Waiting for Something to Happen

Hello? Hello? Is anybody there?

The Iamaphoney Calendar has a minor change. See?



Hey, he added something for April 30/May 1. That's right now! What a perfect way to end April Fools Month. I have willingly been Iamaphoney's fool this month and I have learned plenty. I believe he loves me and I love him too. I have used the month of April to pay a special tribute to him and I hope he enjoyed it. It was a challenge, and there were some touch and go moments, but I made it through.

It will be interesting to see if the readers of this blog stay up the next 24 hours to see what Iamaphoney does. I'm a fool, but I'm not an idiot. I realize that some people have lost interest. I haven't. There are still rich areas to explore in the mysterious world of the Beatles. So, I'll keep posting for a while and I hope you all will keep reading and contributing. I have especially enjoyed all of those people who commented, that includes those who disagreed with me, corrected me, educated me, made me laugh, and made my day with kind words.

Hope to see you all in the coming months or maybe sooner if Iamaphoney actually comes through with something interesting before the clock of April Fool's month strikes midnight.

God is good without an O

Eulogy for Apollo C. Vermouth

The Nothing is Real discussion group has announced the death of one of its most compelling contributors, Apollo C. Vermouth. This announcement also contained the revelation that the member who called himself Apollo C. Vermouth was Beatles confidant and former Apple President Neil Aspinall, who died on March 23, 2008.



If true, this would be the most staggering revelation in Beatles history.

Hints from Apollo will be the subject of several future posts, but right now I want to try to absorb this most peculiar twist in the investigation.

Since the announcement, I have attempted to research Apollo as much as possible from the material available. The evidence is confusing because much of it consists of recycled posts and quotes from personal messages. It is difficult to get a handle on the chronology. So, if any of my information is inaccurate, please help me to sort it all out.

Apollo contributed messages to both The King Is Naked and Nothing Is Real. Unlike Iamaphoney, Apollo's personality remained consistent throughout all the posts that I have read, except one. The one exception is this revealing verse:

Once upon a long ago, lived four young lads I'm sure you know. The other three, you know them two. You'll know me better when this is through. Before the band was on the run, a natures child followed the sun. And soon the four became a three, a list of clues for those to see. A story told in fine detail, to keep the loonies on the trail. A coin, a sheep, a favored son, were welcomed guest when the day was done. Now, those days are gone, the stories told, in rivers of ash, and urns of gold. A final hint to all of those, who refuse to see the Emporer's clothes.

It doesn't exactly shine with credibility, although it's interesting. To suggest Neil Aspinall wrote this would turn most gullible person into a skeptic. But if you read every post you can get by Apollo and then come back to this, it doesn't look quite as silly anymore. Putting the identity issue on hold for a few moments, let's look at some of the things he said in his posts.

He used a polite style of writing often beginning with the words "Pardon the intrusion." He would usually follow with gentle suggestions for how to understand the clues left by the Beatles ever since Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. Yes, he clearly excluded "Help" "Rubber Soul" "Yesterday and Today" and "Revolver" from the list of albums containing clues. He also indicated that clues have continued to the present day, although most clues after Pepper were telling us to look back to Pepper. He frequently peppered his posts with allusions to Beatles/Solo lyrics.

I have not found any instance of him claiming to be Neil Aspinall, but he did clearly indicate that he was an insider who knew the secret. He referred to himself as a musician and castle keep. He talked as if he participated in the repeated attempts to get the eventual clearance to include Karlheinz Stockhausen on the cover of Sgt. Pepper.



He would sometimes sound like one of us wondering out loud the meaning of a lyric or photo, but more often he would reveal little hints in a controlled way as if he already knew all of the answers. He made much of the Beatles frequent references to Edgar Allan Poe, and like everything else, it all kept pointing back at Sgt. Pepper.

He attempted to be a voice of reason informing people that investigations of the CIA, Outer Space theories and Don Knotts were a waste of time and he seemed exasperated when people would either ignore his posts or derail them into convoluted conspiracy theories involving the Illuminati. He held strongly to his contention that the clues were right there for all to see and was fond of the phrase "There's nothing you can SEE that isn't SHOWN."

Apollo's observations were impressive. He suggested putting a vertical mirror on Diana Dors' elbow years before felipegcs shared that discovery with the Paul Is Dead/Paul Is Alive discussion group.



Some of his posts were met with hostility. He was apparently banned from TKIN, although I have been told that it doesn't take much to be banned from there. He got flak from NIR as well. In these discussion groups, there are so many people writing cryptic things and claiming to be insiders, it is no surprise to find some resistance and skepticism. Some of Apollo's claims were difficult to swallow. For example, he said that a vertical mirror on Diana Dors elbow on Pepper would reveal a walrus. This would be strong support for his contention that all subsequent albums point back to Pepper. There is no denying that the official Anthology seems to be telling us to put a mirror in the exact spot, but does it really look like a walrus?



He talked of the significance of Billy Pepper and the Pepperpots and was challenged by the son of Bill Shepherd. He was also accused of getting his facts wrong when he wrote that Tara Browne had no wife. His identity of course was taken from the pseudonym Paul McCartney used when he produced a single by the Bonzo Doo Dah Dog Band. But one of the posts I read from Apollo referred to them as the "Bozo Dog Band."

But overall, his observations and hints were prophetic. Prophets are defined by the results of their insights and Apollo's seemed to be pretty strong. Every road I have investigated has taken me back to Sgt. Pepper. He knew his stuff! However, I think even those who believe he might be Neil would understand what a leap of faith it would be for someone in my position to uncritically accept this whole story without any questions. We have been told that a member of NIR who posted under the name Apollo C. Vermouth died. Do we accept this based on the fact that some members said that his personal messages abruptly stopped? And if we believe that do we take another gigantic leap of faith that the person was really a Beatles insider? And if we believe that, do we leap again to accept that this Beatles insider knew the truth behind this mystery? And if we accept that do we go even further to believe that the person was actually Neil Aspinall? And if we believe that, do we also believe that Neil Aspinall was telling the truth about there being a real Beatles mystery with real clues that can be solved if we look closely enough?

There are some things in the posts by Apollo that create some questions for me. There are several English words and phrases like "Pardon the intrusion" and "arse." He sometimes used the word "me" instead of "my." He would use phrases like "C'mon mate" and would call a person "lad." I was surprised that an Englishman would make "alot" one word, but I am not an expert on European English and it could have been just a typo anyway. There were frequent misspellings, which are not uncommon in correspondences on the web, but I have to admit "galient kniight" seemed dubious.

We have some evidence that a person did die, but I have no way of confirming that as a proven fact. We have the posts from Apollo C. Vermouth that I think have significant substance to them, but I can't guarantee that I am any closer to the answers than I was before I read all of them. And even if this guy had lots of credibility, that doesn't make him Neil.

On the face of it, the entire notion that Neil Aspinall would be participating in not one but two Paul Is Dead discussion groups is beyond belief. But, I cannot dismiss it out of hand because two of the brightest and most respected individuals in Nothing Is Real are acting like they believe it. I'm not sure that these two individuals would give me the time of day, but they have graciously allowed me to listen in as they gave others the time of day and I have gained many insights from that experience. If they are thinking it might have been Neil, I don't know what to think. They have been forthcoming with lots of valuable information, but I suspect there is more that they have not yet revealed.

Interestingly, these two individuals that are suggesting that Apollo was really Neil have been dismissive of Iamaphoney ever since his videos started picking up steam and increasing traffic to Nothing Is Real. As a long time Beatles fan and researcher, I couldn't figure out how they felt so certain that Iamaphoney had nothing to offer. There has been no mention of Apollo ever telling them anything one way or the other specifically about Iamaphoney, and I find that surprising. Apollo never talked about Iamaphoney that I am aware of, but the two NIR people who were so taken by Apollo seemed pretty skeptical about all things related to the Rotten Apple series. With Apollo they were just the opposite. The thought crossed my mind that this whole Neil thing could be a ploy to give Iamaphoney the knockout punch and get him out of their PID world forever, but I don't believe that. As I said, I have a bunch of respect for these two people. I have asked a general question or two and have received satisfactory answers. Maybe they will allow me to probe further at some point, but for now, I believe that they are grieving for a friend.

One thing that you may be asking is "Where does this leave Iamaphoney?" Well, I can always dream that Apollo has given us Neil's version and Iamaphoney has given us Mal's version, but that would be impossible, right? Someone at NIR pointed out the interesting coincidence that Neil Aspinall would call himself Apollo when another Neil A. (Armstrong) became famous by going to the moon on a spacecraft called Apollo. That event was in Geoff Emerick's book "Here, There and Everywhere: My Life Recording the Music of the Beatles." Geoff ran home to see the moon landing coverage after finishing the session for the song "Come Together." If you think Iamaphoney is out of the loop on this, I suggest you watch the last few seconds of Rotten Apple 31.




Apollo C. Vermouth stopped communicating abruptly after sending the following message to some members of NIR. (I was not one of the 12, but one of those two respected individuals decided to share it with the group). Apollo quotes Shakespeare in his final message.


On January 30, 2008, Apollo C. Vermouth sent the following note to a dozen NIR members:

IF I MAY INTRUDE, ONE LAST TIME...
I FIND MYSELF QUOTING THIS MORE OFTEN, AS OF LATE..."LIFE'S BUT A WALKING SHADOW. A POOR PLAYER THAT STRUTS AND FRETS HIS HOUR UPON THE STAGE, AND THEN IS HEARD NO MORE. IT IS A TALE TOLD BY AN IDIOT. FULL OF SOUND AND FURY,SIGNIFYING NOTHING"...........
FADE THIS SWAN TO BLACK....
LOVE FROM PAUL...
APOLLO C VERMOUTH

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A hodgepodge today...


Just some random thoughts about this ARG (Alternate Reality Game) business.

Someone suggested that in terms of Iamaphoney, the Alternate Reality Game scenario is the only one that makes sense logically. I disagree with that slightly. My opinion is that the ARG scenario is another of the ever growing list of scenarios that don't make sense logically. I have yet to find a scenario that makes sense.

There is no question that once the suitcase entered the picture it became a game. But has it always been one? I don't know much about Alternate Reality Games. Does it generally take over a year and nearly 100 videos to get one going? If this is the answer, I do think that the Paul Is Dead rumor and the music of John, Paul, George and Ringo, collectively and individually, make an excellent playing field. I would choose to be a spectator instead of a player. From the looks of a recent post, I think that 65if2007 feels the same way. However, if the truth be told, I still envy him for finding that briefcase. YES, I know it is a briefcase and not a suitcase.



Perhaps this all started when a guy named Bill (AKA Iamaphoney #1), joined Nothing Is Real a couple years ago and said he wanted to get to the bottom of the Paul Is Dead mystery. Then a Beatles insider murdered him and started making stylized videos with the intention of gradually revealing the secret. Then the Tavistock Institute found out and started adding subliminal cuts into his IMovie creations which eventually caused his brain to be reprogrammed. Once the transformation was made and Iamaphoney #2 became a vegetable, Iamaphoney #3 started a campaign destroy all credibility by pretending that it was all an Alternate Reality Game.

I have no idea of what the deal is with this video that showed up on YouTube. Why would low resolution black & white IAAP material be found on a sub-board?

Back on earth it looks like Paul McCartney is gearing up for another flurry of activity. He added another concert date fueling rumors of a full tour. The talk of a new album is particularly interesting. He is working with Youth (member of Killing Joke and his partner on the two Fireman projects) but his freaky self seems to be merging with his regular self. In other words, this project should have songs with real lyrics. I think I sense the situation when I say that this could give us a lot to talk about.



The latest issue of Beatlefan has two interviews with May Pang. I was hoping that they would ask her about John Lennon's infamous Roman Polanski outburst, but they didn't. More May is planned for the next issue.

Braverman's Condensed Cream of Beatles

Filmmaker Charles Braverman made a Beatles Collage in the mid-1970's called "Braverman's Condensed Cream of Beatles." The film used primarily low quality dubs of Beatles and other various archival footage and stills in rapid fire in an effort to tell the story of the Beatles. Although the Beatle history was chronological, he would throw in out of sequence references to help tell the story. For example, a picture of Peter Sellers and Ringo Starr from the 1969 film "The Magic Christian" is shown immediately before the John Lennon "Beatles are more popular that Jesus" controversy.

The film was distributed as an educational resource as indicated by a review from the English Journal in May of 1974.


However, it was shown on network television at least once on the late night magazine show "Goodnight America" hosted by Geraldo Rivera.

One of the more interesting sequences in the film deals with PID. Iamaphoney uses some of the stills from this sequence in the recently revised "Hey Jude" video.

This picture is a close up of Paul with his eyes closed and a grimace on his face.



The full picture with the checkerboard background also appears in "Hey Jude."



This is the same shot that is in Braverman's film.

LenMac in Nothing Is Real found the original picture which was actually taken of all four living Beatles in a swimming pool.



Another picture from Braverman shown in "Hey Jude" that has been talked about a lot lately is this one.



All kinds of speculation about this being Paul McCartney shortly after he was killed on an amusement park ride was recently put to rest.



Like the other, it is a fake. We know this thanks to an amazing find by Queenie in Nothing is Real. It was actually a World War II picture.

Here is the original source photo credit which links to the picture:
190. "A Coast Guard seaman died at his battle station aboard the USS MENGES, torpedoed by a nazi sub in the Mediterranean. He represents the old Coast Guard expression, `You have to go out, but you don't have to come back.'" PhoM1c. Arthur Green. 26-G-2330.

The Braverman film can be found here. I believe the Apple logo at the beginning is apocryphal.

Iamaphoney obviously owes a debt to Braverman.

The Internet Movie Database has an entry for a Charles Braverman, but I didn't see any mention of Braverman's Condensed Cream of Beatles. I still think it is the same person.

EMI Tac Cam and Hey Jude

Iamaphoney has uploaded two re-edited versions of previously released videos. This is an unusual move. Early on we had a few videos that disappeared for a while and then came back with new edits. But, this seems to be a ploy to either transmit a couple messages or to take attention away from my last post. (Sorry, I got all self important there for a minute)

EMI Tac Cam (Macca Time). The description is simply "Next Level OT" - This is a slightly altered version of Rotten Apple 55 - Emi Stairs.

I don't know what the message is here, but if I were the guy who found the briefcase (are you listening 65if2007?) I would pull out that Magic Christian record and put the label under a black light right away. If that does not work, try any other method you can think of that will cause some type of invisible marker to show up. Just a hunch, but if I had it, I would give it a try.


Hey Jude. The description is simply "BT" - This is a new edit of the Rotten Apple 64 a - Who's Here/Do You Figure/Iamaphoney. It will take some time to examine all of those quick cuts , but there may be some new images in there. One possible explanation for this redux is that many people have been pointing out that the word "Phony" was used in the description of motive by John Lennon's killer. This has led to some speculation about the motives of Iamaphoney, particularly his fascination with killers and victims. I guess the message here is that the name had nothing to do with a murderer as it was just a backwards clue in "Hey Jude."

People have also been wondering about the identity of this guy in the bottom center of the picture:

Geoffrey Giuliano

On December 2, 2006, the Daily Mail reported that Heather Mills was attempting to purchase tapes of interviews with Paul McCartney's stepsister Ruth from 1994. The tapes allegedly contained lots of dirt that would damage Paul McCartney's position in his divorce proceedings. The person who interviewed Ruth McCartney and had possession of the tapes was none other than Geoffrey Guiliano.

Guiliano has written numerous books on the Beatles, several of which have created controversy.

His biography "Blackbird: The Life and Times of Paul McCartney" was far from a tribute. Paul even specifically refuted the Guiliano claim that John Lennon had stuck his foot through McCartney's favorite painting in a fit of rage. Also in the book, Guiliano describes a stoned Wings guitarist Jimmy McCulloch so filled with hate toward the McCartneys that he had aimed and squeezed the trigger of a .22 caliber handgun at Paul's EYE as he lay sleeping. McCulloch let go of the trigger just before the gun fired.

Guiliano is no fan of Yoko Ono either. One of the photo captions in "Blackbird" says, "Forget anything you've read to the contrary. Yoko Ono is definitely the person who contributed more than any other to the unhappy breakup of the Beatles." He also hints that Yoko was somehow responsible for Paul being busted in Japan in 1980.

One of his John Lennon books is supposedly based on lost Lennon diaries that he received from Harry Nilsson, who was also dead when the book came out.

When critics suggest that Guiliano is making up these stories just to get the money, he defends himself by saying that he is already independently wealthy and has no need to lie just for the money.



It was Guiliano who wrote the biography "The Private Life of George Harrison." His penchant for misleading his interview subjects and trying to find every little piece of dirt, much of it without any proof, prompted George Harrison to sarcastically say, "This guy knows more my life than I do." In typical Giuliano fashion, the author put that quote on the cover of his book where it appeared to be an endorsement. An angry Olivia Harrison in 1992 told the Guardian, "like a starving dog he [Giuliano] scavenges his heroes, picking up bits of gristle and sinew along the way."



Guiliano's George Harrison biography also contained the infamous picture of George Harrison and his wife Olivia, along with "Legs" Larry Smith of the Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band, and London Gallery owner Mary Tambini. The picture was taken at George's Friar Park Home and on the wall behind them we see a picture of Adolf Hitler.



He seems to love the words "Lost" and "Secret" in his books and many of his rock biographies read like conspiracy theories. One very bizarre chapter in his life occurred in September of 2001 when this item appeared in the usually reliable Abbeyrd Beatles News Site.

Beatle author among victims in World Trade Center attack (9/15/01)
Author Geoffrey Giuliano was among the victims in the World Trade Center attack, according to his publisher, Indigo Editions. Here's the text of an email received by both Brad Howard of the World Beatles Forum and Marsha Ewing of Instant Karma magazine. We also received a note from one of Giuliano's representatives confirming his death:

"Indigo Editions today formally announces the death of author Geoffrey Giuliano in the tragic attack on the World Trade Center in New York on his 48th birthday, September 11, 2001. He is survived by his wife Vrnda and four children. No body has been recovered. An Indian funeral is planned near New Delhi.
INDIGO"

Brad Howard tells us his publisher had confirmed that Giuliano had just finished another Beatles book called "Revolution." Our condolences to his family.
This news item copyright Abbeyrd's Beatles Page

Like Mark Twain and Paul McCartney before him, rumors of his death were greatly exaggerated.

He has another side to his life as a a supremely confident being and devotee of Krishna. This article from Viaschnava News will give you an idea of how he fits in with that movement. For more information about the corruption in the Iskcon movement, I would suggest the book "Monkey on a Stick: Murder, Madness, and the Hare Krishnas" by John Hubner.

Another thing you might want to know about Geoffrey Giuliano is how he feels about "Paul Is Dead" theorists. Once again from "Blackbird" Giuliano wrote, "It was at this time that the reprehensible 'Paul Is Dead' notion was born, providing virtually unlimited fodder for a legion of pot-smoking idlers around the globe to further squander their limited lifetimes from that day to this."

As one of my readers pointed out, this page on Geoffrey Guiliano's web site uses a title we have seen before.




So, we have a guy who has a lot of money. He has a pretty big ego too. He has spent a lot of time with insiders (Ex-Wings Denny Laine and Steve Holly contributed the Introduction and Afterword respectively to "Blackbird"). He is into conspiracy theories and even had his own little death rumor going for a while. He says nasty things about Apple and they say nasty things about him. He sometimes misleads, twists things, and has been accused of lies. Yeah, you're right. There is no way a person like that could have anything to do with Iamaphoney.




Thanks to Aja, 65If2007 and other anonymous readers for the comments that led to this post.

Apologetics

I am talking about the defenders of the Iamaphoney faith. The language of Religion is being used surprisingly often in the dialog about the merits of the Rotten Apple series. There are frequent references in the videos to organized Religion and its antithesis (i.e. Christ and the Anti-Christ) but this is different. There seems to be much said about the worship of Iamaphoney.



I have been called an "Agnostic" in terms of my coverage of Iamaphoney's exploits, and I take great pride in that. I have also been told that I should be ashamed of myself for acquiescing to a request from Iamaphoney and I take pride in that too.

Those who are fascinated by the Rotten Apple videos are often disparagingly called Iamaphoney disciples. This site exists because of my interest in the videos and the music contained in them.

The "Nothing is Real" discussion group has been the main battleground for the Iamaphoney holy wars. At first I didn't understand why the moderators were so resistant to the discussion of Iamaphoney videos, which brought all kinds of new traffic to the site, but I have a better understanding of that now. They have actually been amazingly tolerant when you consider that even with Iamaphoney rarely taking part in the discussion, his influence has been felt at some point in nearly every long running thread.

The Religious talk started with questions like "Do you believe in Iamaphoney?" which is as humorous as it is troubling. Each date that passes without the promised "revelation" (which is a term I believe Iamaphoney has used since the first video of the Rotten Apple series) the critics pounce and the defenders say things like, "At least we got a new video and a fire. I still believe in Iamaphoney."

Parallels have been drawn between Christ's disciples who expected His physical return during their lifetime and didn't get it and Iamaphoney fans who expected a revelation by now and haven't gotten it.

Now after the interview fiasco there is a backlash. All but the "faithful" are saying nasty things about Iamaphoney. I am taking great pain to resist pointing out the irony of people calling a guy, who calls himself Iamaphoney, a fake. One of the recent criticisms was that Iamaphoney is turning the "Paul Is Dead" conspiracy into a joke. Ah hem, I thought all conspiracy theories were a joke. That's what the conspirators want the masses to think. Most effective conspiracy theories start from the premise, "Yes, I understand I am a joke, but isn't such and such a strange coincidence?" and then another conspiracy theorist is born. Isn't that how it works?

There does seem to be a joke out there with this new video that Mike's Blog has been gushing about called Rotten Apple 69 by yourliver1. I don't think that this spoof came from the Rotten Apple camp. I hope not, although I might be able to accept it if it was a wink to the critics who complained about PID becoming a joke.

I also don't know what to make of WITCHKRFT by MBEpaul. Is this another Iamaphoney wannabe or a sign of dissension in the Rotten Apple group? It's an interesting video, but it is not of the quality I am accustomed to with Iamaphoney. I wouldn't even suspect it of being anything but an imitation if it hadn't been for the chaotic moves coming out of the Iamaphoney camp lately.

I thought the suitcase video was excellent, but I had some misgivings when it turned into a real suitcase and a contest to find it. Some may remember that I got criticized for not taking the suitcase thing seriously enough. Then there was the "Blair Witch" video on the CD inside the suitcase that made me cringe a little bit, but not in a good way. Follow that up with the interview that didn't happen, a plane delay in the West Indies, the 9 Q video with assassinations and a picture of a guy with 3/4 of his head blown off, and now the invitation to get a new list of questions together by May 1.



Remember that the Rotten Apple series started with backwards masking discoveries and photo comparisons, which I have always thought were the weakest evidence in the Paul Is Dead theories. But then it developed into slickly produced gems with allusions to "The Passover Plot" and "The Book of the Law" and a soundtrack every bit as compelling as the visuals. Those videos would send shivers down the spine.



This got me very interested because I could easily imagine someone of importance catching those earlier videos and saying, "Hey Iamaphoney, I have a story for you." But this recent series of miscalculations worries me a little. It's as if some of the brain trust moved on or the various pieces of the organization are not working as well together.



The CD was meant to appease Mike, but it actually appeased me. That was a step in the right direction. And I have not forgotten that I have not yet paid a dime for any of this often outstanding entertainment. So, I continue to pay tribute to Iamaphoney with this site and I continue to wait in anticipation of the next move. If that makes me an Iamphoney Apologetic, so be it.

The Iamaphoney Bootleg

If anyone doesn't already know, Mike has put together most of Iamaphoney's music, so that you can burn a CD to hold you over until something real comes out.

Download all three links and save them in a folder before attempting to decompress.

Links have been fixed. My apologies. - Tafultong

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3

The quality varies because most of the tracks were taken from the videos, but you will find pristine quality versions of "Saint Paul" and "Now and Then" and I have to tell you, the music is very good. A lot of work went into these recordings and honestly, I'm surprised that Iamaphoney allowed Mike to do this. The track list is not complete. I can think of at least two songs that are missing. Maybe they are being held back as bonus tracks!

But hearing "Saint Paul" especially (a song that I thought was awful until I heard Iamaphoney's version) in super quality makes me really want to hear full version master recordings of these songs. If you like music that is extremely Beatles-influenced this will fit very nicely along side these:

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Our friend Mike has suddenly hinted that something might happen on May 1, now.

The thing that we are calling the schedule on the Iamaphoney YouTube Channel has been modified again.

If you recall, there had been an entry indicating that something would happen on April 9, 2008. Nothing did.

There is also an exclamation mark (!) presumably in the place of the interview that did not happen on April 10, 2008.

April 11, 2008 is probably for the Rotten Apple 9 Q video which appeared on that date.

All other entries between April 11 and June 1 (the date of the Paul McCartney concert in Liverpool) are ambiguous.

We were all geared up for the big interview on April 10 and what a strange day it was.

Remember that day?

99% sure it will happen tonight.
Four hour delay on Iamaphoney's plane from the West Indies, but 100% sure it will happen tonight.
1% sure it will happen tonight.
this weekend %50
next week 80%
this month 99%

Now he says May 1, which by all accounts is not this month.

But Mike has shown not only great patience, but great dignity and class throughout this whole thing. He really deserves to be the guy who scored the Iamaphoney interview if it ever happens. I think he has allowed himself to be jerked around a little bit for the sake of art.

I do understand those who are asking, "If Mike already submitted his questions in video format a month ago, why would there be a delay of any kind and why would there be all this build up as if it were a live interactive chat?"

I don't know the answer to any of those questions. But, like Mike, I remain intrigued enough to stay for the duration. And like most of you, I am completely aware that the interview is not the end game. There will be more speculation, more conjecture and certainly more ambiguity.

So we still have no interview, but we do have the new video the rotten apple - 9 q

It is a bit more heavy handed that your usual Iamaphoney videos. There are more clips from the Magic Christian movie and more connections to serial killers. I am continuing to analyze this and will have more to say in later posts. I love the interpretations so far that appeared in the comments of the last post: Everything from "Iamaphoney is still getting it [the interview] ready for you" to Iamaphoney is causing us to jump into raw sewage and laughing about it. One does not exclude the other.

I am hoping that the delay is an artistic choice and not caused by something else. Iamaphoney did appear to receive a threat in the middle of all the interview hype, although it was indirect and ambiguous.

The threat appeared in the comments of a video by Happy Show Host Matt Hawes, who has done three PID-related Videos. This latest video was posted during the interview hysteria of last week and it gives a plug to Iamaphoney.

The comment came from MilesDeo, the one who started posting on "Nothing Is Real" recently.

The video was called Did Paul McCartney of THE BEATLES Really Die in 1966? and here is the comment from MilesDeo (posted 1 week ago):


Nice hate.

Have you noticed that IAAP (and "iamaphoney" is not a 'guy' it's a group, but you already have figured that I would guess) have used clips from the Happy Show in the Rotten Apple Series?

IAAP.. they should be very afraid.
No physical danger of course. :)
Nice show Matt. 5*s

Last month LupaMorna posted on YouTube a "She Loves You" - New Stereo Version - The Beatles and milesdeo commented:

MilesDeo | March 09, 2008
Vish-pyre, vish-pyre; the sun will be black as pitch! But the fruit will not rot and wither away; neither will the tents of those who are full of trust and love.

So I guess we will see where all this leads.

In other news...
The NME tells us that Paul McCartney is planning another World Tour

McCartney co-conspirator Barry Miles wrote an article in The Times about the inspiration for the song Paperback Writer

The BBC reported that a last minute deal has saved the June 1 McCartney concert that was in jeopardy of cancellation.

Iamaphoney Interview

As you know, instead of an interview with nine questions and nine answers, we got a new Iamaphoney video called 9 Questions.

Mike made a slowed down version of it which has confused some viewers.

My computer decided to die in the middle of all this, so that is why I have been quiet today. I had backups of most things, but I lost quite a few things too. I am trying to get myself organized. I want to thank those of you who kept everybody informed while I was away. The comments section helped me to get up to speed quickly on the latest developments.


Today is the day, April 10, 2008.

UPDATE #5

I assume you have all seen Mike's comment here in response to the question, "How sure are you?"

MikeNL said...
today 1%
this weekend %50
next week 80%
this month 99%

Oh my. I guess a day without a fire is a good day. I guess the fireman forgot to bring the matches and the candles, matches....candles....matches....candles....

UPDATE #4

I knew I should have checked it before announcing it! Very funny, Mike. Sorry for the false alarm.

UPDATE #3

I think we got something!

UPDATE #2

Mike's Blog reports: UPDATE;The delay takes longer than expected, i'm doing the best i can. (Thanks again Anonymous)

END OF UPDATE #2

UPDATE: From Mike's Blog (Thanks Anonymous)

PLAIN Trouble

Phoney and his crew have a 4 hour delay on the plane from the west indies, the interview is now sheduled [sic] at 1 AM GMT+. 100% SURE.

END OF UPDATE

Mike is 90% sure that something will happen today. Any updates I get will be posted here.

Anticipation

Update: That Day is Done and I am afraid there is nothing to report on Interview Eve. Let's see what happens in these next 24 hours.

We are one day away from the big interview. Nine questions and nine answers. Still don't know how or where exactly this is going to happen. As soon as I know something I will post it here. I do know when it is going to happen, I think.

April 10 at 9:00 PM GMT

If you are struggling to figure out when that is in your part of the world, this resource should help.

But if you look at the apparent "schedule" on Iamaphoney's YouTube Channel, you would come to the conclusion that something is supposed to happen today as well. If anything does happen and I find out about it, I will post it here.

911311681514525
Living The Beatles Legend
70021112
80020209
80020307-06
80020321
80020324
8002
80020409
80020410
8002
Ulaanbaatar
8002
80020601
8002
80020618
8002
8002
80020902
80020911
8002
8002
80021109
80021120

Keep checking Mike's Blog as well.

Movies You Should See (Part 1)

…if you’re into PID

Help!



According to most Paul Is Dead theories, the movie "Help" preceded the events that prompted the Beatles to start putting clues on albums. Yet, every comprehensive list of clues I have ever seen includes some items from “Help.” Without going into the minutiae of Paul being the only one not wearing a hat on the cover, it is true that there may be some significance to the theme of making an acceptable sacrifice to the goddess Kaili. While there is no such thing as the goddess Kaili, there is a goddess named Kali,who is often associated with death and destruction.

Kaili from Help



The goddess Kali



Some have suggested that it is Kali who is front and center on the Sgt. Pepper Cover, but that was more likely Lakshmi



The new deluxe DVD release of "Help" contains a copy of the original script with annotations. A line that didn’t make the finished film referred to a green-eyed idol to the north of Kathmandu. John Lennon eventually used it, adding the adjective "yellow" in his song “Nobody Told Me.” I suspect he got it from Spike Mulligan of the Goons.

One interesting thing about the movie “Help” is that while Ringo spends the whole film trying to avoid being painted red for sacrifice, it is in fact Paul who willingly takes a bath in the red stuff shortly after being given a drug to make him smaller. How symbolic!

El Topo

Speaking of symbols, your head will spin by the sheer volume of them in the Alejandro Jodorowsky movie “El Topo.” Apparently, it was John Lennon’s love of this underground film that earned it the support of ABKCO (Allen Klein’s Company) and a soundtrack album on Apple Records.



The soundtrack was a subtle eclectic mix of styles all composed by the film’s lead actor/director, but the film itself was an assault on the senses. There are images in this film that you will try to forget. The theme of “Sacrifice the Innocent” bashes you in the face again and again. The film does have a story. It is an adventure, a quest. At the beginning there is some documentary footage with a crude cartoon of a mole (El Topo).

A voice says, “The mole is an animal that digs tunnels under the ground. Sometimes his journey brings us to the surface. When he sees the sun, he is blinded.”

I guess that could be interpreted as a nod to the fact that it is an underground film, but it could also be seen as representing the futility of the quest undertaken by the hero in the movie. All of the morality and self-discipline is of no value because it all ends in death. God doesn’t care. God will snuff you out like the Mysterious Stranger did in the Mark Twain story. The idea seems to be to keep the truth hidden just beneath the surface so that the hero will not know that his journey is an exercise in futility. We all have that possibility in our minds, don’t we? John Lennon admitted that some of his lyrics were designed to make those people who try to read too much into things spin in circles for his amusement. This film should be required homework for people who has ever asked themselves, “Am I spending too much time trying to figure out this Paul Is Dead business?”

Stranger Than Fiction



This 2006 movie starring Will Farrell is quite interesting. We have all heard about people who make sacrifices for their art. What about the concept of sacrificing someone else for your art? That’s the moral dilemma that author Karen Eiffel faces in this movie. It is a unique and interesting plot, but on first viewing you might miss the subtle references to both the Beatles and artist René Magritte. There are some intersections of those two in real life including the inspiration for the Apple Logo and Paul McCartney’s art collection. The names of the characters in the film all seem to be identified with scientists, mathematicians and artists. Farrell's character is named Crick after Francis Crick, one of the co-discoverers of the structure of the DNA molecule in 1953.

Here is a quick list of Beatles references in the film that I stole from a blog (some are admittedly weak):

Green Apple
Will Ferrell crosses the street ala the Abbey Road album cover
Farrell’s character is a Taxman
Karen Eiffel is a writer (paperback writer)
Eiffel’s assistant is named Penny
Everyone is running for cover, i.e. "When the Rain comes the run and hide their heads they might as well be dead," except Karen.
When Harold goes to the phone in the plaza the old guy using it is telling the operator that his daughter's name is Mrs Epstein, as in, Brian Epstein.
The guitar Harold gets is exactly like one John Lennon used.

A final footnote on Stranger Than Fiction involves the character of Professor Jules Hilbert played by Dustin Hoffman (who was the impetus for the Paul McCartney song "Picasso's Last Words"). Professor Hilbert devises a list of questions for Crick to ask the narrator, whose voice Crick hears in his head. How many questions, you ask? 23, of course. (For more background on the reference to Hilbert's 23 questions, follow this link to David Hilbert)

I will cover other movies in future posts.

A la carte

Item 1: Paul McCartney wrote a loving tribute to his late wife Linda for the Times Online

The article entitled “Sir Paul McCartney on Linda” coincides with an exhibition of Linda McCartney’s photographs at James Hyman Gallery, 5 Savile Row (we swor), in London on April 25, 2008. You don’t get many opportunities to read Paul McCartney prose, so this is well worth checking out. For those of us who see a dark side in everything, Paul has given us a couple statements to ponder.

Soon after the Tube picture was taken I broke up with the Beatles, which was a horrendous thing for me.

“I broke up with the Beatles” seemed like an odd way to say it, until I thought about it linguistically and realized there weren’t really any better alternatives. Paul also revealed that "Whiter Shade of Pale" by Procol Harum was the song that brought them together. That could start a few conversations.

But the most interesting passage was this:

For me, probably the saddest and most haunting photograph in this collection is the self-portrait she took in 1997, not long before she died in 1998, in Francis Bacon’s studio in South Kensington. Linda was a great art lover. She had studied art at college in Arizona and her father had a phenomenal collection. So she’d grown up with great art. She admired Francis Bacon greatly and had an opportunity through a friend to photograph his studio after he died. We knew the people who looked after his studio. It was going – the entire contents – to Dublin. She went along and took some pictures. This one is a classic. With the cracked mirror it’s particularly eerie. It is a very strange but powerful picture. I’m not sure, but that looks like somebody’s death mask on the right of the picture.



Bacon’s final work was an unfinished self portrait. No one mentioned that it surprisingly looks like it was imaged through the same cracked mirror.



Item 2: In other news, the ever-observant Mike's Blog reported that there has been a slight change in the "schedule" on the Iamaphoney YouTube page. "Ulaanbaatar" has been added two slots after the April 10 interview date. A rather obscure story from Mongolia is hitting all the Beatles sites about a monument to the Beatles in Ulaanbaatar. The original story is here. Prime Minister Bayar announced that the Beatles launched the globalization process with their music. The New World Beatles Order, I suppose.

Item 3: We have a new video from youknowmyname231:
Two for One (#16)
Thanks to Anonymous for providing some links about the word Episemon, which is shown at the end of the video. Definition of Episemon. More Information.

Pepper Clock

I had talked about this in one of the discussion groups, but I don’t think I ever mentioned it here. A frequent contributor to the “Nothing Is Real” discussion group known as Jarvtronics made the astute observation that if you look at the lyrics on “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” you will find an inordinate amount of references to the everyday passage of time. Once I took a look at that and compared the album to others by the Beatles and various artists, I realized that he was on to something. From the line “It was 20 years ago today” in the opening track to Mal Evans’ alarm clock in “A Day In The Life,” the album is filled with references to time. Here is a list I came up with in one quick reading through the lyrics:

It was twenty years ago today
The act you've known for all these years
Sit back and let the evening go
How do I feel by the end of the day
Somebody calls you, you answer quite slowly
A little better all the time
I finally heard
I'm taking the time for a number of things
Wednesday morning at five o'clock as the day begins
She's leaving home after living alone for so many years
Friday morning at nine o'clock she is far away
Waiting to keep the appointment she made
There will be a show tonight on trampoline
Performs his feat on Saturday at Bishopsgate
The band begins at ten to six
Having been some days in preparation
A splendid time is guaranteed for all
And tonight Mr. Kite is topping the bill
Never glimpse the truth-then it's far too late-when they pass away
Many years from now
If I'd been out till quarter to three
Sunday mornings go for a ride
When I'm sixty-four
When it gets dark I tow your heart away
Good morning, good morning
After a while you start to smile now you feel cool
People running round it's five o'clock.
Everywhere in town is getting dark
It's time for tea and meet the wife.
Somebody needs to know the time, glad that I'm here
We're sorry but it's time to go
I read the news today oh boy
I saw a film today oh boy
And looking up I noticed I was late
Made the bus in seconds flat

Try finding a list that big on any other album in the world. Notice also that every single song on the album is represented. The weakest interpretation is “you answer quite slowly” which happens to be the only reference I found in the song “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds.” If “answering slowly” doesn’t qualify as the everyday mundane passage of time, then I would be of the opinion that “Lucy” was intentionally meant to stand out from the rest of the songs. That’s an article for another day.



Jarv suggested that the frequency of references to time might be a suggestion that the listener pay close attention to the time. I amended that slightly in my interpretation which led me to pay attention to the Pepper Clock.



The first obvious place to look for a clock on the Sgt. Pepper album is the drum.



Consider the line from Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite: "The band begins at 10 to 6." If the drum in fact were a clock, then the hands at 10 to 6 or 5:50 would be pointed at "P" and "B" respectively.



Well that in and of itself provokes all kinds of thoughts.

1) P – B = Paul Buried.

2) One hand pointing at the P for Paul and the other pointing at the grave.

3) Then there is always P>>>>>>>>>>B = Paul>>>>>>>>>>>>Bill

But, I knew there was more to the clock on Sgt. Pepper. I pulled out Paul’s book, “Many Years From Now” and opened to pages 305 to 335.

All of the italicized words below are quotes from Paul in the book, not a single word comes from Barry Miles' text. This is the REAL Sgt. Pepper clock.

I like that northern thing very much, which is what we were, where we were from. I had the idea to be in a park and in front of us to have a huge floral clock. We were sitting around talking about it, “Why do they do a clock made out of flowers?” Very conceptual, it never moves, it just grows and time is therefore nonexistent, but the clock is growing and it was like, “Wooah! The frozen floral clock.”

So the second phase of the idea was to have these guys in their new identity, in their costumes, being presented with the Freedom of the City or a cup, by the Lord Mayor in all his regalia, and I thought of it as a town up north, standing on a little rostrum with a few dignitaries and the band, above a floral clock. We always liked to take those ordinary facts of northern working-class life, like the clock, and mystify them and glamorize them and make them into something more magical, more universal....

I did a lot of drawings of us being presented to the Lord Mayor, with lots of dignitaries and lots of friends of ours around, and it was to be us in front of a big northern floral clock, and we were to look like a brass band. That developed to be the Peter Blake cover....

So I took the little drawings of the floral clock and the Lord Mayor and all our heroes, which was like the end design, and we went to see Peter....

The idea did get a bit metamorphosed when Peter was brought in; they changed it in good ways. The clock became the sign of the Beatles in front of it, the floral clock metamorphosed into a flower bed....

My conclusion: The clock is the grave.

On Wednesday morning at 5:00 he died.

By 10 to 6 (5:50), he was replaced.


I'll close this with a frame from a recent video update from Ringo Starr's Official Web Site. It's time...