Why Not Occupy Brian Epstein?
Whenever a "cause" keeps getting hyped over an extended period of time, even a cause I'm fiercely in favor of, I get burnt out on it fast. Like a tiresome commercial, I get sick of hearing about it, and cringe every time I see it flaunted on TV.
Like this Occupy thing. It's trendy now. I hate trendy. I'm not a joiner and don't do groups. Like George Carlin, I can groove on people one at a time ~ but when two or more get together, when they start assimilating into the Borg, they become a different animal. That's my intuitive feeling, and your mileage no doubt varies.
But hell, back in the day, I didn't even feel right about the behaviour of the fans during Beatlemania. Perhaps that's one reason I focused on their manager. Not the main reason, of course, but I certainly never wanted to be one of those "fans." Loved the music, hated the mania. And was mesmerized by their manager, who by all appearances was one-of-a-kind (and even though he always yearned to "belong," because of his own uniqueness, he never could).
Don't get me wrong, I still think Occupy is awesome, and it's the way to go. It's a pity, but honestly, how else can we humans legitimize our feelings and prevent being stomped on and robbed by the upper class, the corporations and bankers, except by forming into those demanding power mobs? It works, and it's about time it happened.
Occupy, to me, is kinda nostalgic, really. Reminds me so strongly of the 60s-70s and the uproars that were going on back then ~ the more disorganized the better, IMO. No "leader" and no "clear basic goal" ~ I can feel that. But when something becomes an army, a fad, a hula hoop, a "movement" becomes repulsive in my mind, despite my own common sense to the contrary. When faced with trendy faddiness and faddy trendiness, my head starts shaking "no" ~ gotta step back, turn from it and walk away ~ or at least take a break.
From time to time I get burnt out as well with this Brian Epstein thing. What brings me back eventually is when, during my infrequent forays IRL, I repeatedly discover so many people who have no fookin' idea who Eppy was ~ including, to my dismay, people close to my own age. It hits me how NOT trendy Brian is. How forgotten he is outside of the various and sundry internet cliques of Beatles fans and music industry forums and such. His legacy is ingrained to a certain degree amongst certain factions ~ go ahead and google the term "the brian epstein of" ~ but, in the general scheme of the general public, to the grass roots, he is but a cipher and a nada. Why oh why.
I look around at this Occupy thing and realize that, if not for the British Invasion ~ which would never have happened if Brian had not birthed it ~ we would never have experienced the 60s culture upheaval which seems to me (and, from what Melissa Harris-Perry has said, her own mother and others who were teens of that era) so reminiscent when observing scenes of Occupy. So why has Brian's part in all this been neglected, why have his own Boys not made sure we all knew that their contribution to the world's culture was due to their best friend's stubborn, dedicated persistance, both initially and throughout their heyday?
What it all comes down to, it was Brian's doing. The Brit Invasion started with him, and, if not for his counseling and dispute quashing, we would never have had the gift of the Beatles' last 5 or so years of music as a group. After his death, the Brit Invasion didn't take long to peter out ~ but the world remained incredibly altered forever. If not for Brian, the world ~ in which, pre-Beatles, the anti-establishment component consisted of beatniks and their mostly-lame ilk ~ would have been a much different, and artistically/culturally poorer place for sure.
Would we have even thought of doing Occupy the way we are doing it, if Brian's Boys had not inspired the sit-ins and such? Even our own high school in 1968 had an awesome sit-in in the halls when the principal's office, in a fit of paranoia, forced a surprise inspection of our private lockers for drugs and whatever else they could confiscate. To my knowledge, they found no drugs, but there are always a few harmless personal items we didn't want displayed in front of the whole school. I could not have seen our sit-in happening if not for the enlightenment brought about initially by the British Invasion. Betchyer booties the pre-Beatles beatnik-era highschoolers would have just sucked it up and not done anything in protest.
Please, Paul and Ringo, with your peace and love and veggie-ism and I care about this and that and bla bla bla ~ hey, your old friend, the one who loved you best, needs you now to speak up about HIM. It wouldn't take much from you two to have him inducted into the rock hall, to have The Fifth Beatle movie become a classic that counteracts the misleading smarmy portrayals of Eppy (which are all that exist right now), to make possible for your best friend the statues and slabs on walks of fame and everything else that you boys have had showered upon YOU for years and years, to happen for him. For his legacy. So he will be admired and remembered the same as you and your two dead band members always will be. Make him an equal part of history before it's too late. Write songs for him specifically like you did for Lennon and Harrison and others; lay to rest this bogus "Hide Your Love Away" and "Baby You're A Rich Man" speculation, which is widely believed to be about him, but is actually totally unsubstantiated and therefore merely myth and rumor. Give concerts in his name. Promote him like you promote your veggies and animal protection campaigns and v-fingers for world peace. Prove to us that Eppy is more important to you than veggies.
Ex-Beatle boys, please make Brian Epstein a trendy. I would love to cringe, shake my head no, step back and turn from it. Hahaa. What a relief that would be.
How long can one woman keep slamming her head against a wall before her brains spill out?
~*~*~
Like this Occupy thing. It's trendy now. I hate trendy. I'm not a joiner and don't do groups. Like George Carlin, I can groove on people one at a time ~ but when two or more get together, when they start assimilating into the Borg, they become a different animal. That's my intuitive feeling, and your mileage no doubt varies.
But hell, back in the day, I didn't even feel right about the behaviour of the fans during Beatlemania. Perhaps that's one reason I focused on their manager. Not the main reason, of course, but I certainly never wanted to be one of those "fans." Loved the music, hated the mania. And was mesmerized by their manager, who by all appearances was one-of-a-kind (and even though he always yearned to "belong," because of his own uniqueness, he never could).
Don't get me wrong, I still think Occupy is awesome, and it's the way to go. It's a pity, but honestly, how else can we humans legitimize our feelings and prevent being stomped on and robbed by the upper class, the corporations and bankers, except by forming into those demanding power mobs? It works, and it's about time it happened.
Occupy, to me, is kinda nostalgic, really. Reminds me so strongly of the 60s-70s and the uproars that were going on back then ~ the more disorganized the better, IMO. No "leader" and no "clear basic goal" ~ I can feel that. But when something becomes an army, a fad, a hula hoop, a "movement" becomes repulsive in my mind, despite my own common sense to the contrary. When faced with trendy faddiness and faddy trendiness, my head starts shaking "no" ~ gotta step back, turn from it and walk away ~ or at least take a break.
From time to time I get burnt out as well with this Brian Epstein thing. What brings me back eventually is when, during my infrequent forays IRL, I repeatedly discover so many people who have no fookin' idea who Eppy was ~ including, to my dismay, people close to my own age. It hits me how NOT trendy Brian is. How forgotten he is outside of the various and sundry internet cliques of Beatles fans and music industry forums and such. His legacy is ingrained to a certain degree amongst certain factions ~ go ahead and google the term "the brian epstein of" ~ but, in the general scheme of the general public, to the grass roots, he is but a cipher and a nada. Why oh why.
I look around at this Occupy thing and realize that, if not for the British Invasion ~ which would never have happened if Brian had not birthed it ~ we would never have experienced the 60s culture upheaval which seems to me (and, from what Melissa Harris-Perry has said, her own mother and others who were teens of that era) so reminiscent when observing scenes of Occupy. So why has Brian's part in all this been neglected, why have his own Boys not made sure we all knew that their contribution to the world's culture was due to their best friend's stubborn, dedicated persistance, both initially and throughout their heyday?
What it all comes down to, it was Brian's doing. The Brit Invasion started with him, and, if not for his counseling and dispute quashing, we would never have had the gift of the Beatles' last 5 or so years of music as a group. After his death, the Brit Invasion didn't take long to peter out ~ but the world remained incredibly altered forever. If not for Brian, the world ~ in which, pre-Beatles, the anti-establishment component consisted of beatniks and their mostly-lame ilk ~ would have been a much different, and artistically/culturally poorer place for sure.
Would we have even thought of doing Occupy the way we are doing it, if Brian's Boys had not inspired the sit-ins and such? Even our own high school in 1968 had an awesome sit-in in the halls when the principal's office, in a fit of paranoia, forced a surprise inspection of our private lockers for drugs and whatever else they could confiscate. To my knowledge, they found no drugs, but there are always a few harmless personal items we didn't want displayed in front of the whole school. I could not have seen our sit-in happening if not for the enlightenment brought about initially by the British Invasion. Betchyer booties the pre-Beatles beatnik-era highschoolers would have just sucked it up and not done anything in protest.
Please, Paul and Ringo, with your peace and love and veggie-ism and I care about this and that and bla bla bla ~ hey, your old friend, the one who loved you best, needs you now to speak up about HIM. It wouldn't take much from you two to have him inducted into the rock hall, to have The Fifth Beatle movie become a classic that counteracts the misleading smarmy portrayals of Eppy (which are all that exist right now), to make possible for your best friend the statues and slabs on walks of fame and everything else that you boys have had showered upon YOU for years and years, to happen for him. For his legacy. So he will be admired and remembered the same as you and your two dead band members always will be. Make him an equal part of history before it's too late. Write songs for him specifically like you did for Lennon and Harrison and others; lay to rest this bogus "Hide Your Love Away" and "Baby You're A Rich Man" speculation, which is widely believed to be about him, but is actually totally unsubstantiated and therefore merely myth and rumor. Give concerts in his name. Promote him like you promote your veggies and animal protection campaigns and v-fingers for world peace. Prove to us that Eppy is more important to you than veggies.
Ex-Beatle boys, please make Brian Epstein a trendy. I would love to cringe, shake my head no, step back and turn from it. Hahaa. What a relief that would be.
How long can one woman keep slamming her head against a wall before her brains spill out?
~*~*~