Dreams Of Noise

Sadness. Actress Jean Stapleton, best known for playing Archie Bunker's wife Edith on All In The Family, has passed away at the age of 90. She had a long, award-winning career on stage, screen, and television, and was pretty much universally beloved.

Rest well, Ms. Stapleton, and thanks. We'll miss ya, ya dingbat.

Great sadness. Larry Hagman, best known as both the conniving, villainous oilman J. R. Ewing and The Official Luckiest Man In The World, Major Anthony Nelson, has passed away at the age of 81.

Hagman was an excellent "utility" actor, equally capable with drama and comedy, and he had a long and distinguished career on stage, screen, and television. But, as Nelson, he somehow portrayed a man both in deep way over his head and yet quick-witted enough to survive each bounce his fortune took (and who, not coincidentally, had the live hand grenade of the ultimate wish fulfillment -- a gorgeous woman who loved him and who could literally fulfill his every desire... on TV in the prudish 1960s). And, as Ewing, he struck gold rather than oil, finding a truly iconic character -- a villain America loved to hate.

Farewell, Tony, J.R., and thanks so much.

Some by people we know and love:

• Heather Dale has made her and Ben's new album Perpetual Gift free for download, but consider kicking in for it, won't you?
• Amy McNally's Hazardous Fiddle is available for download at CD Baby.
• Three Weird Sisters have just released Third Thyme's The Charm. Short review: GET IT GET IT GET IT. Superb.
• I clean forgot that you can get new albums by Dr. Mary Crowell and Cat Faber, yay!
• And how could we forget the wonderful Cheshire Moon?
• One of my fellow Daily Kossacks, The Gimp, just had a feature on him and his work at Newsarama.
• Anne turned me on to The Mechanisms, and their musical/concept album Once Upon A Time (In Space).
• The musical Allegiance, about the internment of Japanese-Americans during WW2, stars the exquisite Lea Salonga and everybody's favorite, the god George Takei. Here are some highlights:
  
  
  
  
  Anything else we need to know about?

The perfect response, one I'm sure many of us thought of.

Also, Rochelle Riley's take in the Detroit Free Press.

And, I have a new tag for this -- nsffrp. Not Safe For Fearful, Repressed People.

All of the 2012 Tony Awards Show promos starring Neil Patrick Harris:

Okay, this will make you feel old and young again at the same time. It didn't occur to me that there might be an official page for Jeff Wayne's classic rock musical.

But the really really cool thing is that there is a new version for presentation in theaters, debuting next year, starring Liam Neeson as the Narrator -- in holographic form.

And a Martian tripod, blasting the audience with a heat ray.

This is gonna be so cool.

... why don't we have fun with it? Today: Got a favorite song about the weather? Link up to it.

Last night was the 2011 Tony awards broadcast. The winners are listed here.

( But that's not what you want to know about.... )

ETA: For those interested, Amazon is having a sale right now on The Book Of Mormon [Explicit] [+Digital Booklet] -- only $1.99. And they're having a general sale on show tunes as well, with lots of Broadway cast recordings for five bucks each.

On this date in 1894. If you haven't seen it yet, you really have to see today's Google logo.

What works of dance do you like best? I'm a sucker for the movies Singin' In The Rain and Tap, and I love watching Riverdance (although Michael Flatley leaves me cold). Dick Van Dyke can basically do no wrong, and it's a good thing that I don't actually have to choose between Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly, because I'm not sure I could. And here's a little Gregory Hines and Sammy Davis Jr. to make you just smile your ass off.

ETA: Yes, Virginia, there is a Google logo archive.