It was a weekend in which the Giants’ Barry Bonds slugged his 755^th home run, tying the record set by Hank Aaron, Yankee Alex Rodriguez blasted his 500^th and Mets pitcher Tom Glavine became the 23^rd (and last?) hurler to win 300 games. It was also a weekend in which L.A. Clipper star forward Elton Brand ruptured his Achilles tendon, ending the team’s season even before it started, landing him next to promising young point guard Shaun Livingston, who tore up his knee last year in a freak accident. With pro football pre-season getting underway, it was thankfully a weekend without any news of either Lindsay Lohan, Paris Hilton, Britney Spears or Nicole Richie. Meanwhile, pundits debated the merits of Hillary Clinton’s cleavage and Judith Giuliani’s legs as the presidential campaign heated up for the fall. The Bourne Ultimatum soared at the box office, belying the August doldrums, though, with most everyone in either the Hamptons, Laguna or Lake Arrowhead, the inmates were seemingly left in charge of the asylum.

The third edition of Matt Damon’s spy thriller proved to be the weekend’s big box office winner, opening with a strong $70.2 million for Universal Pictures, easily surpassing the first two installments. The Bourne Identity, released in 2002, opened with $27.1 million, while 2004’s The Bourne Supremacy earned $52.5 million in 2004. The second in the series, masterfully directed by United 93’s Paul Greengrass, who says it’s the last one he’ll helm, makes 24 look like it was filmed in slow motion.

Fox’s The Simpsons Movie, last week’s box office winner, slipped to second with $25.6 million, followed by Disney’s Underdog grossing $12 million, good for #3. They were trailed by Universal’s comedy I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry ($10.5 million, $91.7m total)) and New Line’s Hairspray ($9.3 million, $78.9m total). Two other newcomers bombed, including Paramount’s Hot Rod, a well-reviewed comic vehicle with SNL’s Andy Samberg playing a bumbling Evel Knievel, which earned $5 million and Lionsgate’s Bratz, based on the popular doll line, which chalked up a weak $4.3 million.

Look for Geffen’s Common and UTV/UMe’s Now 25 to duke it out at the top of the HITS Album Sales chart for the #1 ranking, each in the 150-160k range. As always, keep checking www.hitsdailydouble.com through the day as sales reports are incorporated into our building Top 50.

ODD COUPLE: Led Zeppelin lead vocalist Robert Plant and bluegrass star Alison Kraus are teaming up on a new album, Raising Sand, coming out Oct. 23 on Rounder Records. Recorded in Nashville and Los Angeles and produced by T Bone Burnett, the album finds the two interpreting lesser-known material from blues, R&B, country and folk songwriters including Mel Tillis, Townes Van Zandt, Tom Waits, Gene Clark, Doc Watson, Little Milton Campbell and the Everly Brothers. They will also do a version of "Please Read the Letter," a song written by Plant and bandmate Jimmy Page for their 1998 album, Walking Into Clarksdale.

YANKEE CLIPPED: Reggaeton superstar Daddy Yankee has been sued for copyright infringement in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California by Victor M. Lopez, Jr., a Latin hip-hop songwriter and performer, who alleges the artist used a musical composition belonging to Lopez for use on "Salud Y Vida," a track on Daddy Yankee’s breakthrough Interscope album Barrio Fino. The suit alleges Daddy Yankee and the record companies that helped produce and distribute his album, including Universal Music, also included Lopez’s musical composition on a DVD, a music video, and other products.

The N.Y. Times’ Jon Pareles praises the woman with everything, Beyonce, at her Madison Square Garden show here.

The N.Y. Times’ Kelefa Sanneh checks out the local stop of the Vans Warped Tour here.

The N.Y. Times’ Geoffrey Himes explores the sacred gospel roots of Robert Randolph and Ryan Shaw here.

The N.Y. Times’ Alex Williams on rap’s newest incarnation, nerdcore, here.

The N.Y. Times’ Andrew Park on the disastrous effect Hurricane Katrina is having on local New Orleans musicians here.

The N.Y. Times’ Tammy La Gorce pays a visit to legendary bluesman John Hammond Jr. here.

The N.Y. Times’ Nate Chinen says The Police are in fine form as their much-ballyhooed tour hits Madison Square Garden here.

The L.A. Times’ Steve Hochman explores the current phenomenon of bands and individual artists like Sonic Youth and Lucinda Williams playing entire albums live here.

The L.A. Times’ Mikael Wood finds Fergie’s the “diva next door” at her performance at Orange County’s Pacific Amphitheatre here.

The L.A. Times’ Ken Emerson looks back on the history of Dick Clark’s legendary American Bandstand here.