THE RAVEONETTES:  Sune Rose Wagner talked to AFP about getting back to the band's minimalist roots, and it doesn't get much more minimal than he and Sharin Foo playing "Dead Sound" in a Black Cab Session.  (Thx, Chromewaves.)

BEST of 2007:  The Times of London lists Songs of the Year in several genres.  NPR is streaming tracks from the Top 10 Great Unknown Artists of 2007 (though regular visitors here will recognize a few).  At Sound Opinions, you can stream 2007 mixtapes from Windy City music critics Greg Kot and Jim DeRogatis.   And don't forget Largehearted Boy's updated list of lists.

2008:  The NYDN looks ahead to notable future releases, including an album from the North Mississippi AllStars, produced by Jim Dickinson.

OKKERVIL RIVER did a chat and mini-set (incl. a John Cale cover) at KUT's Studio 1A, which you can stream on demand via NPR.

CONCERT TICKET GENERATOR... and timewaster.  (Thx, Ken King.)

ACE FREHLEY showed his true face to DC's Express, which was probably a mistake.  But Pate bassist Mike Kelly should enjoy it.

THE APPLES IN STEREO have a new video for "Eyes Open" that combines live footage with recent advances in aviation.  It should be right up Craig O'Neill's alley.

BLACK REBEL MOTORCYCLE CLUB:  Robert Been talks to the Sydney Morning Herald about touring, playing with the Jesus & Mary Chain, heroes and more.

ST. VINCENT:  I forgot to post Annie Clark's in-store performance at Other Music last month, but it's still just as good today.

LILY ALLEN has turned down the chance to launch her own range of maternity wear because she thinks it will send out the wrong message to young girls.

AMY WINEHOUSE jetted off to the Caribbean for an impromptu holiday to see in the new year, but will appear in a Norwegian court to appeal her drug conviction on Leap Day.

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE:  National Treasure: Book of Secrets remained atop the chart in its second weekend, but the real story this weekend is the adorable Juno, which vaulted into fifth place after expanding to 998 screens, and had the highest perscreen average in the Top Ten.  Juno has already made 25 million, which has to be a multiple of its cost.  Other winners this week included the unacclaimed Alvin and the Chipmunks, as well as Charlie Wilson's War, P.S. I Love You, and Enchanted -- all of which increased their receipts over last weekend.  This was especally important for Charlie Wilson's War, which may now be profitable if award nominations keep folks coming.  The news was less good for Alien Vs. Predator - Requiem and The Water Horse: Legend of the Deep, which debuted in sixth and seventh places, Sweeey Todd, which dropped from fifth to ninth, and Walk Hard, which dropped out of the Top Ten.  I saw Atonement and Paul Thomas Anderson's There Will Be Blood over the weekend, so I'll be blurbing them post-holidays, as traffic returns to normal.

ANNUAL BOX OFFICE:  Hollywood's revenue incread on higher ticket prices, but ticket sales were flat, and down 12 percent from the record of 1.61 billion in 2002.  Sales and attendance both were up through Labor Day, boosted by 14 summer sequels, but tanked afterward.  It turns out there were not huge audiences for anti-war movies or The Golden Compass.  Who'da thunkit?

WRITERS' STRIKE:  The Late Show With David Letterman and The Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson, will return to the air on January 2nd fully staffed with scribes, but the controversy has already started.  BTW, I wonder whether -- if the strike drags on long enough -- that people will move on to cable, Netflix, etc. to a degree that the writers' strike ends up like the last baseball strike.  How would Hollywood recover?  Baseball did it with steroids, so maybe Hollywood will do it with unnaturally large breast implants.

CLOVERFIELD:  J.J. Abrams has put several minutes from the "Blair Godzilla" movie online.  And the trailer for his Star Trek reboot will run before the pic when it opens on 01-18-08.

BRADGELINA:  Jolie tops a Reuters poll of the best celebrity humanitarians of 2007.

NICOLE KIDMAN & KEITH URBAN are expecting their first baby, accrding to the Daily Mail.  Kidman's rep rubbishes the report: "It is incorrect . . . she must have had about 30 babies by now."  Kidman ceratinly won't give it away until she's showing; that Botoxed brow gives the perfect poker face.

JIMMY FALLON:  The former SNL funnyman married girlfriend Nancy Juvonen, a Hollywood producer who worked on Fallon's 2005 romantic comedy Fever Pitch.

MARILYN MANSON:  Officially divorced from burlesque dancer Dita Von Teese.

HAYDEN PANETTIERE & MILO VENTIMIGLIA:  The Heroes co-stars are officially a couple.  She's 18; He's 30.  NTTAWWT.

JENNA FISCHER & DAVID SPADE:  Unofficially dating, according to the ever-reliable Star magazine.  She's 33; He's 43.  Don't underestimate the power of funny.

SEAN PENN:  Unofficially dining with a mystery brunette four days before filing for a divorce from Robin Wright Penn.  She's "very young, very attractive"; he's 47.

JIB-JAB rolled out its 2007 Year In Review, albeit with a soundtack that is so last century.

PAKISTAN:  Dramatic new video of the assassination of fmr Prime Minister Bhutto emerged Sunday, showing her slumping just after gunshots ring out.  The Pakistan government already offered to exhume her body.  Get your grassy knoll on.  Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party chose her 19-year-old son and her husband as co-leaders of the party.  The other main opposition party, led by Nawaz Sharif, another former prime minister, also decided Sunday to call off his previously announced boycott of the upcoming election.

IRAN has witnessed more than 240 protests during the past month, organized by various groups and segments of society against the policies of the Iranian government.

IRAQ:  At the start of December, the AQ-linked Islamic State in Iraq ordered a renewed bombing campaign against Iraqi security forces.  At month's end, we find that there was a slight uptick in suicide bombings, but that overall violence in Iraq has dropped to levels not seen on a sustained basis since the summer of 2005.  Iraq's interior ministry spokesman claimed that 75 percent of AQI's terrorist network had been destroyed this year, but that claim could not be independently verified and he did not elaborate on how the percentage was determined.  The Baghdad Zoo has been revitalized by US support troops.  General David Petraeus was named The Sunday Telegraph's Person of the Year.

GREYHOUND cheats at the track.  Let's go to the video.

THE SQUIRREL THREAT:  A militant squirrel is to blame for a quiet Midway, FL, neighborhood being awakened Thursday to cop cars and an armed SWAT team.

LUCKY KITTEN saved by mouth-to-mouth and heart massage from nurse mandy Wood.  The pic at the link suggests Lucky could be a candidate for the Cats Who Look Like Hitler website.

ALFIE the AFGHAN:  Saved by a shearing.

MONKEY in a HAT on a PLANE dies in quarrantine.

YEAR-END WEIRD QUIZ, courtesy of Metro.  BONUS:  Top 11 Weird Stories and poll, according to AOL News.