THE WHITE STRIPES closed out Conan O'Brien's stint on Late Night with "We're Going To Be Friends."

U2 is streaming their new album; you may have to click on the cover to bring up all the tracks.

M WARD & JOHN WESLEY HARDING played the World Cafe on Friday, so you can stream the gig online via NPR.

BEN KWELLER also stopped by The Current for a chat and mini-set streaming via MPR.

TOMMY KEENE guest edited MAGNET last week, making a streaming late-night mixtape and writing about Sparks, "Dark Shadows," the Baldwin Fun Machine, British boogie-glam outfit Silverhead, seeing Led Zeppelin in 1969, Rock ‘n' Roll dressing rooms, the Trutone Music store, and Sally Crewe.

ANTONY & THE JOHNSONS stopped by The Current for a chat and mini-set streaming via MPR.  And by the Ed Sullivan Theater to play "Aeon."

ANDREW BIRD talks to the Seattle Times about "going for an old, soaring, big, almost classic-country vocal sound" on the Noble Beast album.

43 SONGS ABOUT MONEY, compiled by Pimp Your Finances.

A.C. NEWMAN talked to ChartAttack about his solo LP and the New Pr0nographers, Brian Wilson and more...

ELO bassist Kelly Groucutt has passed away at 62 from a heart attack.

THE OSCARS went to these folks, in one of the flattest, predictable shows in a long time -- aside from the superfluous, flamboyant musical numbers (host Hugh Jackman dancing with Anne Hathaway for Nixon/Frost, with Hathaway as Nixon, may rank up there with that Rob Lowe & Snow White trainwreck). My personal highlight would be the guy who made the Best Animated Short saying "Domo arigato, Mr. Roboto," though the guy who balanced the Oscar on his chin after winning Best Documentary for "Man on Wire" was a close second.  Not as bad as the last Emmy Awards show, but sheesh. Here's the obligatory gallery of red carpet photos. UPDATE: Defamer has a collection of clips from the show.

THE SPIRIT AWARDS went to these folks. A big night for The Wrestler, Milk, and Synedoche NY, as the originally indie Slumdog was excluded.  And Mickey Rourke's rambling, profanity-laden acceptance speech was the highlight, natch. Way better than any of the Oscar speeches.

THE RAZZIES went to these folks. A night that will live in infamy for Mike Myers (Worst Actor) in The Love Guru (Worst Picture).  The French Hotel managed to snag both Worst Actress (The Hottie and the Nottie) and Worst Supporting Actress (Repo: The Genetic Opera).  And we cannot say enough about Uwe Boll who was named Worst Director for three movies.

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE: Tyler Perry's Madea Goes To Jail tops all with 41.1 million, even eclipsing the last Madea's 30 mill opening.  Taken dropped 40 percent, but still took in another 11.4 million, which must be music to FOX's ears.  Coraline dropped a mere 25 percent to take in 11 million, pretty amazing for a post-holiday weekend.  Coraline is now Focus Features' third biggest film, passing Lost in Translation and Atonement, trailing only Burn After Reading and Brokeback Mountain.  He's Just Not That Into You slid 56 percent post-Velentine's Day, taking in 8.5 million.  Slumdog Millionaire actually increased 10 percent in advance of the Oscars, rounding out the Top Five with 8 million.  Below the fold, Friday the 13th plummeted 80 percent, Confessions of a Shopaholic skidded 53 percent, and Fired Up opened down in the ninth slot.

SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRESS: The heartbroken ex-fiancé of Slumdog Millionaire beauty Freida Pinto tells the uber-reliable News of the World how the film's success and her "infatuation" with co-star Dev Patel finished their relationship.

WATCHMEN are the current cover story at Entertainment Weekly. Or the six-cover story.

NICOLE RICHIE is pregnant again.

JACKO is on the brink of a £150million comeback - with 30 London gigs, according to the ever-reliable Sun.

AL QAEDA founder Sayyid Imam al-Sharif, who goes by the nom de guerre Dr Fadl, has begun an ideological revolt against Osama bin Laden, blaming him for "every drop" of blood spilt in Afghanistan and Iraq.

ISLAMISM in the UK: British Muslims are providing the Taliban with electronic devices to make roadside bombs for use in attacks against British forces serving in southern Afghanistan, according to London's Telegraph.

BABY MEERKATS Zanzibar and Nairobi are already a huge hit with visitors to Taronga Zoo, in Sydney.  Lets go to the video.

OTTER-CAM: Probably the opposite of what you would think.

DOG trapped on a cliff holds out for a female rescuer. Good Boy!

BABY MONKEY born at the Calgary Zoo. Awww...some pic at the link.

PET HOARDING? The Humane Society of Missouri said it rescued more than 150 dogs and a Bengal tiger from a substandard dog breeder near Seneca.