THE WEEKEND STARTS HERE:

...with THE END TIMES! Saturday may be Judgment Day and I don't want to leave anyone unprepared. Thus, it starts with an earthquake, birds, snakes and R.E.M.'s "It's the End of the World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)." U2 can keep you rocking (yet Biblical) "Until the End of the World." And (to paraphrase the National Lampoon) who can forget Barry McGuire's immortal "Eve of Destruction," especially as introduced by Jerry Lewis?  Mad Men fans will remember Skeeter Davis singing "The End of the World," beating P.J. Sloan and McGuire by a couple of years.  Also in a country vein is Johnny Cash's "When The Man Comes Around" (I picked the Dawn of the Dead credits for this one because it also ties in nicely to the new CDC guidance on the Zombie Apocalypse). Prince is more upbeat about the idea on "1999," and I really should include Blondie's "Rapture," if only for the name.  However, the selections that would be most in Pate's repertoire would be The Clash's "London Calling" (tho "Four Horsemen" also appears on the double-LP) and Elvis Costello's "Waiting For the End of the World."

BLACK JOE LEWIS and the HONEYBEARS stopped by The Current for a chat and mini-set.

CAROLINA CHOCOLATE DROPS did the four free songs thing for Daytrotter.

MIDDLE BROTHER did the four free songs thing twice over for Daytrotter -- once in Nashville and again at SXSW.

NOAH and the WHALE stopped by WFUV for a chat and mini-set.

NEW ORDER drops the previously unreleased "Hellbent" in advance of a joint Joy Division-New order box set.

BLONDIE drops "Mother" as an advance video to the band's 9th LP.

BON IVER's Top 10 Covers, according to Stereogum.

PAVEMENT, Live in Boston, September 18th, 2010.

NEKO CASE talks to the Charleston City Paper about, nature, poverty, Tina Fey and more... (Thx, LHB.) Put me in a mind to hear "Deep Red Bells."

PAUL SIMON and a moment of pure sobbing joy.

THE EARLES: Steve talks to the Riverfront Times about his novel, while son Justin Townes Earle talks to The Tennesseean about staying connected with his roots while living in NYC. (Thx, Chromewaves.)

A LOVE-HATE RELATIONSHIP with music journalism -- inspired by this NPR piece.

THE SHAGGS: PHILOSOPHY OF THE WORLD is being made into a play. Yes, really.

CUTOUT BIN: From Issac Hayes to the Jam, from Jimi Hendrix to Elton John, from Sam & Dave to the Replacements, plus the Troggs, Robert Pollard, Flamin' Groovies, Susannah Hoffs & Matthew Sweet and more -- this Friday's fortuitous finds are now streaming from the Pate page at the ol' HM.

PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: ON STRANGER TIDES is this weekend's sole wide release, rolling out on 4000 screens and scoring only 35 percent on the ol' Tomatometer, which likely won't matter a bit.

ARNOLD & MARIA: Shriver has hired one of the toughest divorce lawyers around, but she hasn't pulled the trigger on ending her marriage.  Meanwhile, it emerges that Schwarzenegger did not voluntarily tell his wife that he fathered a love child with the housekeeper -- instead he confessed only after Maria Shriver confronted the woman, who admitted it. Moreover, Schwarzenegger singlehandedly financed a super-expensive coming-of-age birthday party for his baby mama's niece in 2001 ... and all of Arnold's kids were there - including his love child. And a former child actress now says she also had a extramarital fling with Schwarzenegger. Has Shriver picked up the phone yet?

JENNIFER ANISTON will receive the Decade of Hotness award at SpikeTV's fifth annual "Guys Choice" celebration next month. Aw.

GWYNETH PALTROW recommends buying 18K in spring clothes. She has a keen understanding of the public mood.

LARS VON TRIER was expelled from the Cannes Film Festival on Thursday, a day after joking at a news conference that he was a Nazi and expressing sympathy for Hitler.

ALEXANDER SKARSGARD is profiled for a cover story at GQ.

RASHIDA JONES gets a blurb and slideshow at GQ. The lede: "In this summer's comedy Our Idiot Brother, there is a hot lesbian make-out scene between Rashida Jones and Zooey Deschanel. This is very likely to be the only fact you will remember from this article."

KUWAIT: A fistfight broke out in parliament after Salafists attacked a Shia lawmaker who called Kuwaitis detained at Guantanamo Bay terrorists.

OUR FRIENDS, THE SAUDIS and the US are quietly expanding defense ties on a vast scale, led by a little-known project to develop an elite force to protect the kingdom's oil riches and future nuclear sites.

PAKISTAN: Mid-ranking Al-Qaeda operative Mohammed Ali Qasim, alias Abu Sohaib al-Makki, who was recently arrested in Pakistan, had been living in the country for almost 10 years and was involved in recent terrorist activities in Karachi.

AFGHANISTAN: The Afghan government has struck a peace deal with a Taliban commander who ordered the flogging and shooting of a pregnant widow accused of adultery.

A BEAGLE learns how to catch.

PINK KITTEH: Its hue is believed to be caused my a mishap at a concrete factory.

FERAL CAMELS in the Australian desert are attacking air conditioning units, toilet systems and more in a desperate search for water.

A WALLABY turned up in a Dorset garden. Video at the link.

PETS will be rescued by atheists on Judgment Day... for a price.