THE LABOR DAY WEEKEND STARTS HERE:

...with MOTOWN MADNESS! There's so much from which to choose, but let's start with a Martha Reeves and the Vandellas trifecta of "Heat Wave" (on RSG!) "Nowhere to Run" and "Dancing in the Street." Chase that with a string of Temptations classics, including "My Girl," "Ain't Too Proud to Beg,"  "(I Know) I'm Losing You," "Psychedelic Shack," and "Ball of Confusion." The Supremes bring "Back in My Arms Again," "Where Did Our Love Go" and a live trifecta of "Baby Love," "When the Lovelight Starts Shining Through His Eyes" and "Let Me Go the Right Way." The Four Tops lip-synch through "It's the Same Old Song" and "I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch)" on Shindig, "Something About You" on Hullaballoo and "Baby, I Need Yor Loving" on Shivaree.  The Marvelettes  ask "Please Mr. Postman." Marvin Gaye proclaims "How Sweet It Is To Be Loved by You" and duets with Tammi Terrell on "Ain't no Mountain High Enough," though I'll throw it over to Gladys Knight and the Pips for "I Heard It Through The Grapevine." I'll close with a trifecta from Smokey Robinson and the Miracles -- "The Tracks of My Tears," "You Really Got a Hold on Me" and "Tears of a Clown."

CHIP TAYLOR, author of songs such as "Wild Thing," "Angel of the Morning" and "Try (Just a Little Bit Harder)," stopped by WFUV for a session based on Songs from a Dutch Tour, his book and CD that acts as an audioobiography.

JASON LYTLE (formerly of Granddaddy) played the Bowery Ballroom in NYC on July 11, but you can stream the gig now via NPR.

THE BEACH BOYS: Aquarium Drunkard has re-posted a 1967 rehearsal session for stream or download, including a cover of "The Letter."

THE PARTY'S OVER? Summer is not over until my friends get my Summer mix (next week, knock on wood), but NPR has songs for Summer's end, including one of my all-time Summer songs from The Ramones.

THE RASCALS cover Smokey Robinson's "Mickey's Monkey," so I guess I wasn't quite done with the Motown thing.

JACK WHITE and KEITH RICHARDS: What could go wrong?

JEFF TWEEDY talks to Maxim, so we have something to back up the claim that we read it for the articles.

THE FLAMING LIPS: Wayne Coyne talks to Paste about the open-ended production of the new album, how Barack Obama lets the Flaming Lips make better music and why the legalization of marijuana just makes sense.

CHARLIE LOVIN anseres the infamous 20 Questions for PopMatters.

CUTOUT BIN: From Yo La Tengo to the Youngbloods, from Devo to Led Zeppelin, from the Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band to the Buzzcocks, plus the Kinks, Television, REM, Rachel Sweet, Grizzly Bear with Michael McDonald 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 Gamer, which was not screened for critics; All About Steve, currently scoring zero percent on the ol' Tomatometer; and the Mike Judge comedy Extract, scoring 58 percent.

LISA LOEB is knocked up.

KATHERINE HEIGL is taking a five-episode hiatus from Grey's Anatomy shoot the rom-com Life as We Know It.

MICHAEL JACKSON's burial finally took place at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, CA yesterday. TMZ has detrails about the after-party.

MADONNA collapsed twice onstage in Sofia, Bulgaria.

100 YEARS OF VISUAL EFFECTS, courtesy of College Humor. It leaves out three major milestones -- "2001," "Star Wars" and "The Matrix" -- but a cool montage, nonetheless.

WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE director Spike Jonze gets a meaty profile in the New York Times magazine.  He's the one without a wolf suit.

TONY ROMO is dating Chace Crawford's little sister, Candice, a 22-year-old former beauty queen. Shocka.

OUR FRIENDS, THE SAUDIS' list of 85 most wanted suspects being sought abroad has been reduced to just 80 suspects.

PAKISTAN: The Taliban has taken control of telephone exchange in South Waziristan, suspending the agency communication with whole world.

AFGHANISTAN: Two devastating suicide attacks in Afghanistan in the fortnight since elections show the Taliban is penetrating ever deeper in its war against the Kabul government and its international backers. Cultivation of opium, the nation's most lucrative cash crop and a major funding source for the Taliban, has fallen sharply this year in large part because an excess supply of the drug has pushed down prices to a 10-year low.

KITTEH HIJINKS: Let's go to the video.

LIONS and TIGERS and BEARS: Oh my!

GIANT DOG and PIGLET, nursing together...

WHEN OTTERS ATTACK: A 49-year-old triathlete about 275 km west of Calgary was training in an area lake for an upcoming Ironman competition when he had the surprise of his life.

DOGS grocery shop in China.

CHIHUAHUA SNATCHERS: Is there anything lower?

THE WALRUS IS DEAD, MAN: Miss him, miss him.