The Famous Record Gets Played (or was it us?)

The famous vinyl album has finally been examined. So it famous was. It was the album that started it all. Actually, I'm not sure what it started. But the album is a legend in the minds of dozens of people. It was arguably the most intriguing item in the very first suitcase ever dropped by the person we lovingly call the actor in the Iamaphoney videos.

The album cover had some annotations on the back. The words "Maclen Music" and "Lilli" were underlined.



There was a doodle in the bottom right corner of the back cover too.



But what about the record itself? Ah yes, that black vinyl disc inside. The person who found the suitcase, known as 65if2007, did not have a record player. Iamaphoney said, "It's time." But time went by. Ringo said, "Time Takes Time." 65if2007 proved that it does. Angry words were exchanged. Iamaphoney's credibility went into a free fall. More time went by. An online petition was created. The participants proved that an online petition plus one dollar will get you a double cheeseburger at McDonalds. 65if2007 walked away from it all, which prompted me to say for the 33rd time, "No one has ever been harmed by walking away from a conspiracy theory."

But 65if2007 graciously returned and offered to give the album to someone who could properly investigate it. The recipient, a moderator of the "Nothing is Real" discussion group received the album this week. I knew as soon as I saw the picture of the record itself that it was probably the standard U.S. issue of the "Magic Christian Soundtrack."



The label is identical to my copy. On the picture of Side Two, you can see the factory writing on the runoff groove.



My copy has "CURLPS 10008 TMC - RE3" which I believe is partially shown in the picture above from "Nothing Is Real." It appears that if this item has any significance, it must be in the annotations found on both the cover and the record label.

I listened to the mp3 files of the album and aside from some scratches in different places, the soundtrack was identical to mine.

I'm sorry to say, no revelation here. Oh well, I guess we can always go back to this item.

Breaking News and Views

Paul McCartney on Colbert Report, January 27, 2009

Paul McCartney will perform at the Grammy Awards Show broadcast on February 8, 2009

McCartney to Wed - Fox News*

McCartney NOT to Wed - E Online*

* What better proof do you need that there are two Paul McCartneys?

Paul McCartney's grammy nominated "Amoeba's Secret" was released in the United States today for the first time on CD. The four song extended play remains true to the vinyl issue with its simple shrink wrapped package.

Paul McCartney's son is reportedly working on an album with a band called The Dead 60s. Please tell me I'm kidding.

Paul McCartney will Headline a Benefit Concert for David Lynch's Yogic Flying Education Project. I must be kidding about that one right?

David Lynch? But isn't he the guy who directed...?


Wake up, grandfatheraleister, your time has come.

No Iamaphoney news to report other than a dream that he was in Greece and a feeling that we will hear from him around February 8, 2009.

But, videos inspired by Iamaphoney continue to appear on YouTube. Please drop me a line if I miss any.

Iamaphoney Rotten Apple 73 Secrets #1 and Paul is Saturn - Proven Jan 26th 2009 by Iamafunny

Ritual Fire by Sunssol

paul is dead - rotten apples 1 by dark66horse

iamaprophet by iamaprophet

The iamaprophet video contains this image from the book "Alternative World Scenarios for a New Order of Nations" by Charles W Taylor.


The book also contains this model.

Review: Electric Arguments

We'll see if Paul's latest efforts on Howard Stern and The View will increase the chart life of "Electric Arguments." The album debuted at #67 (the number you get when you round off 66.6, but that's just a coincidence) and immediately started to descend. Still, that is the best showing for a Fireman release and deservedly so. "Electric Arguments" received all kinds of praise from critics. The word "inspired" was tossed around a lot. In fact, the work is so accessible, many people have been asking Paul why it was not released as a Paul McCartney album.

411Mania said, "Slightly short of being perfect, Electric Arguments is one of Paul McCartney’s best albums ever; an addictive, colorful collage of sounds featuring stellar instrumental, lyrical and vocal performances; essential."

Uncut gave it four stars and enthusiastically proclaimed, "Paul McCartney soars out of his comfort zone."

The BBC said, "Electric Arguments is nothing less than a rather fine McCartney solo album."

Even Rolling Stone claimed it was "ex-Beatle's headiest music in years."

So, is "Electric Arguments" Paul's best album in years?

The short answer is "No." The medium answer is "Not quite." The long answer is "Not quite, but it is a damn good album."

Paul and Martin Glover (aka Youth) set out to write 13 songs over 13 days spread out over a year. Taking that into consideration, "Electric Arguments" is amazing. You won't find anything as exquisitely crafted as "House of Wax." Nothing here has the emotional depth of "Jenny Wren." I don't even think we have anything as musically adventurous as "Mr. Bellamy," but that's an (electric) argument for another day.

But even if it is not Paul's "best album in years," there is much to enjoy about "Electric Arguments." Paul is such an outstanding musician and singer that anything he does will find its way into the pleasure centers of the brains of most music enthusiasts, but he shoots much higher than that on this album. We get to hear the results of Paul and Youth having a great time.

It is fitting that he is the wealthiest musician of all time because Paul McCartney simply loves to play---and that's the best way to describe "Electric Arguments." Paul is playing without any inhibitions. I'm not saying that he doesn't go into some dark places. "Traveling Light" is a haunting melody, but only in the spirit of play would Paul have the courage to sing in the lowest register we have ever heard him reach. It also features a slide guitar reminiscent of the late Brian Jones of the Rolling Stones. It is just one of several extremely effective tracks on the album. The opening track, "Nothing Too Much Just Out of Sight" may sound a little muddy, but I think that is intentional. The production quality of the album is excellent overall. But this is not one of those albums built on tension, perfectionism and anxiety. It is obvious that Paul is having fun.

There is a great segment in the Geoff Wonfor film "In The World Tonight" when Paul takes us into his home studio and we get to watch him to play with Bill Black's bass and the Beatles mellotron. You can tell he loves every minute he spends in that studio.



The guy just loves to play. This is not like work. It can be compared to the joyful spirit that guided the Traveling Wilburys. You can feel a part of the good time as you listen.

At the same time, it can't be a Paul McCartney album without a sense of mystery surrounding the proceedings. And we have plenty of that. But just like everything else Paul has done, there is never a smoking gun, just a hint of aroma that makes you ask yourself, "Do I smell smoke?"



One source of interest is the collection of stickers that adorn the shrink wrap of the CD. One sticker in particular, says "no, no Sam, it ain't no anagram." A reader, pmc27, was wondering why the name Sam was used. The obvious answer is that it rhymes with the last syllable of "anagram," but it's not the most clever poetic gem an artist or designer has ever conceived. Pmc27 noted that the phrase "no Sam" backwards makes the word "mason." Conspiracy theorists, including Iamaphoney have hinted that the person we currently know as Paul McCartney could be a member of a secret society with connections to the Masons. Videos by youknowmyname231 and grandfatheraleister also played up the Masonic connection by highlighting the checkerboard floor and "Magical Mystery Tour" and other symbols.



Weak as it may be, somebody in Paul's camp must be quite fond of the phrase "no, no Sam, it ain't no anagram," because this is not its first appearance. A decade ago when the album "Fireman Rushes" was released, Paul did a live web chat incognito to promote it. [See Previous Post - The fireman is no mason]

In the web chat, the following exchange took place:

Q: carol@cnf .canal.edu asks, Does the sentence "The Fireman is no mason" use an anagram to say 'The Fireman is soon man' ?

A: No, no sam, it ain't no anagram.

The sentence that prompted the question was on the official website for "Fireman Rushes." The interesting thing we now know is that if you rearrange the letters of "The Fireman is no mason" you can make the sentence "I am the risen son of man." While it's true that if you have enough letters, everything is an anagram, it is rare to find one as meaningful as that. I believe it was youknowmyname231 who first discovered this anagram.



Iamaphoney quickly backdated it into his own scenario. We will never know if Iamaphoney knew about the anagram and was hoping it would remain undiscovered until he revealed it, or if he simply annexed youknowmyname231's discovery. It should be noted that youknowmyname did not complain when the phrase was added as a description of an older Iamaphoney video.



As YouKnowMyName231 pointed out in his video, some coincidences are difficult to dismiss. To recap:

1) During the Fireman web cast of October 2, 1998, Paul was asked if the phrase "The fireman is no mason" was an anagram for "The Fireman is soon man," (which is typical of the weak phrases that one gets when trying to make or solve an anagram).
2) Paul's response was "No, no sam, it ain't no anagram."
3) YouKnowMyName231 pointed out that "The fireman is no mason" is an anagram for "I am the risen son of man," (which is atypically meaningful for a random phrase).
4) Ten years later Paul releases the next Fireman album with a sticker that also uses the phrase "no, no Sam, it ain't no anagram."
5) No one in history has ever been enticed to purchase a CD by a tagline as meaningless as "no, no Sam, it ain't no anagram." So why is it there?

When questioned about it, former McCartney publicist Geoff Baker attributed it to "Designer Norman Hathaway and his lovely weirdness." Hathaway was the designer of both releases.


The new Fireman album contains at least one more mysterious element. After a year of watching Iamaphoney videos and hearing a dramatic voice reading from Aleister Crowley's "Book of the Law" and saying "Let him practice speaking backwards," Paul decides to end his new album with backwards speech. After a false fade out on the final track, "Don't Stop Running," another tune emerges and it ends with a backwards voice. When reversed, the voice clearly says, "Warmer than the sun, cooler than the air."



Some journalists have come to the rather ridiculous conclusion that this is some kind of secret message directed at his ex-wife Heather. I would hope that anyone reading this would be able to come up with a more plausible theory than that!

Excuse Me, But Ringo Is Back

You may recall back in early October of 2008, Ringo Starr announced on his website that as of October 20, he would no longer be signing and returning items sent to him by fans. The most newsworthy part of that announcement was the fact that prior to October of 2008, Ringo Starr had been signing and returning items sent to him by fans.

As a result of his historic announcement, I immediately sprang into two courses of action. I packaged and sent him a piece of Ringo memorabilia postmarked before October 20 and produced a video that I will never live down. If I were a smarter person, I would have removed the video as soon as I sobered up, but I left it up just to remind myself that humility is a virtue. It also serves as a constant reminder that I should not take myself too seriously and neither should you. I must say that I have warm feelings not only toward those who suggested that they could hear what I thought I heard in the background of Ringo's video, but also those who took great effort to break it to me gently that I might have been out of my mind. It humbles me that a cyber-identity could be the recipient of that kind of love.

But a bigger mystery than the Paul Is Dead rumor is why hasn't the press and public given Ringo Starr that kind of love? Ringo has always been gracious to his fans. Particularly through his website, he has offered fans glimpses of his personality and inside information about his activities in such a relaxed and unassuming manner, that regular viewers could feel an intimacy that is rare for a recording artist of his stature. Paul has followed his lead in recent years, but Ringo was the real internet pioneer.

It was that feeling of intimacy that caused people like me to think something was terribly wrong when he made his "no more signing items" statement. I remember some people at the time suggesting that he must have been making the statement under duress. To make matters worse, the press coverage of his public relations faux pas prompted a rash of YouTube videos from people who had never purchased any of his albums announcing that they would continue their policy of never purchasing any of his albums. It was even disheartening to see some of Ringo's defenders saying things like, "He's retired--leave him alone," when in fact he had been one of the most prolific recording artists of the last two years.

The press was even worse. Ringo never said he wouldn't ever sign an autograph again. He just said he wouldn't return items sent to him. That's all. He apparently was sick of taking the time to sign and mail back items that ended up on Ebay within a week. Who can blame him for that? On top of that, he even gave fans a warning with a window of opportunity to get things signed. That is above and beyond the call or duty.

Now, Ringo has resumed his video updates on his website. He has been nominated for a Grammy award. He may even be working on a new album. But the press still appears to be clueless as evidenced by the examples below:







Fortunately thanks to YouTube and Steve Marinucci of the Examiner, we are learning that Ringo is making good on his promise to sign items that arrived by his deadline of October 20, 2008.



As I indicated earlier, I sent Ringo Starr an item with an autograph request before the October 20 deadline. I used an address that I got from an Iamphoney video.



Imagine my excitement when my self addressed stamped envelope showed up in my mailbox today. Inside I found my item complete with the addition of Ringo's signature. I am incredibly happy, but not at all surprised. I knew that he would make good on his promise to his fans, no matter how bad the press had treated him. As Bonnie Jo Mason said many years ago, "Ringo, I love you, yeah, yeah, yeah." I now possess an autographed item from the greatest rock and roll drummer of all time and it ain't ever gonna be on Ebay during my lifetime! Thank you, Ringo.



Some new Iamaphoney-inspired videos have appeared on YouTube.

Just a good, uh replica by S3ANL3NN0N

Paul is dead 4 - Foot size tells all by WilliamShearsCampbel

Paul is Sleepy - 3 - Iamaphoney share the kookies! by iamafunny

New Video - Rotten Apple 73

The centerpiece of Iamaphoney's latest effort is a Magickal statement Paul McCartney made to Anthony DeCurtis of Rolling Stone. In the interview clip, which is readily available on the Rolling Stone website, Paul says:

"There is such a thing as magic, and the Beatles were magic. It depends on what you believe life is. Life is an energy field, a bunch of molecules. And these particular molecules formed to make these four guys, who then formed into this band called the Beatles and did all that work."

He goes on to say, "It's something that must be thought of as Magick with a 'k'."



You have to give Iamaphoney credit for jumping on something that fits the story. It appears that the Iamaphoney was informed of the clip's existence by someone who has been following the Rotten Apple Series. A commenter here wrote:

"I'm the one who informed iamaphoney about the magick with a k statement. I can prove it was in Rolling Stone."

Realistically, you do not have to be a disciple of Aleister Crowley to make a statement like the one Paul made. In fact, the word "Magick" with a "k" is very much integrated into popular language. Paul could have been thinking of the best selling book called "The Alchemist" by Paulo Coelho when he made that statement.



"The Alchemist" is an uplifting story about a young man who discovers that when you strive for something, the universe will conspire to help you achieve it. I hope that I can believe that without being a disciple of Aleister Crowley because I do and I'm not. There are meaningful coincidences in the world. Talk about coincidence, I referred to that very concept from that very book just the other day with a reader of this very blog.

The bottom line is that I highly recommend the Paulo Coelho book and the music of Paul McCartney. But at the same time, I continue to recommend the Rotten Apple series by Iamaphoney.

Rotten Apple 28 said, "X-Wings member Denny Laine claims that Paul were [sic] heavily into the occult and Aleister Crowley."


"Is Paul McCartney a disciple of Aleister Crowley? I have never been able to find any quote by Denny Laine that claims Paul was "heavily into Crowley." Laine is credited for providing some dirt on McCartney to Geoffrey Giuliano (see related piece) for the book "Blackbird," but there was no mention of Aleister Crowley. Former McCartney publicist Geoff Baker says that there is no way that Paul McCartney could have been a Crowley disciple during his 29 year marriage to Linda. Baker added that "The Pope is likely to be more into Crowley than Linda."

Geoff Baker's Blog Is Back!

No time to say hello, goodbye, I'm late. I'm late. I'm late.

I'm literally on my way out the door, but I wanted to let you all know that Geoff Baker's blog is BACK!!!

I encourage all Geoff Baker fans to visit and send him lots of love.



Special thanks to several folks for various favors in the past week or two. I hope you know who you are.

The Fireman Flares Up Again

Somewhat unexpectedly, Paul McCartney emerged this week with a wave of activity directed at promoting the Fireman release, "Electric Arguments."

He graced the "Howard Stern Radio Show" on Wednesday with about 40 minutes of uninterrupted charm. He still has the smoothest personality in the entertainment business. I know that Paul is an icon and Howard is a big fan, but it was still impressive to see that none of the antics of Howard's crew rattled Paul a bit.


You can hear the show (audio) by clicking the links below from the Macca Report web site:
Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TfPr0dVffaA
Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5LDX6R-6dBo
Part 3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QTvPceKnmds
Part 4: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qmKeysrhZZI

The same day, Paul appeared on the view, prompting some speculation that he might be there to announce something about his relationship with Nancy Shevell, but again he was there to talk about the Fireman. Paul survived several segments of being asked softball questions from what appeared to be a five-woman electronic press kit holding index cards. Nearly every response from Paul was curiously similar to the initial press interviews when the album was first released.


As required, he pointed to Sgt. Pepper when asked about why it wasn't a Paul McCartney album. Whoopi Goldberg was kind enough to wear a Sgt. Pepper shirt so that I could add it to my working list of 50 million references back to Sgt. Pepper in Beatles history. Paul also did his bit about the two Paul McCartneys again, which would fit neatly out of context in a Rotten Apple video.

One particular highlight was when Paul pulled a little harmonica out of his pocket and told the story of how he used it to mesmerize a crying baby in an airport. One particular lowlight was an awful version of "Silly Love Songs" by the enthusiastic, but lyrically challenged audience. In fairness they were probably still stunned by Barbara Walters who had just asked Paul, "Do you want to bring out your instrument?" prompting all sorts of provocative quips from the softball player ladies with the index cards.

There were a couple deviations from the script. Paul (complete with sound effects for knocking on philosopher Bertrand Russell's door) clarified the stories about him taking credit for being the "political Beatle." He also addressed Ringo's "No more autographs" controversy, but I'm not sure that it helped him much.

The show is available on YouTube at the following links taken from Macca-Central.

Part 1:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TT4MPMjRwIU
Part 2:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xX6Uf9h9dkM
Part 3:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rnjF4v7sMAY

Another piece of this latest push for the Fireman was a brief chat with Kristine McKenna of LA Weekly.

I love Paul's talent for giving quick and simple answers to the deep questions.

Do you believe in destiny?
Yes.

Do you believe in karma, or do some people get away with murder?
I believe in karma (laughing), and I believe people get away with murder, too. For a while. Somewhere down the line everyone must pay for their misdeeds.

The two most interesting answers from the man who Philip Norman accuses of rewriting history, both dealt with history.

The Beatles’ music was always wonderful, but at a certain point it became something more than entertainment; at what point did you know that the work you were doing was important?
It’s difficult to discuss this without sounding immodest, but I think I started to feel it around the time of “Eleanor Rigby.”

What’s the most significant historical event you’ve witnessed?
The death of John Kennedy. He was our hope and he got wiped out, and we hadn’t realized that hope could get wiped out quite so easily. But now Obama’s brought it back. I love it.

The second response was interesting considering Paul reportedly witnessed the planes crashing into the World Trade Center Towers on September 11, 2001 from the runway of New York's JFK Airport. Nothing sinister here, but I think it shows the strength of his desire to show his support for Barack Obama. Paul expressed a desire to sing "Michelle" to Mrs. Obama, so it's interesting that he would be in the United States so close to the Inauguration.

A few Iamaphoney-Related videos have hit YouTube this week:

"the pilgrim and the lightbearer" and "not funny," both of which originally appeared on a couple suspected Iamaphoney alias channels, have been uploaded by STRAWBERRYFlELDS

"McCartney - I was NOT the political Beatle" appeared almost immediately on the FAULofHistory channel after Paul's clarification on "The View."

Paul is Dead Sleepy - 2 - John Glenn Lennon orbits the earth by iamafunny provides a unique Australian perspective on the Iamaphoney phenomenon and offers practical advice for the living.

And if you prefer the more traditional approach (wink wink) to the Paul Is Dead rumor, check out a brand new channel by WilliamShearsCampbel, who promises daily updates (or something like that).

Jim Boggia's Lament

Jim Boggia is another one of those musicians whose work shows a heavy Beatles influence. And people won't hate you just for being a fan of Jim Boggia, unlike a certain other Beatles influenced musician I know. But like that other Beatles influenced musician I know, Jim gives his fans lots of free things. There is much to enjoy on his web site, his MySpace site and on YouTube.

Jim did an outstanding cover of "She's Leaving Home" on the World Cafe.



He also did a rocking version of "Helter Skelter."



We are not talking a casual Beatles fan when we talk about Jim Boggia. You can go to ITunes and buy his cover of "Simple Life," a song recorded by Ringo Starr exclusively for a Japanese television commercial for Leisure Suits! That song, and several other Beatle covers can be purchased on the Jim Boggia MySpace Page.

Another gem on his MySpace is a special mix of a song he did for his album "Safe In Sound." The song "Let Me Believe (Evan's Lament)" was a collaboration with Emitt Rhodes. When Emitt's eponymous album came out in 1970, many people thought it was the Beatles or Paul McCartney. Although Emitt grew tired of the comparisons, he was another fan of the Beatles music and more recently the subject of a thread at "Nothing Is Real." The great thing about the version of the song on Jim's MySpace is that it is a karaoke version with the lead vocals eliminated. As a result, you can clearly hear Emitt's Beatlesque backing vocals. I am planning to do a post about Emitt Rhodes in the near future.

Back to Jim Boggia...There is another thing that makes him worthy of a post here. Jim was in fact, one of Iamaphoney's earliest critics.



In response to "Paul Is Dead - Rotten Apple 7" which pointed out the lyrics to the not yet released "You Never Give Me Money" on Manson's door at the Spahn Movie Ranch in 1969, Jim wrote the following comment:


JimBoggia (1 year ago)

Dude, as is the case today - radio gets the record BEFORE it's released. Abbey Road was being played on the radio in Aug '69. Always good to see Mike Douglas, though.



I would love to see Jim Boggia collaborate with Iamaphoney. Maybe Jim could do a Beatles song forwards while Iamaphoney does it backwards, and they could meet in the middle.

Paul McCartney on the View, January 14

Steve Marinucci, who does the AbbeyRd Beatles News site and now has a Beatles Column in the Examiner reported that Paul McCartney will be a guest on "The View" this Wednesday, January 14, 2008.

Steve also posted a review of Victor Spinetti's recent show in New York.

I would still love to know who was interviewing Victor Spinetti in Rotten Apple 101.


You can also find a Fireman interview from Rolling Stone at Macca Blog.

Suitcase Updates

It appears that iamawitch did not go quietly. The former YouTube user who produced several videos linking the Paul Is Dead phenomenon to the Manson murders, sent messages to several members who had been watching and imitating the work of Iamaphoney saying that the account would be closing after the forced deletion of a video.

As I previously reported, I was one of the recipients of the goodbye note from iamawitch. However, I found a very different message that was sent by iamawitch to a YouTube account that I have had my eyes on for some time.



There seems to be a link between the sdofik account and the Berlin Suitcase.



In other suitcase news, I am happy to report that with the help of a friend, I was able to identify the issue of the Beatles Monthly that is presumably in the suitcase that was dropped near CERN.

It was shown of the video "paul is dead - the rotten apple 71 O."



Here is a rotated view.



The partially obscured issue has a red band at the bottom, which narrowed down the candidates significantly. I am relatively certain that the issue is Number 46, from May of 1967.



That particular issue features and article about Mal Evans, and the writer credited was none other than Neil Aspinall.



Click on the images to see full size scans.



Other notable entries in the issue included an article speculating on why the Beatles grew mustaches and a picture of a bus from Penny Lane. And just like the promotional film that was shot to accompany the song, the destination on the bus (which has a number that corresponds to the number of this particular issue of the magazine) is Grave Street. There are just so many coincidences in life.

Iamafunny

One of the frequent criticisms that I keep hearing about Iamaphoney is that there is no sense of humor in his work. Although it is a difficult charge to refute, I would like to take a shot at it because I think he does use as much humor as one would expect to get away with considering the confines of the dark subject matter on which his videos are based.

We are not talking huge belly laughs here although I think he came close to that once, possibly in an effort to relieve some tension in the Iamaphoney world. In February of 2008, Iamaphoney dropped the first suitcase in California. In late March, a member of the Nothing Is Real discussion group known only as 65if2007, recovered the suitcase and was extremely cooperative about sharing information about the contents. Then the wheels fell off the cart. MikeyNL1038, who was getting some heat for being such a big fan of Iamaphoney said that he was told that 65if2007 was not telling everything about an important item in the briefcase. There is no point in dredging up old wounds of internet petitions, threats, hate messages, a banished discussion group thread, etc., but let's just say that the atmosphere in the PID world was not good. In a moment of massive frustration, 65if2007 threatened to throw the suitcase into the ocean.

Iamaphoney's hilarious response was emerge from the ocean with a suitcase in his next video:


Now, if he attempted to be that funny all the time, he would lose his core audience [I would stay, but he would lose the other two.] So, I don't expect to see much in the way of humor in these videos. Someone who sees only "Clockwork Orange" and "Full Metal Jacket" may think that Kubrick doesn't ever laugh, but with repeated viewings and exposure to his other work one may begin to detect some subtle humor. The same may be true of Iamaphoney on a much smaller YouTubeish scale.

Sometime around February of 2008, I had read in a discussion group that someone had sent Iamaphoney a picture of John Lennon and Ringo Starr, and that he responded saying that the picture was interesting. In the picture, John was wearing one of those Illuminati Symbol thingy tee shirts. I saved the picture on my hard drive and decided I wanted to do a quick post about it.



My quick post turned into several excruciating hours because I was searching and searching for that newsgroup post where I got the picture. I must have read a thousand threads on several different groups, but could not find it. I posted the picture anyway and just said that Iamaphoney had taken an interest in it. I remember being sternly reprimanded for my lack of journalistic integrity because of my failure to identify the source of the picture. [I think it turned out to be Paul Is Dead Miss Him.] This was the first time it ever occurred to me that journalistic integrity was a consideration when writing a blog. Then some other person on another discussion group said he had lost what little respect he had for Iamaphoney based on my post with the picture.

A few days later the rotten apple - 101 came out and the picture appeared in it about four times. I felt vindicated. I was thinking about that a few months later when I wrote something. I don't know if anyone else got the joke because I am often taken too seriously, but this still makes me laugh out loud.



A couple other good-natured and humorous Iamaphoney moments can be found if you look hard enough. Those who have corresponded with Iamaphoney via his YouTube Channel have discovered that he has a penchant to include the word "really" at the end of a sentence, really. But my very favorite one was when Iamaphoney graciously supplied the new fledgling Rotten Apple Discussion Group with the original lyrics to one of his songs based on a backwards Beatle song. The song "Harmless Game" included the word "shaggily." In context, the line is "man I´m singing now for my fear - will Paul re-live shaggily if someone - that is reality." The word "shaggily" has worked its way into my lexicon. I struggle to resist including it in every article. I use it at home more that I will admit.

So, yes, I believe Iamaphoney does have a sense of humor, but I do understand those who disagree. We are dealing with a dark subject after all. My hope is that we will all eventually arrive at the punchline together and have a good laugh.

UPDATE: Thanks to MikeNL for bringing this to my attention. It is the background of the YouTube site for the user http://www.youtube.com/user/lANIACHIMOE

New Official Video From Paul McCartney

Marco Sandeman has created a new music video for Paul McCartney's Official YouTube Site.

The song is not new. In fact it goes back a few years and is relatively obscure in the McCartney catalog, although it has been widely touted and studied by PID enthusiasts and fans of Iamaphoney. The song is "222."


Marco Sandeman previously directed the documentary covering the making of the video for "Dance Tonight"

Paul McCartney - On the Set of 'Dance Tonight' Pt1
Paul McCartney - On the Set of 'Dance Tonight' Pt2

Sandeman has also directed videos by The Kooks.

Superstone Exposed

Paul is Dead - A Sly Adds Up - Superst(all)one by 36EdujYeh.


So, is this the famous missing Superstone video from August of 2007? So it famous is.

If anyone finds the revelation, please feel free to slip me the answer.

I did notice that if you freeze the frame above and step back about 10 feet from your computer screen, it looks a little bit like the cover of "Electric Arguments." [Update: I meant to add that the shot above is from the Abbey Road graffiti wall.] Apparently the person who posted this video sees a flash of Sylvester Stallone at the very end. I don't happen to see that, but I'm no video expert.

Anyway, I'm glad it's finally out there. I do believe that it has not been altered. Any insights will be appreciated.

One In; One Out and More

The "One In" is new YouTube user FAULofHistory

The account started December 19, 2008 and has produced two videos:
Paul McCartney Rewrites History, AGAIN
Paul is Dead - ? - The Voice of William

I received this message from FAULofHistory:

"William" from the Netherlands
Dec 13th, 2008
During an interview with Joseph Niezgoda, author of the book
The Lennon Prophecy, someone named "William" calls on the international line
13 minutes and 13 seconds into the interview.

Care to guess who "William" may be?

watch?v=PBAXhjaMi8I
http://www.youtube.com/user/FAULofHistory

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The "One Out" is iamawhich. I was one of the recipients of this message from the iamawitch account, which is now closed:

This accounts (iamawhich) days are numbered

Paul is Dead - 1 - Yoko Ono and the Number 9

A copyright owner has claimed it owns some or all of the content in your video. We regret to inform you that your video has been blocked from playback due to this rights issue.

Thank you all for the 7,087 views!

This accounts days are numbered, thank you all for watching!

See you on the other side...

iamawhich
Sent to: 20mojo20, aiiofthemwitches, andregrandier, appalcore, beatleslove88, byrdsmaniac, carlosbonds2513, daycron66, dvs1572, faulconandsnowjob, felipegcs, felolobos, goo3joob, grandfatheraleister, hammerjackson, harlotthewitch, ihi666, ispeakthetruth25, itstimenow1, kubrickkey, magillnancy, mariomariojr32, mikeynl1038, mrgordo1997, mst3kct

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In other news, there seems to be some misconceptions about the origin of this picture:



The image appeared (exclusively as far as I know) in an Iamaphoney video that is still readily available called a Lie Adds Up - son king 0911 281 F:



Speaking of something that adds up, YouKnowMyName231 has a new video called Gematria.

He Was My...Father

One thing is for certain. If there really is a Beatles mystery, the late Neil Aspinall is in the center of it. The two most compelling strands of Paul Is Dead lore in recent years have been the appearance of the Apollo C. Vermouth character in both The King Is Naked and Nothing Is Real discussion groups and the emergence of Iamaphoney. Both of these yarns claim a strong linkage to the former Beatles "castle keep."



Shortly after Aspinall died, a committee from the Nothing Is Real discussion group claimed that the member known as Apollo was in fact Neil Aspinall. The main bit of evidence given at the time was the fact that Apollo's messages stopped after Neil died, which of course, in and of itself, was not convincing. However there were a couple details that emerged later that were not so easily dismissible. First of all, Apollo needed some special tech support from a moderator in order to post. Someone playing a practical joke would probably not need that kind of assistance. Secondly, he apparently had an assistant to type the messages for him. He also left a final message that sounded like a person who had accepted the inevitability of death. People knew that Neil was sick, but I don't know if a practical joker would have known the right time to cease posting. Another thing was that a significant amount of Apollo's communication was in the form of personal messages to specific group members. I was not included in this specific group of Apollo recipients. You would think a practical joker would want more exposure than that.

Of course, all of this circumstantial evidence goes out the window if members of NIR were involved in the scheme. Although I personally don't believe that the members of NIR were lying, it is still unlikely that Apollo was really Neil Aspinall, but who knows?

The other Neil Aspinall myth relates to the Iamaphoney organization. Although IAAP has never come out and said it, those close to the organization have stated that Neil was the guiding hand of Iamaphoney. Again, the main piece of evidence was the seeming disruption and disorganization that occurred in the Iamaphoney camp after Neil died. Someone claiming to be a former member of the Iamaphoney team told me, "When Neil died they had to reorganize and then everything went out of hand." The circumstantial evidence is that Neil abruptly left Apple on April 10, 2007, exactly one year before the date of the Iamaphoney interview that never happened. Neil died in March of 2008, a little over a month after the first suitcase was dropped, which signaled the beginning of a string of miscues that caused Iamaphoney to lose a significant amount of fans (or so they tell me).

Again, it is highly unlikely that Neil was the brains behind Iamaphoney, but like the Apollo thing, I cannot disprove it at this time.

Is it possible that Neil Aspinall could have been both Apollo and the brains behind Iamaphoney? I doubt it. That is a marriage that both Nothing Is Real and Iamaphoney seem to be against. Unfortunately, I can't disprove that one either at this time.


Interestingly, the new issue of Beatlefan Magazine, which is celebrating its 30th anniversary, contains a piece that may raise the eyebrows of both parties and give some support to any of those who would like Neil Aspinall to be their guiding hand. [BTW, if you are at all interested in the Beatles, I can't recommend Beatlefan highly enough. It is the best printed source of Beatles news. This recommendation is unsolicited.]

Anyway, the new issue of Beatlefan includes an interview with Pete and Roag Best. Pete, of course, was the Beatles' drummer who was replaced by Ringo Starr right before they became famous. Roag Best is Pete's half brother. Neil was a friend of Pete's. But when Pete's father was away, his 19 year-old buddy had an affair with Mona Best. Pete's mother, Mona became pregnant with Neil's baby. Three weeks after Neil's son was born, Pete was fired from the Beatles.



Neil continued to be a part of Roag's life even after he married in 1968 and started his own family.



Howie Edelson asked an outstanding question to Roag in the interview regarding the Pete Best DVD release:

Well, what everybody thought was that had Neil not been in the position he was, your DVD would've been blocked, and that he [helped it come to fruition]. That's the common perception, that Neil said to the powers that be at Apple, "You gotta let him do this." Is that far off?

Roag's answer becomes especially appealing when you think about the Apollo and Iamaphoney mysteries:

Roag: Truthfully? I have no idea. The wonderful thing about my dad, and what he did with the lads and what he did for Apple--and they're all aware of this--my dad was a fantastic keeper of secrets. And my dad did a lot of stuff for a lot of people and you wouldn't even know that he'd done it. If he did, he never said. That's how he worked. That why he was admired, because he didn't speak out. He never felt that he needed acclaim; it wasn't something that he craved. He had no real interest in that at all.

Is it possible that discussion group members and Iamaphoney could be included in that "lot of people" that Neil "did stuff" for? Probably not, but it is a legitimate question. It is true that Neil was a great keeper of the Beatles secrets. On the other hand, Mal Evans DID seem to want some acclaim eventually, but he was killed before he had the chance to get it. His unfinished book has never seen the light of day.



I don't think that anyone would deny that both Neil and Mal took secrets to the grave with them.