It's Random Blather Day!



First, the obtrek...



Newbies posting anxiously about whether there will ever be another Strange New Worlds contest or another post-finale Deep Space Nine novel are distressingly common. What's not so common is someone at a high-traffic Trek news site pulling that kind of blunder, as happened at TrekWeb, which reported that the end of New Frontier is not far off. It was certainly news to Pocket and Peter David. Everyone knows about this by now, of course, but it does after all fall within the purview of this little blog.



So New Frontier is not ending after the current trilogy ends. It'd be nice to think that the policy of publishing the damn things in hardcover might end, though....



And now for something completely different...



Kate Bush resurfaces!



I first heard Kate Bush on 630 CHED in Edmonton back in 1978. The DJ said that he had a song that was kind of odd but hugely popular in the UK, and he liked it though it might take a little getting used to. It was "Wuthering Heights," Kate's first single, and I was blown away. I liked ELO, Queen, and Fleetwood Mac in those days, and in some ways Kate Bush wasn't too far removed from that sort of stuff, but at the same time it was undeniably unique. I wasn't much of an LP buyer yet so I got the 45 and played it a lot, as I did the 45 of "Wow," which I had on clear yellow vinyl. I got the first LP, The Kick Inside, for Christmas in 1979 and the next two, Lionheart and Never Forever, for Christmas in 1980. After that I acted more quickly when new albums were released. Not that there were many. Two during my university years (The Dreaming in 1982 and Hounds of Love in 1985) and two since then (The Sensual World in 1989 and The Red Shoes in 1993). And that's pretty much it.



Oh, there were other things to buy. My sister Nadja gave me a three-LP bootleg set for my birthday, I think it was, back around 1988. There was The Whole Story, a best-of with one new track and a rerecorded version of "Wuthering Heights." This Woman's Work, an eight disc CD set with the first six albums and two discs of B-sides and rarities. The Whole Story video compilation, Live at Hammersmith Odeon, The Red Shoes video. The Cathy's Home Demos bootleg. A couple of books.



And rumours, always just rumours, of another album.



And today, one of my Google News alerts brings me the news I've waited for: the new album is almost done and will be out next year. And there's more info at the unofficial Kate Bush News & Information site. Yep, I'm happy. (Laura's not, though. The one thing we really strongly disagree on is Kate Bush. But I can listen at work, or on headphones, or while she's not around. It'll work out.)



Why I love mp3s



Whether I'm looking through legal sources like emusic or itunes or more legally and morally ambiguous sources, I'm usually looking for mp3s of albums I have on LP or cassette. I have several hundred LPs, and yet I don't have a turntable in the car, at work, or in any of the PCs I use in the course of the day. I've bought some old favourites again on CD, sometimes with bonus material, but doing for all the records just wouldn't be practical (or worthwhile, in some cases).



So recently I noticed another old LP popping up at emusic. What the heck, I thought, I haven't listened to that in ages, but it'll only take up a small chunk of my monthly downloads. So I downloaded You Goddamned Son of a Bitch by the Revolting Cocks.



I went through a couple of industrial music phases, and still like my old Ministry and Front 242 albums. Revco started as a side project featuring members of both of those bands and a few other folks. They must have been saving their best ideas for their main bands. There are some good moments here, but in general I'm reminded of exactly why I haven't felt compelled to drop this on the turntable in several years now: it's boring. Despite its attempts at being shocking, loud, and obnoxious, it just isn't very interesting.



So it's just possible that I may get over my packrat sensibility where records are concerned. Now that I have this on mp3, and can burn it to a data CD along with several other albums, I'm even less likely to listen to this LP again. Not just because it's more convenient to listen to digital music, but because I have now reminded myself how unnecessary this album is. Even though the bonus track version of Public Image Ltd.'s "Public Image" isn't bad. Hell, I'd rather just play the original. Imagine how excited Laura would be if I actually pitched or sold the LPs I know I'm never going to play again. If I could bring myself to trim my record collection, heck, I'd get rid of that $1.99 Gene Loves Jezebel live LP without worrying about getting a digital version in any format.



It could happen. I got rid of a few thousand magazines before we left the apartment for the house. Almost every issue of Locus from 1986 on, a complete run of Wired, loads of music magazines, stacks of Asimov's and Analog and other SF mags, all savagely disposed of, and thus far pretty much unmissed. It scares me that someday I might be able to do this to books.



(Now playing: Kate Bush, "L'Amour Looks Something Like You," The Kick Inside.)