THE WEEKEND STARTS HERE:

...with the YOUNG FRESH FELLOWS! Live at Cicero's in St. Louis, On November 23rd,1985, so this is Chuck Carroll-era YFFs.  Selections include: "Gus Theme," "White Bird," "If I Had A Hammer," "Power Mowers' Theme," "Where Is Groovy Town?", "Sharing Patrol," "Topsy Turvy," "Young Fresh Fellows Theme," "Hang On Sloopy," "All Messed Up," "Big House/ Love Boat Theme medley" "Mr. Salamander's Review," "Down By The Pharmacy," "Close to You/ Someone I Care About," "Aurora Bridge," "How Much About Last Night Do You Remember?" "This Little Mystery," "Searchin' USA," "Fair Exchange," and "My Friend Ringo."

ROBYN HITCHCOCK talks to ChartAttack about the upcoming Venus 3 album, due next month.

BOB MOULD and Our Band Could Be Your Life author Michael Azerrad will be teaming up to write Mould's autobiography.

BON IVER is advance streaming the Blood Bank EP.

BLACK JOE LEWIS & THE HONEYBEARS do the five free songs thing for Daytrotter, inlcuding a cover of Howlin' Wolf's "Snatch It Back And Hold It." "This band of merry - and lascivious - young men have the scent of last night's woman or women, a whole carton of smoked Camels, a boozy romp and lived in clothing - coming out of their amplifiers and speakers..."

ELVIS PRESLEY's birthday was yesterday. Learn how he unknowingly fought totalitarianism, and how to impersonate him, even if you're Chinese or Jewish.  Here's "I Got A Woman" live o­n his first TV appearance in 1956 and "Suspicious Minds" in the jumpsuit from 1970 as visual aids.

LED ZEPPELIN: Jimmy Page's manager is telling reporters, "Led Zeppelin are over!" For today, anyway.

DEPT. OF EAGLES: Fred Nicolaus spoke to SF Station about the In Ear Park album and the band's first extensive tour.

THE CARDIGANS' Nina Persson talks about the band and her second dolo album with CNN.

CUTOUT BIN: From Jason Segel to The Stooges, from The Who to The Guess Who, From Glasvegas to The Gourds, from Wire to the J. Geils Band, plus the Everly Bros., King Khan & the Shrines, Robert Pollard, Sugar and more  -- this Friday's fortuitous finds are streaming from the Pate page at the ol' HM.

NOW SHOWING: This weekend's wide debuts are Bride Wars, which is currently scoring an ouch-worthy 08 percent on the ol' Tomatometer, and The Unborn, which edges past with a whopping 11 percent.  Expanding wide is Clint Eastwood's Gran Torino, which is scoring 74 percent.  Nevertheless, if I was a gambler, i'd wager the brides win the weekend, followed by the dog movie, then Gran Torino (though it could edge into second in a better world).

KATE HUDSON laughs off lesbian rumors, though when your new movie with Anne Hathaway -- which you also produced -- is getting shellacked by critics, any PR is good PR.

TOM CRUISE speaks out on the death of Jett Travolta and addresses Scientology's role in the tragedy. That'll help.

LINDSAY LOHAN just can't let her feud with Scarlett Johansson go.

LISA BONET has given birth to her third child: Nakoa-Wolf Manakauapo Namakaeha Momoa. Yes, really.

WATCHMEN: The court battle between Fox and Warner Bros. continues, and may come to a head before Jan. 20th.  Meanwhile, The Quietus interviews the graphic novel's artist, Dave Gibbons.  Plus, the Japanese trailer has some new footage.

KEVIN COSTNER was hospitalized overnight Tuesday at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, but was released the following day.

AWARDS SEASON: The 2008 Razzie nominees are announced.

PAKISTAN: The US killed al Qaeda's chief of operations in the New Year's Day missile strike in Pakistan's Taliban-controlled tribal agency of South Waziristan, according to a report.

AFGHANISTAN: Afghan and Coalition forces killed a Taliban IED facilitator in Helmand province and six Taliban fighters in Farah province, and detained five Haqqani Network fighters in Khost and Kandahar province. 

IRAQ: Violence is down 93 percent during the last quarter of 2008. Iraqi forces detained 18 wanted men in Mosul, six insurgents in Kirkuk, four al Qaeda fighters in Diyala, and prevented a terrorist attack in Baghdad.

SLEEPY CAT does not want to wake up. I sympathize.

THE SQUIRREL THREAT: Militant squirrels have been blamed for setting a former attorney general's house on fire in Britain.  Awww...some photoshop at the link.

TOP DOG & CAT NAMES 2008, according to Veterinary Pet Insurance.  The most unusual are also listed.

101 DALMATIANS?  Not quite, but this three-year-old dog has given birth to a litter of 18, just a year after having 16 pups.  Pic at the link.

THE PIGLET SQUID with a smiley face and a twinkle in his eye.

M WARD has released a Video for "Hold Time," from the upcoming album of the same name.

DEATH VESSEL did three free songs for Daytrotter, one previously unreleased. "This is pretty like flower beds and daisy chains and Dolly Parton or Karen Carpenter pretty."

PAPER ROUTE did five free songs for Daytrotter, one previously unreleased. " In nearly every one of the ephemeral songs that Paper Route writes, there's a sense of intense foreboding - like someone's got a foot out of the door and there are outstretched arms reaching to reverse the momentum carrying them away."

MERGE RECORDS is offering its 2008 sampler free with registration.

BUFFETLIBRE has unleashed about 90 covers of 80s songs by indie bands.  Downloads and videos at the link.

BLITZEN TRAPPER has a new stop-motion video for "Furr."

JOHN LENNON's MBE has turned up. Buckingham Palace will leave its fate to Yoko Ono.

JACKO hopes to bury his 24-year feud with Sir Paul McCartney - by leaving his share of the Beatles back catalog to him in his will.

BROKEN SOCIAL SCENE: Land of Talk's Liz Powell is now an official member of the collective.

EURYTHMICS: Dave Stewart has bizarre new project.

BRADGELINA: Pitt has an interview in W Magazine, in which he acquits Jolie of the charge of home-wrecking, and Aniston of the last round of catty remarks.

BRITNEY SPEARS goes into permanent conservatorship.

LINDSAY LOHAN & SAMANTHA RONSON: Lohan has moved out of Ronson's pad and has been seen on the town alone, but reportedly wants back with Sam.

SCARLETT JOHANSSON is not planning parenthood anytime soon.

SARAH JESSICA PARKER is moving out on Matthew Broderick, according to the ever-reliable Star.

CARMEN ELECTRA says she's found a hot new use for hangers, but refuses to go into details.

THE PRISONER:  You can watch the entire original series via AMC's website in advance of their reimagined miniseries, which stars Ian McKellen and Jim Caviezel.

LARRY FLYNT & JOE FRANCIS want a government bailout, but will settle for publicity.

JENNIFER CONNELLY's sudden weight loss may be a reaction to the recent death of her father.

INDIA: Transcripts of phone calls Indian authorities say they intercepted during the November Mumbai attacks were part of a dossier of evidence New Delhi handed Pakistan this week that it says definitively proves that the siege was launched from across the border.

PAKISTAN: The Taliban murdered two more "US spies" in North Waziristan. The Taliban killed four policemen during an attack on a checkpoint in Hangu; another policeman was killed while defusing a bomb in Bannu. Four more beheaded bodies were found in Swat. Ajmal Amir Qasab, the only surviving gunman from November's deadly Mumbai terrorist attacks, is a Pakistani citizen, the government confirmed on Wednesday.

A CAT & COCKATOO, living together...  I think you know what I'm saying.

THE SQUIRREL THREAT: The "Save Our Squirrels" campaign begun in 2006 to rescue Britain's red squirrels, with its rallying motto of "Save a red, eat a gray!", created a market for culled squirrel meat.

ANGELINA the LABRADOR saved her owner's life by knocking her out of the way as the roof of her house fell in.

CHINESE ZOO ANIMALS are huddling next a fire and electric heaters to beat the cold weather. Pic of giraffes living like hoboes at the link.

HEDGEHOGS are legalized in Lawrence, KS, after a three-year lobbying effort by 11 year-old Judson King.  Video at the link.

THE STOOGES: Guitarist Ron Asheton is dead at 60, sometime over the past few days, apparently of natural causes. Here are two remembrances from Greg Kot, the Detroit Free Press and the Guardian. Iggy Pop and the surviving Stooges issue their statement.  NPR has two classic Tube links, but it's "No Fun" for me.

MONTT MARDIE: Frank Yang nominates this singer-songwriter as the new face of Swedish pop for 2009, with A/V links a-plenty: "Musical cribs from The Cure nestle alongside classic Brill Building song structures and quotes from Meatloaf. Lyrics reference Breakfast At Tiffany's and Star Wars - Introducing is a glorious open house pop culture party, where everything is fair game and welcomed with love..."

AMAZON is selling its bestselling 2008 MP3 albums for just five bucks each.

CULT of the iPod: Apple said Tuesday that it would remove anticopying restrictions on all of the songs in its popular iTunes Store and allow record companies to set a range of prices for them.

THE RETURN OF THE 7" 45: Don't call it a comeback.

XTC is blogging about their songs.  Most recently about "Generals & Majors," but just keep scolling. (Thx, Chromewaves.)

ROBBERT BOBBLE & the BUBBLE MACHINE, the alter ego of Apples In Stereo frontman Robert Schneider, performs the kind of garage-y, surf-tinged psychedelia you'd expect, but with an all-ages twist.  Stream a few. For the children.

DEATH CAB FOR CUTIE: Ben Gibbard talks to The A.V. Club, presumably before news of his engagement to Zooey Deschanel leaked out.

ANIMAL COLLECTIVE is profiled at Billboard.

OXFORD AMERICAN's 10th Anniversary Music Issue is out. The CDs aren't on line, but the liner notes are, plus Grant Alden on the demise of No Depression, the legendary alt-country magazine that he co-founded and edited, and on the (dreary, at best?) future of music criticism.

ALYSSA MILANO is getting hitched to CAA agent David Bugliari.

JENNIFER GARNER & BEN AFFLECK are the proud parents of a new baby girl.

JOSH BROLIN & JEFFREY WRIGHT, charged with interfering with a cop during a bar brawl last July, settled their criminal case in Shreveport, LA.  Maybe the arrest video did the trick.

RIP TORN pleaded not guilty to two counts stemming from a Dec. 14 drunken driving arrest.

MADONNA's rumored boytoy, Yankee slugger Alex Rodriguez, is reportedly "still hung up" on Madge and refused Donna Karan's advances over the New Year.

WATCHMEN has a new video journal online; this one covers The Minutemen.

CRAIG FERGUSON made a surprise announcement on his CBS Late Late Show Monday night: He got married over the holidays. Video at the link.

PATRICK SWAYZE talks to Barbara Walters about "going through hell" in his yearlong battle with pancreatic cancer, and taking on a leading role in a new television series.

IRAN: More than 70K students have volunteered to carry out suicide bombings against Israel, according to Iran's state news agency.  But President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has not responded to their request for permission, which suggests that the campaigns are mostly propaganda.

IRAQ: An Iraqi battalion shifts from Baghdad to the northern city of Mosul to conduct counterinsurgency operations.

MILLIE the SPANIEL needs to get her blankie out of the dryer.

BEES: Cocaine alters their judgment, stimulates their behavior and makes them exaggeratedly enthusiastic about things that might not otherwise excite them.

SERIAL SNAKE THIEVES BUSTED: One in fact had a rainbow boa in his pocket.

PITBULL ATTACK thwarted by a 9-year-old jiu-jitsu master.

A PAIR OF DEER drop in on a class at Faith Baptist School in Hamilton, NJ.

MY MORNING JACKET apparently tore the roof off MSG on NYE, if the trove of audio and video at Brooklyn Vegan is any guide. Or you can stream the whole gig -- with covers of Sam Cooke, James Brown, Kool & The Gang, Curtis Mayfield, Marvin Gaye and more -- via the Internet Archive.  As a teaser, here's "You're All I Need," with a cameo from Nicole Atkins.

NEW RELEASES: The debut album from Glasvegas is streaming in full at Spinner.

THAO NGUYEN does the four free songs thing for Daytrotter, one previously unreleased ("The New One").

BON IVER gets a feature on All Things Considered, with news on Justin Vernon's next release.

CALEXICO drops a free download at the Threadless t-shirt site. Yes, really.

STONEHENGE was built as a dance arena for prehistoric raves, a university professor believes.  And where are they now, the little people of Stonehenge? BONUS: "(Listen to the) Flower People" as a Twofer Tuesday.

BLACK LIPS will give you a new track from their forthcoming album 200 Million Thousand, in return for your e-mail address.

OASIS: Liam and Noel Gallagher almost came to blows recently - this time over a Facebook update.

GENE SIMMONS will play a cartoon dentist on Nick at Nite.

GOTH FOLK: The Times of London examines an ideal accompaniment to the gloomy new year.

LOVE IS ALL: Josephine Olausson talks to Pitchfork about the Swedish quintet's sophomore album, A Hundred Things Keep Me Up at Night, the outside pressures to adjust their sound for the marketplace, and the pros and cons of reading one's own press.

JOHN TRAVOLTA & KELLY PRESTON's son Jett dies of a "seizure" according to the death certificate.  The autopsy findings may never be public.

REBECCA ROMIJN & JERRY O'CONNELL welcome twin girls.

LINDSAY LOHAN & SAMANTHA RONSON are dunzo? Li-Lo denies it.

JENNIFER LOVE HEWITT and her fiancé Ross McCall are dunzo.

PATRICIA ARQUETTE & THOMAS JANE are dunzo.

DEAD SNOW: A Norwegian Nazi zombie movie coming to Sundance and to theaters in September. With an Indian Jones reference, no less. It could be the best Norwegian Nazi zombie movie ever.

GARY OLDMAN has married for the fourth time, tying the knot with musician Alexandra Edenborough at a secret ceremony.

MADONNA: Daughter Lourdes has enrolled at a New York drama school made famous by Macaulay Culkin, Scarlett Johansson and Sarah Jessica Parker.  Did anyone ever suggest that to Madge?

CELEBRITY & MEDIA TWITTER ACCOUNTS were hacked after Twitter's internal admin tools were compromised. Which doesn't exclude the possibility that Britney Spears has more than one orifice with teeth.

PAKISTAN: On the heels of their crusade against girls going to schools, the Taliban have now issued new dictum in the areas under their sway asking parents of the grown up daughters to marry them to militants or "face dire consequences." This kind of idiocy was a factor in turning the Anbar tribes agaist Al Qaeda in Iraq.

IRAN: Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Sunday warned Iraqi Prime Minister al-Maliki against a security pact with the United States.  The Ayatollah may want to catch up on his news reading.

TARA & BELLA, living together at the Elephant sanctuary, through sickness and health.  A heart-warming disaster of Biblical proportions.

HEY, YOU MOUNTAIN LIONS: Get off of my lawn!

INDIA, the First Cat, died in office Sunday.

PANDA CUB debuts at the Atlanta Zoo.

SHARKS HAVE WIMPY BITES, but compensate with sharp teeth and wide mouths. What say you, Police Chief Brody?

UGLYSUIT plays a rooftop in "Chicago."

ANDREW BIRD gets an in-depth NYT magazine profile, which finds him worried on the edge of a breakthrough. NPR is offering an advance stream of his upcoming Noble Beast LP.

BLITZEN TRAPPER have a Weekend Edition feature plus tracks streaming via NPR.

WINTERPILLS played the World Cafe Friday, so you can stream the gig on demand via NPR.

GLASVEGAS: The New York Press wonders whether the Spectorian Scots can make it in the States. Bassist Paul Donoghue promises a less orcehestrated, rawking version of the band onstage. Chromewaves has more links and an MP3 of the band covering "Be My Baby."

THE BUZZCOCKS' Singles Going Steady -- and its most memorable single, "Ever Fallen In Love (With Someone You Shouldn't've)" -- is essayed by the Columbia Spectator.

ANTONY and the JOHNSONS frontman Antony Hegarty is profiled at The Guardian.

THE HOLD STEADY's Franz Nicolay hopes his solo LP will start to get people like me from always linking him to the band.  But for now, I think it helps get him attention.

FRIENDLY FIRES count Tom Jones and Bono among their fans. I noted their Current mini-set back in October.

JOHNNY VAN ZANDT talks about the enduring influence of Lynyrd Skynyrd. (Thx, LHB.)

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE: Marley & Me repeats as No.1 with 24 million, as the top seven films remain unchanged from last weekend.  The dog has already crossed the 100 million mark. Bedtime Stories held really well, with a mere 26 percent drop, and should end up well in the black.  Benjamin Button is only about halfway to breaking even. Valkyrie even looks like it will turn a profit worldwide, thanks to a limited 60 million budget.  Yes Man rounds out the Top Five and also looks to be mildly profitable by the end.  Indeed, most of the movies in the Top Ten are looking at least okay -- even the disappointing The Day The Earth Stood Still -- due to some fiscal sanity on the budgeting front.  Below the fold, the story may be Oscar possibles like Doubt and Slumdog Millionaire  rising to 8th and 10th despite being on far fewer screens than the major releases.

JOHN TRAVOLTA & KELLY PRESTON lost their 16-year-old son Jett while vacationing in the Bahamas.  Jett reportedly collapsed and died after suffering a seizure inside the family's suite at the Old Bahama Bay Hotel on Grand Bahama Island. He may also have fatally struck his head in the bathroom there.  Police have launched an investigation, but do not suspect foul play. However, there does appear to be conflict between the police and Camp Travolta over the timeline of events. Some have raised quesions about whether Scientology played a role in these events, though it appears Jett was once on anti-seizure medication. And then there's this.

TOM-KAT UPDATE: Cruise claims he overcame the effects of his dyslexia thanks to Scientology in an interview published on Sunday. Also, the movie Valkyrie's use of a prop Hitler globe may draw a lawsuit from the real globe's owner.

LINDSAY LOHAN & SAMANTHA RONSON reportedly rang in the new year with a nasty fistfight.

HEATHER LOCKLEAR evaded DUI charges with a no contest plea to a misdemeanor reckless driving charge in court Friday.

SAM SHEPARD was busted for DUI in Normal, IL, over the weekend.

PAT HINGLE, veteran of stage, television and film acting, passed away late Saturday noght.

NINE: A post-apocalyptic animated film produced by Tim Burton has a teaser trailer online.

GEORGE CLOONEY & the FRENCH HOTEL are hanging out together? I always wondered what would happen when that final seal was cracked.

TARA REID has checked out of rehab.

THE STATE OF JIHAD, 2008: The Long War Journal's roundup of the major developments in the primary and secondary theaters during the past year.

IRAQ: The post-SoFA regime is tested as a suicide attack outside a Shia shrine in Baghdad killed 35 civilians and wounded 79 more.

CAT SNEEZE ATTACK: Let's go to the video.

ASSISTANCE ANIMALS go well beyond guide dogs to monkeys for quadriplegia and agoraphobia, guide miniature horses, a goat for muscular dystrophy, a parrot for psychosis and any number of animals for anxiety, including cats, ferrets, pigs, at least one iguana and a duck.

ORANGUTAN is learning to jet ski -- or trying to get closer to his trainer.

SMART BATS have smaller testicles. Don't all species say this?

ILLEGAL SEAFOOD is more than just a reataurant in Oxford, MA: "The story is about more than contraband seafood. It is a tale of lobsters on a death-defying journey, one marred by tragedy and for some, redemption..."

PORCUPINES attack the resort village of Telluride, CO.  Dinsdale... Dinsdale!