THE WEEKEND STARTS HERE:

...with THE dB's!  Although the influential, but oh-so-unlucky modern pop combo will likely stress new material when I see them tonight, we have vintage video of "Happenstance," "Bad Reputation" and "Living A Lie" from Sweden circa 1982.  From the studio, we have the clip for "Neverland." Chris Stamey left the band (temporarily) after which we got the infamous, banned-from-MTV clip for "Amplifier," plus live takes of "She Got Soul" and "Not Cool" from the legendary Maxwell's in Hoboken, NJ circa 1986.  From the same time period, you can see the band help close down Folk City in NYC with a cover of Bob Dylan's "Positively 4th Street."

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

MATT & KIM dropped live tunes on the KEXP audience.

PATTI SMITH plays at Apogee's Berkeley St. Studios for Morning Becomes Eclectic.

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

NEKO CASE, with a 2007 live take on "Deep Red Bells," probably still my fave Case tune.

GRIZZLY BEAR is essayed at Filter, with some Ed Droste quotes sprinkled in.

AFGHAN WHIGS: Greg Dulli talks about the reunion and the future at SF Weekly. (Thx, Chromewaves.)

10 UNDERRATED 90s ALBUMS, according to Spinner.

CUTOUT BIN: From the Records to Bill Withers, from Blondie to the Beatles, from Mission of Burma to the Ohio Express, plus the Lyres, David Bowie, Jens Lekman, the Feelies and more -- this Friday's fortuitous finds are streaming from the Pate page at the ol' HM.

NOW SHOWING: This weekend's wide releases include The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2, which is currently scoring 56 percent on the ol' Tomatometer (as if it mattered); and the expansion of Lincoln, which is scoring 91 percent.  Don't look for Abe to be a vampire killer.

TWILIGHT: BREAKING DAWN, PART 2 is selling out showings en route to a 130-50 million opening.

ROBERT DE NIRO & JAY-Z got into a tense beef at Leonardo DiCaprio's birthday bash.

JUSTIN BIEBER is constantly texting SELENA GOMEZ; she's busy blocking him from her devices.

LINDSAY LOHAN has a previously unknown half-sister.

BEN AFFLECK is GQ's Filmmaker of the Year. They may be right.

JON BON JOVI's daughter will not face criminal prosecution after allegedly overdosing on heroin in a college dorm yesterday - because the D.A. has dropped all charges.

THE PEOPLE CHOICE AWARDS nominations are out.

SOMALIA: Shabaab called on Muslims to support the Palestinians against Israel after airstrikes killed Hamas's military commander.

SYRIA: About 200 fighters from the "Eagles of the Golan," an al Qaeda-linked Salafist group, took over territory in the demilitarized area of the Golan Heights. France and the Gulf Cooperation Council recognized the Syrian National Coalition as the legitimate representative of the Syrian people.

LIBYA: AFRICOM commander General Carter Ham said that al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb is thought to have been linked to the Sept. 11 assault on the US consulate in Benghazi.

PAKISTAN is handing over several mid and low-level Taliban operatives to the Afghan peace council.

IRAQ: Insurgents killed at least 20 people in a series of bombings in Kirkuk, Mosul, Bayji, Baghdad, Hillah, and Al Kut.

KITTENS and BABY DUCKLINGS, snuggling together...Mass hysteria!

A PET RABBIT was attacked by a man with a sword. Should've tried the Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch.

AN ANGRY GOAT treed a Utah paperboy for over an hour.  Maybe he'll get it on the porch this time.

ANIMALS posing like humans.