Dana does Paul and John

Not "does" as in spanks, but as in imitates. Dana Carvey has always been one of my favourite Saturday Night Live comedians. I heard the last bit of this while listening to Sirius radio on the way to the beer store yesterday, and I laughed out loud. I knew I had to find it and share it with Ron and with you.

Here Carvey impersonates both Paul McCartney and John Lennon. While watching this hysterical bit it helps to remember that Lennon knew nothing about the technology we use today. He left us in December 1980, before the CD was invented.

Fifty years ago today...

I saw the Beatles in concert. Yes, really! I had seen them the previous winter on the Ed Sullivan Show, and like millions of teenagers all over the world, I was enthralled! When I heard that they were coming to North America on tour, I hardly dared hope I could see them. But one of their concerts was scheduled for Montreal, Quebec, and we lived a mere three hours away by train.

My older cousin, also a Beatles fan, obligingly ordered the tickets for the matinee performance. Can you believe the price?

Here's a photo of the Beatles after they landed at Dorval Airport. I was probably still on the train when they arrived.

My cousin and I spent the day shopping, then we found a bus that would take us to The Forum. It was packed with people just like us, eager to see our beloved moptops.

The other acts on the bill were The Bill Black Combo, The Exciters, Clarence 'Frogman' Henry, and Jackie DeShannon (but who cares?) The Beatles took to the stage at 5:20 pm. George was my favourite, and my eyes never left him.

They sang exactly 10 songs, and neither the first nor the last were audible.

The Beatles performed for about 20 minutes in total, and I was entranced. Our seats were pretty far from the stage, and there were no giant monitors in those days. I had a pair of binoculars glued to my face the whole time. Unfortunately, I was wearing glasses. The constant pressure from the binoculars cracked the nose piece of the plastic frames, and when I lowered the binoculars, my glasses fell apart in two pieces.  It was a small price to pay for one of the most thrilling days of my life.

Wednesday WIN

A little collage that celebrates some of my favourite things.

The Beatles, young and older

Mr. Bean

LOLcats

Harry Potter

The book that shall not be named.

Hermione should be spanked for that last one, but I'll volunteer to take her place over Dumbledore's lap.


Happy hump day, everyone!

Piggies

Lately I've been reliving the day of my youth by listening to the Beatles during my daily commute. I must admit that I'm only familiar with their first few albums, and so the later ones hold some pleasant surprises for me. I don't recall ever hearing any lyrics suggesting spanking in the Beatles' repertoire, but yesterday I found one, in a song called Piggies.

Written by George Harrison for the Beatles White Album, it's the only Beatles song that contains a swear word. The line that contains both the spanking and the swearing was contributed by Louise, George's mother. The song was intended to be a social commentary on the middle class, but was later misinterpreted as an anti-police anthem.

Have you seen the little piggies crawling in the dirt?
And for all the little piggies life is getting worse,
Always having dirt to play around in.
Have you seen the bigger piggies in their starched white shirts?
You will find the bigger piggies stirring up the dirt,
Always have clean shirts to play around in.
In their styes with all their backing they don't care what goes on around,
In their eyes there's something lacking,
What they need's a damn good whacking.
Everywhere there's lots of piggies living piggie lives,
You can see them out for dinner with their piggie wives,
Clutching forks and knives to eat their bacon.

Listen: