HALEY BONAR covers the Crystals’ "Then He Kissed Me"with a Joy Division sort of vibe.

MY MORNING JACKET plays Austin City Limits. As does Ben Harper.

LAMBCHOP, Live at the Hopscotch Music Festival, Sept. 8, 2016.

THE STRAY BIRDS stopped by World Cafe for a chat and mini-set.

JONATHAN RICHMAN shares "People Are Disgusting," which turns out to be about motel rooms.

CAR SEAT HEADREST covered Leonard Cohen's "Field Commander Cohen."

JIMMY RUFFIN asks "What Becomes of the Brokenhearted?"

REGINA SPEKTOR tells The Guardian why antisemitism was the making of her.

IGGY POP talked to Rolling Stone about the new book Total Chaos, an oral history of the Stooges.

THE SMITHS: Johnny Marr talks to Noisey about the band's fall-out, why indie isn't dead, and a lifetime of reunion rumors.

LYDIA LOVELESS is profiled by Rolling Stone.

DWAYNE "THE ROCK" JOHNSON is People magazine's Sexiest Man Alive. And maybe your future President.

CARRIE FISHER reveals he had a whirlwind three-month affair with Harrison Ford while shooting Star Wars.

MEGHAN MARKLE is reportedly head-over-heels in love with Prince Harry.

ROBERT DE NIRO was offered post-election refuge by a tiny Italian town. Call it the reverse-Vito Andolini.

KELSEY GRAMMER and his wife Kayte welcomed their third child together and Grammer's seventh total.

LIN-MANUEL MIRANDA is making a secret Disney movie.

GERMAN POLICE in 60 cities staged sweeping raids early Tuesday targeting the Islamist group True Religion on accusations of recruiting for the Islamic State, as authorities intensified a large scale crackdown against religious extremists.

BEARS get down to "Jungle Boogie."

A PIT BULL was elected Mayor of Rabbit Hash, Kentucky.

THE CASE AGAINST CATS, according to The Atlantic. (Thx, Jay, who vehemently dissents)

PARALYZED MONKEYS have been able to walk again using a brain implant that transmits signals wirelessly to stimulators in their legs.

THE FLAMING LIPS share a video for "How??"

SPLIT SINGLE, ft members of Wilco and Superchunk, advance stream Metal Frames.

LOWER PLENTY, using late-period Beatles records as an influence, advance streams Sister Sister.

JASON ISBELL played A Prairie Home Companion.

THE WRENS shared a new demo for a song called "At Irish Exit."

BOTH SIDES NOW: Joni Mitchell performs her 1968 song in 1970 and in 2000, for a reflective Twofer Tuesday.

LEONARD COHEN's albums, ranked by The Telegraph.

THUNDER ROAD: A stranded Springsteen was rescued by bikers.

THE MINUTEMEN: Double Nickels on the Dime gets one of the retrospective reviews Pitchfork has been running on Sundays.  I don't link to these reviews very often, but for a seminal, but not well-known double-LP, I'll make an exception.

CHVRCHES are briefly profiled by DIY.

FANTASTIC BEASTS AND WHERE TO FIND THEM is getting good early reviews.

BEAUTY AND THE BEAST gets its first full trailer.

GHOST IN THE SHELL also gets its first full trailer.

ROBERT REDFORD says he'll soon be retiring from acting to focus on directing.

LINDSAY LOHAN got dragged into one of the most outlandish Las Vegas tales we've ever heard.

MARION COTILLARD talks about working with Brad Pitt on the set of their upcoming romantic thriller, Allied, which required them to film what she described as an “awkward” sex scene.

RYAN REYNOLDS tells GQ that Deadpool gave him an anxiety attack, among other things.

MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS: Kenneth Branagh’s version of the Agatha Christie classic is quickly filling up with more and more famous passengers.

THE INHUMANS now appear to be headed to the small screen.

THE COOLEST Marvel Easter Eggs.

GWEN IFILL, the longtime news anchor who had served as a co-host of PBS's NewsHour and as moderator of “Washington Week,” has died after a battle with cancer. She was 61.

IRAN has exceeded a soft limit on sensitive material set under its nuclear deal with major powers, the U.N. atomic watchdog said.

THREE NEW ZEALAND COWS found themselves stranded on a small island of grass after an earthquake triggered landslides that swallowed the earth around them.

A TENNESSEE HUNTER bagged possibly world record-breaking 47-point buck.

HOW CATS Clawed Their Way Into Our Hearts.

AN ANGRY GOAT attacked a man in his backyard in Queensland.

VERY BUSY WEEKEND, but I have a few items for you...

LEON RUSSELL, renowned multi-instrumentalist and songwriter who collaborated with Bob Dylan, George Harrison, the Rolling Stones and Elton John over the course of 50 years in the music industry, died Sunday. He was 74.  As a member of Phil Spector's "Wrecking Crew," Russell played keyboards on tracks like the Ronettes' "Be My Baby" and Ike & Tina Turner's "River Deep – Mountain High."  Most don't know he also played on Sinatra's "Strangers In The Night."  Of his solo work, Russell is likely best known for "A Song For You."

ROBERT VAUGHN, an actor best known as the secret agent Napoleon Solo in The Man from UNCLE, has died aged 83.  I'll probably remember him more from Bullitt and The Magnificent Seven; he was the last living member of the latter group.

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE: Doctor Strange repeated atop the chart with 43MM, on a 49 percent drop which may be better than expected (compared with Thor 2, also a Nov. release); the sorcerer has taken in 492MM worldwide, which is probably right at the brink of profitability.  Trolls places with 25MM, likely a beneficiary of the Veteran's Day school holiday; it is about 60 percent of the way to profit.  The debut of Arrival showed with 24MM, far above the 16-18MM most had projected, and deservedly so (see below).  Almost Christmas took the fourth slot with 15.6MM against a 17MM budget, and seems likely to profit if it shows legs through the holiday season.  Hacksaw Ridge rounded out the Top Five with 10.8MM on a leggy 29 percent drop that may have also been related to the Vets' day weekend.

ARRIVAL:  You've all seen the aliens-come-to-Earth movie, right? War of the Worlds, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Independence Day, and so forth.  You have not seen Arrival. And if you do -- as you should -- you may well think you're watching one of those movies until it fully reveals itself.  There is a twist of sorts here that makes you start re-evaluating everything you have just seen, while changing the story into something different and moving in ways that defy your expectations entering the theater.  Amy Adams is usually good in everything, and she's terrific here, while Jeremy Renner does the understanted thing he does at his best, but for which there was no room in the Marvel movies or American Hustle (his last film with Adams, iirc).  I do not know whether Arrival is the best movie of the year, but it's in the team photo for the best I've seen this year.

THE WEEKEND STARTS HERE:

... with NEIL YOUNG!  Live on the Beeb, circa '71. Your setlist includes: "Out on the Weekend," "Old Man," "Journey Thru the Past," "Heart of Gold," "Don't Let It Bring You Down," "A Man Needs A Maid," "Love in Mind," and "Dance, Dance, Dance."

THEE OH SEES advance stream An Odd Entrances.

PINK MARTINI advance streams Je Dis Oui.

JOSEPH plays a Tiny Desk Concert.

LOCAL NATIVES play a Takeaway Show.

THE VOGUES: It's a "Five O'Clock World" on Friday.

LEONARD COHEN, the legendary singer-songwriter whose work inspired generations, and whose works included the oft-covered "Hallelujah," has died at the age of 82.  Here are 20 essential Cohen songs.

PINK FLOYD: What was it like to hear The Dark Side Of The Moon live before the album came out?

THE PRETENDERS' Chrissie Hynde talks to The Guardian in her usual don't-give-a-crap way.

GILLIAN WELCH: Rolling Stone looks back at Revival 20 years later.

BODY/HEAD: Kim Gordon and Bill Nace talk to Paste their latest release.

NOW SHOWING: This weekend's wide releases include Almost Christmas, which is currently scoring 41 percent on the ol' Tomatometer; Arrival, which is scoring 95 percent; and Shut In, which was not screened for critics.

BRANGELEXIT: Brad Pitt has been cleared of abuse allegations by the L.A. County Dept. of Children and Family Services.

BLAC CHYNA & ROB KARDASHIAN have welcomed their first child together.

ROGUE ONE has a new trailer with just a little more Vader.

X-MEN: A reboot of the diminishing mutant movie series is in the works as Hugh Jackman's Wolverine heads for retirement and a studio's 4 billion franchise sits in flux.

FANTASTIC BEASTS & WHERE TO FIND THEM director David Yates talks about Johnny Depp's role in the sequel, and more...

VETERANS' DAY: Today is the observation of the anniversary of the end of WWI; thank a vet today, and read the excellent 2009 piece by the WaPo's David Ignatius that may be more true today.

SEINFELD, but with hamsters.

THE SQUIRREL THREAT: Leprosy. I'm just saying.

A RARE BEDBUG reappears in Florida after 60 years.

A CHICKEN was apprehended after crossing the road in Edmonton.

THE WRECK of the EDMUND FITZGERALD: The legend lives o­n from the Chippewa o­n down of the big lake they called Gitche Gumee.This is the 41st anniversary of the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald -- 729 feet-long, 75 feet in breadth, 39 feet in depth, weighing 13,632 gross tons -- an ore bulk carrier with a capacity of 25,000 tons. When it was launched o­n June 7 1958, at the Great Lakes Engineering Works in River Rouge, Michigan, Fitzgerald was the largest ship o­n the Great Lakes. Here's misty, water-colored video of the launch.

The "Queen of the Great Lakes" sank in the eastern end of Lake Superior during a fierce storm -- including snow squalls -- that pounded the ship with 30-foot waves. The crew of 29 men perished; without witnesses, a definitive reason has never been determined. A Coast Guard report suggested that faulty hatches failed to keep water out of the ship's cargo holds, though others believe the ship struck an uncharted shoal and took o­n water. A documentary created and aired by the Discovery Channel concluded the loss was due to freak waves that overwhelmed the faulty hatches.

After the wreck, the Rev. Richard Ingalls went to Mariners' Church in Detroit and rang its bell 29 times, o­nce for each life lost. The church continues to hold an annual memorial, which includes reading the names of the crewmen and ringing the church bell. Here's video of Rev. Ingalls recounting that night.  More than 250 people gathered at the church for the 40th anniversary, which was expanded to remember victims from all tragedies on the Great Lakes. And here's a remembrance from a brother one of the lost crew member

At the request of family members surviving her crew, Fitzgerald's 200 lb. bronze bell was recovered by the Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society in 1995, as a joint project with the National Geographic Society, Canadian Navy, Sony Corporation, and Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians. The bell is now o­n display in the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum. Here's a brief video from o­ne of the underwater explorations of the wreck. Fmr newsman Larry Elliot recalls the remote expedition.  And here is a story from one of the two scuba divers to ever reach the sunken hull.  Throw in the 3-D animation, and you'll feel just like Bill Paxton.

The song by Gordon Lightfoot spent 21 straight weeks o­n the pop charts, peaking at No. 2. Here, Lightfoot discusses writing the song, and the lyrics he's changed.  And there's a homemade video for it, which I highly recommend. Beats the tar of Celine Dion! (PS:  Ken King -- who has lived o­n the U.P. of  Michigan, says the gales of November are quite something.)