THE WEEKEND STARTS HERE:

...with the YOUNG FRESH FELLOWS! Live at Cicero's in St. Louis, On November 23rd,1985, so this is Chuck Carroll-era YFFs.  Selections include: "Gus Theme," "White Bird," "If I Had A Hammer," "Power Mowers' Theme," "Where Is Groovy Town?", "Sharing Patrol," "Topsy Turvy," "Young Fresh Fellows Theme," "Hang On Sloopy," "All Messed Up," "Big House/ Love Boat Theme medley" "Mr. Salamander's Review," "Down By The Pharmacy," "Close to You/ Someone I Care About," "Aurora Bridge," "How Much About Last Night Do You Remember?" "This Little Mystery," "Searchin' USA," "Fair Exchange," and "My Friend Ringo."

ROBYN HITCHCOCK talks to ChartAttack about the upcoming Venus 3 album, due next month.

BOB MOULD and Our Band Could Be Your Life author Michael Azerrad will be teaming up to write Mould's autobiography.

BON IVER is advance streaming the Blood Bank EP.

BLACK JOE LEWIS & THE HONEYBEARS do the five free songs thing for Daytrotter, inlcuding a cover of Howlin' Wolf's "Snatch It Back And Hold It." "This band of merry - and lascivious - young men have the scent of last night's woman or women, a whole carton of smoked Camels, a boozy romp and lived in clothing - coming out of their amplifiers and speakers..."

ELVIS PRESLEY's birthday was yesterday. Learn how he unknowingly fought totalitarianism, and how to impersonate him, even if you're Chinese or Jewish.  Here's "I Got A Woman" live o­n his first TV appearance in 1956 and "Suspicious Minds" in the jumpsuit from 1970 as visual aids.

LED ZEPPELIN: Jimmy Page's manager is telling reporters, "Led Zeppelin are over!" For today, anyway.

DEPT. OF EAGLES: Fred Nicolaus spoke to SF Station about the In Ear Park album and the band's first extensive tour.

THE CARDIGANS' Nina Persson talks about the band and her second dolo album with CNN.

CUTOUT BIN: From Jason Segel to The Stooges, from The Who to The Guess Who, From Glasvegas to The Gourds, from Wire to the J. Geils Band, plus the Everly Bros., King Khan & the Shrines, Robert Pollard, Sugar and more  -- this Friday's fortuitous finds are streaming from the Pate page at the ol' HM.

NOW SHOWING: This weekend's wide debuts are Bride Wars, which is currently scoring an ouch-worthy 08 percent on the ol' Tomatometer, and The Unborn, which edges past with a whopping 11 percent.  Expanding wide is Clint Eastwood's Gran Torino, which is scoring 74 percent.  Nevertheless, if I was a gambler, i'd wager the brides win the weekend, followed by the dog movie, then Gran Torino (though it could edge into second in a better world).

KATE HUDSON laughs off lesbian rumors, though when your new movie with Anne Hathaway -- which you also produced -- is getting shellacked by critics, any PR is good PR.

TOM CRUISE speaks out on the death of Jett Travolta and addresses Scientology's role in the tragedy. That'll help.

LINDSAY LOHAN just can't let her feud with Scarlett Johansson go.

LISA BONET has given birth to her third child: Nakoa-Wolf Manakauapo Namakaeha Momoa. Yes, really.

WATCHMEN: The court battle between Fox and Warner Bros. continues, and may come to a head before Jan. 20th.  Meanwhile, The Quietus interviews the graphic novel's artist, Dave Gibbons.  Plus, the Japanese trailer has some new footage.

KEVIN COSTNER was hospitalized overnight Tuesday at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, but was released the following day.

AWARDS SEASON: The 2008 Razzie nominees are announced.

PAKISTAN: The US killed al Qaeda's chief of operations in the New Year's Day missile strike in Pakistan's Taliban-controlled tribal agency of South Waziristan, according to a report.

AFGHANISTAN: Afghan and Coalition forces killed a Taliban IED facilitator in Helmand province and six Taliban fighters in Farah province, and detained five Haqqani Network fighters in Khost and Kandahar province. 

IRAQ: Violence is down 93 percent during the last quarter of 2008. Iraqi forces detained 18 wanted men in Mosul, six insurgents in Kirkuk, four al Qaeda fighters in Diyala, and prevented a terrorist attack in Baghdad.

SLEEPY CAT does not want to wake up. I sympathize.

THE SQUIRREL THREAT: Militant squirrels have been blamed for setting a former attorney general's house on fire in Britain.  Awww...some photoshop at the link.

TOP DOG & CAT NAMES 2008, according to Veterinary Pet Insurance.  The most unusual are also listed.

101 DALMATIANS?  Not quite, but this three-year-old dog has given birth to a litter of 18, just a year after having 16 pups.  Pic at the link.

THE PIGLET SQUID with a smiley face and a twinkle in his eye.