You know just what it takes...@duranduran Appreciation Day

Magnet #1265 - Bintan Island

My friend brought this magnet back for me from Bintan, Indonesia. And yes, I had to look up where it was. It's an island getaway, and we all know how I feel about islands.

Anyway, picked it for Duran Duran Appreciation Day because of my John Taylor, bassist for my fave band of all, all, all time.

And also, its tropical island motif reminds me of the Save a Prayer video shot in Sri Lanka from 1982.

What? Of course, I could have used Rio, but don't get me started on how when people say they love Duran Duran, they're like, "yeah, I loved Rio." That makes me crazy.

Not that I'm much better with showing you Save a Prayer, but I haven't seen this video in ages. So, yeah, enjoy.




Although, if I'm hard-pressed, my favorite Duran Duran track might actually be New Religion, because it's so much fun to sing.

Shout-out to the 80s

Magnet #1248 - Duran Duran, circa mid-80s

Think this magnet is the last of my Duran Duran buttons from the 80s. Using it for today because they totally got a huge shout-out on Wizards of Waverly Place.

Alex, played by the always adorable Selena Gomez, did one of her spells to be able to remotely watch what was happening elsewhere,

"Please, please tell me now.
Is there something I should know.
Duranium Duranius!"

C'mon, that's an awesome, awesome spell!

And timely, too, since last night, some friends and I went downtown (yes, I know, below 14th street, I was!) to go see an 80s cover band, and (some of us) reliving about a million memories from the coolest decade ever.

What? The 80s definitely had more personality than the 90s or the 00s. Dress-up outfit selections alone prove that.

And no, we were lame and didn't dress up.

Well, not really. I'm of the mind that the brightly colored paisley shirt paired with a pink scrunchie totally channeled me from high school.

Now. If only I'd worn my jellies.

We love the 80s...hair?

Magnet #1227 - Duran Duran (again)

What? I said I had a million Duran Duran buttons that I turned into magnets! Plus, this one with the boys looking all slick in their skinny ties, shoulder pads and perfectly coiffed hair totally fits for my mood tonight.

A friend is doing an 80s night in a couple of weeks, so I've been trying to get into the mood, having bought my outfit (yes, rather than Frankensteining an ensemble) this weekend. Now, I'm validating my selection by reviewing my yearbooks from the 80s.

Yes. The 80s, my formative years.

And in leafing through those yearbooks - one from 1986 and one from 1989 - it struck me that damn, we had some big-ass hair back then. I can't tell if it was just that it was the 80s, or that we were in rural North Carolina - I suspect the answer is, both.

I mean, it was big, it was wide, it was tall, it was long, and curly. We would hold our hair out to the side, like wings, and we'd spray the crap out of it and hold the curling iron to it, to steam it in place - trying to get our hair to span outward from our heads just as far as we could. In all directions, it would seem.

We'd take a clump of bangs on top and curl it backward, and take the front set of bangs and curl them under, so that the two clumps would perfectly sit atop each other. And it's almost every single school picture - some guys, too. Crazy!

We had one classmate who had a wave of hair sticking straight up. She used cans of hairspray against a wall to make sure it stood straight up. And it took ages to achieve that look, man.

And cans of hairspray. Some friends chipped in one year, and bought one of our BFFs a whole case of Rave hairspray for her birthday.

You know, thinking about it, I'd bet the 80s were single-handedly responsible for the ozone troubles, given how much hairspray we all used.

Get better soon, Simon!

Magnet #1190 - Duran Duran

What? I said I had a ton Duran Duran magnets, folks. I wasn't kidding. I'm a child of the 80s, so of course I have a ton of buttons.

The boys have been having a tough time of it, having postponed several dates on the European leg of their All You Need Is Now tour due to Simon's ongoing vocal issues.

They broke the news today that they're postponing the next two dates - London and Brighton as well. The boys seem totally gutted in their interviews and their Tweets, and their blogposts.

Sad news all around, for the band, and for the fans.

eta:
Awww, another heartfelt blogpost from JT. What is it about that guy that makes him my favorite above all others?

Always removed

Magnet #1150 - Duran Duran

Duran Duran is playing Coachella tonight.

This weekend, Twitter's been full of folks Tweeting about how jealous they were of the folks that went out there. Not me - only because I've never been a big concert-goer. Well, at least, I wasn't jealous...

...until I just found out a friend, of a friend, of a friend is there with them.

No, I mean with them. As in, in the group shot of Duran Duran before boarding the plane to head out there.

Sigh. I need to get an infinitely cooler life.

"The Man Who Stole a Leopard"

Magnet #1139 - Leopard

Another one of my Borders Going Out of Business magnets. It's a leopard.

Or, I'm gonna say it's one, because according to this African Wildlife blogpost, it's a leopard because his head's bigger than his body and his spots are rosetta-y. Or, it could be a cheetah because it doesn't really have any spots on his face and has a large nostril.

But we'll go with leopard for the purposes of this blogpost. And yes. I now know way too much about the difference between leopards and cheetahs. Fascinating stuff!

One of my favorite songs off the new Duran Duran album is "The Man Who Stole a Leopard," featuring Kelis. SUCH a good song - all about obsession...with a leopard.

It has the hallmarks of DD style - great melody combined with crazy, gorgeous lyrics. My favorite part is listening to the newscast at the end of the track, with a Brit reader saying, "...the incident has already created much conTROverSY and is now likely to lead to a major investigation. Into the life. Of the man. Who Stole. A Leopard."

The David Lynch-directed video from their Unstaged performance is below. It has the hallmarks of David Lynch style - great direction combined with crazy, gorgeous imagery and graphics.

But, I love the wikistory, because it has the hallmarks of joy style - misunderstood lyrics. Apparently, while writing the song, they were talking about Apple's new OS, and someone asked if they'd installed Leopard yet...and someone misheard and asked if somebody stole a leopard.

And thus the song title was born. C'mon. That's awesome.

Is anybody hungry?

Magnet #1127 - Duran Duran's Arena

Dudes. How is it that I have like four @duranduran pins magnets left? I think I'm wrapping up Duran Duran drop week with my favorite live album of all time.

I have multiple copies - one cassette (shut it) and two CDs, maybe even three, plus I think I got desperate for it one day at work and bought it off of iTunes.

What? There's a reason I know it like the back of my hand.

And speaking of knowing something like the back of my hand - I'm well on my way with All You Need Is Now. If you haven't bought it yet, do.

My dad was subjected to it for at least four or five hours today in the car. And without complaint, too. Mom just keeps asking every time we hear "Blame it on the Machines" who are these machines, and why are we blaming them?

All I need is here! #AYNIN

Magnet #1126 - Duran Duran's All You Need Is Now

Finally.

My CD/DVD of All You Need Is Now from @duranduran arrived in our little PO Box. Woot!

Mind you, it's not as cool as my autographed RCM from their publicity team, but whatevs, let the collection of autographed magnet liner notes continue!

Doesn't mean the Duran Duran marathon is done, by any means. You know, in case you thought so.

It's a great morning-after present following last night's supercool Amex Unstaged Concert directed by David Lynch. It was a total visual assault, in some cases for the good, some for the bad - but it was a fabulous concert on the whole. The boys were awesome - of course.

Here's a taste - one of my favorites, Friends of Mine:

16 and Bop

Magnet #1125 - Duran Duran

What? You thought I was kidding about an @duranduran week?

Not a chance.

First, I'm still anxiously awaiting my autographed deluxe CD/DVD from Newbury. And second, I have way too many DD pins magnets to not do the DD marathon.

I'm actually hoping that since my sister stumbled upon all those old Duran pins, that running around somewhere in this house is a giant stack of old 16 and Bop magazines.

Oh, yes. I was totally thatteenybopper, saving up my lunch money to buy the latest issues of all the teenybopper rags. After all, this was before the advent of the Internet - how else was I to find out that my Jaunty John Taylor (at 13, I remember totally having to look up what Jaunty meant) was 26, born Nigel John Taylor on June 20, 1960, outside Birmingham, whose favorite food was Big Macs from McDonald's?

Yep, I totally kept those magazines in business in the mid-80s. Every so often, I get the urge to buy a couple of issues to see what's going on. Of course, I know only about a handful of kids in the mags now, and mostly from the Disney Channel. Buuuuut that's another magnet.

eta:
Also. Tonight is the Amex/Duran Duran Unstaged performance, directed by David freakin' Lynch. CanNOT freakin' wait.

Happy drop week, @duranduran!

Magnet #1124 - Duran Duran

Welcome to Duran Duran week on joy magnetism. Yes. A whole marathon, with likely nothing but pretty pins magnets for each day. What?

My sister stumbled across a whole tin of old pins of mine growing up, so I've quickly turned most of them into magnets. Some of them I remember, but I didn't have one of those cool jean jackets with pins all over them in school, so I haven't a clue what I did with these pins.

Anyway, I figured I'd just use the majority of my Duran pins in honor of their newest work, All You Need Is Now which drops today in CD and special CD/DVD editions.

Totally bought the autographed special deluxe edition from Newbury Comics. What? Ya'll know how much I love my Duran Duran. I can't wait til it gets here - I'm like stalking that PO box.

In the meantime, I'll just keep listening to the iTunes album version I bought earlier this year.

So if you see me bebopping down the road, it's really because I'm so very happy I have new DD tunes to dork out over in the car...

What were the 80s like, Joy?

Magnet #1040 - Ms. Pac-Man

Bought this Ms. Pac-Man magnet at the Union Square Holiday Market, from a guy selling vintage-esque designed shirts, and now I can't remember what booth it was. Sorry!

Growing up, we never had video games in the house. In fact, it wasn't until my baby sister started whining about getting a Game Boy did my parents actually relent. But that meant that I spent all of the 80s sans video games. No Commodore 64. No Atari. No nothing. How uncool!

I think that's why my sisters (and BIL) love their current Wii games so much. They've now played all the myriad games they got this Christmas - from the crossbow game (with Link from Zelda!) to the Classic Mario 25th Anniversary to Amazing Race and Jeopardy!

By far, though, the funniest one to watch them play is Just Dance 2. Oddly, my BIL is the best dancer of the three, but it's superfunny how they close their blinds before starting the game. It totally makes me wonder what funny video game activities are happening behind other people's closed blinds.

So, yeah, even if I was deprived of all video games growing up, I went ahead and bought this Ms. Pac-Man, because lately it totally feels like the 80s are definitely back. Part of it is because the kids of today have no memory of why our fashions went away and they're bringing them back, looking just about as ridiculous as we did back in the day.

Or maybe it's just because Duran Duran released a new album called All You Need Is Now (that I would have blogged about, had I found the appropriate magnet), or because I spent a good portion of the holidays with my sisters working on a family pictures DVD for my parents (a good part of that were some really crazy-haired/-outfitted pix from the 80s), or it's likely because we've been doing a 21 Jump Street marathon (which is a total indictment of our 80s wardrobe), or simply because it's a proven fact that I love the 80s, just in general.

Eh, whatever. I admit it. I loved the 80s, with our Cold Wars and Reaganomics, and our Just Say No campaigns and our old-school babyfaced Johnny Depp. But mostly I loved it because of my Duran Duran.

eta: Bugger. This magnet will have today's date, because I spent yesterday catching up on joy magnetism and forgot to open up a new post for yesterday's date. Yes. That's the extent of my OCD, I can hold off on doing my blog for more than a week, but it drives me crazy if the dates are off.

What?

Just the two of us

Magnet #722 - Cyprus

A friend of mine had her friend bring this back for me from their travels to Cyprus. It's so pretty and blue. Mind you, it took me forever to realize that it was Cyprus, and not Ceylon/Sri Lanka. I was all excited because I was like, hey! Duran Duran filmed videos in Sri Lanka!!!

Anyway, so Cyprus used to be a British protectorate, and is basically an island skirmished over by the Greeks and the Turks.

Cyprus is located in the Mediterranean, something like the 3rd biggest island (after Sardinia and Sicily) in the sea...and at that, it's still only a sixth of the size of Connecticut! So small!

They have a few archaeological digs there, along with a ton of superold sites, such as the UNESCO World Heritage Site, the "Tomb of the Kings," which dates back to the Hellenistic/early Roman period. It's amazing how islands date back this far, makes you wonder how many uncharted islands out there have history even further back.

So far, this is one of my most exotic magnets, so I'm happy to count it as one of my own. I picked it for today, because I saw it and wondered if the Cypriots were fielding an Olympic team. And they are!

Check it out! Two Alpine skiers, Christopher Papamichalopoulos, and his sister (!!!), Sophia Papamichalopoulos.

Of course, I haven't figured out where they train, but dang, that's pretty cool. I wonder if they have to room together.

"Stingy piece of pie"

Magnet #541 - Rudy Burckhardt's Flatiron in Summer

That's what one critic called the Flatiron Building when it was finished.

I bought this magnet as part of an historical NYC photographs set from the Met. One of the things I love about New York City, is that it's forever captured in a million ways, in a million places, and in a million eras.

This photograph was taken in 1947, by Mr. Burckhardt, a photographer who was, according to this NYTs article, "famous for being underrated." That makes me a little sad, as does this shot of the Flatiron Building. The NYTs article claims this image was kept from greatness because of the "silly phallic shadow of the Flatiron hanging below it, turning the whole mass, building and shadow, into a weird blob floating down the street."

I love the Flatiron - and according to lackluster guide on the one and only Gray Line tour I've ever taken in town (don't judge), it's one of the most photographed buildings in town (that, I believe), and supposedly the tallest building in the world at some point (which is totally not true, silly Gray Line). The locals had always called that triangle plot of land flatiron, for the triangle irons of those days. So, when the Fuller Building went up, the name didn't stick (hear that, Sears Tower?), and Flatiron, it is.

I work down the street from this Daniel Burnham beaux arts building - one of the few he did in NYC, and each time I pass it, I can't help but examine it for more cool details. I had a couple of friends who worked in the building, complaining of small and odd-shaped offices. And, Ephemeral NY did a close-up on the faces recently, so who do you think ended up looking like a tourist staring up at the tall building.

For me, this building's always had a special place in my heart - since 1985, anyway, when Duran Duran's John Taylor starred in a little-known Sci-Fi series called Timeslip. The opening credits included a triangle building, and I remember squeeing when I figured out the Flatiron was, OMG, same building! What? I was young.

And, for almost a quarter of a century I've labored under that sweetly fangurlish belief, that this is where my John hung out as The Hacker. Until today, when I got curious about Timeslip, and did a search.

Stupid YouTube video, disabusing me of that silly notion.

Clearly, this building is not the Flatiron.

Hmph. Talk about a timeslip.

Raindrops and roses

Magnet #500 - 100% Happy, 100% Joy

Yay! 500!

I do love that I'm blogging on my 500th magnet with a magnet that I made. It's from one of those bottlecap sets that you can buy at like a Michael's or a Jo-Ann's, only I just stuck a magnet on the back, rather than making it into a pin.

I guess if I'd made it into a pin, it would have been like the little bottlecap Mr. Fredricksen gave to Russell on UP. Speaking of UP, I'm gonna go against the grain, and say that it wasn't my favorite Pixar movie. In fact, I fell asleep.

I know! It's a total unpopular opinion!

But, I suspect you'll find that a lot here on joy magnetism, because if there's one thing that I try to do in my life, it's stay true to myself and what I love - no matter how dorky or unpopular or obsessed people think it makes me.

So in honor of my 500th magnet, a review of my 500 favorite things - hahahhah, no, just kidding, only a handful, really. In no particular order: (cue Sound of Music music)

1. Architecture. Frank Lloyd Wright. McKim, Mead & White. Zaha Hadid. Frank Gehry. Daniel Burnham. Philip Johnson. Louis Sullivan. I.M. Pei. My taste runs the gamut, I just know what I like.
2. Magnets. joy magnetism. Nuff said.
3. Tours. I love them. I would take a tour of a paper bag, if it were given.
4. Television/film. I love them both. Love opening weekends, and no matter how much I weed out, there's a baseline of at least 30 hours of tv each week. Except reality. Hate. Kinda meta, methinks.
5. Travel, roadtrips and Roadside America. Practically grew up in a van, and there's nothing better than discovering some lost byway and crazy tourist trap. Here. Or abroad.
6. Books. Yes. When I'm not doing any of the above, I love a good book. Who doesn't?
7. Chocolate. No one understands how I can keep bags and jars of chocolate at my desk and not gobble it up. Psst. It's because I don't share the good stuff.
8. Duran Duran. I know! It's crazy that my little boyband from the 80s can still make a girl squee.
9. Trains. They're awesome. If I could train everywhere, I would.
10. George Clooney. And various and sundry cuteboys. If I list them, gravy, we'd be here for days. Just know: Cuteboys. Uniforms. Big guns. (No, not those guns.)
11. Doctor Who. Ten is my Doctor, and if David Tennant decides to do the big-screen DW while Matt Smith does BabyEmoDoctor Eleven on tv, that'll be interesting. (I'm thinking that this last one shouldn't count, since arguably, it's only been within the last three years or so. It could just be a fleeting thing that ends when David hits the road.)

There you have it. The oddest combination of me I can think of - even my best friend in the world giggles at some of the things I get into. And she's known me since we were in Kindergarten.

But even she doesn't share half of these things with me. And she shouldn't - that's what makes us friends, each bringing something different to the table.

Huh. I feel like I just filled out an online dating profile. Hahahah.

Anyway, happy 500! And they thought it wouldn't last.

eta:
Heh. Upon completing the labels for this post, I realized that I had existing labels for just about every item above, which I guess just means I'm pretty consistent in the things I talk about here, the places I go, and the things that interest me. Yay, consistency, I suppose.

"I didn't need to see it...

Magnet #461 - The Who

...I lived it."

- Roger Daltrey, when asked if he watched Amazing Journey: The Story of The Who

When people ask me what kind of music I like, I tend to wiggle my way out of answering the question.

I won't lie - my music taste is deplorable.

I mean, really. I grew up on Duran Duran and 70s, 80s and 90s Top 40. (By the way, Duran Duran, as you should know by now, I will go to the mat for, so they're totally not included in that deplorability.)

That said, I think we can agree that classic rock is definitely beyond my ken.

Which is why when I went to the Paley Center last year to watch this Who docu, I wasn't really expecting to be overwhelmed. Nor was I really expecting Roger Daltrey to be there for the Q&A, either.

But, what I forgot is that I tend to love band documentaries - all two that I've ever watched. Duran Duran's Sing Blue Silver and Metallica's Some Kind of Monster.

But, Amazing Journey was fantastic. I learned so much about the Who - their beginnings, their music, their successes and failures, and in general, who these guys were. I seriously wanted to run out and get the DVD, without having listened to a full Who album ever. In fact, now I'm wondering how I didn't end up with The Who's greatest hits somewhere.

Of course, on the way home, I had to call my mom to tell her who I just saw. And this is what several someones overheard on the corner of 52nd and 7th Avenue.

Me: Mom! I just saw Roger Daltrey!
Mom: Who?
Me: Yes. You know, Roger Daltrey!!!
Mom: Isn't he that guy from that band you liked? Wham?
Me: No! That's George Michael!!! Roger! Daltrey! You know, from The Who!
Mom: Ohhhhhhh. I don't know them.

Do they know it's Christmas?

Magnet #296 - Duran Duran (yes. again)

Christmas 1984 is when Band Aid released the single and the video for Do they know it's Christmas?, a song written in the back of a cab by Bob Geldolf. I swear, I must have stalked MTV day and night waiting for each airing of this video. Ya know, back in the day when they actually played wall-to-wall videos.

This charity effort was the first out of the gate, one of the first large gatherings of musical talent ever...and was then quickly followed by Michael Jackson/USA for Africa's We Are the World. Both were aimed at helping Africa, with as much star power as they could possibly gather. Both videos read like Who's Who in 80s music, and were actually incredible to watch. (I mean the scheduling alone must have been a bear.)

But Do they know it's Christmas? is still my favorite holiday song to this day. I lived to see my John Taylor having so much fun with the other boys during the recording. How cute is he at the 2:46 mark! Squee!

Not surprisingly, holiday music is my favorite all-time music. I spent the entire day yesterday ripping all my holiday CDs to an external drive, so that I could load them up to iPods and my cell. And, 65 CDs and roughly a thousand songs later, I'm happy to report - all music listening devices are ready to roll.

As usual, I tend to stick with the happy bubblegummy music, because they make me happy. But, because I have several compilation sets, I end up with tons of dupes of the Rat Pack, or Johnny Mathis, or Ella or Bing. I deleted any tracks that were by the same artist, but it still means that I have up to 20 versions each of Silent Night, Winter Wonderland, I'll Be Home for Christmas, Santa Claus Is Coming to Town, Sleigh Ride, The Christmas Song and the best one of all, Joy to the World.

I think I could listen to Christmas music all year round. My silly favorite holiday CDs, just for kicks...feel free to mock.

1. School's Out Christmas
2. Platinum Christmas
3. Christmas with the Rat Pack
4. Disney Channel Holiday
5. Radio Disney Jingle Jams
6. Maybe this Christmas
7. Cheetah-licious Christmas
8. NOW That's What I Call Christmas
9. Home for Christmas

eta:
I wish Duran Duran would put out a Christmas album.

But I also kinda wish that Bob Geldof had worked out some sort of deal where if the artists participate in it (whichever version, though none are as good as the original), that those artists could put that track on their own albums and donate a percentage to Band Aid.

But I'd rather have a "Have a Merry Duran Duran Christmas" more.

Standing on the edge of a quay*

Magnet #272 - Singapore River, Quayside Dining

My friend brought back this magnet from his Asia trip. I looked it up - apparently, there's some excellent dining alongside the quay.

I just picked this one for today, cuz I thought it was pretty...I've never visited Singapore, so I've been wracking my brain (and Google) to see what I could say about it. Here are a few tidbits:

1) Did you know that Road to Singapore was the first of all the Road films that Bing and Bob did together? And that George Burns and Fred MacMurray were slated to play the leads originally?

2) For years, it was completely illegal to chew gum in Singapore. They've relaxed the reg recently. Now you can chew it...for medicinal purposes.

3) You can take an iPod guided tour of some really cool works of art by Stella, Warhol, Chihuly and Hockney...at the Ritz-Carlton hotel lobby.

4) They have a London Eye-esque observation wheel - the largest in the world at 540 feet tall, almost 50 stories. Takes 30 minutes, and you pay about $20 to ride it. It's called the Singapore Flyer, and has the best tagline ever: A moving experience at every turn.

5) The Singapore Sling was invented at the Raffles Hotel in Singapore in the early 1900s. I'm totally having one at the next possible occasion: Gin, brandy, pineapple and lime juice, Cointreau, bitters, and Dom Benedictine (whatever that is).

6) You know how NYC has yellow cabs, London has their red phone boxes and Rio has that giant statue of Jesus as their symbols of the city? Singapore has a Merlion, this creature with the head of a lion and the body of a fish, to welcome all visitors to town.

I must confess, I'm slightly freaked out about the thought of a mermaid and a lion procreating, but c'mon! The Merlion alone might be worth the airfare around the world!

*Lyrics to Duran Duran's Night Boat. When I was in 6th or 7th grade, I had to look up what the hell a quay was because of this song.

A box full of honey, indeed

Magnet #170 - Duran Duran's Red Carpet Massacre

A few weeks ago after a particularly craptastic day at work, I came home to a hand-addressed package with pretty, pretty handwriting. On the elevator ride up to my apartment, I wracked my brain wondering who I knew at this particular place, if it was something I'd forgotten I ordered, or, if perhaps it was a special surprise one of my friends had sent me.

It was better than that.

Remember my Friends of the band magnetpost on Duran Duran, where I said I'd run away with jaunty John Taylor if he asked me today?

Well, apparently, my people got in touch with his people. Because my people freakin' ROCK. Dudes. That package? Contained the RCM tourbook, and a signed copy of Red Carpet Massacre, as well as a very sweet With Compliments note from their people.

Holy. Freakin'. COW. This was better than being linked to on CNN.com, or on Huffingtonpost. This was even better than the graduation Vermont Teddy Bear that VTB graciously sent (after this magnetpost) to the blogmocking cousin who dared to mock joy magnetism.

Look, rationally, I know that there's a stack of these CDs and books sitting around in some office somewhere - I don't care. It was totally sweet of their people to take time out of their day to send me something from the boys. While I'm a little embarrassed, it's still like the coolest thing ever, and I shall cherish it always. And, yes, I made a magnet out of the signed liner notes - it seemed quite fitting. It's in a little magnetic sleeve, and has been given a place of honor on one of the magnet boards. So, May and Sharon, if you're reading this...thank you very, very much.

And while I'm saying my thank yous, and without getting too maudlin, I get my fair share of readers, and it means a lot to me that you guys, my family and friends, and new friends, take time out of your days to read my silly little magnetblog.

Of course, I'm still waiting for John Taylor to show up at my doorstep. He has my address, after all. :-)

Happy National Duran Duran Appreciation Day!

Friends of the band

Magnet #129 - Duran Duran

A girl never forgets her first superstar crush. And for me, it was John Taylor of Duran Duran. Hell, to this day, I would totally run off with my Jaunty John (/tm 16 magazine) if he asked me to.

Outside of school, I had a group of friends who were huge Duranies. They were a couple of years older than me, which skewed me younger than the average D2 fan.

Which also meant that during school hours, I was pretty much the only 6th and 7th grader in love with these guys. I was the British invasion personified, running around with magazines and tapes and bandannas and singing "Planet Earth" and ooohing over Seven and the Ragged Tiger. In fact, I even remember being at a sleepover, and while everyone else was off snacking in the kitchen, or playing outside, I was the only one camped out in front of the TV anxiously awaiting the MTV world premiere of "New Moon on Monday."

And, twenty-odd years after that first cassette tape, I'm still buying their music, they're the majority of albums on my mp3 player, and they're the wallpaper on my cell phone. Oh, and I'm still going to their concerts.

I picked up this pin-now-magnet, two concerts ago - when the little fangurl in me squeed at finally getting to see them play MSG. Freakin' awesome. Back in 84, they had sold out several MSG dates, and it was the most rad place to see them, and my little tweenie self was never able to make it up here.

But nothing - and I do mean nothing - tops my last Duran Duran concert - last year, for the launch of Red Carpet Massacre. We went as (and I say with this with quite the hairtoss) friends of the band, names on the list and everything. Oh, be still my little fangurl heart.

And, so what if we didn't get backstage in the end - I'm thinking that perhaps maybe, that's a good thing.

For John, anyway.