THE WEEKEND STARTS HERE:

...with THE WHO!  As with recent Fridays featuring the Stones and The Kinks, some less obvious video.  Indeed, some of these clips tend to disappear from the Tube, so worth a look when they resurface like this.  Let's start with "So Sad About Us," live at the fabled Marquee Club.  Next, an odd live clip of "Substitute" for French TV, also the source of a Keith Moon-led take on "Barbara Ann" and a non-destructive "My Generation."  Switch to German TV for a live take on "The Seeker."  Go bootleg for the rarity "I Don't Even Know Myself."  Tune in the Old Grey Whistle Test for some seemingly drunk live vocals to the backing track for "Long Live Rock."  And check out the archival video of "I'm One" before someone's lawyers notice its's back.

LOS STRAITJACKETS stopped by the World Cafe for a miniset.  The usually instrumental band has now recruited three vocalists to help perform classic rock 'n' roll songs in Spanish.

CALEXICO have recorded an instrumental album titled Tool Box, available at the group's shows and through their website, which reportedly has more of the Southwestern touches some missed on the group's last LP, Garden Ruin.

THE EXPLORER'S CLUB, from Charleston, SC, have a major surf music mojo going as you can hear on "Last Kiss" (which is very pre-Pet Sounds Beach Boys), as well as "Forever" and "Summer Air."  South Carolina, btw, has a history as a surf music mecca, though the term has a different meaning for Myrtle Beach than for Redondo Beach.

WILCO:  Jeff Tweedy has had just about enough of interviews promoting the LP, thank you very much.

CHRISTOPHER is the Indian; the others are Village Puppets.  The close-ups from :30 to Fame show them singing.  (Thanks, Dad; everyone else thinks, "Well, that explains a few things...")

MAN MAN frontman Ryan Kattner (a/k/a/ Honus Honus) did a "Quit Your Day Job" segment for stereogum, talking about his days doing double-duty as a bartender and barista.

J MASCIS of Dinosaur, Jr. faced off against comedian David Cross in a Guitar Hero duel for the DL.

RICHARD HAWLEY has a new album titled Lady's Bridge coming in October.  If you remember him as a member of Blur, note that his solo work sounds more like Johnny Cash or Roy Orbison than Britpop, as you can hear when you stream a few tracks from the fabulous Cole's Corner via HisSpace.

LILY ALLEN was charged and bailed over an alleged assault on a photographer outside a London club.

THE CUTOUT BIN:  This Friday's fortuitous finds on the ol' HM are: Dandy Warhols - Bohemian Like You; Big Audio Dynamite II - The Globe; KISS (Ace Frehley) - New York Groove; T.Rex - Summertime Blues; The Zombies - Summertime; Wire Train - Skills Of Summer; Dirty Looks - You're Too Old; A Flock Of Seagulls - I Ran; The Hives - Hate To Say I Told You So; VHS or Beta - Can't Believe a Single Word; The Smashing Pumpkins - Disarm; The Hold Steady - Chips Ahoy! (Acoustic); Lucky Soul - One Kiss Don't Make A Summer; Spoon - You Got Yr. Cherry Bomb; Sonic Youth - Victoria (Kinks); Bright Eyes - Four Winds; Apples In Stereo - Energy; Redd Kross - Annie's Gone; Cheap Trick - I Want You to Want Me; Led Zeppelin - Misty Mountain Hop; and Jimi Hendrix - All Along the Watchtower.

RATATOUILLE:  It was tough to wait a week to write that Pixar's newest movie is probably the best movie I have seen this summer, possibly this year.  Brad Bird, who directed The Incredibles, revisits some of the same themes in a radically different context to great effect, albeit with less subtlety.  Not unlike Mr. Incredible, Remy has a special gift or talent, and a dream to pursue, while dealing with family tension and societal rejection.  But here those themes -- along with thoughts about those who create vs. their critics -- are more a framework for the broader sort of humor Bird brought to The Simpsons years ago.  Which makes for a nice balance, as kids would otherwise be less interested in the workings of French cuisine and restaurants than they are in superheroes and volcanic rocket silos.  As always, Pixar pushes the technical envelope, with some truly stunning animation sequences.  I would rank this pic with Monsters, Inc. and Finding Nemo, which for me puts it above A Bug's Life and Cars, but below The Incredibles and Toy Story.  And the Pixar cartoon before the movie was also broadly funny.

NOW SHOWING:  In addition to Ratatouille, currently scoring 90 percent on the ol' Tomatometer, this week's wide releases include Bruce Willis inviting you to Live Free or Die Hard, which is scoring 77 percent, and the ensemble drama Evening, which is scoring 31 percent.

SiCKO:  Michael Moore's latest movie reaches 440 screens this weekend, so it's worth noting that the scary stories of US healthcare it it are matched in the countries Moore extols, not even counting the horrors of the real Cuban hospital system.  But these days, I almost feel sorry for Moore.  PETA is on his case over his weight and meat-eating lifestyle, with a letter proclaiming, "there's an elephant in the room, and it is you." (Ironically, elephants are vegetarian.)  It is true that obesity is a major reason the US lags other countries in life expectancy, so he sorta had it coming.  But to get bumped off Larry King Live for the French Hotel?  Ouch.

BRITNEY SPEARS:  The pop tart gave her mom a lawyer's letter, though seemingly not related to the restraining order she is rumored to be mulling.  Fed-Ex will not sign the couple's final property settlement agreement absent proof that Britney can handle joint custody.  And, contrary to prior rumor, Spears will not be performing at the L.A. stop of the True Colors tour, mostly because she would actually have to perform.

THE SPICE GIRLS, otoh, have announced a world tour, for which they are expected to pocket about £10 million each.

LINDSAY LOHAN was allegedly drunk and had cocaine in her system during an early morning smash-up in Beverly Hills on Memorial Day weekend, according to multiple law enforcement sources.

THE FRENCH HOTEL reportedly is looking into possible legal action against her lawyer for having to spend 23 days in the slam.  Her rep denies it.  Free advice:  The ghosts of Clarence Darrow and Johnnie Cochran couldn't have gotten her out, given the public outcry when she was transferred to house arrest.  Don't believe me?  Watch Mika Brzezinski of MNSBC refuse to cover the story.

ISAIAH WASHINGTON can't stop complaining about being fired from Grey's Anatomy.  Newsweek asks, "Is that a good thing for him to do?" Hint: No, though it's funny that he's admitting the "rehab for homophobia" was a network stunt.

VIVICA A. FOX tried to deal the race card when the CHiPs busted her for DUI in March.  Ponch wasn't having any of it.

NICOLE KIDMAN says she has the same body she had at 15 years old.  The new face of Nintendo, otoh, has had several renovations.

1000 ESSENTIAL FILMS sounds like a few too many to be "essential," but London's Guardian has spent the week listing them, along with commentary.

ALYSSA MILANO has been named the Global Network's Ambassador for the control of Neglected Tropical Diseases, she has donated $250K to buy safe, inexpensive drugs to combat diseases of poverty that afflict a billion people worldwide.

NANOTECH:  Two Israeli scientists have created a one-millimeter-diameter robot which is capable of crawling through human veins and arteries.  Next up for them is creating an even tinier Raquel Welch.

IRAN'S top security body ordered local journalists not to report on problems caused by gas rationing,  The authorities also switched off the mobile text messaging system in Tehran overnight to prevent motorists from organizing more protests.  Members of Parliament said they would press the government to alter or even scrap the scheme after angry protesters set fire to at least a dozen petrol stations in Tehran and chanted slogans against President Ahmadinejad following Tuesday night's sudden introduction of quotas.  Banks, supermarkets and fire engines were also attacked while further disturbances were reported in other big cities, including Isfahan and Shiraz.

IRAQ:  Bill Roggio has another round-up of Operation Phantom Thunder.  Gen. Petraeus's counterinsurgency advisor, David Kilcullen, tells Wired that the controversial walls built in Baghdad were key to the current massive military ops.  Iraqi and Arab papers are abuzz with the news of the formation of a new political coalition designed to bolster Prime Minister al-Maliki's government.  Moqtada al-Sadr called on all Iraqis to join him in a demonstration of national unity on July 5, confirming that his followers would march to the twice-bombed Golden Mosque in Samarra to mark the birth of the Prophet Mohammed's daughter Fatima.

A ZORSE is a Zorse, of course, of course...

THE BENGAL CAT, a cross between a domestic cat and the little forest-dwelling Asian leopard cat that roams Asia and part of Russia, has become the most registered feline with the International Cat Association.  Pic at the link.  Almost as cute as the Toygers.

RETURN of the WOOLY MAMMOTH:  Palaeontologists are piecing together the complete genome species of long-dead species such as the woolly mammoth and the Neanderthals in an effort to bring them back to life, much like billionaire John Hammond resurrected the extinct dinosaurs in Steven Spielberg's Jurassic Park.  And that turned out so well.

GILA MONSTER SPIT helped people with type 2 diabetes shed pounds, a three-year study found.  Because who wants to drink that?

EVERYBODY will soon be Skunk Fu Fighting... Polecats are fast as lightning!

RUBBER DUCKIES headed straight for Britain have proved an invaluable aid to science.  And make bathtime lots of fun.