The world according to Dan.

Rare XTC tracks surface on box set

The up-and-down career of Britain’s XTC will be celebrated with a four-disc box set due for release in March.

The set, dubbed “A Coat Of Many Cupboards,” was compiled with the participation of XTC’s Andy Partridge and Colin Moulding and features 60 tracks spanning the group’s time with Virgin (the group has since left the label), EMI/Virgin announced.

The set will include a booklet with Partridge and Moulding commenting on each track, plus an essay by XTC expert Harrison Sherwood. Key for longstanding XTC fans is a handful of demos and rare recordings.

Disc one, which covers the years 1977 to 1979, includes a demo of “Science Fiction”,recorded for CBS records, before the group had signed to Virgin; a live version of “Spinning Top”; a Mutt Lange produced version of “This Is Pop”; a discarded recording of “Life Begins At The Hop”; a demo of “Making Plans For Nigel”; and the outtake “Sleepyheads.”

Disc two covers 1979 through 1981 and includes a live version of “Meccanik Dancing”; an alternate take of “Reel By Real”; a rehearsal of “Generals And Majors”; a recording of Partridge as he writes “Senses Working Overtime”; and a version of “Ball And Chain” produced by Clive Langer and Alan Winstanley.

Disc three covers the period from 1981 to 1986 and includes a Langer/Winstanley production of “Punch And Judy”; the song “Fly On The Wall”; an Old Grey Whistle Test performance of “Yacht Dance”; the demo for “Grass”; and Dave Gregory’s home demo for “Dear God.”

Disc four runs from 1987 to 1992 and includes the B-side “Terrorism”; a writing-session tape for “Mayor Of Simpleton”; the demo for “The Ballad Of Peter Pumpkin Head”; and a BBC recording of “Books Are Burning.”

Well, I say that any experience in a movie theatre is always great, even if the movie is a bad as the two films opening this weekend.

So go for the experience, and the popcorn, and who knows, if you go in with very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very low expectations, you may actually enjoy this weekend’s offerings.

Well, okay I’m lying. You won’t enjoy them, not at all, but popcorn! Who doesn’t love popcorn!

Opening this weekend are two real stiffs of a film, and I don’t mean that as an insensitive reference or a bad pun. They are truly stiffs!

In Dragonfly Kevin Costner stars as a…well, Kevin Costner stars in it, so do I really need to say anything else? Man is this film horrible!

But bad doesn’t begin to describe the mess that is The Queen Of The Damned. This movie is so bad that it wasn’t ever going to see the light of day. Then, one of it’s stars, the lovely and talented Aaliyah, passed away, and the studio “surprisingly” decided that it was going to release the movie.

If you see it, you’ll wish they had stuck with their original decision. This movie sucks, and I don’t mean that just because it is about vampires!

Aaliyah must be spinning in her grave!

Good news though! The January and February stinkers will soon be over as March will be soon upon us!!!!

Coming out in the next few weeks are the films: 40 Days and 40 Nights (Well this one will stink, but then there’s), We Were Soldiers (Mel Gibson stars in this movie from the writer of “Braveheart”), The Time Machine (Starring Guy Pierce), Ice Age, Resident Evil, Showtime and Blade 2.

Canada. Belarus. Today!

It all starts at 2 pm Eastern Time. Canada takes on Belarus in the Olympic Men’s Hockey Tournament with the winner going to the Gold Medal Game and the loser playing for Bronze on Sunday.

I hate to sound like an over- played and stupid soft drink commercial, but if we all cheer for our guys, they will hear us in Salt Lake!

Go Canada, go!!!!!

And I will be home watching the game if you want to give me a call!

I’ve been telling you for weeks that the new Alanis Morissette CD “Under Rug Swept,” due out Tuesday, February 26th, 2002, was great! Now, here’s another review. (By the way, that reviewer says it’s great too!)

HBO Says Britney Spears Won’t Be On “Sex In The City”

HBO is denying a New York Post report that said Spears will guest on the show.

The Post had reported Monday that she’d play Samantha’s niece who seduces her boyfriend. Samantha is played by Kim Cattrall, who play’s Spears’ mom in the movie “Crossroads.”

“Crossroads” debuted at No. 2 with $17 million in the box office. “John Q.” took first place with $23.6 million.

Sir Elton John has denounced pop music.

What a hypocrite! His latest album flops, so now he hates music!

ONE DOWN! ONE TO GO! Canadian Women win gold in Olympic hockey!!!!

Whooo hooo!!!!

Did you know that the American team had a Canadian Flag on the floor of their dressing room? On the floor!!!!! I couldn’t be happier they lost! No one puts my country’s flag on the floor! ROT IN HELL YANKEE SCUM!!!!

Oh yeah, and enjoy the silver medal for second best!!!

Newbie Actress Lands Key ‘Terminator’ Role

Newcomer Kristanna Loken will be the terminatrix who goes up against Arnold Schwarzenegger in “Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines.”

Loken, a 22-year-old actress who starred in such TV series as “D.C.” and “Philly” and the film “Panic,” has landed the much coveted role of the TX, a cyborg even more sophisticated than Robert Patrick’s liquid-metal T-1000 in 1991’s “Terminator 2: Judgement Day.” She is pitted against Schwarzenegger’s T-800 cyborg character in the big-budget film to be directed by Jonathan Mostow this spring in Los Angeles.

“T3” picks up the story a decade after the sequel, when a twentysomething John Connor reteams with his cyborg protector to battle the TX. Edward Furlong, who played John Connor in “Judgement Day,” will not reprise his role.

Warner Bros. will distribute the film domestically in summer 2003, with Sony picking up most foreign territories. The film is reportedly budgeted at between $165 million and $180 million, with Schwarzenegger’s fee accounting for $30 million.

New Line Sweeps ‘Shag’ Title Rumor Under Rug

The rumor that New Line Cinema had chosen “Licensed to Shag” as the new title for its third Austin Powers film whipped through movie fan Internet sites Wednesday like an Aston Martin on ice.

There was only problem: “It’s completely erroneous,” a studio spokeswoman said. “We don’t even like the title.”

New Line is still shopping for a new name for the summer release, she said. The Motion Picture Assn. of America hit the company with up to $15 million in penalties when James Bond franchise owner MGM protested New Line’s failure to register the previous “Austin Powers in Goldmember” title properly.

Rod Stewart Tuning to J Records

After being released from Atlantic Records three months ago, rock veteran Rod Stewart has found a new home with Clive Davis’ J Records. The terms of the multi-album pact weren’t disclosed, but Stewart has already begun recording a new set for the label, with a planned October release date.

“The soundtrack to our lives would be totally incomplete without Rod Stewart,” Davis said in a statement. “I am thrilled to welcome him to J Records and to begin working with him on an album that will show his one-of-a kind vocal talent like no one has heard him heard before.”

Stewart, known for such pop standards as “Maggie May,” “Tonight’s the Night” and “Da Ya Think I’m Sexy,” has been recording for four decades, rising to prominence with seminal ’60s rock acts the Faces and the Jeff Beck Group.

The 57-year-old singer became a free agent after 26 years when he parted ways with Atlantic last December. The Warner Music imprint dropped several well-known acts late last year — including Collective Soul, Tori Amos and Sinead O’Connor — in a bid to pare down its roster of expensive contracts with stars perceived to be on the wane.

Stewart’s last album of original songs, 2001’s “Human,” sold poorly in the U.S., but fared better in Europe, where the London-born singer enjoys a devoted following. A subsequent greatest-hits package “The Story So Far,” released earlier this year, has moved 2.5 million copies worldwide.