THE WEEKEND STARTS HERE:

... with a little ROMANCE! I've never been a big Valentine's Day guy, but I have always liked Paul Westerberg's "Valentine."  And Lou Rawls crooning "You'll Never Find" will always hold fond memories for me.  So it wasn't tough to add to the list John Hiatt's "Real Fine Love," The Beatles with "Thing We Said Today" (which Pate's Jon & Mike played at a fmr roomie's wedding), Billy Bragg's "Greetings To The New Brunette," The Ronettes' "Be My Baby"  and The Four Tops belting out "Baby, I Need Your Lovin'" on Shivaree, before closing with the Velvet Undergorund's "I'll Be Your Mirror," Elvis Costello's "Alison,"  The Beach Boys' "God Only Knows" and Richard Thompson's solo take on "Dimming of the Day."

SCHOOL OF SEVEN BELLS stopped by The Current for a chat and mini-set streaming on demand via MPR.

THE FACES: Captain's Dead has posted a 1974 gig from Detroit for downloading or streaming.

NICKEL EYE, the side project of Strokes bassist Nikolai Fraiture, does the four free songs thing for Daytrotter, occasionally sounding like TMBG+CVB.

BEACH HOUSE Victoria Legrand e-mails with Emmy the Great for Drowned In Sound.

LET'S STAY TOGETHER: The Al Green hit is the latest classic to get the upgraded NPR 100 treatment, with three decades of video links.

THE OPPOSING VIEW:  Ever Fallen In Love? Love Stinks. Love Hurts. Love Will Tear Us Apart. Only Love Can Break Your Heart. And don't forget to give me back my black t-shirt (nsfw)!

ANTI-SAPPY LOVE SONGS, courtesy of The Santa Clara (and LHB).

PETER GABRIEL is bailing on the Oscars.

GUILLEMOTS are celebrated at Creative Loafing.

DEATH CAB FOR CUTIE have organized a mock-political campaign against "autotune abuse in music."

CUTOUT BIN: From Big Daddy to Sonic Youth, from 999 to Derek & the Dominos, from the Jackson 5 to The Clash, plus Lou Reed, Sppon, Eels, She & Him and more-- this Friday's fortuitous finds are streaming from the Pate page at the ol' HM.

CORALINE (3-D): Equal parts whimsical and creepy, animator Henry Selick does a masterful job with adapting Neil Gaiman's book about an unhappy girl who should be careful what she wishes for (even if a few major liberties were taken).  It remains sufficiently dark that parents may want to think twice before taking small children.  See it in 3-D if you can; there's not a lot of gratuitous thrown objects, but Selick uses the latest tech to create depth that showcases his marvelous sets (and set pieces).

NOW SHOWING: This weekend's wide releases include the coincidentally-timed remake of Friday The 13th, which is currently scoring 27 percent on the ol' Tomatometer; Confessions of a Shopaholic, which is scoring 22 percent, and The International, scoring 55 percent.

RHIANNA & CHRIS BROWN: Sources tell TMZ that the L.A. County District Attorney kicked the case back to the police for further investigation because evidence that Brown made criminal threats against Rihanna is kind of thin. However, Brown almost certainly be charged with felony domestic battery, a lesser offense but still serious.

MADONNA is reportedly furious that scandal-plagued Yankee slugger Alex Rodriguez has gone back to his wife.

BRITNEY SPEARS: Fmr bf Adnan Ghalib is under investigation for felony assault with a deadly weapon with a vehicle.

JENNIFER ANISTON gets romantic advice from Jennifer Aniston. And she could use it.

THE TEN GREATEST HIT JOBS IN MOVIE HISTORY, according to New York magazine. And Tubed.

JOAQUIN PHOENIX makes his bid for the list of Letterman's most awkward moments.

THE DARK KNIGHT will not return to your cinema anytime soon.

MAGGIE GYLLENHAAL & PETER SARSGAARD talk to The Scotsman about working together in Chekhov's Uncle Vanya and almost wearing out the "A" key on my keyboard.

CHINA has developed a rolling lethal injection bus complete with a live video feed of the killings.

PAKISTAN: Dr. David Kilcullen, considered one of the leading thinkers on counterinsurgency, thinks US unmanned aerial attacks in Pakistan should be curtailed. Bill Roggio agrees in general, but adds caveats.

AFGHANISTAN: Three Taliban teams attacked the Justice and Education ministries and a prisons building in Kabul, killing 19 and wounding more than 50.  Afghan intelligence is investigating Pakistani links to the coordinated attack, which is a new tactic for ther Taliban.

MEET THE SUPER-COWS:  We have video and a photo gallery.

UNCONSCIOUS TIGER bites zoo's veterinarian. Tigers do it in their sleep.

A DORMOUSE sleeps on a rose.  Awww...

SEVEN of the BIGGEST BEASTS of all time, according to National Geographic.

ZOOROTICA: It's what's for Valentine's Day.