THE WEEKEND STARTS HERE:

...with THE LOVIN' SPOONFUL! The obligatory "Summer in the City" put me in mood, as I had not featured them is some time.  That's a lipsync, as is "Daydream" (based on the lack of guitar cords), but the twofer of "Do You Believe in Magic" and "You Didn't Have To Be So Nice" is clearly live, since the band clearly blows the entry.  The band gets some orchestral backing on "Darlin' Be Home Soon," which is lesser-known today, but which reached No. 15 on the Billboard charts in 1967.

HORSE FEATHERS syopped by Oregon Public Broadcasting for a chat and mini-set streaming on demand as audio or video.

CAT POWER at the BBC, compiled and streaming at Captain's Dead.

THE POSIES talk to NPR about making money 15 years after their major label days.  Video and audio at the link, too.

THE TEN BEST 80's SONGS, according to AOL Radio listeners, is rather horrifying, even though I may have to concede six of them. Embedded audio at the link, too.

THE RAMONES: "California Sun."

THE 20 BEST R.E.M. SONGS OF ALL TIME, according to Paste magazine. With embedded audio.

THE DECEMBERISTS: Colin Meloy defends his concept LP, The Hazards of Love, in the Providence Journal.  There's a less defensive piece at the Chicago Tribune.

DIRTY PROJECTORS & The Curse Of Brooklyn's Hipster Ephemera. Is this summer's most talked about group everything that's wrong with the hipster mentality?

CUTOUT BIN: From Carl Douglas to Richard Thompson, from Roger Miller to Teenage Fanclub, from the Supermes to the Raconteurs, from the Kinks to the Kind, plus Blondie, The Hold Steady, Cheap Trick, Metric 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  Judd Apatow's Funny People, currently scoring 65 percent on the ol' Tomatometer; plus Aliens in the Attic and The Collector, neither of which were screened for critics, so caveat emptor.  500 Days of Summer, scoring 88 percent, expands to 266 screens, so check your local listings.

MICHAEL JACKSON: Debbie Rowe has settled her custody issues over Jacko's children and it doesn't involve a single penny ... but it does involve a shrink.  (Katherine Jackson will be the guardian of Michael's children.)  Joe Jackson claims Michael had a love child.

MAD MEL UPDATE: Did Gibson beat a fan? The cops don't believe it.

MISCHA BARTON's recent hospital stay was due to "suicidal" actions, claims an insider, who adds  the attempt may have coincided with the CW's The Beautiful Life deciding they no longer desired her services.

SCARLETT JOHANSSON & RYAN REYNOLDS did not have a fight that kept the latter from promoting Green lantern at Comic-Con, according to their reps.

FANTASTIC MR. FOX: Wes Anderson's adaptation of the Roald Dahl book now has a trailer online.

DIANE KEATON is venturing into series television with a half-hour comedy at HBO.

JENNIFER ANISTON will star in a rom-com titled, "Pumas." Can't imagine what the press for that will be like.

RICHARD RODRIGUEZ talks to Cinematical about Shorts, Sin City 2, Machete, and Lipitor.

IRAN: Thousands and possibly tens of thousands of mourners, many of them black-clad young women carrying roses, overwhelmed security forces today at Tehran's largest cemetery to gather around the grave of Neda Agha-Soltan, the young woman whose videotaped shooting at a June 20 demonstration stunned the world. Uniformed security forces initially clashed violently today with some of the mourners, supporters and leaders of the opposition, who were there to protest and grieve for those killed in recent unrest.

DOG ON A SWING: Let's go to the video.

BELUGA WHALE saves a drowning diver when she suffered crippling cramps.

CANARY FIGHTING RING BUSTED in Shelton, Connecticut.

SEA LION mates himself to death: "For sea lion bulls with a harem this is the most exhausting time."