THE WEEKEND STARTS HERE:

...with RAMPANT BEATLEMANIA! In this Pathe Newsreel, the lovable moptops play "She Loves You" and "Twist and Shout" for a screaming crowd in Manchester circa 1963.

RYAN ADAMS: Spin has an article which explains why Adams is perfectly suited for Internet stardom.

DUNGEN: Obscure sound is streaming three tracks from the Swedish psych-rockers' Tio Bitar ("Ten Pieces"), due May 1st.

FOO FIGHTERS drummer Taylor Hawkins crashed The Police's reunion tour presser to ask if they were bringing mullets back. Police drummer Stuart Copeland was not fooled.

FEIST: Gorilla vs. Bear and other blogs have been posting "My Moon, My Man," the piano-driven first single from Leslie Feist's next album, The Reminder, due May 1st in the US. You can also stream it o­n the ol' HM.

MILLI VANILLI: Headed for the big screen?

OK GO already had a video for "Do What You Want," but the band takes a page from the Garden State screenplay in the new version o­n MTV Overdrive. Both versions have cowbell.

JOHN WATERS: The cult film director is your guest DJ for All Songs Considered, drawing a few selections from his new CD of love songs called A Date with John Waters. He discusses the mix (with embedded video) at PopMatters.

ELENI MANDELL was embarrassed to join MySpace "because that means you're admitting that you want attention and you want friends. I was like, 'Who would dare admit such a thing!?' But now I get it. It's wonderful to admit that you're needy and desperate." You can stream four from Miracle of Five at HerSpace... and ask to be her friend, won't you?

JOHN MELLENCAMP tells Charlie Rose that the US should not have attacked Afghanistan or even Osama bin Laden after 9/11. Indeed, he's not sure the US should have reacted to Pearl Harbor.

THE CUTOUT BIN: This Friday's fortuitous finds o­n the ol' HM include: The Cardigans - Boys Are Back In Town; A Sunny Day in Glasgow - Game of Pricks; Johnny Thunders & The Heartbreakers - Do You Love Me?; Paul Westerberg - Love You In The Fall; Material Issue - Valerie Loves Me; Wire Train - Love, Love; Apples In Stereo - Same Old Drag; ELO - Evil Woman; Jackie DeShannon - Only Love Can Break Your Heart; Tom Waits - You Can Never Hold Back Spring; Al Bowlly - It's Great To Be In Love; Richard Thompson - Tempted; Marissa Nadler - Famous Blue Raincoat; M. Ward - Let's Dance; The Magic Numbers - Crazy In Love; Carla Thomas - B.A.B.Y; Hot Chip - Sexual Healing; and Happy Mondays - The Boys are Back in Town.

ANNA NICOLE SMITH IS STILL DEAD, but Prince Frederic von Anhalt, the husband of Zsa Zsa Gabor, has officially filed his paternity suit. Meanwhile, TMZ got an unofficial declaration of paternity from the man convicted of stalking Smith. The doc who prescribed methadone to a very pregnant Smith and to a phony name and had it shipped to the Bahamas -- descibed his medical practice in part as "entertainment medicine." He is now the subject of an inquiry by the Medical Board of California. But your must-see video is Florida probate judge Larry Seidlin declaring that "This body belongs to me," and that he would not be rushed because "that baby is in a cold, cold storage room" and wasn't decomposing all that fast.

NOW SHOWING: This weekend's widest release is the comic adaptaion Ghost Rider a 120-million-dollar movie not being pre-screened for critics. Wow. The not-a-Narnia-knockoff fantasy Bridge to Terabithia is currently scoring 88 percent o­n the Tomatometer. The Hugh Grant-Drew Barrymore rom-com Music and Lyrics is scoring 65 percent, while rival rom-com Tyler Perry's Daddy's Little Girls o­nly scores 31 percent. The based-on-real-events spy thriller Breach is scoring 69 percent.

TIM HARDAWAY: The former Miami Heat superstar told a local sports radio show that he "hates gay people," which means that he had som 'splainin' to do. His explanation is that his comments were not really that controversial, and that many players believe as he does, but don't say so out of political correctness.

KENNY CHESNEY: The country star will be o­n 60 Minutes this Sunday to tell Anderson Cooper that he's not gay. NTTAWWT. Unless you're Tim Hardaway. Or Anderson Cooper, who might be disappointed.

JENNIFER LOPEZ & MARC ANTHONY reportedly have fallen into the clutches of Scientology.

BRITNEY SPEARS: A letter reportedly from the pop tart's 41-year-old former assistant claims those near and dear to Spears are waiting for her to hit rock bottom.

DENISE & HEATHER & RICHIE & CHARLIE: They come in for much mockery, so it's o­nly fair to notice when Denise Richards and Charlie Sheen do some joint parenting.

THE McCARTNEYS: Heather Mills warms up for that Dancing with the Stars gig by kicking a London paparazzo's a**. She videotaped it, which will come in handy when she gets sued. Pic at the link.

BRADGELINA are trying to hang with the normal folk in N'awlins. But when too many normal folk notice who they are, it's time to escape in Mardi Gras masks. I'll bet Angie still got a lot of beads thrown her way. But their mingling without obvious security is disturbing to Star magazine.

MTV rushes to assure a panicked public that Total Request Live, MTV2 and VH1 Classic are not dead. However, Vanessa Minnillo is getting the boot from TRL.

GRAY MATTERS will be in limited release next weekend, so I don't know whether it's any good. However, I'm guessing it will be tough to top this clip of Heather Graham and Bridget Moynihan kissing. If you're interested in the plot, here's the regular trailer.

WHO IS WILLIAM M. ARKIN? The longtime activist and Washington Post "National and Homeland Security" blogger, who argued that US troops in Iraq are pampered mercenaries, is also an analyst for NBC News -- which was a major factor in Retired Col. Ken Allard's decision to sever his 10-year relationship with the network.

IRAQ: CNN and others were reporting that the leader of al Qaeda in Iraq had been wounded and his top aide killed in a clash with police, but the DNA did not match the AQI leader. In Baghdad, the Iraqi Army killed o­ne and detained four members of the Moqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army. Those closest to al-Sadr are unaware of his whereabouts, so the US military's claim he is in Iran may well be correct. An Iraqi court convicted a Syrian intel officer of arming foreign terrorists. Lawrence Haas, fmr communications dir. for VP Al Gore, warns that congressional Democrats racing to distance themselves from the war in Iraq may be planting the seeds for a trip to the political wilderness, if those Vietnam analogies hold up.

AFGHANISTAN: Looks like the US is surging a bit there, too. Pres. Bush also urged NATO countries participating in the Afghanistan effort to meet their commitments to provide forces and equipment and to lift restrictions o­n how they can be deployed. Afghan authorities announced the capture of a senior Taliban commander.

THE GLOBAL WAR o­n TERRORISTS seems to be making progress in the Philippines.

BABY is a vegetarian, but that's not what people tend to notice about him.

JASMINE the SHI TZU had her ear severed by a groomer, who then re-attached the ear with super glue. Video at the link.

SCOTTISH POLICE DOGS donated blood o­n Valentine's Day to help save the lives of other canines.

ANT SCAM brings the death penalty in China.

CHEETAHS mauled Karen Aerts to death at the Antwerp Zoo, after she entered their cage for no apparent reason. Olmense Zoo spokesman Jan Libot said "Karen loved animals. Unfortunately the cheetahs betrayed her trust," apparently unaware that cheetahs are wild beasts isolated from the humans for a reason.