For the past year the Webmaster and I have been through many life changes, all which served to pull us away from updating this site.  Between a move, lay off, new job, pregnancy, and finally a new baby girl we let this site simply be an archival site.  But, fear not, David Bowie fans!  We are back!  It seems like Bowie is content to be a stay-at-home dad these days (a choice which we understand since we had our daughter), but the next time there is just the barest bit of Bowie news – compilation, tribute, rumor, etc. – you can be sure we will cover it.

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In the gallery, some of you will be very pleased to find that we now have some David Bowie iPhone wallpapers for your enjoyment. To get all the legal stuff out of the way, none of these photos are mine and I take no credit for them. I simply sized and formatted them. As with everything on this site, they don’t cost a penny. For all you iPhone and iTouch users, setting the wallpaper is simple. Browse to the iPhone Wallpapers album in the Gallery and open the page for the photo you want as your wallpaper.  Once it loads, touch and hold the photo.  An option to Save Image will come up at the bottom of the screen – obviously you will want to save it.  This will download the photo into your Camera Roll.  Then just go to Settings, browse to the photo in your Camera Roll and set it as your wallpaper.  Or to do it from your computer, simply right click and save the photo you want to whatever folder you store your iPhone wallpapers on your computer, then select that folder under the Photos sync in iTunes.  Viola!  Your very own David Bowie wallpaper.  If you use any other touchscreen phone like the LG Dare or the Samsung touch screen, I don’t know how to do it on those phones since I don’t have one.  But feel free to let me know how to set wallpapers and I’ll be happy to post instructions.

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A British think-tank, the New Local Government Network, recently released a report encouraging local British governments to name streets and local landmarks after hometown celebrities and heroes.  The author of the report, James Hulme, suggests that Manchester could name a park after David Beckham, Edinburgh could name a library after J.K. Rowling, Birmingham could name streets after J.R.R. Tolkien and Corporal Matthew Croucher, and that London could name streets after David Bowie and Twiggy!  There could be debate over whether this is another example of the crazy celebrity culture in Britain (something Americans know a thing or two about), but in Hulme’s view to name streets after local and national celebrities is simply another way to foster community pride.  Local Government Minister John Healey, MP is a supporter of the report, stating that besides naming streets after well-known celebrities local heroes could be honored as well.

Obviously, what I am most interested in is the possibility of a street named after David Bowie.  Of course I think it’s a great idea, but the bigger question is…what exactly should the name be?  I think David Bowie Lane as the name for a neighborhood street has a nice ring.  Or possibly David Bowie Boulevard for a larger thoroughfare.  I wonder what the man himself thinks about the possibility of a street in his honor.

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I’ve been playing with the plug-ins for this site for the past hour and have added a few things.  Most importantly, there is a new system of user registration.  New users can set their own password, have a couple more fields they can fill out, and must complete a captcha.  My time is better spent doing fun stuff with this site than sorting through spam users.  Additionally, users can now subscribe to comment replies and add photos to their accounts.  Have fun!

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As Rorschach would say, hurm. I’m not exactly sure of the purpose of the article written by Dan Cairn for the Times-Online, but nevertheless he has chosen David Bowie’s Space Oddity as the Song of the Year for 1969. Despite the fact that Cairn briefly gives play to the mistaken interpretation that Space Oddity is about space exploration, he shows great insight into what the structure of the lyrics and music foreshadow for the rest of Bowie’s career. In fact, I like this article so much that I’m going to add a link to it in the Trivia section for Space Oddity.

[edit]I did a quick search on the Times Online (now that I’m not updating via my iPhone) and found that Cairns’ Song of the Year: 1969 article is part of a regular feature.  But I’m leaving my Rorschach reference at the beginning of this post because I’m a nerd.

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Sometimes stormy days can be fruitful. Since Tropical Storm Fay has made it impossible to work or even safely go outside (hah, see what I did there? Outside?!), I’ve taken the opportunity to dig through my list of unread David Bowie-related stuff that has piled up on this busy week. Lo and behold, I’ve come across a brilliant essay by a writer who loves 1.Outside as much as I do! Surf on over to New Mappings and read Steen’s piece on 1.Outside presented to the Uncanny Media conference.

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I’ve been debating with myself for several days now whether or not I wanted to make this post and show my ignorance of a Bowie obscurity that any fansite owner worth their salt should know. But then I remembered I have no shame and decided let everyone know what a terrible Bowie fan I am so that anyone who has not heard the aforementioned obscurity might do so.

So, here is the chain of events leading to my happy discovery of what is now in my Top Ten list of Bowie obscurities: The Webmaster and I finally got to see The Dark Knight last Friday in IMAX. Needless to say, we both loved the movie. We were discussing it on the car-ride home when I mused that I found it interesting that the majority of the main actors in such a quintissentially American story were not American. I mentioned Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, and started to mention Gary Oldman. But at that moment, my vast wealth of useless knowledge failed me! I couldn’t remember if Gary Oldman is British or not. I was fairly sure that he is since the cast of Harry Potter is all British, but his New York accent as Commissioner Gordon was so convincing that I questioned my memory. The Webmaster suggested that I look on IMDb and see what the bio section said. So I whipped out my iPhone (’cause we were still in the car, you know) and pulled up Oldman’s page. Of course, the bio section confirmed my initial thought that he is indeed British but, much to my surprise, I also read that he had done a duet with David Bowie on You’ve Been Around on Reeves Gabrels’ album “The Sacred Squall of Now”. I looked over at the Webmaster and said, “No way! That has to be a mistake.” Having never heard the album (I dislike Gabrels enough that not even Bowie’s presence got me to listen to his album), I assumed that the version of You’ve Been Around on that album was the same as the version on Black Tie White Noise and commented, “How come I never noticed him in the liner notes for Black Tie White Noise” to which the Webmaster replied, “No it’s different on Reeves’ album.” So of course, the first chance I got I listened to “The Sacred Squall Of Now”. As you might guess from the very fact that I am writing this post, I abso-friggin-lutely loved the song! Oldman sings the lead vocal on the second verse – and he’s great. I can’t believe I missed out on that song for all 10 years that I’ve been a Bowie fan just because I dislike Gabrels. That will teach me not to let my feelings about a musician get in the way of me checking out a Bowie obscurity. Anyway, I still have not gotten over my astonishment not only of discovering that Oldman, whose talents beyond acting I had never even thought to ponder, has a fabulous singing voice but that Bowie led me to this discovery and that the conversation the Webmaster and I had about The Dark Knight led me to come across an obscure Bowie song. Kind of like how Bowie led the Webmaster to meet me online, only not nearly as life-changing…it’s odd how some things happen.

Anyway, if you’re a bad bad Bowie fan like I apparently am and you haven’t heard the song then you really ought to. You too will be pleasantly surprised. If you’re not able to buy the song by itself from Amazon or somewhere like that then go ahead and buy the whole album. While it is one of two bright spots in an otherwise boring album (“Thirteen” is also a good song), trust me when I say that You’ve Been Around is worth the $10 or $12 the album costs. Go and buy it tonight.

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Since I have a love of gossip and I feel like any Bowie gossip or rumors should be addressed as such, I created a category to catch all of the gossip and rumors that fly around the intertubes about David Bowie.  The new category is Rumors, Lies, Stories They Made Up.  Now you won’t have to sift through our massive news category when you feel like reading a bit of gossip.

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Thanks to the eagle eyes of David Phipps, several photos that were misnamed, misplaced, or both have been fixed.  I moved and renamed several pictures in the Diamond Dogs, Station to Station, Berlin Years, Young Americans, and Scary Monsters galleries.  So have a look and, if you’re old enough to remember those eras, take a trip down memory lane.

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Thanks to a late night at work last night with nothing to do, the gallery is now complete! All pictures have been given descriptive captions and placed in the correct albums. Where I could find photographic credit for the pictures, I placed it either in the caption or the description. If you wish to use any of my personal pictures or the ones by Kyle Burkhart in the Heathen and Outside galleries (respectively) you must email me for permission.  Additionally, if there is any incorrect information attached to the pictures, please email me and let me know.  Some of these pictures I’ve had for a long time and I’ve not always been as compulsive as I am now with photo credits and events and some I just could not find sufficient information about.  My contact information can be found in the About Us section of this site.

Enjoy the pretty pictures!

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