MY MORNING JACKET drummer Patrick Hallahan lists common misconceptions about the band for the Toronto Star. Frontman Jim James "spins" clips featuring James Brown, Jim Henson, Muhammad Ali and John Prine as TubeVJ for a day at Velocity Weekly. (Thx, LHB.)

SHEARWATER hit DC's Black Cat last night, so you should be able to stream the gig on demand via NPR.

LEONARD COHEN is profiled in the Independent as he sets out on his first British tour for 15 years.

JAMES HUNTER brought his classic-tinged soul to the World Cafe on Friday; you can stream his set on demand via NPR.

JIM DICKINSON and the North Mississippi All-Stars: sort of a Father's Day story.

LOVE IS ALL does an art-punk take on the  Flock of Seagulls' classic "I Ran (So Far Away," sans the asymmetric haircuts.

WILL JOHNSON explains the duality of his bands -- the noisy Centro-matic and the contemplative South San Gabriel -- to the Boston Globe.

FLEET FOXES are "the Beach Boys gone feral," according to the Observer -- and it seems that Robin Pecknold has a little of Brian Wilson's reclusive streak as well: "The Foxes are still green enough to be humbled by the applause. 'I spend most of my time in my parents' basement,' confesses Pecknold sweetly, 'so this is very strange.'"

WEEZER frontman Rivers Cuomo is interviewed for NPR's Weekend Edition about changes to the band's music and the brave new world of the Internet. There's also a sidebar from a first-time Weezer listener.

BETTYE LaVETTE talks to Chicagoland's Northwest Herald about preserving her voice and returning to Alabama to record "The Scene Of The Crime."

THE INCREDIBLE HULK: Mr. Green Genes returns to the big screen in a film that is much more what people expect than Ang Lee's 2003 take, with plenty of "Hulk smash" action, though not as good as this summer's adaptation of Iron Man. Ed Norton makes for a more convincing Bruce Banner than Eric Bana, and reportedly polished the screenplay from Zak Penn (who has plenty of experience adapting Marvel comics, including X2 and X-Men 3, Elektra, and the Fantastic Four).  Variety's Anne Thompson has the backstory on Norton's struggle with the studios.  Liv Tyler's Betsy Ross suffers by comparison to Jennifer Connelly, but the script gives her enough time that the viewer cares about her fate as well as that of Banner.  (We can hope the DVD will include the outtakes where Tyler splits her pants repeatedly.)  William Hurt brings his own twist to Gen. "Thunderbolt" Ross; one suspects that we have not seen the last of him.  Tim Roth is suitably nasty as Emil Blonsky, the core villain of the piece.  Stan Lee and original TV Hulk Lou Ferrigno are only two of the cool cameos.

The weaknesses of the film are generally what I always found to be the weaknesses of the comic.  The Hulk - at least the classic Hulk - is inherently simplistic, a manifestation of suppressed rage.  He is so powerful that he is most often opposed by either the military or a comparable behemoth, and there is nothing new on that front in this movie. One of the great bonuses of the film is that Marvel Studios continues to bring the audience into the wider Marvel Universe.  Those who have seen Iron Man will spot some familiar names; comics geeks will recognize the allusions to the Captain America saga. Non-comics geeks reading this will be able to deduce what those allusions are.

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE:  The Incredible Hulk won the weekend with 54.5 million -- not as good as the 2003 opening, but exceeding projections with an impressive per screen average and likely more legs than the 2003 version.  Overall it ranks about average for a Marvel movie opening. It opened bigger than the last major comics-franchise reboot, 2005's Batman Begins, and is the best debut ever for Edward Norton and Ed Norton's hair. Kung Fu Panda placed second, falling a respectable 43% to 34.3 million -- it seems likely to end up somewhere between Shark Tale and Madagascar in the Dreamworks catalog, and a big seller on DVD at the holidays.  M. Night Shyamalan' The Happening came in third with 30 million -- beating expectations, though nowhere near the opening of Signs or even The Village.  Bad buzz will likely cause a big tumble next weekend.  You Don't Mess with the Zohan fell a stiff 57% to 16.4 million -- not as good as Adam Sandler's other recent movies over this time span, but okay.  Rounding out the top five is Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, which remains a little ahead of Iron Man over the same time frame for top earner this summer.

MADONNA & GUY RITCHIE have reportedly turned to the Kabbalah to help them through their latest marital problems, taking private his-and-hers ‘teachings' at their local center in Oxford Street, London, every Friday night.

R. KELLY was acquitted of child pr0n charges that he appeared on a videotape having sex with a girl as young as 13. Several jurors said one weakness in the prosecution's case was that neither the alleged victim nor her parents testified, even though 14 people personally identified the girl and 12 of them identified Kelly.  Classic celebrity justice.

GEORGE CLOONEY has been dating a woman in her mid-30s" for months now, even before he split with Sarah Larson, according to Page Six.

SIENNA MILLER, who is rumored to be separated from her Welsh actor boyfriend Rhys Ifans, thinks she is too selfish to have children right now.

TONY ROMO denies rumors that creepy dad-manager Joe Simpson has been meddling in his nearly seven-month-old courtship of the pneumatic Jessica.

ADRIANNA LIMA received an engagement ring Thursday night - her birthday - from basketball star Marko Jaric. Let's celebrate by checking out her last photoshoot and video for GQ.  And her new photoshoot for Elle.

NAOMI CAMPBELL almost tumbled to the ground after a night out with friends in Italy. Pics at the link.

KID ROCK was rushed to the hospital minutes before he was to head on stage Friday, suffering from stomach cramps and dehydration.  It seems unlikely that Kid Rock would ever be short of hydration.

TERROR in the UK: More secret government documents detailing the UK's policies towards fighting global terrorist funding, drugs trafficking and money laundering have been found on a London-bound train and handed to 'The Independent on Sunday'.

THE STANS: Afghan President Hamid Karzai threatened Sunday to send Afghan troops after notorious Taliban leaders inside Pakistan in an angry warning to his eastern neighbor that he will no longer tolerate cross-border attacks.

THE A.Q. KHAN weapons smuggling ring that sold bomb-related parts to Libya, Iran and North Korea also managed to acquire blueprints for an advanced nuclear weapon, according to a draft report by a former top UN arms inspector that suggests the plans could have been shared secretly with any number of countries or rogue groups.

IRAQ: Prime Minister al-Maliki said negotiations over the security pact with the US had reached "a dead end"... but would continue, while rebuffing Iranian overtures. "Dr. iRack" looks at the positioning of different factions over the proposed pact. Moqtada al Sadr ordered the Sadrist political movement to boycott the upcoming provincial elections, one day after his order to disband the Mahdi Army as a fighting force and the creation of a small, armed wing to attack Coalition forces exclusively. The Iraqi Army has begun an offensive against the Mahdi Army in Maysan province. The US Army detained a senior Mahdi Army commander in Baghdad. Iraqi Special Operations Forces captured two Mahdi Army operatives in Baghdad.

MUSCHI & MAEUSCHEN:  This odd couple are so close that zookeepers in Berlin have had to reunite the pair after they were separated.  More pics at the link.

A SPIDER MONKEY new to the the Washington Park Zoo in Michigan City, IN, used a garden hose to scale the walls of a moat and make a break for freedom.

A LEATHERBACK TURTLE has nested on a Texas beach, at the Padre Island National Seashore near Corpus Christi, for the first time since the 1930s.

NEARLY 800 RATS have been trapped from one house in Sutherlin, OR.

MAN & SHEEPDOG survive a 220 ft. plunge off a cliff.  The dog fared better than the driver.