THE FOO FIGHTERS pay tribute to 70s soap operas in "Long Road to Ruin," with a cameo from The Office's Rashida Jones.

NEW RELEASES:  Somehow, Disc 1 of the Led Zeppelin comp joins Os Mutantes, Dust Galaxy and more on Spinner.  Good times.  Bad times.  The Robyn Hitchcock box set officially hits stores.  The Hives release The Black and White Album.  And Japancakes issues a tribute to My Bloody Valentine's Loveless. 

MY BLOODY VALENTINE:  Speaking of which, here's the video of Kevin Shields revealing the MBV reunion, as noted here last week.  (Thx, Chromewaves.)

THE PIPETTES:  Gwenno tells the Boston Globe that the band allows both its male and female members to reveal elements of their hidden selves.

THE HOLD STEADY and ART BRUT:  Craig Finn and Eddie Argos were interviewed by Pitchfork on Halloween, which was the night Ken King and I saw them play Metro.  Both have praise for Mountain Goats, whom Ken and I saw play the Empty Bottle last year (in Jnauary, I linked to video of the MG's show in Ames).  Finn notes: "All my favorite rock bands are funny in some way. Chuck Berry, Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan, the Replacements, those are all funny bands. But they're also honest..."

THE WEAKERTHANS come up in that P-Fork interview; frontman John K. Samson talked to AOL Music Canada about the Canadian identity.  (Thx, Chromewaves)  A recent gig from the Reunion Tour tour is posted at the Bootlog, which you can jukebox via the ol' HM.

SOULSAVERS are mostly known as a British production team, but their latest album features fmr Screaming Trees singer Mark Lanegan, who is increasingly working a Lee Greenwood-esque mojo.  The videos for "Revival" and "Kingdom of Rain" are your Twofer Tuesday, but at the moment you can stream more via the ol' HM, including a cover of the Rolling Stones classic "No Expectations."

LOU REED talked to PopMatters about Metal Machine Music and the new avant-garde classical ensemble interpretation of the album.  With embedded video, if you dare.

FUTUREHEADS are previewing some new material ahead of their next album, which you can download, stream or watch via Drowned In Sound.

MINUS THE BEAR corresponded with the Seattle Times, with drummer Erin Tate revealing a love for LOLCats.  The band recently got an audio feature on WXPN you can stream via NPR.  You can also stream a few from MTBSpace.

SUFJAN STEVENS has started a Christmas song contest, along with a website where you can stream Sufjan's 2006 Songs for Christmas box set.

THE PLASTIC PEOPLE of the UNIVERSE, who catalyzed democracy in Czechoslovakia, were profiled by Jon Pareles in the NYT.  At the moment, you can stream their "Podivuhodn Mandarin" via the ol HM.

BRITNEY SPEARS:  That rumored failed drug test is now supposedly for prescription drugs... or not.  The paparazzi at Splash News has a pic of Spears passing a car on the wrong side of the road while talking on the cellphone right next to the court-appointed parenting monitor.  The pop tart and her mama both have new managers.  Someone has put the raw rehearsal video in a split-screen with Spears' VMAs trainwreck, so everyone can see how bad the latter was.

THE McCARTNEYS:  The uber-reliable News of the World reveals the sensational contents of Heather Mills' secret :box of evidence" in her divorce battle with Sir Paul McCartney -- including a claim he branded her "a one-legged *****."

KATE HUDSON & HEATH LEDGER were... wait for it... caught canoodling Thursday night at the Beatrice Inn.  Ms. H seems to be playing the field a bit.

KANYE WEST's mother died at the age of 58 after cosmetic surgery developed complications.  Life imitates Clueless: "Wasn't my mom a total Betty? She died when I was young. A freak accident during a routine liposuction."

THE FRENCH HOTEL recognizes that without the paparazzi, she ceases to exist.

BRADGELINA:  Jolie suffered not one, but two, wardrobe malfunctions at the Beowulf premiere, stepping in chewing gum in stilleto heels and splitting her leather pants.  Pitt lent a hand covering up the latter on the red carpet.

EVAN RACHEL WOOD has no problem kissing women.  Which partially explains her attraction to Marilyn Manson.  And vice versa.

OJ SIMPSON has a bad memory.  Good thing his "sting" opeartion was put on tape to refresh his recollection.

HUGH JACKMAN at the beach.  One for the ladies (and some dudes, nttawwt) to balance out all those Jessica Alba links.

ULTIMATE HOTTIES, according to EW.com's readers.  Both female and male, by decade.  I'm all about the equal time today.

TOM-KAT UPDATE:  The theatrical trailer for "Valkyrie," Cruise's Hitler assassination movie, is now online.

PAKISTAN:  Authorities placed opposition leader Benazir Bhutto under house arrest for the second time in four days to prevent her staging a grand procession on Tuesday to protest emergency rule, police said.  Under a media blackout, young Pakistani bloggers are spreading the news on the web.  Commonwealth foreign ministers have given Pakistan ten days to lift its emergency rule or face suspension.  The Bush Admin. is dispatching a high-level envoy to tell the president, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, face to face that the US will not be satisfied with his plan to hold elections unless he first lifts emergency law.

IRAN:  Newspapers have printed a list of moral vices that the police are targeting, including wearing make-up and hats instead of headscarves.  The police say they will also suppress "decadent" films, drugs and alcohol.  Last week, Ayatollah Khamenei urged the police to keep up their crackdown on social vices, clearly lending his weight to a campaign that has proved controversial.

IRAQ:  Gen. Petraeus has met with representatives of Muqtada al-Sadr to discuss cooperation on improving security.  The US says the number of rocket and mortar attacks are at their lowest levels in 21 months.  Prime Minister al-Maliki announced an amnesty for detainees who had been "deceived" into joining the insurgency; the amnesty would not apply to those found guilty of killings or planting bombs.  An Iraqi academic and a tribal chief were among those killed in Baqubah Monday.  "Surge" troops are starting to leave Diyala province, though extremists used a 10-year-old child for a suicide bomb attack on sheiks there on Friday, and five Iranians were arrested there Monday.

A KANGAROO on the run in Melbourne, Australia, kept police, wildlife rescuers, and one very unfortunate toddler on the hop.  Video at the link.

A BLACK BEAR stole a minivan in Vernon, New Jersey.  Video at the link.

...AND NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT:  A frog with six legs.  Or four arms and two legs.

BABY BONOBOS born in San Diego.  Try saying that ten times fast.  Awww...some pic at the link.

COBRAMAN still hospitalized nearly two weeks after his 44th venomous snake bite.