THE WEEKEND STARTS HERE:

THE WRECK of the EDMUND FITZGERALD: The legend lives o­n from the Chippewa o­n down of the big lake they called Gitche Gumee.This is the 41st anniversary of the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald -- 729 feet-long, 75 feet in breadth, 39 feet in depth, weighing 13,632 gross tons -- an ore bulk carrier with a capacity of 25,000 tons. When it was launched o­n June 7 1958, at the Great Lakes Engineering Works in River Rouge, Michigan, Fitzgerald was the largest ship o­n the Great Lakes. Here's misty, water-colored video of the launch.

The "Queen of the Great Lakes" sank in the eastern end of Lake Superior during a fierce storm -- including snow squalls -- 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. A documentary created and aired by the Discovery Channel concluded the loss was due to freak waves that overwhelmed the faulty hatches.

After the wreck, the Rev. Richard Ingalls went to Mariners' Church in Detroit and rang its bell 29 times, o­nce for each life lost. The church continues to hold an annual memorial, which includes reading the names of the crewmen and ringing the church bell. Here's video of Rev. Ingalls recounting that night.  More than 250 people gathered at the church for the 40th anniversary, which was expanded to remember victims from all tragedies on the Great Lakes. And here's a remembrance from a brother of one of the lost crew members.

At the request of family members surviving her crew, Fitzgerald's 200 lb. bronze bell was recovered by the Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society in 1995, as a joint project with the National Geographic Society, Canadian Navy, Sony Corporation, and Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians. The bell is now o­n display in the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum. Here's a brief video from o­ne of the underwater explorations of the wreck. Fmr newsman Larry Elliot recalls the remote expedition.  And here is a story from one of the two scuba divers to ever reach the sunken hull.  Throw in the 3-D animation, and you'll feel just like Bill Paxton.

The song by Gordon Lightfoot spent 21 straight weeks o­n the pop charts, peaking at No. 2. Here, Lightfoot discusses writing the song, and the lyrics he's changed.  And there's a homemade video for it, which I highly recommend. Beats the tar of Celine Dion! (PS:  Ken King -- who has lived o­n the U.P. of  Michigan, says the gales of November are quite something.)

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SHARON VAN ETTEN advance streams the reissue of (it was) because i was in love.

BECK stops by Morning Becomes Eclectic for a session.

DANIEL JOHNSON stops by Morning Becomes Eclectic for a session.

WILCO shares a  previously unreleased Being There-era rarity, "Dynamite My Soul."

BEE BEE SEA shares "Sonic Boomerang."

THE MOUNTAIN GOATS: John Darnielle talks to Columbus Alive about Goths, jazz, and keeping it fresh. (Thx, LHB.)

PATTERSON HOOD (Drive-By Truckers) talks to Stereogum about moving cross-country, the state of America and his next steps as a songwriter.

LEE RENALDO listed his favorite albums at The Quietus.

STEELY DAN Soldiers On.

NOW SHOWING: This weekend's wide releases are Daddy's Home 2, which was not advance screened for critics; and Murder on the Orient Express, which is currently scoring 66 percent on the ol' Tomatometer.

ROMAN POLANSKI: Five more women have come forward and claimed that Polanski sexually assaulted them.

JEREMY PIVEN is accused of sexual assault by a third woman.

LOUIS C.K.: The New York premiere of Louis C.K.'s upcoming film, I Love You, Daddy, has been canceled in advance of a New York Times story on the comedian.

HARASSMENT, SCANDAL, AND THE MEDIA: Is a Hollywood Witch Hunt Brewing?

STAR WARS:  Rian Johnson will create a brand-new trilogy, separate from the episodic Skywalker saga, the first of which he is also set to write and direct.

JENNIFER GARNER & CASEY AFFLECK helped Ben Affleck into rehab.

BENEDICT CUMBERBATCH, Interviewed by Radiohead's Thom Yorke.

MATTHEW McCONNAUGHEY delivers frozen turkeys. alrightalrightalright

JOHN HILLERMAN, the actor who made a career out of playing snooty types, including Tom Selleck's fastidious estate caretaker Jonathan Quayle Higgins III on Magnum, P.I., died Thursday. He was 84. I first saw him on Ellery Queen, iirc.

A KITTEN rescued from Hurricane Maria finds a doggo brother.

AUSSIE JOCKEY suspended for punching a horse. Caboche pawn in game of life.

PURR-FECT Furniture for Cats.

MORTAL TOMCATS, captured in action.