A peek inside my head

I walk into the restroom at work today, and as the door closes, the Beatles begin singing "Ticket To Ride" on the building's music system that feeds our bathrooms.

I pause a second to let the music flow over and into me, and in that moment...

...I am a kid again, going into the Florida theater in St. Petersburg on a Saturday afternoon for the RC Cola six-bottle-cap movie extravaganza--cartoons and a double feature.  I'm about to see Help for the first time.

John Lennon is singing that I've got to hide my love away, and I ache with pain even as I realize that I have no real clue what love is, I just know that I better hide mine away, because every time I smile at a girl she reacts like she's eaten a bug.

I'm sixteen and my first love has dumped me because I loved her too much, and I don't understand how that is possible, how can I love someone and not love them that much?

I'm myself again, and I know I'm less intense now, and I wonder for a spring sigh of an instant if sixteen-year-old me didn't learn that lesson too well.

I shake my head, because I'm at work, I'm late to present at a vision meeting, and I have to focus on that task, not love, not the Beatles, not "Ticket To Ride," not what I lost, not any of that.



It's late now, and I'm playing the Help album.  Alone in my office, the music transporting me and melting away the years, it all comes back to me, and my heart aches again, aches so much I fear my chest might split, though I can't even list all that it aches for.

On the road again: Las Vegas, day 1

Each year around this time, a group of us journeys here to Las Vegas to celebrate Kyle's birthday with him.  Today's trip began after 2.75 hours of sleep, which is just too damn little.  I ended up dozing through most of the first flight, which made it a fine time.

I expected to have to sprint between gates in DFW, but instead we got off the plane, waited half an hour, and got back on it.  Would that every connection were so simple.

The second leg of the trip went as smoothly as the first, with the added bonus that I was able to get and stay current with work thanks to the plane's bandwidth.  After getting luggage and checking into the hotel, I passed most of the daylight hours in work.

The evening, though, brought one of my all-time favorite Cirque du Soleil shows, Love.  Marrying Cirque's trademark magic with the songs of the greatest band of all time, The Beatles, Love is an amazing, uplifting, wonderful ninety minutes.  I spent much of it smiling without even meaning to.

Afterward, we headed to the MGM Grand's Emeril's restaurant.  I had a salad and some delicious macaroni and cheese with ham, but the real treat was the banana cream pie, which remains the best I've ever tasted.

Though work filled the day and the hours after this evening interlude, the evening was wonderful indeed.

I wish I could take every person I know to see Love.

A bunch of moods in Beatles-speak

Running through my head, here in sound and video from the Beatles.

Ah, the glorious life of the mid-list writer.



No taking the easy way out for me, though.



How it works for Jon in my books.



Enough.

Back to work.

Help!

I've written before about how much I like this silly Beatles movie. Last night, though, for no reason I can recall, I flashed on two songs from the film that affected me greatly at the time--and that still touch me.

You see, though I was only ten when I saw Help!, I was already having crushes on girls and convinced I was deeply in love with each one. None of those crushes turned out well, however. Being ten didn't help, of course, but neither did the fact that I was a poor, crewcut-wearing, overweight nerd with almost no filter between my brain and my mouth.

After a couple of deeply embarrassing fiascos, I decided the Beatles had been right to advise me to keep my love to myself, as they do so winningly here.



They also showed that they knew what would happen when I didn't.



Ah, hell, now I'm in a DJ mood. Fall is here, and as summer fades in the rearview mirror and romance wafts through my mind, I can't help but play this Bruce tune for you.



And that's enough, because I could do this all night, but real work beckons.

Help! (The Beatles' movie, not a cry for assistance)

We watched this old film last night. It is silly, self-indulgent, and self-commenting almost to the point of being po-mo, but I still enjoyed it on this viewing almost as much as I did when I first saw it at age ten. The music, of course, is wonderful, with songs that still play true and pure. If you haven't picked up the DVD set yet, do so, crank up the volume, and enjoy traveling back in time for a couple of hours.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: The Beatles were the greatest band of all time--no doubt, no argument, end of discussion.

Two music facts

Fact one: The Beatles are the greatest rock band of all time. If you don't know this already, then learn it now. For range, album quality, effect on culture, suite of hits that charted number one, you name it; the Beatles rule.

Fact two: Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band are in the top five greatest rock bands of all time. Your list of candidates for the remaining positions in the two, three, four, and five slots is up to you, but that this band belongs is not open to discussion.

And, the new album appears tomorrow (today as you read this)! I'm psyched.