Happy Birthday Nick Rhodes

Other than the fact that he is ultra-talented - I think Nick Rhodes is one of the most sarcastically funny people.  On this day, I wish him a very Happy Birthday; and share with you his form of thanks:

June 8th, 2011

Dearest virtual friends,

I was considering a polite handwritten thank you letter to you all, for the kind, thoughtful birthday messages I have received today… then it occurred to me how terribly complicated the procedure could be. First I would have to find my stationary, refill my ink pen and compose my thoughts. Once I had finished drafting the letter, I planned to scan it, then upload it to my computer. From here I would drag the compressed file from my desktop into the body of an email, which would then be sent to Kathryn Krassner at duranduran.com. Once received, she would remove the attachment of the scanned letter from the email, re-size the file and upload it onto the website.

In an attempt to save time and energy and conserve paper and ink, I decided it would be infinitely more simple to surrender to the widely accepted modern forms of communication in such circumstances – text with abbreviations. Regrettably I do not have all of your cellphone numbers in my address book, so the plan to write a short note with a few emoticons, then just blind copy everyone at the press of a button, quickly became even more perplexing. Why don’t you Tweet a message? One of my friends helpfully suggested. Because I don’t have a Twitter account, I responded verbally. They seemed stunned by this revelation, and even more disturbed when I revealed that I do not have a personal Facebook page either.

So, in lieu of my social networking inadequacy, please consider this communication between us, a hybrid of a Tweet (formerly a sentence), a Blog (formerly a paragraph) and a letter (handwritten correspondence between two people, generally delivered via a postal service, now mostly obsolete).
I am relieved that I did not run out of characters before concluding my thought, but I am also mindful not to use up too much storage space in The Cloud,  I simply want to express my gratitude and wish you all a thrilling day.

Yours via satellite,

Nick

Despite the fact that I have and use the above-mentioned forms of social networking (clears throat - like this blog) I agree with his general sentiment. 

A DD Blog Post from Simon le Bon

I got this from the official Duran Duran website.  I must admit that it brought tears to my eyes.  Twice; once when I read it myself and a second time when I read it to my husband.  Here is Simon's post:

It’s over two and a half weeks since the moment in the Cannes party set when I went for a high note, i.e. the “Woah” before the “yeah” in ALL YOU NEED IS NOW and it wasn’t there. And it hasn’t been there since then. I reckon I got 6 semi-tones wiped off the top of my range and to be perfectly honest with you, nobody, myself included, has really been able to explain what has happened. It’s quite difficult not to obsess; it’s very difficult not to worry about it.

I regret terribly having to have cancelled the shows that we have. I know that there are many fans who’ve travelled great distance to see us. I regret terribly the inconvenience caused to all of you; the money that you’ve spent on shows which haven’t happened – I’m very sorry about that.
The shows will of course be re-scheduled. “When?” people ask me; “when?” I ask myself. the simple fact is that I don’t know when. It already seems like an awful long time of not singing to me.

What I do know is that I’m spending an awful lot of time seeing specialists: three otorhinolaryngologists, a speech and voice therapist, a vocal coach, a physio-therapist who specialises in the laryngeal musculature, and of course my super-osteopath brother Jonathan Le Bon. It’s been a long time sitting in London traffic between appointments. last Thursday I saw five different practitioners in one day. It’s hard work.

And I have to tell you that through it all, I have received the goodwill and unconditional support of Nick and John and Roger; and also from you, the fans; from my family, my friends; from Katy, from Wendy, Sharon and all at Magus Entertainment; all those who I work with.  I can’t tell you how grateful that makes me feel. Thank you all for your continued support and understanding and patience.

You will help me prevail.

Simon Le Bon
whooosh
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I think Simon le Bon is very classy for writing this post.  I wish him a speedy recovery to good health.