Karl 
GO, JOHNNIE, GO, GO, GO: After apprenticing with blues masters like Muddy Waters and Albert King on the club scene, Johnnie Johnson teamed with Chuck Berry for hits like “Roll Over Beethoven” and “No Particular Place to Go.” Johnson often composed the music on piano, then Berry converted it to guitar (explaining why these classics are not written in “guitar keys”) and wrote the lyrics. In fact, Berry's “Johnny B. Goode” was a tribute to Johnson, who died Wednesday at 80. Uncredited for his work with Berry, Johnson had become a bus driver when, in 1987, he was tracked down by Keith Richards, who relaunched Johnson's career — producing a solo album for Johnson and campaigning to get the pianist into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Berry was returning from Europe and not available for comment, but Bo Diddley, who performed with Johnson on Feb. 9th, called Johnson “a great man and a great musician.”
OLIVIA TREMOR CONTROL multi-instrumentalist John Fernandes was interviewed in Flagpole about the band's mini-reunion at the 40 Watt in Athens and U.K. festival dates.
THE SHINS: James Mercer, singer/songwriter/guitarist for the band talks to NewCity Chicago.
THE SOPRANOS begins production of its six season April 29th, to air in early 2006. Though creator David Chase has publicly said this is the last season, Michael Imperioli says he's “not sure it's the last season.”
CATS AND DOGS: Wisconsin residents voted to make feral cats an unprotected species at the spring meeting of the Conservation Congress, but Governor Jim Doyle opposes the idea. In Norway, a dog owner is being sued after the dog frightened a moose into a residential area, where it damaged a swimming pool. Meanwhile, in the States, Three Dog Bakery is baking Oreo-esque cookies for dogs and their owners to enjoy together.
BRITNEY SPEARS: Golden Fiddle lets loose with a little Photoshop phun.
ALICIA KEYS apparently decided to go into music to avoid prostitution. Hey, in Hungary, an Alicia Keys CD and some paid sex may soon be one-stop shopping. But when I read about a woman allegedly forcing her 12-year-old daughter into prostitution and trading a 14-year-old daughter for a car, I can see Keys' point.
IRAQ: While insurgents have launched a few big attacks recently and taken a U.S. contractor hostage, Austin Bay writes that the insurgents' “Iraqi Tet” strategy is likely to fail. StrategyPage also has a new article about the use of rewards versus informants in Iraq. The Washington Post has a dispatch from Mosul about the success of the grinding counterinsurgency operation being carried out by U.S. troops, including a former Brooklyn gang member (bringing to mind Rick Blaine's advice to Major Strasser). And a new book suggests that The New York Times' reporting in Iraq leaves a bit to be desired.
STARSTRUCK: A mixed review in the San Francisco Chronicle suggests that Michael Joseph Gross' book on the twisted marriage of celebrities and fans might be interesting.
PORN STARLET JENNA JAMESON and her uber-publisher Judith Regan are getting into a hot girl-on-girl legal action. No plans for the video announced yet.
FDA FLIP-FLOP: one day after rejecting a similar request, federal health advisers recommended allowing silicone-gel breast implants to return to the U.S. market, concluding that the “stripper look” is increasingly popular. Actually, if the FDA agrees, there will be strict limits on the use of such implants. Moreover, I joked yesterday that the saline implants looked more natural, whereas the linked story says the opposite, which suggests that I don't spend enough time in gentlemen's clubs.
THE HILLARY METER: The Rassmussen Reports polling firm will measure public perceptions of Sen. Clinton twice monthly, in anticipation of a presidential run.
PERSNICKETY SOCIALISTS: The Socialist Scholars Conference was cancelled this year after seven of the group's 16 board members resigned, “in protest of the lack of democratic and participatory governance procedures.” Given the intensely felt political beliefs of those involved, co-founder Bogdan Denitch characterized the parting as an almost inevitable outcome. “It's not unfair to say that people on the left tend to be more persnickety,” he said. “Conservative people on the right tend to respect authority. People on the left are taught to question authority.”
MICROSOFT WORD Grammar Checker Are No Good, Scholar Conclude. That headline cleared Microsoft's grammar checker. At this site, I use neither a grammar checker nor a spell-checker, which explains a lot.
WARREN BUFFETT: The billionaire investor is playing dumb about one aspect of the scandal-ridden American International Group.
THE MOUNTAIN GOATS or Bruce Springsteen? Pretty Fakes has a pop quiz.
JEFF TWEEDY: Artforum has a Tweedy-centric writeup of the NY Public Library panel on filesharing.
TEENAGE FANCLUB'S Norman Blake is interviewed by Poptones, where he talks about whether the band will go full-on indie for the just-completed album.
PIXIES: The reunion continues, though mostly at festivals.
LISTS: I've often said on this site that people make lists to start conversations or arguments. A Boston Globe columnist agrees.
JANET JACKSON almost killed The Onion.
MISSISSIPPI: Although Montana has finally outlawed drinking while driving — aparently under threat of losing federal highway funds — it's still legal in Ole Miss.
GAY MARRIAGE NIXED IN MASSACHUSSETS between two sex offenders confined at the same facility.
CULT OF THE iPod: President Bush is stealing music. Business Week calls the iPod Shuffle “The Little iPod That Could.” And the iPod's domination of the MP3 player market caused Apple to beat Wall Street's earnings and profit forecasts.
METAMORPHOSIS, NOW: a protein wisdom sudden fiction from Jeff Goldstein.
IRAN: The New York Times confirmed the report linked here yesterday that Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon shared aerial photos of Iranian nuclear facilities with President Bush. U.S. officials said said Sharon was clearly pressuring Bush not to allow the European negotiations with Iran to drag on, which may also explain Sharon's public statements that Israel will not mount a unilateral attack aimed at destroying Iran's nuclear capability.
LEFTY BLOGMEISTER Markos Moulitsas Zúniga — creator of the Daily Kos, is setting out to create a network of interactive community blogs devoted to sports.
RIPPED FROM THE HEADLINES: A set of numerals written on the back of a dead man's hand turned out to be a licence plate number that led police to his suspected killers. Undoubtedly, the Law and Order script is already being written.
ANOTHER DAY, ANOTHER TEACHER accused of allegedly gettin' it on with one of her students. In this case, it's alleged that she's havin' his baby, Paul Anka-style. Or Fantasia-style, for you youngsters.
TODAY’S NEWS was brought to you by the letter “J” and the word “persnickety.”
