Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Praise the Beatles and Other Thoughts at 4:35 In the Morning

Did you see yesterday that the Vatican says music by the Beatles is far better than today's music? I'm so glad they clarified that, because I was staying awake nights worrying about that and what role listening to Beatles music would play in my overall salvation and such. (I'm happy to report that I'm okay. Thanks, Pope B!)

Seems the late John Lennon once made a comment comparing his boy band to the big J.C. and the papal throne didn't like that too well. Interestingly, as I read Lennon's past observations, I have to say, I think the guy was sort of prophetic and accurate about the thickness and lack of extraordinary quality possessed by many supposed Jesus groupies. You decide.
In 1966 the Church was incensed when John Lennon called his band "more popular than Jesus". "Christianity will go," Lennon told London's Evening Standard. "It will vanish and shrink ... Jesus was all right but his disciples were thick and ordinary. It's them twisting it that ruins it for me."
What I wonder is, does this mean that in another 20 years, the Vatican will say Madonna's music is better than whatever it is we'll be aurally assaulted by in 2030? Hm. Probably not, huh?

*****

Yesterday, I spent part of the evening cleaning up my playlists in iTunes. Seems I have enough Christmas music--in English and German--to listen to holiday comfort and joy for three days straight. I don't know if that's a good thing. I suppose it just is what it is. This year's newest album acquisitions: Mary Chapin Carpenter's Come Darkness, Come Light and Sheryl Crow's Home for Christmas from Hallmark. Of the two, MCC's is the better album.

Haul out the holly, folks!

*****

My list of want-to-see movies is quite long. But it doesn't include the long-anticipated Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Damn Warner Brothers! Seems they made too much on Batman: Dark Knight (a horrible movie, by the way, and only a blockbuster because poor Heath Ledger [God rest his soul] died right before its release) and decided they didn't need to make any more money this year.

Who the hell ever heard of that? I mean, maybe I'm a little loopy here, but this is America, for Pete's sake! The country where the express purpose for the existence of corporations and their products is to bleed us of every penny of disposable income we attempt to save. Not releasing Harry Potter is just un-American, I tell you!

I suppose I should be comforted by the fact that there's Bolt, Star Trek, Revolutionary Road, Quantum of Solace, The World Unseen, The Reader, Milk, and Transporter 3 to fill the void. Hey, wait a minute! That's... 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8... EIGHT! Eight movies I want/have to see to assuage my dissatification at not being able to see Harry Potter. That's eighty smackers! Geez, that's a lot of dough compared to ten bucks for a dose of the wizard from Little Whinging. It's a conspiracy.

Damn Warner Brothers.

*****

Please note that Twilight is not on my must-see list. That's $10 staying in my pocket, thank you very much!

'Nuff said.

*****

Speaking of movies, why can I never keep Kate Winslet and Cate Blanchett straight in my head. I'm continually getting the two of them mixed up. What's up with that?!

See what I mean?! They're practically twins, damn it!
The one on the left is Cate and on the right, Kate.
Or is it the other way around? Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!
Photo courtesy of Just Jared.com.

Ralph Fiennes, on the other hand, is now permanently embedded in my head as that evilest of evil evilness, He Who Shall Not Be Named, Voldemort. I watched him in In Bruges--an excellent, excellent film, by the way--the other night and all I kept seeing was Voldemort. And yet, in truth, Voldemort is small beans compared to the incomparably cold and evil Nazi he played so well year's ago in Schindler's List. But, it's Voldemort I see, not Amon Goeth.

*****

What else? What else?

Oh, yeah. Thursday is that most American of American holidays--Dallas Cowboys football. Oh sorry. I meant Thanksgiving. (And isn't it frightening that I even know the Cowboys are the perennial players every year on Thanksgiving?!)

I'm headed to the sibs for the event. Thank goodness they only live out in the Commonwealth. By the end of the evening, we're all stuffed, but we still like each other because we can all excuse ourselves from the table and go back to our respective homes without the need of a long over-the-river-and-through-the-woods or transcontinental flight kind of travel. Just rip, zip out I-66, then up Rock Creek Parkway, and I'm home.

And all of that is significant, why? I don't know. I'm just lookin' for stuff to write here, boys and girls.

*****

Here's some food for thought, so to speak.

Thursday also commences that great American pasttime: festive weight gain.

In truth, it started back at Halloween with all the snack-sized candies and confections. Basically, as a country, we're constantly stuffing our faces with food. It sort of starts in October and escalates through November with Thanksgiving, December with Christmas, and January with New Years. Then it sort of starts to taper off with Valentines and St. Patrick's, but ticks up again with Easter in April. There's a little upswing in May with Memorial Day, but nothing in June unless you're invited to a wedding or you celebrate Flag Day. July is a take or leave it possibility for continued consumption, while August is nil and September's Labor Day is a last hoorah to summer.

Good Lord, but we're a food obsessed country. I'm going on a diet. Right after... Hm. Well, I don't know. Any suggestions on which month would be a good one to exercise culinary willpower?

*****

Perhaps that's the sign I need to just go back to bed. That, and the fact that I'm freezing!

Okay.

Bye.

22 comments:

Wicked H said...

Tewkesy: Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours.

And yours and yours and yours.Think I got them all covered.

Diet schmiet, more of us to love.

:-)

foundinidaho said...

Happy T-Giving, Tewkes.

Thoughts: You have no idea how pissed off I am that, after planning on seeing the new Harry Potter movie in LONDON in December when we're there on vacation, I CAN'T! How cool would that be? Damn Warner Brothers.

I love Ralph Fiennes, and I loved In Brugest but I bawled all the way through it. Colin Farrell can really act, when called upon, can't he? Makes you forgive him for Miami Vice.

I doubt the Pope will ever approve of Madonna. I don't think I even approve of her anymore and I used to love her. She's so artificial now. Maybe she always was and I was too in my teens and 20's.

I hope Christianity doesn't go away, but I hope the virulent forms of it do. Maybe that is too much to ask.

Have fun over the holiday!

lacochran said...

"Speaking of movies, why can I never keep Kate Winslet and Cate Blanchett straight in my head. I'm continually getting the two of them mixed up. What's up with that?!"

I do the same thing! Maybe they're the same person?

Happy Thanksgiving!

Anonymous said...

If I were this talkative at 4 in the morning, my husband would get his own apartment :)

Ralph Fiennes will always be the English Patient to me.

Happy Thanksgiving!

- Phoebe

J.M. Tewkesbury said...

Wicked: Likewise. And duly noted about diets. I'll just keep repeating that mantra as I tip the scales: "More of me to love... More of me to love... More of me to love..."


FII: I've heard there are a number of folks with plans similar to yours who are really put out. I wonder if they're filing lawsuits against WB? I hope Christianity doesn't go away either, but I do hope the wackos repent and actually find the real Jesus!


Lacochran: I'm glad I'm not alone in this! I just posted a picture of the two together and it's a validation that perhaps our confusion is well-founded. Happy T-day to you and that guy you're to married you're blissfully wedded!


Phoebe: Oh, I talk to myself, otherwise, Agnes would likely throw me out, too! Happy Thanksgiving!

Gilahi said...

Glad to hear that The Beatles finally got Vatican approval. Maybe that's why on the American Music Awards the other night, Kanye West indicated that the music we were hearing was today's Beatles. He said there was no reason that people there couldn't be as big as Elvis. He closed by saying, "I want to be Elvis".

Well, Kanye, the music we were hearing was 30,000 feet below anything The Beatles ever did, and there was a reason that Elvis was Elvis. It had something to do with talent. I feel that this is something that Mr. West should investigate, as he obviously doesn't grasp the concept. My closing statement: "Kanye West will never, ever be Elvis".

RoeH said...

Well, it lasted longer than John Lennon. :)

Anonymous said...

Cowboys football?? Oy. I loved your blog right up until that point.

J.M. Tewkesbury said...

Gilahi: Or, as Lloyd Bentsen might have famously intoned, "I knew Elvis Presley, Mr. West. You, sir, are no Elvis Presley."


Lucy: True. True.


Doug: Oh no! No, no, no. Let me clarify: I'm an NOT a Cowboys fan. I am not even a huge devotee of football. But I live with someone who is and this is how I know that the traditional Thanksgiving Day football game will include the Cowboys. Beyond that, I'm clueless vis-a-vis football. I won't even be watching it tomorrow. Does that make it better? Will you like my blog again?

Gunfighter said...

I'm going on a diet on Friday, too.

I look, and feel, like crap these days, and I can't blame last year's knee surgery for it anymore.

J.M. Tewkesbury said...

Gunfighter: I hear you, my friend! I feel like crap, too, and like you, I can no longer blame it on sitting in front of a computer all day. I have legs. I can walk. I need to get my sorry ass out of my chair and move!

Cele said...

Oh mi god I read this thinking, no since Halloween...which you then wrote....as I was munching down three bite size Nutrageous bars left over from Halloween.

I hope your Thansgiving was happy, I sadly spent mine with his family who all voted...rather proudly... for the other guys and then wouldn't let it go. I am thankful for my quiet home...and my computer where all my friends live.

Janet Kincaid said...

Cele: Thanksgiving was 95% lovely. The 5% ugly was a very, very inappropriate joke my mother told and I called her on. Other than that, a fine time was had by all. I'm sorry you had to spend it with supporters of the other guy. I can only imagine that isn't enough wine in Napa Valley to assuage that pain!

Here's to eating and eating and eating... Ick.

rachaelgking said...

Happy Turkey Day! I hear you on the Ralph Finnes thing. It didn't happen to me with him, but I adore Sylar from Heroes, AS SYLAR, and now apparently he's going to be Spock in the new Star Trek movie?? I just don't think I can handle that... he will always, always be Sylar to me!

J.M. Tewkesbury said...

LiLu: Glad I'm not the only one with this, er, problem (??). As for Sylar, I need to get hip and watch HEROES. I've hard it's quite good.

Katherine said...

You've gotta add The Curious Case of Benjamin Button to that list. It looks amazing!

J.M. Tewkesbury said...

Katherine: Well, I've added another six movies to the list since I last made this one. I suppose one more won't matter! I have to say, though, the Benjamin Button previews haven't totally grabbed me. What appeals to you about it?

Sister Mary Lisa said...

I watched the Cowboys play and I was even in Texas. Doesn't mean I like football any more than I did before. I find it's really good background noise for a comfy nap on the couch.

Virginia said...

Festive weight gain. I love it and I love this blog and I am groveling for forgiveness for letting it slip from my blog Must See list. I'm back with a bone to pick. A RIB bone. What do you mean, July take it or leave it. Harummmm... July would mean the southern holy day of the 4th. HELLO!!! We are talking some fine smoked butt...Boston butt that is ( I have no idea why they named it after a Yankee city, go figure). And let me just add PORK BABY RIBS!!! I can smoke em with the best of em and just get yoself down here next 4th and see. Oh and I will pile on some superfine potato salad, baked beans and cole slaw ( NOT made with sweet pickle relish). If you're real sweet, I will throw in some homemade peach ice cream. Now, what was that about July???

Janet Kincaid said...

SML: Football can be good nap material.


Virginia: Mea culpa! I'll definitely be heading your way for BBQ on July 4. ;-)

Virginia said...

I might just start the smoker now for the 4th . You can't have too many butts, Boston that is. How many do I plan for???

J.M. Tewkesbury said...

VJ: Well, let's see... I'll need at least three for myself. No clue how many for anyone else. They're on their own, honey!