1. Finding the video for Juniper’s “Making Gerard Smile” on YouTube after years of wanting to hear it just one more time.

I know that the whole celestial-jukebox thing will eventually result in every music fan who’s ever had an itch to hear a song in their life feeling like a rat trapped in a laboratory maze that’s run out of pellets and saddled by an emptiness in her life that’s not really explicable but still pretty painful, but you guys, this is a song that I first heard 10 (maybe 11!) years ago during a viewing of the VHS-distributed indiepop compilation Munch Part 2, and I fell in love with it instantly then. (The drum fill on the chorus gets me every time.) But I was too much of an idiot to get my shit together and order the 7-inch it was on, and it was lost to time. I searched for it every so often, but came up empty until earlier this week, when I was researching the Dum Dum Girls and found out someone put this very out-of-print (hell, out of format!) compilation on YouTube in its entirety. Fans of the Magnetic Fields, La Buena Vida, or any of the Best New Musicable groups Pitchfork’s on about these days should take heed.

2. Patrick Stump taking people to sonics school. If his screed helps even one person stop being a sputtering idiot on the Internet for like five minutes, we all will have won.

3. Janeane Garofalo live, and on 24. Freaking awesome. If I say any more I’ll sound like a fangirl.

4. Justin Timberlake’s “Better Not Together.” It’s a ballad that’s kind of slight, but the good, completely earmwormy kind of slight.

5. Being exposed to the Jimi Hendrix tribute Stone Free during a late lunch on a snowy day. Sure, some of it is crazy not good—I am never going to like the Pretenders, no matter how you try to convince me—but PM Dawn’s “You Got Me Floatin’” sounded great over the bar’s sound system, and Belly’s cover of “Are You Experienced” is, as expected, dreamy and lovely.

6. Bruce at the Super Bowl, crotch-shot and all. I think we’ve all written enough about this to realize why.

7. Neither of these guys being on the second Hollywood Week episode of American Idol:

Unfortunately, that was about the only part of said episode that was any good at all.

8. Lil Wayne proving to the world that people who bowl regularly are more relaxed than their counterparts. Just look at that smile, will you?

9. Naps. They really don’t get enough respect from music bloggers, but in my world, they are Best New Everything every single time I get to take one.

10. “Nick Cave” on Twitter. “Looking for a new nurse. Must be willing to change name to Anita and know how to make a fine cup of hot cocoa.”

11. Live baseball is back on TV! The MLB Network is showing the Caribbean Series all this week! And pitchers and catchers report next Saturday!

12. Moneyball: The Movie. It’s kind of a good news / bad news thing, because it means that Steven Soderbergh is pushing back the Cleopatra musical scored with Guided By Voices songs for at least a year, but… Brad Pitt as Billy Beane?? Seriously.

1. Fighting with Gene Simmons. Sure, there were others who tried to ruffle my feathers this week, but their attempts to outsmart (or at least out-word count) me were little husks of nothingness compared to the efforts of Dr. Love, who tried to assert his dominance by interrupting a nationalistic rant to let me know that I would not be able to get with his finely curated army of flip-flop-wearing groupies. Few fates, I should let you all know, are as tragic.

2. The alternate post-’90s universe conjured up by some amazing commenters in a simple post about Chris Cornell. Go read it. You won’t be sorry.

3. Twelve or so different people telling me that they were excited over Lily Allen’s It’s Not Me, It’s You. What’s this? Shared anticipation for an album? The mix of songs from It’s Not Me making the rounds this week was, sadly, not as delightful as the Mark Ronson-assisted collection of jams that preceded the release of Alright, Still… a few years back, but it certainly whetted my appetite.

4. The Defiant Brewing Company, Pearl River, N.Y. Specifically, their fresh-from-the-keg stout. Do it, Rockland County!

5. The Diamond Dave Edition of Assteroidz. NB: I’m still not very good at it. But a well-placed Savage Steve Holland reference is always welcome.

6. Live hockey. I grew up an Islanders fan, and therefore felt a pang of traitorous regret when I cheered for the Rangers’ first goal in their game against the Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday night. But the in-person hockey experience is really about a thousand times better than just watching the game on TV, and not just because you get to see between-period entertainment like fan-on-fan pedalcart races.

7. Wonderswan. What started as an attempt to maybe-humorously poke fun at a somewhat overheated Guardian scene report led to me finding a fun little bunch of ragged Merge Records revivalists. There are worse fates.

8. The possibility that this Sunday’s Super Bowl will have a slightly daytime-TV feel, thanks to the ads running in between downs. Cash4Gold (with MC Hammer!), yes; ShamWow, no. (At least, not yet…)

9. The moment that referring to Robin Pecknold as “The Peck” made me want to watch Ghostbusters. Specifically, this scene:

This also led to me wondering if this scene, were Ghostbusters remade in the present day, would have the whole joke about the relationship between the mayor and the cardinal. (Raised Catholic, you know.)

10. Bobby Valentino’s Lights, Camera, R & B mix. In contrast to the truncated Lily mix, here’s a bunch of solid R & B from the man who surprised me with some super-sweet soul earlier this month. Mostly I’m glad for Bobby that this tape is out, because it might mean that his album won’t be subject to the many delays that so many other artists of his ilk have had to suffer through over the past few fiscal quarters.

11. Kelly Clarkson’s big grin in the “My Life Would Suck Without You” video. Sure, it may be a well-practiced act by a consummate up-from-the-fan-ranks pro, but I don’t know. This just made me happy.

12. “Meet the journalist and documentary maker who gets a camera-lens implanted in his eye.” A late entry (via Eric), but still: Whoa.

1. Tuesday. I got the chills, even though my heat was turned all the way up. Also: it allowed me to revisit this. And finally: Can we just take a moment to appreciate the majesty of Aretha Franklin’s hat? OK, thanks.

2. The Vistoso Bosses, “Delirious.” Any other week, this would have been No. 1. But this wasn’t just any week, etc.

3. The prospect of Britney Spears hiring an army of ghostwriters to pen her autobiography, thus keeping at least a few music journalists employed for a while. OK, this is something of a pipe dream. But I like to think of it as a philanthropic fantasy! Brit Brit is apparently getting around $14 million to “write” her autobiography, which will be scattered over three to five books. She could even employ multiple writers—one for each chapter, even? Why not? Dream big!

4. The prospect of seeing Lauren Graham as Adelaide in Guys & Dolls. One of my favorite musicals gets one of my favorite modern comedic actresses in its juiciest part. Sure, there’s the question of whether or not she can sing, but I have little doubt that she’ll be able to pull off “Bushel And A Peck” 100% convincingly.

5. “YOOOO WHY WON’T YOU LET ME BE GREAT!!!”

6. The top three singles in this year’s Pazz & Jop Poll. I fully admit that “Single Ladies” is pretty regressive as far as its gender politics go, but that’s what making up your own lyrics in the heat of the dance is for. (C’mon, there has to be a great song about the wondrousness of adorable puppies that can be an exact match, meter-wise.)

7. That new U2 song. It’s evolution, baby!

8. This picture of Lil Wayne holding a bowling ball, which may make me actually tune into Katie Couric’s I’m Becoming The Baba Wawa Of CBS Grammy Special:

Made me think he could be The Dude in a Lebowski remake. I’m just saying.

9. Lily Allen’s Radio 1 fill-in stint. She played her songs, she played new Ms. Dynamite, she got sorta salty about Katy Perry… all while giving a hosting performance that should make her want to eventually become some country’s favorite game show host, albeit one with a sidekick who has a strong Wankiness Detector.

10. We’re one week closer to the end of this season’s American Idol audition episodes. Although the way this year’s first four episodes have seemed like the producers waving the “sorry, we’re out of good contestants!” white flag makes me nervous as to how many Ramiele Malubays and Robbie Carricos this year’s semifinalist crop will bring forth.

11. On the Internet, nobody knows if you’re an actor trying to put one over on everyone with an attempt at a hip-hop career. Something I never thought of: You guys, what if that Joaquin Phoenix MySpace is a fake? I mean, just look at what happened to Kanye! Yoooo!

12. Learning about the story behind Steam’s “Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye.” For pretty much any reason you can think of.

1. Ida Maria at the Mercury Lounge, NYC. Like this wasn’t going to top my week. The Norwegian singer’s East Coast debut could definitely be described as “chaotic,” but her dedicating it to the plane that landed in the Hudson River yesterday should have served as a portent. Nevertheless, she’s a star, someone who can be utterly fascinating while merely being engrossed by the way her beaded dress glimmers in the spotlight when she moves.

2. The end of not everything, but a lot of things. Virgin Megastore, Circuit City, Indie 103.1, Dodgeball, other stuff that I probably missed: On the one hand, the closure of all those record stores will probably result in prices going down for a split second; on the other, who has money to buy $18.99 records at 20% off these days, anyway?

3. R & B Kings 2009. Would’ve been 2009’s real album of the year so far were it not for the presence of 50 Cent.

4. The Songsmith remix of “Wonderwall.” Gallaghers gone happy hardcore?

The slowdown before the verses start again = best.

5. Bret Michaels incessantly wearing his own band’s shirts on Rock Of Love Bus: Somehow Not Sponsored By Lysol. Incredibly, I do not mean Poison here. I guess he maybe thinks he’ll get away with it because most people won’t figure out what “BMB” means?

6. Being reminded of how Charles Schulz used to sneak a little bit of music pedagogy into his comic strips. Would an editor let him get away with that today? Doubtful.

7. Modest Mouse, “Float On.” Hands up if you had this and/or “I Have Been Floated” during that whole awkward Hudson River plane incident yesterday.

8. The Joy Formidable. Sugar-rush guitar-pop from Wales. Have I mentioned that between this band, Ida Maria, the new Franz Ferdinand album, and the aforementioned R & B mixtape, I’m more excited about music than I have been in maybe months?

9. Janeane Garofalo on 24 being the catalyst for my first serious ’90s-nostalgia trip of 2009. I spent a sizeable chunk of Monday night hunting down Suede videos and wondering to anyone who would listen if they were one of the top 20 bands of the past 20 years. Everyone said “no,” but I’m still debating.

10. Jade’s “Don’t Walk Away.” Was reminded of this song’s utter jam status when researching the SWV/Survivor post earlier this week.

11. This pun. It really did have the right stuff.

12. The knowledge that next week’s episodes of American Idol will only be an hour long each. We all need something to look forward to in these dark times, you know?