Happy Halloween!

I AM OFFICIALLY LIVING IN LONDON FOR MY SOPHOMORE YEAR 2014-2015!

Yes, this is true. Pepperdine University, where I am currently a freshman, has an incredible International Programs including Florence, Italy, Heidleberg, Germany, Lausanne, Switzerland, Buenos Aires, Argentina, Shanghai, China, and LONDON, ENGLAND. I applied for the London program (for reasons other than The Beatles, I promise, though I did mention them more than once in my application essay) and as of Friday, October 25, I have been accepted! I attended my first orientation meeting this morning and it's all starting to feel a bit more real. Along with 40 other Pepperdine students, I'll be living in a house that dates to the Victorian era on South Kensington across the street from the Imperial College and the Victoria and Albert Museum for an entire year! I am head-over-heels excited to see what my British sophomore year of college will consist of. The picture above is of happier days in the Beatles' career fooling about in London. See you next year boys!

Paul apparently invented the selfie.

Song of the Day: Sun King-Abbey Road (1969)

"Sun King," is one of the lesser known Beatles songs. On one of the most famous Beatles albums, Abbey Road, it gets lost in the mix of other incredible songs, such as "Come Together," "Here Comes the Sun," and "Something." But "Sun King" should be more celebrated than it is. The only song in which The Beatles speak Spanish in, it has a calm, yet driving bass line topped with lethargic vocals, a quiet guitar riff, and chirping crickets. It isn't quite as revolutionary as some of the other songs I've talked about, like "Because," but it still should merit more attention than it does. Plus, who doesn't want to hear John and Paul sing, "Quando para mucho me amores...?"

This day in 1964

On October 22, 1964, The Beatles played at the Odeon Cinema in Leeds, England, pictured above. Meanwhile, producer George Martin continued to mix songs on mono at Abbey Road Studios in London. Pretty average day at the height of Beatlemania.

Paul surprised tourists with an impromptu mini-concert at Times Square in New York!

So once again, Paul performs in the U.S. and I'm not there to see it. It's kind of difficult not being bitter, as you can probably guess. It's so awesome though! Just another reason why the 71-year-old rockstar is still as fab as ever! Last Thursday, October 10, Time Square tourists in New York City saw some speakers and amps and instruments being set up. Assuming they were just a small little local band, people probably just walked by. But then, out of nowhere a man in a slightly hoarse Liverpool accent came over the speakers, "Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. I'm Paul McCartney, and this is my band." As a chill went down everyone's spine and the moment where your stomach flips over became known to everyone, people rushed to see the legendary bass player, singer, piano-player, guitar and ukelele player, drummer, and, wait for it, Beatle. Oh! I can imagine it quite clearly. I wasn't there despite this little anecdote that says otherwise, but the closest I can get to it is thinking about what it was like. Congrats Paul! You've given us yet another reason to love you!

Come on Johnny! Get up Johnny boy!

In honor of John's 73rd birthday, I've posted an awesome compilation of some of John's funnier moments. Enjoy!

Happy 73rd Birthday, John!

Today, October 9, 2013 is not only my birthday, but John Lennon's as well. He would have been 73 years old.

John Winston Lennon was born on October 9, 1940 in Liverpool, England. He was the second Beatle to come into existence (Ringo being three months old at the time) and the first child of his family. Of course, he would think he was the only child of his family until he was 17 years old and received news that he had a half-sister named Julia. John only lived with his biological mother for 5 years. His father, Alfred, had come back from fighting in the war to his five-year-old son and a wife that had taken up with another man. Both Alfred and Julia asked John who he wanted to live with, Alfred in Australia or Julia in Blackpool, when Julia's sister, Mimi, stepped in and took John. From that point on, John lived with his Aunt Mimi and Uncle George until he went to art college in his late teens. Mimi and John's relationship is fascinating and touching, with her tough and seemingly emotionless personality coming into conflict with John's chronic need to rebel, as the picture above can attest. Nevertheless, Mimi cared deeply for John and considered him her own son, one of the few people that knew John inside and out and stayed with him until the end. John called Mimi as soon has his new band, The Beatles, arrived in Hamburg, Germany. He called her every week until he died. If you want to know more about John's early life, I recommend the 2009 movie, Nowhere Boy. It's unbelievably well-done and gives incredible insight into who John really was.

I'm not going into too much detail right now, but John's band changed its name and shrank to the Fab Four by 1962. Following the enormous success of "Love Me Do," in England, The Beatles were teetering on the edge of Liverpool fame and national fame. But by 1964 after the four had conquered Europe, the single, "I Want to Hold Your Hand" broke all barriers that existed between Britain and the United States. From that point on, Beatlemania was a worldwide phenomenon, complete with girls screaming their larynxes out and trampling each other to get so much as a glimpse of the boys.

John always considered himself to be the leader and frontman of the band, despite fellow songwriter Paul McCartney who unfortunately thought the same thing. It was a curious friendship between the two, that some would categorize as a "bromance." John and Paul were very different in fundamental ways yet their friendship remained intact throughout The Beatles and survived the break-up (they reconciled around eight years later, two years before John was killed). Though their friendship was rift with disappointment and barriers that were hard to overcome, John and Paul understood each other.

After The Beatles broke up in 1970, John was deep into drug addictions. Out of the four, he took the hardest drugs, including heroine and cocaine. His new wife, Yoko Ono, who some unfairly credit the breakup of The Beatles to, was an integral part in getting him clean and back to music. Their music group, The Plastic Ono Band knew a lot of success, with songs such as "Merry Xmas War Is Over," "Give Peace a Chance"and John's most famous post-Beatles song, "Imagine." John took a break from the music scene in the late '70s after the birth of his second son, Sean. But in early 1980, John and Yoko combined to create John's last contribution to the music world, Double Fantasy.

Around midnight on December 8, 1980, John Lennon was shot five times in the back by Mark David Chapman in front of his home in the Dakota Building in New York City. He died on the scene.

It isn't right to focus on John's death on his birthday. His life is what remains important. It was then and it certainly is now. Though his life was anything but perfect, in fact one of the more dysfunctional ones, music was the fire that fueled his heart and mind. Musical contributions aside (though they are great. The Beatles are pretty cool, I guess...), John's life influenced people the world over and focused on the greater aspects of our lives: peace, love, and passion. Following something and never letting go of it, even through all the obstacles, is what John did and by example taught others to do. John was truly a remarkable man whose contributions to music and life continues to reverberate through time today. In 200 years, someone will be writing a blog post like mine, on John Lennon.

                                        JOHN LENNON
                           October 9, 1940-December 8, 1980
 

This day in 1965

On October 7, 1965, George Harrison was photographed at his home in Esher, Surrey, England for the Beatlemania-era magazine called The Beatles Book. George was always the most private of the Beatles. Both John and Paul seemed to love the fame and bustle (at least at the beginning) than George, who viewed it more as a curse than a blessing. By 1965, his naive and joyous bewilderment had begun to fade, as fame encroached more and more on his life and even his family members in Liverpool and Illinois, U.S. This photo shoot probably represented his deepening dislike of the spotlight that would increase exponentially in 1966, culminating in the collective decision of the four to stop touring after Candlestick Park, San Francisco.

This day in 1968

On October 1, 1968, The Beatles continued to work on the rather long-winded album, The Beatles, more commonly known as the White Album. It took months to create The Beatles' biggest album, the longest it ever took them to churn out songs. In the early '60s, the boys recorded entire albums within 24 hours. This day in the process, they worked on Paul's 1920s-style love song, "Honey Pie." Paul later said that this song was in honor of his father, who in the 1920s led a swing and jazz band in Liverpool, called Jim Mac's Jazz Band.