A Record None Of Us Has...

[Dove Nested Towers]

If the tape was blank, would you ever know whether either:

a) the experiment proved that there's no sound when there's no-one around to perceive it, or

b) the remote malfunctioned?

Or whether, even, actually, USM 16 doesn't actually exist.

After all, we don't have one... and I sure NASA doesn't either.

With regard to c), whatever is is we're discussing here, the existence of which is questionable,
was, in the original hypothesis, somehow "put into the CD player" aboard the ship. A) or b) are
unquantifiable, but c) would appear to be undeniable, except that how can we be sure of pre-
cisely what "CD", extant or non-, was intended by the experiment to be the source (or non-
source) of the prospective sound reproduction?

Do I have too much time on my hands? Yes.

[The Heartical Don]

If the tape was blank, would you ever know whether either:

a) the experiment proved that there's no sound when there's no-one around to perceive it, or

b) the remote malfunctioned?

Or whether, even, actually, USM 16 doesn't actually exist.

After all, we don't have one... and I sure NASA doesn't either.

With regard to c), whatever is is we're discussing here, the existence of which is questionable,
was, in the original hypothesis, somehow "put into the CD player" aboard the ship. A) or b) are
unquantifiable, but c) would appear to be undeniable, except that how can we be sure of pre-
cisely what "CD", extant or non-, was intended by the experiment to be the source (or non-
source) of the prospective sound reproduction?

Do I have too much time on my hands? Yes.

Since I don't possess said record, which is sad, I can't make any definite statement on the matter. Last night, however, I had a dream. In that dream, I looked into my CD cabinet, and experienced a brief jolt... there, lo and behold, was a CD with a very nice layout, and it called itself: The Beach Boys, SMiLE. It was on some mythical record label, Unsurpassed Masters a.k.a. Sea Of Tunes, and its catalogue number was #16. Now, '16' happens to be my birthday, so the plot thickened. The track listing was quite true to what Brian once intended for his SMiLE project.

But, as we all know, dreams are not real. Or are they?

[The Shift]

Now, '16' happens to be my birthday, so the plot thickened. The track listing was quite true to what Brian once intended for his SMiLE project.
But, as we all know, dreams are not real. Or are they?

Well, I'd like to rush in and be the first to wish you a happy 16th birthday! Now that is surreal!
 

[The Heartical Don]

Now, '16' happens to be my birthday, so the plot thickened. The track listing was quite true to what Brian once intended for his SMiLE project.
But, as we all know, dreams are not real. Or are they?

Well, I'd like to rush in and be the first to wish you a happy 16th birthday! Now that is surreal!
 

If you look anything like your avatar, you may rush in anytime, darling, whether in fine garments, or in the nude...

[The Shift]

If that was me in the avatar, honey, I'd be around 120 years old and post-op.

[Dove Nested Towers]

If the tape was blank, would you ever know whether either:

a) the experiment proved that there's no sound when there's no-one around to perceive it, or

b) the remote malfunctioned?

Or whether, even, actually, USM 16 doesn't actually exist.

After all, we don't have one... and I sure NASA doesn't either.

With regard to c), whatever is is we're discussing here, the existence of which is questionable,
was, in the original hypothesis, somehow "put into the CD player" aboard the ship. A) or b) are
unquantifiable, but c) would appear to be undeniable, except that how can we be sure of pre-
cisely what "CD", extant or non-, was intended by the experiment to be the source (or non-
source) of the prospective sound reproduction?

Do I have too much time on my hands? Yes.

Since I don't possess said record, which is sad, I can't make any definite statement on the matter. Last night, however, I had a dream. In that dream, I looked into my CD cabinet, and experienced a brief jolt... there, lo and behold, was a CD with a very nice layout, and it called itself: The Beach Boys, SMiLE. It was on some mythical record label, Unsurpassed Masters a.k.a. Sea Of Tunes, and its catalogue number was #16. Now, '16' happens to be my birthday, so the plot thickened. The track listing was quite true to what Brian once intended for his SMiLE project.

But, as we all know, dreams are not real. Or are they?

I'm assuming that your birthday falls ON the 16th, Heartical, or are you just precocious? Lucid dreaming
is a precious gift, the realism is just amazing....

[The Heartical Don]

If the tape was blank, would you ever know whether either:

a) the experiment proved that there's no sound when there's no-one around to perceive it, or

b) the remote malfunctioned?

Or whether, even, actually, USM 16 doesn't actually exist.

After all, we don't have one... and I sure NASA doesn't either.

With regard to c), whatever is is we're discussing here, the existence of which is questionable,
was, in the original hypothesis, somehow "put into the CD player" aboard the ship. A) or b) are
unquantifiable, but c) would appear to be undeniable, except that how can we be sure of pre-
cisely what "CD", extant or non-, was intended by the experiment to be the source (or non-
source) of the prospective sound reproduction?

Do I have too much time on my hands? Yes.

Since I don't possess said record, which is sad, I can't make any definite statement on the matter. Last night, however, I had a dream. In that dream, I looked into my CD cabinet, and experienced a brief jolt... there, lo and behold, was a CD with a very nice layout, and it called itself: The Beach Boys, SMiLE. It was on some mythical record label, Unsurpassed Masters a.k.a. Sea Of Tunes, and its catalogue number was #16. Now, '16' happens to be my birthday, so the plot thickened. The track listing was quite true to what Brian once intended for his SMiLE project.

But, as we all know, dreams are not real. Or are they?

I'm assuming that your birthday falls ON the 16th, Heartical, or are you just precocious? Lucid dreaming
is a precious gift, the realism is just amazing....

Yes, dear friend. Although I wish that I could be 16 again, it is indeed the case that my bday falls on the 16th of January, to be precise. Oh, and yes, my dreams always are quite lucid. I often dreamt about Beach Boys music and heard unknown stuff in my brain, but after waking up I could not for the life of me hum again what I heard in my sleep.
Strangest dream: I am on a beach, alone. Then, out of the sky, Van Morrison comes along, in a giant air balloon. He lands, says nothing, but throws an orange basketball in my direction. And then he disappears again.

What am I to make of that?

[The Shift]

That Van the Man is carried by hot air, but only delivers balls*?

I used to dream of walking into a shop to find hundreds of BBs' albums I'd not seen before. I always awoke before I got to the check-out so don't know how I managed to afford them.


* This is not a personal opinion, merely one of many possible interpretations of a dream.

[The Heartical Don]

That Van the Man is carried by hot air, but only delivers balls*?

I used to dream of walking into a shop to find hundreds of BBs' albums I'd not seen before. I always awoke before I got to the check-out so don't know how I managed to afford them.


* This is not a personal opinion, merely one of many possible interpretations of a dream.

That is a lovely dream! Reminds me of a comic strip I have. It is about a fan of TinTin (I am one too, BTW) who thinks he knows all there is... and then in a secondhand book store finds a copy of 'TinTin And The Green Emerald' (which does not exist in reality, of course). Immediately he sees it is a genuine Hergé book...

[buddhahat]

I am not listening to UM 16 RIGHT NOW (on account of placing it in a forest near a falling tree and then running away very fast).

From what I can only imagine is playing - the sound is very clear, and there are some weird mixes of the tracks. Presumably the CIFOTM mix is a fan edit. I love that weird sort of staccato Child bridge. Wish there was a Brian 66 mix of Child that featured it.

The other thing that I've always pondered is what the deal is with the different sax riff at the end of OMP. The UM16 version has a longer more fiddly version than the more well known one. I wonder which is the version that Brian planned to use?

[The Heartical Don]

I am not listening to UM 16 RIGHT NOW (on account of placing it in a forest near a falling tree and then running away very fast).

From what I can only imagine is playing - the sound is very clear, and there are some weird mixes of the tracks. Presumably the CIFOTM mix is a fan edit. I love that weird sort of staccato Child bridge. Wish there was a Brian 66 mix of Child that featured it.

The other thing that I've always pondered is what the deal is with the different sax riff at the end of OMP. The UM16 version has a longer more fiddly version than the more well known one. I wonder which is the version that Brian planned to use?

Good call. On several occasions, whilst not playing said CD, I wondered about these things myself, but you make me pay more attention. Tonight, when I am not playing that record, I won't scrutinize it carefully for these non-topics.

[The Shift]

The other thing that I've always pondered is what the deal is with the different sax riff at the end of OMP. The UM16 version has a longer more fiddly version than the more well known one. I wonder which is the version that Brian planned to use?

I reckon Brian's choice would have been for the version we knew before USM didn't come out. Not sure, but wasn't that older version from an acetate that married it with YAMS and False Barnyard?

I love SMiLE as much as the next middle-aged beer-bellied bloke in a Hawaiian shirt but could never call myself a knowledgeable scholar with regards to its intricacies and the sources of the various versions.

[The Heartical Don]

The other thing that I've always pondered is what the deal is with the different sax riff at the end of OMP. The UM16 version has a longer more fiddly version than the more well known one. I wonder which is the version that Brian planned to use?

I reckon Brian's choice would have been for the version we knew before USM didn't come out. Not sure, but wasn't that older version from an acetate that married it with YAMS and False Barnyard?

I love SMiLE as much as the next middle-aged beer-bellied bloke in a Hawaiian shirt but could never call myself a knowledgeable scholar with regards to its intricacies and the sources of the various versions.

Must you mention me in every post?

[The Shift]

The other thing that I've always pondered is what the deal is with the different sax riff at the end of OMP. The UM16 version has a longer more fiddly version than the more well known one. I wonder which is the version that Brian planned to use?

I reckon Brian's choice would have been for the version we knew before USM didn't come out. Not sure, but wasn't that older version from an acetate that married it with YAMS and False Barnyard?

I love SMiLE as much as the next middle-aged beer-bellied bloke in a Hawaiian shirt but could never call myself a knowledgeable scholar with regards to its intricacies and the sources of the various versions.

Must you mention me in every post?

As Ringo once sang:

"You're 16, you're Heartical, and you're a middle-aged beer-bellied bloke in an Hawaiian shirt..."

[The Heartical Don]

The other thing that I've always pondered is what the deal is with the different sax riff at the end of OMP. The UM16 version has a longer more fiddly version than the more well known one. I wonder which is the version that Brian planned to use?

I reckon Brian's choice would have been for the version we knew before USM didn't come out. Not sure, but wasn't that older version from an acetate that married it with YAMS and False Barnyard?

I love SMiLE as much as the next middle-aged beer-bellied bloke in a Hawaiian shirt but could never call myself a knowledgeable scholar with regards to its intricacies and the sources of the various versions.

Must you mention me in every post?

As Ringo once sang:

"You're 16, you're Heartical, and you're a middle-aged beer-bellied bloke in an Hawaiian shirt..."

  ---> 

[The Shift]

AN APOLOGY...

Can I just apologise to the folks who have very kindly offered to burn me a copy of USM 16. I'm sure the Don might have had similar offers for which he is similarly grateful.

Just to clarify: I am not in need of a copy of USM/SoT 16.

The Don and I are very aware that when speaking about such unofficial releases, it's important to make it understood to the people from the official world of BBs' and BW, who might drop by this board from time to time, that we do not condone the existence of such naughty products, released by unofficial means and similarly we don't condone their ownership.

This is, effectively us talking in disguise. While we claim not to have such discs, we might. Obviously we don't, but in claiming not to have, it doesn't mean that we do not. Not necessarily. Chances are that we might, but to all intents and purposes, for the purposes of communicating on this board, we don't.

Let's face it, the Don's a mere lad of 16 and is barely old enough to remember the USMs being released. I'm a middle-aged beer-bellied bloke in a Hawaiian shirt and though I am old enough to remember them coming out – the excitement of opening the Royal Mail posting parcels, taking them out one by one (all 57 discs, you know what I mean?) opening the cases to see which number of the limited edition I had, fondling the slip-cases before heading for my hi-fi CD player and slipping into ecstasy as that unbelievable music came out of the speakers – I don't, obviously, because I wouldn't condone such behaviour and certainly wouldn't allude to it on a public forum such as this.

I hope that's cleared things up, but in such a veiled manner as to keep the Feds and BRI off my back for a while.

[The Heartical Don]

AN APOLOGY...

Can I just apologise to the folks who have very kindly offered to burn me a copy of USM 16. I'm sure the Don might have had similar offers for which he is similarly grateful.

Just to clarify: I am not in need of a copy of USM/SoT 16.

The Don and I are very aware that when speaking about such unofficial releases, it's important to make it understood to the people from the official world of BBs' and BW, who might drop by this board from time to time, that we do not condone the existence of such naughty products, released by unofficial means and similarly we don't condone their ownership.

This is, effectively us talking in disguise. While we claim not to have such discs, we might. Obviously we don't, but in claiming not to have, it doesn't mean that we do not. Not necessarily. Chances are that we might, but to all intents and purposes, for the purposes of communicating on this board, we don't.

Let's face it, the Don's a mere lad of 16 and is barely old enough to remember the USMs being released; while I'm a middle-aged beer-bellied bloke in a Hawaiian shirt, I am old enough to remember them coming out – the excitement of opening the Royal Mail posting parcels, taking them out one by one (all 57 discs, you know what I mean?) opening the cases to see which number of the limited edition I had, fondling the slip-cases before heading for my hi-fi CD player and slipping into ecstasy as that unbelievable music came out of the speakers – I don't obviously, because I wouldn't condone such behaviour and certainly wouldn't allude to it on a public forum such as this.

I hope that's cleared things up, but in such a veiled manner as to keep the Feds and BRI off my back for a while.

It is a good thing that there still are such upright and law-abiding citizens around as Wee Helper. I mean - where would the world go if anyone just produced or bought illicit recorded material of artists much in demand? As much as I would like to hear every single split second ever sung by my all time heroes, there's this angel whispering in my ear... 'don't do dat, Don!'.

But I found a way out of the dilemma at hand. Before going to sleep, I meditate and levitate. I pray that the desired music will pop up in my dreams. And hey presto! My sleep, my dreams have become an alternate reality, in which I can saunter to my CD racks, and grab just any beautiful slightly unreal record off the shelf and play it to my heart's content.

So there: it IS possible to discuss records that I don't have and never bought...