SLEATER-KINNEY covers the Ramones’ “Merry Christmas (I Don’t Want To Fight Tonight).”

SHARON JONES & THE DAP-KINGS are streaming It's a Holiday Soul Party.

THE JAYHAWKS reveal new material and play live at World Cafe.

JENNYLEE of Warpaint features solo material in WFUV's Studio A.

THE BOTH: Aimee Mann & Ted Leo drop "You're a Gift" for the holidays.

SHE & HIM get animated for their take on "Baby, It's Cold Outside," which Zooey originally sang in Elf.

SLY STONE won't be able to collect 5MM in royalties because he previously had assigned those royalties to a production company.

JOANNA NEWSOM is profiled by the Mpls Star-Tribune.

SONG EXPLODER is one of Vulture's 10 Best Podcasts of 2015.

THE 50 BEST ALBUMS of 2015, according to Stereogum

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE: The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2 tops the chart again with 11.3 MM, while the weekend's sole big new release, In the Heart of the Sea, placed with 11MM (so there's an outside chance these will reverse once the estimates become real numbers). The moral of the story is: Don't open your movie the weekend before a new Star Wars episode (see also Jurassic World, Iron Man 3, The Avengers and The Dark Knight). Then again, tthe reviews for In the Heart of the Sea weren't all that hot for what was hoped to be awards bait as well s a commercial success. Normally, a B+ Cinemascore would be good word of mought, but Star Wars is going to be joined by many other choices for counter-programming.Moreover, the overseas erceipts were equally tepid, which mean Ron Howard & Chris hemsworth may end up with movie losing tens of millions at the box office.  The Good Dinosaur shows with 10.5MM,which means it continues to lag Pixar's other recent releases andhas yet to recop its reported 167MM production budget worldwide.  Creed remains in the fourth slot with 10.1MM on a leggy 33 percent drop. Awards nominations may keep it leggy into 2016.  Krampus rounds out the Top Five with 8MM and will likely profit on the big screen, albeit not on the Gremlins scale for which the studio hoped.

JENNIFER LAWRENCE & AMY SCHUMER wearing the same dress to the Golden Globes?

EVA LONGORIA is engaged to Jose Antonio Baston, the President of Televisa— Latin America's largest media company.

BEYONCE & BRADLEY COOPER may topline his directorial debut, a remake of A Star Is Born.

CATE BLANCHETT may soon be joining the Marvel universe.

CAMILLE PAGLIA called Taylor Swift a "Nazi Barbie."

X-MEN: APOCALYPSE drops its first trailer.

IDEPENDENCE DAY: RESURGENCE also dropped a trailer online.

AUSTRALIAN police charged five people including a teenage boy over plans to carry out a terror attack in Sydney, linking counterterrorism raids on Thursday to an earlier operation last December.

FRANCE's National Front failed to win a single region in local elections Sunday, after mainstream parties managed to block its candidates - including the far-right party's chief, Marine Le Pen - from taking advantage of leads in several regions. BTW, while the Socialists (and some in the press) are declaring the National Front to be extreme-right, the reality is that they are more like Donald Trump -- anti-immigration, but further Left on many issues than the center-right figures that won yesterday.

RUSSIA on Sunday warned Turkey to stop staging what it called provocations against its forces in or near Syria after one of its warships fired warning shots at a Turkish vessel in the Aegean to avoid a collision.

A TARANTULA makes a good pet...for some people, I guess.

A LARGE HERD OF BUFFALO is running loose near Tisdale, Sask.

A BABY DOLPHIN at the Shedd Aquarium is looking for a name.

A HORSE BREEDER who found a newborn piglet in her stables thinks it may have been carried there by a fox.

THE WEEKEND STARTS HERE:

...with A CHRISTMAS SHINDIG! The full episode has gone dark, but still-available clips from 1964 include The Beach Boys' "Dance, Dance, Dance," Bobby Sherman and Donna Loren singing "Keep on Searching," the Righteous Brothers doing "The Jerk" and an awesome milk commercial, Adam Faith with "Watch Your Step," and "Santa Claus Is Back In Town", Bobby Sherman with "Sleigh Ride," Donna Loren returning with a Spector-esque, but rougher "Santa Claus is Coming to Town," and The Beach Boys deliver a set including "Little Saint Nick," "Monster Mash" (yes, really) "Papa Oom Mow Mow," "Johnny B. Goode," and "We Three Kings."

TELEKINESIS stopped by WFUV's Studio A for a chat and mini-set. (Somehow I missed this in October.)

CHEETAHS stopped by KEXP for a mini-set.

HERE WE GO MAGIC stopped by KUTX for a chat and mini-set.

ARCHY (King Krule) & JACK MARSHALL stream A New Place 2 Drown.

PARALLELOGRAMS is a project pairing artists including Yo La Tengo, Thurston Moore, Kurt Vile, Hiss Golden Messenger, and more.

BRITT DANIEL of Spoon covered CCR's "Run Through the Jungle" for FX's Fargo.

JAILL drops “Port Of Call" ahead of Whatever It Be.

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

THE REPLACEMENTS' authorized biography is due in March.

DESTOYER: Dan Bejar talks to The Guardian about rocking in his 40s, the Destroyer drinking game, and more.

JOANNA NEWSOM: The Harp Wants What It Wants.

THE 15 BEST ALBUMS of 2015, according to The A.V. Club.

IN THE HEART OF THE SEA is this weekend's sole wide release; it's currently scoring 51 percent on the ol' Tomatometer.

THE GOLDEN GLOBES nominations went to these folks. Congrats, esp. to Brian Wilson.

JOHN MADDEN was released from the hospital after undergoing open-heart surgery.

KRISTIN CAVALLARI's brother Michael has been found dead nearly two weeks after he went missing.

STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS reveals more new stuff in a Chinese trailer.

THE LEGEND OF TARZAN drops a teaser trailer.

SAN BERNARDINO: An investigation that once focused primarily on the husband and wife responsible for killing 14 people in San Bernardino, Calif., last week continues to expand as the FBI questions an ever-growing network of people with ties to the couple.

SWITZERLAND was on high alert Thursday as police searched for suspects related to the terror attacks in Paris, a source close to the investigation told CNN.

SYRIA: U.S. and Israeli officials say Putin's intervention in Syria is showing slower results than the Russian president had hoped, possibly making Putin more willing to cooperate with U.S. efforts to settle Syria's civil war. Syrian opposition and rebel groups agreed Thursday for the first time to unite behind a single body and a statement of principles that will form the basis for possible peace negotiations with the Syrian government next year.

A DOG rescued from a piece of ice.

DINGOES play an important role in protecting a long list of threatened and non-threatened Australian species, though maybe not your baby.

AN ALASKAN GRIZZLY may have been murdered by a fmr Miss Kansas.

REINDEER Photobomb.

LEIF ERIKSON dropped a video for their debut single, “Looking For Signs.” 

NICK LOWE & LOS STRAITJACKETS dropped by The Current in 2014 for a chat and holiday-tinged mini-set.

HARRY SHEARER & JUDITH OWEN play WNYC Soundcheck and talk about Christmas in L.A.

PINK MARTINI plays a holiday spectacular.

HEARTLESS BAST^RDS played a mini-set at KUTX.

FLORIST drops "White Light Doorway" ahead of The Birds Sang Outside.

THE RAMONES: "Merry Christmas (I Don't Wanna Fight Tonight)."

RUSH is not done yet, according to Geddy Lee.

NPR's 50 Favorite Albums of 2015.

JARVIS COCKER's Letter to Santa.

HOLLY WOODLAWN, the transgender actress who helped to inspire Lou Reed's 'Walk On The Wild Side', has died at the age of 69.

THE BFG: Steven Spielberg's film of the Roald Dahl book has a teaser trailer online.

MANDY MOORE & RYAN ADAMS are havibg disputes over spousal support and pet custody.

MICK FLEETWOOD's divorce has been finalized, ending his marriage of nearly 20 years. He can go his own way.

THE SAG AWARDS nominations went to these folks.

THE LEGEND OF TARZAN: USA Today has your first look at Alexander Skarsgård and Margot Robbie, along with a teaser of the plot.

STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS drops another TV spot.Also, you can get a look at Carrie Fisher's daughter and an interesting droid.

FRANCE: Since the Nov. 13 attacks some 2235 homes and buildings have been raidedby police; 232 people taken into custody, and 334 weapons (including war-grade weapons) ahve been confiscated.

SAN BERNARDINO terror couple Syed Rizwan Farook and Tashfeen Malik spent at least a year preparing for their terror attack. Sen. Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa) said Malik may have given false information on her visa application. The FBI is investigating whether Syed Rizwan Farook and a neighbor intended to commit an act of terror in about 2012 and then got spooked, a senior law enforcement official said Wednesday. The two men may have been disrupted when the FBI arrested several men in late 2012 in a separate plot to kill Americans in Afghanistan.

SYRIA: Russia still doesn't seem to be targeting ISIS with its airstrikes.

IRAQ: US SecDef Carter Ash raised the prospect that U.S. military advisers could accompany Iraqi forces on the ground in the effort to take back Ramadi.

VINCENT THE CAT gets prosthetic legs from Iowa State University.

A RACCOON hitched a ride on a Toronto commuter train.

AN ORANGUTAN enjoys a magic trick.

A LAMB rode in a makeshift pen on top of a car on a highway in Chile.

PRINCE's version of Radiohead's "Creep" is finally available online.

SPOON: Britt Daniel takes NPR of a track-by track tour of the Gimme Fiction demos.

EL VY stopped by the KEXP studio.

THE OH HELLOS played a Tiny Desk Concert.

LIT UP LIKE A CHRISTMAS TREE: A vintage holiday mixtape from Aquarium Drunkard.

CIAN NUGENT drops "Lost Your Way" ahead of Night Fiction.

THE CAVE SINGERS are getting in the holiday spirit with “Christmas Night."

MOUNT MORIAH drops "Calvander" and "Cardinal Cross" ahead of How to Dance.

PATSY CLINE & FERLIN HUSKY: "Let It Snow!"

JOHN LENNON died 35 years ago yesterday. NME shared 20 of his most underrated tracks.

JIM MORRISON would have turned 72 yesterday. Billboard compiled 10 classic Doors tracks.

EAGLES OF DEATH METAL: Jesse Hughes and Julian Dorio returned to the site of the Bataclan, the concert venue where they were performing when the Paris attacks occurred.

SCOTT WEILAND's ex-wife and children wrote a powerful obituary and essay about fame.

RONNIE WOOD and his theater producer wife Sally are expecting twins.

BURT REYNOLDS caused outrage after he appeared to claim Charlie Sheen ‘deserves’ to have HIV because he ‘misbehaved very badly’.

AMBER HEARD plans to plead not guilty to charges of allegedly sneaking her and husband Johnny Depp's dogs into Australia illegally in May.

MELANIE GRIFFITH & ANTONIO BANDERAS are officially single, after dividing a huge chunk of movie change.

THE HUNGER GAMES may get prequels.

MARTIN E. BROOKS, best known for his portrayal of the scientist Dr. Rudy Wells on the 1970s ABC series The Six Million Dollar Man and its spinoff, The Bionic Woman, has died. He was 90.

TURKEY has said it will not withdraw hundreds of soldiers who arrived last week at a base in northern Iraq, despite being ordered by Baghdad to do so.

IRAN: The United States is reviewing and seeking to confirm reports that Iran launched a ballistic missile last month in violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power said on Tuesday.

SYRIA: The U.S. military alleged Monday that Russian warplanes were responsible for an attack on a Syrian army position in eastern Syria, an airstrike that Syria blamed on the U.S.-led coalition battling the Islamic State militant group in the country.

SAN BERNARDINO: Syed Rizwan Farook recently took out a 28,500 loan from an online lender, a source said on Tuesday, before he and his wife killed 14 of his co-workers at a holiday party. Investigators believe San Bernardino shooter Syed Rizwan Farook may have been plotting an earlier attack in California with someone else, two U.S. officials said.

A GOLDEN RETRIEVER on a merry-go-round.

AN ALLIGATOR killed a burglary suspect in Brevard County, FL.

SPIDER HOLES: Don't stick your hand in.

A BETTER MOUSETRAP: Ruthlessly efficient.

SHARON JONES & THE DAP-KINGS tighten up for "8 Days of Hanukkah."

ZANDERS streams Buried Men.

BEN FOLDS played the Turf Club in St. Paul.

THE BRIGHT LIGHT SOCIAL HOUR stopped by World Cafe for a chat and mini-set.

WONDERGROUND RADIO is offering its traditional eclectic holiday stream.

BOB GELDOF, by his own admission, is responsible for two of the worst songs in history: "'Do They Know It's Christmas?" and "We Are The World."

EAGLES OF DEATH METAL joined U2 in Paris for Patti Smith’s “People Have The Power” and remained to play their own “I Love You All The Time”.

THOM YORKE of Radiohead wrote a letter to Santa.

NEIL PEART of rush seems to have confirmed his retirement.

THE 100 BEST SONGS of 2015, according to Said The Gramaphone.

KIM KARDASHIAN & KANYE WEST named their newborn son Saint West.

GRAMMY nominations went to these folks. Alabama Shakes, Björk, My Morning Jacket, Tame Impala, and Wilco are nominated for Best Alternative Album.

NORMAN REEDUS of the Walking Dead was bitten by a female fan.

GWYNETH PALTROW's pop-up Goop store in NYC was robbed of 173K in merch.

KRISTIN CAVALLARI's older brother Michael has been missing since the day after Thanksgiving.

KRISTY GARRETT: Playboy's last nude Playmate.

ALEC GUINNESS was not a big Star Wars fan.

UKRAINE & THE EUROPEAN UNION say they will introduce a free trade pact next month as planned despite Russia's threat to take retaliatory trade action if its concerns aren't addressed.

THE NATIONAL COUNTER-TERRORISM CENTER has identified “individuals with ties to terrorist groups in Syria attempting to gain entry to the U.S. through the U.S. refugee program."

THE ISLAMIC STATE: A leaked internal manual shows how the terrorist group has set about building a state in Iraq and Syria complete with government departments, a treasury and an economic program for self-sufficiency.

PUPPIES Eat Peanut Butter.

SQUIRREL ATTACKS continue in Novato, California.

HEROIC CATS saved an elderly Italian woman from a fire.

AN ALERT DOG saved a young couple from a fire that gutted the top floor of their home in northern Sweden.