I'M HAVING A PERSONAL TECH ISSUE TODAY, SO NO PICS... but all the usual links.

THE SHINS play "No Way Down" and "The Rifle's Spiral" for Conan.

A.C. NEWMAN is advance streaming Shut Down the Streets.

THE DAREDEVIL CHRISTOPER WRIGHT stopped by The Current for a chat and mini-set.

THE HEAD AND THE HEART stopped by The Current for a chat and mini-set.

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

MADNESS drops "My Girl 2" ahead of Oui, Oui, Si, Si, Ja, Ja, Da, Da.

ADELE: Hear a snippet from her theme for the next James Bond pic, "Skyfall."

THE KINGSMEN: "Money (That's What I Want)," in glorious color

THE 1990s: When Alternative Music Became Mainstream.

GRIZZLY BEAR: What does indie-rock royalty buy in 2012?

THE WOODEN SKY frontman Gavin Gardiner talks to The Line of Best Fit about his early influences, touring, and rock n' roll history. (Thx, Chromewaves.)

YOKO ONO talks to Billboard about her legacy, politics and new album with Kim Gordon and Thurston Moore.

BRITNEY SPEARS has been under a conservatorship for more than four years now, and as part of that, those close to The X Factor judge keep a close eye on her internet and cell phone use, according to RadarOnline.

GEORGE CLOONEY is reportedly cutting back on his time with Stacy Keibler.

KRISTEN STEWART & ROBERT PATTINSON will put aside their personal lives in order to help promote the lives of Bella and Edward for the last installment of "The Twilight Saga." Shocka.

LINDSAY LOHAN is vowing to get her revenge on the congressional aide she accused of choking her at the W Hotel on Park Avenue South in the early hours of Sunday morning.

JOHN TRAVOLTA & OLIVIA NEWTON-JOHN are reuniting for a Christmas album.

DANIEL CRAIG tells GQ he misses getting falling down drunk in public, among other things.

TEN CULT FILMMAKERS Who Went Mainstream. 

RUSSIA: A Moscow court ruled that a controversial anti-Islam film can be banned in Russia, as the film was deemed extremist and capable of inciting ethinic and religious hatred.

GERMANY: A classified report by Germany's foreign intelligence agency says that insider attacks against NATO forces are likely to increase, the Taliban reintegration program will be ineffective, Afghan and US peace talks with the Taliban will go nowhere, Afghan president Hamid Karzai is more likely to defer to insurgents than institute needed reforms, and a greater commitment of foreign troops will be needed to stabilize the country after 2014.

SYRIA: In Homs, government forces evicted thousands of residents and then demolished their homes. Fighting spread across the old section of Aleppo. Government forces shelled towns in the eastern suburbs of Damascus.

AFGHANISTAN: With the surge of American troops over and the Taliban still a potent threat, American generals and civilian officials acknowledge that they have all but written off what was once one of the cornerstones of their strategy to end the war here: battering the Taliban into a peace deal.

A MEERKAT warms himself by the fireplace.

STONER DOGS on the rise in Colorado.

PET MONKEY Under House Arrest.

A 25-LB DOG discovered in the engine compartment of a Chevy Silverado in San Clemente on Monday is doing fine, said to have survived a 110-mile journey on a hot autumn Southern California day with no apparent ill effects.