Author: Jim Cofer

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Duran Duran alert!

Duran Duran debut albumAs I’ve mentioned several times on this site, Duran Duran’s self-titled debut album is one of my all time favorite albums. It was one of the first records I ever bought, and I was certainly the first album I ever bought where I said “this music is for me”.

A few months ago, word leaked that the band was working on a “deluxe version” of this album (as well as Seven and the Ragged Tiger and Arcadia’s So Red The Rose; Rio was done last year).

The three disc set – which includes a remastered version of the album, a disc full of demos and rare live recordings, and a DVD of some rare videos such as live Old Grey Whistle Test performances and the “club version” of the “Planet Earth” video – won’t go on sale for at least a few weeks in the US – Amazon says April 20; DD’s website says it was pushed back to May 20. But the disc has already been released in the UK, and mp3 rips are already showing up online.

Here are some quick thoughts about the set:

– Lots of people are trashing the album remaster, saying it’s the “worst they’ve ever heard”. I won’t go that far – in fact, as far as I can tell, it sounds okay to me… it’s just not that great. I’m listening to the remastered version of “Girls on Film” as I type this, and it sounds more or less like a slightly tinny version of the last (2003) CD issue… and not “as tinny as a 70s TV”, as others have complained.

– The demo version of “Girls on Film” is surprisingly… rocky!

– It seems that “Planet Earth” once had an additional verse. The demo version – which clocks in at 5:03 – has an ending verse which goes something like this:

I came outside
I saw the night fall into rain
She brightened (?) flashes in my brain
Whatever happened to the world we used to know
I’ve got you coming over here

You can also hear this verse in some early live bootlegs, but it’s interesting to hear an “official” version of the “lost” verse.

– And lastly… the thing hardcore Duranies have been waiting to hear for years… the original version of “Tel Aviv”. The version we all know and love is an instrumental tune, thrown in as the last track on the debut album. With the demo, we find out that it was originally a long song (6:03) and had a full set of lyrics. Have a listen:

[audio:duran_aviv.mp3]

Wow! It’s just… something to finally hear this song after almost thirty years. I’ve known about the “original” version of “Tel Aviv” for years, since a snippet of the lyrics once appeared in a Duran Duran book in a photograph of one of Simon’s early lyric notebooks. I mean, I don’t “feel like I can die happy now” having heard the song… but as a longtime Duran Duran fan, I feel like one of the biggest mysteries of the band has finally been solved… ya know?

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Happy 30th birthday, R.E.M.

Happy 30th birthday, R.E.M.!! As incredible as it seems, today marks the date that the band was formed thirty freakin’ years ago!

While my love affair with the band has waned over the years (Bill Berry, while not the best musician in the band, has a great ear for what makes a good rock song, as his absence has been sorely felt), I look to the words of Whitney Matheson for inspiration:

Thirty years ago today, Michael Stipe, Peter Buck, Mike Mills and Bill Berry began an incredible journey together in Athens, Ga.

The journey continues, albeit as a trio. We miss you, Bill! I can’t imagine my life without R.E.M.; they became my favorite band the first moment I heard them, and it’s been that way ever since.

via Happy 30th birthday, R.E.M.! – Pop Candy

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Wednesday’s Trivia Blast

– The San Diego Wild Animal Park (part of the world-famous San Diego Zoo) has a monorail line. Its name is WGASA, and that moniker was chosen by a park employee. Management loved the name, since they were seeking something with an “African feel”. What they didn’t know until later was that WGASA was a crude acronym for “Who gives a shit anyhow?”. Even after finding out the awful truth, management decided to keep the name. Read more here.

– The TV show Benson was the first television show to mention the Internet by name. In an episode called “Scenario”, which aired on February 22, 1985, the characters discussed ARPANET, the forerunner of the modern Internet.

– Phyllis Smith, who plays the character of the same first name on the US version of The Office, was once a cheerleader for the St. Louis Rams and a burlesque dancer. A knee injury in the 1980s forced her to stop dancing, so she moved to Hollywood and worked as an actress and in casting.

– Have you ever seen a picture which contains a picture of itself? This called a recursive picture, and the specific effect is called the Droste effect, after a brand of Dutch cocoa which features a picture of the box on the packaging:

Droste

Other famous images featuring the Droste effect include the cover of Pink Floyd’s Ummagumma album, Land O’Lakes butter, The Laughing Cow cheese, and the movie poster for Memento. Read more about it here.

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Anglican News

Two quick updates from the wacky world of Anglicanism:

– St Andrew’s Church, the largest church in the Diocese of South Carolina, voted overwhelmingly on Sunday to leave The Episcopal Church and join the Anglican Church in North America. And by “overwhelmingly” I mean that: 703 church members voted in favor of leaving, while only 19 voted to stay… a 97% landslide! Of course, with what’s going on in South Carolina these days, the entire diocese might be next! Read more here.

– One of the basic tenets of canon law is that a bishop cannot enter the diocese of another bishop and preach or administer the sacrament without that bishop’s express permission. Bishop Iker had to remind “that woman” of that very fact when she once attempted to preach in Ft. Worth without his permission, and “that woman” has since used that same law to prevent orthodox Anglican bishops from visiting like-minded parishes in liberal dioceses. But it seems that Gene Robinson can preach in Dallas without first obtaining the permission of Bishop Stanton. I can’t decide which line to end this paragraph with: “hypocrisy, thy name is The Episcopal Church” or “The Episcopal Church has always been at war with Eastasia”. You decide.

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QuickJava Updated

From the “I shoulda posted this a month ago” department:

QuickJava, one of my favorite Firefox extensions, has recently been updated.

Quick Java

Aside from the snazzy new buttons, you can see that QuickJava has also added support for toggling images, Flash and Silverlight objects on and off, in addition to its namesake Java applets and JavaScript objects.

Download QuickJava here.

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Twitter Weekly Updates for 2010-03-28

  • wonders when tennis shoes all became "gangsta moon boots"! #
  • Meck County: $30m for NASCAR HoF, but shutting down half the libraries? At least they have priorities! #
  • @AnglophileA What an embarassing thing to OD on! 😉 in reply to AnglophileA #
  • Obvious headline of the day: "UK Space Agency is unlikely to threaten NASA supremacy" #
  • I think I threw my arm out playing Wii Tennis. My shoulder is KILLING ME! #
  • Dear TomTom: the XL 330 is the most aggravating device I've ever dealt with. And I owned a Velo 1! #
  • HAHA – "24" is canceled! Jason Bourne's ass-kicking of Jack Bauer is complete! #
  • @terrinh73 Ewwwww! Thanks for shating yer toe, honey! in reply to terrinh73 #
  • So… you can't smoke in Golden Corral any more… but you can consume 12,000 calories at dinner? Makes sense to me! #

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All Saints wins!

The Episcopal Church has given up all claims to All Saints in Pawley’s Island, South Carolina… but not after taking some hush money:

After nearly a decade of legal and personal conflict, the issue of the All Saints Church property has been resolved, thanks be to God. Our Vestry and that of the Episcopal congregation have come to an understanding that ends the case forever and also provides a way for both churches to go forward into the future in faith and service to Christ.

As a result of our agreement, both sides recognize and accept the September 18, 2009, decision of the Supreme Court of South Carolina in which the Court determined that we are the rightful owners of the property and legitimate Vestry for All Saints Parish, Waccamaw. The Episcopal congregation has taken action to withdraw their Petition before the Supreme Court of the United States. As you may recall, the South Carolina decision was truly remarkable in that it clearly refuted any claim that the Episcopal Church might make on our property through the use of the so-called Dennis Canon.

In a desire to bless the work of God in the Episcopal congregation, our Vestry has made the offer of a financial gift of $375,000 to them to assist in their future ministry in our community. In addition, we have offered several items that represent their participation in the heritage of All Saints Church.

I guess TEC didn’t want to take on the Supreme Court of South Carolina.

Read more here.