Karl 
THE LEGEND LIVES ON from the Chippewa on down of the big lake they called Gitche Gumee. This is the 30th anniversary of the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald, immortalized in song by Gordon Lightfoot. Three decades after the tragedy, the Fitzgerald remains the most famous of the 6,000 ships that disappeared on the Great Lakes. The massive 729-foot ore carrier sank in the eastern end of Lake Superior during a fierce storm that pounded the ship with 30-foot waves. The crew of 29 men perished; without witnesses, a definitive reason has never been determined. A Coast Guard report suggested that faulty hatches failed to keep water out of the ship’s cargo holds, though others believe the ship struck an uncharted shoal and took on water. William LaParl, 76, a member of the ship's first crew, doesn't buy the Coast Guard's theory. The song spent 21 straight weeks on the pop charts, peaking at No. 2.
ON THE PITCHFORK: Good reviews of the John Peel tribute compilation and the nifty reissue of Guided by Voices' Propeller.
OASIS brothers Liam and Noel Gallagher don't care much for the current crop of British indie bands.
CHUCK BERRY is suing three leading karaoke music distributors, claiming they sold sing-along versions of his most popular hits without paying royalties or obtaining licenses.
U2 with THE KILLERS' BRANDON FLOWERS: The Las Vegas cameo was noted here yesterday, but now Music For Kids Who Can't Read Good is killing music.
SHAWN COLVIN is much less depressed as a spokeswoman for GlaxoSmithKline, crediting antidepressants with saving her career and perhaps her life. What would Tom Cruise say?
BROKEN SOCIAL SCENE: A number of blogs just turned up Soaring with Eagles' post of Leslie Feist, Emily Haines (also of Metric), and Amy Milan (also of Stars) posing for Canada's Fashion magazine. Sadly, new BSSer Lisa Lobsinger is not pictured. ALSO: Feist gets a nice backgrounder in the San Francisco Chronicle: “So what does her album sound like? Imagine the emotionally vulnerable songs of Joni Mitchell updated with subtle beats, soft synths and a slight cocktail-jazz twist…”
HARRY AND THE POTTERS are coming for your children.
MICHAEL and JOE JACKSON: Joe notes that son Jacko won't be living in the US; No Rock and Roll Fun has a headline with a great Pulp Fiction allusion.
A JOHN WATERS CHRISTMAS: Brooklyn Vegan notes that the cult director is taking his wacky CD to the stage in CA and NY, including a date with Jonathan Richman.
THE WHITE STRIPES' new video is directed by Michel Gondry and features Conan O'Brien. Stereogum points the way to it in Quicktime and Windows formats.
JIMI HENDRIX: NPR has a streaming interview with Charles Cross, author of The Room Full of Mirrors: A Biography of Jimi Hendrix, to remember the anniversary of the Experience's first headlining gig.
THE DECEMBERISTS' Colin Meloy has set solo tour dates, most in cities near you.
BIIRDIE has a L.A.-psychedelic folk sound, though with the occasional electronic bleeping, just to let you know it's modern. Stylus wasn't all that impressed with Morning Kills the Dark, but Glorious Noise and PopMatters thought it was alright. I enjoyed the streaming tracks at MySpace. You can also download other tracks legally from the band's website.
THE FRENCH HOTEL: The LAPD investigation for which she seems to be a material witness apparently involves Girls Gone Wild creator Joe Francis captured on tape at gunpoint in a humiliating position.
CHARLIZE THERON and HALLE BERRY aren't having a catfight? Count me as… disappointed!
MATTHEW McCONAUGHEY looks to be People magazine's next “Sexiest Man Alive” later this month. Well, alright, alright, alright…
LOHAN LOWDOWN: Is Li-Lo hot to marry boyfriend Jared Leto? Love would be a better reason than the convoluted revenge scheme outlined by MSNBC gossip Jeannette Walls.
BRADGELINA UPDATE: Jolie makes Us Weekly's list of “grossest kisses” — twice. Meanwhile, Jennifer Aniston told Diane Sawyer that she feels no resentment when she sees photographs of ex-husband Pitt with Jolie and her adopted kids. But was she any more convincing than she is in movies?
JESSICA SIMPSON is facing criticism from humanitarian agencies after she allegedly interrupted a 10-day charity visit to Kenya to take a safari, despite insisting she was too ill to visit local children. ALSO: Simpson won't even answer Access Hollywood's softball questions about her marriage.
JARHEAD: Sam Mendes' Gulf War drama is suffering with foreign critics because it doesn't make enough of a political statement.
GEORGE CLOONEY: Is he the lead actor or a supporting actor in Syriana? Only the director knows for sure…
ELLEN DeGENERES is going cold turkey on the cigs. And to think Portia De Rossi kisses that mouth….
ALBERT BROOKS talks to John Stossel about how Sony Pictures came to drop his new movie, Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World.
MAUREEN DOWD: The New York Times columnist gets no respect. Her new book, Are Men Necessary? is getting a scathing review… in The New York Times Book Review this Sunday.
EVA LONGORIA: The Desperate Housewife knows how to handle a gun. She and her family “kill wild pigs for tamales.” And she beat Kiefer Sutherland and Michael Douglas at a shooting range while filming the movie The Sentinel.
“BODY SUSHI” uses a semi-nude woman as a buffet table. Yes, I'm restraining myself.
EURO-RIOTS: French police said the wave of riots appeared to be waning, despite a 13th consecutive night of firebombs and torched cars. Yet rioting persisted in some places for a 14th night, particularly in southern France. Meanwhile, vandals set fires in Belgium for a third straight night in what authorities called copycat violence. The Brussels Journal notes a common denominator is governmental treatment of Muslim immigrant areas as “no-go zones.”
IRAQ: Yesterday, I noted that London's Independent and Italian state TV were claiming that the US used chemical weapons in Fallujah. The Independent has now figured out that white phosphorus shells are incendiary weapons, not chemical. But they haven't figured out that the reported claims do not jibe with the actual effects of white phosphorus.
SPECIAL ELECTIONS: The Village Voice thinks they were a big win for New Democrats. Michael Barone, author of The Almanac of American Politics, blogs the results from Virginia and New Jersey, concluding that the patterns look pretty much the same as in the 2004 election.
MARY MAPES, fired as a CBS News producer after her 60 Minutes II story on President Bush's National Guard service, continues to embarrass herself. Out promoting her book, Mapes tells ABC that she had no journalistic obligation to prove the authenticity of the memos at the heart of the report. Her book calls Karl Rove “the mastermind of the Republican attack against the story,” but tells WaPo media maven Howard Kurtz, “I'm not saying I had any proof at all” of his involvement.
NICE DAY FOR A… PUG WEDDING: Bobby and Gracie got hitched Sunday at the Animal Activity Center in Clinton Township, MI. More photos at the link.
RUNAWAY OSTRICH eluded Cypriot police for three hours after escaping from a farm and attacking a car.
DEER, ELK and MOOSE are more likely to be hit by vehicles at this time of year because they are out looking for love (in all the wrong places). Darrell Crabbe, executive director of the Saskatchewan Wildlife Federation, said deer hardly eat, rarely sleep and think only about sex in November.
EMERALD RETREIVER: A dog breeder in Alhambra, CA, is mystified after his golden retriever gave born to a green puppy, according to a Local 6 News report. The puppy has been named Wasabi. Pics at the link.
TWO DRUNKEN MOOSE invaded an elderly home in southern Sweden looking for more of those cool fermented apples. It also explains why the residents all seemed so happy.
