jim henson

(This is a compiled repost of items culled from my soon-to-be-extinct subsidiary blog, 'Brief Window')

1. Celebrating the life of Miriam Makeba.






Miriam Makeba passed away this week,
at age 76.

The legendary South African singer / social activist collapsed suddenly, immediately after a concert performance in Southern Italy.

Follow links to obituaries for her from the
Associated Press and Times Online.

Click over to You Tube to see video of Miriam Makeba in performance, or to Last.fm
to hear some of her music.


2. Tony Dow sez: “Having something shown at the Louvre is about as good as you can get”

'Gee Wally, d'you really think so?'



Have you heard the exciting news?

Former child-star Tony Dow, now 63, the quintessential big brother of the classic TV sitcom 'Leave It To Beaver', has a sculpture that will be on display next month at the Louvre.

His abstract bronze figure,
'Unarmed Warrior' has been named as part of a juried group of pieces that will be shown in the historic Paris museum from December 11th - 14th as part of the Societe Nationale des Beaux-Arts exhibition.

- Read more about the details of this story from the Associated Press or at the Los Angeles Times site.

It's so very tempting to poke fun at this story - -
as in, 'Finally! The Louvre is getting smart about building a reputation for itself!'

- - But really, it seems like any light-hearted joking about
'Wally Cleaver, the bigshot artist' takes second-place to the simple thought;

'Think how excited Tony Dow must be right now'.

Dow has pursued many professional careers outside of acting in his life, and has been painting, woodworking, and sculpting for many years.

- You can see more of his bronze works at the website for the Karen Lynne Gallery in Beverly Hills.















3. Just now tumbled to
'Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog'

Okay, by now it's old news to many who are
up-to-date on just this sort of thing, but if
- - like me - - you've been cruising along unaware of the online musical super-hero film
'Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog', you may want to click over now and check it out. Big fun!

'Buffy' auteur Joss Whedon is behind the
action-comedy-romance, initially intended for internet-only distribution.

Neil Patrick Harris is perfectly cast as an
'up & coming' super-villain out to prove himself, who is also harboring a secret crush on the girl he's seen at the laundromat.

The musical numbers are well suited to NPH's Stephen Sondheim credentials.

After a few months of advance promotion, the 43-minute film premiered online in July of 2008, initially serialized into three separate acts.

This charming little movie benefits from its low budget, and is also an interesting experiment in crafty distribution.

Follow the link to the Wikipedia entry to learn more of the story behind the movie, and about its creators and cast.

Currently it streams for free at Hulu. Go watch it!

You can also watch 'Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog' at the official website, where there's lots of other background material, links to soundtrack downloads, and info about the soon-to-be-released DVD edition, which is said to include lots of extras, including singing commentary - - ?