I SEEM TO BE ON THE MEND, and should be back tomorrow...

JACK BRUCE,  who became famous in the 1960s as the bassist and lead vocalist for the hugely successful rock group Cream (along with Eric Clapton and Ginger Baker), and whose adventurous approach to his instrument influenced two generations of rock bassists, died from liver disease on Saturday at his home in Suffolk, England. He was 71. Though known for their expansive reinventions of blues standards, Cream also turned out a number of pshch-blues pop gems, including “I Feel Free,” “Sunshine of Your Love,” and “White Room” -- all of which were co-written by Bruce.  I saw him play with the Golden Palominos, where he took lead vocals on "Silver Bullet."  The band also tackled "White Room" and "Deserted Cities of the Heart", because, well, Jack Bruce.  He played so hard his fingers started bleeding; he had to be bandaged up by Chris Stamey.  For a musician as practiced and aggressive as Bruce to reach that point at that juncture of his long career was quite something to watch.  The Guardian traces his journey through the Sixties, including bass duties on my favorite Manfred Mann tune, "Pretty Flamingo."

BOB DYLAN & THE BAND advance stream selections from The Basement Tapes Complete: The Bootleg Series Vol. 11.

NEIL YOUNG advance streams Storytone, both electric and acoustic.

DEERHOOF advance streams La Isla Bonita.

GROUPER advance streams Ruins.

SHE & HIM drop a cover of Dusty Springfield's "Stay Awhile" ahead of their upcoming Classics album. Just tune to 1202 on your AM dial.

THE DECEMBERISTS: Colin Meloy previewed new songs while street busking at CMJ.

DEATH CAB FOR CUTIE talks to Stereogum about the first album without Chris Walla.

PANDA BEAR talks to Pitchfork about fear, family, and projectile vomit.

YACHT took SPIN inside their home and studio.

THE GRATEFUL DEAD turns 50 next year; Martin Scorsese will produce a documentary.

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE: Ouija tops the chart with 20 million against a 5 million budget, for some easy pre-Halloween profit.  John Wick places with 14 million, twice what gurus predicted against a 5.5 million budget.  Fury shows with 13 million on a 45 percent drop, which keeps it on track to recoup its production budget domesticallly and seek profit overseas.  Gone Girl drops to the fourth slot with another 11.1 million, continuing to do impressive business in all markets in its fourth week.  The Book of Life rounds out the Top 5 with 9.8 million on a 42 percent drop, which is pretty steep for the send weekend of a family movie.

JOHN WICK is in many respects a typical revenge picture, so it really has to succeed in style and execution.  Fortunately, it does and then some.  The script throws in a few intriguing novelties, creates a world, and a tone just over-the-top enough to let you know they're not taking themselves too seriously, even if they take the action very seriously.  Keanu Reeves, Michael Nyqvist, Willem Dafoe, Ian McShane and Adrienne Padlicki in particular get to gleefully gnaw on what ever scenery they aren't blasting apart at the moment.Throughout, people ask Wick if "he's back," and I would think he will be; with this flick, Reeves certainly is.

HERE COMES HONEY BOO BOO was cancelled after TMZ reported Mama June is dating a convicted child molester who sexually abused June's daughter.

MINDY KALING is profiled by The New York Times.

ASHLEY GREENE's  apartment that burned to a crisp last year had one remnant ... a crack pipe, according to a sworn statement by the building manager.

GEORGE & AMAL CLOONEY continue to celebrate their nuptials in London.

LAKE BELL and her artist husband Scott Campbell have welcomed a baby girl.

SARAH MICHELLE GELLAR reveals her favorite onscreen kiss.

JENNY McCARTHY gives you TMI on her honeymoon period with Donnie Wahlberg.

MARCIA STRASSMAN, known for her roles in such hits as Welcome Back, Kotter and M*A*S*H*, died on Friday after a long fight with breast cancer, her sister Julie Strassman confirmed. She was 66.

NIGERIA: Boko Haram kiddnaped scores of schoolgirls days after agreeing to a ceasefire.

UKRAINE: Darth Vader is running for Parliament, vows to transform the republic into a galactic empire. He was blocked from voting.

IRAQ: Despite increasing assistance from the United States, Iraq’s ability to mount a sustained counteroffensive to retake territory seized by the Islamic State is still months away.

DACHSHUND'S CREEK: Now this I might watched.

WILD COYOTES help capture an Iowa fugitive.

THE WORLD'S LONGEST SNAKE had a virgin birth.

TUNICORN: A huge tuna survived being impaled on an embedded Marlin spike.

THE WEEKEND STARTS HERE:

...with THE FACES! Rod Stewart, Ron Wood, Ronnie Lane, Kenny Jones, and Ian McLagan, live on the Beeb circa 1972.  Your setlist includes: "Three Button Hand Me Down"; "Maybe I'm Amazed"; "Too Much Woman/Street Fighting Man"; "Miss Judy's Farm"; "Love In Vain"; "Stay With Me"; and "I'm Losing You."

CHRISSIE HYNDE stopped by Morning Becomes Eclectic for a session.

THE TWILIGHT SAD advance streams Nobody Wants To Be Here And Nobody Wants To Leave.

PANDA BEAR drops the Mr Noah EP on iTunes and Spotify.

OUGHT advance streams the Once More With Feeling... EP.

BOB DYLAN & THE BAND drop "Yea! Heavy and a Bottle of Bread", "Tupelo," "“Ain’t No More Cane," and "900 Miles From My Home" ahead of The Basement Tapes Complete.

STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN has been back in the news this week, so why not end the week with The Beatnix?

RADIOHEAD'S PhilipSelway talks to Stereogum about Weatherhouse, his Tonight Show appearance with the Dap-Kings, and how one of his songs shares a name with one of this year’s biggest hits.

GLEN CAMPBELL is the subject of a new documentary.

EAGULLS and HOOKWORMS interview each other at Drowned in Sound.

MORE SAX: Raphael Ravenscroft's death inspires the L.A. Times to survey 16 other great saxophone moments in pop history.

CUTOUT BIN: I'm streaming a little more nostalgia via the Pate page at the ol' HM.

NOW SHOWING: This weekend's wide releases include Ouija, which is currently scoring 10 percent on the ol' Tomatometer; John Wick, currently scoring 93 percent; and 23 Blast, scoring 42 percent.

ORLANDO BLOOM says his relationship with Selena Gomez is charitable.

MELISSA RIVERS will sue the medical center where Joan died and the doctors as well because it's the only way she can find out what really happened to her mom.

ANNE HATHAWAY's embarrassing visit to Matthew McConaughey's home.

JENNIFER LAWRENCE buys a seven million dollare bachelorette pad.

CHRISTIAN BALE didn't have to audition for the role of Steve Jobs in the coming biopic.

DINA LOHAN is looking for another man.

FIFTY SHADES OF GREY reshoots raise a caution flag. 

SYRIA: The Syrian opposition force to be recruited by the U.S. military and its coalition partners will be trained to defend territory, rather than to seize it back from the Islamic State, according to senior U.S. and allied officials, some of whom are concerned that the approach is flawed.

AFGHANISTAN's opium economy is booming despite 7.6 billion in U.S. counternarcotics efforts since 2002, federal auditors said in a report released Tuesday.

IRAQ: Islamic State terrorists allegedly used chlorine gas in an attack north of Baghdad.

A DOG helps with breakfast.

A PET CAT doused with antifreeze by yobs has been saved from death after being given half a liter of vodka.

MALE ANACONDAS have to fight for their ladies while staying small.

WHEN BEARS ATTACK, Throw A Computer. 

HONEYBLOOD drops a noir video for "Choker."

ULTIMATE PAINTING advance streams the Velvety Ultimate Painting.

THE AFGHAN WHIGS stop by The Current for a chat and mini-set.

THE KOOKS stop by The Current for a chat and mini-set.

PAOLO NUTINI stopped by Morning Becomes Eclectic for a session.

AUGUSTINES perform in the WNYC Soundcheck studio.

LED ZEPPELIN drops the the Sunset Sound mix of  "Stairway to Heaven" ahead of the deluxe reissue of the fourth LP.

JUSTIN TOWNES EARLE covers Fleetwood Mac's "Dreams."

TIKASHI MIYAKI covers Prince's "The Beautiful Ones."

THE OHIO PLAYERS are on "Fire." Over nine minutes, and just gets wackier.

R.E.M. dropped a triler for the forthcoming R.E.M. By MTV.

ICEAGE talks to Stereogum about on snakes In the Music Business, violence at shows, and Plowing Into The Field Of Love.

ANNIE LENNOX walks back citicism of Beyonce.

SXSW releases its first round of performers.

THE AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON trailer leaked online.To their credit, Marvel took it well publicly.

JENNIFER LOPEZ is in the final stages of making a deal to perform in Vegas, reportedly bigger than the Britney Spears deal.

RENEE ZELLWEGER responded to Internet chatter about her appearance.

BRYAN SINGER is going to be a dad, and plans to raise his baby with the woman who is carrying it.

NEIL PATRICK HARRIS was not the first choice to host the next Oscars.

JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE & JESSICA BIEL won an apology from the British magazine Heat for reporting that Timberlake was flirting with other women while partying in Paris in August during the European leg of his tour.

JENNIFER GARNER delivered a fiery speech about sexism in Hollywood in which she noted how she and husband Ben Affleck are treated differently by the media.

ELIZABETH PENA died from complications from alcohol abuse.

FRANK SIVERO is suing The Simpsons for 250 million dollars.

CANADA's capital was jolted by the fatal shooting of a soldier and an attack on the parliament building on Wednesday, with gunshots fired outside a room where Prime Minister Stephen Harper was speaking.  Police are investigating a man identified as Michael Zehaf-Bibeau as a possible suspect in the shootings. U.S. agencies have been advised that the shooter was a Canadian convert to Islam.

NIGERIA: Days after Nigeria's military raised hopes with the announcement that Islamic extremists had agreed to a cease-fire, Boko Haram is still fighting and there is no word on the fate of the 219 schoolgirls held hostage for six months.

LIBYAN government forces allied with rebel milita forces under General Khalifa Hifter are mounting an offensive to retake Tripoli from Islamist forces that captured the capital in August.

TURKEY: The Islamic State commissioned a kidnaping of a Syrian rebel commander.

IRAQI military officials claimed an Afghan was among 135 Islamic State fighters killed in Iraqi airstrike in Baiji. The US launched 12 airstrikes against the Islamic State near the Mosul Dam.

A SHIH TZU works his tongue.

DID MAMMALS sleep through the cosmic impact that wiped out the dinosaurs?

WAITER, I have a rat head in my chili.

THE SQUIRREL THREAT: At least one beaver and two ravens are to blame for power outages that swept from Willow to Talkeetna in Alaska on Monday morning. But I think we know who masterminded the attack.

THURSTON MOORE drops a video for "Speak to the Wild."

TWEEDY stopped by World Cafe for a chat and mini-set.

SONDRE LERCHE stopped by Morning Becomes Eclectic for a session.

YUSUF (formerly Cat Stevens) advance streams Tell 'Em I'm Gone.

FRENCH FOR RABBITS advance streams Spirits.

WE FIVE were on my mind when I woke up this morning, introduced by no less than Fred Astaire.

RAPHAEL RAVENSCROFT, the musician behind one of the most recognisable saxophone solos – on Gerry Rafferty’s hit "Baker Street" – has died aged 60.  His passing inspired The Guardian to list other little-known musuicians with well-known moments.

TWIN PEAKS talks to Aquarium Drunkard about making Wild Onion.

ARIEL PINK is trolling the world.

CHRIS DIFFORD of Squeeze will be teaching songwriting.

MATTHEW McCONAUGHEY is profiled by GQ, where he reveals he's a Washington Redskins fan.

COBIE SMULDERS and her husband, actor Taran Killam, are expecting their second child.

STEPHEN COLLINS will not face a civil action after confessing to child molestation.

KESAH has accused Dr. Lukeof sexual assault, but said something different under oath.

RENEE ZELLWEGER's face has become a topic of converstaion.

OSCAR PISTORUS has been given five years in jail for killing his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp.

OSCAR de la RENTA passed away, and was remembered by Anna Wintour and Sarah Jessica Parker, among others.

KRISTEN STEWART is overly happy and taking a break from movies.

DANIELE WATTS (Django Unchained) has been charged with getting it on in a car.

GREAT SCOTT! The Back to the Future hoverboard has arrived.

ISLAMIC STATE militants launched about 15 near-simultaneous attacks on Kurdish forces in northern Iraq on Monday in what Kurdish government officials and the news agency Rudaw said was a fierce and renewed push for territory. And they may have their hands on weapons the US airdropped.

SYRIA: Washington has directed little effort toward helping Sunni Arabs who want to fight the militants but lack the resources to do so, fueling resentment.

IRAN: The Obama administration has sweetened its offer to Iran in ongoing nuclear negotiations, saying it might accept Tehran operating 4,000 centrifuges, up from the previous 1,300, according to a semiofficial Iranian news agency.

RIPPLE is not sitting. That's for sure.

JURASSIC PARK: The National Zoo tried...

SCOTTISH SQUARE DANCING FISH: Australian scientists have traced the origin of sex back the first intercourse to a pair of tiny fish in a chilly Scottish lake. Many miles away.

A SHEEP crosses London Bridge for Dylan Thomas.