THE LONG WEEKEND STARTS HERE:

...with POWER POP! A few of these may be well-known generally, like Cheap Trick's  "Way of the World" and Nick Lowe's "Cruel to Be Kind"... and some well-known to fans of the genre, like Shoes "Too Late," The Records' "Starry Eyes," the Flamin' Groovies' "Shake Some Action" and the Plimsouls'  "A Million Miles Away" (seen here in a rare live TV slot).  Others are well-known to longtime Pate fans, like the Three O'Clock's "Her Head's Revolving" or Let's Active's "Waters Part." 

TENNIS stopped by Morning Becomes Eclectic for a session.

THE STONE ROSES reunited at an unannounced free performance for 1000 fans.

THE SHINS: James Mercer visited Sound Opinions to showcase songs from the band's new album Port of Morrow (but there's a classic as well).

FOO FIGHTERS, joined by Mick Jagger and former and current SNL cast members, played last weekend's afterparty.

LEMONADE is advance streaming Diver.

ROXY MUSIC, Live at the Paris Theatre, London, circa 1972.

BON IVER, Live at the Haldern Pop Festival, August 15, 2009.

REDD KROSS drops the title track to "Researching The Blues," their first new LP in 15 years.

ELTON JOHN canceled four shows after being rushed to hospital in Los Angeles due to a "serious respiratory infection."  Time for some "Tiny Dancer."

SON VOLT's Jay Farrar talks to the Colorado Springs Independent about working from words by Woody Guthrie and Jack Kerouac. (Thx, LHB.)

THE 100 GREATEST GUITARISTS, according to SPIN.

THE WORST POP COVERS of all time, according to Gigwise.

NINE CLASSIC SONGS you may not know are covers.

CUTOUT BIN:  From David Bowie to the dB's, from the Black Keys to Carly Simon, from the Four Winds to the March Violets, plus Todd Rundgren, Duane Eddy, the Rolling Stones, Best Coast 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: Men In Black 3, which is currently scoring 65 percent on the ol' Tomatometer; and Chernobyl Diaries, which -- oddly enough -- did not screen for critics..

JOHN TRAVOLTA was heaped with fresh embarrassment after photos surfaced of him cross-dressing.

BILL CLINTON threw the "worst party ever"?  That's not the Bill we know and love.

GARY OLDMAN joins the cast of the Robocop reboot.

NICOLE KIDMAN's turn in The Paperboy with Zac Efron is... er, well, um...

FIVE VAMPIRE MOVIES that suck in a good way.

YEMEN: The US State Dept has launched a different sort of raid against Al Qaeda -- hacking into Al Qaeda websites in Yemen.

IRAN has earmarked 25 million bucks for blocking the parliamentary approval of the Afghan-US strategic cooperation agreement. Iran said it was aiming to launch its fourth satellite into orbit this week -- and people seem to care much less than when North korea does this sort of thing.

COAST GUARD CANINE saves a boy from drowning.

THE BUFFALO WHISPERER: RC Bridges and his wife Sherron share their Texas home with two enormous bison.

A MAN, A ZEBRA & A PARROT go for a joyride.  Alcohol may have been involved.

BABY GORILLA: Awww...some pics.

AN EMU has invaded a golf course in South Wales.