic saga, as well as a backgrounder on the original comic mini-series.

A RELIGION CONFERENCE convened by King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia for the purpose of gathering together leaders of the world's religions ended on a sour note as Christian and Jewish participants complained that the organizers, the Muslim World League, had too much control over the conference's closing communiqué.

IRAN: High-level international talks on Iran's nuclear program ended inconclusively in Geneva, with European envoy Javier Solana telling reporters that Iran needed to give a more definitive answer within two weeks. European officials said they were disappointed by the Iranian response, believing that Jalili missed a clear opportunity to engage on the substance of their revised proposal. At Iran's 1500th Friday prayer session since the sermons resumed after the 1979 Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami gave a typically fiery speech. Worshipers chanted slogans likening the US to the Roman Empire and punctuated the sermon with cries of "Death to America!"

IRAQ's main Sunni Arab bloc rejoined the Shi'ite-led government on Saturday in a breakthrough for national reconciliation after parliament approved its candidates for several vacant ministerial posts. Getting the Accordance Front to return after it quit a year ago has been seen as key to reconciling majority Shi'ites and minority Sunni Arabs. Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's made comments to Der Spiegel supposedly supportive Barack Obama's 16-month timeframe for a withdrawal from Iraq; a spokesman for al-Maliki later said his remarks "were misunderstood, mistranslated and not conveyed accurately."

ROCCO the BEAGLE, who vanished from his young owner's New York garden five years ago, has been found more than 850 miles away... in Hinesville, GA.

LEOPARD vs. ALLIGATOR: A life-or-death struggle, captured for the first time on camera.

TOAD eats SNAKE: An astonishing picture shows nature working in reverse.

FAMILY DOG saves elderly woman from killer kangaroo.

SNAKE in a WASHING MACHINE: Is that an 8-ft python in your blue jeans? Video at the link.

THE WEEKEND STARTS HERE:

...with ART BRUT!  Courtesy of Moshcam, their debut at the Factory Theater in Sydney, Australia opens with a triple-blast of "Formed A Band," "Bad Weekend" and "Bang Bang Rock & Roll" before venturing into material from their second album. including "Pump Up The Volume," which is not a cover, btw.  But staples from their debut, including "Moving to L.A.," "Emily Kane" and "My Little Brother" appear later in the set.

APPLES IN STEREO bassis Eric Allen talks with Lumino about the band's summer tour, and with the Cedar Rapids Gazette about the "Colbert Effect." (Thx, LHB.)

TED LEO plays a new song and a Waterboys cover for the Bryant Park Project, before his performance at New York's River to River Festival.

RONNIE WOOD is in rehab, but his wife has fled England, amid reports that the Rolling Stones guitarist remains smitten enough with a a 20-year-old Russian waitress that he was going to try and sneak a mobile phone into rehab so they could still send kisses to each other.

THE MORNING BENDERS do the five free songs thing for Daytrotter, two previously unreleased (one of which is a Ronettes cover).

RADIOHEAD has made a video for "House of Cards" using lasers instead of cameras... and the band is soliciting interactive remixes using their computer code. Here's the "making of" video.

RAY DAVIES is well-respected by the Portland Mercury: "Let's face it: The man is a living legend-the chief songwriter behind the Kinks, simultaneously one of the biggest bands of all time and one of the most underrated..."

THE HOLD STEADY guitarist Tad Kubler vents a little to the National Post about the leak of the Stay Positive album: "And you spend a lot of time on the quality of the sound and mastering, and then people are out there listening to really sh!tty BitTorrent files that are corrupted and out of phase. And that's not how you want people experiencing your record. So it's frustrating, but it is what it is..."

NICK CAVE talks to the Telegraph about his compulsion to write.

CUTOUT BIN: From the Dead Milkmen to Linda Ronstadt, ftom the Aerovons to the Zombies, from the Sex Pistols to the Beautiful South, from Rush to the Pogues and more -- this Friday's fortuitous finds can be jukeboxed or streamed separately via the Pate page at the ol' HM.

THE DARK KNIGHT was as good as or better than Batman Begins -- in its own way.  The talk about Heath Ledger getting a posthumous Oscar nomination seems like a stretch to me, but Ledger does give a fine performance, transcending Jack Nicholson's 1989 star turn as the Joker.  Ledger's Joker is filled with the true psychpathology and terror this script demanded. Terror is key here, as director Christopher Nolan raises some very contemporary themes in the movie, though not in a didactic way, which is as it should be.  Some may find that Gotham City resembles Chicago too much in this sequel, in the sense that it is far less stylized than the Gotham of Batman Begins -- no futuristic train or specially dressed sets like the Narrows.  But I found it to be a good fit with the nature of this film.  Nolan and Maggie Gyllenhaal do whhat they can to make Rachel Dawes more than a damsel in distress, though they did not sell me on her relationship with Aaron Eckhart's Harvey Dent enough early in the film to get the full impact the movietries to draw from it.  Perhaps I should fault Eckhart, who I have liked in some roles, but who never seemed to define Dent.  Morgan Freeman and Michael Caine do their usual things with the smaller roles they get here, though Freeman gets a particularly choice scene.  Gary Oldman also excels, though he could probably excel reading the phonebook.  The Dark Knight is critic-proof, which makes it all the better that it is as satisfying as it is.  BONUS: Scientific American explains, "Why Batman Could Exist--But Not for Long."

NOW SHOWING:  In addition to The Dark Knight, currently scoring 94 on the ol' Tomatometer, this weekend's wide-releases are counter-programming the Bat -- Mamma Mia! is currently scoring 48 percent and Space Chimps is scoring 25 percent.

BEN AFFLECK & JEN GARNER pregnancy rumors are getting louder.

ASHLEE SIMPSON & PETE WENTZ reportedly are expecting a baby girl. 

LINDSAY LOHAN & SAMANTHA RONSON get the thumb's up from Sam's brother, producer Mark Ronson.

DENISE RICHARDS went to court Thursday morning, asking the custody judge for an emergency order restricting Charlie Sheen's access to their kids. The judge, who's sitting in for the regular judge on the case who is on vacation, put the matter off until Monday.

MENA SUVARI is set to wed music producer Simone Sestito. She was previously married to cinematographer Robert Brinkmann, whom she divorced over three years ago.

WHERE ARE THE WILD THINGS?  Something has gone very wrong with "Where the Wild Things Are," the much-anticipated Spike Jonze adaptation of Maurice Sendak's classic children's book.

THE EMMY NOMINEES are led by 30 Rock and Mad Men, with 17 and 16 nods, respectively. That Mad Men -- an under-watched new drama on AMC (which was running no other series at the time) -- tops the dramtic noms is pretty impressive. Sarah Silverman's "I'm F****** Matt Damon" is up for the gold in the category of outstanding original music and lyrics. Silverman's video -- and her now ex-bf Jimmy Kimmel's response -- were both nominated for editing.

THE WATCHMEN teaser trailer that appears in front of The Dark Knight is now online, set to "The End is the Beginning is the End," by the Smashing Pumpkins.

ISLAMISM in the UK: The Times of London looks at "The hidden face of political Islamism."

THE STANS: Despite growing pressure on Pakistan to quell Islamic militancy, jihadist groups within its borders are, in fact, increasing their cooperation to attack US and NATO forces in Afghanistan, according to interviews with a wide range of militants, intelligence officials and military officers.

IRAQ: The New York Times has a balanced and interesting article on how Iraqis view proposals to get US troops out of Iraq. With violence in Iraq at its lowest level in four years and the war in Afghanistan at a peak, some US troops (mostly on their first tours) want to go where the fighting is.  It is still one of the most dangerous places in the world, but officials are determined to persuade tourists to return to the war-torn country.

MOOSE FAMILY has summer fun with the sprinkler -- hey, who doesn't?

A MISSOURI LAWSUIT alleges that Wal-Mart, local health officials and Cox Health Systems discriminated against a woman and her monkey. Everybody's got something to hide?

THE BIRDS are after the vicar of St Petroc's Church, in Bodmin, Cornwall.

GULLIVER the CAT travelled 300 miles from Scotland to Yorkshire on the radiator of a bus. Cute cat, too.

A GREY SHARK found with a hooked pole used to haul big fish on to boats wedged in his mouth was rescued and restored to health by divers off the Aussie coast.

SHE & HIM drop their first video, for "Why Do You Let Me Stay Here?" Playful and morbid.

THE JAYHAWKS are getting the band back together, with a production assist from Black Crowe Chris Robinson.

U2 is streaming the deluxe reissues of its first three albums over at iMeem.

THE MORNING BENDERS are putting out a covers EP; 3hive is streaming the band's take on The Crystals' "He's A Rebel," while MOKB has their take on Paul Simon's "Mother and Child Reunion."

RONNIE WOOD has entered rehab for a drinking problem, following British newspaper reports that he had been spending time at his Irish retreat with a young Russian cocktail waitress.

FOO FIGHTERS & GAZ COOMBES (Supergrass) rock out on "Bargain" in a preview clip from the VH1 Who tribute.

THE HOLD STEADY guitarist Tad Kubler is profiled in Madison's Capitol Times, with a bit about his side gig as a fashion photographer. Really.

THE HEADLIGHTS, from Champaign, IL, play Brooklyn's Union Hall in a short video segment for the Bryant Park Project.

FEIST tells Denver's Westword she is taking a break after six years of touring, and adds a bit about re-doing her hit for Sesame Street: "In a way, I was so sick to death of '1234' at that point," she admits. "It was such an amazing, cathartic release to have the song turned into a song for kids, which is what, in essence, it turned out to be in reality, too. So many people came up to me and said, 'My three-year-old can't stop singing it!'"

RON SEXSMITH talks to Paste about his new album, singing, songwriting and the biz: " I remember my last record, Time Being. Trying to get a label was ridiculous. They'd say, "We love Ron, but we can't sell his records." One label said they'd quit signing people over the age of 24. It's an interesting at this time to see where it's going..."

ANDY DICK was arrested early Wednesday morning in the parking lot near a Buffalo Wild Wings restaurant in Murrieta, Calif. on suspicion of drug possession and sexual battery.

JESSICA ALBA rolls out the baby pics for OK! magazine.

NICOLE KIDMAN said she would never think of selling pictures of her daughter -- but maybe the price wasn't right.

A-ROD's teammates must wish they could divorce him too. "He's become a huge distraction with the Madonna fiasco," a source told Page Six.

JUSTIN LONG & KIRSTEN DUNST were spotted looking cozy in New York City early Wednesday morning.

THE SPIRIT now has an exclusive trailer posted at Yahoo! Movies. It's loaded with starlets, btw.

THE DARK KNIGHT: Maggie Gyllenhaal talks to The A.V. Club about why she jumped from new motherhood into the sort of big action movie she would normally never do.

INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS: Quentin Tarantino is pitching Brad Pitt and Leonardo DiCaprio on his long-delayed WWII pic.

THE STANS: US troops in Afghanistan massed close to the border Tuesday for a possible attack on al-Qaeda and Taleban bases in the lawless North Waziristan tribal belt in Pakistan.

IRAQ hopes to have security control of all its provinces by the year-end, the national security adviser said on Wednesday, though I think we've heard that before.  Iraq did take control of security in the Shiite province of Diwaniyah on Wednesday, making it the 10th province to be regained by Baghdad from the US-led forces amid a fall in violence nationwide. The US military says it has arrested a key bombing suspect who was trained by Iranians.

GOODNIGHT, SWEETHEARTS: Doo-Wop puts the puppies to sleep in a hurry.

GREATEST AMERICAN DOG, a canine-centric reality show in which pets and their owners compete for 250K by doing things that dogs don't ordinarily do, hauled in an impressive 9.5 million viewers for its premiere last week.

A SCHOOL of CATFISH were spotted "walking" through a Florida neighborhood, shocking homeowners who said they've never seen anything like it. Pics, video at the link.

A BEAR did some window-shopping at Circuit City in Colorado Springs, but left without purchasing anything.  Pics, security video at the link.

CAMELS cause a traffic jam in Austria after escaping from a nearby circus.

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?