Iamaphoney

Uh Excuse Me...

2011-10-14T17:27:00.000-07:00

I am not dead, but the night is still young. The rabbit hole presented some unexpected dangers.

AND I AM DEFINITELY NOT THIS GUY!- http://therevelationwillnotbetelevised.blogspot.com/

Cease and desist you naughty boy.

The Beatles Book

2011-02-18T14:20:00.000-08:00

Over the past few weeks, (when your rotten chronicler was going through a crisis of epic proportions) two new installments of the Rotten Apple subscription series arrived. The reduction in quantity is more than made up by the quality of these latest efforts, which focus on the Beatles Book monthly. Imagine a trippy, yet coherent themed Rotten Apple production and you'll have an idea of "TheStudyCloud - Beatles Book (1963 - 1969)" and "TheStudyCloud - BeatleMonthlyTwo."

Like many U.S. fans, my first knowledge of the Beatles Monthly was when some issues were shown on the White Album Poster.

The original Beatles Monthly was published from August 1963 through December 1969. Seeing those 1967-era Beatles faces on the covers was pretty exciting for those of us who wanted nothing to do with those girlie fan magazines where you had to look at pictures of Bobby Sherman and Dino, Desi and Billy before you would find a Beatle. The Monthly was endorsed by Brian Epstein and featured numerous articles credited to Neil Aspinall and Mal Evans.

The first video explores, among other things, the magazine's curious practice of putting fake mustaches on pictures of the fabs presumably to make earlier pictures appear to be from 1967. This topic has been researched quite well in the "Nothing Is Real" discussion group.

Presumably this deception on the part of the Beatles Book was a practical matter due to the Beatles' recent change of appearance and the shortage of contemporary pictures. In fact it doesn't seem significant at all really. I thought it was the dumbest thing in the world when Rotten Apple 12 featured "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" backwards. Although the words "It was a fake mustache" were more understandable than most of the backwards "clues," it didn't seem to have anything to do with the Paul Is Dead rumors.

To my knowledge, no one before Iamaphoney ever implied any significance to the "fake mustache." But then it occurred to me that maybe there is more to this fake mustache thing than meets the mouth. There was the brief moment in the promo for "A Day In the Life" when Paul appeared to really have a fake mustache.

And why would the Sgt. Pepper album include bonus cut-outs that included a fake mustache? And wasn't it weird that all four Beatles decided to sport mustaches at the very same time? That always seemed a bit juvenile to me.

The second video release three weeks later, consisted of a minute and a half of disconnected items from the pages of the Beatles Monthly. Beginning with pictures of the Beatles skiing doubles from "Help!" chronicled on the pages of the magazine and then moving into a weird little blurb about, of all things, the Twin Peppers.

The Twin Peppers were two copies of the Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album which supposedly contained special clues when synced together. This was a rather difficult thing to test. As the story goes, the "Twin Peppers" were found in the Berlin Suitcase allegedly dropped by the key character in the Rotten Apple Series, generally referred to these days as The Phoney Figure (TPF). Recordings of two scratched up copies of Sgt. Pepper were available for download for a while and purported to be the copies found in the Iamaphoney suitcase. Yeah, this sounded like a valuable way for me to spend my time. But I have to admit, that I was impressed to see that The famous Beatles Monthly reported that prior to the release of the album, two copies of it were stolen. So, if we can believe that two copies of the Sgt. Pepper album were created with special clues, and those very two copies of the Sgt. Pepper album were stolen prior to its release, and those very two copies ended up in the hands of Iamaphoney several decades later, and those very two copies were placed in a suitcase and left in Berlin, and those very two copies were found in that suitcase by someone who was familiar enough with the Rotten Apple series to report it to someone who was well schooled in all things Iamaphoney-related, and those very two copies were placed on the web for download, then yes, we have something here.

Then the video goes on to some Thelema images with an attempt to connect them with Arthur Dooley’s curious "Four Lads Who Shook The World" sculpture in Liverpool. This is made even more confusing when one reads the description of "TheStudyCloud - BeatleMonthlyTwo" as presented unlisted on YouTube. It says, "doubles, twin peppers and wings." Is Iamaphoney implying that there is a connection between Thelema, the "Four Lads That Shook The World" sculpture and Wings? I think he is.

Now, what does it mean?

Subscription Issue #2

2011-01-02T18:02:00.000-08:00

Wooh, I'm feeling like Derek Taylor writing the liner notes to "Pussycats." Sorry, I have not been around due to personal and professional commitments. But, I do intend to keep writing this blog as long as it continues to save lives. Oh my dear stars. I am living in a nether nether world. Sorry Gloria.

With apologies, I must note that the second installment of the Iamaphoney subscription series surprised me in some ways. My impression was that the first avalanche was intended to be a jump start for subscribers, but I thought after that, I would just be paying for new Rotten Apple episodes. Imagine my reaction to the unexpected digital truckload of stuff that appeared in the Private Cloud restricted area of the ARE3RA web site.

As hinted at previously, it looks like the plan was to include subscribers in the "inner circle" to some degree. The "raw evidence" is being presented so that we can do our own research and come to our own conclusions, as long as we are willing to turn over our free will when the time comes. So, the second installment included independently produced features shared to subscribers For Research Purposes Only. One item in particular that I will not name was a relatively recent commercial release. That item gets my vote for the stupidest entry in the "Paul Is Dead" genre. That, along with a certain book that reads like a bad term paper cause me to scratch my head and ask why these things can be in stores when Iamaphoney is relegated to YouTube and Vimeo. Other supporting documents included a film that gives insight into who buried Paul McCartney and made Russ Gibb freak, a compilation of Crowley moments, and Brian MoriARTy's "Who Buried Paul" lecture (Sorry, couldn't resist).

But it doesn't stop there. One of the most interesting features was about two minutes of Victor Spinetti interview footage. Unlike the Emilio Lari footage, I can't say that this can be considered raw or unedited. It appears to be deliberately edited to correspond to the Iamaphoney agenda, but it's still quite fun to watch.

One other item is the fourth "oldies" compilation in documentary format. Much of this footage was pulled from YouTube at one point, but then uploaded by others.

I wasn't sure what to expect, but I was satisfied with this second installment of the subscription series. We'll see where it goes from here.

A couple other videos of interest have appeared on YouTube recently.

Grandfather Aleister is back with Helter Skelter 2011 - Part 1. You can find it by clicking the link or following the hand signals of your third base coach.

And for those obsessed with the life of one Arron Swaffar, we have Project Consciousness: 02 My journey so far. He really seems to want to slip you the answer.

I'm afraid I must go. You have the rest of your lives, but I have an hour to catch a plane. Happy New Year.

An Unnecessary Evil?

2010-11-28T17:23:00.000-08:00

Recently, one reader eloquently offered a third explanation (I think we are way beyond the number 3, but I get the point) for the motives behind The Rotten Apple Series by drawing parallels between ART and Magick. Iamaphoney has offered several videos that seem to suggest that Paul McCartney was involved in the occult. But I think it is fair to say that Iamaphoney's videos don't appear to be from a perspective of one who is outraged that Paul McCartney or his "just a good replica" would be a practitioner of "Magic with a K." In fact, Iamaphoney seems to embrace Thelema and Aleister Crowley himself to a certain degree. I have been repeatedly given warnings with peace and love about the time and energy I have spent promoting and analyzing Iamaphoney and his Rotten Apple videos. Is it possible that Iamaphoney is not really going after Paul McCartney, but is instead using Paul McCartney to go after us? Is Iamaphoney using me and you to spread a belief in Thelema? I find that to be a humorous thought because we are not that big of a group, and I have personally not seen a shred of evidence that suggests that any two people who visit this site can agree on anything (and that includes subscribing to the same anti-religion). Of course, I was the guy who was criticized recently for suggesting that we all go out for pizza. That was actually a face saving measure that I employed after Iamafunny let that cat out of the bag. [Is that the "face saving" thing that you were talking about Rian? I'm still a fan of yours]

But this is not the first time that someone has suggested that watching Rotten Apple videos can be bad for you. There have been stories about sigil magic, mind control, and some reasonable concerns, unfortunately often leading to illogical leaps and unfounded conclusions by others. I admit, that in order for Iamaphoney to be a guilty pleasure for me, there must be some guilt. But, I don't think that all of the Rotten Apple videos together are nearly as bad for my soul as the movie "Satan's Bed" starring Yoko Ono, which I watched recently for "research purposes." And I don't think that Iamaphoney has done nearly as much harm to Paul McCartney's reputation as people like Heather Mills and even Yoko Ono.

If Rotten Apple videos are causing you to have anxiety-producing dreams or unwanted thoughts, please don't watch them. The reactions to the Trilogy of long form Iamaphoney videos lead me to believe that people are not sitting in front of Rotten Apple videos all day long. I started this blog because I was intrigued by the sudden transformation of amateur videos into something so polished that some even believed McCartney himself was involved. Thelema Schmelema, I got pulled in by the prospect of finding out more about the four ARTists that I have adored collectively and individually since I first heard "I Want To Hold Your Hand."

But the argument that was presented suggesting that "ART = Magick" is certainly worth exploring. I agree that "The Rotten Apple" and "The Right Album" and other curious capitalizations within words beginning with T, R, or A suggest that the Iamaphoney is intentionally referring to the backwards spelling of the word "ART." ART does seem to be the way that souls communicate. And ART certainly does influence people's thoughts, emotions and actions. This is an example of a video that was created for the purpose of influencing people. Is this Magick?

There is no question in my mind that ART has power and can manipulate. But that doesn't make it evil. But could ART be used for evil? I knew as soon as I started using money that ART was trying to influence me to spend it. I knew as soon as I started making my own ART that I would have to make unwanted compromises if I wanted to share my ART with others. Is that the kind of evil we are talking about? Believe me, playing in a cover band or writing songs to order is a little bit like selling your soul to the devil.

Is it really possible that Paul is into Magick? Most reasonable people would say of course not, but what do reasonable people know? I had the pleasure of meeting a reasonable person recently named Ken Mansfield.

Ken was the guy wearing the white raincoat on the Apple rooftop during the Beatles final live performance as a group. He ran the American branch of Apple Records, worked with the Beatles from 1965 onwards, led a promotional tour for Apple artist Jackie Lomax, became a major record producer for several artists including Outlaws Waylon, Willie and Jessi, assembled Ringo's band for the "Time Takes Time" album (without credit), hit rock bottom, re-emerged as a Christian and wrote three terrific books that he autographed for me.

Ken is often invited by churches to share his testimony of how despite having all of the advantages one would expect living the Rock and Roll Lifestyle, he felt empty inside until he hit rock bottom and committed himself to a life as a Christian.

Ken's presentations about his faith journey are usually split into three parts. In Part 1, he shares his reminiscences of his time in the music business with a heavy emphasis on his work with the Beatles. Part 2 is Question and Answer with the host. Part 3 features questions from the audience. Interestingly, in the session that I attended, the very first question from the church host in Part 2 dealt with "Paul Is Dead." Ken responded with the typical "You can gather evidence to prove Hitler was a nun if you look hard enough." I have looked and I have not found any evidence to suggest that Hitler was a nun. If I find any, I will make YouTube videos about it and you can write a blog about me. Ken followed with the "American Explanation" of the "I Buried Paul" at the end of "Strawberry Fields Forever." Like Allen Klein said in 1969, Ken thought that John meant that his sound "buried" Paul's sound in the mix. This of course conflicts with explanations given by Derek Taylor, as well and Paul McCartney and John Lennon himself. A member of the audience mentioned the "Cranberry Sauce" explanation. Ken said he was aware of that, but that it didn't make any sense. Um hum.

The "Paul Is Dead" subject reappeared in Part 3 when a member of the audience commented that Ken described in his books that even though he was not a fan of the Beatles' music initially, his appreciation for it grew over time. When Ken acknowledged the accuracy of the comment, the audience member asked what Ken's take was on people, many of whom are Christians, who suggest that there is something sinister in the music of the Beatles. Ken paused reflectively and said, "There was a darkness in their music at a certain point because of various things that they were doing at the time, but it wasn't sinister. They were nice people."

But what about Mr. McCartney? Is it sacrilegious to ask the question, "Could he be a devotee of Aleister Crowley?" No one has explained away to my satisfaction the presence of Aleister Crowley in the background screen when Paul plays "Helter Skelter" on tour.

And why does that one segment that initially appeared on Paul's Official Channel for the new "Band On The Run" Remastered CD, and is included in the accompanying DVD seem like an Iamaphoney video?

And why does the "original" video for the song "Band On The Run" itself contain such strange imagery?

And that interview where Paul refers to "Magick with a K" is very strange to me.

And I must admit that I find the cover of Paul's "Liverpool Sound Collage" a little disturbing.

Isn't it also interesting that the George Harrison spoken phrase from the recording session for the song "Think For Yourself," that Paul chose to incorporate repeatedly in the Collage, happened to be "Do What You Want To Do," which sure seems to me to be synonymous with Crowley's famous phrase, "Do What Thou Wilt"???

In spite of the fragments of evidence to the contrary, I am still content to agree with Ken Mansfield comment that the Beatles were nice people, and not sinister at all. I am inclined to believe the same about Iamaphoney.

I am told that the next update for subscribers will be on December 7.

Emilio Lari Facebook Post

2010-11-16T09:21:00.000-08:00

There was an unusual comment on Emilio Lari's Facebook page after a Beatles Link:

Google Translation from Italian to English: Emilio Lari was and is a great photographer. Intuitive and sophisticated gave us pictures that tell the long process of many of us. Soon everyone will see a big surprise. I have only one worry: he has used my image. Patience :-)

Be sure to subscribe to the Iamaphoney fan page on Facebook to get some great information that you can't find anywhere else.

Unbelievably, there is a YouTube channel with the name EmilioLari that posted a video in 2008. It is the scene for "You've Got To Hide Your Love Away" from the movie "Help." There is a quick cut of an Apple logo around the middle. How many other Iamaphoney videos that we haven't seen are still hidden somewhere on YouTube?

I think most people will understand that there is an embargo on the previews that Iamaphoney sent me, which included unreleased video that will likely be part of his subscription service. I am not the only one who has received these previews. I would imagine that they went to several others who have helped him along the way. It would be foolish of me to bite the hand that is feeding me information that I have been seeking for years. I will do my best to be as complete and accurate as possible. Don't worry. No BIG revelation yet. Don't succumb to Superstone disease.

Emilio Lari

2010-11-12T09:58:00.000-08:00

Thanks to commenters, who seem to know a lot more about this stuff than I do, we have identified the individual lovingly referred to as "Eurodude" in the Rotten Apple videos. He is the Italian movie stills photographer Emilio Lari. According to Wikipedia, Lari "bluffed" his way on to the set of "A Hard Days Night" by impersonating a photographer from a magazine. From there he developed a pretty impressive resume taking shots for several motion pictures including the Beatles' film "Help" and the 1968 Ringo Starr film "Candy."

It is possible that the "revelation" of this individual's identity was a calculated plan by Iamaphoney. I say that because one of the things I received in my preview package was raw footage of interviews with the individual who I now realize was Emilio Lari. Guess what. None of the interview footage appears to have been taken out of context. He may be lying. He may be acting. But, he is not a victim of Iamaphoney out of context editing.

Lari is usually seen with a shot of Paul from the movie "Help" nearby. In one of the segments he commented on the difference in height between the original Paul and the replacement.

Even if this man is not acting, that doesn't mean that the original Paul McCartney was killed in a car accident and was replaced by the devil. But this character has certainly made things more interesting. I suggest we fasten our seat belts.

What if...

2010-11-11T16:47:00.000-08:00

I used the term "Historical Fiction" or something like that a while back when describing my take on Iamaphoney and the Rotten Apple Series. There is something different about the Beatles artistic output that in my view puts them way above all of the others. Stanley Milgram, the psychologist suggested that the reason the "Paul Is Dead" rumor became so prominent was because the Beatles output had the rare combination of ambiguity and social importance. Others like the Rolling Stones and Pink Floyd came close, but none had fueled imaginations of obsessed fans as much as the Beatles.

I think of the Beatles as the Rock and Roll equivalent of Stanley Kubrick. There is so much beauty in the work, the fans become part of the game by being the interpreters. I believe that in both cases, Kubrick and the Beatles (collectively and individually) played along by intentionally providing "clues" to make their art a two-way interactive process. That's why Beatle albums and Kubrick films get better and better with time. In Iamaphoney terminology, I believe it is a shaggily harmless game that will continue long after the principles and their first generation fans are gone. The art is that good.

This is the situation in which Iamaphoney (and several others) emerged. And like the artists themselves, these interpreters continue to play the game and take the art in new directions. I believe the artists themselves find the game amusing as the interpreters develop all kinds of theories based on the trinkets and puzzles found in the art. I just don't think you can play this game with any other artists of this generation as well as you can with the Beatles and Kubrick. Hell, you can even connect the two of them if you want.

So the Iamaphoney scenario is one of the better ones to emerge out of this. The thing that makes him so compelling is that he is an artist himself, or at least he had the ability to form a company of artists, of which many of us may be a part of one day. And the thing that is great about it is the fact that, although highly unlikely, there is at least a ghost of a chance that some of this could be true. I'm not talking about Paul being the devil, which I believe is an "interpretation" of Iamaphoney's art anyway.

But what if Iamaphoney was a guy who became obsessed with finding out the truth about the "Paul Is Dead" rumor? And what if he was able to raise enough money and resources to travel the globe? And what if he actually did find the missing diary of Mal Evans? And what if he found a person who did actually know the truth? Like this guy...

What if...

The Rotten Apple Movie is Here!

2010-11-09T20:04:00.000-08:00

In a way we have all been invited to be a part of the Iamaphoney experience. Think of it like the John Lennon "You are the Plastic Ono Band" campaign. Yes, we may have to buy a ticket, but we have also been handed a tambourine at the door. We are all Iamaphoney now. The great thing is that I still have all of my memories. I basically feel much like the same person I was yesterday. The only thing that is really different is that this blog is no longer free. It now costs $5.00. I don't need the money now. In fact, you all have a little over two years to raise it. Just bring it with you to Vegas when we meet. Obviously, the more of you who contribute, the less you will have to pay toward the five dollars. I would like all of it, or at least some of it in U.S. currency. That way we can immediately put it towards the pizza.

The Rotten Apple 2007 Movie consists of some of the best moments from the first 35 videos from the Rotten Apple series presented in the slickest documentary format yet. Although some of the captions might make you cringe a little, it is neatly edited and serves as a nice review of the early days of Iamaphoney. We all agree that the videos became more "trippy" at one point, but seeing these early clips edited together shows a surprising continuity from the developmental days of the series to where we are now.

From the glimpses I have seen, there are some exciting things to come. In my little introductory package, I was able to see some items in a new context and got some of my questions answered. The BIG revelation, if there is one, has not been presented to me. But I am quite happy with what I have seen so far and will be reporting on it in the coming weeks. I would imagine that others who have contributed to the Iamaphoney legend have seen the same things I have seen or probably more, so I expect that they will share their impressions too.

For now we have the full length Rotten Apple 2007. As far as I can tell, no pop stars were harmed during the making of this film. Enjoy this quite entertaining piece.

Is it time?

2010-11-09T09:08:00.000-08:00

Possibly.

I have been contacted by Iamaphoney for the first time in a very long time. My hope and expectation is that some of what we have been enjoying for free for years will soon be commercially available in high quality. Some of my readers (if I still have readers) may cry foul, but I expect that some great stuff that we have not seen before may come out of it. So, I for one, am excited.

Is Your Breath Baited?

2010-11-07T14:39:00.000-08:00

UPDATE: Sorry. I'm getting rid of these links for now until I figure out what is going on with these rogue scripts. My apologies. Go to the Iamaphoney YouTube page to link to the Winged Beatle site.

Your browser does not support iframes.

The Winged Beatle ARE3RA

Billy Martin - Band On The Run

2010-10-23T20:23:00.000-07:00

Fans of Iamaphoney music will probably enjoy this cover version of "Band On The Run" from the lANIACHIMOE Channel.

We are apparently waiting for something to happen in about 16 days.

The Winged Beetle 5/5

2010-09-23T21:02:00.000-07:00

The final installment, that is to be continued, has appeared on YouTube.

TheWingedBeatle 5/5 contains no new revelations, but like the other 4 videos, helps to clarify some of the "clues" from the Rotten Apple Video Series that were often difficult to interpret.

During my first viewing of the video, I grew concerned that the voiceover person had been laid off, but sure enough he returned just a little over two minutes in. As I review these installments, I must admit that in terms of documentary format, PID has never been done better. There are even credits at the end and I am pleased as punch that I was thanked. I did risk a lot for young Iamaphoney and stood up against some scary text to protect his name. When this whole thing started, Mike NL was only 18 years old and now all these years later, he is something like 18 years old.

The credits list one Tom Moht (who probably plays the Thom Toms) and one Ken Knott (who cannot be identified) as receiving special thanks.

One peculiar thing jumped out at me as I watched this video for the first time. The narrator was saying, "Mal [Evans] was on the phone with his good friend from the Beatles days" and then his voice cuts out abruptly and picks up with a new sentence. He most certainly said the name of the individual in question, but it sounded like it had been edited out. The good friend from the Beatles days was most definitely Ken Mansfield who described the phone call in "The White Book." Mansfield is currently a Christian speaker and evangelist. This is his web site.

It's great to have a new Iamaphoney recording. It's not the most catchy thing in the world, but if you play it backwards you will hear that it is based on the very catchy "All You Need Is Love."

On that note, let me peruse this set of five videos again, and I hope to talk to you soon.

Despite the dumbing down of the documentary format, many questions remain - not the least of which is what the hell is a batty conk?

The Documentary Continues

2010-09-16T19:47:00.000-07:00

Parts 2, 3, and 4 are have been posted on YouTube by Iamaphoney.

TheWingedBeatle 2/5

TheWingedBeatle 3/5

TheWingedBeatle 4/5

If you are like me and miss the trippy, ambiguous and downright creepy work of Iamaphoney, just take a look at this new video that Paul McCartney released to his fans officially:

Paul McCartney - A Trip To Lagos

This man they call McCartney never ceases to amaze me.

New Video - TheWingedBeatle 1/5

2010-09-12T20:30:00.000-07:00

A change of direction? I'm not sure there is anything all that new here, but this is the most straightforward retelling since the Documentary Version of Rotten Apple 65 that slipped out briefly. There seems to be much more detail and coherence in this new format. It will be interesting to see how this all unfolds.

The Winged Beatle 1/5

Return of GFA

2010-08-07T21:19:00.000-07:00

Grandfather Aleister, in his new YouTube identity as 999nowhereman uploaded a new video.

Paul is Dead - 89 - Helter Skelter - Part 1 is a disturbing and accusatory piece that attempts to link the Beatles to the Manson murders, of all things. Although there is not much factual substance in the video (how could there be?) it still is quite effective in provoking an uneasy feeling in the viewer. It makes you want to brace yourself for a disturbing event on August 8 or 9.

Speaking of disturbing, the Al Aronowitz article referenced in the new Grandfather Aleister video can be found here. It is well worth reading.

Other phoney phonies have been trying to stay in the action as well.

GnikNusEht continues to pump them out.

brainvisionfilms also has a new one.

Even YouKnowMyName231 released a few shorts recently. There didn't seem to be anything substantially new in them. More than likely they were just a way to say hello and stay in the game (similar to what I have been doing).

And it is still important to keep up with yenohpehttonmai and iamafunny who may one day crack this case, or at least crack open a suitcase (as long as he can get a government grant).

The Walt Disney thing in the new GFA video makes you wonder. And did you notice on Paul's PBS special from his performance at the White House that they had a painting in the background with one of those Freemason types making secret hand signals the whole time?

Say It Ain't So, Denny

2010-08-05T18:51:00.000-07:00

One of the more interesting aspects of ARE3RA - TheRottenApple 2010, for me anyway, is a brief sound clip that appears around the 3:13 mark. We hear a somewhat processed voice that certainly sounds like Denny Laine talking about Paul McCartney's interest in Aleister Crowley. Okay, I can hear you yawning.

This silly accusation goes back as far as Rotten Apple 28 when Iamaphoney indicated that Laine claimed that both Paul and Linda were disciples of Crowley. In subsequent videos, Iamaphoney showed the cover of the book "Blackbird" by Geoffrey Giuliano (to which Laine was a contributor) implying that it contained the allegation. Despite the fact that "Blackbird" is considered by many to be a smear job, it did not contain any suggestion that Paul and Linda were Crowley disciples. Incidentally, a couple recent comments on a post I did a while back on Sir Geoffrey Guiliano suggest that he is not exactly the most beloved character in Beatles Lore.

So when the heck did Denny Laine accuse Paul McCartney of being a disciple of Aleister Crowley? Well, the evidence suggests that back in 2007, Iamaphoney attended a Beatles Convention and filmed interviews with the likes of Beatles Author Bruce Spizer, Beatle Films Actor Victor Spinetti, and Former Wing Denny Laine. You can see this trip in the video a Lie Adds Up - son king 0911 281 F. We have seen glimpses of clips from these interviews ever since then, but in frustratingly limited context.

So, perhaps, if we are able to IMAGINE, we can see something like this happening...

It was weird hearing Denny's voice saying those words, but there was something unnatural about the intonation, in addition to the FX on his voice. A former MPL employee told me a long time ago that there is no way Paul and Linda McCartney would have seriously been students of Crowley. My problem is that every time I try to explain this stuff away, that damn Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album presents evidence to the contrary.

New Video: ARE3RA - TheRottenApple 2010

2010-07-23T18:39:00.000-07:00

Entering the Next Level...

ARE3RA - TheRottenApple 2010

Is he on the level? I don't know what level he's on.

Publicity?

2010-07-06T20:09:00.000-07:00

I'm still working on fixing the video snafu in the last post. But, in the meantime, find yourself a love that's gonna last and check out this video. Let's just say that the Iamaphoney publicity machine hasn't exactly been on fire. Maybe this is just another fan like me or maybe...

Is It TPF?

2010-06-27T21:52:00.000-07:00

Link

Not very likely, but several requested that I put this out there.

Version 2 is here

2010-05-11T20:21:00.001-07:00

Update: MikeyNL1038 has posted a version of the †heRigh†Album Special - He'll Be Dared Video Edit 2 N13G with English subtitles. And, no, I cannot identify the girl at the end.

____________________________________________________________

Oh yeah, he got it right this time.

†heRigh†Album Special - He'll Be Dared Video Edit 2 N13G

Thanks to yenohpehttonmai, you can still see the original version here.

More to say, but I have to run.

Watch out for the batty William the Conk. (No crypticism on my part. Just thinking about Dickens, Joyce and Carroll)

New Video: †heRigh†Album Special - He'll Be Dared

2010-05-07T19:19:00.000-07:00

Just in time for Mother's Day, Iamaphoney gives us †heRigh†Album Special - He'll Be Dared.

He'll Be Dared???

Not that it doesn't make some fine anagrams (Bearded Hell, Bladder Heel, Labeled Herd, Ed Balled Her, Led Here Bald, Dad Beer Hell, to name a few), but really, I'm hearing "He'll be dead" when you play "Let It Be" backwards, because dammit, that's what I have been programmed to hear.

The video itself uses quite a lot of footage from the "Free As A Bird" video, as well as exterior crowd footage from "Let It Be" [Still reading the record mirror, are we?] and some unidentified crowd footage. There are also clips of some 1960's types that we have seen previously.

And in a lovely animation, the much loved fake mustache is flying like a nightingale. [Sorry Ken, just a plug for the film. Try and keep it in]

And then, there is this:

There is some brief, but interesting footage (actually inchage) of Paul, circa early 1968. This was hinted at in Rotten Apple 80, but in this video, Paul does appear to be standing in front of a white Volkswagen.

The last two videos have both made reference to the famous "Superstone" concept, which is still a sore subject for me. If we must dredge that up, at least we can compare soundtracks to show what a clean version we now have with this new video. I believe the lyrics (if you can call them that) have changed a bit too. Maybe we are heading in the direction of †heRigh†Album after all.

More Like More Wizards

2010-05-05T20:52:00.000-07:00

You Tuba Player LikeMoreWizards says: The Teachings is already there in TheRottenApple,series. We will all have to go backwards in order to experience the truth,

I'm not sure why the message ends in a comma, it could me that more of the message is to come or it could mean that more typographical errors is can do be expected.

Either way, a new video shows lots of footage of the Phoney Figure, and I don't think we have seen all of this.

I don't know if the peculiar soundtrack reveals anything, but I have considered the idea that there is much we have not found or interpreted correctly in the Rotten Apple Series. Perhaps it is a good time to start looking backward.

In the meantime, check out 1 3 WAWILMW by LikeMoreWizards

paul is dead - the rotten apple 80 plus

2010-04-09T20:04:00.000-07:00

It looks like "Peace of Mind" will be rightfully reinstated as Rotten Apple 79, albeit with some significant changes.

Rotten Apple 80 here! Looks like somebody has been reading the record mirror.

Initial Observations:

Glad to see Iamaphoney come through. The revelation still appears to be a way's off. Obviously, the old "put different dialog in the video footage" trick is being employed again. The guy with the accent is as lovable as ever. Nothing hammers you on the head, but there are some new things in this one worth investigating.

I would be interested in hearing your impressions. Please feel free to comment as we analyze this latest effort.

More to come...

UPDATE 1:

Those mysterious dots scrolling down the screen in recent Rotten Apple videos are reminiscent of the dots on the Abbey Road wall that have been historically connected together to form the number three. That was the interpretation as far back as the F. Lee Bailey television mock trial at the height of the original rumor. Recently a picture was published on the fabulous Wog Blog that reportedly shows more dots that were on the wall. Elements of the album cover have been superimposed on the wall.

UPDATE 2:

Is this a face in a tree or the power of suggestion?

I Miss I

2010-04-08T12:08:00.000-07:00

Dear Mr. Iamaphoney, Do you know I miss you? We all miss you, don't ya boys? Do ya miss him, miss him, miss him? All the Beatles miss you.

We (or at least I) have not heard from Iamaphoney since the release of the severely underrated "Peace of Mind," but I am hopeful that things will change soon. I have never been that fond of the Iamaphoney posted "schedule," and quite frankly, due to some kind of extremely specific learning disability from which I apparently suffer, I have always had trouble decoding it anyway. But I sincerely hope that "01020410" as indicated on his YouTube channel means that we will see a new Rotten Apple effort in the next couple of days. I have been told that Iamaphoney has shared in various correspondences with viewers that he, in fact, does not control the release or revelation schedule, and in my studies in the rabbit hole, I am finding more evidence to support that assertion than I expected. I am also beginning to think that eventually there will be an answer (ebtitel) to all of this.

With that in mind, and in the absence of medication, I am offering a video of my own. If we do hear from Iamaphoney this weekend, I'm sure it will blow mine away, but my hope is that my effort will rest comfortably in the shade of the one, the only, the original Iamaphoney. We sure do miss you. All the Beatles miss you.

For my video I chose to do a cover version of one of my favorite songs on one of my favorite albums "Time Takes Time." The song is called, "Don't Know A Thing About Love." Stanley, I hope it's okay.

I do try to answer questions and honor requests, but it can sometimes take me a while. So if any of you have a request or question that has not been addressed in an article or on one of my videos, I haven't forgotten you. And, please keep sending me those clues.

As I said, things are rather slow in the Iamaphoney news department. Are there any Nutters fans out there? Hmmm. How about Nutters? Well anyway, if you are curious about this unusual item from 24 seconds into the video A BIRD IN THE BUSH - 1 by aGameOfFlVES...

...you can find it here if you scroll down to the bottom of the page.

The documentary version of Rotten Apple 65 can now be found again here.

I love this guy named sneidng who makes ukulele versions of Iamaphoney classics. If you play the ukulele, you're okay by me.

And yet another videomaker has joined the ranks of the Iamaphoney imitator society. Say hello to WeirdCandycain. A support group meeting is scheduled for next Thursday, but it will be canceled in the event of a new Rotten Apple video.

Come on, Iamaphoney. We all miss you.

The Phoney Figure

2010-03-22T09:28:00.000-07:00

First of all, I am glad that I am not a real journalist because we are dealing with some very flimsy stuff today.

The name, "The Phoney Figure" or "TPF" seems to have caught on as a way to refer to the Iamaphoney actor character who first appeared around the time of Rotten Apple 39 K. I think it might have been Mikeynl1038 who coined the term originally. Mike credits himself for making me famous, but from my perspective, the opposite is true.

TPF has gone through some appearance changes since then. This guy, featured in a video from July of 2007 was shown briefly more recently in Rotten Apple 78.

The image below is from Rotten Apple 75 L.

Then we had the video called "Footage TPF 1" that threatened to expose everything. Have you ever noticed how everyone who threatens to blow the lid off the whole thing never does? I'm beginning to wonder if this thing has a lid.

Some have even claimed that the individual playing the part of Iamaphoney has changed from the original in a similar scenario to an American Television show of the 1960s that dealt with the occult.

Lately there has been some speculation on the identity of TPF based on some of the softest evidence yet. We haven't exactly been a fount of critical thinking up to this point, but now it's going to get much worse.

Apparently, for a brief period of time Iamaphoney changed the background on his channel to a picture that showed TPF with a guitar in his hand. Therefore, speculation was that if he is pictured with a guitar, he must be a musician. If he is a musician, he must be on the recordings in the Rotten Apple videos. If he is on the recordings on the Rotten Apple videos, he must sing on them too.

While we are at the Olympic Conclusion Jump trials, we might as well keep going...

On December 8, 2009 (yes strange things happen on infamous Beatle anniversaries) someone left a comment on my blog post "Curious Thing" supposedly revealing the identity of TPF. Someone using the moniker "thetruthmustout" claimed to be a former classmate and said that TPF was an actor named Richie King.

The Internet Movie Database actually has a listing for Richie King, who is alternatively known as Rich King. There is not much information on Rich King, but it does list two films in which he appeared. In 1978, he was in "Stunt Rock" and in 1984, he was in "Rocktober Blood." Despite the murky waters of this research, I did find it interesting that he portrayed a bass guitar player in both movies.

The IMDB had no pictures, but I did find this Rich King on Google.

Undaunted, I searched YouTube and actually found a clip from "Stunt Rock" with the band Sorcery. The bass player, Rich King looks like this.

Going back to the comment from "thetruthmustout," Richie King, the Phoney Figure can be found in the movie "Less Than Zero" playing an uncredited extra in the pool scene. I first should warn that "Less Than Zero" is one of those "brat" movies where almost everyone looks like TPF. But from the description in the blog comment, I believe the alleged former schoolmate is the young man with thick blond hair who walks in the background during the pool scene. You see him emerge in the picture below to the left of the principle actors.

In this second capture, he is right between the principle actors in the scene.

In this third shot, he is to the right of the actors.

In this last capture he is about to exit to the right side of the screen.

The most recent twist in the liquid tale of TPF emerged two weeks ago when a new YouTube channel called FORN00NE uploaded nine tracks credited to an artist known as "The Afterlife." Based on various anonymous comments, the lead singer of the melodic synth pop band is a previous incarnation of the The Phoney Figure. The videos contain a few low quality pictures of what is implied to be a young TPF.

I must admit, he does look like he could have been any one of about 26 extras in the movie "Less Than Zero."

Twin Peppers - An Investigation

2010-03-18T19:58:00.000-07:00

In the Fall of 2008, the fifth and final Iamaphoney suitcase was left in Berlin, Germany and reportedly found at the Brandenburg Gate by YouTube user sdofik. Your friend and mine, MikeyNL1038 chronicled this momentous event in his famous video paul is dead - nothing is real 333, which features the obscene gesture heard around the world.

At the time, the famous finger was credited to blog reader Yenz, who I'm told is back on solid food and should be released within the next few months. People were a bit unkind to poor Yenz, who was never proven to be the individual in the famous video with the famous middle finger.

MikeyNL1038 continued to put pressure on Mr. sdofik, and eventually, I think, came in possession of what some consider to be the most interesting items from the suitcase. "The Twin Peppers" (two Parlophone vinyl copies of The Beatles "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" album) were strategically attached to a rumor that if you play them in sync, hidden messages would appear.

Mike made another video called paul is dead - nothing is real 334 suitcase contents showing the items found in the suitcase.

More recently, Mike generously shared a link (no longer active) to what he claimed were digitized versions of the two vinyl albums at rapidshare. He instructed listeners to open the two files in Audacity and play them at a speed of 0.93%. Do you have any idea of what happens to 40 year-old sleeveless vinyl records that are left in a suitcase on the ground in Germany? Am I supposed to try to play them in sync? They both skip a lot, so one would have to do quite a bit of editing to keep them in sync. Playing them at 93% speed results in a nearly imperceptible difference, even to a trained ear.

I did do some experiments with them, but the results were not too inspiring.

I was hoping that Rotten Apple 59 was giving us a clue. Released about one year before the German suitcase was dropped, the video features the sound of scratchy vinyl and a loop from the song "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band." My first slightly out of sync attempts at playing the Twin Peppers simultaneously reminded me of the Iamaphoney mashup.

But a close listen to the soundtrack, which can also be found in Mike's Iamaphoney Bootleg 2 under the title iamaphoney - Paperbags For Pepper shows that the Iamaphoney recording bears no resemblance to the scratchy records I downloaded from rapidshare.

The idea of syncing up two vinyl records that skip is folly. And please don't suggest that the skips may have meaning. Variables such as the quality of the turntable cartridges, weight of the tone arm, condition of the stylus and environmental elements would not allow for planned skips in vinyl records. It is possible to sync them to some degree by putting breaks in the skips to equal the amount of time lost, but nothing emerged from that experiment.

There is one thing I can tell you about those two records. These are not alternate mixes of the Sgt. Pepper tracks. The sound on these records is what you would get if you played them on a monaural record player with a stereo needle. You basically have a mono mix of one channel with some bleed through. So, Paul's part at the beginning and end of the title track is buried, as are the backing vocals on "When I'm 64," the lead vocals of "Being For the Benefit of Mr. Kite," the laughter at the end of "Within You Without You," the chorus vocals on "Good Morning Good Morning" and the lead vocal of the first verse and bridge of "A Day In The Life." There is nothing on these records that can't be heard on the standard issue of the album. The only highlight would be that it is easier to hear the vocal at the end of "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise)," which some interpret as "Paul is dead, really dead."

So basically we have a phony alternative mix (actually two identical ones) of the Sgt. Pepper's album that can be easily achieved by using improper equipment. That was a rather curious choice by whoever it was that ripped them and uploaded them to rapidshare.

It is a surprise that neither record has the inner groove recording that existed on the first British release of the album. There is an extra bit of sound at the end of Side Two of Album Two, but it sounds like an accidental needle drop. Attempts to slow down this artifact did not result an any meaningful discovery.

I have inquired to MikeyNL1038 for some clarification, and will update this post when I receive any information.

There are some new videos inspired by the Rotten Apple Series. TheMagickian gave us A Craftsman in the Works.

YouTube user VomitonRBX303 has been uploading Rotten Apple videos with Spanish sub-titles. I have posted a permanent link on this blog under Essential Links. Sunssol also has a new backwards backwards video, if you know what I mean. And I'll be uploading a new video shortly.

It will be interesting to see if Iamaphoney says hello to us in April. April has always been an interesting month in the Iamaphoney saga.

Party Music

2010-02-18T06:29:00.000-08:00

Since Iamaphoney has not exactly been bustling with activity lately, I have decided to do a self-indulgent post.

Some of you might have already seen my answer to the "Are you Iamaphoney?" question. If not, here is proof that I am not the Phoney with the ring he.

I would like to thank the anonymous person(s) who put the link to my video in the comments of this blog. I suck at self promotion and I appreciate whoever it was who took the time to let people know my video was there.

A couple new songs have appeared on MikeyNL1038's Iamaphoneymusic channel. I'm hoping that if I give Mikey his due, he won't spread any more rumors about me being Iamaphoney. I don't know the origin of these songs and don't recall any part of either song on in any Rotten Apple videos.

I do however remember this track from a Rotten Apple video. I was hoping it contained the formula for syncing up the "Twin Peppers," but that became a dead end after three minutes of intense investigation.

There are some other recently uploaded tracks and fragments on the Iamaphoneymusic channel worth checking out.

This next video is not new, but it is one of my favorite songs by JohnCharles231, who used to comment regularly on this blog.

It turns out that JohnCharles has a YouTube channel with lots of great songs and stories that deserve to be heard. I highly recommend "Proof" and "That's Where Mary Lived," but there is much more to explore on this talented guy's channel.

Another friend known as Take Your Soul Back has produced a new song called "Day of Reckoning" complete with a Beatley and slightly creepy backwards intro.

Take Your Soul Back has many other fine tracks to explore.

Bridge On (Over) The River Kwai

2010-01-30T16:33:00.000-08:00

"I saw a film today, oh boy, the English army had just won the war..."

It was the mysterious discussion forum character Apollo C. Vermouth who speculated that the above line from the song "A Day In The Life" could have been a reference to the movie "Bridge On the River Kwai." The film, released in 1957 (the year that Lennon met McCartney), starred William Holden and Alec Guinness. Its connections to the Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album, released a decade later, are remote but numerous.

Apollo pointed out that the film may have been the inspiration for the Beatles imaginary singer Billy Shears. As indicated in the IMDb entry, the name William Shears can be constructed from the main character credit.

Any avid reader of Apollo's posts must have been confused about why he would make a stretch like that. Apollo reported that the Shears character even told a nurse in the film "All you need is love." He also added, "What profound effect did it have on Lennon, who went on to play in a movie titled, "How I Won the War." [I would have put a question mark there, but I guess we'll blame that on his typist]

Although the Shears character is American, a main focus of the film is a bridge that English prisoners of war are forced to build for the enemy. The bridge is built and ultimately destroyed, leading to the defeat of the Japanese.

If you are looking for a connection between all of this and the Paul Is Dead rumor or The Rotten Apple Series, I haven't got one. However, if there is a code of some kind, this very well may be a part of it.

One reason why I have never accepted the premise that the Sgt. Pepper cover is simply a collection of the Beatles heroes is that I cannot imagine a gathering of that kind not having any representation from the British Comedy group The Goons. The Beatles praised the Goons frequently throughout their careers. George adored Peter Sellers, who was even present in the "Get Back" film footage. Paul paid tribute to Spike Milligan with a medley of "Yesterday" and the "Ying Tong Song."

The Goons may not have been on the Sgt. Pepper cover, but they do have strong connections with the Beatles and one pretty strong connection with "The Bridge On the River Kwai." This connection also involves the Beatles Producer, George Martin.

In 1962 Spike Milligan and Peter Sellers, with Peter Cook and Jonathan Miller released the record 'Bridge On The River Wye'. It was a spoof of the film 'Bridge On The River Kwai', being based around the 1957 Goon Show 'An African Incident'. It was intended to have the same name as the film, but shortly before its release, the film company threatened legal action if the name was used. Producer George Martin (of Beatles fame) edited out the 'K' every time the word 'Kwai' was spoken. And so, 'The Bridge on the River Wye' was created. (from http://www.thegoonshow.net/facts.asp)

There are some other crazy connections. The song that the soldiers are whistling in the movie is called the Colonel Bogey March. In the late 1970s, Ringo signed the artist Colonel Doug Bogie to his Ring-O Records label. John indicated that the news story about the death of Tara Browne inspired part of the song "A Day In The Life." Browne was the heir of the Guinness fortune and Alec Guinness starred in "Bridge On the River Kwai." Oh yes, "The Bridge on the River Wye" skit by the Goons featured Peter Cook, one half of the team that would eventually record the famous Beatles outfake "L.S. Bumble Bee."

The last connection comes from Beatle Ringo Starr, who hosted Saturday Night Live episode #186. Towards the end of the show, Ringo starred in a skit that was a spoof on "The Bridge On the River Kwai."

In the skit, the British Army and their enemy utilized Reverse Psychology. (Didn't Rotten Apple #1 use REVERSE psychology?)

One final fact: The episode of Saturday Night Live, hosted by Ringo Starr and featuring a skit based on "Bridge On the River Kwai" was performed and broadcast live on December 8, 1984, exactly four years after John Lennon was killed only blocks away.

What is this code?

(Kwai, from LIBER 777)

Phoney Yoko?

2010-01-21T14:20:00.000-08:00

New Iamaphoney Song and New GFA Video

2009-12-21T07:39:00.000-08:00

UPDATE: Speaking of the Beatles and the Bahamas, have you ever heard this story from John Rook?

A few months later in February of 1965, Chuck Brinkman and I were invited to join the Beatles in the Bahamas where they were filming “Help”. I have many memories of that "vacation" but one clearly stands out in my mind. "The Boys" with their well known mischievous streak decided to have some "fun" by wrecking the MG sports car they had been provided. Together they lifted the rear of the card up on two cement cinder blocks, one below each side of the back bumper, and then took delight in starting the motor, laying a brick on the gas peddle and pushing it off the cement blocks for the unattended car to gather speed crashing into a solid cement wall. This was done over and over until the MG no longer could "make the trip" to the wall. With each crash "the boys" leaped for joy squealing in delight cheering on the death of the MG. Source
________________________________________

For some unknown reason, Ringo Starr is promoting a new recording of a Beatles Outfake from the early days of Contra Band Bootlegs. Oh, wait a minute. I don't mean Ringo Starr, the former Beatle who is releasing a new CD called "Y Not." I am referring to RlNGOSTARR, who released a new video on YouTube called "Peace of Mind."

In a similar vein, Paul McCartney has an official video on YouTube for his new song "I Want To Come Home." But PauIMcCartney of YouTube fame also has an official video for "I Want To Come Home." Only your pause button will know the difference.

It never ceases to amaze me how Grandfather Aleister is able to delve deeply into the minutiae of Beatles History and find the most uncanny connections. His latest effort under the name 999nowhereman is titled Paul is Dead - Sam Ahab is Bahamas Backwards Part 1. GFA is in great form.

And many thanks to MikeyNL for keeping up with and sharing the large amount of Iamaphoney audio material. He quickly gave us a crisp sounding version of "Peace of Mind" and several others on his Iamaphoneymusic page.

Curious Thing

2009-11-12T20:20:00.000-08:00

UPDATE: I have been listening to the Iamaphoney Bootleg #2 and you should too. Thanks Mike. http://www.youtube.com/user/iamaphoneymusic

___________________________________________________

We have another one of those curious ads for a new McCartney product. One YouTube user named PauIMcCartney (I believe the first name is pronounced PAY-OOOWEE) has uploaded Paul McCartney's (I believe the first name is pronounced PAUL) 30-second trailer for Good Evening New York City with a little bit of spice added. I don't recall the original ad having quick flashes of Aiwass in it.

I found a few more little quickies in there including these two:

Check out the 30-second spot by clicking the image below:

This silly trick notwithstanding, there has been quite a bit of thought and work, along with some incredible expression of talent in the Rotten Apple Series over the years. Many fans and former fans have found the pace to be frustrating. Iamaphoney himself (or themselves as the case may be) has (have) expressed some frustration at the less than blistery pace of this long promised revelation. It's a bit like Alice In Wonderland. (Did I really say that?) At one point Alice found herself in a strange place where every time she seemed to get closer to an object, the more out of reach it became. Those who are looking in the Rotten Apple videos for that elusive thing called the truth have become increasingly frustrated. Several times it seemed like the vehicle was moving forward, but do we really know any more than when we started?

If you are looking for artistic expression and mystery and entertainment, there is no shortage of those things in the Iamaphoney saga. Truth is much trickier to nail down.

There have been some misleading things in Iamaphoney videos and I have pointed several of them out right here. But this is happening at a time when documentary makers are using many of the same tricks. So if we see footage of Derek Taylor speaking and the audio running simultaneously is Derek's voice from a different time, we can say that's a little misleading. But if there is no video footage to go with the existing audio, many filmmakers would do the same thing.

So, let's look at a couple aspects of Rotten Apple 78 again and evaluate what we have.

There is video footage of Paul McCartney talking to John Lennon. Most people who watch Rotten Apple videos can probably identify the footage from the movie "Let It Be." Many of them can probably recognize that the accompanying dialog is not from "Let It Be." When that video was shot, Paul was talking to John about live performances, but in the Rotten Apple video, a voice that sounds like Paul is saying, "I haven't the slightest doubt that we did the right thing and that we acted in accordance with the law. But he kept the book, you know, but you can't retain that book. It must be thrown away, burned or destroyed by... and what ever happened to him, is the invisible god. The world isn't ready for a revelation." If Iamaphoney has audio of Paul saying those words, that is pretty significant and relevant to the story he is telling. If that really is Paul's voice (and I cannot prove that it isn't) I don't have a problem with using footage of Paul talking to John as a companion piece.

Now, as I pointed out in a recent post at "Nothing Is Real" the John Lennon quote about hiring a phony was taken from his famous interview with Jann Wenner of Rolling Stone. He was actually talking about Alun Owen, who wrote the screenplay to "A Hard Days Night." You can find the Lennon quote with some context here.

So if the Lennon quote was presented as a piece of evidence, that would definitely be a deliberate attempt to mislead, right? But was it presented as a piece of evidence? Iamaphoney is telling a story in an artistic manner. So, I suppose some of us will grant him some artistic license. If you watch Rotten Apple 78 again more closely, you might notice that he gives us a little sign immediately before the Lennon quote.

That is the word "Imagine" more or less - Your brain has to fill in some of the holes. By preceding the out of context Lennon statement with this fragmentary representation of the word "Imagine", Iamaphoney may be telling us to use our imagination rather than our critical mind when interpreting the quote.

Just because he didn't have video of the statement that sounds like Paul saying "...we acted in accordance with the law" doesn't mean that he didn't say it. And I guess you could make a case that just because he didn't have audio of John saying that the Beatles hired a phony to take Paul's place, doesn't prove he didn't say that either.

He had audio of John saying words that went with the story he was telling and he used them. And he might have even tipped us off that he was exercising artistic license by showing the word "Imagine" up front.

In looking back on previous videos, there might be other examples of Iamaphoney guiding the viewer on how to interpret what they are watching. He lets us know when to fill in the holes. I wouldn't call it Journalism, but it certainly qualifies as Storytelling in my book. I haven't read the thing, but I'm guessing that it doesn't really violate any passage from Iamaphoney's book of the law. Curiously, I guess it all depends on what book you are using.

New Video - Rotten Apple 78 Apple Star

2009-11-09T18:06:00.000-08:00

Iamaphoney is back!

Apple Star features the same old stuff presented in the same old way with the same old high quality we have learned to expect from the master. I think Iamaphoney fans will love the video.

Yes, there are the same old tricks. You see Paul speaking to John from the movie "Let It Be," however the audio of Paul's speech that you hear has no relationship with the video footage you are seeing. I don't know where the audio actually came from and I can't confirm that it is Paul McCartney, but it does sound like him.

Coincidentally, you can hear the actual words Paul is saying on the promotional Apple 45 RPM record "Dialogue from the film Let It Be."

Double coincidentally, that 45 was pictured recently in the Nutters produced inside the org:11 Cut The Cards by YouTube user LEWlSCARROLL. However, you can't see the flash of the 45 on YouTube because it truncates the endings of videos. So, you have to download it to see the brief shot of it shown below.

Back to Rotten Apple 78...We get to hear a little more of the song "Apple Star (It Was A Fake Mustache)" which continues to capture the attention. [Where is that bootleg, Mike?] You also have the familiar Iamaphoney stew of Lewis Carroll, Aleister Crowley, the CODE, the Tree of Life, the people on the Sgt. Pepper Cover. We also see John, wearing Sergeant Strips and a Star Patch on the Dick Cavett Show in 1971. I have been told repeatedly by wise people that this all means nothing, but what do wise people really know?

Although I have indicated that there is a "more of the same" feeling with this video, that doesn't mean that there is nothing new in it. Although it is distorted, we get to hear what appears to be some more of an interview with Beatles expert Bruce Spizer (another of the many characters who doesn't seem to mind being featured in Iamaphoney videos) about how clever the Beatles were or were not.

Yes, the Beatles were clever, so is Iamaphoney.

McCartney Freebie

2009-11-04T07:18:00.000-08:00

Paul McCartney is giving away a free video of "Highway" and the mp3 of "Let Me Roll It" from his new DVD/CD set "Good Evening, New York City" to be released Nov. 17. As one of his roadies told a friend of mine years ago, "It cooks!" If my link doesn't work for some reason, try here.

The picture below is not an attempt to be cryptic on my part. It's just a little in joke to a reader.

Clever Young Lads

2009-11-02T17:22:00.000-08:00

Yes, the "clever young lads," to quote Iamaphoney's description of them, are at it again. [Note: No blurry teenagers were used in the filming of this video]

inside the org:12 We where to late demolition cant wait by LEWlSCARROLL

If you want some background on Forelands Farm, follow this link to the Wootton Festival 1969 page.

Fans of Iamaphoney covers might enjoy MikeNL - Snatch Crucifix by MikeyNL1038

I hope that the Iamaphoney detractors can at least admire him for creating a song title that makes "The King of Fuh" seem not all that offensive.

So, who are you gonna worship?

Good Evening, New York City

2009-10-30T20:48:00.000-07:00

Do you recognize that face? Yes, it's the cover shot of the new Paul McCartney release "Good Evening New York City."

Now, don't you just love when Iamaphoney does this?

Official PAULMCCARTNEY ad for the new album, Good Evening, New York City.

UN-Official PauIMcCartney ad for the new album, Good Evening, New York City.

Some other Iamaphoney-inspired epics have hit YouTube this week:

P I D PT2 by brainvisionfilms

Iamaphoney Secrets #3 - The Rotten Apple Series Part 2 of 81 by iamafunny

#9 #9 #9 by LikeMoreWizards

Report From The Rabbit Hole

2009-10-22T08:30:00.000-07:00

Iamaphoney seems to know. Apollo seemed to know. Jarv knows. Even the Nutters seem to know. Lewis Carroll may hold the key to the Beatles Mystery.

Paul McCartney told Miles in "Many Years From Now," when talking about the "I Am The Walrus" sequence and some others from Magical Mystery Tour, "It was all directly from Alice in Wonderland." John said the same thing in his 1980 Playboy interview. This Alice connection can be said of many things from the Beatles career and up to this very day of their solo careers--if they can really be considered solo.

From the perspective here in the rabbit hole, the Beatles never broke up. In fact everything is different here in the rabbit hole. From the top side perspective, there are many things that don't seem to have any meaning or significance. From the rabbit hole, everything means something and even nothing can mean anything. So, when you are down here, if you look directly at something, the damn thing disappears and if you walk towards it, the damn thing seems to get farther away. So it's like trying to see Pleiades, you see it more clearly when you don't look directly at it. Do you think it is by accident that Paul lived with a family named Asher? I guess the topsiders would consider that a random thing.

Back to the book "Many Years From Now," Paul tells us about Jane Asher. "At the age of twelve, Jane made her stage debut as Alice in Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland at the Oxford Playhouse. Her 1958 recording of Alice in Wonderland is still selling well on tape cassette."

Topsiders also think nothing of the fact that Brian Epstein's mother's name was Queenie. The Queen in Alice says, "better, and better, and better!" and as Lewis Carroll described it, "Her voice went higher with each `better', till it got quite to a squeak at last." You do know that the Beatles have two songs where they repeat the word "better" with their voices getting higher each time. Better. Better. It's Getting Better all the time.

So, anyway, here in the rabbit hole, the queen is talking to Alice and once again says "better, better, better" and becomes a damn sheep, wrapped in wool. So you watch the 1979 Tomorrow Show interview and see Paul McCartney talking about shearing sheep to make wool.

And what is the sheep, who used to be a queen, doing the whole freaking time she is talking to Alice? She's knitting. That's right she's knitting.

Just read the damn book. It's all there.

So, I want to tell you topsiders that when you watch the video promo for "Instant Karma" and you see John and Yoko with there recently sheered hair, and Yoko is sitting there knitting with a freaking blindfold on, that means something, my friends. And if you don't believe me, come down here in the rabbit hole with me and you might see who is pulling the wool over your eyes.

Reporting from the rabbit hole...

Extra. Extra.

2009-10-21T14:55:00.000-07:00

Hello friends,

I am currently working on a new post, but I feel that I must respond to a new video by iamafunny. The video, entitled Iamaphoney Secrets #2 - The Rotten Apple Series, contains some information that has not been revealed publicly. Some of my readers are privy to this information, so there is no point in me denying it. I will keep a lid of things when someone asks me to, but I never intentionally try to mislead.

The Revelation has not arrived yet, but I must admit that at least one cat has left the bag.

I just want to be clear that I am in no way responsible for the delay in Iamaphoney providing his promised Revelation. I was told recently however that Iamaphoney is not the one behind the delay either. I do not know who is controlling the timing of the Revelation, but I know it isn't me and in a recent correspondence, Iamaphoney implied that it wasn't him either.

I realize how confusing this is, so I will quote Iamaphoney's remark regarding the apparent delay. This quote comes directly from Iamaphoney:

Sometimes I wish we take a shortcut, jump into a wormhole, and get this over with, really. Sometimes I wish some very close friends of mine could have stayed on this earth a little longer than they did. Once in a while I wish that communication could be just a bit more open and clear and Now and Then I wish this was only a harmless game.

For those who suspected all along that this tortoise pace was leading us all to Las Vegas in 2012, all I can tell you is, at this point, your guess is as good as mine.

Phoneyphoneys

2009-10-12T19:53:00.000-07:00

UPDATE: VISUAL THINKING by NUTTERSPRODUCTIONS
___________________________________________________________________

Has Iamaphoney been leaving the garage door open? There has been much speculation about the exclusive Iamaphoney footage that appeared in videos related to a group of individuals who call themselves The Nutters. Iamaphoney calls them "clever young lads and in the better league of the socalled phoneyphoneys." Really, he did call them that.

Well, some audio that seems rather Iamaphonyish has appeared on YouTube, including a cover of "Yesterday" of all things.

Check out yesterday RIP by whaIedreamers

There is also a rather extended version of "Like More Wizards" in 7 12|10|09 by LikeMoreWizards

We have some Nutters in A BIRD IN THE BUSH - 6: Inside the Nutters by aGameOfFlVES

Finally, there is a bizarre tribute to Iamaphoney and/or Rotten Apple 59 P in iamaphoney by GnikNusEht.

Freaking With Russ Gibb

2009-10-10T11:32:00.000-07:00

One month after Rotten Apple #77 alluded to the birth of the Paul Is Dead rumor in Detroit, Michigan, an article called "Paul Is Dead" rumor fascinates, 40 years after it took off locally" has been published on annarbor.com.

The author, Will Stewart, interviewed former WKNR in Detroit Disc Jockey Russ Gibb, who was featured in RA #77 saying, "There is one piece of information that somebody gave me in London about this whole story that, I'm not sure that it's key, but it certainly is important." Gibb said this in the film "Who Buried Paul McCartney?"

Gibb disappointed me in the article by using the word "flipped" instead of "freaked" but nevertheless his first experience in hearing "Revelation 9" backwards had a lasting impression on him.

Like many people, Gibb suspects the Beatles were in fact the cause of the Paul Is Dead rumors in the first place by intentionally putting clues in their songs.

The article did however contain one surprise. Gibb claimed that Paul McCartney himself sent word that he wanted to meet with him several years ago during a tour stop in Detroit. Amazingly, Gibb declined the invitation.

Happy belated birthday to John Lennon. October 9 passed by rather quietly this year, but I suspect there are revelations just beyond the horizon.

John Pic was borrowed from the Beatle Photo Blog.

What A Week!

2009-09-14T05:30:00.000-07:00

I happened to be lucky enough to get the box set of Beatles Remasters at a real store on Wednesday, 09-09-09. Several people I know were shut out as early as 11:00 a.m. in my neck of the woods. I insisted on making a ritual out of it, so I am listening in chronological order. I have made it up to Revolver so far. Congratulations to those of you who had the time to listen to all of them already and my heart goes out to those who still don't have them in your possession.

I knew as soon as I heard "Please Please Me" that I was embarking on a happy trip. Yes, I would have preferred that they had remixed the stereo albums, but overall the sound is excellent. A good example is "Got To Get Into My Life." I almost felt I needed to duck out of the way of the trombone slide. Yet it was frustrating that even though I could hear Ringo's outstanding drumming on the track, I had to pretend that it was louder and centered in the mix instead of way off to the side and way too low. Same thing with the vocals on the early albums that are restricted to one channel. The liner notes nearly apologize for their placement on the stereo mixes. But it is still a peak experience hearing these tracks in the best fidelity ever. And thankfully, I can no longer say that the Anthology outtakes sound better than the released versions.

On the same day that I was blissing out about having the Remasters in my hands, Iamaphoney released an excellent new video.

Rotten Apple 77 focuses on an interview that Roby Yonge (one of the DJs who broke the Paul Is Dead story in 1969) did with with John Paul Roberts on June 13, 1995.

For a contribution (not to me--to them) you can hear the entire interview at ReelRadio.

Yonge was fired for his late night rumor mongering, although the "Bon Voyage" article flashed in RA 77 had nothing to do with that. You can find an excellent review of Yonge's career, including the "Bon Voyage" article and a recap of his encounter with Paul Is Dead lore at this Roby Yonge dedication web site.

The video uses interview footage with both Larry Kane and Denny Laine that could have been done at that Beatles Convention a couple years ago. And I'll tell ya, when I saw the cryptic statement from another DJ, Russ Gibb just before the two minute mark of RA 77, I freaked.

I know that a lot of us have been speculating that The Nutters, a group that has been putting out videos under the name LEWlSCARROLL, might have been at the helm of the Iamaphoney video team at some point. Their videos are interesting, and similar in style to our grand hero, but Rotten Apple 77 shows superior editing in my opinion. The Nutters latest video is Inside the org:9 The Nutcase 09:09:09.

Yet another spectacular event of the past week was the return of our dear friend Grandfather Aleister. He is back releasing videos under the name 999nowhereman and even received a Welcome Back message from his royal highness Iamaphoney himself, really. He has returned in wonderful form with a new video called Paul is Dead - 999.

Special thanks to my funny friend for giving me the heads up on GFA's return.

Now, another BIG thing that was supposed to happen this week was the release of a new Iamaphoney bootleg from MikeNL1038. Mike did release a new video called paul is dead - nothing is real 6, but I haven't been rocking to Iamaphoney yet.

Was the bootleg ever released, Mike? I would love to hear it. Some of the clips in Mike's video iamaphoney - the right album bootleg 03-10-09 promo were of significantly greater audio fidelity than the corresponding Rotten Apple videos. I don't know the reason for the delay, but I hope it has nothing to do with my own delay in putting out the message from the man who had the gun to my head. I told him I was very busy, but here it is:

"The RA bootleg is a bootleg.
The RA bootleg contains soundtracks from The Rotten Apple Series
and rare demotracks from the upcoming The Right Album
NOT AN APPLE CORPS LTD PRODUCTION."

Seriously, I am sorry that I was unable to post anything on 09-09-09. I certainly had every intention to do so, but other priorities resulted in me not even being able to open my Remasters Box until the following day. I am feeling as rushed lately as Derek Taylor must have felt when he penned the liner notes to Nilsson's Pussycats album.

Don't forget that this wonderful week is not over yet. Tuesday, September 15, should see the release of Ringo Starr - Soundstage on DVD. It would be good if his Official Website mentioned it.

And if that's not enough for you, Sunssol, EliasCrowe, AdmiralAlbert, and yenohpehttonmai uploaded new videos this week as well.

Has it not be a banner week for crackpots like you and me?

Notes From The Overground

2009-08-31T17:51:00.001-07:00

Fans of Iamaphoney's music simply must be excited about what MikeyNL1038 got his hands on.

iamaphoney - the right album bootleg 09-09-09 promo

Okay, well maybe you won't love the whole video portion, but musically this looks like it will be a sonic delight for those of us who have been intrigued by Iamaphoney's soundtracks.

The last thing I heard from anyone related to the Iamaphoney camp was that "The Right Album" does exist. All I could think of was the fictitious John and Yoko album that was at the heart of the infamous April Fools joke from our friend Jude. But this appears to be a second Iamaphoney bootleg, and if the clips in this video are any indication, it will be superior to the first one. If Iamphoney shared these recordings with Mike, and Mike shares them with us, that would be a wonderful thing. The supposed release date of 09/09/09 is a bit strange considering that as much as I adore Iamaphoney and worship the ground that he walks on, I'm afraid that I will be listening to something else on September 9 of this year even if our hero comes to my house and places "The Right Album" in my cold dead hands.

Still I look forward to hearing it and I predict that "Apple Star It Was A Fake Mistake" will be the sleeper hit of the year among conspiracy theorists, NIR types, TKIN types, PID fanatics, United Methodists, and Charles Dodgson fans like me.

_____________________________________________________________

Once again, Paul McCartney is talking about this subject.

It is almost as if the people who sell magazines think that people in the world would find the topic to be interesting.

_____________________________________________________________

The I Don't Have A Clue Department has been wondering what the videos by this relatively new YouTube user are all about.

At first glance GnikNusEht appears to resemble a cross between Grandfather Aleister and Milesdeo. Wouldn't that be an unusual duo?
_____________________________________________________________

Speaking of unusual duos, was that really Jude and Socash sparring recently? Both are great characters on the journey in an Andy Kaufman/Jerry Lawler kind of way. I hope you both are doing well.

The Goddess

2009-08-29T14:32:00.000-07:00

Another one of those NIR types wrote a thought-provoking post recently based on a couple pictures pointed out by me of all people.

I was wondering if there might be a connection between this...

and this...

And so I asked our friend P(D)enny La(i)ne, who I felt could provide some expertise in the subject. Using some of Jarvtronics' recent revelations about the Sgt. Pepper album as a starting point, P(D)enny built a fascinating argument suggesting that the imbalance between the masculine and the feminine in our society will result in the collapse of the United States and the emergence of a One World Government. P(D)enny went on to say that this revelation, which is tied to Hopi Indian prophecy, is emanating from Paul's heart on the Sgt. Pepper cover.

My question to P(D)enny was prompted by my curiosity about the Goddess sculpture found on both the "Wings Greatest" album and the "Back To The Egg" album.

The sculpture also appeared in the strange ritual that kicked off the "Back To The Egg" television special.

I believe the Wings Goddess Sculpture is the work of Russian artist and fashion designer Romain de Tirtoff (also known as Erté). It certainly reflects his style. Paul's daughter, fashion designer Stella McCartney (who was seven years old when "Wings Greatest" was released) credits Erté for being a major inspiration and even wrote the forward to a catalog of his works in 2004.

As P(D)enny noted in his article, it's funny that the Goddess appeared both on the last Wings release in the U.S. before the move to Columbia Records and the first release on the new label. The United States has a Goddess and her name is Columbia. The formal name of Washington D.C. or District of Columbia is a constant reminder of her image.

The Statue of Liberty is seen by many to be a representation of Columbia. That would explain this famous logo...

It does sound rather far-fetched that the Beatles, and Paul in particular, would somehow be involved in the fulfillment of ancient prophecy that restores the balance between masculine and feminine and creates the way for a New Order and One World Government. I'm rather embarrassed by my association with the concept at all, but that won't stop me from playing with it.

I don't see any Statue of Liberty on the cover of Sgt. Pepper. But, it is interesting that the Beatles would hold an Apple meeting in 1968 on a Chinese Junk while sailing around the Statue of Liberty. And if they had looked at her left hand during that meeting, they probably would have seen the Laurel Wreath she was holding.

Now, that is just silly to associate a Laurel Wreath with Stan Laurel, unless of course you are a stamp collector.

Silly yes, but let's go back to that strange "Band On The Run" video from the McCartney Years. Guess who makes an appearance...

Now check out those eyes...

"Making another magic transformation, find the right boy for the right girl"

So what was it that prompted a level headed NIR type like myself to query P(D)enny La(i)ne about the Statue of Liberty and the Goddess Columbia? In July, Paul McCartney was the sole guest on the David Letterman show. The show was aired on a network called the Columbia Broadcasting System and features an all seeing eye as its logo. On the particular day that McCartney appeared, Dave had two sight gags in different segments of the show featuring...you guessed it.

As John Lennon sang: If the Man wants to shove us out, we're gonna jump and shout:'The Statue of Liberty said come!"

Harmless Games

2009-08-21T08:42:00.001-07:00

The two people who have been considered the Peter and John of Iamaphoney disciples both uploaded new videos in the past week or so. Jude, the one who traveled to Mexico City a couple years ago for the sole purpose of trying to cross paths with our hero, has now become an Iamaphoney satirist under the moniker 36EdujYeh. Like all of Jude's videos, Rotten Apple Training Series Vol. 1: How To Be a Phoney is well-conceived and worth watching. I think it blows the lid off of something or other. At least that is what the video under his other identity RockXLight promised with The Revelation. I guess Jude now has the dubious distinction of being the only Iamaphoney lid blower who failed to reach some sort of settlement immediately before blowing off the said lid. Sorry Jude, but you made fun of Iamaphoney and that goes against my religion, so N0 BL0G M3NTIONS F0R J00. But Jude's frequent partner in crime (well, discussion groups) MikeyNL1038 has taken an entirely different path paying tribute to Iamaphoney with a cover of "Harmless Game." It is a nice clean recording and well worth checking out by fans of Iamaphoney or those who like to hear songs created by playing other songs backwards.

Shaggily, I believe that "Harmless Game" is an accurate way to describe the Iamaphoney phenomenon that has been enjoyed by many people including myself. Aside from a couple bumps in the road, I have always felt that the Rotten Apple videos have been delivered in the same spirit as the Beatles' Harmless Game that was centered around the album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.

For those of you who don't believe that Jarvtronics of Nothing Is Real is on the correct path to solving the Beatles mystery, consider that both Lewis Carroll and Edgar Allan Poe played harmless games in their art. "Alice In Wonderland" was a game of cards.

"Through the Looking Glass" was a game of Chess.

"The Gold Bug" was a treasure hunt and cypher game.

Look at the way Paul aligned himself with Poe in the video for "Band On The Run" in the McCartney Years.

The video also has a shot of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band plus Brian Epstein between two pillars just like the High Priestess Tarot Card. Note the contrasting colors of the two pillars.

Just as Carroll kept referring back to his work hoping that people would "get it," all four of the Beatles have continued to refer back to Sgt. Pepper throughout their careers. (See previous post)

The Beatles must have been big fans of Alice.

Iamaphoney knows they were big fans of Alice. Apollo C. Vermouth knew it too.

Yes, that's Ringo as the Mock Turtle in the 1985 production of Alice.

Jarv has found a great deal of significance in Paul's song "C Moon." Paul has revisited that song many times in his live concerts over the years. He even made a special radio commercial to promote it when it was released as part of double A-side single in 1972 with "Hi Hi Hi." [Incidentally, isn't there something magical about repeating a word several times----Just like in "Through the Looking Glass" when the Queen said with her voice rising each time "'Much be-etter! Be-etter! Be-e-e-etter! Be-e-ehh!'" or was that the Beatles' song "Getting Better" or was it "Hey Jude"? Beetlejuice! Beetlejuice! Beetlejuice!]

Paul not only played the song C Moon frequently, he also explained it frequently. L7 was from the song "Wooly Bully" by Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs and it means SQUARE. Chess Boards are made up of lots of squares. Ringo learned to play chess during the making of Sgt. Pepper. Indeed he did. C Moon is the opposite of the square L7. Opposites are what you see through a looking glass or through the ties that plasticine porters wear.

There is a chess piece that moves in the shape of an "L" called the Knight. George Harrison makes the shape of an "L" on the back of Sgt. Pepper.

The chess piece called the knight looks like a horse. George's record label looked like a Dark Horse.

As Jarv pointed out, George even did a parody of the Sgt. Pepper cover for his Apple album "Dark Horse" even going as far as to feature Babaji, who is also on the cover of Pepper.

Yoko Ono prefers to play with white pieces.

Did you notice the game board on "Band On The Run" from the McCartney Years?

Yeah, it's a game all right.

And by the way, what the hell is this?

Everybody's Talking

2009-08-08T13:26:00.000-07:00

There is quite a bit of chatter occurring in Iamaphoneyville lately. I'm finding lots of talk of salamanders, a certain Volkswagen, a particular suitcase, and of course Magick.

Follow the links...

Paul is Dead - Footnote to Admiral Albert by our friend felipegcs

MANIPULATED WAVES by EliasCrowe.

paul is dead - nothing is real 334 suitcase contents by MikeyNL1038 - Congratulations, Mike for finally getting these.

A significantly extended version of System by YouKnowMyName231

Inside the org:4 LIBER by LEWlSCARROLL features some pages from "Alice's Adventures Under Ground" as long as you don't blink while watching.

One Way Ticket to Nowhere by Sunssol

footage TPF 1 Reversed by LikeMoreWizards

Review: Turn Me On, Dead Man

2009-08-04T17:56:00.000-07:00

One of the most perplexing things about seeing the trailer and reading the advance promotion for this short film was the question of how they were going to tell the story of the sudden death of a member of a rock band at the peak of their popularity and the subsequent cover up in just 22 minutes. After seeing the film, I was impressed at how much ground they were able to cover in such a short amount of time.

Director Adam Blake Carver uses an effective technique of alternating between black and white and color to tell the story. With the exception of the first scene where the band's manager arrives to tell the three band members about the death of Blake, their popular bass player, all black and white scenes indicate the time when Blake is alive and all color scenes indicate the time when the band is carrying on with a replacement. This little trick is not only used effectively, but it also shows some insight into Beatles history when you think about the stark black and white "Revolver" cover versus the lavish color of "Sgt. Pepper" and "Magical Mystery Tour."

The band itself depicted in the film is not the Beatles, I think. I don't remember a band name ever being mentioned in the film. On some mock newsreel footage (that includes a couple extremely quick images of the Beatles) the four band members, who share some resemblance to the Fabs are simply referred to as Blake (Paul), John (Guess Who), Charlie (George) and Ryland (Ringo). The band members are played by Joe Reegan, David Moscow, Luke Edwards and Brian Ruppenkamp.

The original music in the film, written by Logan Metz and Lincoln Mendell and performed by the Bumblebees is based on the styles of the time period represented (1964-1968). The song snippets are adequate, but not quite up to the level of the Rutles. One song has a Beatles "Wooh" as in "She Loves You" and the John character sings in a nasal voice.

Producer and Co-Writer Tyler Knell explained, "In making the film, we realized early on that we had no interest in trying to be 100% accurate, because we knew we never would be able to break through those constraints and tell the story the way we wanted to tell it. Therefore, you’ll find that we took creative liberties wherever we could afford them."

This was a wise decision. The characters make no attempt to speak with a phony Liverpool accent and aspects of the chronology are slightly different from Beatles history so that the story can be told more effectively. In fact, Adele, a Yoko-like character played by Kalia Pamela is annoying the other members of the band in the studio as early as 1966 and contributing to the riff between Blake and John that precedes the car accident. So, apparently PID is Yoko's fault too. Yoko haters will also be pleased to hear that Adele has to use facial expressions alone to wreak havoc as she does not make a single utterance in the whole film. I hope this doesn't negatively impact Kalia Pamela's chances of playing the lead role in a movie based on the life of Alanis Morissette.

I don't think the "creative liberties" will be a problem for Beatles fans who watch this film. The main problem seems to be the attempts to be more like the Beatles. If they are going to have American accents, why put them in silly looking Beatle wigs? Why try to mimic the exact words from Beatles press conferences when the band is clearly not the Beatles? I also did not get why the surviving members of the band were told that they would honor their tour commitments immediately after a news clip reported that the band had decided to give up touring. It almost seemed like the decision to not worry about accuracy was made halfway into the shooting of the film.

Despite its flaws, "Turn Me On Dead Man" is worth having in the dark fringes of any Beatles collection. There is one aspect of the film that possibly unintentionally mirrors the contradictory and ambiguous nature of Beatles conspiracy theories. Remember when I told you that black and white means Blake is alive and color means that Blake is dead? Well there is one scene in the movie that occurs twice, once in black and white and once in color. Also just before his tragic death, Blake picks up a young woman in distress near a Volkswagon that has its emergency flashers on. The scene in the film is in black and white, but for some reason the trailer has only the flashers in color. Isn't that a lovely clue for the PID person who pays attention to fine detail and seeks to find a sinister meaning?

Coming soon: A closer look at Rotten Apple 76.

Ho Hey Ho!

2009-08-02T16:58:00.000-07:00

I had the pleasure of attending the Paul McCartney concert in Washington D.C. last night. I went into this with the attitude that this was a bonus. I had seen him many times in concert over the years, most recently the Driving USA tour of 2002. He was approaching age 60 on that tour, so I figured that would be my last opportunity to watch him play live. I really didn't expect him to still be out rocking at age 67. Well, this "bonus" turned out to be one of the best concerts I have ever seen in my life.

The energy level of the show from start to finish was staggering. I have been watching all of the videos from these "not quite a real tour" concerts over the past year, but they didn't quite convey how much this old guy (whom some people suggest was 32 in 1967) could still rock.

The inclusion of old rockers like "Day Tripper," "I'm Down," "Helter Skelter" and a near punk version of "Paperback Writer," and new ones such as "Only Mama Knows" and the Fireman tracks "Sing The Changes" and "Highway" left the crowd of over 60,000 breathless. Now I have seen Paul McCartney performing "Live and Let Die" with all of the pyrotechnics and theatrics every tour since 1976, but the spectacle of this year's model inside the mammoth Fedex Field was absolutely awesome.

The power of the heavy songs was complimented by outstanding performances of some of Paul's gentler tracks. He did the cleanest version of "Blackbird" I have heard in concert. "Here Today" was flawless. And as a surprise, a lovely performance of "Michelle" was thrown in as a nod to the First Lady of the United States.

Even "Hey Jude" got to me despite the fact that I feel like I have seen him do it a hundred times. It was great to hear Paul do "A Day In The Life" although it is still a little shaky in places. The only obvious flub of the night was when Paul followed the line "Well, I just had to laugh" too quickly with "I saw the photograph," but the band recovered quickly and avoided what could have been an embarrassing breakdown. Otherwise, the goosebumps were up all night, I was moved to near tears about six times, and I don't know why I paid all that money for that seat because it's not like I ever sat down.

I don't know if Paul is dead, but I can tell you that the guy I saw last night was larger than life.

In Iamaphoney/PID news, it appears that good old Y0K00NO has joined the ranks of all of the others who have threatened to reveal the Iamaphoney secret. It appears an agreement must have been reached. Apparently, there is still an endless supply of cash in the Iamaphoney "Don't Start the Revelation Without Me" fund.

There is a new video from one of my favorite PIDeople, JohnCharles2007, which proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that Paul's double was able to copy his mannerisms perfectly with the exception of whether to put his finger in front of or behind his ear. See Match Point.

STOP PRESS: ROTTEN APPLE 76 IS HERE. It includes some details that appear well worth investigating. There are a few more new things on the fringes of YouTube, but I want to examine R.A. 76 right now. Cheers.

A Phoney Ultimatum?

2009-08-01T11:00:00.000-07:00

Hey everybody, exactly one week agoY0K00NO said, "one week : you do it or we do it."

everything is real - behind the phoney 4

Well, I guess it's all out in the open now.

I'll have a review of the short film "Turn Me On, Dead Man" soon.

"Turn Me On Dead Man" Premier Tonight

2009-07-24T09:18:00.000-07:00

This new film will premier at the L.A. Shorts Fest tonight, July 24, 2009.

Drop me a line if you happen to catch it.

Still Here

2009-07-17T21:54:00.000-07:00

UPDATES:
He's at it again. Check out what the man of peace has to say for the eve of the Autumnal Equinox: PauIMcCartney - Peace One Day.

UPDATE 2: Ooops. I forgot to give you the link to the real clip!

Also MikeyNL1038 sent me a list of some things I missed.

this HQ footage of the "just a good replica interview"

a very long version of I Found Out, and if you listen close in the background, you can hear the IAAP voice

paul is dead - nothing is real 5

iamaphoney - harmless game (songsmith version)

everthing is real - behind the phoney 2
which was deleted within 30 minutes... then reuploaded the next day, but with a part cut of it. this is the original version.

iamaphoney - Harmless Game multitrack

I noticed several comments regarding the identities of those who have been putting out videos related to Iamaphoney in recent weeks. Much of it seems to be speculative and contradictory. I have always suspected that everyone except me is in the loop. I'm afraid I have no clue for you all.
____________________________________________________________

Now we know that Iamaphoney has a tendency to, well, you know, play with the facts a little bit. He is not above throwing in a slightly misleading or out of context piece of evidence to further his agenda. But, he really didn't have to do much in his latest effort thanks to Paul McCartney. Paul still maintains that for the Abbey Road Cover Shoot, he left his jacket on but took off his sandals because it was too hot (how much hotter does it get when you are wearing sandals?). He also explained that since he was hot, he opted to walk across a hot street barefoot. You have to wonder why he hasn't come up with anything better in the last forty years.

But later in the conversation about the Paul Is Dead rumor, David Letterman said, "That was the idea. That was the other part of it. There was a guy who looked like you taking your place."
Paul's incredible response was, "Well, this is him" while pointing at himself.

Yes, Paul's answer can be taken two ways, but really folks, could Iamaphoney himself written a better script for his latest video Late Show Special - Paul McCartney?

Some terrific videos have appeared recently. Here is a brief rundown.

This could get a little confusing. PAULMCCARTNEY, the former Beatle's Official YouTube Channel uploaded the video from his December 1990 U.K. single "All My Trials."

Now, the YouTube user PauIMcCartney, who was not a former Beatle at all, uploaded a video of "All My Trials" too. Oops, I don't remember Paul's version having Aleister Crowley in it. It's the old Iamaphoney alias trick.

Yes, no matter how many of his brethren betray him, IAAP is "Still Here."

Another channel appeared recently that does the lookalike letter substitution trick. The LEWlSCARROLL channel appeared in March, but it produced three interesting videos in the past week. Presumably, the Nutters Production folks used to work with with Iamaphoney but have had some kind of falling out with him.

inside the org:1 come and get it multitrack.
Inside the org:2 Apple Trashed the first hideout
Inside the org:3 We're all mad here

You can see more of the Nutters on this channel - NUTTERSPRODUCTIONS and this channel - NuttersProductions08.

This YouTube channel that appeared to be an Iamaphoney alias seems to be yet another disgruntled former Iamaphoney employee. The whaIedreamers channel (No, not the Julian Lennon one, but the one that has a Capital "I" instead of an "L) has a new video with some unseen Iamaphoney footage and the message "I'm in! No More Lies! Revelation Now!"
The video is called footage TPF 1.

Okay, now I have been in the rabbit hole for a while, so I don't know for sure if I have this straight, but here goes. The Nutters and the whaIedreamers appear to have quit the Iamaphoney organization, but the former Beatle known as Paul McCartney seems to be either playing along with or playing into the hands of Iamaphoney.

Yes, I realize this is quite confusing, but I have good news. Another YouTube user has emerged with three new videos this week that should help clear everything up. AdmiralAlbert has provided the most concise and accurate, albeit slightly vulgar, explanation for what has been going on in this bizarre Beatles mystery. Check out these three wonderful videos:

Paul is Dead at the End of the World - Pt. 1
Paul is Dead at the End of the World - Pt. 2
Paul is Dead at the End of the World - Pt. 3

Our friend GRITzz93 has a couple new videos as well.

Finally Paul McCartney has made a new official video for the Fireman track "Dance Til We're High."

"Turn Me On, Dead Man" Movie

2009-06-17T07:12:00.001-07:00

Scheduled for release tomorrow is a short film entitled "Turn Me On, Dead Man."

According to the Frayed Edge Films website, "This is a high concept period piece serving as an allegory for the Paul McCartney 'Paul is dead' conspiracy theory/hoax."

The 22-minute film stars Joe Reegan and David Moscow. The director, Adam Blake Carver opted to create a fictional band with Beatle haircuts. Carver's description of his inspiration for the film reveals that he is not a first generation fan, or even that much of a fan in general. He spoke of discovering the clue of Lennon singing "He's dead, he's dead" when the song "Let It Be" is played backwards. Not many would attribute the vocal of "Let It Be" to Lennon unless he or she truly believed that John was "the man of a thousand voices." There is some evidence that Tyler Knell, the Co-Writer and Co-Producer of the film actually listened to and enjoyed the Beatles music, sometimes even playing it forwards.

The film contains original music by the Bumblebees based on various styles reflecting the time period. I don't think they quite nailed the Beatles sound, but they seem to have all of the tools necessary for a Rutles tribute band. If you go to the backstage section of the film's website, you can see and hear them in action. They state in the music section that they are willing to make music "in exchange for anything" so I would imagine that you could get them to play "Paul Is Dead" music at your next backyard cookout.

Based on the advanced information, I believe the film does have at least one redeeming feature----A Volkswagen.

With a release date of June 18, 2009, I assume that "Turn Me On, Dead Man" can be seen somewhere tomorrow.

Perhaps Iamaphoney has gone about this thing in the wrong way...

Rotten Apple 75 W M L

2009-06-14T16:41:00.000-07:00

A banner day for Iamaphoney. Three New Videos.

Like More Wizards, but the chronology is backwards. W came first, followed by M and L.

Rotten Apple 75W...

Rotten Apple 75M...

Rotten Apple 75 L...

System

2009-06-10T20:45:00.000-07:00

A very different YouKnowMyName231 entry - System

Well, It's Been Lots of Fun

2009-06-05T20:05:00.000-07:00

Y0K00NO is the name. The video is "everything is real - behind the phoney 1." This YouTube artist has produced a short, but slick Iamaphoney-like video featuring footage that I have not seen before.

The implication seems to be that this is a former member of the Iamaphoney "organization" with an axe to grind. It will be interesting to follow this latest development in the Iamaphoney saga. It's been lots of fun.

Like More Wizards

2009-05-30T12:05:00.000-07:00

After a long time with a simple black screen, iamaphoney.com now has some content. The tortoise has blinked.

Spoiler Alert: The video contains the words "Like More Wizards" and the letters "XKFKUFYDHZHZQ".

MikeNL1038 captured the website in its current form and uploaded it to YouTube.

The first one to crack the code gets a cookie. Due to domestic and professional obligations, it probably won't be me.

I also heard through the grapevine that the Iamaphoney organization is still hiring. Send resumes to either Hell(sinki, Finland) or Copenhagen, Denmark.

RIFF

2009-05-25T08:47:00.000-07:00

There is no shortage of Iamaphoney relatives, imatators, fans, and friends.

Los Angeles Suitcase Revisited by 1SterlingStar
Round And Round It Goes Where It Stops Nobody Knows by 1SterlingStar

walpenter by PaulTheRevelator

Raising The Spirit by TheMagickian
Wheel Of Fire by TheMagickian
a Lie Adds Up son king (reversed) by TheMagickian

who is iamaphoney by brainvisionfilms

The Rotten Faul 1 E by BillyShearsFaul

Paul is Dead - The Iamaphoney Message by GRITzz93
Paul Is Dead - ? by GRITzz93
Paul Is Dead - Love / Code by GRITzz93

Paul is Dead - NO MAR by NavTiLS

Watch The Universe Explode by Sunssol
Here We Go Again by Sunssol
As Old As You Can Get by Sunssol
More I Think I Know by Sunssol
I'll Now Be With The CIA by Sunssol
Moonies by Sunssol
The Sun by Sunssol
Ooowee by Sunssol

These are all from the last couple weeks!

In addition, Letter B suggested that I mention a couple older ones that may have fallen through the cracks:

Paul is Dead - The Beatles, 23, Saturn and Sun, & Symbolism by georgekush

Hollywood Illiuminati-The Beatles-1 by THAWK3
Hollywood Illiuminati-The Beatles-2 by THAWK3

And finally here is a shot of the real deal. It consists of some Wings footage that is new to me and I think it answers once and for all the "Polygon/Body Gun" question.

Paul McCartney & Wings - Hi Hi Hi (Vocals Only) by maccaspan2008

Berlin Goody Bag Revisited

2009-05-19T06:24:00.000-07:00

I have been asked to take another look at the Berlin suitcase. Just to recap, the suitcase component of the Iamaphoney plot had been considered by fans and foes alike to be the biggest miscalculation in the history of YouTube videos (at least those that suggest that Paul McCartney died and was replaced by the beast in order to bring on the apocalypse).

Of the five suitcases dropped by Iamaphoney, three are supposedly still out there and two were found with rather unspectacular results.

The Berlin suitcase was retrieved in early October, 2008. In late October, MikeyNL1038 produced a video called "Paul Is Dead - Nothing is Real 333", announcing that the Berlin suitcase had been retrieved by this guy:

The finder's hand gesture provoked quite a bit of criticism here, but in all fairness, Mike's video used backward masks from the song "Golden Slumbers" that suggested that he "walk out naked." I don't know how the conclusion was drawn, but some people here said that the person who found the suitcase was someone named Yenz, who would occasionally leave comments on this blog. Someone calling himself Yenz made one attempt to deny it, but identities around here are as fluid as characters in a dream. Yenz was pretty much run out of town in the comments community.

The video announced that the contents of what was now called the Berlin Goody Bag would be revealed soon. Dictionary.com states that the word "soon" means "within a short period of time" or "in the near future." The one thing that we were told early on was that the suitcase contained a copy of the Beatles 1966 Christmas Record called "Pantomime."

An original copy of "Pantomime" would certainly exceed the value of any of the items that were in the first LA Suitcase. Surprisingly, that particular item has not been mentioned since the original find, even though the person who claimed possession of the suitcase has written about the contents in several personal correspondences to different individuals including myself.

It was in late October when YouTube user sdofik contacted a few people about his find at the Brandenburg Gate. As is often the case, I was not in this loop, but others have said that he retrieved the case and filmed its contents. Then according to what he eventually told me when I inquired, he put the items on a shelf and waited for something to happen. Nothing did.

Is this another case of a suitcase finder not responding the way Iamaphoney had expected? Maybe. The suitcase contained some items that the finder described as a random assortment of Beatles-related memorabilia, such as newspaper articles, a Double Fantasy cover with the name "Paul" written on it, Xerox copies of tickets, some unidentified 45 RPM records and a bootleg DVD of "Magical Mystery Tour." For some reason, despite the fact that the owner repeatedly has said that he would like to sell the items to the highest bidder, he apparently does not want to take the time to make a specific list of the items.

Interestingly, the finder, as well as a member of the Rotten Apple Army, and some of Iamaphoney's biggest fans believe that the key items in the suitcase are two sleeveless vinyl copies of the Sgt. Pepper album with a Parlophone label. The "Twin Peppers" have only been talked about in Iamaphoney-related conversations. There is no document that I know of that suggests that there were two special vinyl pressings of the album in existence. If these were actual acetates, I don't think they would have the Parlophone label on them.

In a message I received in late November, Iamaphoney wrote: I can confirm the existence of the twin peppers in the Berlin suitcase.

In a correspondence to me on April 29, 2009, sdofik wrote: two parlephone (sic) sgt. pepper records <- that might be the only real item of value, if any...

The "Twin Peppers" came up again when somebody attempted to pull former McCartney press agent Geoff Baker into the Iamaphoney experience. See previous post.

YouTube user sdofik added that he no longer watches the Rotten Apple video installments. He wrote, "I think he got himself into something he can't get out of now."

I really don't see any reason why Iamaphoney couldn't "get out" of this if he really wanted to. It's those of us who have been fascinated and entertained by the videos that would like him to continue to tell his story.

I think that there are some people who would like to see images of the contents of the Berlin Goody Bag. Come to think of it, I wonder if the finder of the bag ever played those two Sgt. Pepper albums. Wouldn't it be ironic if that was the hold up?

In other news, a new artifact has surfaced that relates to the late Mal Evans, who has been a focus speculation about the Rotten Apple series. The Beatles Examiner posted a handwritten lyric allegedly penned by Mal and given to Shaun Weiss.

And finally there was an article in the news recently that provided some evidence against the claim that Paul McCartney is the devil, unless of course, the woman was driving a VW Beetle.

Chivalrous Macca ‘helps woman with wedged car’

POV Waltz

2009-05-14T08:23:00.000-07:00

With apologies to Nilsson fans who saw the title of this post and were expecting something about Harry, I wanted to write about another one of those interesting characters that is part of this planetary theater project in which we all seem to be involved. The character in question calls himself A Pinch of Vermouth or POV.

I should begin by dispelling one misunderstanding. A Pinch of Vermouth has never claimed to be Apollo C. Vermouth, a person I have written about previously. Apollo first appeared on TKIN. Then in 2004, he started posting, usually via personal communication at Nothing Is Real. Apollo actually said that he had been banned from TKIN, but had no idea why. He wondered if it was a case a mistaken identity and then cleverly added, "If they only knew..."

By the time Apollo stopped posting at NIR, he had convinced a committee of group members that he was in fact Neil Aspinall. As far as I know, he did this without actually coming out and saying his identity. Apollo's correspondences ceased not long before the death of Aspinall on March 24, 2008.

One curious thing about NIR member Apollo was that he needed special technical help to be able to participate in the discussion group. In addition, he apparently required an assistant to type his messages. That assistant continued to communicate periodically at NIR under the name A Pinch of Vermouth.

The most recent post by POV was most likely misunderstood by many readers. On top of that, despite some initial "glad to hear from you" comments, the thread jumped the track, jumped the shark and veered completely off course.

That is why I would like to waltz back to where it started and offer my own observations about the post.

On April 26, 2009, NIR member GN posted this picture:

The title of the thread was "Tell Me What You See." It was set up as a poll offering three rather uninteresting choices of what the picture represented. There were not many takers on the poll. "GN," I think refers to Gnik Nus, the backward title from the Beatles "Love" soundtrack and the person formerly known as Sun King. Sun King (GN) is blamed for all kinds of things in the PID/PWR community that preceded my entry. So, this thread is an ironic choice to attract the likes of POV.

With no apparent reference to the picture, POV wrote the following play on the title of the thread utilizing lyrics from Beatles songs:

To see without looking...They don't know. They can't see. Are you one of them?...Never glimpse the truth...What do you see when they turn out the light? I can't tell you...What did you see while you were there? Nothing that doesn't show...Nothing you can see that isn't shown...The more I go inside, the more there is to see...You layed it down for all to see...Take these sunken eyes and learn to see...In their eyes there's something lacking...Take a good look you're bound to see...That you may see the meaning of within...Looking glass ties...Looking through a glass onion...Won't you open up your eyes. Look around round, round, round...He's so hard to see...POV

The post was so nice, he posted it twice. He made two identical consecutive posts, I think. It is curious that the first one is dated May 2, 2009 at 10:39 pm, the second one is dated May 2, 2009 at 10:43, and the first one says "Last Edit: May 2, 2009, 10:49pm by A Pinch of Vermouth." I'm not sure what the edit was, but both posts are now identical, including a lyrical error from "With A Little Help From My Friends" and a misspelling of the word "laid."

A couple of wrong responses followed, including one by me. I wrote: The one you wanted to be is now the one you see. That's a line from the song "Be What You See" on Paul's "Tug of War" album. You see, it has the word "see" in it and seems to relate to the others in terms of content. Nope. Square peg in a round hole I'm afraid. Sometimes wrong answers teach you more than right ones.

But it was 65if2007 who came up with a better wrong answer when he wrote: By the way, Pinch, you forgot "there is still a chance that they may see". Nope. A line from "Let It Be" does not count.

There has always been some ambiguity about the entry points of the Beatles' Mystery. The Beatles "Yesterday and Today" cover with the butchers or the replacement with the trunk, must be part of it, right? Grandfather Aleister had us looking back at "Help" for clues. And the "Let It Be" album with Paul's blood red background and "Two of Us Sunday driving, not arriving" etc. must be a clue-filled album, correct? I don't think so.

I have always felt that Apollo was trying to tell us that the real clues began at "Sgt Pepper" (including the "Strawberry Fields Forever/Penny Lane" single, which did appear on a subsequent album) and ended with "Abbey Road." All things before are either coincidence or preliminary hints and all things after are pointers back. Most of those backward glances go to Sgt. Pepper, but there are many that address the other releases as well. "Sexy Sadie" for example is mentioned in Ringo's "Devil Woman" and George's "Simply Shady."

Therefore, my theory is that POV was telling us that if we want to see, we must focus on the releases from "Sgt. Pepper," to "Abbey Road."

"There is nothing you can see that isn't shown."

In other news....

F spotted a ghost on YouTube.

This channel, which uses the old trick of substituting a lookalike letter, does not appear to be the real grandfatheraleister. However the YouTuber in question is one of the cast of characters that we all know and love. Well, some of you at least know him...

And finally, for those Harry Nilsson fans who made it through the whole post, here is the POV Waltz.

Come On, My See-Saw Grandpa

2009-05-08T19:13:00.000-07:00

As many of you have noticed, Grandfather Aleister has disappeared from YouTube. You all should know my mantra by now of "Nobody has ever been harmed by walking away from conspiracy theories," but I don't think that this was a planned exit.

In a previous exchange via YouTube, Grandfather did suggest that he was finishing up, however he hinted at some subject areas that had not yet been explored in his videos. He also wrote to me on May 3rd to thank me for mentioning his video #36 on the blog. At that time he gave no hint about this subsequent departure.

Grandfather Aleister had commented along the line that his use of scenes from films had caused some of his videos to be removed from YouTube. He didn't seem to be bothered by this, but maybe YouTube intensified its response to his liberal use of copyrighted material. When I see engaging clips from movies in YouTube, I often go out and rent or purchase the movie. I guess the Entertainment industry doesn't want people to purchase its products. That's a pity, because some of them are good.

I hope that Grandfather Aleister is able to regroup and complete his video project. I really believe that he was leading up to something worthwhile.

In the meantime, I offer these vids as a tribute to a good friend.

Somebody suggested that I was Grandfather Aleister, which is incorrect. I feel like I know him, but sometimes my arms bend back.

Filling the Gap

2009-05-06T20:13:00.000-07:00

Just some links to recent videos inspired by, related to, reminiscent of, or in reaction to the Iamaphoney phenonomenon.

High In The Midday Sun by Sunssol

Money Can't Buy Me Love by Sunssol

Ride The Rainbow by Sunssol

This Could Only Happen To Me by Sunssol

The One After 09 09 by Sunssol

2:14 by S3ANL3NN0N

Paul Is Dead - Love / Code by GRITzz93

Paul is Dead - The Iamaphoney Message by GRITzz93

The Fireman - Lifelong Passion Acapella (Sawain Ambient) by MikeyNL1038

The Fireman - Sun Is Shining instrumental (Equinox) by MikeyNL1038

The Fireman - Travelling Lightinstrumental by MikeyNL1038

The Fireman - Sing The Changes instrumental (Morning Mist) by MikeyNL1038

The Fireman - Traveling Light (Instrumental) by maccaspan2008

Paul is Dead - NO MAR by NavTiLS

paul is dead - MagiKman: Paul McCartney and Aleister Crowley by HeweHaarlemmer

paul is dead - Saint Paul & The Ballad of Paul by HeweHaarlemmer

O- Bloody O- Blood- Die ! by yhshvh10

Plausible Deniability

2009-04-30T22:15:00.000-07:00

The term "plausible deniability" refers to the strategy employed by some leaders who wish to escape responsibility for the actions of an organization. They create an intentionally disorganized chain of command so that any consequences that occur from the activities of the underlings can never be traced all the way to the top.

The Iamaphoney story has taken many twists and turns over the past couple years, but how much of the insanity that we have been following can really be attributed to the person who started a thread on the Nothing Is Real forum back in November of 2006? The Rotten Apple Army has given the man at the top quite a bit of plausible deniability.

The shadowy figure whose current identity on NIR is "Bill" started the "Rotten Apple 2" thread with four posts dated November 27, 2006. Each post consisted of a single YouTube link for Rotten Apple 2, 3, 4, and 5 respectively.

Bill's member bio on NIR reads as follows:

Name: Blll
Email: hidden
Birthday: 11/20/1963
Age: 45
Gender: Male
Posts: 48
Date Registered: Sept 27, 2006, 2:15pm
Account Status: Not Activated

Another early post by "Bill" (Iamaphoney) gave a hint as to his spelling prowess, but more importantly, his primary objective:

glad you guys likes it...
There is so much more on its way...
trying to get some investers to help me out.
...hopefully it will be the big revalation film,
The film that tells the true,and the final answer from the dead man himself

-Bill 11/28,2006

The Rotten Apple thread is up to 210 pages and over 5000 responses. It spent a period locked behind a password as punishment for some nasty exchanges between Iamaphoney fans and foes. "Bill" or Iamaphoney simply stayed out of it, never defending himself from attacks and refusing even to correct his fans when they went overboard in jumping to his defense. It was surreal how intense the fighting became. The conversation sometimes bordered on perceived threats attributed to Iamaphoney, yet the subject of the conversation maintained plausible deniability by staying out of it all. Iamaphoney never threatened anyone.

The early responses gave no hint of the war that eventually emerged within the Rotten Apple thread.

As we all know, those early videos were not sophisticated, dealing mainly with reversals of speech that were received as new discoveries by his early fans at NIR. Then the videos seemed to reflect evidence that his initial request for investors had been answered. The increase in the quality of the videos (and accompanying soundtracks) coincided with some setbacks. Rotten Apple 25, 28 and 30 disappeared from YouTube for a while, possibly because of copyright infringement. Ironically, two of the three deleted videos dealt with Charles Manson and Aleister Crowley, two topics that would create much controversy in the world of Iamaphoney. The third video contained some footage from American Bandstand with Dick Clark. New versions of the three videos appeared later and featured original music and slicker editing more in line with subsequent Rotten Apple efforts.

As the quality of the Rotten Apple videos increased, so did the resistance among members of NIR, and Iamphoney was being accused of stealing ideas from the board and incorporating them into his videos. Other viewers took issue with the increase of association with Crowley, Manson, satanism and serial killers in the videos. Another thing that Iamaphoney can take the blame for was the use of major fires as backgrounds on his YouTube channels. Some considered it a sick joke, while others even insinuated that Iamaphoney was responsible for setting the fires.

Iamaphoney reached a significant crossroad at the time of Rotten Apple 65. For a brief time, there was a version of RA 65 that showed a rather straight documentary format, even featuring a voiceover by an English voice, although not the same voice known as the "English Gentleman" who said, "Paul McCartney, world renowned musical genius, a trend-setting pop star of Beatle fame." This voice was a narrator only, not someone presented as an insider.

The documentary version of RA 65 also seemed to include recent interviews with experts who seemed to be willing to talk about the Paul Is Dead rumor.

Frequent Beatles Co-Star Victor Spinetti sat down to talk to "someone" about the clues.

Another interview subject was Beatles expert and author Bruce Spizer who seemed to enjoy talking about Paul Is Dead clues.

In addition to his excellent books, Spizer had written an April Fools joke article about Paul Is Dead rumors. But I wonder who interviewed him about the Paul Is Dead clues.

There was also an interview with this unidentified woman who seemed to possess information about the Beatles' relationship with Aleister Crowley.

The documentary clip contained explorations of several clues including the name Joe Ephgrave from the Sgt. Pepper credits, the changing of the lettering of "Lonely Hearts" on the Sgt. Pepper drum head, the "Son of the Magickian" anagram and the famous "Love Code."

The documentary style was admirable and it could have been the PID aficionado's dream. There was only one problem. Compared to the trippy, spooky videos that Iamaphoney was producing at the time, the documentary format was boring. The documentary was quickly pulled and Iamaphoney committed himself back to the path of darkness. Rotten Apple 66,6 returned to Charles Manson and Aleister Crowley.

Some people have consistently accused Iamaphoney of glorifying satanists and serial killers, but I don't think Manson's quote about the "Elvis Presleys and Mesca Besleys and all them guys" is exactly flattering to Manson. It is certainly not as flattering to Charles Manson as Vincient Bugliosi's description in his book "Helter Skelter." I understand the motive to make Manson out to be a genius in order to make Bugliosi a bigger genius for defeating him in a court of law. But Bugliosi even went as far as sharing a story of when his reliable wristwatch stopped for the first time ever and he looked up to see Manson staring at him and grinning. Give me a break. I also think that if Iamaphoney was a big fan of Manson, he would be doing his musical treatment to some of Charlie's songs (some of which are nearly listenable) instead of focusing on some of the most obscure tracks in Beatles history. I also think Iamaphoney would set Aleister Crowley's poems to music if Crowley were really the object of his fascination.

There have been many insinuations that Iamaphoney was a Beatles insider, but I can't find any claims of that directly traceable to videomaker/musician Iamaphoney. The closest thing to that would have been the mini biography that appeared briefly on wikipedia, but was quickly removed. The bio suggested that Iamaphoney was one Ian Paul Bill Martin Jr., a musician, recording engineer and journalist. There was no direct Beatles connection, but at least he was in the business. However, I don't know that we can say for certain that Iamaphoney wrote or approved that bio.

Another source of contempt among Iamaphoney foes and annoyance even among fans has to do with the large number of alias YouTube channels that feature copies of rotten apple videos with different names or, in some cases, entirely new videos. Iamaphoney videos about Paul McCartney are one thing, but a YouTube channel for one PauIMcCartney (with a capital "I" instead of an "l") seems like a deliberate attempt to fool real McCartney fans. But I can't find a way to prove that YouTube user PauIMcCartney is Iamaphoney, even though I am reasonably sure it is. I am reasonably sure that YouTube user BlllShepherd is Iamaphoney, and reasonably sure that YouTube user S3ANL3NN0N is not. I have no idea if YouTube user lAMAPH0NEY, who posted a four-second video this week is Iamaphoney or someone else. But Iamaphoney maintains plausible deniability by remaining silent.

There have been many references to the Rotten Apple Army and the Iamaphoney organization. We have seen the Iamaphoney actor and at least one camera operator in the videos. There has been a talk of an editor who spices up the videos. I have been contacted by individuals who claim to be members or former members of the Iamaphoney organization.

I have had a total of about five interactions with the YouTube person called Iamaphoney. Each consisted of a back and forth exchange via YouTube. Some of those interactions regarded some images that were placed in a photo album at picasaweb on a few different occasions. I published all of those photos on this blog. Some of those images turned up later in Rotten Apple videos.

I have also had a few exchanges with someone claiming to work for Iamaphoney. I believe that person was telling me the truth.

One of the more interesting contacts was someone who claimed to be a former member of the Iamaphoney organization. This person gave me some information and pictures that I published on this blog. One of the pictures was a color version of what was implied to be a Paul McCartney doodle that included the words "chase phoney."

I contacted this individual when another "former member" threatened to release seven videos that would reveal everything, and then disappeared before anyone saw the first of the seven. My contact told me that something had been worked out with the traitor. Once again, Iamaphoney had plausible deniability.

There was one chink in the armor of the former member of the Iamaphoney organization who contacted me. After about three months of silence, the former member contacted me and told me to check my "secret place." This puzzled me because the former member always used megaupload to send me things. It was Iamaphoney who used the "secret place."

I retrieved the document and published it here, but I had a question for this supposed "former member" of the Iamaphoney organization.

I asked, "Does this mean that you and Iamaphoney are together?"

The answer I received was "ono."

I followed up with, "It is just that you were always using MegaUpload and it was Iamaphoney who was putting things in the "secret place."

The "former member" responded, "your solution is in your problem."

I replied but received no answer and have not heard from the person since then.

Was the supposed traitor I was dealing with actually Iamaphoney himself? I couldn't tell you. He remains hidden under the cloak of plausible deniability.

The bigger question remains. Who is funding Iamaphoney? How is he able to jet around the world leaving suitcases that make him the object of ridicule with no apparent effort to profit financially? Who is behind the Iamaphoney organization? Whoever that is must have written the book on plausible deniability.

Follow the Beatle

2009-04-29T22:04:00.000-07:00

Paul is Dead - 36 - Follow the Beatle by grandfatheraleister may seem a little over the top with its claim of significance for all kinds of Volkswagen appearances in movies over the years, but the prominence of the VW Beatle in the Official Beatles endorsed Las Vegas show "Love" makes it fair game.

You can find some amazing insights about the meanings of various Volkswagens in the movie "The Shining" on the blog Stanley Kubrick's Masterpiece The Shining.

Sincerest Form of Flattery

2009-04-24T07:22:00.000-07:00

QUICK UPDATE: Some other recent videos from other artists.

Ride the Rainbow by Sunssol

Hillside High by S3ANL3NN0N

MagiKman: Paul McCartney and Aleister Crowley by HeweHaarlemmer

The Fireman - Lifelong Passion Acapella (Sawain Ambient) by MikeyNL1038 (Highly recommended reduced mix)

George Harrison 1976 by walawala1973 (Highly recommended charming moment with George Harrison linked by Beatles Examiner)
_____________________________________________
Several Iamaphoney-inspired videos have appeared on YouTube recently (Click the pic for the vid):

From PaulPhoney:

From Sunssol:

From HeweHaarlemmer:

We even have a flash of unintentional PID from plasticvideo (Listen Closely):

But this is really the root object of all of the flattery (thanks to edgarator for providing the most complete version so far):

The Legionnaire

2009-04-21T07:22:00.000-07:00

In a previous post, I pointed out that the image on the Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band cover, known simply as the "Legionnaire" was linked to Aleister Crowley in Rotten Apple #44. This suggestion had been made previously by Jarvtronics in the Nothing Is Real discussion group.

According to the letters on his hat (RAOB), which are impossible to see on some issues of Sgt. Pepper, the Legionnaire is a member of the Royal Antediluvian Order of the Buffaloes. Like most organizations of this type, the RAOB is known for drinking and charitable acts. But like any fraternal organization, it has some possible links with Freemasonry, ancient secrets and conspiracy theories. One Freemason site lists it under "Other societies of Masonic interest."

It has always been a mystery why this individual would be on the cover of Sgt. Pepper. It certainly doesn't fit the "personal heroes of the Beatles or people they admired" story advanced by the Beatles organization.

The problem is that the majority of the man's face is covered, making it impossible to identify facial features.

This is the picture from the cover:

This is the picture with Crowley superimposed:

This is a black and white low-res picture that shows a little more of the facial features:

His face seems thinner than Crowley, but I wonder why he was chosen to be on the cover representing the Beatles' heroes.

A new Iamaphoney-related video appeared on YouTube this week: Paul Is Dead - So, It`s Paul? by GRITzz93

Although derivative, you have to love the honesty of video maker GRITzz93. When asked about the significance of the little mannequin hand, the reply was "nothing, only to make the video longer :)" Yeah gotta love a guy who admits that part of his 17-second video is filler.

The Fireman song "Highway" has made Paul's setlist after its premier at Coachella. Here is a performance from his Vegas Hard Rock Concert.

Happy Record Store Day

2009-04-15T06:47:00.000-07:00

UPDATE: Details about the rare McCartney Acetate Here.

Paul McCartney is one of the supporters of Record Store Day, an event on April 18, 2009 in support of Independently Owned Record Stores.

Quoted in the University Star of Texas State University, McCartney said: “There’s nothing as glamorous to me as a record store,” McCartney said. “When I recently played Amoeba in Los Angeles, I realized what fantastic memories such a collection of music brings back when you see it all in one place. This is why I’m more than happy to support Record Store Day and I hope that these kinds of stores will be there for us all for many years to come.”

But the most compelling thing about this was the article in the Charleston City Paper that said that "Paul McCartney will release six (only six!) acetates of one song at a secret location."

If you have any secret locations in your area, it is time to visit them.

If this is true, I think this would be the third rarest McCartney record of all time after the song called "Linda," (one copy) which he gave to his late wife as a gift and "Paul's 1965 Christmas Album" (four copies).

I could not find any mention of Paul McCartney on the Official Record Store Day web site. There was also no information about this on Paul's Official Web Site.

So what is the "one song?" Something tells me it will not be the song "Shoes."

If you catch any details, please drop me a comment or an email. Big thanks to the commenter who shared the link about this.

The Hollywood Star ceremony for George Harrison featured a surprising cast of stars. In addition to Jeff Lynne, Tom Petty, Eric Idle, Gary Wright, David Foster and several other luminaries, this guy showed up:

Here is a BBC video report on the event.

There is another Iamaphoney-related channel on YouTube: THEFlREMANMUSlC

And finally, we already have a cover of Shoes!

Shoestrings

2009-04-13T06:57:00.000-07:00

Update: Steve Marinucci in his Beatles Examiner column wrote, "So what's this new Paul McCartney song that's popped up on YouTube? (See above.) You'll see lots of Beatles and Wings references." Mmm Hmmm.

____________________________________________________________

There are some aftershocks of Rotten Apple 74.

The Iamaphoney treatment of Paul's improvised song "Shoes" can be found on a couple more YouTube Channels.

paul mccartney - shoes (rare) on BlllShepherd

Paul McCartney - Shoes on PauIMcCartney [Note: This one has an intact ending, and it is different from a nearly identical version on a nearly identical YouTube channel that I linked the other day. Thanks to a commenter for pointing this out.]

I had made a comment that the song "Shoes" was improvised by Paul when prompted by the "cutest girl in the world" (or something like that). I was asked to provide a picture, but that won't do it. You have to see her engaging personality in action, along with the chemistry of her interaction with Paul. Here is a bit of the interview that produced "Shoes." Notice that in the interview he speaks some gibberish, describes God, imagines Elvis naked from the waist down and recalls a time he wore a fake mustache.

As Jammie pointed out, the voice giving legal advice to someone in this video (as well as Rotten Apple 53) sounds very much like documentary film maker Paul Saltzman, who published a book of pictures taken while he was with the Beatles in India.

Letter B suggested at Nothing Is Real that the recipient of the legal advice could be Iamaphoney himself. That would be something. Really would be something.

Speaking of NIR, Skyward wrote an outline of Rotten Apple 74:

some quickly flashed sequences of letters, perhaps rebus like.

-----------------

u ra (from Electric Arguments) the imagine (cursive writing image) opd (patch)

there are 3 RA

know who we nursed

the nurse o (apple pic) who in 2007 saved replicas life lost her own.
----------------------

First "topic" of RA 74 is the April 10th significance, Aspinall, Titanic, Sutcliffe, Aiwass, etc.

Then, we get the interview with Mr. Accenta Obscura, and the guy with the Beatles photos from India at a convention. The strange accent guy has negatives and from 1:01-1:03 or so, there is a rapid fire of inverted black & white photos and there is a pic of a car crash and a mummy with hair.

Seconds after this raPID fire montage, we see the normal pics (not inverted).

We see a shoe store BIBA, and the mentioning of Thomas Nutter, McCartney's tailor in 1969. There seems to be a comparison to the road where BIBA is located with the Abbey Road album cover.

Then, there is a doodle note pad from that calender schedule book with Liberal L Legis along with doodles of hand signals or gestures/motions that signify the Letter N as well as another.

Then there is the note about Phil Specter.

Then, the recent pic of Macca wearing the CLOWN Beatle shirt at the Grammys. CLOWN = CLONE. Say it like GROWN. Mummy, Replicas, Clones?

Then we have a rapid fire montage of the Pepper photo op and we see what I think is a Yellow Submarine pin on the lapels of Ringo and George.

Then, another doodle of what appears to be the MMT bus and possibly some script.

Also, the 'More popular than Jesus' line is seen being typed.

We again see THEBEA parchment.

A Magical Mystery Tour album sleeve with 'LOOT' scribbled and crossed out. And a LOOT (the play?) stage pamphlet?

A napkin signed ONE MORE PAUL, P.M.

A Nazca line image of two outstretched hands.

A 'Chase Phoney' scribble on paper.

Red Skeleton Hands

Robed guy making arm and hand gestures.

Maharishi disappeared

Ira Levin disappeared

Home video of Mal and Bean Pole Paul

Apple meeting/Signing. John with PIG '68.

23 seen on megaphone/bullhorn and cash register.

Iamaphoney and Paul McCartney mirror image in handwriting,

The Winged Beetle is compared with the upside moustache symbol we have seen from the CODE image. One way, it is a fake moustache, flipped vertically, it is an image of a winged thing, in this case, the Beetle, or Wings.

After each section of images is shown, we get a 'check' mark, as it seems to imply that these are all the clues that are being checked off.

Finally, after a brief absence, the "schedule" is back up on the Iamaphoney YouTube page.

1/4

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Rotten Apple 74 - Updated

2009-04-10T18:02:00.001-07:00

UPDATE: I believe the photo exhibition shown in RA 74 is the Paul Saltzman collection, The Beatles In India.

_____________________________________________________________

If the shoe fits...or NOT

While promoting "Memory Almost Full," Paul McCartney did an interview with one of the cutest girls on the planet. On "15 Big Ones" she cajoled him into making up a song on the spot with her.

Iamaphoney has taken this scrap of a tune and turned it into something quite enjoyable that would make a nice B-Side to any McCartney single. I think the production values are outstanding and that many would be fooled. Maybe that's the part of this thing that some people don't like. "Shoes" has been added to a site that someone not familiar with the Iamaphoney adventure would think is a legitimate Paul McCartney site.

Yes, that is a bit misleading. If Paul saw this, I don't know if he would get angry or ask Iamaphoney to produce his next album.

Rotten Apple 74 contains all of the elements that made me an Iamaphoney fan in the first place. It is interesting that the video contains some nasty language that we have heard before about Apple's lawyers. This time it accompanies what appears to be a photo exhibition of The Beatles trip to India. Interestingly, later this month there will be an exhibition of Beatles in India photos in Tel Aviv, Israel.

This video also gives us a brief, partially obscured, but clear picture of our friend with the accent.

Is he a photographer? Is this Iamaphoney and he going through pictures?

This was an interesting still from the video:

And another:

I would think that who enjoy the artistry of Iamaphoney would be quite happy with this effort. For those expecting a revelation, there will be lots of activity at your local churches this weekend.

April 10, 2009

2009-04-10T05:39:00.000-07:00

As I had reported previously, Iamaphoney had told some people who in turn told me that April will be an interesting month. Well it certainly has been, with Paul and Ringo playing together at Radio City Music Hall and the announcement that the remasters will finally arrive on 09/09/09.

Now, as the alarm clocks ring around the Santa Susana pass in California, on this anniversary of Neil Aspinall's exit from Apple and, not to mention the famous Iamaphoney interview that never happened, which I will not mention, we wait in anticipation of something or other. Other options include proceeding with our day and we normally would.

We'll certainly keep our eyes open today for developments as we pray that Iamaphoney is not a fan of the movie "The Next Voice You Hear."

The David Lynch Mob

2009-04-07T19:49:00.000-07:00

Well, history was made the other day when Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr played together at the benefit for the David Lynch Transcendental Meditation Worldwide Foundation (Thank you Guru Dev). From the initial reports, Paul's performance was excellent. Unfortunately Ringo seemed to be suffering from a case of laryngitis, but he soldiered on anyway and gave Beatles fan a night to remember.

This video starts a little rough, but becomes more watchable after about 20 seconds.

Those who have seen Ringo in concert in recent years know that he can carry a tune much better than this. He also flubbed some lyrics in his songs, so I'm guessing he wasn't feeling too great either. But I don't think the fans minded. Hopefully the sound engineer will be nice to Ringo by the time this comes out on video.

One perplexing thing that I noticed on Ringo's last tour and in his performance on April 4 is that he has changed the melody of "With A Little Help From My Friends" slightly. On the line, "And I'll try not to sing out of key," the note on the word "key" is supposed to be G#. He had sung it that way on the original recording and in all of his performances for years. But for some reason I cannot fathom, he changed it to a natural E, and seems happy for it to be that way. It's not like the G# was too high for him. The most challenging part of the song, which mostly consists of just five notes, is the final note, a high E an octave above the lowest note of the song. There are stories of the other Beatles encouraging him in the studio to nail that note on the original recording. During his All Starr tours he usually gets help with that last note, but at the Lynch Benefit he didn't even seem to attempt it.

Despite Ringo's throat problem, which I assume is temporary, you can't help but feel good when you watch that video.

Another highlight from the show was when Ringo joined Paul on the song "Cosmically Conscious." The song shared some of the same inspiration as John's "Everybody's Got Something To Hide Except For Me And My Monkey."

The projections in the background during the song are quite interesting. We get to see Mal Evans living the Beatles legend.

TMZ.com made a big deal out of Paul getting a louder response from fans than Ringo did after the TM Press Conference. I felt that was unnecessary, but it was good to see some candid footage of both of them leaving the venue.

In addition to iamaphoneyHD who I told you about previously, another YouTuber has joined the Iamaphoney supporter list. HeweHaarlemmer has combined some Rotten Apple videos and even added a couple new ones. The user also seems to have an interest in conspiracy theories in general.

We are just a few days away from an expected Iamaphoney appearance of some kind. Maybe something will happen, but I did notice that his "schedule" has been taken off his main YouTube channel again. Drop a comment here if you see something happen before I do. I am also inviting our hero or his Rotten Apple Army to slip me the answer anytime. The same goes for any of the other mysterious figures who have given me insights and information along the way.

Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Master Race

2009-04-02T20:26:00.000-07:00

We all know that one of the people who nearly made it on the cover of "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" was Adolf Hitler. You can see Hitler's image in this video of shots from the photo session.

Hitler's presence, of course, would have alienated some Beatles fans, but are there other people in that group on the cover who shared similar views when it came to racism, antisemitism or the Eugenics movement?

Some people consider Karl Marx's work "On The Jewish Question" to be antisemitic.

Although he didn't target a specific group of people, George Bernard Shaw said some shocking things about people "who are more trouble than they are worth."

H.G. Wells was a believer in Eugenics.

In discussing Francis Galton's work, H.G. Wells said, "I believe .. It is in the sterilization of failure, and not in the selection of successes for breeding, that the possibility of an improvement of the human stock lies."

Aldous Huxley wrote: So far as our knowledge goes, negative eugenics - or the sterilisation of the unfit - might already be practised with tolerable safety. On the positive side we are still very ignorant - though we know enough thanks to Mr Fisher's admirable work, to foresee the rapid deterioration, unless we take remedial measures, of the whole West European stock. Eugenics are not yet practical politics. But propaganda could easily make them practical politics, while increase in knowledge will make them also purposive and far-sighted politics. (Source)

I guess it all depends on whether you see Huxley's "Brave New World" as a warning or a blueprint.

Sir Robert Peel had an interest in Genetics (and probably Eugenics) and is even credited for the development of the Tamworth Pig.

Marlon Brando portrayed a scientist performing eugenic experiments in the film "ISLAND OF DR MOREAU," which was based on a story by H.G. Wells.

According to the book "Controversies in Psychology" by Philip Banyard, Sigmund Freud (partially obscured on the cover of Sgt. Pepper) believed that "it is possible to divide people into leaders and those who are led. The led 'constitutes the vast majority: they need a high command to make decisions for them, and to which they for the most part offer an unqualified submission.'" Banyard said that Freud advocated educating the best and brightest to lead the masses.

Freud's colleague C.G. Jung was accused of having sympathy for the Nazis, especially after he said, "Hitler belongs in the category of the truly mystic medicine man. His body does not suggest strength. The outstanding characteristic of his physiognomy is its dreamy look. I was especially struck by that when I saw pictures taken of him in the Czechoslovakian crisis; there was in his eyes the look of a seer. This markedly mystic characteristic of Hitler's is what makes him do things which seem to us illogical, inexplicable, and unreasonable."

Jung vehemently denied accusations that he was a Nazi sympathizer.

Eugenics devotee Edgar Rice Burroughs is not on the cover of Sgt. Pepper, but his creation Tarzan is.

In his memoir, Tony Curtis felt the need to clarify his well publicized comment that kissing Marilyn Monroe was like kissing Hitler.

Curtis wrote: “After the scene on the yacht, some of the crew and I stood around to watch the rushes, and afterwards they wanted to know what it was like to kiss her. I figured a question that stupid deserved a stupid answer, so I flippantly responded by saying, ‘Kissing Marilyn is like kissing Hitler.’ I was right—it was a stupid answer. What I should have said was ‘What do you think kissing her is like, birdbrain?’ Or I could have had the good sense to just say nothing. But my thoughtless comment became public knowledge, and the story still makes the rounds. So let me set the record straight once and for all: I hated Hitler. As a Jewish kid in New York, I threw condom bombs on pro-Nazi parades. I loved Marilyn Monroe. And she was a terrific kisser.”

If this all sounds like a conspiracy tabloid, please remember that I am resisting the temptation to suggest that Marilyn Monroe was a victim of Operation Monarch, a CIA project involving former Nazi scientists. I also won't say anything about rumors that actor Errol Flynn was a bisexual Nazi spy who had an affair with Sgt. Pepper character Tyrone Power. And if you look hard enough, you can find a website that claims that Hitler was replaced by Aleister Crowley. I refuse to stoop that low even in the month of April.

It is important to note that The Beatles were once unfairly accused of being racist when someone dug up an ancient outtake from the "Get Back" sessions.

John Lennon was once questioned about an unfortunate remark that he allegedly made to Maureen Cleave regarding a relationship between show business and the Jewish religion. Journalist Larry Kane said that he was once angered by a slur about Jewish people from the back of a plane where the Beatles and Derek Taylor were seated. Kane seemed to believe that one of the Beatles said it even though Derek Taylor took the blame. But there is very little evidence that any of the Beatles really believed in any kind of racial or ethnic superiority.

There are in fact several people on the cover of "Sgt. Pepper" who fought for human rights, including Marilyn Monroe, Shirley Temple, and Marlon Brando (not to mention John, Paul, George and Ringo). Albert Einstein was hated by the Nazis. Marlene Dietrich, star of "Judgment at Nuremberg" recorded anti-Nazi songs. It is just that whenever you try to find connections between some of the individuals on the Sgt. Pepper cover, some surprising patterns emerge.

April is Coming

2009-03-30T08:22:00.000-07:00

UPDATE: MikeyNL1038 is the one doing the "enhanced" versions of the Rotten Apple Videos. The two links below are for comparison.
Comparison 1
Comparison 2
_________________________________________________________________________________

A couple sources have told me that Iamaphoney is promising that the month of April will be "interesting." I did not hear this information directly, but I have observed that April does seem to be a significant month for Iamaphoney-related activity.

If you recall, it was April 10 of last year when the heavily touted Iamaphoney interview failed to take place. It is possible that this year something even bigger won't happen.

A new YouTube account has appeared offering what it calls "Enhanced" versions of Rotten Apple videos. iamaphoneyHD has uploaded the first 55 Rotten Apple videos as of this writing.

For an idea of the visual enhancement, see the comparison pictures below:

Original version

Enhanced version

I have not viewed all of the videos yet, but please drop a comment if any new details emerge from these versions. I do not know the identity of iamaphoneyHD.

Seth Swirsky, who was the subject of a Rotten Apple-related video (Ringo Song) last year has his own YouTube channel. His music is very Beatley and his channel has some other Beatle Connections.

California Scheming

2009-03-28T16:34:00.000-07:00

John Lennon said, "Sgt. Pepper is Paul after a trip to America when the whole West Coast long-named group thing was coming in. You know, when people were no longer the Beatles or the Crickets. They were suddenly Fred and his Incredible Shrinking Airplanes. I think he got influenced by that."

Paul explained, "At that time there were lots of those sort of bands that you know, 'Laughing Joe and his Medicine Band Thank You Wham Bam Ma'am', kind of group names. 'Colonel Tucker's Medicinal Brew & Compound.' So I just thought, if there was a band, what would be a mad name for it?"

Yes, Paul must have seen something he really liked out in California when he went there with Mal Evans. Paul reportedly even attended a Beach Boys session April 11, 1967 with the likes of Rodney Bingenheimer and Charles Manson. At least that's how Rodney Bingenheimer remembers it (Thanks F). This crazy place and crazy time could have inspired The Beatles' most mysterious album, "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band." In fact the rabbit hole we have been looking for may be in California's Hollywood Hills.

The only problem is the timeline. Paul's California trip, as chronicled in Mal Evans' home movies took place at the beginning of April of 1967. By this time the Sgt. Pepper album was pretty much finished and the cover pictures had been shot. The thing we don't know is what all took place during The Beatles 1966 tour when their standard operating procedure included "borrowing a couple millionaires' houses." I seem to remember a mysterious character from the Laurel Canyon mafia in the shadows of a Beatles Press Conference in 1966.

A strange cast of characters congregated in the Hollywood Hills where lots of rock bands seemed to be emerging into the spotlight at the same time. Countless rumors have materialized about what was really going there. Some people interpret the song "Hotel California" to be about the excesses of the Rock and Roll lifestyle, and as Don Henley put it, "The underbelly of the American Dream." Others have put forth theories about Satanism, ritualistic child abuse, Illuminati conspiracies, and mind control.

Much of the rumor mongering was linked to two mysterious houses located in the Laurel Canyon portion of the Hollywood Hills: The Houdini House and the Log Cabin. The two houses had an interesting history. According to Dave's Web there were rumors of suspicious activity in the two houses going back to the time they were built, sometime before 1920.

The Houdini House was an imposing castle-like structure built in the early 1900s. There is some dispute over whether or not the famous magician actually lived there, but that doesn't really matter. The long history of the house includes stories of murder, seances and paranormal experiences. And since its ruins and accompanying ghost stories are recognized by the tourist industry, it will forever be linked with Houdini. Harry Houdini spent a great deal of time debunking spiritualists in his life, but he also spent a significant amount of time trying to find the bridge between the living and the dead. This practice continued after his death when the departed Houdini was the focus of numerous seances.

Another structure was originally called the Laurel Tavern, but it would become better known as the Log Cabin. Frank Zappa lived in the Log Cabin and hosted a varied cast of players. Zappa even helped make some of them famous. Interestingly, despite being at the epicenter of the artistic movement that exploded in the summer of love, I don't think Frank Zappa ever thought of himself as a flower child. In fact, his artistic response to Sgt. Pepper, was less than complementary.

But long before flower power, there were legends about hidden passages and secret caves linking the Houdini House and the Log Cabin.

When you look at the cover of the Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album, some surprising connections with the Hollywood Hills emerge. The man in the white hat behind the wax figure of Paul McCartney is actor Tom Mix who owned the Log Cabin for a while and lived there briefly.

Harry Houdini is not on the cover of Sgt. Pepper, but guess who is. Tony Curtis played the famous magician in the movie "Houdini."

And is it really that much of a stretch to suggest that the inclusion of comedian Stan Laurel could be a veiled allusion to Laurel Canyon?

According to Dave McGowan of Dave's Web, in addition to suspicious deaths, fires are a common occurrence in the Hollywood Hills. The Harry Houdini house burned on Halloween of 1959. The Log Cabin burned on Halloween of 1981. I could not find any information on the Fireman's whereabouts on those two dates.

Like many pictured on the cover of Sgt. Pepper, Tom Mix died prematurely. He was killed in a car accident on an Arizona Highway near a military installation. The date of the crash was October 12, 1940, Aleister Crowley's 65th birthday.

Strangely, it was not the impact of the crash itself that resulted in Mix's death. As objects started flying around inside the car, Mix was plonked in the back of the head --- by a suitcase.

Twin Freaks/Twin Peaks

2009-03-27T06:18:00.000-07:00

New Grandfather Aleister Video Paul is Dead - 35 - Twin Freaks

Here is the description:

Twin Freaks/Twin Peaks

Hank Worden More & Carel Struycken

Carel Struycken played "The Brute" in 1978 Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts club band
He played the "Giant" in 1990 Twin Peaks

Hank Worden More played a member of the band in 1978 Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts club band
He played "Senor Droolcup" in 1990 Twin Peaks

@4:12 - Sgt Pepper movie showcases a "red beetle" - more on this later on in the series

@4:20 - Sgt Pepper movie showcases a "yellow beetle". A yellow beetle Volkswagen is also showcased in the movie "The Shining" by Stanely Kubrick. The novel for the movie "The Shining" was inspired by John Lennon's song "Instant Karma"(the line "and we all shine on!")
Now what in the world is Jack Nicholson doing here? More on this later on in the series......

@4:30 - Twin Peaks showcases a "white beetle". From the pilot episode
White beetles are used extensively in the movie "Rosemary's Baby" directed by Roman Polanski

@4:55 - Paul McCartney - Back in the U.S.
More interesting hand signs that you may have seen used elsewhere

@5:17 - Paul uses Magritte in Back in the USA

@5:42 - Hey Jude! Hey Jack! Naaa naaa naa na!
Why Jack Nicholson? Down the rabbit hole later in the series....

Notice what hand sign is used to represent "Love of Money"....

RA #2 Flashback

2009-03-24T09:02:00.000-07:00

This is the second in a series of occasional reviews of past Rotten Apple videos.

The second Rotten Apple installment begins with Paul McCartney's famous wink from the Beatles Anthology. In the Anthology, Paul, George and Ringo are seated at a table discussing the "Are you getting back together?" question. Rotten Apple 2 picks up right after Paul says, "And yet, with 'Free As A Bird' we somehow did." Paul bites his finger, raises his eyebrows and gives a half of a wink.

The video then abruptly shifts to clips of The Beatles "Hello Goodbye" video. The Beatles did three promotional films for the song, one wearing their Sgt. Pepper outfits, one in regular clothes and one that combined clips and outtakes from both versions. Interestingly, the controversial OPD/OPP arm patch from the album cover is nowhere to be found on Paul's Sgt. Pepper costume. The filming took place on November 10, 1967 at the Saville Theatre, the venue that Beatles manager Brian Epstein had purchased in 1965. Brian died two and a half months before the filming of "Hello Goodbye." The Saville was the site of Jimi Hendrix's famous performance of the song "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" on June 4, 1967, three days after The Beatles' original release. Jimi Hendrix was still performing the song in December of 1967.

The audio from Rotten Apple 2 is from a completely different source. It consists of a partially isolated vocal track from the "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band Reprise" with a quick "Turn me on dead man" loop added at the very beginning. Isolated snippets from Sgt. Pepper had been appearing at least as early as 1987 when the television special "It Was Twenty Years Ago Today" was shown. The audio of the "Sgt. Pepper Reprise" starts with the vocal more out in front like the mono version, but then the instrumental track drops out completely.

Using captions, Iamaphoney claimed that the isolated vocal included the words "Paul is dead. Really dead." It appears that Iamaphoney superimposed his own captions over pre-existing captions that said basically the same thing.

The most interesting part of the video appears around the 12 second mark where a brief snippet of the visual portion of the Anthology version of "A Day In The Life" is shown. For some unknown reason The Beatles opted to alter the ending of the promotional film for the song "A Day In The Life" when they made the Anthology in 1995. The original version used some downright creepy slow motion effects. The Anthology version inserted a new ending that consisted of the outlined "seating chart" version of the Sgt. Pepper sleeve gradually being replaced by an alteration of the color album cover shot. In the updated version The Beatles opted to mirror two areas of the cover. The placement of two vertical mirrors down the center of Sonny Liston's body and on Donna Dors' left elbow creates some interesting effects, particularly on the red hyacinths at the bottom of the picture. In addition, back in April of 2004, the never intrusive Apollo C. Vermouth told some members of the Nothing Is Real discussion group that a walrus can be found on the cover of Sgt. Pepper if you place a mirror vertically on Diana Dors' elbow. Not everyone sees a walrus, but many do.

The video also features some Sgt. Pepper album cover character animation from the "It Was Twenty Years Ago Today" television special.

The description of the 28-second video says "more reveals." The tags are "paul is dead mccartney iamaphony." The misspelling of his own name suggests that Iamaphoney had not quite established his identity yet. That would undergo a major change eventually, but at the time of Rotten Apple 2, the videos were quite simple and straightforward.

___________________________________________________________________

YouTube User breadandcircusfilms has a new upload called Bread and Circus: 8.

Although I believe he will be up to the task, these other video makers are giving Iamaphoney some competition in the quality and originality department. Hopefully he will emerge in April with something compelling.

Opening More Dors

2009-03-22T19:50:00.000-07:00

The pretty blond on the right side of the cover of the "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" album is actress Diana Dors.

Promoted as a sex symbol in England, she did receive some respect for her acting abilities when she took on meatier roles portraying despicable characters. She associated with some despicable characters in real life as well. She was a close friend with murderess Ruth Ellis, who appeared in the Dors movie "Lady Godiva Rides Again." Ellis shot her boyfriend David Blakely six times on Easter Sunday of 1955. A short time later Ellis became the last woman to be executed in the United Kingdom. Dors was also a friend of organized crime figures, the Kray Twins. Bob Hoskins' character in the movie "The Long Good Friday" was somewhat based on the Kray twins. Reggie and Ronnie Kray were so impressed they supposedly sent a congratulatory letter to Hoskins from prison. "The Long Good Friday" was produced by Handmade films, the company owned by George Harrison.

One of the most despicable characters Diana Dors ever played was Irene, the wife of a magician in an episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents. Although it was filmed in 1961, the episode entitled "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" remained unreleased for several years because the subject matter scared away advertisers.

Starring with Dors in "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" was an American child star named Brandon De Wilde. Although The Beatles represented child actors with three Shirley Temples and Bobby Breen, Mr. De Wilde could have easily joined the group on the cover of Sgt. Pepper. He was a member of that group of actors, musicians and other various artists who congregated in Laurel Canyon, California in the 1960s and 1970s. Some are dead and some are living. Several self destructed while others achieved great riches despite their association with some decidedly scary characters. Some have appeared in Iamaphoney videos and I expect more to do so in the future.

Brandon De Wilde entered adulthood with quite a bit of musical ambition. He spent time with The Beatles in the Bahamas when they were filming "Help." According to Turner Classic Movies web site, De Wilde supplied a lot of that pot that made filming some of the scenes a test of Richard Lester's patience. From the TCM website:

Paul McCartney remembered De Wilde as “a nice guy who was fascinated by what we did. A sort of Brat Pack actor. We chatted endlessly, and I seem to remember writing [the song] “Wait” in front of him and him being interested to see it written.”

Although still acting at the time, Brandon De Wilde was working on musical material with another one of those people in that musical crowd in Laurel Canyon, California, Gram Parsons. Sadly, De Wilde died at age 30 in a traffic accident in 1972. Although Parsons (pictured below) was not long for this earth either, he did live long enough to write and record a song with Emmylou Harris that contained a verse about the death of his friend. Interestingly, when Parsons and Harris wrote the song about a friend who died in a traffic accident, they decided to borrow a line from a song by another young man who was rumored to have died young in a traffic accident.

Once I knew a young man
Went driving through the night
Miles and miles without a word
But just his high-beam lights

The title of the song is "In My Hour of Darkness," which as you all know is a line from the Paul McCartney song, "Let It Be."

There were a lot more connections between The Beatles and the strange goings on in the Laurel Canyon area of California and vicinity. Some are chronicled by McCartney collaborator Barry Miles ("Which Miles, International Times?") in his book "Hippie." The dark side of the California saga can also be found at Davesweb.

Updates

2009-03-19T18:55:00.000-07:00

Update of the Updates: Forgot to mention two new videos from Sunssol-------
Looking for The Answer
The Fool.

It appears that there really must have been a violinist named Lou Sofier (See previous article). Sir Larry Mildew tells us that in addition to playing violin on "Martha My Dear," he appeared on the 1973 Harry Nilsson album "A Little Touch of Schmilsson in the Night." My trusty record rack does not lie.

There was even a picture of Mr. Sofier in the foldout of the cover. The picture is dark, but he doesn't look too Beelzebubbly to me.

His resemblance to Ray Cooper playing the violin many years later on George Harrison's video for "When We Was Fab" as George was singing the words "Take you away" is purely coincidental. I'm sorry I even brought it up.

Of course, having been produced by Derek Taylor, Nilsson's album of old orchestral standards doesn't fall far from the Beatles Mystery Tree. That's Harry and Derek in the picture below. The woman in the heart is Nilsson's girlfriend at the time, Kathy Simmonds, who had a brief fling with George Harrison the following year until he left her to go on tour. (Source)

F spotted a recent change in the Wiki article on "Martha My Dear." A new vocalist named Sam Rodgers was added to the musician credits. I have not seen any corroboration for Mr. Rodgers being on the recording, but I did notice that his name can be thought of as an anagram for "Re Mars Gods."

pmc27 informed me that you can find more investigation of the Chinese Junk picture (see previous article) at the Paul Is Dead/Paul Is Alive forum. The forum encourages participation from diverse perspectives. Non-Spanish speakers will have to use a translator.

A new tribute album featuring covers of the songs on RAM is available for free download.

If you are ready for a Reggae version of "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band," something called "Easy Star's Lonely Hearts Dub Band" will be available on April 14, 2009.

Devil in the Details

2009-03-15T19:54:00.000-07:00

One of the most common complaints about Iamaphoney videos is the apparent linking of Paul with dark concepts such as Satanism and the occult. This has led some to argue that Iamaphoney is out to destroy Paul McCartney's image or even worse, do harm to him.

One viewer of the Rotten Apple series expressed these concerns directly to Iamaphoney and received a surprising answer. The creator of the Rotten Apple Series wrote: "I love the man who calls himself Paul. I dont [sic] want anyone to get crazy ideas." Iamaphoney also said, "Im [sic] just showing what Paul is showing. I didnt [sic] invent this. It is all in his art, you know."

You really have to use some imagination and some powers of observation to find Satanic references in the "art" of the Beatles and Paul McCartney, but some people seem to be finding them in unexpected places. Paul never wrote a song called 666, but he wrote one called 222 and another called 444.

A YouTube user named dunskie recently discovered one of the most subtle references to the devil on record. Actually it wasn't even on the "record." This tidbit didn't appear until Mark Lewisohn was given unprecedented access to the Beatles recordings and session notes in the late 1980s for his book, "The Beatles Recording Sessions." There were 14 session musicians who added the strings and brass to the song "Martha My Dear" on Friday, the 4th of October, 1968. If you Google any of the musicians on that list of 14 players, you can find other credits, except for one. The one musician who seems to have no other claim to fame aside from playing on "Martha My Dear" is violinist Lou Sofier. YouTuber dunskie suggested that the similarity in sound to "Lucifer" may not be an accident.

It is always possible that a violinist who played on the record made up a pseudonym on the spot. Maybe a famous classical or jazz musician didn't want his name on the session sheet of a pop group recording. That would explain not only the lack of other references to this Lou Sofier, but also the reason for the rather dark pun.

The song "Martha My Dear" has always been thought of as an ode to Paul's English sheepdog Martha, but other interpretations exist. Author Steve Turner and others have suggested that the song might contain some slight digs at McCartney girlfriend Jane Asher as this was about the time that their relationship was coming to an end. According to the Wikipedia entry for the song, "McCartney has also said, cryptically, that the song is about his 'muse'—the voice in his head that tells him what words and music to write." Wiki credits Steve Turner's "A Hard Days Write" as the source of that quote, but it was not in my copy of the book. Perhaps it was taken from an updated edition.

Either way, dunskie suggests that the song is about Paul's muse and that the "inspiration" in question could be something or someone from the dark side. He shares his observations in a video called "THE BEATLES-Martha My Dear- Lou Soufier/Sofier-Violin." There certainly are some parallels between the idea of inspiration from Lucifer and Aleister Crowley's automatic writing. Crowley maintained that "The Book of the Law" was dictated to him by an otherworldly being named Aiwass.

If Paul was in fact giving the devil subtle credit for being his "inspiration," it is interesting that he chose the violin as the instrumental credit. Didn't that well known "beast" from the Christian perspective, Nero, play that same instrument?

As previously stated, I could not find any other references to a musician named Lou Sofier. However, a reference to Lou Sofier was pointed out to me by videomaker extraordinaire grandfatheraleister. It appeared, believe it or not, in the Beatles Cartoon Series back in 1965. In the episode for the song "Help," the lads are in Paris, France for a fashion show. The villain who stole the fashion patterns was named something like "Jacques Lou Sofier."

Granted it could also be "Jack Le Zipper," a play on words for "Jack the Ripper." But, if you listen for the former, you might hear it that way. The spirit of the message is probably good enough for the devil, who I'm told is highly sensitive to subtle tributes. Notice that the man in the picture above who is shown right after the phrase in question (approximately 1:35 in the video) is making the NUMBER 9 with his hands. If you watch the rest of the cartoon episode, you will find a checkerboard design, Paul inside a triangle pyramid, John Lennon in a dartboard bulls eye, Paul kicking the bucket, and the word "clang" which also happened to be the name of a character in the movie "Help." Wow, this is nearly enough to make Joseph Niezgoda write another book!

Strong arguments have been made against those trying to exaggerate the association between the Beatles and Aleister Crowley. PID theorists and fundamentalist Christians with an ax to grind against the Beatles have both used this association to support some outrageous claims. However, Crowley was on the cover of Sgt. Pepper. In Rotten Apple 44, after such a theory was discussed by Jarvtronics at "Nothing Is Real," Iamaphoney suggested that Crowley appeared twice on the cover. (See previous post)

Funnily enough, a website called U.S. Grand Lodge, Ordo Templi Orientis says "The Beatles included [Aleister Crowley] on the 'people we like' cover of Sergeant Pepper's not once but twice—the second photo was reportedly dropped as Crowley too closely resembled Paul McCartney." I think the image below is the one to which they were referring.

And the next image, found in the Mark Lewisohn book, "The Beatles Recording Sessions," strongly supports the claim that the Beatles did intend to put that other picture of Crowley on the Sgt. Pepper cover.

Yes, that is the younger Crowley in that crowd.

One more reference to the "beast" which should make the list of most subtle on record may or may not be the single "Hey Jude." According to my U.S. copy of the 45, the Beatles' longest single clocks in a 7:11. However, several "Nothing Is Real" members in a thread last year challenged the accuracy of the information on the label.

In a world of analog tape, adjustable speed variation, instrument tuning, vinyl record pressing, belt driven turntables and other potential inaccuracies, it is probably impossible to get a perfect read on the exact timing of the "Hey Jude" 45 rpm record. The person who wrote the Wikipedia entry for the song must have tried and came up with 7:05. Another person interested in accuracy was Alan W. Pollack, author of the highly respected and often cited "Notes On" series, who came up with 7:07. This leaves open the possibility that the actual time of "Hey Jude" could have been 7:06.

While it would not be accepted by any school teacher I have met, it is not completely outside the realm of creative logical thought to interpret the time 7 minutes and 6 seconds (7:06) to be equal to 6 minutes plus 66 seconds. Only some of the most divergent thinkers at NIR could come up with something like that, and only the devil himself would get a tribute that subtle.

Thanks to all the friends who contributed insights that wound up in this article.

The Chinese Junk Picture - A Second Look

2009-03-10T09:44:00.000-07:00

I want to thank the knowledgeable reader who pointed out that the picture above was not a recent fake because it appeared in the Beatles Monthly, Issue #61 from August of 1968. The "Nothing Is Real" discussion group has done an excellent job researching this particular image, but I thought it couldn't hurt to highlight a few things about it.

The photograph, which features three individuals who resemble Paul McCartney, accompanied an article entitled "With Paul to Hollywood." The credited writer of the article was Apple employee Tony Bramwell who had directed the Apple promotional film that introduced the new company to Capitol records employees. Bramwell would make news a year later when he was identified by his employer as the Apple staffer who took it upon himself to impersonate Paul McCartney in an American radio interview in order to squelch the Paul is dead rumor. The move made things worse and Bramwell was left to hang out to dry as the one who made the bonehead decision. I'm sure that the experience left Bramwell feeling betrayed, but probably not enough to make him start making YouTube videos 40 years later suggesting that Paul McCartney is the devil.

The article describes a June 1968 Apple business trip from London to Los Angeles with a brief stop in New York. In addition to Bramwell, childhood friend and former tea-chest bass player for the Quarrymen, Ivan Vaughan accompanied McCartney on the trip. The main objective appeared to be the showing of the Apple promotional film with an appearance by Paul at a Capitol Records gathering. Capitol would gain the rights to manufacture and distribute Apple Records in the United States.

The next pages contain memories of recreational time in LA, with no mention of Linda Eastman who might have been staying with Paul at the time. There are pictures of Paul at the hotel pool. The left page also contains ads for back issues of the Beatles Monthly, some of which were featured in the poster that came with the White Album.

The last page of the article describes a yacht trip to the Marina Del Rey in California with Apple executives. Interestingly the accompanying pictures of the yacht trip were not related to the one being described in the article. The caption on the picture accurately indicates that it was taken on a trip in the Hudson River in New York. John Lennon, who was back in Britain mixing versions of "Revolution" during the California trip was present on the Hudson River boat. John and Paul were in New York to give a press conference announcing the launch of Apple on May 11, 1968. An online transcript of the press conference says that the Chinese Junk meeting took place the previous weekend. That would date the picture sometime during May 3-5.

Only one of the three individuals bearing some resemblance to Paul McCartney is looking in the direction of the camera. The picture on the left could just as easily resemble Apple staffers Ken Mansfield or Ron Kass, but if you dropped him in a picture with George, John and Ringo, most people would assume it was Paul. The same may be true for the fellow on the right who is turned even further away from the camera. To make matters more confusing, the person on the right is wearing a jacket similar to the one Paul wore in 1966 at the "Light Suits" concert at the Budokan Arena in Japan, although there are pictures of Derek Taylor in a similar jacket. The man in the middle is the one we see the best and he is the one that appears to be Paul McCartney as he looked in 1968. It seems odd that the three men in question would be spread so perfectly across the boat. It almost looks staged.

Interestingly, that same issue of the Beatles Monthly contained two pictures that would become part of the Paul Is Dead legend. The one above is a summer of 1963 photo of the Beatles swimming that would later be cropped and used by Charles Braverman in a "Paul Is Dead" segment of the film "Braverman's Condensed Cream of Beatles." The other picture is a "Yellow Submarine" promotional shot featuring the human Paul, George and Ringo with the animated John. Guess what is over Paul's head...again!

Random Ramblings from the Dark Side

2009-03-07T19:39:00.000-08:00

Grandfatheraleister returns with one of his best: Paul is Dead - 34 -"No One Does It to You like Roman Polanski"

It is always fun to see when our lunatic fringe subject is alluded to in the mainstream media.

A Master’s in Paul-Is-Definitely-Not-Dead By Allan Kozinn. In addition to his Beatles-related articles in the New York Times and his occasional stories for Beatlefan, Kozinn wrote an excellent book called "The Beatles."

Some people may find Ringo Starr's new Aviva ad a little Matrixy.

Surely the release date of The Beatles Rock Band Game will make most people raise an eyebrow or two.

RA #1 Flashback

2009-03-05T14:23:00.000-08:00

This is the first in a series of occasional reviews of past Rotten Apple videos.

The first voice you hear in the Rotten Apple series is that of Joel Glazier, the author of the article "Paul Is Dead...Miss Him, Miss Him," that appeared in the January 1979 issue of the fanzine “Strawberry Fields Forever.” Glazier shared his expertise as a guest on “The Beatle Years” radio show hosted by former Lennon Publicist Elliot Mintz in 1993. In the audio clip Glazier is explaining how to place a mirror over the words “Lonely Hearts” on the Sgt. Pepper bass drum to reveal the secret message “1 ONE 1 X HE ^ DIE.”

Several still pictures, some of which came from the “Paul Is Dead” sequence of the film “Braverman’s Condensed Cream of Beatles” accompany Glazier’s explanation. Braverman had used an out of context picture of Paul in a swimming pool and an old World War II photograph to "illustrate" the "Paul Is Dead" phenomenon. This technique of using unrelated images to help tell a story would be borrowed by Iamaphoney on many occasions.

Glazier's speech is followed by a bit of the promo film for "Strawberry Fields Forever." After a few familiar bars, the audio is reversed. Unlike most backwards audio, you don't need to have the creativity of Sunssol or the "Sleepy Red Moose" guy to hear understandable words in this clip. "We'll sing it, man. We'll be reverse." Admittedly, the sentences don't make a ton of sense, and the word "reverse" in particular sounds as if it was spoken by a toddler. But you don't have to be crazy to interpret it as an invitation to listen to Beatles music backwards.

Then other visual and audio clues are presented in a somewhat random manner until we see some John and Yoko footage and hear John debunking the "I buried Paul" claim. His "cranberry sauce" story is then contradicted by Apple executive Allen Klein's "On that particular take, his guitar buried Paul's sound" excuse. That sound bite and the one that follows came from a television show produced in 1969 by RKO. The program centered on a mock trial featuring lawyer F. Lee Bailey interviewing some of the principle characters in the "Paul Is Dead" rumor story.

One of those characters was Paul McCartney's close friend Peter Asher. Peter, the brother of Paul's ex-girlfriend and member of pop duo Peter and Gordon is heard admitting "It sounds like John is saying 'I buried Paul.'" While this is happening, we see video footage of Beatles Road Manager and "Castle Keep" Neil Aspinall moving his lips. This of course, can only be classified as misleading, deceptive and blatantly dishonest, because I'm sure it caused some people watching to think that it was Aspinall speaking. What was the name of the person who made this video containing such a unapologetic misrepresentation? Oh yeah, Iamaphoney. That's cool.

The next image we see is the overhead shot from the Magical Mystery Tour book rotated 90 degrees. Glazier suggested in the "Strawberry Fields" article that the rotated picture resembled a human skull. The sound is the "I Buried Paul" ending of the song "Strawberry Fields Forever" as it was heard on the WNEW-News Closeup with Christopher Glenn from November of 1969. The video concluded with another quick backwards clip of "Blue Jay Way" interpreted as "Paul is bloody."

The description of the video states: "I`m preparing the world for the revelation" and "We'll sing it, man. We'll be reverse." Although appropriate, it may be apocryphal. I'm not sure that Iamaphoney was using this "revelation" language this early on in the series. Say what you want about his questionable manner of fudging evidence, it is a tribute to his artistry that many are still around two years later, still curious about what he intends to do next. It is also a tribute to the mystical quality of the Beatles music that has fired the imagination of the world for decades. The link below is an unsolicited ad with the hope that they will allow me to continue to use that wonderfully ironic picture of a beheaded guy wearing a backwards "Paul Is Dead" tee shirt.