Here are three short articles that I didn't have enough time to stretch out any longer.

An Article About Aimee

Recently, I was speaking with Aimee, the girl who runs a certain Beatles forum I'm no longer affiliated with, and she complained at me for not updating my website enough. Given that my family is in the process of moving to a new house, that's been a little difficult to do, but I decided to do it anyway, one last time before the big move. What you're reading right now is that last update. Swell, isn't it?

She also requested that I write something about her.

Here I am, writing something about Aimee.

I am in the process of writing something about Aimee.

I have now finished writing something about Aimee.

Now maybe she'll get off my back. ;)

Oh, I almost forgot: Aimee was the one who pointed out a recent broken link on the front page. She was upset that I did not mention her name. And now I've mentioned it, and now I can progress with a clear conscience.

Incidentally, Aimee is not the only one who's had some complaints about my site: it has been brought to my attention many times that I need more pictures on the site. I've got a lot of fan magazines and books from which to pinch some more pics, but at the moment they are all stored away for the Big Move, so that will be awhile. In the meantime...

...make your own website! :P

Review of Bryan Wilson's CD

I purchased Bryan Wilson's new CD, I Laugh at Things I Shouldn't, a little while ago, but the times being what they are, I haven't been able to do any sort of review until now. Here, now, I have finally gotten the opportunity to put my two cents in about it.

I expected a great performance from this guy, judging by the live performances I've seen in the past with the British Invasion, and I got precisely what I had hoped for. He's also a very good songwriter, which I didn't know beforehand, and I must say, he turned out a very solid album. It's definitely got something of a retro feel to it, while still being modern.

My top five favorite tracks, in no particular order: "Beside Myself," "It's Come to This," "What is Right," "Thief of My Heart," "Shotgun Willie."

I give it a big, enthusiastic recommendation; do check it out if you have the time. :)

Alas! Poor Hamlet...

I've been all Hamlet-y lately. Lawrence Olivier's 1948 version, and Tom Stoppard's satire Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead came on TV at about the same time not too long ago, and it urged me to pick up my Shakespeare again.

One of the things that's always impressed me about Hamlet is how many of the lines from the play are still so well-known in the modern day:

"Something is rotten in the state of Denmark." - Marcellus; Act 1, Scene 4.
"Neither a borrower nor a lender be." - Polonius; Act 1, Scene 3.
"A little more than kin, and less than kind." - Hamlet; Act 1, Scene 2.
"To be, or not to be: that is the question." - Hamlet; Act 3, Scene 1.
"Alas! Poor Yorick." - Hamlet; Act 5, Scene 1.
"Murder most foul." - King's Ghost; Act 1, Scene 5. (Title of a 1964 film based on an Agatha Christie novel.)
"Leave her to Heaven." - King's Ghost; Act 1, Scene 5. (Title of a 1945 Gene Tierney film.)
"The lady protests too much, methinks." - Queen Gertrude; Act 3, Scene 2.
"There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy." - Hamlet; Act 1, Scene 5.
"To die, to sleep; to sleep, perchance to dream. Ay, there's the rub: for in the sleep of death, what dreams may come..." - Hamlet; Act 3, Scene 1. (Last line is the title of a Robin Williams film.)

That's all I can think of offhand, but you get the general idea.

Trivia: Which Beatles movie features dialogue from Hamlet? Answer at the end of the article.

There's some other great lines in Hamlet that I personally think should be more oft-quoted. To wit:

"Lord, we know what we are, but know not what we may be." - Ophelia; Act 4, Scene 5.
"Happy, in that we are not over-happy; on fortune's cap we are not the very button." - Guildenstern; Act 2, Scene 2.
"O God, I could be bounded in a nut shell and count myself a king of infinite space, were it not that I have bad dreams." - Hamlet; Act 2, Scene 2.
"Give me some light; away!" - King Claudius; Act 3, Scene 2.
"Why, what an ass am I!" - Hamlet; Act 2, Scene 2. (I quote this frequently. :))

My personal favorite underappreciated soliloquoy: "'Tis now the very witching time of night..." Act 3, Scene 2.

Frequently Misquoted Lines from Hamlet:

Incorrect: "Something is rotten in Denmark."
Correct: "Something is rotten in the state of Denmark."

Incorrect: "Alas, poor Yorick; I knew him well."
Correct: "Alas, poor Yorick; I knew him, Horatio."

I have occasionally heard people attributing "Neither a borrower nor a lender be" to Benjamin Franklin. Ben may have quoted it, but our man William wrote it first! :P

And now, as time is running short, I shall paraphrase the perturbéd spirit: "Adieu, adieu; remember me!"

Answer to Trivia: Paul McCartney briefly borrows from the "O, that this too, too solid flesh would melt, thaw and resolve itself into a dew" soliloquoy during a scene in A Hard Day's Night. Who knew? [shrugs]

Oh, and one last thing: I have a new signature! YAY! :)

May 10, 2006 -
Correction

I would like to issue a correction in my previous article. When it was originally written, I misspelled Bryan's name. (oops.) This, however, has been rectified. I noticed this mistake when I read Bryan's entry in my guestbook and the emails he sent me. :) Thanks so much, Bryan!

April 11, 2006 -
5 Things I Liked Best About Bryan

I apologize that my first new entry since the site's been down has to be something negative, but I have got to get something off of my chest, and it isn't my bra: my favorite member of my favorite Beatles tribute band left the group recently. It was only yesterday that I learned he wasn't coming back ever. I could just scream. (And not in the fun fangirl way, either.)

The group I'm referring to are the British Invasion at Disney's Epcot Center. You can find them tucked behind a sidestreet in the UK pavilion; just follow the booming beat of Beatle music. I've been a devotee of the Brits for about four years now, and the lineup has remained the same for the majority of those four years (although it has changed wildly in the past). Now, I love the other members of the group, don't get me wrong: John, Jimmy, Leo, you guys are great...but the loss of Bryan really broke me up.

So far, the particulars surrounding his leaving are still sketchy. The gossip flies around that park, but so far, not even the gossipers seem to know what happened. The last time I spoke to Jimmy on the matter, he just said Bryan was on "extended leave" and that he didn't know any more than that. That was before we learned this "extended leave" wasn't going to be ending.

Nobody knows where he's gone now, and that is perhaps the most galling thing about this whole matter. To know he's still playing somewhere, bringing some other young fan girls joy, would be a consolation; however, he could be a bellboy at a Holiday Inn for all I know. So to try and quench this feeling of loss, I've done up a list of the 5 Things I Liked Best About Bryan:

1. His screaming voice; he always had such a great voice for the screamer songs, "Dizzy Miss Lizzie," "Slow Down," "Revolution," and best of all, "Twist and Shout"! :)
2. He always had the coolest threads and the best accessories, be they mirrored granny glasses or a Hard Day's Night fisherman cap.
3. His jokes and ad-libs. He always had a good one-liner.
4. His nutty, Lennon-esque dance steps, which were so funny and cool!
5. He was always so nice; he always said hi to me and made my day. :)

Bryan, wherever you're playing today, don't forget your Twist and Shout! :)

March 5, 2005 -
"Get Back, Get Back, Get Back to Where You Once Belonged!"

Well shut my mouth and call me Sweet Loretta Martin, I've finally returned! And to think, you all probably thought you'd gotten rid of me for good. (Heh-heh-heh-heeehhhh...)

First of all, I just want to apologize for the absence of updates in 2004. To quote Johnny Lennon, "everybody had a hard year," and I was no exception. Did I mention I live in Florida? Yes! And in August and September, we got visits from some nasty little guests named Charley, Frances, Ivan and Jeanne. Are you aware of what a family of four smells like after a week in the sun with no showers? *shudder!*

And the storms weren't all of it. Last year was just bunk all the way through. As such, I have officially decided to eliminate the year 2004 from record. It's an anomaly, a myth--something that exists, and yet doesn't. 2004 will henceforth be placed in the same category as Area 51, Marie Antoinette's "cake" quote, and the Marx Brothers movie Humor Risk.

Speaking of the Marx Brothers, I think it's about high time that I cleared something up. For the past couple of years or so, I have been going on and on about a planned addition to the site called The Flipside!!, an addition which--despite the pretty words on the front page claiming it's "coming soon!"--has yet to materialize. Up until this point, I have purposely been very mysterious about the contents of this section, and I intended to be until the final unveiling. Well, the veil has come off. Since I have no idea when I'm going to get everything put in place to finally launch The Flipside!!, I've decided to just tell everybody what it is so that anybody who is curious won't have to be any longer. (And also, so that you won't be disappointed when you find out it's not new, edgy or Beatle-related in any way.)

When it's finally up, The Flipside!! will be a section of my website dedicated to all the stuff I like besides the Beatles. Hopefully it's stuff you will like, too. However, I seriously doubt it. ;) The truth is, much of the stuff I like is a little on the obscure side, so you'll probably have no idea what any of that stuff is all about. But so what? My website. Live with it.

But who knows? Maybe you'll find something there you like as well. I'm gonna have sections dedicated to other bands and singers that I like, such as Ivie Anderson, the Mamas and the Papas and the Shangri-Las. I'll also have places set up to showcase my favorite movies and TV shows, e.g., I Love Lucy, Bringing Up Baby, etc. Two of the biggest sections, however, will be set aside for a couple other obsessions of mine: the Animaniacs and the Marx Brothers. There'll be pictures, quotes, sounds, reviews, all sorts of junk. And-- knowing me--I'll probably stick a few Beatle-related things in there as well (I'm considering a section listing all the Beatles references on Animaniacs, and things like that).

So there you have it. That's the news.
And yes I'm going to get around to putting some more gorgeous Beatle pictures up. ;)

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