THE WEEKEND STARTS HERE:

... with DAVID BOWIE, CRACKED ACTOR! In the mid 1970s, as part of BBC's long-running Omnibus series, Alan Yentob interviewed David Bowie during the American leg of his Diamond Dogs Tour.

MISTER HEAVENLY are a band featuring Nick Thorburn (Islands), Honus Honus (Man Man) and... Michael Cera (live, anyway).  Here's a mess of video from their second gig.

THE BUDOS BAND (a staple of the Daptone label) stopped by Oregon Public Broadcasting for a chat and mini-set in audio and video.

POP MONTREAL: Daytrotter has tracks it recorded during the confab from bands like BRAIDS and The Sheepdogs.

VIA AUDIO did the standard four free songs thing for Daytrotter.

25 DAYS OF FREE SONGS, one a day, via Amazon MP3.

THE KINKS, with the evergreen "Father Christmas."

THE END OF INDIE? The blurring lines are discussed at In These Times.

SYL JOHNSON: An underappreciated soul great gets another chance -- and a lengthy profile from the Chicago Reader.

THE WEDDING PRESENT frontman David Gedge talks to the Yorkshire Post about the band's silver anniversary. (Thx, LHB.)

DAVID LOWERY, of Camper van Beethoven and Cracker, writes about Groupon and venture capitalism.

CUTOUT BIN: From Dean & Britta to Jimi Hendrix, from Harry Nilsson to Led Zeppelin, from John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers to the Housemartins, plus Thunderclap Newman, Blondie, the Beatles, the Soft Boys, The Band and more -- this Friday's fortuitous finds are streaming from the Pate page at the ol' HM.

NOW SHOWING: This weekend's sole wide release in the traditionally dead post-Thanksgiving weekend is The Warrior's Way, which was largely not screened for critics. Notably, Black Swan, which opens in limited release, is currently scoring 85 percent on the ol' Tomatometer.

BRITNEY SPEARS:  An expert says purported audio of the pop wreck has been manipulated, but RadarOnline has doubled down with more audio which purports to be Britney Spears admitting not reporting agent-turned-bf Jason Trawick's alleged violent assault on her to cops because she didn't want the controversy. Again, camp Spears vehemently denies the story, claims the audio has been faked, and has threatened suit.

MILEY CYRUS: Her purse was stolen last week.  Some new pictures have *allegedly* leaked from phone and/or camera.  There is a provocative, slightly NSFW picture included in these leaked images.

THE GRAMMY AWARDS nominations went to these folks. Arcade Fire, Black Keys, Roots, Cee-Lo (who cold make the night interesting) are among the multiple noms.

EVA LONGORIA & TONY PARKER reunited... for a lunch date.

KIRSTEN DUNST talks to Vanity Fair about nude scenes, bad boys and beatnik boot camp. Just don't ask her about Jake Gyllenhaal and Taylor Swift.

NATALIE PORTMAN shares a music playlist with the L.A. Times.

QUENTIN TARANTINO was roasted at the Friar's Club; THR has the raunchiest material.

HEATH LEDGER will not appear in The Dark Knight Rises, thankfully.

THE 50 BEST DOCUMENTARIES, according to TimeOut New York.

THE TOP FILMS of 2010, according to Sight and Sound. I saw the top and the bottom.

IRAN: According to a leaked State Department cable, Saudi Prince Nayif bin Abdulaziz told John Brennan, President Obama's top counterterrorism adviser, that Iran is harboring al Qaeda members who are targeting the kingdom. The IAEA complained about a lack of Iranian cooperation in the lead-up to Dec. 5 negotiations. Tehran will take further security precautions for nuclear scientists in country.

PAKISTAN has gone from being the "most sanctioned ally" to the "most bullied ally" of the United States, according to a top Pakistani military official, who added that the "real aim of US strategy is to de-nuclearize Pakistan."

AFGHANISTAN: The complete election results have thrust Afghans into a new period of uncertainty, deepened skepticism of the government and stirred Afghanistan's always volatile ethnic fault lines.

DANCING DOG: Let's go to the (Russian) video.

A DOG survives the night under the rubble after the owners' home was flattened by a tornado.

HONEY the LABRADOR was married to her very strange owner in Toowoomba, Australia.

MAYBE THE HORSE ate your hat.

CHOKING THE CHICKEN is illegal, when done literally.

WARPAINT explains and plays the the song that bears their name for The Guardian.

PJ HARVEY drops "Written On the Forehead" as an advance track to Let England Shake.

THE PAINS OF BEING PURE AT HEART drop "The One," a B-side taken from their upcoming record.

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

LCD SOUNDSYSTEM stopped by Morning Becomes Eclectic for a session.

NPR"s 50 FAVE ALBUMS, alphabetically, with streaming selections.

THE BEACH BOYS: It's the "Little Saint Nick," natch.

BEN KWELLER lists his favorite Hanukkah songs.

SUPERCHUNK: Mac McCaughan reflects on the re-emergence of his seminal '90s band with the Mpls City Pages, while Creative Loafing talks to Jon Wurster.

HUSKER DU biographer Andrew Earles talks to Chunklet about his book debut.

THE CLASH: Mick Jones and Paul Simonon are working on a new biopic based on the recording of London Calling.

THE JAYHAWKS are putting the band back together and talk about their first full lineup LP since 1995.

BRITNEY SPEARS: Ex-bf Jason Alexander tells the ever-relaible Star that the pop wreck confided to him that her agent-turned-bf JasonTrawick beat her - on multiple occasions. RadarOnline posted audio.  However, Britney's co-conservator says every aspect of the story -- including the audio -- is completely fabricated and that legal action will be taken.

JENNIFER LOPEZ is caught on hours of new video "exposing her genital area in public" and displaying other "deviant behavior", according to documents just filed in the singer's high-stakes legal fight to keep the tapes secret.

JAKE GYLLENHAAL & TAYLOR SWIFT: Spotted getting cozy again.

NEVE CAMPBELL super secretly filed for divorce from her husband John Light - 5 months ago.

TONY PARKER just lost his lawyer in his divorce case with Eva Longoria - because Tony's lawyer also reps the man who's married to the woman Tony was allegedly sexting.

MAD MEL UPDATE: Oksana Grigorieva's lawyers are trying to muzzle the lawyer who negotiated her multi-million dollar settlement with Mel Gibson from saying too much to the L.A. County Sheriff's Department.

HEATHER LOCKLEAR is currently hospitalized in California after coming down with a bacterial infection.

CHRISTINA AGUILERA has given her first interview about her new boyfriend Matthew Rutler.

KATY PERRY & RUSSELL BRAND, almost derailed by John Mayer?

RANDY QUAID and his wife are spending nights in their car, on the run from the same shadowy cabal-"the Hollywood Star Whackers"-who may have killed Heath Ledger, possibly sabotaged Jeremy Piven, and could now be targeting Lindsay Lohan.

CHRISTOPHER NOLAN talks to Entertainment Weekly about The Dark Knight Rises, an Inception videogame, and more...

IRAN: The attack on two of Iran's leading nuclear physicists is likely the work of a joint American and Israeli covert program to sabotage Iran's nuclear program, argues Reza Aslan.

AFGHANISTAN: The Pentagon has rolled out prototypes of its first-ever programmable "smart" grenade launcher, a shoulder-fired weapon that uses microchipped ammunition to target and kill the enemy, even when the enemy is hidden behind walls or other cover.

IRAQI security forces captured al Qaeda in Iraq's security minister and the terror group's military commander for the capital during separate raids in Ramadi and Baghdad over the past two weeks. Elite counterterrorism units in Iraq are running half as many operations this year as they have annually since 2008, in part because of a nationwide drop in violence. Leaked diplomatic cables provide new details on the US assessment of how Iran's Revolutionary Guards Corps has promoted Tehran's influence in Iraq since the 2003 US-led invasion.

AN OSTRICH and a BABY GIRAFFE, playing tag...Mass hysteria!

NEEDY CHICKENS are getting sweaters knit for the holidays.

SNAKE at a computer terminal. Fatal.

KIBURI, a 10-day-old cheetah cub, meets the public for the first time at the San Diego Zoo.

THE NATIONAL was joined by Sufjan Stevens and Nico Muhly on "Terrible Love" at Brixton's O2 Academy.

DeVotchKa drops "Contrabanda" as an advance track.

CAVE SINGERS drop "Swim Club" as an advance track.

DAN MANGAN stopped by World Cafe for a chat and mini-set.

THE GENERATIONALS, based out of N'awlins, include former members of The Eames Era. Check 'em out. There are two jukeboxes, check 'em both, esp. "When They Fight They Fight" and "Trust."

THE ROLLING STONES: Aquarium Drunkard posts Brussels Affair 1973 (Definitive Edition), while Dangerous Minds links to the isolated tracks from "Gimme Shelter."

THE END IS AT HAND: Aquarium Drunkard and Crescare post a two part compilation of super-obscure, often private press, outsider psychedelic guitar and folk music from the 60s and 70s.

U2 cover "Merry Christmas, Baby (Please Come Home)," ripped from the premiere, for extra retro goodness.

ATLAS SOUND: Bradford Cox gets an apology from Sony for having some of his bedroom recordings taken offline.

ANNIE LENNOX talks to The Big Issue about drug-taking, The Social Network, adopting children in Africa, redefining feminism, A Christmas Cornucopia, etc. (Thx, LHB.)

INTERPOL: Paul Banks talks to Drowned In Sound about the band's changed personnel.

NME announces its Top 75 Albums Of The Year.

JOHNNY DEPP talks to rock legend Patti Smith about working with Angelina Jolie, Jack Sparrow and his musical aspirations.

LINDSAY LOHAN seeks a restraining order against the paparazzi.  Meanwhile, Dancing with the Stars may be seeking her.

DEMI MOORE spends 140K a year to look hot?

NATALIE PORTMAN talks about the grueling regimen for playing a ballerina in the new psychological thriller Black Swan, which has a new clip online.

LESLIE NIELSEN gets a tribute from Airplane! co-creator David Zucker.

JERRY MATHERS is engaged. Nice, Beaver!

THE WALKING DEAD, already renewed for a second season on AMC, fired its writing staff.

THE 2011 INDEPENDENT SPIRIT AWARD nominations are out.

NORTH KOREA boasted advances in its nuclear program on Tuesday, making sure it held the world's attention, saying it had thousands of working centrifuges, as pressure built on China to rein in its ally.

PAKISTAN: As the government prepares for the return of displaced villagers, recent militant attacks on military check points in South Waziristan suggest that the Taliban could reemerge.

AFGHANISTAN: The NYT follows the Fourth Infantry Division's relentless patrolling for IEDs in and around Kandahar.

CATS nom turkey drumstick. And presumably pass out afterward.

A WATER PYTHON was found in a Darwin student's school bag.

A POLICE HORSE was allegedly attacked by a rowdy fan outside Sunday's Houston Texans game at Reliant Stadium.

LOPBURI'S WORLD-FAMOUS MONKEY BUFFET involves them as the diners, not the meal. Pics at the link.

BRANDON FLOWERS is joined by guitarist Andy Summers on "Roxanne."

NEW RELEASES from Girls, the Republic of Wolves, Abby Gogo and more are streaming this lean week at Spinner.

JESCA HOOP stopped by Oregon Public Broadcasting for a chat and mini-set in audio and video.

IRON & WINE dropped "Walking Far From Home" as an advance single.

MERGE 2010: Stream the label's year-end round-up.

DAFT PUNK: Five new tracks are preveiwed by the director of TRON: Legacy.

BOB GELDOF: "I am responsible for two of the worst songs in history. One is 'Do They Know It's Christmas?' and the other one is 'We Are The World.' "

ATLAS SOUND: Bradford Cox has run into problems with Sony over his bedroom recordings.

NICK CAVE talks to the L.A. Times about Grinderman and the question of faith.

ROBERT CHRISTGAU sorta brings back the Consumer Guide as a blog.

JENNY & JONNY: Johnathan Lewis talks to The Skinny about his collaboration with Jenny Lewis. (Thx, LHB.)

WOLF PARADE goes on idefinite hiatus.

IRVIN KERSHNER, the veteran filmmaker who directed the pivotal 1980 "Star Wars" sequel "The Empire Strikes Back," as well as big-budget features like "Never Say Never Again" and "Robocop II," has died at 87. No word on whether he will be stuffed into a Tauntaun or frozen in Carbonite.

JAMES FRANCO & ANNE HATHAWAY are hosting the Oscars.

DAVID BECKHAM was suspected of having late night hotel trysts with multiple women behind-the-back of his Posh Spice wife Victoria, according to court papers filed by a magazine publisher being sued for defamation by the soccer superstar.

MAD MEL UPDATE: TMZ has obtained emails sent from Oksana Grigorieva to Mel Gibson in the months following their nuclear argument on January 6 -- and she sounds very much like a woman scorned.

BRITNEY SPEARS will remain under a conservatorship in 2011.

BARBARA WALTERS reveals 8 of the 10 on her Most Fascinating People list. 

SPIDER-MAN: TURN OFF THE DARK, Broadway's most expensive production ever, was an epic flop in its preview Sunday night.

TERROR in the USA: Many questions remain about the extent of the connections between Mohamed Osman Mohamud, arrested Friday by federal agents and charged with plotting to set off a bomb at a Christmas-tree-lighting ceremony in downtown Portland, and Islamic extremists, whom investigators say he wrote to and plotted with, as well as about the apparent contradictions in his personal life, as a studious, friendly teenager and a young man seeking to wage jihad within his adopted country.

THE UNITED NATIONS won't condemn extrajudicial, arbitrary and summary executions of gay people.

NORTH KOREA: China has signalled its readiness to accept Korean reunification and is privately distancing itself from the North Korean regime, according to leaked US embassy cables that reveal senior Beijing figures regard their official ally as a "spoiled child."

AN IRANIAN nuclear scientist has been killed and another injured in separate attacks in Tehran. State television swiftly blamed Israel for the attacks, though the latest Wikileaks doc dump suggests plenty of suspects.

A BABY ELEPHANT is rescued from a ditch in India.

A CHICKEN was left shell-shocked after laying an enormous four inch tall egg, with her surprised owner describing the poor hen as 'bow-legged.'

TINY, Britain's biggest dog, died at 10 years old. The title now passes to Sampson.

ROO, a two-legged Chihuahua, finds a home. Aw.

THE GO! TEAM drops a video for their current advance single, "T.O.R.N.A.D.O."

BRENDAN BENSON did the four free songs thing for Daytrotter. 

CLARE & THE REASONS, with Van Dyke Parks, did a mini-set at World Cafe, including "Heroes & Villains." 

DWIGHT TWILLEY does a mini-set on Mountain Stage, including his two biggest hits, 1976's "I'm on Fire" and 1984's "Girls." 

PINK MARTINI gets a feature plus tracks from Weekend Edition.

ARCADE FIRE talks to The Guardian about adapting to bigger venues, anti-hipsterism, songwriting, faith and more... Plus, the Spike Jonze-directed video for "The Suburbs."

VAMPIRE WEEKEND briefly talk to The Scotsman about the sophomore LP, while Ezra Koenig makes a list for The Guardian as the band sets off on a UK tour.

PINK FLOYD called off a reunion show.

PETER "SLEAZY" CHRISTOPERSON of Throbbing Gristle, Coil and Psychic TV died "peacefully" in his sleep on Nov. 24 at the age of 55 in his Bangkok home.

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows edged out Disney's Tangled for the top spot with 50.3 million over the weekend and a total of 76.3 million over the 5-day holiday weekend.  It is still on track to become the biggest Potter film ever in the US.  Tangled made 49.1 and 69 million, respectively -- numbers that would, absent Potter, heve folks remembering Disney's dominance of the early 90s.  The Mouse must be both delighted and relieved, given the flick's rumored 260 million budget.  Megamind comes in third over the family-friendly holiday stretch, making 12.9 and 17.6 million, respectively; its 130 domestic haul now equals its production budget.  Burlesque debuted at No. 4, amking 11.8 and 17.2 million against a reported 55 million budget.  Unstoppable rounded out the Top Five with 11.7 and 16.2 million, respectively.  Below the fold, Love and Other Drugs and Faster debuted at Nos. 6 and 7, which is tolerable only in light of the low budgets for both of them.  IIRC, Faster is The Rock's worst opening ever (unless you count Southland Tales).

LESLIE NIELSEN, the Canadian-born actor who, after decades in dramatic and romantic roles, launched a new, far more successful career as a comic actor in films like "Airplane!" and the "Naked Gun" series, died on Sunday in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. He was 84.  Nielsen appeared in over 100 films and 1500 television programs over the span of his career, including the lead in the sci-fi classic, "Forbidden Planet." BONUS: icydk, the "Naked Gun" movies started with the short-lived TV series, "Police Squad!"

WILLIE NELSON was arrested Friday morning for allegedly having about 6 ounces of marijuana after his tour bus was stopped at the Border Patrol checkpoint in Sierra Blanca.  Shocka.

EVA LONGORIA: Already targeted by Dane Cook.

LINDSAY LOHAN spent Thanksgiving with Samantha Ronson and her ex-con Dad.

JAKE GYLLENHAAL & TAYLOR SWIFT spent Thanksgiving together.

TIGER WOODS ate pie with his kids this Thanksgiving. I'll skip the joke you just thought up.

JOHN TRAVOLTA & KELLY PRESTON had a baby boy on the 23rd. Missed that in the pre-holiday rush.

LILY ALLEN is reportedly planning a New Year wedding.

GHOSTBUSTERS 3: Dan Aykroyd fueled casting rumors during a WGN radio appearance.

NORTH KOREA on Friday officially protested a joint US-South Korean military exercise planned for Sunday, even as the aircraft carrier USS George Washington steamed toward the region.

IRAN: FoxNews and The Guardian both have features about the amount of work and top-secret information needed to build the Stuxnet computer worm believed to have (temporarily) hobbled Tehran's nuke program.  Meanwhile, Iran has completed fueling the Bushehr nuclear power plant. Also, the latest doc dump from Wikileaks shows that: (a) the US believes that Iran has obtained advanced missiles from North Korea that could let it strike at Western European capitals and Moscow and help it develop more formidable long-range ballistic missiles; and (b) Iran's ascent has unified Israel and many longtime Arab adversaries - notably the Saudis - in a common cause.

AFGHANISTAN: Pres. Karzai's desperation for a "Good Friday agreement for Afghanistan" led officials to ignore repeated warnings from their own spy chief that they should not trust a man who orchestrated a humiliating face-to-face meeting between the Afghan president and a shopkeeper who pretended to be the Taliban's second most powerful leader.

IRAQ: Prime Minister al-Maliki, speaking at his first press conference two days after being formally tapped to form a Cabinet, appeared bullish Saturday on the progress of his security forces and the participation of a key rival in cobbling together a government.

WHEN OTTER ATTACKS: Let's go to the video.

17 RARE SEA TURTLES facing imminent death were rescued on Cape Cod.

PRINCE CHUNK, an enormously fat cat who became famous when he was found wandering in New Jersey after his owner lost her home to foreclosure, has died of heart disease.

PROBLEM BEAVERS have a price on their heads in Manitoba.

GOAT-RUSTLING wave hits the Chilliwack area of Canada.

A MEERKAT STOLEN from the Kansas City Zoo is back home, 11 days after he was taken by someone the zoo director can only describe as an "idiot."