ARIEL PINK'S HAUNTED GAFFITI drops a video for "Mistaken Wedding."

BROKEN BELLS stopped by the World Cafe for a chat and mini-set.

ROGUE WAVE did the four free songs thing for Daytrotter.

DALE EARNHARDT, JR., JR. claim a quasi-psych mix of folk, hip-hop inspired drum programming, and effervescent pop -- and that's about right.  Check out the Beatle-esque "Single Girl" at TheirSpace, but I'm digging "Vocal Chords" even more.

GRAM RABBIT stopped by Morning Becomes Eclectic for a session.

ROXY MUSIC plays "Dream Home" on a part of the Jonathan Ross show that was cut for time by the BBC.

ST. VINCENT: Annie Clark talks to the Calgary Herald about Janet Jackson and more...

FANFARLO: Simon Balthazar talks to Paste about Under the Reservoir, a four-part series of mini-documentaries about the London-based band's experiences at this year's SXSW.

THE NEPTUNE MUSIC PRIZE -- Drowned In Sound's alternative to the Mercury Music Prize --  has its nominees.

KINGS OF LEON canceled their St. Louis gig after three songs, after getting the High Anxiety treatment from pigeons.

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE: Inception repeats at No.1 with 43.5 million; its 143 million total reveals a consistent performance all through last week. Salt comes in second, at the lower end of what the so-called gurus projected, with 36.5 million.  With some legs, the Jolie thriller should recoup its 110 million budget domestically.  Despicable Me shows with 24.1 million on a mere 26.5 percent drop.  The Sorcerer's Apprentice drops a much steeper 45 percent to the fourth slot with 9.7 million; this seems unlikely to make back its 110 budget domestically.  Toy Story 3 rounds out the Top Five with another 9 million, for a 379 million total to date.  Ramona and Beezus opened below the fold at No. 6 with 8 million, though this is an extremely low-risk, 15 million dollar flick.

MAD MEL UPDATE: Oksana Grigorieva says she told authorities that Mel Gibson made an anti-Semitic death threat toward TMZ's chief, Harvey Levin, but the gossip site determined the story to be false.

LINDSAY LOHAN had another two days shaved off of her sentence.

CHARLIE SHEEN and the Aspen District Attorney's office are close to reaching a plea deal over his domestic violence case.

ANGELINA JOLIE admits there is still a side of her that's not entirely sane.

CASEY AFFLECK has been slapped with a two million dollar sexual harassment lawsuit; he intends to counter-sue for malicious prosecution.

BRITTANY MURPHY and her husband may have been killed in part by mold in their home.

ERIC ROBERTS is headed to Celebrity Rehab.

MARK RUFFALO is looking even more like The Hulk in The Avengers.

OUR FRIENDS, THE SAUDIS: A popular Muslim cleric says it is permissible for Saudi women to reveal their faces in countries where the Islamic veil is banned, while criticising efforts in Europe to outlaw the garment.

IRAN: Ahmadinejad has said his country plans to send a man into space by 2019, official state media report. The head of Iran's nuclear energy agency announced Saturday that the country had launched a "serious" nuclear fusion research program. Plus unicorns.

AfPAK: The New York Times reports that a six-year archive of classified military documents made public by Wikileaks offers an unvarnished, ground-level picture of the war in Afghanistan that is in many respects more grim than the official portrayal.  The paper ran a second feature noting that Americans fighting the war in Afghanistan have long harbored strong suspicions that Pakistan's military spy service has guided the Afghan insurgency with a hidden hand -- something that should not be news to regular Pate readers.

IRAQ: Recent reports have accused the US military of irresponsible disposal of millions of pounds of hazardous waste, mostly from the Iraq war. But after investigating, the military says EPA standards are being upheld.

DJ MAMA on the scratch.

A SPECIAL NEEDS CAT was adopted by Mr. & Mrs. Howard Stern.

ROTTWEILERS: Get in their face, and they'll take yours.

BEAR goes on a joyride.