John

Cynthia Lennon's story is one that is been kept under the rug for years and is a story which has a strong possibility of captivating a wide audience whether they are fans of John Lennon or not. Cynthia let it all hang out in her book about "John", from the love they shared to her depression and anger towards John's treatment of their son Julian.

Whether you sympathize for Cynthia or not her book is well written and her story is well told. As I said earlier anyone can read this book, it is the perfect story of love, heartbreak, and a shocking ending. Cynthia goes into great detail about her relationship with John and her perspective of John throughout his life. She intertwines her life story with John's in fantastic ways seeing the true connections they shared from the time they met and the time John died.

The details of their relationship was something which was sort of under wraps unlike John's relationship with Yoko. The book is a really easy read and flows well. The book doesn't quite read like an autobiography since the focus of the story was about John of course so Cynthia does a pretty good job of leaving a lot of the minor details of her life which don't relate to John out of the story. She makes it clear that her love for John was strong and passionate and John's love for her was also extremely strong. Cynthia gives fantastic insight on John's personality like his extreme jealousy (Something which he told the world in "Jealous Guy") and his off the wall temper which could turn from happy and sincere to violent in seconds.

Even though John had blessed her with a life of extravagance for the years they spent together it is hard to deny the fact that John had treated her poorly and left her in a terrible situation. At times it seems like Cynthia makes herself out to be an all too good wife. The way she was able to forgive John for nearly anything and everything made me question her motives at times and whether or not she was truly as forgiving as she was. For instance, the way John had many affairs, he just played it off as something which was inevitable because women threw themselves at him so it was alright as long as they didn't mean anything. One thing that did feel truly authentic however, was her anger about the treatment of Julian which she harps on a lot and for good reason. She makes claims as saying how could the man who sang "Imagine", which makes claims that the world should "live as one", not even love and care for his own son. I think it really drives home the fact that you can't really effectively advocate for peace if you don't have peace within your life and that was John's major flaw.

Because Cynthia has been through so much regarding John her book needs to be taken with a grain of salt, she has a lot of pent up emotion which needed to be let out and she does so effectively. I was surprised by how captivated I was with this book and how it gave such a great perspective from a different side. By the time I was done I nearly hated the man who was sort of a hero to me. After some time away from the book I still look up to John and admire him for his work towards peace and his incredible song writing capabilities but this book did shed a more humane life on the issue of his personal relationship with Cynthia and Julian.

F the Police

This post has nothing to do with music, instead it deals with an incident that happened to me when coming home from work. After work I took the train home and it was a normal trip until I exited the train and entered my van for the five minute drive back home. Right after I exited the parking lot a cop pulls up behind me. For some odd reason I knew he was going to follow me for a minute and then eventually pull me over. Just like I thought, that is exactly what happened. I saw the lights flashing behind me and I pulled over to the side of the road.

I saw a young cop come up to my window and ask for my license, registration, and insurance which I gave to him. He asked me where I was coming from and I told him The US Attorney's Office where I work, hoping that it maybe would get me off the hook for whatever I had done. He took my information back to his car and quickly came back and told me to get out of the car. He walked me to the rear of my van and I immediately thought it was something petty like the tail light being out. He then told me in these exact words "It clearly smells like weed in there" and I just laughed and said there is some old surfing gear in there, that is about it. He would then call up two more officers who pulled up with their smug attitudes thinking they are all high and mighty when in fact they're officers who have absolutely nothing better to do than to annoy innocent citizens.

One of the three cops came up to me and said we're going to search your car, and I quickly reacted by saying, "Don't you need a warrant to do that?" He replied with, not unless you give us permission, if you don't we are going to wait here for awhile and we will get the search dog to sniff out your vehicle. If I weren't drained from work and hungry I would have said yes, bring on the dog and the warrant but I didn't have it in me to wait that out. I allowed them to search my car and they sure did a thorough search and to their dismay they found nothing besides a smelly wetsuit.

Throughout the search I showed a clear amount of dissatisfaction by laughing the whole time and shaking me head. During the search they asked me ridiuclous questions like "Do I smoke pot?" and "Do my friends smoke pot in my van?" I told them no repeatedly and said quite clearly "I have never smoked pot in my life" which is the truth. When they finally gave up on the search fifteen minutes later they just said alright we're done and I quote "You're lucky we didn't find anything." I hate to curse on here, but what an asshole egotistical thing to say, I clearly stated that I have never smoked pot in my life so why the hell would I be lucky to NOT have pot in the car?

The cop would then search in his bag of tricks for some excuse for pulling me over and said "The reason I pulled you over is because I noticed your Mom's license has expired." What the hell does that have to do with me? Do I like like a forty year old woman? He was driving behind me for long enough to see what I looked like, and I sure don't look like a middle aged woman. What is even worse is that my Mom's license wasn't even expired, we double checked today and it is good until 2008.

This isn't the first time I've been pulled over for no reason, I was pulled over for crap like this two months ago. I'm so sick of these pompous thug cops who think they are above everyone else just because they wear some pathetic badge. Especially these low life cops around me who patrol the safest area's in the US. Just because they don't have any other crime to combat doesn't mean they need to prey on teenagers who don't know the law so they can take advantage of them. I am sick of their crap and their big-headed attitudes and I for one refuse to put up with it. I made it known that he wasn't going to hear the last of me, I went out of my way to shake his hand and said "Thank You Officer Ridgeway" nice and clear with an extremely sarcastic tone. When I go back to work at the Attorneys Office on Thursday I will be speaking to one of the attorneys about this bogus event. I wish these wimp cops could be thrown into an area like Newark NJ where they could actually see what it's really like to be a cop...

My Week In Music 5/21/07 - 5/27/07

There's not much to say about this week besides it was pretty eclectic in terms of the music I listened to. I didn't really listen to something over the another too much but I'll try to do my best to display My Week in Music:

Most Listened to Album: Pink Floyd "Dark Side of the Moon"

Most Listened to Song: Coheed & Cambira: "Welcome Home"

On a side note I will have a review up of Cynthia Lennon's book "John" by Wed. No procrastinating either, because I have actually written the review up, I just need to type it.

The Summer Concert Lineup

A month ago I was thinking that this Summer was going to be a big disappointment in terms of concerts that I was going to attend. These past few weeks have surely made that thought false. New concerts from fantastic bands have been popping up left and right and have been really breaking the bank for me but I can't complain. As of now here is my concert lineup for the summer, (I plan on attending more, I just am not set on them yet):

June 9th: Tool at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, NJ

June 12th: Stevie Nicks at PNC Bank Arts Center, NJ

June 22nd: The Machine at Starland Ballroom, NJ

July 8th: Rush at PNC Bank Arts Center, NJ

July 24th: The White Stripes at Madison Square Garden, NY

July 28th: Rock The Bells Festival Featuring Rage Against the Machine & Public Enemy at Randall's Island, NY

August 6th: Muse at Madison Square Garden, NY

My Week in Music: 5/14/07 - 5/20/07

My week hasn't changed much from last week in terms of my music listening. I had just finished up reading "John" by Cynthia Lennon which I found to be a very enthralling book which maybe I'll write a little bit about later in the week. I guess the major exception from this week opposed to last week was this week I have been listening to the later half of The Beatles career more than the earlier which I was listening to last week. George Martin's new masterpiece "Love" is really what has captured my ear this week though, so here is My Week in Music:

Most Listened to Album: The Beatles "Love"



Most Listened to Song: The Beatles "Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite! / I want You (She's So Heavy) / Helter Skelter" (Yes this is just one song and might I add incredibly done, the conclusion is something I can listen to over and over again)

How Naive

Awhile back when listening to Hendrix's live at Woodstock CD I was struck by how naive I was and how naive so many people around me were. Right after 9/11 I attended a candle light vigil a few blocks down from my house. Eventually a kid pulled up with his car blasting Hendrix's version of the "Star Spangled Banner." I thought it was fantastic that someone was doing this. However, when thinking about it today I realize how un-patriotic that was. The song is mocking the war mongering American spirit. It was a protest song against America and here I was at the vigil thinking of how patriotic of a song it was. I feel really foolish now looking back at the moment, but I guess I'm not the one who should really foolish, the kid who was blasting the song is the one who was truly the one insulting himself. I guess there is a lot to learn about music and the emotions they convey, it's also funny to realize how many songs I thought were love songs actually turned out to be depressing heartbroken songs.

A lot of songs seem to be misunderstood by people for not taking a deeper look into them or simply just not truly trying to think about what is being said. I think Lennon's "Imagine" is a great one to observe. People across America hear "Imagine" and say "Wow that is the kind of world I wish I lived in." Yet if you ask someone about their opinion of Communism they bite back with scorn. The song has some clear Socialist ideas like "No Religion" and the almighty "No Possessions." As Lennon said about "Imagine," it was "An anti-religious, anti-nationalistic, anti-conventional, anti-capitalist song, but because it’s sugar-coated, it’s accepted. Now I understand what you have to do. Put your political message across with a little honey. This is what we do…to try to change the apathy of young people."

One great thing about art is that it can be interpreted in hundreds of ways, but one should never forget the underlining message in it.

My Week in Music: 5/7/07 - 5/13/07

For this week I started to read a book I received awhile back called "John." It was written by Cynthia Lennon and basically goes over their life together and her perspective on things which is a nice twist on his story. I'm assuming their are a few exaggerations and lies within the book considering she feels that she has been completely written off when considering John's life and it also must be painful being the mother of Julain Lennon who was the "forgotten child." Either way, I'm half way through the book and have been really enjoying it. Because I've been reading this book it has been a Beatles kind of week, so here is my week in music:

Most Listened to Album: The Beatles: "Capitol Albums Volume 1"



Most Listened to Song: The Beatles: "All My Loving"

Boycott Gas On May 15th

NO GAS...On May 15th 2007 Don't pump gas on may 15th In April 1997, there was a "gas out" conducted nationwide in protest of gas prices. Gasoline prices dropped 30 cents a gallon overnight. On May 15th 2007, all internet users are to not go to a gas station in protest of high gas prices. Gas is now over $3.00 a gallon in a lot of places. There are 73,000,000+ American members currently on the internet network, and the average car takes about 30 to 50 dollars to fill up. If all users did not go to the pump on the 15th, it would take $2,292,000,000.00 (that's almost 3 BILLION) out of the oil companys pockets for just one day, so please do not go to the gas station on May 15th and lets try to put a dent in the Middle Eastern oil industry for at least one day. If you agree (which I cant see why you wouldnt) resend this to all on your contact list. With it saying, ''Don't pump gas on May 15th"

If you need gas, get it the day before or the day after!



I received this E-mail awhile back and I know most of my friends and family have already heard of it but, in case you haven't here it is. I think this is really important and I really urge you to boycott gas on the 15th. We need to alleviate ourselves from being tied down by the will of foreign nations who posses massive amount of oil. We need to push towards new forms of energy sources with all that we have, our administration needs to take a Kennedy-esque stand and promise we will have a new energy source by the end of a certain year. The technology is almost there if not already there, I recommend that you see the Documentary "Who Killed the Electric Car" for some insight on why our country has not be pushing forward towards new sources of energy. There are people across America who are making strides towards making their Hybrid Toyota Prius' completely run on electric, and from what I know, successfully. This is one of the biggest dilemmas of our generation and it can be solved, and it starts with the people. So take a stand and help move America forward.

P.S. Before I leave I just wanted to say one last thing about gas prices. Yesterday I purchased surf wax for the first time this year and when the store owner told me the price I almost fell to the floor. The price was shockingly $1.50. From the time I started surfing around six years ago wax prices have always been the same (An even $1.00,) and apparently haven't been changed for the past nine years according to the store owner. While I know 50 cents won't break the bank it is the principle of the matter, and the problem is gas prices...

No Tribute to Tribute Albums

Metal Mark has a great post on his opinion of "Cover Albums." I agree with his position of feeling cheated with them. To me it feels as if it is completely uninspired and quite frankly, lazy. With that said, this post isn't about cover songs or albums, it is about tribute albums. Albums which contain a compilation of songs from one band performed by a variety of artists. I was actually going to write a post about this a few days ago when I heard about a Beatles "Sgt. Pepper" tribute album containing such bands as The Fray and James Morrison (No not Jim Morrison.) What disturbs me about this tribute album in particular is that the artists performing these classic genre pushing songs are that they are far from being revolutionary or even being unique. The Fray does not bring anything new to the table, they are just like any other band on your top twenty radio. I'm sure these bands feel honored to pay homage to such classic songs but sometimes classics shouldn't be touched and this is an instance, especially when performed by an uninspiring band.

Even when looking at other tribute albums I am certainly missing the point. I've heard recently of two new tribute albums, one for John Lennon and one for The Smashing Pumpkins. The Smashing Pumpkins tribute album is a variety of their best songs covered by Emo bands which will be featured on MySpace and placed into an issue of the magazine Spin. The Lennon album is going to be sold on June 12th and the proceeds will go to the Save Darfur campaign.

The Lennon tribute album I can't argue with considering it is for a great cause but like so many other tribute albums there is really no reason for them. There is no place for them in music, what is the purpose of attempting to recreate a song in history which already is considered as a classic? (Assuming it is a tribute album the song/songs must be popular) It's like a painter trying to recreate The Mona Lisa by maybe giving her a new wardrobe or adding some makeup. Some things in history are meant to be left untouched, a cover song shouldn't be covering a world renowned song. Personally I feel it is alright to cover a song when the song isn't well known, such as if someone was to cover Bob Dylan's "Masters of War." It may be known among Dylan fans but if you ask any casual music listener odds are he will have never heard of the song. Also, if you do cover a song, please bring something completely new to the song, nobody wants to hear a lackluster karaoke cover. That is my two cents on Tribute Albums and a little bit about cover songs...

My Week In music 4/30/07 - 5/06/07

This has been a very hectic week for me, I've been juggling finals, packing all my junk in preparation of going home for the summer, and finally reorganizing all the things at my house when I eventually moved back in. That would explain not having posted in a week. Anyway, I got three new CD's this week one of course was Rush's "Snakes and Arrows" which was a little bit of a disappointment for me but none the less a solid CD, The Cold War Kids' "Robbers & Cowards" which I am still absorbing, and finally The Kings of Leon's "Because of the Times." This new Kings Of Leon release is quite a fantastic album which I just might have to review in the next few days. With that said, here was my week in music:

Most Listened to Album: The Kings of Leon "Because of the Times"




Most Listened to Song : The Killers "On Top"