DVD's are really wonderful things. I'm not just saying that (although I did just say that). They take up less space than tapes, they have tons of extra features, and you can skip around using a menu function to wherever you want, without having to go through fast forward and rewind. I recently bought some more, so I'm gonna rave a little.

Broadway: The Golden Age is a priceless compilation of interviews with actors and others who were around during the period from about 1945 to about 1965 -- the so-called "Golden Age" of Broadway. What comes across to me are three things.

First, repeatedly you hear of the sense of community that existed among entertainers in NYC at the time. As Barbara Cook says, the actors not only all knew each other, but they knew the jazz musicians and the strippers and the comics. Add to this Carol Burnett's story about "the dress" -- the $20 dress that she and three other girls bought to use for auditions, and the one who used it had to have it cleaned and put back for the next one to use.

Second, you hear of the passing of knowledge by observing how other actors perform. And it seems to be generational -- the older interviewees speak of seeing Laurette Taylor in The Glass Menagerie; the younger ones speak of seeing Julie Harris or Kim Stanley.

Third, there is an elegaic quality to many of the interviews toward the end. There's a sense that, for a short while, there was this Golden Age that will never come again -- and that those who took part didn't really know it was a golden age, or that things would ever change.

That's Entertainment! Yes, many of us saw this one when it first came out in 1976, for MGM's fiftieth anniversary. But did you know there were two sequals? Well, I got the boxed set -- all three installments, plus a bonus DVD of "making of" specials and numbers cut from pictures prior to release. Since MGM was the studio for musicals, watching these compilations is my favorite kind of nostalgia trip.

The Fellowship of the Ring, the first part of The Lord of the Rings trilogy, is the only one I haven't seen yet. Plus this is the one I bought for Bill-the-Honeybear. Four discs -- two of the movie, and two of extras -- make up this one. Me, I want to see the extra scenes added to the movie for the DVD release, and see how much more of Tolkien's creation was filmed than was released. And yes, eventually I'll get the other two parts, but not right now.

Take a look over at the links on the right, and you'll see a new one, for BearRadio. I got pointed to this by Bill-the-Honeybear, so I'm passing the favor along. You will need to download a new-fangled mp3 player to listen, but I believe the download is free. And remember: Gay Music by Gay Artists Is Good for You.