Nick Lowe says this was the first song he wrote. A hit for him 1974, it became a hit a second time when it was covered by Elvis Costello in 1978.
Below is a 2011 performance by Nick Lowe and the 1978 video for the Elvis Costello version.
Happiness Is A Warm Gun
We went to Pleasantville, NY last night to see the latest lecture by Scott Frieman on The Beatles. This one covered 1968 and the recording of 'The White Album.'
There's always a bunch of stuff in these lectures I didn't know before. For instance the picture below was the original inspiration for the John Lennon song 'Happiness Is A Warm Gun.' This song is a great example of how talented a drummer Ringo was. The time signature changes over 20 times during the 2 minutes and 45 seconds. Try keeping up with that!
Also I didn't realize the inspiration for the sound of 'Lady Madonna' was from a Humphrey Lyttleton song called 'Bad Penny Blues'
Poor Traffic Conditions
After the Black Eyed Peas concert in Central Park last night was cancelled due to heavy rain and lightning (never a good idea to stand in the middle of the great lawn during a storm) this was the scene on West 72nd St outside The Dakota building as fans headed out.
The Odd Couple
Bill & Keith had diner in New York. I love how Bill is taking his leftovers home!
VHS
I haven't had a VHS video recorder in the house for a few years, but I had about two thousand VHS tapes boxed up gathering dust in a spare room. Over the last few weeks we've taken them in batches to the local dump. Today we took the final 18 boxes. It seems strange to just throw them all away, but pretty much anything on the tapes I might want can be found on YouTube or elsewhere in seconds.
I was so excited when I got my first video recorder in November 1981, below the photo is the very first song I recorded from Top of the Pops that night.
The English
When photographer Tony Ray-Jones returned from New York to Britain in 1965, he toured seaside towns, villages, cities and festivals, documenting the English way of life 'before it became too Americanised'. (The Guardian)
CN Tower
The CN Tower in Toronto will soon begin offering visitors a chance to view the cityscape from a different side of the tower — its outside.
Strap on a safety harness and expose yourself to the elements as you dangle 1,168 feet in the air. Fun for the whole family!
When Ye Go Away
We're both really missing our cat Vincent, who passed away a few weeks ago. It's amazing how such a tiny little creature can leave such a huge hole in the house.
The Waterboys - When Ye Go Away (live with Sharon Shannon)
President Pirate
Great photo of a young Barack Obama with his mother in Hawaii. (New York Times)
Our House
Whilst going through some old boxes at the weekend Louise came across an amazing find.
The original architects blueprints for our house from 1924. There are plans for each floor and interior and exterior elevations. (I've posted 3 below, front, back and ground floor.)
It's amazing to think that these plans have been in the house for almost 90 years, they must have been handed down from owner to owner. Even more amazing is the plans state they were drawn up for a Miss. A.E. Paulsen in 1923. A Google search showed us she was a psychologist at Columbia University and was the original owner.
