1 & 1+

November 6th: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1-h9qvPrTeE

I am very excited about this DVD release. I've always loved their music videos & have only owned them in pieces from the Anthology. Now, we can own their music videos properly! From what I can tell, the 1+ DVD set comes with 3 discs. I assume that's 1 CD & 2 DVDs...? (I don't have BluRay, so I'm not worrying about that.)

I'm not so excited about the CD portion. I wasn't excited about the original "1" CD when it first came out, though I now realize it created a lot of fans & I have to respect it...but I'm a bit anti-"greatest hits" anyway because it's only familiarizing people with the songs they most likely already know anyway. The Beatles are not a band to be limited to only their hits either...but that's a rant I'll reserve for another day. It is a nice concept to compile all of their songs that went to #1, although I don't think they're any better than the rest of their catalogue...but yes, I'll save that rant for another entry.

This is going to be a lot better than "The McCartney Years," which I LOVE, but I hate that it's incomplete. I understand that Paul wanted to do it while he was still with us & in control of it, but in my opinion, the commentary portions could have still been done as more songs & videos were released. He's not going anywhere any time soon. The product could have been complete if they had done it my way! I digress...again...

I am very excited about these videos coming out. To quote George, "We invented MTV." (Of course, this is a reference to MTV when it was still Music Television...but I digress yet again...) Fans, please share your thoughts with me about this! Also, once it comes out in about a week, please one again share your thoughts about it!

Raymond Jones

The debate on the Raymond Jones story has been going on for years...probably since 1961! Some people say it's completely false. Some people say it's probably based on the truth, but still isn't the truth. Some people say it's true. Who knows...but this article may just finally put it to rest:
Thoughts?

http://www.beatlesbible.com/features/raymond-jones-interview/

The Shoots

When I first saw this, I didn't believe it...at all. However, I heard talk about it & the tour next year on SiriusXM's 60s on 6 today. The band will be made up of Sean Lennon, James McCartney, Dhani Harrison, & Zak Starkey. This really is the best thing since The Beatles! They're called The Shoots, apparently to reference that they are "off-shoots" of their fathers.

Now that I know it's real, I need to actually read the article that's been circulating. I encourage everyone else to look into it too...& share your opinions with me here in a comment! I've seen Sean & James both before, but this will be unlike anything else conceivable on the planet! Time to save up for this tour...

Parting Ways: An Unauthorized Story On Life After The Beatles

If you've ever seen a documentary by this name, I'd love to hear from you, especially if you're either a Beatles expert or a fairly clean slate. It recently came on a channel called NEWSX & I watched it this afternoon. Here were my initial thoughts:

• Nothing will ever compare to the Anthology, so try to be fair!
• I would probably not be against the idea of recommending this to someone who is a clean slate & wanted a brief summary of what happened to each of them after the Beatles broke up.
• It seemed to focus on negativity. I wouldn't want it to be inaccurate & only focus on the positives, but if you don't explain or expand upon the negatives, it just seems ugly.
• I didn't notice any big problems with it.
• It was painfully condensed, but to fit decades of information from 4 different perspectives into an hour has got to be frustrating!
• I would recommend that any clean slates watching this have a Q&A with an expert friend of theirs afterward for clarifications.
• It wasn't a waste of time. I'd probably watch it again.
• I know my stuff. I'm not sure what kind of impression this would leave on a clean slate, though.

Hmm. I recommend all knowledgeable fanatics to watch this & let me know your opinions about it. I recommend all clean slates to watch this (while considering that it may not be a good overview at all) & give feedback to how it made you feel.

Hobby Debate

I've been wanting to ask my hardcore Apple Scruffs this question for YEARS & I never manage to remember at a good time...so as I sit here at a friend's house, I have downloaded the "Blogger" app so I can put this down before I forget...for the millionth time.

In the movie AHDN, when John is asked if he has any hobbies, he writes something down that we don't get to see. I've speculated for years by trying to watch the movements of his pencil/pen to see what he was writing & thought it looked like "THIS." It didn't make much sense, but John is always full of nonsense. It would make sense he'd do something benign to get a fake overreaction out of it & get people wondering over nothing.

I've always wanted to ask other fanatics what they thought or saw. Well, I watched the film on a big movie theater screen for the 3rd time about 5 months ago & looked for this detail. I was able to see it better than on a television, of course. I am now VERY confident that I know exactly what he wrote. Does anyone want to chime in with their opinions? I'll put my conclusion down in a comment at a later date, but right now I want to hear from YOU!