We haven’t been blogging as much here, due to a maelstrom of spam we’ve been getting, and plans to upgrade the blog entirely. However, we are on Twitter, and quite active there beyond!

Here is our Twitter fountain showing the latest posts to and from NoirDame.com and NoirDame Productions - but you can also follow us the traditional Twitter way!

Did you know it’s been fifty years since the levee was dry?

The Day The Music Died was, of course, the day that the great Buddy Holly, pioneering Latino artist Richie Valens, and Texan ‘talker The Big Bopper died in a plane crash near Clear Lake, Iowa. Early morning, February 3rd, 1959.

To baby boomers, it is pivotal piece of their collective history: a painful and personal loss that rivaled JFK’s assasination for sheer impact. To many music aficiandos, the death of Holly in particular, along with events like Elvis joining the Army, led to a period that was creatively stagnant, until the Beatles came over. (Course, there was plenty of fresh music - surf bands, girl groups and so on - that arrived between 1959 and early 1964’s Beatles introduction on Ed Sullivan. But it was also the heyday of Pat Boone.)

The Des Moines Register has some fantastic online content that should not be missed.

The Surf Ballroom, where the three played their last gig on the Winter Dance Party tour, before boarding a plane for North Dakota, will be hosting the Des Moines Register’s live video starting at 1:30 (CST).

Then Sirius-XM subscribers can hear the repeat of “50 Winters Later” (originally recorded this past weekend in Clear Lake) with host Cousin Brucie, at 6:00 (EST); 5:00 (CST) on channel 6 (60s). He interviews many folks who appeared at a special concert - the surviving Crickets, WandaJackson and Bobby Vee.

Don’t miss, also, the BBC radio documentary “Crying, Waiting, Hoping: The Story of Buddy Holly’s Last Tour” which can be streamed on RealPlayer.

And if you’re near the crash site, there will be a bonfire vigil tonight (February 3rd) at 1 A.M.

Even if you live far away from Boston or weren’t able to attend the First Night festivities today, which includes multiple shows by the Post Meridian Radio Players, it appears that they will be releasing a recording of the event in 2009, which includes “The Chicken Heart,” Arch Oboler’s infamous radio play reenacted, as well as another installment of their original series, “Red Shift: Interplanetary Do-Gooder”! Find out more at their website.

Homebodies and those of us with colds (cough! cough!) can also look for Dick Clark to make an appearance on ABC tonight. Talk about inspiring, when 2008 has been so dismal for so many. Linda Lowen of About.com has asked the obvious question of where the female New Year’s Eve hosts are. Apparently I’m not the only person who feels Ryan Seacrest and Carson Daly lack the special oomph of Clark and Guy Lombardo. Meanwhile, CNN is having Kathy Griffin of “D-List” fame cohosting with Anderson Cooper (Miley Cyrus is hosting for tweens, elsewhere). Griffin’s humor is a bit abrasive for New Year’s — wouldn’t it be great to ring in the year with someone whose lovability index is more Betty White than Bette Midler (in her brassy “The Rose” and “Ruthless People” heyday)? How about Nicole Sullivan, best known for “MadTV” and now starring on a Lifetime sitcom, or Caroline Rhea, who hosted “The Biggest Loser” before having her first child. Rhea, also a funny comedienne, has recently hosted Game Show Network specials.

In the last weeks of 2008, we’ve lost several pivotal, classic celebrities and other artists, such as playwright Harold Pinter. But Eartha Kitt, an interracial singer and actress who was born into a poor sharecropper family, then abandoned by her mother and stepfather, had one of the most inspiring lives of them all. She rose to stardom while Jim Crow laws were still active, part of a new generation of performers like Dorothy Dandridge that were stamping out the color lines, considered viable sex symbols and songbirds by all kinds of audiences. She remained vital and opinionated, and refused to back down when her comments about Vietnam got her in hot water with the LBJ White House - even when it meant performing in Europe only for the next decade. A lovely lady who was not just a diva, but tough - she offers some intriguing lessons for living, as 2009 appears to be a tough year for many of us. In addition to the more traditional obituaries, the Washington Post has a fun remembrance of Kitt by Will Haygood.

If you’ve enjoyed Quicksilver Radio Theatre, whose “Julius Caesar” was raved about right here during the Ides of March, you’re in for a holiday treat. Their version of “A Christmas Carol” will be broadcast and streamed at WMPG-Portland, Maine, at 1 PM EST today, Christmas Day; KZMU-Moab, Utah will broadcast and stream it at 6 PM MST, today, Christmas Day. It is also available shortly for a short time at RadioDramaRevival.com, Fred Greenhalgh’s continuing series and podcast over at WMPG.

Meanwhile, you may also sample two adventures of Sherlock Holmes presented by Quicksilver, including “The Blue Carbuncle,” a special holiday story. This presentation is available over streaming internet, and broadcast at 7 PM Mountain Time from KCPW, Salt Lake City.