Between a busy workload, snowstorms, and shaving pounds of hair off my face, Top 5 Tuesday was bumped to Top 5 (and a bonus) Wednesday.

So here you are, Scene and Heard's "Covered" In Love Mix. (you can't make a Valentines mix without putting some cheese in the title)

While Valentines Day is basically a stupid thing (do you really need an excuse to buy your lady flowers and tell her you love her if you do actually love her?), 'love' is the thing written about in songs and stories more than anything else. (Zombies comes in at at a close second). Love makes the creative world go round. But I didn't want to give you the typical love cheese of songs. So since love is a shapeless something without a definitive definition, I wanted to share my five favorite COVERS of love songs, re-interpreted to be better than the original conceptions. I love these songs and I'm going to buy them flowers tomorrow.

5. Otis Redding - Cupid
Okay, there isn't much difference between Sam Cooke and my boy Otis. But when you put this cut on, you don't even need a bottle of merlot and candlelight to get where you're it's inevitably taking you and your lover.
buy!

4. Gael Garcia Bernal - If You Rescue Me (Chanson des Chats)
From the beautiful flick, Science of Sleep, this adorable ditty is a total reinterpretation of The Velvet Underground's "After Hours." Spin this for that babe you're crushing on, and you can thank me afterwards.
buy!

3. Noel Gallagher - This Guy's In Love With You
You wouldn't expect a hard-boozing, big mouthed, alternative rock maestro of the 90's to pull off a beautiful acoustic performance of a Burt Bacharach tune. But if their's anything the Oasis songwriter is full of besides himself--it's wonderful surprises like this one.
buy!

2. Elliott Smith - Thirteen
This Big Star song is widely considered the cutest young love song of the 90s. (Limp Bizkit's "Nookie" provides tough competition.) Elliott Smith took the greatest song he never wrote and made it one of the greatest songs he covered and made even better.
buy!

1. Ryan Adams - Wonderwall
When this Oasis tune flooded the airwaves in the 90s, it made everyone want to be in love. Ryan Adams took it on his fantastic "Love Is Hell" record, broke it down to it's barest bones and brassed it into his own fragile display of longing.
buy!

BONUS: I give you the greatest love song ever written.
VAN HALEN - HOT FOR TEACHER

*if you dig these tunes, please support the artists and buy their stuff.

And while we're talking about love and mixtapes, this book is the best thing I ever read.

Some call it "the winter blues." I call it ENTERTAINMENT CATCHUP TIME!

Now that it's finally dropped below 60 degrees this week, we can be reminded that it's January and we're being slowly drug into the harsh biting belly of winter. And you know what that means? It means I stop going to the gym. I cut all social ties. Instead, I bask in the warmth of my bedroom watching DVDs and playing video games while forgetting what it means to interract with others, but make up for it by living the lives of countless others in their much more exciting stories. Don't fight it! Embrace it! Then when spring comes, you can chit chat with your friends about all these neato movies and books and they'll wonder where you get the time to take in all this stuff.

So for this week, here's the top 5 things we'll be scening and hearding here at Scene And Heard HQ quite frequently throughout the rest of winter's frosty days.

5. Rolling Stone, Cover To Cover
It's the digital archive library of Rolling Stone, from the first issue up through last May. Ever'body must get Stoned! This will, no doubt, keep me busy, as I look up random artists and then read up on everything about them that was ever printed in the Stone.

4. Elliott Smith catalog
Other than Mr. Smith, is there a voice out there in the music ether as frost-bitten as it is warm and comforting? No sir! It's beauty that hurts! And if you ask me, that's what winter is all about. So, I'll spend countless hours listening to Figure 8, Either/Or, and last year's New Moon, not being totally sure whether he's melting my ice or freezing my bones, and being totally cool with that.

3. Little Miss Sunshine
You can choose from millions of movies to watch this winter. But are there are any comedies as warm and loveable as this one? Naw, doubt it.

2. Kevin Smith-a-thon
While View Askew is currently filming a new flick starring Seth Rogen called "Zach and Miri Make A Porno" and planning for ANOTHER FILM later this year, things are shaping up quite well for us Smith fans. So what better way to prepare than by brushing up on our Jay And Silent Bob Quotes by running through the View Askew Universe in chronological order? Started watching Clerks last night as matter fact. Jersey Girl not included.

1. Holy Heroes, Batman!-a-thon
It can't be a coincidence that heroes have come roaring back in a big way this decade. We need to be saved in a lot of ways. Music, politics, writers strikes, wars, terror attacks, illegal downloading, school shootings, etc. And as far as comic book nerds go, it seems their entire nerdiverse is being adapted into movies and games. So to prepare for hot anticipations like Iron Man, The Dark Knight, and The Hulk...you can bet I'll be perusing it all. From watching season one of Heroes, to slashing through all the Xmen games as Wolverine on Playstation, to watching all the movies...good and bad. I'll even put myself through Batman & Robin, because what's chillier than The Schwartzenattor as Mr. Freeze?

"Allow me to break the ice. My name is Freeze. Learn it well. For it's the chilling sound of your doom."