classic rock concert dvds coming soon...

Rush Replay x 3 DVD - Live concert performances:

RUSH’S FIRST THREE CONCERT HOMEVIDEOS DEBUT ON DVD IN
RUSH REPLAY X 3 BOX SET
Four-Disc Package Features New 5.1 Surround Sound And Stereo Mixes

The band’s first three concert homevideos, each of which is out of print in any format, will be issued for the first time together and on DVD. The four-disc box set Rush Replay x 3 (Mercury/UMe), released June 13, 2006, combines the three DVDs-- Exit…Stage Left, Grace Under Pressure and A Show Of Hands--with a never-before-released CD soundtrack version of Grace Under Pressure.

Pink Floyd PULSE DVD:

PINK FLOYD RELEASE PULSE, THE DVD OF THEIR LAST CONCERT. 18 September 2006

On 18 September 2006, Pink Floyd will release their much anticipated DVD, PULSE, on EMI Records. The release date has been delayed until September to include technical additions and modifications. This landmark release, captures the last Pink Floyd Division Bell tour in 1994, and was filmed at London’s Earls Court during their recordbreaking 14 night residency. The two disc release contains the full concert performance with rare backstage footage and previously unseen extras.

There are many elements that make this Pulse release a must-have, but top of the list is that here, for the first time ever, is a live filmed performance of Pink Floyd’s towering, seminal album, The Dark Side of the Moon. The album in its glorious entirety is performed by David Gilmour, Nick Mason and Rick Wright during the second half of the concert and appears on disc 2. Shine on You Crazy Diamond, Another Brick in the Wall (Part 2), High Hopes and Learning to Fly are some of the classic tracks on disc 1 with never before seen rarities such as Bootlegging the Bootleggers and behind the scenes footage showing a snapshot of life on the road with one of the world’s biggest rock bands.

The Pulse release date has been in flux for over a year - some sites are saying as early as July 27th, others are saying it was supposed to be out already.  Go fig.  When you see it in stores, you'll know its out, I guess.  "Bootlegging the Bootleggers" means that they've included other material shot at the same set of shows (they did Dark Side 4 nights in a row and filmed all 4), like stuff that made the CD set but not the video.

I hope they really did a new mixing job on the Rush Grace Under Pressure tour show.  The mix by Broon was awful, and kept the audience insanely loud.  If you only had a cheap mono tv (common at the time) you could barely hear the music at all.  Part of me always wonders if he really put all his effort into it considering they'd just "fired" him from being their producer after 13 years.

Also just released is a concert film from Mike Oldfield from 1981's QE2 tour.  Mike Oldfield took the world of music by storm at the age of 19 in 1973 with the release of his debut album, "Tubular Bells", which hit the No.1 spot in numerous countries and has gone on to sell in excess of 16 million copies worldwide. A naturally shy man, it was not until the end of the decade that he began to play live on a regular basis. In 1981, by now a confident stage performer, he embarked on his European Adventure Tour, which took in the Montreux Festival in July, where he performed in front of an enthusiastic sold out audience.  Or so they claim.  I'll get it and review it later.

well, *some* of us knew about this years ago...like almost 30 years ago...

Appearantly, someone has (finally) managed to leak a work-print of the Luke & Biggs sequences cut from the first reel of Star Wars.  There's a lot of "oh my god"'ing around it on the blogosphere, but to those of us who were supreme geeks at the time, we knew about these scenes 'cause they were 1) in the novel, 2) in the storybooks, 3) in the comic books, and 4) all over the Topps Star Wars Cards (I still have mine).

not all the audio is available, and some of the prints are black-n-white, but its still interesting.

I wonder if they'll put it as an extra on the upcoming dvds now that its been leaked?

why we do this

Science and the First Amendment:

People ask me, Why pour so much energy into protecting science education? Why not fight for literacy generally or any of a thousand other educational issues? I have two answers. One is easy: I know about evolution, so it makes sense that I would work on what I know best. The second is harder to grasp. And that is that freedom of religion is the bedrock foundation of liberty in this country. If we allow certain special-interest religious groups to co-opt the public school science classroom, to use it as a vehicle for converting children to religious views their parents don't hold, if we allow them to spout outright lies about the nature and content of science, what do we really have left? If you can lie about science and get away with it, you can lie about anything.

Evolution is just the tip of the iceberg or, as the creationists put it, the leading edge of "the wedge." The wedge they are seeking to drive through the heart of American democracy. The lies about science are not limited to evolution. Every day more lies about science seep into public consciousness. Lies about stem cell biology, lies about global warming, about clean air and water, lies about sexuality, about conception and contraception, lies about the effects of hurricanes on metropolitan infrastructure.

The war on science is a war on democracy itself.

...

So the rhetorical battle is pitched and the enemy is well armed. But it turns out that standing up for freedom and democracy is a lot like doing science. You start with noble principles and do the best you can, but when you get right down to it, you spend a lot of time dodging elephant dung.

Defending the Constitution is a messy business, but is it worth it? You betcha. Our future depends on it.

Patricia Princehouse, acceptance speech for the Hugh M. Hefner First Amendment Award.  Other winners included Paisley Dodds, Jack Spadaro, and Geoffrey R. Stone.

[emph mine]