I read the news today
Mysterious image... For more of the puzzle, visit Spinster Aunt.
The less eternal question
Which New York Observer film critic had the more interesting Beatles mention last week? Andrew Sarris, on the Scorsese Stones doc Shine a Light:When I was teaching at the School of Visual Arts in 1965, all the students seemed to be fanatical Stones fans, listening to their songs incessantly on the cafeteria jukebox. They seemed determined to make me see how wrong I was to prefer the Beatles, as I had implied in 1964 in The Village Voice (I had raved about A Hard Day’s Night, which I designated as “the Citizen Kane of juke-box musicals”). I still like the Beatles, but [...]
The eternal question: John or Paul?
John or Paul?The debate rages on WNYC's Soundcheck below.
Billy Preston: The week that wasn’t
Billy, in better days ED PARK • "An obituary on June 7, 2006, about the rock keyboardist Billy Preston misstated his date of birth. His Web site recently announced that he was born on Sept. 2, 1946 — not Sept. 9, as was widely reported." —NYT[Original article is here. For more ambiguous Beatle birthdaying on Hey Dullblog, go here.]
Dullblog Calendar
By our own Devin McKinney. Go buy it, you'll like it. ED PARK • Next Tuesday (March 25) at 7 p.m., Dullblogger Devin McKinney, author of Magic Circles: The Beatles in Dream and History, will appear at a Barnes & Noble in New York, as part of "1968 Week." You don't want to miss this! He'll be at the B&N on Broadway at 82nd St., along with Charles Kaiser, Anthony DeCurtis, and Ken Mansfield. And why not click through and pick up a(nother) copy of Devin's book?
Baby’s in Black: Answer to Dullblog Trivia Question #2
Ozz shows off his Beatles CD collection GUEST POST BY EUGENE • Sorry for the delay, but I think it's finally time to answer Trivia Question #2, four weeks on (my newborn is an excuse for all things tardy or haphazard these days). Here's the original question: Over the decades, each of the Beatles worked on a musical collaboration that included a member of Black Sabbath (there have been 29). Name at least one such project for each of the four Beatles. Hint: Don't fear the snot running down the reaper's noseThroughout their careers, Ozzy Osbourne and Ronnie James Dio [...]
Gratuitous yet agreeable mention
ED PARK • "I don't believe we've even halfway explored the world of salads yet—that would be like asking the Beatles in the 1960s if they'd run out of songs!" —Jamie Oliver, Cook With Jamie
The Ballad of La Fortuna
Back when smoking was a thing people did in cafes. ED PARK • I read the news today—oh boy: "A Beatles Haunt, Café La Fortuna, to Close Its Doors." And I thought: that's sort of sad, I guess, but par for the course really, I used to go there now and again for coffee, dessert (honestly it wasn't the best coffee, wasn't the best dessert), usually after a movie, always liked the picture of John and Yoko, I'd forget about it and then see it and then feel that little distant connection...but really nothing to be sad about, right? Then [...]
Radio, radio
ED PARK • This passed me by, for the first 50 listens: Jens Lekman's "Friday Night at the Drive-In" features the line: "My heart is beating, beating like Ringo." Very nice! http://youtu.be/u4Dfv9hMnaw In other related audio news.... The Poetry Foundation's UbuWeb podcast discusses Aspen, an amazing-sounding publication (dreamt up on a ski slope) that wanted to be the first "three-dimensional magazine." Listen to a little snippet of Yoko Ono's contribution, "No Bed for Beatle John," as well as John's contribution...in which he fiddles with a radio dial! Finally, Dullblogger Hua's radio show, the Finer Things Club, can be listened to here at [...]
The Never-Ending Beatles Trivia Quiz Challenge — Question #2
GUEST POST BY EUGENE • I guess the trivia torch has been passed. I really enjoyed answering Devin's cleverly-crafted connect-the-dots challenge, so here's another one for you all. After seeing Ozzy Osbourne (a self-proclaimed Beatlemaniac) at MSG in December, I was inspired to think of this question... Over the decades, each of the Beatles worked on a musical collaboration that included a member of Black Sabbath (there have been 29). Name at least one such project for each of the four Beatles.Hint: Don't fear the snot running down the reaper's noseGood luck - the winner gets another $1 gift certificate at The Keychain [...]