Image roundup

2001.



Striped tights.



Polar bears.




Spider-Woman and Dead Space helmet from this cosplayer gallery.



No Face mask.

Vintage ads for HAL 9000 and Pan Am space flights

Vintage ads for HAL 9000 and Pan Am space flights by Justin Van Genderen, who has various prints on sale here and here.

*Buy 2001 posters at eBay.

2001 posters

And speaking of 2001, here's a 2001 poster by Eren Blanquet Unten for the Silver Screen Society.

*Buy 2001 posters at eBay.

Planet of the Apes and 2001 paper toys

It's Planet of the Apes meets 2001 with these paper toys.

David Bowie - Toy

How soon do you think it will be until the Thin White Duke's people have this pulled? Guess you better grab it quick!

This is Bowie's unreleased album from 2001, consisting primarily of covers of his earliest songs, including his debut, Liza Jane, originally credited to Davie Jones with The King Bees. Some of these songs saw release on the various editions of Heathen and as b-sides, but the whole album has been in limbo since it's cancellation due to Virgin's unspecified issues. Keep in mind, in 2001 Virgin was still dealing with the bruise of an $80 million dollar deal with Mariah Carey in the middle of her Glitter breakdown. Not that this is a valid excuse for their denial of Toy's release, but it gives a better idea of what might have been going through their collective shareholders' minds, what with Bowie's album consisting of re-recorded oldies.

Someone finally leaked the album earlier this year, although rumors abound that this might not be the version Bowie intended for release. Regardless, it's still great to hear. Uncle Floyd sends chills up my back, I Dig Everything is a solid rocker and everything else is wonderful as well. No, it's not Ziggy Stardust, and it's not Heroes or Low 2, but what could be? It's not Let's Dance, for better or worse, so there's something. It should be enjoyed and maybe Bowie will eventually remember it and give it a proper issue, untampered with beyond a proper mastering. Yeah, it's unlikely, but you never know.

Credit to Bowie for being himself and Dan Leroy for the same and having written the excellent The Greatest Music Never Sold which has a chapter dedicated to Toy. It would benefit anyone to find a copy of that book and read it's fascinating details, although I think Matt Stein took far too much, undeserved credit. Still, great book, great men, great album. Enjoy!


David Bowie - Toy

01 Uncle Floyd
02 Afraid
03 Baby Loves That Way
04 I Dig Everything
05 Conversation Piece
06 Let Me Sleep Beside You
07 Toy (Your Turn To Drive)
08 Hole In The Ground
09 Shadow Man
10 In The Heat Of The Morning
11 You've Got A Habit Of Leaving
12 Silly Boy Blue
13 Liza Jane
14 The London Boys


PS - The fabulous sculpture was created by Robert Bradford. It's made entirely from recycled toys. Firmly topic appropriate, eh? You can read more about his work here.

Alex North's Unused Score for 2001: A Space Odyssey

Stanley Kubrick hired Alex North to create the score for his film, 2001: A Space Odyssey, but somewhere along the way things changed. Well into North's work, he received notice from Kubrick that he didn't need to continue working on the score, to which he assumed that enough music had been provided. Rather, Kubrick had decided to leave the temporary score intact and not use any of North's contributions. North was reportedly, and understandably, heartbroken when he discovered the fate of his work at the 1968 premiere of the film, while he watched it. Indeed, Kubrick NEVER spoke a word of the score's rejection to North, he found out with the rest of the world as they became refamiliarized with the Blue Danube.

North's unused score eventually received a premiere recording and was made available on CD in 1993 as conducted by Jerry Goldsmith. This finally answered the question whether Kubrick made the right decision, and in my opinion that is a firm YES! That said, North's work is still an interesting footnote in film and music history, if nothing more than being the other music for 2001, though it's also worth noting that North had what was recorded for his score recorded.

In 2007, Intrada Records, a label dedicated to film score releases, gained the rights to issue the surviving mono tapes of North's 1968 recordings of the score, and an oddly limited issue of 3000 copies were pressed with no digital release or later reissue. While I don't think this score is remotely as good as the compilation score Kubrick assembled, I do think it's important to hear these pieces and their original recordings, so today I'm posting a very high quality rip of the Intrada release with scans of the packaging and liner notes included. To note, this is not my rip nor do I know who did the work, so a big thank you to the anonymous individual responsible for their hard work.

Alex North's Unused Score For 2001: A Space Odyssey (Intrada Release)