THE WEEKEND STARTS HERE:

...with POWER POP! Dennis Cooper has helpfully compiled 24 Tubed power pop videos.  A few may be well-known generally, like Cheap Trick's  "Way of the World" and Nick Lowe's "Cruel to Be Kind" (performed here with Rockpile). And some well-known to fans of the genre, like Shoes "Too Late," The Records' "Starry Eyes," the Flamin' Groovies' "Shake Some Action" and the Plimsouls'  "A Million Miles Away" (seen here in a rare live TV slot).  Others are well-known to longtime Pate fans, like The dB's "Neverland" (a new yet vintage video) or Let's Active's "Waters Part."  But that leaves 16 more gems for you to discover.

RIVERS CUOMO show cases demos of Weezer songs and unheard solo material in a lengthy Fres Air segment at NPR.

JESSE SYKES & THE SWEET HEREAFTER do the four free songs thing for Daytrotter.

ANDREW BIRD, according to the Chicago Reader, is "Pop White People Like." NTTAWWT.

KAKI KING talks to AfterEllen about religion and why she hates "The L Word."

FLEA will play bass for the reunited Faces, according to Ron Wood.  Ooh La What?

ANIMAL COLLECTIVE: "My Girls" is the first video from Merriweather Post Pavillion.

MAVIS STAPLES has a mini-set streaming on demand via the World Cafe and NPR.

PREVIOUSLY ON LOST is exactly what the name implies: A recap band. Through short spurts of musical whimsy, the island aficionados summarize the week's plot, focusing on themes and characters that are especially entertaining. And you can stream a few, though there may be spoilers for those not caught up.

CLAP YOUR HANDS SAY YEAH are on a break, not a break-up.

NICK CAVE & THE BAD SEEDS: Mick Harvey, Nick Cave's longest serving musical collaborator, has quit the Bad Seeds, citing "a variety of personal and professional reasons" -- but calls the split amicable.

CUTOUT BIN: From Prince to Art Brut, from Frankie Valli to Buzzcocks, from The Sonics to Queen, from Ian Dury & the Blockheads to Gladys Knight & the Pips, plus Eels, the Rave-Ups, Devo, The Donnas 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 Underworld: Rise of the Lycans, which is currently scoring 39 percent on the ol' Tomatometer, and Inkheart, currently scoring 43 percent.  Oscar bait Slumdog Millionaire (95 percent) expands wide, while Revolutionary Road (67 percent) and Frost/Nixon (91 percent) expand near- wide.  The Wrestler (95 percent) expands to 400 screens. Oddly enough, classically-trained Welsh actor Michael Sheen stars in both the Underworld flick and Frost/Nixon.

OSCAR NOMINEES are here. There's analysis of the races anjd the snubs at The Envelope and the Gold Derby. The Dark Knight was robbed, natch.  Some are surprised by that; I'm not. The Best Picture nominee that is the biggest hit often wins.  Thus, had The Dark Knight been nominated, it would have been favored to win.  And Hollywood is far too self-important to give its top award to Batman... so no nomination.

GEORGE CLOONEY will be filming scenes for an appearance on "ER" this week.  And it looks like Julianna Margulies will also make a cameo before the show ends its run.

TOM CRUISE gets a Nazi Teddy Bear from Entertainment Tonight.

RACHEL McADAMS & JOSH LUCAS were... wait for it... caught canoodling (heavily!) at the Purple Inaugural Ball.

SEX & THE CITY will be inflicting a sequel on the movie-going public.

PETER FALK's wife is opposing a bid by the Emmy-winning actor's daughter to place him under a conservatorship.

THE WRESTLER is essentially the anti-Rocky, a portrait of what happens to a pro wrestler 20 years on from the height of fame. Mickey Rourke deserves the accolades he is getting for his lead performance; Marisa Tomei is also good, generally transcending the stripper-with-a-heart-of-gold role that would have really stuck out as a cliche in a lesser movie.  Evan Rachel Wood sadly fails to to lift her game in her role as the wrestler's daughter.  The screenplay is very good, though marred slightly by the inclusion of a climactic speech which makes unduly explicit what the viewer already should know.

THE 99 TOP WOMEN OF 2009, according to AskMen.com. OMG has highlights and analysis; Katherine Heigl is way down, while Anne Hathaway is way up, with Britney Spears returining after a three-year absence.  Call it Gratuitous Friday.

FANTASTIC VOYAGE: A microscipic submarine that can swim through blood vessels is set to become a reality.

AFGHANISTAN: Michael Yon has a soldier's photoessay on the hashish trade, which is overlooked in the media focus on opium.

IRAQ: Gen. Ray Odierno , the commanding US general in Iraq , said that if the country held peaceful elections this year, the relative calm that had settled on Iraq would be "irreversible."

DALMATION RIDES A BICYCLE on Japanese TV. Pics and video at the link.

CLINICALLY DEPRESSED POODLE mauls former French president Jacques Chirac.

RARE ORPHANED LEMUR clutches a cuddly teddy bear.  Awww... some pics at the link.

THE BIRDS: Apocalyptic pigeons strike fear in town.  Hitchcockian pic at the link.

THE SQUIRREL THREAT: Militant squirrel sets wildfire, causes school evacuation in Jones, OK.

DUNG BEETLES are evolving into vicious carnivores.

OVER SEVEN MILLION SERVED: Thanks, y'all! 

THE LEMONHEADS: Evan Dando & Co. turned out an A/V mini-set of covers and classics for the Laundro-Matinee.

VILLAGE VOICE PAZZ & JOP POLL 2008:  The ol' grey mare ain't what she used to be but still worth a gander.

OF MONTREAL: You can stream and download the band's almost all-covers NYE set at the 40 Watt via YANP.  The selections range from Aerosmith to the Jesus and Mary Chain to Katrina and the Waves to Buzzcocks to Donna Summer and more...

DARK WAS THE NIGHT, an upcoming charity double-disc, is streaming a track a day through Feb1.  I managed to miss the new The National track, but there will be something to surprise all of us today.

NEIL YOUNG's next effort is... a "concept album about eco-friendly cars."  M'kay...

THE STAR SPANGLED BANNER, in five video flavors, courtesy of NPR.

MARK OLSON & GARY LOURIS talk to Muzzle of Bees about the recording of Ready For The Flood, the Internet and more...

SONIC YOUTH is Twittering the mixing of their upcoming album,

CALEXICO: Filter may be right to say you should already know them, but if not, it's a nice intro.

THE 2009 BRIT AWARD nominees are announced.  Coldplay and Duffy lead the pack with four apiece.

THE CURIOUS CASE OF FORREST GUMP: I heard that the two movies are pretty similar, but the voice talent really sells it.

IRON MAN 2: CHUD tries to sort out the casting rumors surrounding what is shaping up as a potentially over-stuffed sequel. Meanwhile, it appears that Marvel is continuing to lowball actors for this and other projects.  Hey, if you didn't stuff a zillion characters into a movie, you could pay each actor more money.

JENNIFER ANISTON & JOHN MAYER: Off again, apparently.

SHIA LeBEOUF has had his driver's license suspended for a year, for failing to take a breathalyzer test after his July 27, 2008 car crash.  Maybe the robot will have to drive him now.

JOHN TRAVOLTA & KELLY PRESTON face more heartache as reports of extortion threats against the family are revealed by police.

MICHAEL CERA doesn't want to commit to the Arrested Development movie until he sees a script.  Meanwhile, the writers don't want to do a script until they have confirmed their cast.

PINEAPPLE EXPRESS in 60 Seconds. 

KELLY RUTHERFORD: The Gossip Girl star's divorce gets nastier.

THE UNITED NATIONS: A high-ranking human rights worker with UN ties was nabbed at Kennedy Airport Tuesday with kiddie pr0n in his suitcase.  The NYDN notes that this is merely the latest UN-related sex scandal, as I've noted before with respect to UN peacekeepers and aid workers in Liberia, the Congo, the Ivory Coast, southern Sudan and Haiti, to name a few.

THE STANS: The US struck deals with Russia and others for supply lines to American troops in Afghanistan, needed both because of attacks in the Khyber pass and to supply the planned troop buildup over the coming year. More than 60 militants including several key commanders were killed in clashes between militants and security forces in northwestern Pakistan on Tuesday.  Taliban militants threatened suicide attacks against bus drivers who played music or movies for their passengers.

IRAQ: A top official of the biggest Sunni party escaped assassination in a Baghdad car bombing, just ten days before provincial elections.

ANIMAL RIGHTS TERRORISTS who blackmailed companies linked to Huntingdon Life Sciences in an attempt to close down the animal testing lab have been jailed for between four and 11 years.

CAT ON A SUBWOOFER: Let's go to the video.

ORPHANED LAMB wears a woolly jumper to cope with sub-zero temperatures this winter. Awww... some pics at the link.

A LIZARD found on a piece of supermarket broccoli has become a much-loved family pet.

COW engages in person-tipping.

FLEET FOXES played "Mykonos" and "Blue Ridge Mountains" live on a weekend comedy show.

U2 is streaming a new song, "Get Your Boots On," via Last.fm

ANDREW BIRD talks to The A.V. Club about the recording of the Noble Beast album.

MINIPOP did the four free songs thing for Daytrotter, three previously unreleased (incl. a Flaming Lips cover).

ANIMAL COLLECTIVE talks to Pitchfork about the new album, an upcoming box set and more... 

EMMY THE GREAT unspools her "First Love" from her upcoming debut album.

JOHNNY MARR takes time from working with Neil Finn and the Cribs to teach the popular-musicology degree course at the University of Salford.

ALEJANDRO ESCOVEDO talks to Creative Loafing about working with songwriter-guitarist Chuck Prophet (Green On Red) on the Real Animal album.

THE ANNUALS bassist Mike Robinson talks to Mpls CityPages about the year that was and the economic uncertainty to come.

PETE DOHERTY is inspired by the example of Amy Winehouse. Yes, really.

JOAQUIN PHOENIX RAPS: Let's go to the video, or skip to the part where he falls offstage.

BRITNEY SPEARS may be paid £10million to stick her name on a ghost-written autobiography.

TOM CRUISE: Italian publication LeiWeb opened its interview with Cruise by describing all the restrictions imposed by the movie star's publicists, including that the interviewer must have liked Valkryie.

MADONNA will not be happy that these unretouched promo pics have leaked online.

SEAN PENN denies being a stooge for left-wing dictatorships.

BOY GEORGE signs autographs in prison.

FRED AMISEN & ELISABETH MOSS were... wait for it... caught canoodling at the Chateau Marmont.

MISS USA 1991 is joining the adult film industry.

500 DAYS OF SUMMER may be the Zooey Deschanel movie we've been waiting for.

BLACK DYNAMITE, previously spotlighted here, has been picked up for distribution by Sony.

NARNIA: The secret history of why Disney divorced Walden Pictures after the release of Prince Caspian.

THE PRISONER: Why it endures.

AL QAEDA has problems in Pakistan, which is not necessarily the case with the Taliban.

AFGHANISTAN: Most voters in leading European countries believe their governments should resist any request by incoming US President Barack Obama to send more troops to Afghanistan, according to an opinion poll published on Tuesday.

IRAN has renewed efforts to supply advanced weaponry to Hamas and the IDF is concerned that the terror group will try to smuggle long-range Fajr missiles into Gaza.

IRAQ: Positive signs from US invasion of Iraq beginning to be seen.

THE MATRIX KITTEH: Agent Smith = Puppies.

BABY ALBINO HEDGEHOG saved from almost certain death. Awww... some pic at the link.

BABY BLACK RHINO, abandoned by its mother, trots after his keeper all day, scared to let him out of his sight. Pics at the link.

FROGS marry 7-year-old girls in India, do not turn into princes.

A TALENTED GOAT performs during the opening ceremony of the 33nd Monte Carlo International Circus Festival in Monaco, but I'm not sure what its talent is.

HAIL TO THE CHIEF: 70 songs about American presidents, courtesy of The A.V. Club.  Including Devo's "Whip It."  Yes, really.

NEW RELEASES: Animal Collective's Merriweather Post Pavilion is streaming in full at NPR. The Bird & the Bee, Bon Iver, A.C. Newman, Matt & Kim, Cut Off Your Hands, Antony & the Johnsons and more are streaming at Spinner. Robert Pollard releases The Crawling Distance (here's a free download).

A.C. NEWMAN got a feature plus tracks from his new solo album on NPR's Day to Day.

THE GOURDS play a mini-set for KUT, streaming as one of NPR's Favorite Sessions.

THE DECEMBERISTS will give you an advance track from their upcoming album in return for your e-mail address.

BEIRUT has a video for "La Llorona" from the upcoming March of the Zapotec EP.

WHAT'S GOING ON: My Morning Jacket's Jim James talks to the Guardian about his favorite album.

OF MONTEAL frontman Kevin Barnes is profiled by Sasha frer-Jones for The New Yorker.

MATT & KIM talk to Pitchfork about mixing art and commece, and mixing a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and a Red Bull.

LAND OF TALK: Liz Powell is profiled by Carl Wilson for Canada's Globe & Mail.

LINDSAY LOHAN & SAMANTHA RONSON: Together again.

KELLY OSBOURNE has been arrested for allegedly slapping a gossip columnist who called her fiance stupid.

ROBERT DOWNEY, JR. is angry with Sherlock Holmes director Guy Ritchie for making him wear four-inch platforms in his shoes.

MICKEY ROURKE, interviewed by Christopher Walken.  Need I say more?

SEPARATED AT BIRTH: Dyan Cannon and Aerosmith's Steven Tyler.

ADVENTURELAND is among the movies premiering at the Sundance fest this year.  Here's your trailer. 

SPIDER-MAN 4 will begin shooting in 2010, according to J.K. Simmons, a/k/a J. Jonah Jameson.

WATCHMEN, fresh off that lawsuit settlement, launches a new website.

AL QAEDA terrorists died from the plague... or from an experiment gone wrong?

THE STANS: The Pakistani government indefintitely closed the Khyber Pass to NATO supply columns moving into Afghanistan. "We're preparing for an assault."

IRAQ: A man who claimed the People's Mujahideen of Iran trained him to become a suicide bomber turned himself in to Iraqi authorities.

CAT & MOUSE, living together... mass hysteria!

THE PUPS OF WAR, by the British soldier who saved them from horrors of the Afghan front.

HEY, BULLDOG, have you seen 15 pacifiers?

JAVELINA attacks a Dutch tourist at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum. Will it turn up in the Tenenbaums' closet?

CAT SEASON..., Rabbit Season!

U2: "Pride" and "MLK." Crushingly obvious. Have a dream.

SPRINGSTEEN: Born To Promote.  You can advance stream his album via NPR at midnight.

JENNY LEWIS stopped by the World Cafe for a mini-set streaming on demand via NPR.

VAMPIRE WEEKEND: Chris Tomson speculates about the next album at Drowned In Sound.

COURTNEY LOVE: If you're going to make anti-Semitic comments, you may as well make them in Heeb magazine.

DION: A vintage performance of "Abraham, Martin & John."

FRANZ FERDINAND: Singer Will Hodgkinson gets audiobiographical with the Guardian.  Alex Kapranos talks to the Sunday Herald Sun about learning to hold back.

DEPT. OF EAGLES get a meaty writeup in the Boston Globe.

ST. VINCENT: Annie Clark is profiled in the Sydney Morning Herald.

BOOKER T. talks to Billboard about playing with the Drive-By Truckers.

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE:  Paul Blart: Mall Cop makes a surprisingly strong No.1 on a surprisingly strong weekend.  Blart made an estimated 33.8 million, the second biggest January opening ever; the weekend overall was in the Top Ten of all weekends.  Blart has already exceeded its 26 million production budget.  Gran Torino held well in second place, dropping only 25 percent and making 22.2 million.  Newcomers My Bloody Valentine 3-D, Notorious and Hotel For Dogs all opened strongly at 21.9, 21.5 and 17.7 million respectively.  However, the Hotel cost 75 million, which means Dreamworks may have picked the moment when theatergoers are dogged-out to release a dog movie.  Below the fold, Defiance leapt into the eighth slot with 9 million (as against a 50 million budget), while Slumdog Millionaire crept back into the Top Ten.

JOAQUIN PHOENIX has become a rapper.  Yes, really.

BOY GEORGE was sentenced to 15 months in jail for chaining an escort to his bed and beating him.

PATRICK SWAYZE has been released from the hospital, after a brief hospitalization for pneumonia.

WOLVERINE is reportedly having extrensive reshoots, which is probably a good thing, based on prior reports of studio meddling that would have lightened the tone of the movie.

WATCHMEN lawsuit settles. Geeks keep March 6th circled on their calendars. The deal is said to involve a sizable cash payment to Fox and a percentage of the film's boxoffice grosses; Fox will not be a co-distributor on the movie or co-own it.

WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE: On skateboards, as it turns out.

MAD MEN creator Matthew Weiner has cut a two-year deal with Lionsgate TV that will keep him at the helm of his Emmy-winning AMC drama.

AL QAEDA loses at least 40 terrorists to the plague. Bring out your dead!

NORTH KOREA claims to have weaponixed enough plutonium stocks to produce four or five nuclear bombs.

IRAN:  US security and law-enforcement officials say they have fresh evidence of recent efforts by Iran to evade sanctions and acquire metals from China used in high-tech weaponry, including long-range nuclear missiles.

IRAQ: Provincial elections scheduled for Jan. 31 will be the most crucial test so far of Prime Minister al-Maliki's attempt to bolster the central government's authority.  Despite the history of his Dawa party as a Shiite political movement opposed to secular governments, Maliki and his State of Law coalition have avoided overt religious messages in favor of populist promises to improve security and basic services such as water and electricity.

HAMSTER PACKS A CARROT: Let's go to the video.

THE DOG-POWERED SCOOTER is being hailed as the the latest in dog walking technology.  I suspect PETA may feel differently.  Pics and video at the link.

RAPTOR almost eaten by crocodile.

A SERIAL FISH THIEF who officials say reached into a tank, picked up a shark with his bare hands and smuggled it out of a store in his jacket has been arrested in Freeport.

ELEPHANT WELFARE becomes a bone of contention between Lily Tomlin and guitarist Slash.  Yes, really.