May 18May 18 Tom Kane, Iconic ‘Star Wars’ and ‘Powerpuff Girls’ Voice Actor, Has Died. RIP. 64 is crazy young.
May 21May 21 Gay rights and longtime Democratic Congressman Barney Frank dies at 86. I have mixed feelings about this one. Barney was a trailblazer in a much earlier era. He also had (and I steal this quote) a sense of humor he wielded like a wrecking ball. I have never seen anyone make Republicans so buttmad on the floor as he did. He's also one of the few politicians who ever directly took on Wall St. in my lifetimes. With that said, he spent his retirement years undoing more or less all the good that he did in office. He became a lobbyist for the very financial institutions he sought to regulate previously, he went after trans people directly and in his final act as a public figure, attacked Graham Platner. Way to shit on your own legacy, bud.
May 21May 21 Same here, Dan. He came to my college and gave an incredible speech in his active days. But yes, in later years something switched off..... I still look to his earlier legacy as good.
May 21May 21 I try to do the same with Giuliani, but it doesn't work for me. He is fully responsible for throwing his own legacy in the dumpster. As much as I'd like to give Barney a pass, I just can't.
May 22May 22 I'm having trouble finding a news source, but I learned (from Toby Marks of Banco De Gaia of all people) that Dick Parry died. He was a hell of a session musician, best known for his work with Pink Floyd. His sax solos are legendary. Spoiler Also, Pink Floyd is one of those things that the boomers are completely right about.
May 22May 22 RIP Rapper Rob Base, known for 'It Takes Two,' dies at 59 after private battle with cancer. I was there in '88 when this dropped. It turns out he was internationally known.
May 26May 26 Sonny Rollins, colossus of jazz saxophone, dies aged 95 https://www.theguardian.com/music/2026/may/26/sonny-rollins-jazz-saxophone-dies-aged-95
May 26May 26 I was lucky to see Sonny in 2012 shortly before he was forced to stop playing for health reasons. He was still a colossus. RIP to the true legend.
May 26May 26 He was also the last musician survivor of “Harlem 1958.” https://uptowngrandcentral.org/harlem-1958 With the death of his fellow saxophonist Benny Golson in 2024, Mr. Rollins became the last survivor of the 58 musicians captured by the photographer Art Kane in his famous Esquire magazine group portrait “Harlem 1958.” “I was a fan,” Mr. Rollins told The Times in recalling the photo shoot in 2024. “I was in the picture, but it wasn’t so much as a musician — although I happened to be there as a musician — but I had been following jazz all my short life up to that time, so I knew a great deal about the guys.” He added that he was particularly proud to have been photographed alongside “my particular idols, Coleman Hawkins and Lester Young.” Edited May 26May 26 by blessingx
May 27May 27 For those interested, WKCR is running a 48 hour Sonny Rollins Memorial Broadcast Friday and Saturday. http://wkcr.streamguys1.com/live.m3u
May 30May 30 RIP Marcia Lucas. Not only did she put up with being married to George Lucas, she took the steaming pile that was his ideas and turned it into A New Hope. George Lucas is the definitive example that it is better to be lucky than talented. At every turn, he blundered into meeting people with abilities far beyond his own who could elevate his murky and misconceived visions into cultural touchstones. Peter Crushing was the absolute master class at portraying a bad guy. Sir Alec Guinness could inflect the most hokey dialogue imaginable in a way that resonated with like six different generations. James Earl Jones had the voice of all time. Irvin Kershner was a deftly skilled directory with decades of experience. Unlike George, Lawrence Kasdan actually was an accomplished screenwriter. Also Carrie Fisher was lighting in a bottle. I'm sorry, this is about about George's ex-wife, not The Neck himself.
June 1Jun 1 Not a person, but RIP Juno Download(!) The DJing world has been moving to a subscription model for a while now. djay Pro, one of the most popular DJing apps, is designed around the use of streaming services. From the comments section of a DJ I know:
June 4Jun 4 RIP Marjane Satrapi, director of ‘Persepolis’, “who died of sadness a little over a year after the death of Mattias Ripa, her husband and the love of her life” https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/marjane-satrapi-dead-persepolis-director-56-1236613671/ Edited June 5Jun 5 by blessingx
June 11Jun 11 RIP expiremental photographer Duane Michals https://petapixel.com/2026/06/11/duane-michals-one-of-the-most-innovative-photographers-of-the-20th-century-dies-at-94/
June 12Jun 12 RIP David Hockney at 88. Saw a massive retrospective in Paris last year that was impressive and improved my opinion of his work significantly, as if that matters.
June 12Jun 12 RIP Gene Shalit, who passed at the tender age of 100. Spoiler He left the day Muskrat hit $1T in wealth and Mr Beast reached half a billion YouTube subs. My head cannon is that he said "I'm a centenarian. F this noise, I'm out of here!"
June 15Jun 15 Another one - pianist Abdullah Ibrahim https://www.theguardian.com/music/2026/jun/15/pianist-abdullah-ibrahim-dies
June 16Jun 16 47 minutes ago, blessingx said: Another one - pianist Abdullah Ibrahim https://www.theguardian.com/music/2026/jun/15/pianist-abdullah-ibrahim-dies Always thought Dollar Brand was a way better stage name, but religious considerations etc. RIP.
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