DEERHUNTER made their TV debut playing "Helicopter" on Conan. 

SUPERCHUNK stopped by The Current for a chat and mini-set.

MASON JENNINGS stopped by The Current for a chat and mini-set.

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

AMOS LEE played the World Cafe Live on Friday; you can stream the whole gig on demand now.

DAVID BOWIE: Roio has The Lost Beeb Tapes.

GLAM CHOPS: Art Brut's Eddie Argos has a "Countdown to Christmas."

GARAGE ROCK: An essay at PopMatters notes: "The garage is not only an outside place but also a place for outsiders..." 

SLEIGH BELLS jingle a bit for The Line of Best Fit.

THE BEST of 2010, according to Paste magazine.

PETE DOHERTY escaped a contempt of court charge.

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE: Tangled passes Harry Potter to top the chart with 21.5 million in the traditionally brutal post-Thanksgiving weekend.  If it can show legs against the Narnia flick this weekend, Tangled has the chance to make a profit on its reported 260 million budget before the DVD market, which would be a remarkable turnaround story for the troubled Disney production.  Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Pt 1 places with 16.7 million on a 66 percent drop reminiscent of Goblet of Fire -- the last Potter flick to open in November.  Harry has pulled in ~244 million here and another ~469 million overseas so far.  Burlesque and Unstoppable virtually tie for the third /  fourth slot with an estimated 6.1 million apiece.  Overall, Unstoppable will be in better financial shape than Burlesque.  Love and Other Drugs held slightly better than expected to round out the Top Five with 5.7 million; it's 22 million against a 30 million budget ensures this won't be a big loss for the studio.  Below the fold, the weekend's sole wide debut, The Warrior's Way, opened with about 3 million against a 42 million budget. Ouch.

BRITNEY SPEARS gote even more aggressive in denying stories printed by Star and RadarOnline, but they are now circulating audio purporting to be Spears confessing to smoking pot.

MAD MEL UPDATE: The Beaver has a trailer online.

JAKE GYLLENHAAL & TAYLOR SWIFT: Us Weekly gets comments from Maggie Gyllenhaal and Peter Sarsgaard, thoroughly taxing my vowel supply.

JOSH DUHAMEL was escorted off of a plane Thursday after he refused to turn off his BlackBerry.

SUGE KNIGHT was arrested and released in connection with minor traffic charges late Friday night.

THE SPIDER-MAN REBOOT adds to its cast.

IRAN's foreign minister dampened the possibility for a breakthrough in next week's scheduled international talks over Tehran's nuclear program. Shocka.

AFGHANISTAN: Winning Marjah, one cow at a time.

IRAQ: Intell officials say foreign fighters have been slipping back into the country in larger numbers recently and may have been behind some of the most devastating attacks this year, reviving a threat the US military believed had been almost entirely eradicated.

KITTEH with a teddy bear. Snuggly.

THE ILLEGAL TARANTULA TRADE suffers a blow from the United States Fish and Wildlife Service.

BIRDS are turning gay from mercury poisoning?

A WHOOPING CRANE is rescued by a veterinarian dressed as a marshmallow.