First of all, who is Fred Seaman? He'd been a personal assistant to John and Yoko at the Dakota in the late seventies, but he's also a convicted criminal. He was found guilty of stealing John Lennon's personal belongings, including his diaries, after Lennon had been killed. He was sentenced to five years probation.
I wasn't too impressed with some of his personal decisions regarding his son Julian, however it was his life.
It took me some time, but I finally got hip to the non-aggression principle.
War is a racket.
Yes war is a racket, and those that start it try to convince you that you are a hero for putting your life on the line for them.
John was young and fame had come fast, and he was not around to be a father. I heard Julian talk about this, he has worked through his feelings, and he is very close to Sean.
Thirty-nine years ago, a 14-year-old named Jerry Levitan managed to talk his way into John Lennon's Toronto hotel room. Impressed by the kid's chutzpah, Lennon obliged him with a five-minute chat that covered war, peace, and the newly arrived Bee Gees.
Last year, Levitan teamed up with filmmaker Josh Raskin to make "I Met the Walrus" - a charming animated film that turns Lennon's thoughts into concrete images. The results are trippy but cogent, and no less interesting than what the Beatle had to say. Lennon himself would have loved it.
I was just telling Hippie the other night about my "night John Lennon was murdered" experience ... I was living alone, in my first apartment, up late reading, drinking and listening to music. Changed over to the radio and heard Beatle song after Beatle song; thought "this is cool" until they said WHY. I became hysterical (my older brother, who'd been killed in an auto accident in 1974, looked like and emulated John). ALONE. I called the radio station and talked to some person there ... can't recall if it was a man or woman ... but the human contact helped through the nightmare. I remember that the next day at work I was just numb.
Yea, all that peace stuff was cool and everything, but I like him for his music and that is enough for me whether he did anything else or not. I do not judge musicians on a diplomatic world changing scale, they are not role models, they are musicians and he was a great one.
"There's nothing you can do that can't be done."
I'm playing that one as an exit song at my wedding.
Yea, all that peace stuff was cool and everything, but I like him for his music and that is enough for me whether he did anything else or not. I do not judge musicians on a diplomatic world changing scale, they are not role models, they are musicians and he was a great one.
PBS had a profound special on him. It showed the transformation of his life from the time he left the Beatles through his passionate fatherhood. The Special demonstrated how he worked through many of his demons and ended up being a gentle, loving husband and father. Lennon took a hard stance against violence. In an interview, he commented about Martin Luther King JR. fighting for peace and killed in a violent crime - his own tragic destiny.
I saw it too. I am amazed, sometimes, at how certain people reach the best transformation they've ever reached in their lives....and then promptly die. (Stevie Ray Vaughn is another one that comes to mind)
John put his life on the line and put up with constant harassment from our government to promote peace in this world. Like Dr. King, JFK, and others who have played such an important part in changing the world, he was not perfect. He was flawed. That doesn't change what he did. And he made some really important music. He could have just been a musician. He could have lived like Mick. Instead, he chose to use what he had available to him to make a difference in the world. That makes him a hero in my book.
Location: i believe, i believe, it's silly, but I believe Gender:
Posted:
Dec 8, 2010 - 5:34am
Proclivities wrote:
I was a freshman at The School of Visual Arts in NYC. I went up to The Dakota more than a few times in the following days to just stand around with a bunch of sobbing folks and stare off into space. It doesn't seem like 30 years ago to me either.
I know that all too well.
