PATE REUNION WATCH: Conditions have created a significant risk of a band reunion occurring in early July 2013. Pate is looking for input from friends and fans via the Claude Pate Facebook page.  I have also set up and will monitor PateBlog on the Twitter, as well as PateBlog -at- aol.com for email (laugh at the aol, but why not be period?). We'll also be looking to set up additional lines of communication as needed and as plans warrant.  The last reunion was great; get involved to help get another one rolling!

FRIGHTENED RABBIT drops a video for "The Woodpile" with a surprise ending.

THE POLYPHONIC SPREE played a Tiny Desk Concert at the NPR offices.

SEA WOLF stopped by World Cafe for a chat and mini-set.

MINUS THE BEAR stopped by World Cafe for a chat and mini-set.

JOE STRUMMER died 10 years ago Dec. 22; Morning Edition offers a retrospective on the Clash (co)-frontman.The Daily Swarm has a remembrance from "The Baker."

THE BANGLES: It's getting almost impossible to find this version of their cover of "Hazy Shade of Winter," but worth it.

BOB MOULD did an "Ask Me Anything" session at Reddit.

FIVE AMERICANA BANDS that will help you believe in America again.

DIAMOND RINGS stopped by Turntable.fm to talk with Stereogum about how he gets ready for a show, why we should all stop dissing Justin Bieber, and, naturally, Bryan Adams’s haircut.

RUSH: A fan's confession.

THE ROLLING STONES' Ronnie Wood married his girlfriend of eight months, Sally Humphreys, Dec. 21st at London's Dorchester Hotel.

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE: The Hobbit took in 36.9 million over the regular weekend -- a 56 percent drop that means the cineplex better hope for help from Santa. Jack Reacher placed with a lukewarm 15.6 million against a 60 million budget.  This Is 40 showed anemically with a 12 million debut, though the 35 million budget suggests this likely won't be in the red. Rise of the Guardians rode the family audience to hang in at the fourth slot with 5.9 million; worldwide receipts and home video will likely make this one profitable in the long run.  Lincoln rounds out the Top 5 with 5.5 million, succeeding artistically and financially.  Below the fold, The Guilt Trip had a 6th place debut of only 5.4 million, though the 40 million budget suggests it won't be a disaster if it can linger into mid-January.

ASHTON KUTCHER finally pulled the trigger, filing for divorce from Demi Moore, over a year after the couple split up ... and now we know why he waited. Moore reportedly claims she planned to divorce Kutcher from the day she left him in November, 2011... but wants a big financial settlement, despite being richer than him. Ashton Kutcher was spotted out with Mila Kunis on Saturday night in Cedar Rapids, IA.

LINDSAY LOHAN refused to kiss Charlie Sheen in Scary Movie 5 because, y'know, cooties. And she's mad that the producers made an extra joke at her expense.

JESSICA SIMPSON is officially knocked up again.

MADONNA threatened to cancel a concert in Chile over fans smoking.

KRISTEN STEWART talks to Indiewire about On The Road, Snow White, Twilight, etc.

MILA KUNIS was slurred by an anti-Semitic Ukranian politician, on Facebook no less.

KELSEY & CAMILLE GRAMMER finally settled their divorce.

JACK KLUGMAN, the rubber-mugged character actor who leapt to television stardom in the 1970s as the slovenly sportswriter Oscar Madison on “The Odd Couple” and as the crusading forensic pathologist of “Quincy, M.E.,” died on Monday at his home in the Woodland Hills section of Los Angeles. He was 90.

CHARLES DURNING, who overcame poverty, battlefield trauma and nagging self-doubt to become an acclaimed character actor, whether on stage as Big Daddy in "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" or in film as the lonely widower smitten with a cross-dressing Dustin Hoffman in "Tootsie," died on Monday at his home in Manhattan. He was 89.

SYRIA: Seven people have died in Homs after they inhaled a “poisonous gas” used by government forces in a rebel-held neighbourhood, activists said. UN and Arab League envoy Lakhdar Brahimi met with President Assad but made little progress toward a negotiated solution for the civil war. Rebels surrounded three air bases in northern Syria but were unable to stop government jets from launching attacks. Russian advisers are manning some of Syria's air defenses.

EGYPT: Demonstrations were held in Cairo denouncing alleged rigging of the constitutional referendum. Egyptian judges began investigating the allegations.

A GREAT DANE snuggles A BABY... Mass hysteria!

THE IKEA MONKEY has been named one of the top fashion icons of 2012 by The Guardian.

A "STALKER" PIGEON was reported to police in the German town of Darmstadt.

MAN bites SNAKE.

INVASION of the Mystery Worms.