Saturday, August 30, 2008

The Return of 65if2007 and The MilesDeo Code

Dear friends,

I really don't have time to post today. I have a lot going on in the real world, plus I keep trying to research for future posts so that I can do them right.

BUT...there are some interesting things happening on what might be, could be, sure the hell should be the eve of the Next Level.

The biggest news is that the fearless (I'm sure other adjectives will be put forward by others who have followed the story) 65if2007 has reported here that he made an attempt to find suitcase #2. He was not successful, but he graciously took the time to offer some theories in the comments of my last post.

In that same comments section, our friend MilesDeo wrote: "The code I left behind at Nir is true. And I'm not going anywhere, unless I kick the bucket, or someone makes me kick it."

Now, back around the same time that 65if2007 found the first suitcase, MilesDeo appeared on the Nothing Is Real discussion board claiming that he had come into possession of a note belonging to the Manson family. He showed a doctored version of the note presumably to try to get some information without revealing too much. He recently deleted the post (and nearly everything else from NIR) but I still have it.



Later, in an apparent attempt to elicit more help, he revealed the entire note. This, I believe has also been deleted from NIR.



MSNBC just showed an updated report on the Manson family and the recent attempts to find more bodies at Barker ranch. Law enforcement officials were unsuccessful, but many people, including Helter Skelter author and Manson prosecutor, Vincent Bugliosi (who happens to be promoting a new controversial book about George Bush) still believe that there are more Manson victims out there somewhere.

So, the timing of the "code" that MilesDeo supposedly left behind at NIR is interesting. Some people are wondering what code he is referring to because Miles does have a tendency to write cryptically. I believe the code to which he is referring is the only thing I could find at NIR that he didn't delete.



If anyone finds anything else, or cracks this code, please feel free to add comments here.

Happy hunting, and I will see you at the revelation. But right now, man, I gotta get back to work.

Friday, August 29, 2008

News Briefs

The new video, 2nd September 2008 Suitcase from 922008suitcase does not appear to be the work of Iamaphoney to me. I think as the production values increase in the Grandfather Aleister camp and the YouTube identities keep emerging and disappearing, it's going to get very confusing around here.



The son of the Israeli official who reportedly banned the Beatles from playing there in the 1960s has suggested that Paul McCartney and his PR people are not being completely honest about what really happened. In fairness, some people have claimed that Paul's memories prior to September of 1966, might be a little shaky.

Americana singer/songwriter thinks he solved the mystery. There is even a video. (Thanks to Jude for providing a link to the mp3.)

There was an interesting piece in the news briefs section of the Abbeyrd Beatles News Page. An actor wrote in to explain that the Beatles Shakespeare sketch from the Around the Beatles Show was not a spoof. Aside from a few "permissible ad-libs," the Beatles performed the scene as it was written. Even the hecklers in the scene were following the script!



Unusual item of the day: The Chef prepared a special menu, but Paul wasn't delighted. OH MY!

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

(Not so) Random Notes

In a few developments relevant to our story...

The song "When We W(h)ere Young - South America" has turned up at another location on YouTube.

Our friend felipegcs has been approaching the investigation from a novel angle in some charming new videos.
Experiment - First Takes
Experiment - Second Takes

Beatles friend Victor Spinetti made a guest appearance at the Mathew Street Festival in Liverpool according to the "What Goes On" Beatles News Site.


Victor Spinetti serves as narrator on the new DVD "Memories of the Magical Mystery Tour." He was also the star of "A Hard Day's Night," "Help," "Magical Mystery Tour," "Londontown" and "Rotten Apple 101."


And we have received a concrete statement from Milesdeo: Still A Round

Sunday, August 24, 2008

Apollo, Iamaphoney and Bill Shepherd

My interpretation of recent events (and events that are not so recent at all) is probably flawed, but I think I need to put a few things out there anyway. There seems to be somewhat of a convergence happening with two very different strands of the Beatles mystery theory. The traditional view that Paul died in a car accident and was replaced by someone who just happened to win a lookalike contest and was quickly taught how to sing and play so effectively that he took over leadership of the greatest rock and roll band of all time just didn't make sense. It would have been easy to attribute the whole "Paul Is Dead" thing to a bunch of overactive imaginations and people with too much time on their hands except for the existence of all of those clues. The clues demanded a more cohesive theory.

Then came the appearance of 60IF, a document allegedly written by George Harrison. This was an alternative to the traditional Paul Is Dead theory, but it had some severe plausibility problems. This unique perspective is chronicled in the discussion group "The King Is Naked" and its related web site.

Then at some point, a new character entered the fray at 60If/TKIN who called himself Apollo. He implied that he was an insider and provided some hints that showed that at the very least, he had the ability to interpret the clues in a way that they had never been interpreted before. Eventually he felt unwelcome at TKIN and started communicating at "Nothing Is Real."

He was much more cautious at NIR, restricting his communication to specific individuals and using personal messages most of the time. I think he made some real friends there. Some of this material made its way into regular posts, and again, at the very least, it seemed that Apollo's insights led to to some compelling interpretations of clues and the discovery of new clues. It was an exciting time for a few people who were convinced that Apollo held the key to the Beatles mystery. Then in late April of this year, a group statement by key members of NIR indicated the member known as Apollo was Beatles confidant and "castle keep" Neil Aspinall. See previous post for details.

I think it is fair to say that several of the people who were enamored with Apollo and were 99% sure or higher that he was in fact Neil Aspinall, were vehemently opposed to Iamaphoney. This rift was responsible for some (not all) of the acrimony that we have seen while attempting to study this mystery.

But now, amidst the weeds in the comments section here and in some other locations, we have the suggestion that Neil Aspinall had at some point annexed the Iamaphoney organization and brought it under the Beatles umbrella. This of course would explain the sudden increase in the quality of the videos and the emergence of fancy editing and professionally done soundtracks that were completely different from the initial Rotten Apple products. It would also explain the disarray in the Iamaphoney camp that started soon after Neil Aspinall died.

The merging of the Apollo camp and the Iamaphoney camp truly would be an "OB-LA-DI OB-LA-DA" (i.e. Wedding from hell).

But let's look at one example where the paths of Apollo and Iamaphoney crossed. I know I have this obsession with Rotten Apple 41, but for me it is the"Sgt. Pepper" of the series.


That still image shows a Beatles knockoff album by Billy Pepper and the Pepperpots. A songwriter credit there is for Bill Shepherd, who plays on the album. A Beatles imitator who also can write Beatles-inspired songs might be a good candidate to replace a Beatle if one is ever needed. Apollo hinted rather strongly that Bill Shepherd contributed to the Beatles musically.

While I was away, I found a used bookstore and came away with this nice item.



According to the cover it is "The True Story of the Beatles as Personally Told to Billy Shepherd." This Bill Shepherd also wrote articles for "The Beatles Book" monthly magazine. (Picture borrowed from Nothing Is Real)



Quoting Apollo from a post in the public section of NIR by LetterB, Billy (Shepherd) was invented by Neil. (nom de plume) I'm not saying Neil is Billy the guy who "maybe is amazed", know what I mean?" I believe this refers to the writer, not the musician.

So, was Bill Shepherd (the musician, not the writer) a replacement (or one of the replacements) for Paul McCartney? One person who would answer that question with a firm "NO" was another NIR member who claimed to be the son of Bill Shepherd. Guitargaz, aka Gary Shepherd insisted that his father not only was a key member and composer for Billy Pepper and the Pepperpots but he also went on to work with the Bee Gees. In fact, the Beatles exploitation band, the Pepperpots, was just one of many musical projects by Bill Shepherd. (Picture borrowed from Nothing Is Real)



The younger Shepherd, whose father is now deceased, promised to provide some pictures of his father, but has not done so as of yet. He did note that the characters on the cover of the Pepperpots LPs were models and had nothing to do with the recordings. Someone at NIR did manage to find a picture of Bill Shepherd of the Bee Gees.



Gary Shepherd said he found out about NIR by doing a Google search for material about his father. At first, I thought the name Bill Shepherd was too common for that to happen, but when I did the search query "Bill Shepherd Pepperpots" in Google, the NIR thread was the first thing on the results list.

Gary Shepherd came across as credible and honest in his posts on NIR, which caused some to question Apollo's assertion that Bill Shepherd worked on Beatles recordings. Apollo's reaction to that confrontation was uncharacteristically livid. I seem to remember the term "douche bag" being used, but that was after a convoluted story about the Mafia became associated with Shepherd. I still have difficulty imagining Neil Aspinall using the term "douche bag" under any circumstances, but I am non-committal on the identity of Apollo.

The bottom line is that both Apollo and Iamaphoney hinted that a musician by the name of Bill Shepherd was a significant character in the Beatles mystery. Apollo is believed dead, but his words continue to reverberate and there is much more out there that he said that has yet to be shared. Iamaphoney has been silent aside from apparent leaks from an organization that seems to be in disarray, but I expect much more from him (them) as well. This is far from over.

Thursday, August 21, 2008

Here Today, Gone Today

Perhaps the thing that we have learned in the past 24 hours is that you don't mess with Iamaphoney.

In a decidedly weird chapter in the Iamaphoney saga, we have a new song that might be by the person or organization or splinter group (not Bill Elliott and Rob Purvis -- I don't think so anyway) that we call Iamaphoney. We also have gotten a few new videos from those referred to as Wannabees (I wish we could come up with a name for them that is less disparaging).

It was a day like any other...I had posted an article here and was enjoying the comments as they rolled in. But suddenly there came three consecutive cryptic anonymous comments.

Anonymous said...

the singer paul chose

August 20, 2008 8:56 AM
Anonymous Anonymous said...

when we where young - south america

August 20, 2008 8:57 AM
Anonymous Anonymous said...

J0HN0N0LENN0N


It turned out that "J0HN0N0LENN0N" was a YouTube identity. I was working in the real world at the time, but apparently MikeNL was right on top of it.

Then we got a link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ex7-sH0_uk8
But, by the time most people had found it, the video, which I believe was called "Revelation #1" was privatized.

The user description was still up. It said, "G, I'm going to reveal it all right here and there is nothing you can do about it. You shouldn't have told Him.
24 hours."

According to the information on the "J0HN0N0LENN0N" YouTube page, the "Revelation #1" video was viewed three times before it became inaccessible.

Another video on the "J0HN0N0LENN0N" YouTube page, featuring a new song "when we were young - south america" was still available at this point.

The style of the song seemed to be similar to "The Beau" and the supporting information was just as cryptic regarding the identity of the artist. The singer did sound similar to tracks we have heard by Iamaphoney.

More cryptic comments followed with the implication being that this person or group was breaking away from Iamaphoney and producing their own 9-Part revelation in the next 24 hours.

Then a funny thing happened. "J0HN0N0LENN0N" claimed that he had been threatened about copyright infringement on his YouTube page.

This was the message posted on the"J0HN0N0LENN0N" channel:
THIS IS FUNNY. I HAVE ONLY POSTED 2 VIDEOS AND 4 HOURS AFTER I RECEIVE THIS:
By using the page identity http://www.youtube.com/user..., you are giving the misleading impression to fans that these videos are being posted and hosted by John Lennon and The Beatles.
You have hijacked not only John's identity and copyrighted videos, but have also re-edited them.
John Lennon has not sanctioned you to use his name and/or copyrighted materials.
As much as we support freedom of speech and fan support, we cannot accept misleading impersonation, identity & copyright theft and fraud, and request your assistance in a rapid resolution of this matter by immediate deletion of this account.


I doubt that there were many who perceived this as an official warning.

It was shortly after this marvelous setup that "J0HN0N0LENN0N" vanished from the face of the earth (well, at least from the face of YouTube).

I guess it was around that point that I was informed that I was the starting Right Wing for Iamaphoney's soccer football team. Then I became very confused and was informed that my name was part of the revelation. I waited by the phone fully expecting someone to call and tell me that I am not a real person, but a character in a Kurt Vonnegut novel. At that moment I realized that I had to fold laundry, if for no other reason, just to prove that I was alive.

Special thanks to MikeNL for giving us some hints about his interpretation of these crazy events and for keeping the song, "When We Were Young" available.

Here are the new video links from other characters inspired by Iamaphoney:

Perfect Pitch from JohnCharles2007
I AM NOT - WHAT I SEEM from MilesDeo
11 - I am not what I seem from footnotebot
Paul is Dead - 3 - Eleanor Rigby from iamawitch

In more interesting news:

No date for the new Fireman release yet.
Still no date for the "Love" DVD.
The deal for Paul McCartney to do a concert in Israel has apparently fallen through.
Several sources have reported that Paul wants Nancy to come with him on tour. I hope that means that a full tour really is in the works.

To J0HN0N0LENN0N, 65if2007 and any others have crossed Iamaphoney: Hope you are happy and well! May God bless...

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Ken Mansfield

Ken Mansfield has an amazing story to tell, and he has told it twice. His first book, "The Beatles, The Bible and Bodega Bay" featured his recollections of the music business, particularly his work with the Beatles as liaison with Capitol Records and eventually as the Manager of Apple Records in the United States. In the book's chapters, Ken alternated his music business stories with his personal testimony regarding his conversion to Christianity in the late 1980s. His second book "The White Book" could have been re-titled "The Beatles Minus The Bible and Bodega Bay" because much of it overlaps with the previous book, but there are some expanded rock and roll stories and you have to read between the lines to find any references to Ken's religious views.

One particular thing that Ken Mansfield deserves credit for was securing a record deal for Ringo Starr at a point when Ringo's prospects were finally starting to rise after a period at rock bottom. That deal resulted in one of my favorite albums "Time Takes Time."



To this day Mansfield continues to tell his story, including the religious parts, as a paid speaker in Christian-friendly gatherings. He has also been appearing at the Fest for Beatles Fans and was featured in a recent issue (#172) of Beatlefan Magazine. That's not bad for someone who was told about a dozen years ago when he was diagnosed with a rare form of bone marrow cancer that he had only one to three years to live. His non-denominational presentation is honest, humorous and engaging. It was a Pastor that pushed him away from spiritual matters when he was young and George Harrison who awakened his hunger later in life. Eventually he moved from Gurus and the writings of Carlos Castaneda to Jesus Christ. You can see him in action in this video.

His testimony is usually preceded by a band that plays several of the more "spiritual" Beatles songs (e.g. "Let It Be" and "Got To Get You Into My Life" -- Yes, I know that Paul admitted that the latter was about Pot!)



It is an odd contrast to see a band dressed like this playing in front of a Sgt. Pepper-like background (utilizing some of the same images) at a church event.



Despite the fact that he was rarely mentioned in books, Ken was a real Beatles insider. I would rank him in the tier just below Neil, Mal and Derek, in that group with Tony Bramwell, Peter Asher, Peter Brown, and Ron Kass. In fact, Ken claims that other than the "Anthology," his book is the only one approved by the Beatles.

Possibly because of his religious orientation, Ken seems to resist saying anything negative about anyone. He didn't seem to have anything good to say about Yoko Ono (or Linda McCartney) but he didn't disparage them either. His only stinging criticism was directed toward the police officers who shot and killed his dear friend, Mal Evans.

One would think that an individual who so closely aligns himself with Jesus Christ would have nothing to say of a mysterious nature, but there were a couple of things that raised my curiosity. About the "White Album" Ken wrote: Parts of it were about things we will never understand, and there were even bits about things in their lives purposely left to be diciphered, including the sweet, mysterious mixture that comprised their uniqueness and togetherness. I was there during the course of this magic time, and I got the feeling that the White Album project had a lot to do with the things that were shaking the complicated world they were living in.

Iamaphoney fans would be familiar with Ken's chilling description of his last conversation with Mal Evans. In a chapter dedicated to Mal in "The White Book" Ken writes:

I answered [the phone] and it was Mal. I asked him how he was doing, and he started rambling on about how well everything was going. Something seemed peculiar even though he was professing optimism, and in the middle of his good news, I asked him what was wrong. "Nothing is wrong," he said. "Paul and I just worked out some problems, and he is going to give me credit for some of the things I wrote with him--" I interrupted again, asking him what was wrong. "Nothing," he continued, "and besides that, I am signing a production deal with Atlantic Records and my book is going great and because you were left out of all the other books, I am making sure you are all over it and--" I had known Mal too well and for too long, and somewhere beneath all the good news I sensed something I had never felt with Mal before.

Something was horribly wrong. "Mal...Mal," I said. "Stop and listen to me for a second. Something's wrong, isn't it?" There was silence on his end. "We need to talk, don't we?" I asked. Momentary silence.

"Yes," he said softly.


They agreed to meet the following day to talk because Ken was on his way to the Billboard Music awards with an acceptance speech ready just in case Jessi Colter, an artist he produced, happened to win the award for best new artist. Just prior to the announcement that Colter had in fact won, Ken was given the news that Mal had been shot.

In a very uncharacteristic moment of dark humor mixed with anger, reborn Christian Ken Mansfield wrote: "I am told that, for whatever reason, they [the police] shot six warning shots into his head to keep him from hurting himself."

This is a picture of Ken Mansfield and Mal Evans.

Monday, August 18, 2008

Some New PID-Related Videos

UPDATE 2: Paul Is Dead - Time Is On My Side from sonofwhom

UPDATE: Oops. I forgot to include the Beatles Shakespeare Sketch that has been appearing lately in COLOR.

Pattern Recognition (20 years later) is a new video from our friend JohnCharles2007

One enterprising YouTuber named redheadedzombie has created a visual companion to several sources including the Dave Fox "Paul Is Dead" Radio Special from the late 1970s.

Folklore 101 - Part 1
Folklore 101 - Part 2
Folklore 101 - Part 3
Folklore 101 - Part 4
Folklore 101 - Part 5

The same user also posted some interesting updates.
Folklore 101 - Bonus Part 1
Folklore 101 - Bonus Part 2

Some Other Items spotted by F:

Phoney Quest from iMphoney

Three New Videos from starkyringo909
Paul Is Dead 1
Paul Is Dead 2
Paul Is Dead 3

Sunday, August 17, 2008

Three New Items from Iamaphoney

I returned home to find that the subject of this blog had placed three new items in a particular location where he had shared some things previously. Aren't you glad I keep checking? Click on each image to download the original files.

Two of the items would fall into the category of possible artifacts from the planning stages of Magical Mystery Tour. The presumption here is that these are documents from the missing collection of Mal Evans. I am not able to confirm or deny their authenticity.

Item 1:


Item 2:


The third item appears to be a recent shot of Paul McCartney on holiday:



Previous posts containing documents from the same source:


Christmas in Iamaphoneyland
Iamaphoney Speaks Again


I also noticed that the map accompanying the photo album has changed:


I want to express sincere thanks for the opportunity to view and share these documents.

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Notes From The Road

Hello Everyone. I am on the road at the moment, but I am taking a quick opportunity to pass along some news.

Those other video makers are continuing to give Iamaphoney a run for his money with some compelling videos. I am still reeling from the JohnCharles/YouKnowMyName231 revelation. I have not received confirmation about YKMN's identity, but it is perfectly reasonable to me that it would be the same person who has posted here under the name JohnCharles. I have always appreciated his wisdom, even when we did not agree.

Check out the new video Paul Is Dead 11:11 from PIDgame.

Paul McCartney played "Hey Jude" on his harmonica for a 4-month-old named Jude.

John Lennon's killer was denied parole again, thankfully.


The Chicago Sun Times had a report about Paul McCartney attending a Native American ceremonial event on his Route 66 trip.


This Route 66 trip by the 66-year-old McCartney has been a real Public Relations success. Despite all of the 6's, I still maintain that the only people who ever accused McCartney of being anti-Christ are Derek Taylor and David Noebel.

One small item on the Abbeyrd Beatles News Page caught my eye. Apparently Paul is using the name "Martin" as an alias on this Route 66 trip. I know what you're thinking. Didn't somebody say that Iamaphoney is a guy named Ian Martin Jr.? Didn't somebody else say that Iamaphoney's music is done by a guy named Martin Lind? Didn't Paul McCartney use the name Billy Martin in 1970 and wasn't it printed on his suitcase? Hey, for all I know, the second suitcase contained a Dean Martin L.P.

Anyway, I hope that Nancy and "Martin" are having a wonderful time and I look forward to his next concert, the next Fireman album and whatever else he has up his sleeve to keep us all fascinated.

Here is a picture within a picture from the Daily Mail.

Friday, August 8, 2008

231

New Video - Revelation (part 1) #21 from YouKnowMyName231


I was going to add this to my current post, but I decided to give it its own spot so that everyone may comment on what YKMN is saying.


UPDATE: Most definitely a coincidence, but for those who insist otherwise, watch this other new video and be what you see.

22 from JohnCharles2007



Some of you may have already seen this, since I believe that JoJo pointed it out last year in Nothing Is Real. The DVD of Vanilla Sky, a movie for which Paul McCartney wrote and performed the title song, includes a featurette entitled "Prelude to a Dream." The opening shows some pictures of the script and various notes as we hear a voice over from the director. One of those shots features handwritten notes on lined paper. Right in the middle there is a box containing the words "Abbey Road - Paul Is Dead." Since "Vanilla Sky" was such an integral coincidental part of this fine video by YouKnowMyName231, I thought I should show you the picture here.

Thursday, August 7, 2008

Dabbling in the Occult

Continuing with the Rabbit Hole motif of The Beatles and the Occult, let's spotlight a Beatles artifact from the time of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. It was first published in 1968 in the Official Beatles Biography by Hunter Davies. This scan was borrowed from Nothing Is Real.



The document appears to have at least three sets of scribbles, each most likely done with a different writing instrument. There is a list of songs, probably a suggested sequence of tracks for the Sgt. Pepper album. Underneath "Fixing A Hole" is a partially scratched out item that was interpreted by Ted Goranson in a post on the Newsgroup Rec Music Beatles as "Lacie." Goranson has observed numerous connections between "Alice In Wonderland" and the music of The Beatles, and he believes both are strongly related to the Occult. Jojo shared a reformatted version of Goranson's post on NIR recently. The significance of "Lacie" is that it is an anagram for "Alice." As evidenced by the replies to Goranson's RMB post, not everyone agrees that it says "Lacie." It could easily be "Lucie." John would later use that name for the song "Bring On The Lucie (Freda Peeple)" on his Mind Games album. There is no doubt that the scribble referred to "Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds," which certainly has connections to "Alice In Wonderland."

Lucy and Alice both seem to have a strong relationship with the Tarot. At the beginning of their respective journeys, Lucy has marmalade skies and Alice grabs a marmalade jar. There was an impressive marmalade sky in the recent debut video by wizardofpaul which has already disappeared from YouTube.



In addition to the list of titles and various notes that seem to apply to the structure of the song "Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds," there is another interesting element on the document from the Hunter Davies book. It appears to say:

Brotherhood of Light
Doctring of Kabalis
Cop. 1935
by
Elbert Benjamin
Serial No 48
L.N. Fowler & Co.
Tudor St. London EC4




The book title isn't exactly correct, but there was a series of "lessons" published under the collective title "Brotherhood of Light" by Elbert Benjamine (AKA C.C. Zain). The texts deal with the Occult and Astrology.


Benjamine reported that he communicated with the dead from an early age. Like Aleister Crowley, he was an avid mountain climber. The books in his series dealt with such subjects as Tarot, Masonry and Spiritual Alchemy. His writings serve as the foundation for The Church of Light.



There is one more interesting detail about Elbert Benjamine. His date of birth was December 12, 1882.

Wednesday, August 6, 2008

A Riddle



In "Alice In Wonderland" Lewis Carroll (Charles Lutwidge Dodgson) wrote the riddle "Why is a raven like a writing desk?"

When Alice was asked this question in the story, she did not give an answer, however, the 1896 edition of "Alice In Wonderland" contains an attempt by Carroll himself.

Carroll wrote: "Because it can produce very few notes, tho they are
very flat; and it is nevar [sic] put with the wrong end in front."


Aldous Huxley, in the September 1928 issue of Vanity Fair, answered the riddle this way: "Because there's a 'b' in both, and because there's an 'n' in neither." It's possible that Huxley's answer was based on his observation of Carroll's writings. Sometimes the words themselves are more important than their meaning (or their grammatical correctness).

Please note that Lewis Carroll in his answer to his own riddle, spelled the word "never" incorrectly. Do you know why? What happens when you spell "nevar" backwards? A tragedy is that subsequent printings contained what a copy editor must have thought was a spelling correction. I think Carroll would have insisted that it be changed back to "nevar" had he not been dead by then.



Many years later another answer to the riddle "Why is a raven like a writing desk?" appeared in print. The answer is "Edgar Allan Poe wrote on both." [This discovery was attributed to Denis Crutch in "Jabberwocky," Winter 1976.]



Another answer can be found in the Stephen King novel, The Shining: "The higher the fewer, of course! Have another cup of tea!"

Some biographers of Lewis Carroll had another theory based on Carroll's keen interest in the occult. In fact, he was deeply interested in automatic writing, a technique employed by Aleister Crowley, who was into backwards writing as well. Combine that with the idea that the raven is associated with communication between the living and the dead and we have what may be the best answer of all to the question "Why is a raven like a writing desk?"



Answer: A raven is like a writing desk because one might communicate with the dead through either.

Automatic writing as a means of communicating with the dead, could also be interpreted as tapping into the collective unconscious, a concept studied by C.G. Jung.



Yes, it must have been quite a conversation when this meeting took place.



This is Tafultong reporting from the rabbit hole...

the deeper you go the higher you fly

(source http://stason.org/TULARC/education-books/find-books/index.html and numerous other sites)

A couple new videos have surfaced.

Paul is Dead - 1966 from sonofwhom
Who Is Iamaphoney from newcomer LetItBe

Tuesday, August 5, 2008

Herb "the Fake" Blake

In an amusing turn, a brand new YouTuber has uploaded a wonderful collection of songs that he claims are rare lost Beatles outtakes. They actually are songs that people over the years have mistakenly thought were lost Beatles outtakes. In what at least appears to be a deliberate attempt to deceive, YouTube user HerbBlake has given us a group of videos that are well worth having, even if they are not what they say they are. The video portion is simply an old time reel to reel tape recorder spinning, presumably to enhance the illusion that these were really obtained from Abbey Road. Most of the songs really do have some Beatles/Apple connections and others are interesting gems from the psychedelic era. I think the deception is all done in good fun.



Lullaby For A Lazy Day is not a 1967 Beatles outtake, but it is by Grapefruit, a band signed by Apple Publishing and named by John Lennon. L.S. Bumble Bee is the Peter Cook and Dudley Moore parody with a very Lennonesque vocal. You have some Klaatu songs including Sub Rosa Subway in the collection to make it even more interesting. Frenzy and Distortion is not a White Album outtake, but it is on the Soundtrack to the Apple film "Raga" by Ravi Shankar. We Are The Moles is one of my favorites, but I'm afraid it's by The Moles and not The Beatles. Some of the songs, like Bye Bye Bye and Peace of Mind still have a bit of mystery to them. One interesting thing is Now and Then. It's definitely a phony version, but it's not an Iamaphoney version.



So check out old HerbBlake. Ignore the descriptions and enjoy the songs.

In other news, F informs me that YouTube accounts seem to be vanishing under strange circumstances. They all seem to be leaving this message both here and on Iamaphoney's channel:
_________________________________________________________

look

I AM REVEALING MYSELF FLESYM GNILAEVER MA I

_________________________________________________________

I have no idea of what it means, but the casualties include iamawitch and P1Dgame.

There are a few others. They seem to have something to do with IONEIX, who put this message on Iamaphoney's channel.
_________________________________________________________

Dear Member:

This is to notify you that we have removed or disabled access to the following
material as a result of a third-party notification by ********************* claiming that this material is infringing:

; )
knock knock...
guess who?

_________________________________________________________

This all seems to be connected in some way to wizardofpaul, who recently appeared on the scene.

Please note that although the names are very similar, the following YouTube accounts still exist:

allofthemwitches
PIDgame
IONEIXHEDIE


The closed accounts do not appear to be in any way related to Iamaphoney.

Sunday, August 3, 2008

PWR

UPDATE #2 - Eye Opener (#21 sneak preview) from YouKnowMyName231

UPDATE #1: In a vision from an alternate universe, Mike hinted that a new Iamaphoney video will surface soon. But for now we have Paul is Dead - Abrahadabra from wizardofpaul

The acronym PID (Paul Is Dead) has been around for a long time, but after the theory hit the internet and caught fire (pardon the pun) a new branch developed called PWR (Paul Was Replaced). As I mentioned in an earlier post, conspiracy buffs tend to be contrarian by nature, so if a theory like Paul Is Dead lasts long enough, it is bound to spawn a new contrary view. Paul Is Alive is too simple, but if you add the element that Paul Was Replaced, you have a completely new area.



One positive thing about Paul Was Replaced is that it is flexible enough to allow for the original Paul McCartney to be dead or alive. I guess that would make Paul McCartney the Schrödinger's Cat of Rock and Roll. Trying to reconcile Paul Is Dead with Paul Was Replaced can really give you a headache. In one scenario this would mean that The Beatles purposely put clues in their albums so that true fans would think Paul was dead in order to cover up the fact that he was alive, but had been replaced by a lookalike/sound-alike. This magical thinking has caused some of the wildest theories imaginable including Paul went insane, Paul had a sex change and Paul secretly left the Beatles only to be murdered by [insert name of secret organization here].

Unfortunately, if you take the PWR idea seriously enough to look for evidence that supports it, you find some. And if you are of the strand that believes that Paul was replaced, but the original Paul is still alive today, then some things may add up.

I can recognize Paul's voice in an instant, but it does sound different on different projects. The brand new song credited to Nitin Sawhney, featuring Paul McCartney is an example. The beautiful track entitled "My Soul" features Paul on vocals, but his voice sounds a little different. It has not been officially released yet, (thanks F) but the track is available in a few places including YouTube.



I have not been able to find a writing credit yet for "My Soul" but if you read the lyrics as printed on the AbbeyRd Beatles News Web Site, it could be interpreted as a McCartneyesque love song. However, if you put on your PWR glasses, you can almost hear a tale of two Pauls.

My Soul

I long to know all your secrets
I want to walk through your fire
Light up my eyes with your smile

I was awakened by magic
I was alone in this world
take me away from here

Life spinning round at a blistering pace
I've been shot from a gun
to your final embrace

my soul
your heart
two worlds
apart
this life
is all
we have

How could this steal all these feelings
How could they lie to this world
A picture away from your smile

Life spinning round at a blistering pace
I've been shot from a gun
to your final embrace

my soul
your heart
two worlds
apart
this life
is all
we have

one soul displaced
one heart replaced
feelings defaced
invade our space
no one left to give us back our time

we could climb every mountain, swim to every sea
when the all world is asleep
we can set ourselves free

my soul
your heart
two worlds
apart
this life
is all
we have

mmm yeah

yeah
we could climb every mountain, swim to every sea
when all the world is asleep
we can set ourselves free

we could climb every mountain, swim to every sea
when all the world is asleep
we can set ourselves free

my soul
your heart
two worlds
apart
this life.......ooooh


This is not the only song in McCartney history that could be interpreted this way. The most interesting example of Replacement Paul encountering Original Paul is a song that to this day has not been officially released. The song was written for the 1980 movie, "Seems Like Old Times" but was not used. Is it possible that this song was rejected because it applied more to Paul and Billy than it did to Chevy and Goldie?



Seems Like Old Times

The other day I met someone I had known in another lifetime
Oh puzzle pieces lost without a trace fell into place in my mind
But we both knew what we were getting into

And we didn't want to stop
No we wouldn't want to miss it
Cause it seems like old times
So like long ago that I hardly even know
Who's who anymore
What's new anymore
So like long ago that it seems like old times

Familiar music man singing me a song from another lifetime
And urgent letters waiting for the post were uppermost in my mind
But he got through and then before we knew it

We didn't want to stop
No we wouldn't want to miss it
Didn't want to stop
No we wouldn't want to miss it
Cause it seems like old times
So like long ago that I hardly even know
Who's who anymore
What's new anymore
So like long ago that it seems like old times

When you reappeared and the moment I had always feared
Is upon me I felt slightly weird that's for sure
Now life is good to me though I don't see who I used to see
No it's not quite what it used to be anymore

The other day I met someone I had known in another lifetime
Oh puzzle pieces lost without a trace fell into place in my mind
But we both knew what we were getting into

And we didn't want to stop
No we wouldn't want to miss it
I don't want to stop
No I wouldn't want to miss it
Because it feels, yes cause it seems like old times
So like long ago that I hardly even know
Who's who anymore
What's new anymore
So like long ago that it seems like old times

Seems like old times
So like long ago that I hardly even know
Who's who anymore
What's new anymore
What's true anymore
So like long ago that it seems like old times


There is no question that the Paul Was Replaced (but still alive) theory is extremely convoluted and unlikely, but it would resolve something that has been bothering me for a long time. Why would Paul be halfway through an excellent album (Memory Almost Full) and then say, "Sorry, I'm going to do a different album with a different producer (Chaos and Creation in the Backyard) and then come back and finish this one later"? As crazy as it sounds, that would make sense if you had two different people competing to be the next Paul McCartney release.


"Come home brother, all is forgiven..."

Friday, August 1, 2008

Come Together

One of the oddest things to ever be released on the Apple label was the Original Soundtrack Album for the 1971 movie "Come Together." The title has no apparent connection to the Beatles song of the same name, nor does it really have any apparent connection to the movie.



The soundtrack album, released in the U.S. only, consisted mainly of forgettable incidental music by Stelvio Cipriani. It also contained the Joe South hit "Games People Play," "Love is Blue/I Can Sing A Rainbow" by the Dells, and a version the love anthem "Get Together" that was a hit by the Youngbloods. The album was produced by Allan Steckler who ran Apple for a while, and more recently has appeared at Beatlefest with Bruce Spizer.



SPOILER ALERT: I will be describing the end of the film, so if you are one of the extremely small group of people who might want to sit through this movie and also a member of the even smaller group that could actually find it, please read no further.



The movie was directed by Saul Swimmer, whose next directing project was "The Concert for Bangla Desh." Swimmer also produced the Ringo Starr movie "Blindman" and Co-Produced the Beatles movie "Let It Be."


The leading man in the film, Tony Anthony, also starred in "Blindman". The Internet Movie Database lists Ringo Starr as one of the producers of "Come Together" but his name was not in the screen credits. However, there is no doubt that this awful film had some Apple money behind it.


Harry Castleman and Walter Podrazik in "The Beatles Again" describe this movie as "one of those 'this week only' first-run neighborhood flicks, probably on a twin bill with "Chainsaw Murder" (or some such nonsense)." They were being far too kind. They also quoted Vincent Canby of the New York Times who described Tony Anthony as "the least magnetic movie personality to come along since Frankie Vaughn." He was being far too kind. It's difficult to mess up a movie about a ménage à trois, but Tony Anthony and Saul Swimmer did it. Tony's floppy hat and Mickey Mouse jacket couldn't even save it. This was an ABKCO film, so Allen Klien must have decided that backing this film would be more financially prudent than renewing Badfinger's contract.

The film did have one interesting thing going for it. Just like the 1960s, it had a surprisingly dark ending after all of that talk of love. For reasons unknown, Tony Anthony's character, whose name was Tony (I swear I am not making this up) spontaneously decided that things would be more fun for him and his two women if he started driving like a maniac on the side of a mountain. It's a little bit like the scene in "A Clockwork Orange" that we have been seeing in the videos of Grandfatheraleister and Company. Things go awry when the trio collides with a white car driven by an unidentified man.


Tony's car goes out of control in a lengthy series of maneuvers and ends up flying off a cliff and bursting into flames.



So what do we have here? Another allusion to a car crash in Beatles history. I think the tagline for the movie "Come Together" says it all: "Fantasy becomes reality in the games people play!"



You can see clips from better movies in the latest video from sonofwhom. It is called Catcher in the Rye. And yes, it has a car crash too.