THE WEEKEND STARTS HERE:

...with THE CARS!  Circa 1979, before they got too wedded to computers.  Your setlist includes "Good Times Roll," "Best Friend's Girl," "Candy-O," "Just What I Needed," "Bye Bye Love," "I'm In Touch With Your World," "Don't Cha Stop." BONUS: An equally vintage take on "Let's Go."

NIKKI & RICH stopped by Morning Becomes Eclectic for a chat and mini-set of Brill Building-style pop that's right in my wheelhouse.

THE ROLLING STONES are streaming unreleased tracks from Exile on Main Street, plus picks from Liz Phair, Britt Daniel, Robert Randolph and more. ALSO: The Stones may play albums in full on their next tour.

THE MYNABIRDS: Laura Burhenn (ex-Georgie James) talks to Paste about the slippery relationship of the personal and political, and her new project -- which she hopes sounds like Neil Young doing Motown (but maybe falls between Cat Power and Dusty Springfield, which is pretty good place to fall). You can stream the album at the link (or from Saddle Creek) or a couple of tracks via MynaSpace.

MGMT did a set for a new web-based series, Live On Letterman. Streaming vid at the link.

SUB POP has a free sampler for download at Amazon, with tracks from Beach House, Dum Dum Girls, Blitzen Trapper, Cocorosie and more...

THE NATIONAL, particularly singer Matt Berninger, are profiled by the Village Voice. That's Matt in the new video for "Bloodbuzz Ohio." UPDATE: I forgot to mention that the band is streaming a live show on YouTube Saturday night at 8ET.

THE NEW PR0NOGRPAHERS: Carl Newman talks to The Quietus about definitive records and revenge plots -- and shuffles his iPod for the Montreal Gazette.

BEN FOLDS photographs the Tennessee flood for National Geographic. Yes, really.

HIPSTER BANDS: A pronunciation guide.

THE TEN COMMANDMENTS of Rock and Roll Roadies.

CUTOUT BIN: From Solomon Burke to Supertramp, from Three Dog Night to the Buzzcocks, from Warren Zevon to the Jackson 5, plus the Records, Tegan & Sara, CCR, the Black Keys, and more -- this weekend's fortuitous finds are streaming from the Pate page at the ol' HM.

NOW SHOWING:  This weekend's wide releases are Robin Hood, which is currently scoring 45 percent on the ol' Tomatometer; the romance Letters to Juliet, which is scoring 38 percent; and the rom-com Just Wright, scoring 42 percent.

MATT LAUER has walked out on his wife of 12 years after she furiously accused the Today star of cheating with at least two women. UPDATE: Matt Lauer and his wife Annette are blasting the report.

KENDRA WILKINSON: TMZ has screengrabs from the sex tape, undoubtedly leaked as part of the equally tawdry marketing of same.

DAVID BOREANAZ made the mistake of texting with Rachel Uchitel.

ROBERT PATTINSON & KRISTEN STEWART had a huge fight on the set of the Twilight Saga.

KATE HUDSON is miffed that ex-bf A-Rod has taken up with Cameron Diaz.

SEAN PENN pleaded no contest to vandalism, and was sentenced to three years of informal probation, 300 hours of community service, and 36 hours of anger management counseling.

DANICA McKELLAR: The Wonder Years' Winnie Cooper -- and prominent mathemetician -- is selling the idea that math is sexy at Maxim.

HEIDI & SPENCER: Living in squalor?

ROGER CORMAN: The legendary B-movie mogul talks to The A.V. Club about the Blu-ray/DVD releases of Rock 'N' Roll High School and Suburbia, dropping acid in preparation for directing The Trip, making Little Shop Of Horrors in less than three days, why you can't blow up a high school to disco, and whether he's finally become part of the Hollywood establishment. 

THE 10 BEST STAND-UP COMICS of all time, according to Guyism.

TERROR in NYC: Federal agents conducted Thursday morning raids in Massachusetts and New York in connection with the failed Times Square car bomb, and two people were arrested, federal authorities and witnesses said.

IRAN: Al-Qaida operatives who have been detained for years in Iran have been making their way quietly in and out of the country, raising the prospect that Iran is loosening its grip on the terror group so it can replenish its ranks, former and current US intell officials say. Meanwhile, the Russian Foreign Minister warned the US and other Western nations on Thursday against imposing unilateral sanctions on Iran over its nuclear program.

PAKISTAN: After years in which he became a familiar television presence, al Qaeda's number two leader Ayman al-Zawahiri has "gone dark," according to people who monitor audio and video messages released by the terror group.

IRAQ: The White House is likely to delay the withdrawal of the first large phase of combat troops for at least a month after escalating bloodshed and political instability in the country.

GORILLA & HUMAN REUNION: Let's go to the video.

BLOSSOM the PIG received a letter from British officials encouraging it to register to vote in the general election. The Chicago Way goes global.

THE KING OF HERRING has been found off the coast of Sweden for the first time in 130 years.

JAIMIE the TORTOISE: 50 escapes in 34 years. None great.

EATING A SLUG on a dare was a bad choice.