MGMT rocked a Thanksgiving theme playing "Kids" on French TV. In Australia's Courier-Mail, Andrew VanWyngarden marvels at the band's success Down Under (their debut has spent six months in Oz's Top 40).

NOAH & THE WHALE talk to the BBC about their plans to release a 'punk' side project and record a feature film. Video at the link.

LOS CAMPESINOS! are the latest band offering a free MP3 via Insound.  Frightened Rabbit and others are there also.

NEKO CASE talks to Paste about her next album (due in March) and her new 100-acre farm in rural Vermont.

THE GRAMMNY NOMS favored Lil' Wayne and Coldplay, but Adele got four noms and Duffy scored three.  Perusing the full list, we find that the nominees for Best Alternative Album are Beck, Death Cab, Gnarls Barkley, My Morning jacket and Radiohead.  Elsewhere, Kings of Leon, the Raconteurs, Marshall Crenshaw, Tia Carrere and Gwyneth Paltrow get nods.

THE SUBMARINES: John Dragonetti talks to LAist about his KISS phase, placing "You, Me, and the Bourgeoisie" in an iPod commercial, and more...

TAKKA TAKKA does the four free songs thing for Daytrotter.

THE STROKES have been around for a decade, and NME is going to make you feel old about it.

PASTE has been around for a decade also; congrats to them!

ODETTA, a folk singer who influenced the young Bob Dylan (among others), passed away at 77 from heart failure.  NPR has a 2005 interview.

KRISTEN STEWART, currently starring in Twilight, is set to portray Joan Jett in "The Runaways," the rock ‘n' roll biopic of the 1970s all-girl band. Here's the real band playing "Cherry Bomb" on Japanese TV.

BRITNEY SPEARS: Fed-Ex tells his side of their saga.

SEAN AVERY, center for the Dallas Stars was suspended indefinitiely from the NHL for making rude remarks about his former galpal, Elisha Cuthbert.

BRADGELINA: Pitt is bringing moustaches back.  And advising Ellen DeGeneres on how to land George Clooney. Meanwhile, families are moving into the houses his Make It Right foundation is building in N'awlins.

JESSICA SIMPSON wants to head off to college to study theology - and watching TV was her inspiration. Shocka.

MILEY CYRUS: The Hannah Montana star is in discussions with her attorney about filing a Petition of Emancipation after repeatedly butting heads with her parents over personal and business matters, according to two uber-reliable tabloid reports.

MARY-KATE OLSEN is denying a pregnancy rumor started by the ever-reliable National Enquirer.

PATRICK SWAYZE is denying tabloid stories that he is near death.

THE DARK KNIGHT will not be re-released in 2009 for Oscar buzz, so fans are taking matters into their own hands.

WATCHMEN is getting whittled down to about two and one-half houurs for theatrical release; the director's cut will top three hours.

THOR: Kevin McKidd (Rome, Journeyman) is in the running for the lead in Marvel's live-action Thor movie.

ROMAN POLANSKI is seeking the dismissal of a charge that saw him flee the US in 1978 after admitting "unlawful sexual intercourse" with a 13-year-old girl.

IRAQ: US forces captured two suspected members of an Iranian-backed network and killed a third Wednesday.  The Iraqi Army is developing its heavy mechanized and armored forces.

DOG SAVES DOG hit on the highway.

KITTIES!  Hugging!

VINTAGE LOLCAT postcard, circa 1905, discovered in a Seattle antique store.

AND NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT: A lobster with four claws, caught near Newport, RI.

THE BIRDS: A "wayward" bird crashed into a motorist's head in Port St. Lucie? Oh, please. I think we all know what happens next.