THE WEEKEND STARTS HERE:

...with THE NEW PORNOGRAPHERS!  A.C. Newman & Co. stopped by the Interface, where they played 'All The Things That Go To Make Heaven And Earth', 'My Rights Versus Yours', 'Challengers' and 'Mutiny, I Promise You', along with an interview, in which Newman talks about the inclusion of "Electric Version" in the Rock Band videogame.

MOUNTAIN GOATS frontman John Darnielle talks to the Village Voice and the Anchoarge Daily News, while bassist Peter Hughes talked to the U of Alaska's Northern Light (guess where their tour kicks off).  Remember, you can advance stream the new Heretic Pride album through Monday at Spinner.

SONIC YOUTH are preparing to launch an art show, which they hope will travel the world over a number of years.

THOM YORKE of Radiohead is the guest DJ on the latest installment of All Songs Considered.

MISSION OF BURMA:  The Definitive Editions I, II and III (of their Ace Of Hearts catalog, recorded between 1979 and 1983) come out on March 18. Fully remastered from the original analog tape by Rick Harte, Ace Of Hearts owner.  Matador Records has free hi-quality downloads of two tracks for you.

OTTER:  Friend of Pate Scott Jasper & Co. are playing DG's Taphouse at 125 Main St. in Ames on Saturday night @ 9 p.m.

MARITIME:  The song may be called "Guns of Navarone," but it's really quite jaunty.

FEIST talks to the BBC about coming home empty-handed from the Grammys, the famous iPod Nano ad, etc.  If you missed her at the Grammys, you can see her now.

MARK KNOPFLER & EMMYLOU HARRIS stopped by the World Cafe for a chat and mini-set you can stream on demand via NPR.

THE FELICE BROTHERS, on the road with Drive-By Truckers, answer five questions at Muzzle of Bees.  You can -- and should -- stream a few tracks at FeliceSpace.

THE POLICE are touring again... with Elvis Costello opening.  Brooklyn Vegan has the info and a lovely quote.

CUTOUT BIN:  From Jackie Wilson to Wire, from Elton John to Sonic Youth, from The Clash to the execrable Rick Astley, this Friday's fortuitous finds can be jukeboxed or streamed individually on the Pate page at the ol' HM.

BRITNEY SPEARS' father Jamie was granted an extension of his conservatorship over her until March 10, the LA Superior Court decided Thursday.  And why not?  The pop wreck spent 60 million bucks since last year on shopping, vacations, doctors, lawyers, and more, according to the new issue of Life & Style Weekly.  Meanwhile, deposed manager-pal Sam Lufti is trying to get California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to look into why Britney can't get an attorney.  Good luck with that, Sam.

THE McCARTNEYS spent Valentine's Day together in divorce court.  The Daily Mail had Sir Paul upbeat and Heather Mills wilting under the pressure of the assault by his team.  The Sun had both worn down with an angry Sir Paul telling his lawyer to offer Mills £30million to "get her off my back."

MADONNA was loudly booed by fans before the premiere of her directorial debut at the Berlin International Film Festival.  "The consensus before the first press screening... was: is the film just bad, or truly atrocious," wrote Der Spiegel's Daniel Sander.  The Guardian: "She has made a movie so incredibly bad that Berlin festivalgoers were staggering around yesterday in a state of clinical shock, deathly pale and mewing like maltreated kittens."

JANE FONDA dropped the C-word on the Today Show, which made it to air, though it's bleeped in the video at the link.  I guess that's an unorthodox way to stop people from having "Hanoi Jane" be the first thing they think of when they hear her name.

BAI LING was busted by LAX Airport police after allegedly stealing two magazines and a pack of batteries from a gift shop.  Her mug shot is lovely -- not as good as Nick Nolte's mug shot, but pretty good.

GEORGE ROMERO talks to The A.V. Club about his new Diary Of The Dead,  which follows a group of film students as they digitally capture the ensuing mayhem. Unlike other recent "found footage" films like Cloverfield and Redacted, Romero uses his conceit to explore how recording an event can distance the recorder from what's happening...

STAR TREK REBOOT has been pushed back from Dec. 25 to May 8, 2009.  Paramount saying the pic's gross potential is greater as a summer tentpole.  Gossip says the script was lacking and the writers' strike prevented them from fixing it quick enough to stay on schedule.

INDIANA JONES and the KINGDOM of the CRYSTAL SKULL:  Watch the teaser trailer at Yahoo! Movies.  So good to hear that John Williams score.

CARTOON JIHAD:  Denmark watched anxiously Thursday as the first reports came in of protests in Muslim countries against the decision by Danish newspapers to reprint a cartoon of the Prophet Muhammad that sparked riots two years ago.  Dozens of hardline Islamic students burned the Danish flag in Karachi, Pakistan, demanding death for the cartoonist.  In Denmark, youths have been setting fire to cars and trash bins for four consecutive nights.  The youths have been protesting against what they claim is police harassment, but some community leaders said the latest cartoon uproar had stoked tensions further.

ISLAMISM in the UK:  The world-renowned Royal United Services Institute delivers an unprecedented attack on the Government's security policy, asserting that an obsession with multiculturalism was making Britain a soft touch for terrorists.  The report was issued even as British appeals courts overturned five terror-related convictions.  The authors suggest the world is living through a "time of remission" between the 9/11 attacks and a yet-worse future atrocity which will deliver "an even greater psychological blow."

OUR FRIENDS, THE SAUDIS:  Human Rights Watch called on the Saudi king Thursday to void the conviction of a woman facing execution for witchcraft.

IRAQ:  Bill Ardolino continues his "Inside Iraqi Politics" series with a look at the legislative branch.  The Belmont Club argues that the law passed this week for provincial elections may be a lynchpin of sectarian reconciliation.  The US military believes that the operations in northern Iraq are driving many AQI fighters out of cities that once provided them safe haven and into the desert, or even out of the country.  The US also believes AQI is recruiting female patients at Baghdad's two psychiatric hospitals for suicide missions -- with the help of hospital staff.

THE SECRET LIVES OF BADGERS:  The subterranean secrets of badgers have been revealed by a BBC film crew.  Text and videos at the link.  Sadly, no mushrooms.

SNAKE in a BED, but not in that good way for a Huntington Beach woman.

A HUMBOLDT PENGUIN CHICK born underweight and sickly last month at the Brookfield Zoo has flourished on a weight-gain regimen of fish shakes six times a day, Brookfield Zoo officials said.  Video at the link, too.

A FAT CAT has been put on a strict diet after getting stuck in his flap in Scarborough, North Yorkshire.  Sooty weighs three times the average cat.  Pics at the link.

DOR the LABRADOR found an elderly man who fell over in freezing conditions at night, the second time the dog was credited with saving a life in Tokyo. "What's that, Dor?" *Woof, Woof!* "You say he's fallen and can't get up?" *Woof!* "I better call the police.."