As we mentioned on March 13 and March 21, the blue flame-patterned costume designed by Freddie Burretti was up for auction at Christie’s auction house in London.  The bidding must have been fierce – according to Bloomberg.com the costume went to the Hard Rock Cafe for a whopping £10,800 ($21,500), almost double the original estimate of £6000.  It seems fitting that the world’s largest collector of rock memorabilia would take possession of the famous costume and put it on display to the general music-loving public.  The Hard Rock Cafe has not indicated where they will be displaying the costume, but as always we will keep you informed.  With any luck, it will be placed in the Orlando location of the Hard Rock Cafe. 😉

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New York Magazine’s Arts & Events section published an article yesterday on the rivalry between the producers and patrons of Robert De Niro’s Tribeca Film Festival and those of David Bowie’s High Line Festival. Both festivals are set in New York City in the very near future.

The article suggests that the friction springs from the contrasting audiences of old and snobby rich folks versus young and sulky hipsters. The writer quotes an unnamed insider as saying “I hear it’s driving [63-year-old] Robert De Niro crazy, and that’s just great because he’s a big old wrinkled thug versus these young guys.” Young guys refers to High Line producers David Binder and Josh Wood, who are in their 30s.

I’m not sure I buy it. It sounds to me like an attempt to stir up controversy where there is none. After all, the Tribeca Film Festival starts today and ends before the High Line begins, so culture-starved city dwellers have the opportunity to attend both. Tribeca producer Jane Rosenthal plans to do just that.

Still, the two pressing questions most of us have about the High Line Festival are, one, what project is keeping Bowie from performing at it? And two, why did it take so long for the festival promotion to begin? The article sheds some light on the latter question. Apparently, the High Line producers attempted to hire the same PR firm as the Tribeca Film Festival, an outfit named Rubenstein. Rubenstein ruminated on the decision of whether or not to promote the High Line Festival for a good long while before they ultimately declined. Some think it was a conspiracy, a deliberate ploy to curtail interest in the High Line Festival.

Maybe. But if that’s true, I think the High Line producers deserve some blame for picking Rubenstein in the first place. If the High Line is seriously geared toward a young, hip audience, I think the most appropriate promotion would have been innovative, on par with the Aqua Teen Hunger Force bomb scare or Year Zero’s discarded bathroom flash drives. If Rubenstein was taking its sweet time with an answer, the High Line producers could easily have pursued a different promoter.

The New York Post also ran a bit about this in their gossip column today. They quoted David Bowie as saying, “I am afraid I have no control over the inexplicable comments from the High Line producers. I think the Tribeca Film Festival is unique and irreplaceable.” He and Iman attended the opening of the Tribeca Film Festival last night and were photographed with De Niro, according to Bowienet. I haven’t seen any photos of them together, but unless they’re strangling one another in them, I think this story is total bunk.

Posted in News, Rumors, Lies, Stories They Made Up | 2 Comments »

15 years ago today David Bowie and Iman were married in a secret civil ceremony held in Lausanne, Switzerland. They later celebrated their union with a formal wedding in Florence, Italy, on June 6th. The traditional fifteenth anniversary gift is crystal, while the modern gift is a watch.

According to Bowienet, David and Iman attended the 2007 Food Bank of New York Can-Do Awards Dinner last night, just so they could provide the website with an updated photo together. WireImage.com and HELLO! Magazine have photos of the event.

The Webmistress and I wish them both a very Happy Anniversary! And Happy Birthday to Tony Visconti, too!

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The latest cover of a David Bowie song will be done by Clan of Xymox.  While working on their album due out later this year, Clan of Xymox recorded a cover of “Heroes” for their teaser single.  The single is due out May 22 and will include a poppy version and an industrial version of “Heroes.”

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The long-awaited issue of the Young Americans CD/DVD is due out the United States on June 5th, along with The Best of David Bowie 1980-1987: Sight & Sound CD/DVD. Both CD/DVD set were released in other countries on March 19, but the USA will be patiently waiting until June 5th for these special editions. The Best Of DVD will include two videos from the era covered that have not been released until now. The tracklisting for both is as follows:

Young Americans: Collectors Edition tracklist:

CD:

01 Young Americans
02 Win
03 Fascination
04 Right
05 Somebody Up There Likes Me
06 Across the Universe
07 Can You Hear Me
08 Fame
09 John, I’m Only Dancing (Again) [bonus track]
10 Who Can I Be Now? [bonus track]
11 It’s Gonna Be Me (with strings) [previously unreleased bonus track]

DVD:

01 Young Americans
02 Win
03 Fascination
04 Right
05 Somebody Up There Likes Me
06 Across the Universe
07 Can You Hear Me
08 Fame
09 John, I’m Only Dancing (Again) [bonus track]
10 Who Can I Be Now? [bonus track]
11 It’s Gonna Be Me (with strings) [previously unreleased bonus track]
12 Young Americans [12/04/74 “Dick Cavett Show” performance video bonus track]
13 1984 [12/04/74 “Dick Cavett Show” performance video bonus track]
14 Interview [12/04/74 “Dick Cavett Show” video bonus track]

The Best of David Bowie 1980-1987: Sight & Sound tracklist:

CD:

01 Let’s Dance (Single Version)
02 Ashes to Ashes (Single Version)
03 Under Pressure
04 Fashion (Single Version)
05 Modern Love (Single Version)
06 China Girl (Single Version)
07 Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps) (Single Version)
08 Up the Hill Backwards (1999 Digital Remaster)
09 Alabama Song
10 The Drowned Girl
11 Cat People (Putting Out Fire) (Film Version Single Edit)
12 This Is Not America (David Bowie and the Pat Metheny Group)
13 Loving the Alien
14 Absolute Beginners (Single Version)
15 When the Wind Blows
16 Blue Jean
17 Day-In Day-Out (Single Version)
18 Time Will Crawl
19 Underground (Single Version)

DVD:

01 Ashes to Ashes
02 Fashion
03 Under Pressure
04 The Drowned Girl [previously unavailable]
05 Let’s Dance
06 China Girl
07 Modern Love
08 Cat People (Putting Out Fire)
09 Blue Jean
10 Loving the Alien
11 Absolute Beginners
12 Underground
13 When the Wind Blows [previously unavailable]
14 Day-In Day-Out
15 Time Will Crawl

Posted in More To Own, News | Comments Off on Forthcoming USA David Bowie Releases

On Sunday April 8, Tim O’Reilly, the CEO of O’Reilly Media, proposed a Blogging Code of Conduct that he hopes to have posted on bloggingcode.org. The purpose of the code of conduct is to repress personal attacks on blogs. Why am I posting about this here? The news portion of this site is technically a blog. While we are not a traditional blog, we limit ourselves to posting about David Bowie and related subjects with the occasional opinion piece, this will directly affect us. I also want to get the word out to the readers of this site who run their own blogs and may not have heard about this yet.  It may affect you all as well.  I learned about this through my good friend Saudade and her blog. She wrote an excellent opinion piece on the subject which I thought would be appropriate for this issue and the Cracked Actor news blog. Frequently she and I are of the same opinion and with her entry, she touched upon all the issues that I myself would. Plus she stated it more eloquently than I ever could. After reading this if you have an opinion that you wish to express, visit Tim O’Reilly’s blog. So without further ado, today’s guest column:

As usual, I’m a little late in the game, but this proposed code of conduct for bloggers and “netizens” (groan…) that has everyone in a tiz has to get a requisite (gigantic) blurb on my page.

As a regular contributor on a few message boards and blogs, a lurker on others, and of course as a blogger, I understand the general panties in a knot about personal attacks, and sympathize with the scary of stalking. When I first got into this stuff, which was a very short time ago (but, haha, eons in MySpace time), I was completely freaked out by what people would say anonymously. I really dislike jerks who hurt people publicly, and then hide their obvious need for validation behind ragged veils of free speech or being free-thinking or contrary. People saying awful things I just know they wouldn’t say (or ever have to own up to) to someone’s face would grate on me. Dammit, even trolls sometimes still make me batshit. In the past, and quite recently, I have become very angry. I’ve had altercations, I’ve helped to ban people and chosen to leave spaces on my own accord as well, and I’ve chosen to ignore potential fights too.

Those were my choices. That’s the thing. For me, message boards or blogs where the vibe doesn’t fit or I think there’s too many fightin’ words and not enough real discourse, or I don’t agree with the subject matter or moderator policies, I drop. It’ just like real life, folks. Sometimes respect garners respect, sometimes the opposite. It’s not a level-paying field. But most of the time there are choices. And if you’re able to access the internet, that is one infinite and messy field of choice you got there.

Any place worth having a solid, sane conversation attracts a solid, sane core of people. That self-policing thing? It really can work. Those civility tenets in the article? Natural occurrences on some spaces. Officially labeling some places as fit for consumption, or warning people that they may be subject to flaming – it is paternalistic, creates victims, and opens the door for censorship. Let people get mad and hurt and sad and find solace, or not. Let them live and make their own choices and create and police and build and destroy their own online communities. Don’t hold their freaking hands at every turn.

I don’t want to invalidate the victims of cyber-stalking with my little rant. It is very very real, and frightening — especially for women, who seem to be the majority of bloggers and message board participants. But stalkers are completely different than your general run of the mill assholes and cowards, or people who just need Prozac or a place to project or blow off steam. The distinction has to be made clear. While I like the idea of general civility guidelines, they can only be a reminder to be human and think of others. Slapping subjective ideas down uniformly as law on the vast internet community and its written word, with honor badges for the “civil” sites and warning signs for the ones who refuse to get into line is not the way to do this. Assholes will just continue to be assholes, but instead of really localizing and eliminating the detritus, everyone is a potential, creating a culture of fear and victimization. Outright threats are one thing; telling someone they’re ugly, fat, stupid, slutty, not as cool as them – whatever – is cruel and childish, but another thing entirely. Let’s not lose perspective. And it is sad that a lot of online community has a monumental amount of childishness, passive-aggressiveness, and posturing punctuated by a few level-headed people. But let’s face it, that is the way real life is too.

So, yeah, I think public interaction online should be handled like real life. You got a problem, you speak up. If you get flamed or the discussion is not your thing, move on. And it may just not be your community. Racists, misogynists, misandrysts, assholes, weasels, attention-whores, posers, gayathiestCatholicpuppybunnywhatever-bashers, and all-around big talkers but small walkers are part of life. But life, and the internet, is vast.

And another thing — if you delete comments you don’t like from your blog, it is not censorship. That’s your little slice of the internet pie. Who cares? Some people won’t like it, or you. And they’ll talk about you or not come around anymore. That’s called consequences. As long as they don’t threaten or otherwise try to hurt you physically, or post naked pictures of you on MySpace, get over it.

I know not everyone can do this. But do kid-gloves make it better for those who can’t, or worse for them and everyone else?

Posted in Opinions | Comments Off on Brief diversion from news on Bowie: the proposed Blogging Code of Conduct

To those of you who celebrate, we hope you have a Happy Easter!  The Webmaster and I are celebrating by catching The Decemberists at Hard Rock Live tonight.  Way better than a basket full of junk food to rot your teeth.

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30 Century Man, the new biographical documentary about the life and career of musician Scott Walker is currently being promoted by the distributor Verve Pictures. It is due for release in the UK on April 27, with showings currently scheduled through June. The film is directed by Stephen Kijak and features interviews with several artists influenced by Walker, including David Bowie. You can view the trailer below.

Posted in Circle Of Friends, News | 2 Comments »

Looking for a reason to stay relevant enough to tour and make money, Poison is putting out an album of covers.  Needless to say, it will not be nearly as awesome as ‘Pin Ups.’  Anyway, some of the covers on the album are good choices.  The album will include “Suffragette City” by David Bowie, ‘Just What I Needed’ by The Cars, and ‘Dead Flowers’ by the Rolling Stones.  For more information and a bit of promotion, visit MP3.com.

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The London-based band Switches are planning to cover one of five special songs as a B-side for their next single. The songs in the running are “Boys Keep Swinging” by David Bowie, “Sexx Laws” by Beck, “Buddy Holly” by Weezer, “Girls and Boys” by Blur, and “Steady As She Goes” by The Raconteurs. The single is due for release on April 16, with voting closing on April 10th. So if you want them to cover “Boys Keep Swinging” you better hurry up and send in your vote!

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