So long ago...Was it just a dream?
December 8, 2005 Thursday 6:30:42 PM
It’s been 25 years since John Lennon was shot. I’m going out with, and, if she wasn’t 1,800 miles away, would be having mind-blowing, earth-shattering, building-crumbling wild nookie with someone who’s lived her entire life in a Lennonless world.
Ya know what that means? I’M OLD!
I was almost 11 years, 7 months old when John was shot. I didn’t really know about him. I mean, yes, I’d heard about The Beatles, and had heard the line-up before, but the only names that stuck in my Star Wars and Lego-obsessed brain (I, of course, have grown since then) were McCartney and Ringo. My middle name is Paul, so...and I like the sound of the name “McCartney.” And of course Ringo Starr is such a showbizzy name it sticks in your head. The names John Lennon and George Harrison are pretty average sounding. And the last time John released a new album I was 5. At 5 my mind was on Batman and Gilligan’s Island reruns and kindergarten. I didn’t start paying attention to music until around 1979.
So, yeah, the first time I noticed John Lennon was on December 8, 1980. Kinda bites, don’t it? (Would you like a bites donut?)
I remember EVERY SINGLE RADIO STATION, ALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL of them, played nothing but Beatles and Lennon songs. All the different formats were scrapped and it was nothing but songs recorded by Lennon the next few days 24/7. Country, Classical, even the Muzak stations were playing Lennon.
I’ve been an insomniac since I was 9, and even at 11 I had quite the imagination. Insomnia kicked in at around 1 or 2 AM. Terrified of waking up in a silent room back then, because, of course, any noise is a giant, purple, single-horned snorklewacker looking for a pasty-white kid to eat, I turned on my radio. (Ok, at 11 I knew there weren’t monsters, or ghosts looking to git me, but sounds set off the imagination which scared the crap out of me. Ya know, the scary movie in my mind. Oh, and I used to sleep with my bedroom light on, too.) “I Wanna Hold Your Hand” was playing.
At the time my favorite station was 1310 KRUX. Listening to an AM radio station at 3:00 in the morning did NOT help my imagination any. First of all, my brain is thinking, “I’m hearing a dead-man singing.” Then there’s all the interference AM radio gets in the dead of night. And all that interference is other Beatle/Lennon songs, overlapping distant DJs talking about Lennon, and reporting the story. Actually, I’m getting a little creeped out thinking of it now. And there wasn’t anything I could do about it. I didn’t have a TV or stereo in my room, so I couldn’t go to another source of distraction from the boogums. And I couldn’t run to another radio station to get away from this singing voice that came from a body lying in a New York morgue right now. FM would have less interference, but he would still be there. And turning off the radio and laying in silence would just increase the spooky imagination.
Weird...25 years later (and less creeped out by night noises and AM interference) the only thing I can still ever ask is “Why?” That’s quite a ripple-effect on time. I even got over Brandmeier's abrupt departure many years ago. The power of The Beatles, and brilliant musical talent, I guess.
Like to hear how his music would’ve progressed in the ‘80s, and ‘90s. I liked the ‘90s Beatles reunion plenty, but I know it would’ve happened much sooner, felt more complete, and been better with a living John Lennon. Well, there’s still complete Monkees reunions, I guess. And God, I’d love to hear him take on this Bush administration.
I got a witty quip at the ready for everything. But for this I can never bring up the wit. Too sacrilege to even me, who can find something silly to say about anything. On this, there can be no joking! (I say sounding like Poppy from Seinfeld.)
In 1984 Cait happened to notice a few lines in Lennon’s 1974 “#9 Dream” that seem eeeeerrrreeeeeely prophetic after December 8, 1980:
It seemed so real to me
Took a walk down the street
I thought I could hear
Somebody call out my name
Two spirits dancing so strange
I thought I could feel
Music touching my soul, something warm, sudden cold
The spirit dance was unfolding
December 8 marks another milestone. Five months of unemployment! Hooray for the thriving Bush economy! (I have had offers, but they were way the hell out in Scottsdale and Tempe or downtown Phoenix. The bus is useless that far, and I don’t have a car or someone to pester for a ride everyday. AND they did not pay well-enough to keep me from living with my parents. Once again...HOORAY FOR THIS THRIVING BUSH ECONOMY!!!!)
Oh, and, DUHHHH!!!! Bloom County made it's syndicated debut on December 8, 1980. One genius leaves as another comes in.
Bloom County #1 ~ Monday December 8, 1980
It’s been 25 years since John Lennon was shot. I’m going out with, and, if she wasn’t 1,800 miles away, would be having mind-blowing, earth-shattering, building-crumbling wild nookie with someone who’s lived her entire life in a Lennonless world.
Ya know what that means? I’M OLD!
I was almost 11 years, 7 months old when John was shot. I didn’t really know about him. I mean, yes, I’d heard about The Beatles, and had heard the line-up before, but the only names that stuck in my Star Wars and Lego-obsessed brain (I, of course, have grown since then) were McCartney and Ringo. My middle name is Paul, so...and I like the sound of the name “McCartney.” And of course Ringo Starr is such a showbizzy name it sticks in your head. The names John Lennon and George Harrison are pretty average sounding. And the last time John released a new album I was 5. At 5 my mind was on Batman and Gilligan’s Island reruns and kindergarten. I didn’t start paying attention to music until around 1979.
So, yeah, the first time I noticed John Lennon was on December 8, 1980. Kinda bites, don’t it? (Would you like a bites donut?)
I remember EVERY SINGLE RADIO STATION, ALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL of them, played nothing but Beatles and Lennon songs. All the different formats were scrapped and it was nothing but songs recorded by Lennon the next few days 24/7. Country, Classical, even the Muzak stations were playing Lennon.
I’ve been an insomniac since I was 9, and even at 11 I had quite the imagination. Insomnia kicked in at around 1 or 2 AM. Terrified of waking up in a silent room back then, because, of course, any noise is a giant, purple, single-horned snorklewacker looking for a pasty-white kid to eat, I turned on my radio. (Ok, at 11 I knew there weren’t monsters, or ghosts looking to git me, but sounds set off the imagination which scared the crap out of me. Ya know, the scary movie in my mind. Oh, and I used to sleep with my bedroom light on, too.) “I Wanna Hold Your Hand” was playing.
At the time my favorite station was 1310 KRUX. Listening to an AM radio station at 3:00 in the morning did NOT help my imagination any. First of all, my brain is thinking, “I’m hearing a dead-man singing.” Then there’s all the interference AM radio gets in the dead of night. And all that interference is other Beatle/Lennon songs, overlapping distant DJs talking about Lennon, and reporting the story. Actually, I’m getting a little creeped out thinking of it now. And there wasn’t anything I could do about it. I didn’t have a TV or stereo in my room, so I couldn’t go to another source of distraction from the boogums. And I couldn’t run to another radio station to get away from this singing voice that came from a body lying in a New York morgue right now. FM would have less interference, but he would still be there. And turning off the radio and laying in silence would just increase the spooky imagination.
Weird...25 years later (and less creeped out by night noises and AM interference) the only thing I can still ever ask is “Why?” That’s quite a ripple-effect on time. I even got over Brandmeier's abrupt departure many years ago. The power of The Beatles, and brilliant musical talent, I guess.
Like to hear how his music would’ve progressed in the ‘80s, and ‘90s. I liked the ‘90s Beatles reunion plenty, but I know it would’ve happened much sooner, felt more complete, and been better with a living John Lennon. Well, there’s still complete Monkees reunions, I guess. And God, I’d love to hear him take on this Bush administration.
I got a witty quip at the ready for everything. But for this I can never bring up the wit. Too sacrilege to even me, who can find something silly to say about anything. On this, there can be no joking! (I say sounding like Poppy from Seinfeld.)
In 1984 Cait happened to notice a few lines in Lennon’s 1974 “#9 Dream” that seem eeeeerrrreeeeeely prophetic after December 8, 1980:
It seemed so real to me
Took a walk down the street
I thought I could hear
Somebody call out my name
Two spirits dancing so strange
I thought I could feel
Music touching my soul, something warm, sudden cold
The spirit dance was unfolding
December 8 marks another milestone. Five months of unemployment! Hooray for the thriving Bush economy! (I have had offers, but they were way the hell out in Scottsdale and Tempe or downtown Phoenix. The bus is useless that far, and I don’t have a car or someone to pester for a ride everyday. AND they did not pay well-enough to keep me from living with my parents. Once again...HOORAY FOR THIS THRIVING BUSH ECONOMY!!!!)
Oh, and, DUHHHH!!!! Bloom County made it's syndicated debut on December 8, 1980. One genius leaves as another comes in.
Bloom County #1 ~ Monday December 8, 1980