THE WEEKEND STARTS HERE...

... with THE RASCALS!  I was delighted to find one of my fave clips, their cover of "Mickey's Monkey" in a medley with "Turn On Your Love Light."  A second live medley includes a pair of Rascals originals, "I've Been Lonely Too Long" and "Come On Up." Plus, a copy of "How Can I Be Sure?" has returned to the Tube.  Round it out with the live-instudio version of the obligatory "Good Lovin'."

IRON & WINE perform its new Kiss Each Other Clean album in its entirety, front to back, at New York City's Greene Space.

BRIGHT EYES drops "Shell Games" as an advance track to The People's Key.

MUSIC BLOG ZEITGEIST 2010, courtesy of the ol' HM.

THE HEAD & THE HEART get a twofer on World Cafe: Next.

MOTHER LOVE BONE, Live at the Vogue Theater in Seattle, WA, Jan. 3, 1990.

DRIVE-BY TRUCKERS, Live at the Brooklyn Bowl, Dec. 30, 2010.

DESTROYER: Dan Bejar talks to Crawdaddy about the upcoming Kaputt album and tour.  The title track is the first video; it's a bit racy -- and nerdy -- at that.

BILLY BRAGG: Neighbors of the singer-songwriter have received hate mail demanding they kick him out their village for being anti-British and a hypocrite living a celebrity lifestyle despite his socialist views. Bragg thinks it's the work of a disgruntled BNP member.

JOLIE HOLLAND has an essay in the latest issue of Poetry magazine. Oscar Wilde and Gram Parsons are among the cameos.

JOHN VANDERSLICE talks to the Palo Alto Daily News about avoiding music and his ego. (Thx, LHB.)

CUTOUT BIN: From Ike & Tina Turner to Jon Auer, from Bob Dylan to the Psychedelic Furs, from Elvis Presley to Peter Gabriel, plus the Clash, Todd Rundgren, Jason & the Scorchers, the late Gerry Raffery and more -- the first fortuitous finds of the year are now streaming from the Pate page at the ol' HM.

NOW SHOWING: This weekend's wide releases include The Season of the Witch, which is currently scoring 05 percent on a small sample; and Country Strong, which expands to 1500 screens scoring 15 percent.

JAIME PRESSLY, best known for her Emmy winning role on the NBC sitcom My Name is Earl, was arrested Wednesday night on suspicion of drunk driving.

LINDSAY LOHAN: Law enforcement sources tell TMZ Palm Desert Police Department officials believe Lindsay Lohan was under the influence of drugs or alcohol while at Betty Ford. On the home front, Lohan now says she has no intention of moving out of her new beach pad, and plans to build a fence so new neighbor and ex-lover Sam Ronson can't spy on her.

MAD MEL UPDATE: Oksana Grigorieva has just made an explosive allegation under oath that she never before made - that Mel Gibson beat her during sex.

MICHELLE WILLIAMS talks to the Daily Beast about  Blue Valentine, Heath Ledger, the Osacrs and more...

DAVID FINCHER talks to HitFix about The Social Network, Fight Club and the digital age. BTW, The Social Network is returning to theaters to break the 100 million mark and build Oscars buzz.

THE TOP 10 MOVIES of 2010, according to AICN's Harry Knowles.

ANNA NICOLE SMITH IS STILL DEAD, and the judge in the Howard K. Stern drug conspiracy trial just threw out the jury verdict - making Stern a free and innocent man.

IRAN: A woman referred to by authorities as American, who is of possible Armenian Christian descent, has been arrested on espionage charges, an Iranian newspaper reported Thursday, as officials launched a major crackdown on the country's Christian minority for alleged proselytizing.

AFGHANISTAN: The US will send an additional 1,400 Marines to the south in the spring.

DRAMATIC KITTEH: Let's go to the video.

AN ORANGE ALLIGATOR is turning heads in Venice, FL.

THOUSANDS of DEAD CRABS have been washing up on England beaches along the rocky Thanet Coast in recent days, a phenomenon that has puzzled scientists for the past few years.

A FUGITIVE EMU is sought by authorities in eastern Maryland.

A BABY POLAR BEAR waves to camera after his crippled mother beats the odds to give birth in Alaska.

A BABY PYGMY HIPPO is now on display at Zoo Miami.