AN ABBREVIATED ENTRY may tide you over what was a fairly slow news day.

JOHN DOE, co-founder of the legnendary Punks-turned-rootsy-band X, is releasing a solo LP; "Board That Train" is a promising first video.

CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR includes Martin Freeman (The Hobbit, Sherlock, The Office (UK)) in its cast and Empire knows who he's playing.

JUSTICE LEAGUE--PART 1 reportedly starts shooting April 11th, a date some journalists thought might slip in light of studio nervousness about test screenings of Batman v Superman (indeed, such stories like prompted WB/DC to reaffirm its plans).

SYRIA: The US and Russia have announced that a planned cessation of hostilities will come into effect at midnight on Feb. 27. The truce did not include Islamic State and the al-Qaeda-linked Nusra Front.

HERE's A DUDE pulling a shark out of the water for pictures.

I should be back tomorrow with a full serving of the usual stuff, assuming celebs continue to behave as they do.

LUSH goes "Out of Control" on their first song in 20 years.

MOTHERS advance stream When You Walk A Long Distance You Are Tired.

WILLIE NELSON advance streams Summertime, a Gershwin collection.

SANTIGOLD advance streams 99¢.

DAVID BYRNE & ARCADE FIRE members played Talking Heads tunes at a Haiti benefit concert.

FRIGHTENED RABBIT shares a "Death Dream" ahead of Painting Of A Panic Attack.

ELVIS COSTELLO & THE ATTRACTIONS don't want to go to "Chelsea."

VIOLENT FEMMES frontman Gordon Gano shares cultural highlights with The Guardian.

RICHARD HAWLEY shares some formative albums with The Quietus.

SCHOOL OF SEVEN BELLS explains to The Guardian the importance of completing the band's final record following the death of her bandmate and soulmate, Benjamin Curtis.

BETTY WRIGHT: Soul's Golden Agony Aunt.

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE: Deadpool repeats atop the chart with 55MM ona 59 percent drp in line with expectations. It is already the sixth-highest grossing R-rated movie ever and is already close to 500MM worldwide. Kung Fu Panda 3 places again with 12.5MM and is closing in on 300MM, despite not openining in many markets worldwide until March. The debut of Risen shows with 11.8MM; this likely would have been better opening closer to Easter, but Miracles from Heaven (starring Jennifer Garner) opens the weekend before that holiday. Even so, Risen may be able to profit in theaters against a 20MM budget, if the historical angle plays overseas. The Witch took the fourth slot with 8.7MM, which is probably good as the studio that picked it up at Sundance, A24, likely has around 5MM invested in it. How to Be Single rounds out the Top Five with 8.2MM on a pos-Valentine's drop of 54 percent.  It's about halfway to profit, and may yet make it in theaters.

JAIMIE ALEXANDER & PETER FACINELLI have ended their engagement.

CAITLYN JENNER says people criticize her more for being a Republican than for her gender identity.

STEVE MARTIN did his first stand-up comedy in 35 years, opening for Jerry Seinfeld.

EMILY BLUNT is in talks to star in Disney’s sequel to Mary Poppins with Rob Marshall set to direct.

DAVID DUCHOVNY shares the soundtrack of his life. Can you dig it?

HARPER LEE, whose first novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, about racial injustice in a small Alabama town, sold more than 40 million copies and became one of the most beloved and most taught works of fiction ever written by an American, died on Friday in Monroeville, Ala., where she lived. She was 89.

PETE's DRAGON has a teaser trailer online.

A T. REX rides A HORSE kicking a soccer ball.

FAT CATS don't mind a diet.

VENOMOUS RATTLESNAKES may colonize Massachusetts.

A DEER shops in a Virginia liquor store.

THE WEEKEND STARTS HERE:

...with ARETHA FRANKLIN, Live in Stockholm, 1968! The "Lady Soul" concert was broadcast on Swedish TV, including "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman," "Come Back Baby," "Dr Feelgood (Love Is A Serious Business)," "Since You've Been Gone (Sweet Sweet Baby)" "I  Never Loved A Man (The Way I Love You)," "Chain Of Fools," and "Respect."

SCHOOL OF SEVEN BELLS advance streams SVIIB.

YUCK advance streams Stranger Things.

QUILT advance streams Plaza, with a track-by-track tour.

BONNIE RAITT advance streams Dig In Deep.

UNDER THE CANOPY is a parody Sun Kil Moon EP.

STARS covers Kanye West's "Streetlights."

HAR MAR SUPERSTAR drops “Youth Without Love” (written by The Strokes' Julian Casablancas) ahead of Best Summer Ever.

WILLIAM SHATNER, BEN FOLDS & JOE JACKSON: Just some "Common People."

RICHARD THOMPSON talks to Glide about his new recording Still, working with Jeff Tweedy, the process of songwriting, and the differences between American and British audiences. (Thx, LHB.)

JOHN CALE talks to Aquarium Drunkard about his motivations for revisiting Music for a New Society, his relationship with Lou Reed, and his recent hip-hop playlists.

BEACH SLANG frontman James Alex talks to The Independent about finding a devoted fan base after the breakup of Weston.

THIN LIZZY: Ten of Their Best.

NOW SHOWING: This weekend's wide releases include Risen, which is currently scoring 82 percent on the ol' Tomatometer (only a dozen reviews so far tho); Race, currently scoring 64 percent; and The Witch, scoring 86 percent.

BATMAN v SUPERMAN: In recent days, rumors have started floating that the studio has serious concerns about the picture and how it will perform.

KURT RUSSELL has joined the cast of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2; it has been rumored he would be cast as the long-lost father of Peter Quill/Star Lord.

JULIANNE MOORE is in talks to play the villain in The Kingsman 2.

GWYNETH PALTROW's alleged stalker was acquitted by a jury.

GINNIFER GOODWIN confirms she and Josh Dallasare expecting their second child.

BELGIUM: During a search in connection with the attacks on the investigation of 13 November, the police found a video of a senior nuclear industry official, filmed without his knowledge to his home for "ten hours "by individuals suspected of belonging to the Belgian jihadist movement.

IRAQ is searching for "highly dangerous" radioactive material stolen last year amid fears it could fall the hands of ISIS jihadis.

A GYRFALCON keeps photobombing a webcam set up to see the Northern Lights.

AN OTTER was killed by unautorized trousers at the Calgary Zoo.

THE BIRDS: A NJ mailman was trapped by turkeys.

A DRUNK MONEY wielding a kitchen knife atop a bar was captured by Brazilian firefighters.

...leads to another truant Thursday.  Kanye West's NSFW SNL meltdown is a fun listen, but that's really the only time-senstive item, and the weather is wreaking havoc with my sinuses. I should be back with the usual Friday roundup.

JACKSON BROWNE joined the surviving EAGLES at the Grammys for "Take It Easy," a song Browne (mostly) co-wrote with the late Glenn Frey. They may never be here again.

BEN FOLDS plays a Tiny Desk Concert, including "Emaline" and "One Angry Dwarf And 200 Solemn Faces."

SIOUX FALLS advance streams Rot Forever.

THE SNAILS, a Future Islands offshoot, is streaming Songs From The Shoebox.

BETTER PERSON advance streams the It's Only You EP.

MAVIS STAPLES drops "Action," written by tUnE-yArDs’ Merrill Garbus, ahead of Livin' on a High Note.

TANYA DONNELLY drops “Tooraloo,” from her upcoming three-CD set called Swan Song Series.

BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN breaks out a 12-string to cover Jackie DeShannon's "When You Walk in the Room," which was also a hit for The Searchers.

THE REPLACEMENTS book, Trouble Boy, is excerpted at Rolling Stone, with some disturbing details about the late Bob Stinson.

ANIMAL COLLECTIVE talks to Drowned In Sound about  Painting With, a deliberate departure which the band had in mind as they were going into the writing and recording process.

STEVE MASON talks to Drowned In Sound about The Beta Band, amking a living, and modern culture.

NINE CLASSIC INDIE CONCEPT ALBUMS, compiled by Baeble Music (Thx, LHB.)

PAUL McCARTNEY, BECK & FOO FIGHTERS drummer Taylor Hawkins got turned away from a Grammys after-party. There's video: "How VIP do we gotta get? We need another hit."

KANYE WEST threw an epic tantrum behind the scenes of Saturday Night Live and petulantly threatened to walk off the show during its live weekend broadcast.

VANESSA HUDGENS and her boyfriend are under investigation for defacing one of Arizona's most prized treasures.

PEE-WEE's BIG HOLIDAY has a trailer online.

WOLVERINE 3 is hunting for an R-rating after the success of Deadpool.

GEORGE GAYNES, a veteran character actor from Tootsie to the Police Academy movies and scads of TV credits, died on Monday in North Bend, Wash. He was 98. His survivors include another great character actress, wife Allyn Ann McLerie.

PARIS ATTACKS: CIA director John Brennan said that the agency and its allies were aware of covert ISIS activity in the lead up to the attacks in the French capital, however attempts to stop it was foiled by “sophisticated” use of encrypted Internet communication.

UKRAINE: A year-old ceasefire deal has failed to stop violence in Ukraine's separatist eastern territories, and international monitors have voiced concern over increased shelling in recent weeks.

RUSSIA is bombing to pieces the Obama administration's hopes of halting the violence in Syria.

JESPER is an outdoorsy cat.

A PIGLET gives new meaning to the word eyeballs.

MONKEYS photobomb a model with a NSFW performance.

FERAL PARAKEETS invade London.