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You are here: Home / Open Threads / Fighting vainly the old ennui

Fighting vainly the old ennui

by DougJ|  November 21, 20109:20 pm| 118 Comments

This post is in: Open Threads, I Reject Your Reality and Substitute My Own

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Slow day for blogging. The Ireland bail-out story is the big news, but I will only become interested in that discussion when it takes on “young micks buying Guinness with their bail-out dollars” overtones.

Thus, all I have is a bunch of questions about advertisements:

  • Is the guy in that Acura chestnut roaster ad blatantly ripping off Chris Walken? link
  • Is that BMW ad explicitly aimed at gay automobile consumers or is it trying to fly under the radar?  (If the latter, it’s not doing a very good job.)
  • Why “Yesterday” for the big iTunes Beatles ad?  That might be the worst Beatles song.  “Revolution” seems like a no brainer to me here, even if it’s been done before.  How about “I’m Looking Through You” with some young hipster looking at his retina display or whatever they call it?  “And Your Bird Can Sing” with that bird-call app my nature freak family loves?  Work with me here.
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Reader Interactions

118Comments

  1. 1.

    Yutsano

    November 21, 2010 at 9:24 pm

    Links please? Not all of us haz this strange thing called a television.

  2. 2.

    mikefromArlington

    November 21, 2010 at 9:24 pm

    Ames over @ exiled online noted this article regarding this debacle.

    http://golemxiv-credo.blogspot.com/2010/10/who-are-bond-holders-we-are-bailing-out.html?source=patrick.net#navbar-iframe

    After reading it and another article @ zerohedge and a few other sites, it looks like Ireland was strong armed into this. Businesses were pulling their money slowly out of the banks there and as someone here mentioned the other day, the bankers were threatening to blow the whole thing up.

  3. 3.

    DougJ

    November 21, 2010 at 9:25 pm

    @Yutsano:

    Yeah, but you are aware that there is an invention called television. And, on this invention they show shows, right?

  4. 4.

    Yutsano

    November 21, 2010 at 9:28 pm

    @DougJ: Bah. Sounds like some strange antiquated technology to me. Or the devil’s handiwork. I bet nothing good can come from it.

  5. 5.

    Warren Terra

    November 21, 2010 at 9:30 pm

    How can you possible be asking about a car advertisement that’s puzzling you and it’s not the mystifying one I saw at least three times last weekend in the only couple of hours of viewing broadcast television I’ve done in months, the car ad where some dude is being harassed by a three-foot tall green weirdo in a jumpsuit and streamlined helmet; near the middle of the commercial, the imp steals the guy’s sunglasses from his table in a Starbucks (or clone) so the guy takes off in pursuit – abandoning his laptop on the table – and (after a very brief chase montage) we next see them sitting side by side as the guy drives the advertised car down some beautiful country road. The tagline is something about “your driving spirit” or some such and I really want to meet the executives who approved the campaign, because I can offer them a truly incredible deal on a bridge.

    I wish I could remember the company who’s paying for the ad, so I could hate them more effectively.

  6. 6.

    cathyx

    November 21, 2010 at 9:31 pm

    The most popular Beatles song is “Good Day Sunshine”. Don’t get why it’s that one.

  7. 7.

    Lavocat

    November 21, 2010 at 9:32 pm

    I understand that as I type this there is a massive run on the banks in Ireland (mostly foreign institutional investors) and that the government may have to declare a weeklong (permanent?) bank holiday.

    Also some prima donna from Man United is trying to incite a run on the banks in France.

    Kinda makes me wonder when there will be runs on the banks here.

    I’m thinking the latest craze in flash mobs may be millions of people simultaneously emptying their bank accounts worldwide. Sounds cool. Wonder how bad the consequences would turn out to be.

  8. 8.

    adolphus

    November 21, 2010 at 9:32 pm

    How about “When I’m 64” and show an old baby boomer geezers (who did not in fact die before he got old, yes I am mixing artists here) trying to work an iPod, cut to young Millennial who can work an iPod but thinks Beatles songs were written as Nike jingles and then come together in some ear bud plugging sexual symbolism ecstasy.

  9. 9.

    J

    November 21, 2010 at 9:33 pm

    @DougJ: Gotta love Pulp Fiction. Nice one.

    But Yesterday was correct. Revolution would have been good too. Maybe a Hard Day’s Night. Sgt Pepper?

    Or, perhaps since we’re rapidly becoming a Communist Paradise under the O-Bot (up to 50% + of the economy into the Government and out of private control, right Michelle Bachmann?): Back in the USSR.

  10. 10.

    J

    November 21, 2010 at 9:34 pm

    @adolphus: That would actually be a pretty good commercial.

  11. 11.

    DougJ

    November 21, 2010 at 9:34 pm

    @adolphus:

    I like it.

  12. 12.

    Dennis SGMM

    November 21, 2010 at 9:36 pm

    @DougJ:
    Before I retreated in disorder to TCM three years ago, I recall trying to watch these “shows” that you mentioned. All that I can recall is that the show would start and then they’d cut to a dozen or so rapid-fire ads. The show would resume and then a few minutes later it would be “And now a word from your local station…” followed by another machine gunning by the advertisers. It was like having ADHD.

  13. 13.

    freelancer

    November 21, 2010 at 9:36 pm

    Pull the car over, I need to sulk.

    Most advertising makes me want to open veins, but the new tv spot for True Grit gives me goosebumps. Here’s the trailer.

  14. 14.

    arguingwithsignposts

    November 21, 2010 at 9:36 pm

    DougJ, you missed Jon Meacham’s analogy fail. Also, there were some ripe targets in the Sunday Times besides the Palinpalooza. Check out the budget balancing game results, for instance.

  15. 15.

    Yutsano

    November 21, 2010 at 9:37 pm

    @DougJ: I sense a “Mad Men” in the making right there. And grazie mille for indulging your technologically challenged posters.

    (I actually have a TV, but it’s back home. I refuse to pay the cable extortion rate here and can’t have satellite in my building.)

  16. 16.

    Yutsano

    November 21, 2010 at 9:43 pm

    @freelancer: I have no idea who the girl is, but damn it takes some gumption to steal a movie away from that troupe of actors.

  17. 17.

    DougJ

    November 21, 2010 at 9:44 pm

    @arguingwithsignposts:

    I like that Meacham thing. What an idiot.

  18. 18.

    RSA

    November 21, 2010 at 9:57 pm

    If we’re talking about car ads, I wonder how those ads are supposed to work in which a kid says, “Just because you’re parents doesn’t mean you have to be lame”? For one, it’s not up to kids to call parents lame–that’s for adults who don’t have kids. For another, who’s the target audience? People who think they should pay attention to the judgment of an eight-year-old?

  19. 19.

    James E. Powell

    November 21, 2010 at 10:00 pm

    What’s your favorite Beatles song? Years ago, the guy at my favorite record store ever said “It’s the one I forgot about.” I thought it was the best answer I ever heard. I wonder why the people that use The Beatles’ music in their ads and such don’t try to follow that rule and come up with one that we are not expecting. “And Your Bird Can Sing” is a good example.

  20. 20.

    mai name

    November 21, 2010 at 10:01 pm

    There are many pundits I find annoying. The three I dislike similarly are Jon Meacham, Tom Brokaw and the late Bill Buckley. All three do this faux deep thinker bit taking it further with their faux Oxbridge/Haar-vurr-d accents. Ugh. OTH, you have Sarah Palin and her faux real woman grizzly mama crap.

  21. 21.

    SmallAxe

    November 21, 2010 at 10:02 pm

    How Clean are your Balls?

    Have you seen this commercial yet from AXE about some new ball scrub gadget they have… and I’m talking about the perfect implement to clean pre-teabag.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bevJr3Ra84Q

    I’ve only seen it on cable, usually after 8PM but I still can’t believe it airs on American television at all. Cracks me up to no end though it is a classic

  22. 22.

    MikeJ

    November 21, 2010 at 10:02 pm

    @mikefromArlington: Strong armed. Yeah, right. Say you run a pub and you have two for one night. You get some shady characters in, but you want the business. Then they demand three for one. Four for one. 100 for one.

    Ireland went begging the bad element of the neighborhood to move in. They did. We’re supposed to feel sorry when the scorpion lives up to his nature, to meet a mixaphore?

  23. 23.

    Comrade Kevin

    November 21, 2010 at 10:06 pm

    The ad that has been pissing me off recently is the Subaru (?) one using the Pogues’ “If I Should Fall From Grace With God”.

  24. 24.

    MikeJ

    November 21, 2010 at 10:06 pm

    And I’m with Yutsy, I have no idea what gay BMW ad you mean.

    I would prefer Tomorrow Never Knows for my Beatles fix, but 1)putting it in an ad wouldn’t please me and 2) I’ve never seen the ad in question and possibly never will.

  25. 25.

    Jay in Oregon

    November 21, 2010 at 10:08 pm

    @arguingwithsignposts:

    Meachum is trying to portray Job’s story as “prideful, chosen one gets smacked down, dares to question God, God smacks him down again, Job straightens up and flies right and God blesses him again.”

    God doesn’t put Job through anything: the Devil says that Job only loves God because God made him happy, rich, and powerful and if God took all of that away, Job would curse him.

    God says “Prove it. You can do whatever you want to his family, his livelihood, and his wealth — just don’t kill him — and Job will not curse me.”

    And Job doesn’t.

    Job suffers, he gets angry, his wife and his friends spurn him, he even asks God to put him out of his misery, but he never curses God. He maintains his love of God, and that is why God ends up giving him back all that he had, and more.

    Sure, Job questions God’s plan and God whips up a storm and says “when you can do what I do, you get to see the big picture”; but God is also saying “Don’t worry about it. You keep loving me, and I’ll take care of you.”

    So, in order for Meachum’s analogy to make sense, Obama isn’t being punished for his pride or his arrogance; his faith in… the American people? the spirit of “bipartisanship”?… is being tested by the Republicans taking control of the House. And if Obama can keep his faith, then he will be rewarded by the Democrats taking even greater control — maybe we’ll get that 2/3 supermajority that we need to get shit done!

  26. 26.

    freelancer

    November 21, 2010 at 10:09 pm

    @SmallAxe:

    The Idiocracy is nigh. Still funny though.

  27. 27.

    Omnes Omnibus

    November 21, 2010 at 10:11 pm

    @Comrade Kevin: That is just wrong. It bothers me every time I see it. The only saving grace, as it were, might be if the money from the ad is used to buy Shane some new teeth.

  28. 28.

    trollhattan

    November 21, 2010 at 10:12 pm

    @freelancer:

    Oh boy, that looks like twelve pounds of fun in a ten-pound box. I vote for a double bill with this, which looks too goofy not to love.

    http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/universal/cowboysaliens/

  29. 29.

    Jay in Oregon

    November 21, 2010 at 10:12 pm

    Is that BMW ad explicitly aimed at gay automobile consumers or is it trying to fly under the radar? (If the latter, it’s not doing a very good job.)

    You mean this one?

    http://www.gayrightswatch.com/img/bmw_hard_top.jpg

  30. 30.

    Dennis SGMM

    November 21, 2010 at 10:17 pm

    @Jay in Oregon:
    Does this mean that my Miata will finally be dethroned as the gayest car evar?

  31. 31.

    Belvoir

    November 21, 2010 at 10:20 pm

    “Tomorrow Never Knows” is perhaps my favorite of theirs. For the iTunes rollout , maybe “Hello Goodbye” with the hello emphasized. It was sung on Glee last month, and the Youngs like that show. What do I know.

    Thank FSG for a DVR though. Ads get zapped, which is great because the sheer juvenile idiocy/boredom of most commercials I can’t deal with no mo. Life is too short.

    Worst thing you can do is flip through cable channels at 3am. The commercials are like some flourescent lit hell of American fear, it’s a Vegas pawnshop feeding on desperate insecurity and fright. Garish commercial underbelly of capitalism, people trying to screw the poor and seniors out of a few more pennies. Depressing nihilism.

  32. 32.

    lamh32

    November 21, 2010 at 10:22 pm

    @freelancer:

    Saw that trailer when I saw “Unstoppable” last week. I’m not really into Western of any kind really, but I did see that, and with the yum yum that is Jeff Bridges (dont’ know why, but I do love Jeff Bridges), it looks really good.

  33. 33.

    Omnes Omnibus

    November 21, 2010 at 10:24 pm

    @Dennis SGMM: The Nash Metropolitan would like to speak with you.

  34. 34.

    lamh32

    November 21, 2010 at 10:25 pm

    Oooh,

    are we talking about commercials that bug us? I cannot stand that damn Allstate commercial with that damn “I am Mayhem” guy.

  35. 35.

    Anya

    November 21, 2010 at 10:25 pm

    The medieval city of Kilkenny, renowned as Ireland’s capital of comedy, is hosting the nation’s first-ever economics festival, a uniquely Irish blend of tragedy and satire. Sharing the same stage, economists and standup comedians are trying to help thousands of shellshocked citizens get a grip on their nation’s spectacular economic fall.

    The financial crises apparently has frightened and bewildered citizens of Ireland that some comedians put together a comedy competion to explain the debt crisis to the public.

  36. 36.

    Roger Moore

    November 21, 2010 at 10:30 pm

    @RSA:

    For one, it’s not up to kids to call parents lame—that’s for adults who don’t have kids.

    Kids certainly can and do bitch to their parents about how lame their cars are. Kids are just as status conscious as adults, if not more so, and they notice whose parents have cool cars and whose have lame ones. Even if some kids don’t notice themselves, their fellow kids will clue them in.

  37. 37.

    Menzies

    November 21, 2010 at 10:30 pm

    First of all, I actually like “Yesterday,” but that’s not the reason they chose it.

    They chose it because, according to TIME magazine, it’s Vladimir Putin’s favorite Beatles song.

  38. 38.

    MTmofo

    November 21, 2010 at 10:33 pm

    Yes
    No clue. Haven’t seen it.
    Don’t fucking care.

  39. 39.

    Dennis SGMM

    November 21, 2010 at 10:39 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus:
    Heh! Forgot that one. They’re collectible now. When I was attending High School back in the Sixties one of my buddies was given a Metropolitan to drive to school by an aunt or a grandma. He walked or begged rides instead.

  40. 40.

    Chris

    November 21, 2010 at 10:40 pm

    Wouldn’t Come Together have been the obvious choice?

  41. 41.

    Bruce (formerly Steve S.)

    November 21, 2010 at 10:43 pm

    Why “Yesterday” for the big iTunes Beatles ad?

    The only one I’ve personally seen featured is Let it Be. A very accessible McCartney melody is the common denominator, needless to say.

    That might be the worst Beatles song.

    No, Let it Be and a number of others are vastly worse than Yesterday. In fact, if you made a list of “pop songs that have been played to death and I friggin’ hate them, but they are in fact very good songs” Yesterday would be near the top.

    How about … And Your Bird Can Sing

    I’d prefer that all of John’s stuff from Revolver just fly under the radar, thank you.

  42. 42.

    kommrade reproductive vigor

    November 21, 2010 at 10:49 pm

    @Jay in Oregon: Translation: “We put some suggestive copy here to distract you from how much this car’s profile resembles a Hyundai Sonata’s.”

  43. 43.

    frosty

    November 21, 2010 at 10:54 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: Uh-oh. I learned to drive on a ’57 Nash Metropolitan and I’m still driving the Miata I bought in 1989. Is there a gay car I’m missing?

    I know!! I’ve never driven a VW Cabrio!

  44. 44.

    Comrade Luke

    November 21, 2010 at 10:56 pm

    @Bruce (formerly Steve S.): Let It Be is worse than Yesterday?

    BLASPHEMY

  45. 45.

    Bill Murray

    November 21, 2010 at 10:57 pm

    @mai name: I think Buckley’s accent was real Harvard, and Brokaw’s is standard Middle Western American not Oxbridge/Harvard. Meachum I don’t know

  46. 46.

    J

    November 21, 2010 at 10:59 pm

    @Bruce (formerly Steve S.): She Said is my favorite from Revolver. Love that song.

  47. 47.

    Comrade PhysioProf

    November 21, 2010 at 10:59 pm

    Seems like Tax Man would be an apropos Beatles tune these days.

  48. 48.

    Omnes Omnibus

    November 21, 2010 at 11:00 pm

    @Bill Murray: Brokaw does have something odd in his vocal delivery. It is not standard Mid West.

  49. 49.

    J

    November 21, 2010 at 11:01 pm

    @Comrade PhysioProf: or Back in the USSR.

  50. 50.

    Comrade Luke

    November 21, 2010 at 11:03 pm

    Kim Kardashian is one of the people of the year?

    Fuck it, let Palin win.

  51. 51.

    Corner Stone

    November 21, 2010 at 11:03 pm

    @Bruce (formerly Steve S.):

    No, Let it Be and a number of others are vastly worse than Yesterday. In fact, if you made a list of “pop songs that have been played to death and I friggin’ hate them, but they are in fact very good songs” Yesterday would be near the top.

    That’s funny to me because the only two Beatles’ songs I can stand to allow continue playing if I hear them are Let it Be and Yesterday.
    Thankfully this almost never, ever happens.

  52. 52.

    mbss

    November 21, 2010 at 11:06 pm

    yesterday is the worst beatles song?

    what.the.fuck?

    have you heard all their songs?

  53. 53.

    Felanius Kootea (formerly Salt and freshly ground black people)

    November 21, 2010 at 11:09 pm

    @MTmofo: LOL

  54. 54.

    mbss

    November 21, 2010 at 11:09 pm

    http://blogs.indiewire.com/thompsononhollywood/2010/11/19/worst_beatles_album_ever/

    their list is similar to mine, but i have yellow submarine as number 1.

    the ringo starr songs generally suck.

  55. 55.

    Dennis SGMM

    November 21, 2010 at 11:10 pm

    @frosty:

    You missed the Mini Moke with a surrey top.

  56. 56.

    Comrade Luke

    November 21, 2010 at 11:11 pm

    @mbss: There you go. Now that’s a list I can get behind!

  57. 57.

    mbss

    November 21, 2010 at 11:14 pm

    @Comrade Luke:

    and since you are the ombudsman/in-house critic that means a lot to me.

  58. 58.

    Chris

    November 21, 2010 at 11:16 pm

    I nominate Act Naturally as the worst Beatles song.

  59. 59.

    Roger Moore

    November 21, 2010 at 11:17 pm

    @frosty:

    I know!! I’ve never driven a VW Cabrio!

    No, that’s a chick car, not a gay car.

  60. 60.

    Comrade Luke

    November 21, 2010 at 11:19 pm

    @mbss: When it comes to saying Let It Be or Yesterday is the worst Beatles song, yes, I’m the goddamned ombudsman of Balloon Juice.

    Well, not so much ombudsman as in-house critic.

    By my formal decree, anyone that says Let It Be or Yesterday is the worst Beatles song will have Brick Oven Bill do their tax return.

  61. 61.

    jl

    November 21, 2010 at 11:22 pm

    @Dennis SGMM:

    “You missed the Mini Moke with a surrey top”

    What album is that from?

  62. 62.

    BruceFromOhio

    November 21, 2010 at 11:22 pm

    Is the guy in that Acura chestnut roaster ad blatantly ripping off Chris Walken?

    To blatantly rip off is to get away with something, and the smarmy twerp in that ad is clearly not in the same league as Herr Walken. The only possible way to make that spot even more fvcking annoying is if it was Peyton Manning roasting his Gaia-damned nuts instead of the smarmy twerp.

    What BMW ad?

    And is that what the Fab Four are hawking? I had the sound off, so no love here. And the very best Beatles tune is ‘Eleanor Rigby’. All their other shit just plain sucks.

  63. 63.

    mbss

    November 21, 2010 at 11:22 pm

    E.D. Kain’s least favorite beatles song is Taxman.

  64. 64.

    Roger Moore

    November 21, 2010 at 11:26 pm

    @mbss:

    their list is similar to mine, but i have yellow submarine as number 1.

    Sorry, but any list of the worst Beatles songs that doesn’t have Revolution #9 at the top is defective. As far as good ones, how about While My Guitar Gently Weeps?

  65. 65.

    mbss

    November 21, 2010 at 11:27 pm

    @Comrade Luke:

    hey, what ever happened to BOB? did you guys reverse troll him away?

    i remember i would be commenting here a year or two ago and he would go off on some weird tangent about how delicious pizzas are that come from brick ovens, and he would list his horrifically paltry bachelor dinner after cole listed his gourmet gourmand dinner and it would actually crack me up a bit.

  66. 66.

    kdaug

    November 21, 2010 at 11:28 pm

    @Comrade Kevin: Any ad with Teeth McGowan is, by definition, sacrilege.

  67. 67.

    Dennis SGMM

    November 21, 2010 at 11:29 pm

    @jl:
    It was a single that they did when Stuart Sutcliffe was still playing bass for them.

  68. 68.

    Comrade Luke

    November 21, 2010 at 11:30 pm

    @mbss: There is a post from earlier in the day where he tries to explain tax rates. He gets one of the best smackdowns I’ve seen here, which is saying something.

    Thing of beauty by Alluridae (hope I got that right).

  69. 69.

    burnspbesq

    November 21, 2010 at 11:30 pm

    Colorado wins the MLS final on an own goal in overtime.

  70. 70.

    mbss

    November 21, 2010 at 11:30 pm

    @Roger Moore:

    you’re a bond after my own heart. i’m a big harrison fan. there have been some sweet covers of that tune, also. Also.

    here is one of my fav. this dude is from hawaii and he shreds the uke.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=puSkP3uym5k

  71. 71.

    Yutsano

    November 21, 2010 at 11:31 pm

    @burnspbesq:

    Colorado wins the MLS final on an own goal in overtime.

    Dammit. I just had a pithy comment lined up about bad referees, Dallas, and oil money.

  72. 72.

    trollhattan

    November 21, 2010 at 11:32 pm

    @mbss:

    Shusshhh! He was befouling another thread earlier today, demonstrating (with vigor) he has the same innumeracy as all baggers.

  73. 73.

    Dennis SGMM

    November 21, 2010 at 11:35 pm

    @mbss:
    If you’re a Harrison fan then you’ve probably heard “When We Was Fab.”

    I like the song but, to me, there’s something eerie about it.

  74. 74.

    kdaug

    November 21, 2010 at 11:37 pm

    @kdaug: Unless it is specifically an ad for rum, sodomy, or the lash, that is. In that case it is not only acceptable, but appropriate.

  75. 75.

    Sentient Puddle

    November 21, 2010 at 11:39 pm

    I’m with the crowd that likes Yesterday, but I’m going to say it really doesn’t fit with the theme of the ads. It’s such a downer of a song, and if the goal is to go with something recognizable, you could do much better. Come Together would be a great pick here. Or how about Getting Better?

    There is a commercial that uses Here Comes The Sun, which happens to be my favorite Beatles song. So…props to that.

    And as to the worst Beatles song, I’m pretty sure the consensus on this one is Mr. Moonlight. You ask me, I’d say Revolution 9, but apparently there are some avant garde weirdos who really like that stuff.

  76. 76.

    MikeJ

    November 21, 2010 at 11:43 pm

    @Sentient Puddle: There is only one song in competition for the worst Beatles song ever: Run For Your Life.

  77. 77.

    mbss

    November 21, 2010 at 11:46 pm

    @Dennis SGMM:

    that is a good song. i had almost forgot that he was in the traveling wilburys.

    man, i love orbison, too.

  78. 78.

    Roger Moore

    November 21, 2010 at 11:48 pm

    @mbss:

    you’re a bond after my own heart

    Why always with the Bond references? Why do I never get a single Simon Templar comment?

  79. 79.

    dand

    November 21, 2010 at 11:55 pm

    Yesterday is the worst Beatles song ever? Really? Haven’t listened to much or what?

    That has to say something….

  80. 80.

    kdaug

    November 21, 2010 at 11:56 pm

    @MikeJ: Oh, come on.

    What’s wrong with “I’d rather see you dead little girl, than to be with another man”?

    It’s downright progressive. For 340 AD.

  81. 81.

    trollhattan

    November 22, 2010 at 12:01 am

    Yeaaaaagggh! Be vewwy afwaid. She’s somebody’s neighbor.

    http://www.rumproast.com/index.php/site/comments/sleep_tight_roasters/

  82. 82.

    Yutsano

    November 22, 2010 at 12:12 am

    @trollhattan: Words fail. But s/he should at least fess up where s/he found it.

    @wasabi gasp: Penny Lane works MUCH better arranged for an all male a cappella group. Trust me, I’ve done it. Light years over the original.

  83. 83.

    wasabi gasp

    November 22, 2010 at 12:12 am

    Penny Lane is the worst piece of shit those fuckers ever concocted. {{{stink eying Paul}}}

  84. 84.

    mbss

    November 22, 2010 at 12:24 am

    young boy strip searched by TSA

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=skkCpnCm7iM

  85. 85.

    YellowJournalism

    November 22, 2010 at 12:40 am

    I vote for Hard Day’s Night because they’re going to work this catalog like a dog.

  86. 86.

    YellowJournalism

    November 22, 2010 at 12:42 am

    @Comrade Luke:

    Kim Kardashian is one of the people of the year an actual person?

    That’s better.

  87. 87.

    Jewish Steel

    November 22, 2010 at 12:47 am

    I’m late to this party but please note that there was a surfeit of “Yesterdays” on the Anthology series also. Too.

    Also, too.

    Wrote the posters o’er at Balloon Juice.

    Now John Cole has to declare a truce

    Told E D Kain

    “Put down that noose.”

    etc etc…

  88. 88.

    burnspbesq

    November 22, 2010 at 12:55 am

    Apparently it is some sort of tradition that as the second set of their Halloween show, Phish covers somebody else’s record in its entirety, start to finish.

    This year they went too far. They did “Waiting for Columbus.”

    Burn in hell, infidels.

  89. 89.

    Yutsano

    November 22, 2010 at 1:05 am

    @burnspbesq: There’s a story here, but I shan’t inquire.

    BTW when washing the dishes please keep a close eye on the cutlery. Cutting two fingers on your dominant hand is not happiness.

  90. 90.

    FlipYrWhig

    November 22, 2010 at 1:10 am

    Maybe the Beatles commercial could have been “Maxwell’s Silver Hammer.” And then people in silhouette could be bashing each other over the head with iPods.

  91. 91.

    Cacti

    November 22, 2010 at 1:14 am

    Yesterday is Beethoven’s 9th compared to Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da.

  92. 92.

    Dream On

    November 22, 2010 at 1:23 am

    “Mr. Moonlight” is the worst Beatles song – off-key and irritating. “Act Naturally” is pretty useless as well. “Maggie May” does not even count as a song.

  93. 93.

    Suffern ACE

    November 22, 2010 at 1:24 am

    @Jay in Oregon: The part of the review where he interprets Ecclesiastes as offering solace to Republicans as wisdom will always overcome folly, or whatever his point is, is also something to behold. Making a special point to ensure that his readers don’t think he is equating Boehner with with boils…His theology appears to be informed by equal parts pagan concepts of hubris and Indian concepts of karma.

  94. 94.

    mbss

    November 22, 2010 at 1:27 am

    @mbss:

    i guess i owe it to everyone to say that upon further research i mislabeled that video.

    the father took the sons shirt off out of frustration. nonetheless, i’m still not very happy with our state of affairs at the airport.

  95. 95.

    Yutsano

    November 22, 2010 at 1:27 am

    @Dream On: Someone has yet to explain to me the purpose of “Eleanor Rigby”. Not that I dislike it, I just don’t GET it.

  96. 96.

    burnspbesq

    November 22, 2010 at 1:32 am

    @Yutsano:

    http://www.countertopdishwasher.com/

  97. 97.

    Dream On

    November 22, 2010 at 1:32 am

    The purpose of Eleanor Rigby is to apply a bunch of classical elements ‘n’ stuff to rock music. This pioneering approach would shortly be destroyed by the likes of Emerson Lake & Palmer, Rick Wakeman, and the like.

    I could not say that “Revolution #9” is the worst Beatles song, as I very rarely make it through the song. Same with “One after 909”. And it’s “Maxwell’s Silver Hammer” that I don’t get…

    Would George Martin’s orchestral score for side 2 of “Yellow Submarine” count as “bad Beatles”? Methinks it should.

  98. 98.

    Yutsano

    November 22, 2010 at 1:37 am

    @burnspbesq: Oh I have a full size dishwasher. But you don’t wash knives in there ever, the detergent abrasives will ruin the bevel on the blade. I was just being inattentive for a second. All it takes unfortunately.

    ETA: though it might be worth me getting one anyway. I don’t plan on staying here forever, and the next unit may not haz one. Plus I rarely make enough dishes to justify a full load most of the time.

  99. 99.

    HE Pennypacker, Wealthy Industrialist

    November 22, 2010 at 1:52 am

    Without even reading one comment on this post…”Yesterday” is the worst Beatles song?! DougJ, you need your head examined.

    Let’s start with “Rocky Raccoon”, and I can keep going. And aside from counting worst songs, “Yesterday” is actually a fairly sweet, if not particularly heavy, little tune…

  100. 100.

    JWL

    November 22, 2010 at 2:04 am

    Yesterday “might be the worst Beatle song”?

    Normally, I’d take exception to that statement.

    But who am I to argue with a songwriter of your pedigree?

    I’m no one, that’s who.

  101. 101.

    HE Pennypacker, Wealthy Industrialist

    November 22, 2010 at 2:06 am

    Also, I noted with some satisfaction “Ob-La-Di”, but didn’t see “Why Don’t We Do It In The Road”, which is about as uninspired as any song could be.

  102. 102.

    Andy K

    November 22, 2010 at 2:35 am

    @Dream On:

    “Act Naturally” is pretty useless as well.

    No, it’s a great song, but not unless it’s done by someone who never saw himself becoming very famous- like, say, Buck Owens, who was the first to record it, and who had a crossover gold record with it- rather than a guy (Ringo) who’d already been a co-star of two huge cinematic hits.

  103. 103.

    Cain

    November 22, 2010 at 3:13 am

    2. My good friends, Bill and Jill (we call them the Ill’s for short), have lost their beloved cat Bandit, who has been missing for several days. Send out good vibes/pleasant thoughts, if you would.

    Sorry I’ve been having only partial access to the net. Did Bandit come back? Giving strong karmic thoughts in their direction.. My KitKat has not come back and it’s been over a month now. I’ve lost my little boy. :( So I’m hoping others will have better luck than me.

    I’ll be back stateside the land of Palin it seems in a couple of days!

    cain

  104. 104.

    Elizabelle

    November 22, 2010 at 3:53 am

    What has to be the funniest obit in ages, from the New York Times.

    For Hugh Prather, who apparently wrote dreadful 1970s “self-help” books, but inspired a better writer and wicked parodist.

    And it’s Jack Handey’s work that steals the show — again — in Prather’s obit.

    Who wrote it? Prather or Handey?

    ¶“Another day to listen and love and walk and glory. I am here for another day. I think of those who aren’t.”

    ¶“My prayer is: I will be what I will be, I will do what I will do.”

    ¶“When I get to where I can enjoy just lying on the rug picking up lint balls, I will no longer be too ambitious.”

    ¶“I can picture in my mind a world without war, a world without hate. And I can picture us attacking that world, because they’d never expect it.”

    Bonus question: who published these titles?

    “I Touch the Earth, the Earth Touches Me” and “Wipe Your Face, You Just Swallowed My Soul.”

    http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/22/us/22prather.html?ref=us

    Somewhere Jack Handey is weeping tonight.

  105. 105.

    annp23

    November 22, 2010 at 4:33 am

    The Acura ad didn’t look like Chris Walken to me. It looked like Posh Nosh http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CfN4_52loC4:

  106. 106.

    Comrade Baron Elmo

    November 22, 2010 at 4:44 am

    “Mr. Moonlight” is the worst Beatles song – off-key and irritating. “Act Naturally” is pretty useless as well.

    Neither of those are Beatles songs, guys. They’re covers. “A Taste of Honey,” and “Till There Was You” (from The Music Man, for fuck’s sake) are pretty rank as well. Nearly without exception, the Beatles’ best cover versions are all by black artists. “Twist and Shout,” “Money,” “You’ve Really Got a Hold on Me”… I rest my case.

    “Yesterday” isn’t the worst Beatles song… just the most played-to-goddamn-death one. (“Hey Jude,” “Get Back,” and “Let it Be,” are strong contenders as well.) By the way, did you folks know that Paul’s original title for “Yesterday” was “Scrambled Eggs”? Somehow, that makes hearing the song a mite more enjoyable.

    Funny, but the Beatles songs that give me the most pleasure these days are the great ones that most folks ignore. “There’s a Place,” “Baby’s in Black,” “Everybody’s Got Something to Hide Except for Me and My Monkey,” “In My Life,” “Yer Blues,” “Good Morning, Good Morning.” I don’t ever feel inclined to listen to any of the big hits anymore.

  107. 107.

    Comrade Baron Elmo

    November 22, 2010 at 4:50 am

    By the way, did you folks know that Paul’s original title for “Yesterday” was “Scrambled Eggs”? Somehow, that makes hearing the song a mite more enjoyable.

    Another interesting “first edition” of a famous song: Willie Nelson claims that his song “Crazy” (the classic country weeper made famous by Patsy Cline), was originally entitled “Stupid.” Which makes it a positive delight to bellow along with the record whenever someone loads it up in your local honky-tonk: “I’m stupid for cryin’, and stupid for tryin’, and stupid for loooovin’ youuuuuu…”

  108. 108.

    Montysano

    November 22, 2010 at 7:30 am

    @freelancer:

    Most advertising makes me want to open veins, but the new tv spot for True Grit gives me goosebumps.

    Amen. The Coens are pretty much the only filmmakers who can get that kind of reaction out of me. Can’t wait.

    Not many people seemed to have seen “A Serious Man”, which is too bad. It’s near the top of my favorite Coen Bros. movies.

  109. 109.

    DougJ

    November 22, 2010 at 7:47 am

    @annp23:

    Listen to the way he says “to tame her”.

  110. 110.

    Steeplejack

    November 22, 2010 at 7:53 am

    @DougJ:

    That guy is totally doing Christopher Walken. I wasn’t even watching the TV the first time I heard it, and for a second I thought it was Christopher Walken.

    My current favorite TV ad is this one for FedEx Office. Cracks me up every time I see it. The casting and the acting are perfect, even (especially) from the assistant screeners.

  111. 111.

    brantl

    November 22, 2010 at 7:57 am

    If you want the best Beatles’ song to get people going, it’s I Feel Fine.

  112. 112.

    ChrisS

    November 22, 2010 at 8:07 am

    “These quarter-educated, stale-minded men such as your friend here, who think they think; every question that comes up, you’ll find his type in the usual ghastly muddle. One minute it’s ‘the brutality and inhumanity of these Prussians’—the next it’s ‘we ought to exterminate the whole German people.’ They always believe that ‘things are in a bad way now,’ but they ‘haven’t any faith in these idealists.’ One minute they call Wilson ‘just a dreamer, not practical’—a year later they rail at him for making his dreams realities. They haven’t clear logical ideas on one single subject except a sturdy, stolid opposition to all change. They don’t think uneducated people should be highly paid, but they won’t see that if they don’t pay the uneducated people their children are going to be uneducated too, and we’re going round and round in a circle. That—is the great middle class!” – This Side of Paradise, 1920

    That Fitzgerald was a pretty good study of character.

  113. 113.

    Alwhite

    November 22, 2010 at 8:31 am

    George Carlin described it best:
    “For years I have known that advertising people are smoking dope. Now it is becoming apparent that their clients are too!”

  114. 114.

    Nylund

    November 22, 2010 at 9:34 am

    I love the Beatles and HATE Yesterday. I think its a terrible terrible song.

  115. 115.

    Lost Left Coaster

    November 22, 2010 at 10:02 am

    @ChrisS:

    What a wonderful quote! Fitzgerald was, in my humble opinion, one of the best observers of the human condition to ever grace the land of our great nation. His short story collections are absolutely devastating.

    By the way, I’m surprised that no one has said anything about Helter Skelter yet! That’s a great song.

    I’ll politely ignore that anyone said anything negative about Rocky Raccoon.

    But in all seriousness, I humbly submit to you all that the greatest Beatles song of all time is Strawberry Fields.

    As for the worst, in my humble opinion, I’d submit the horribly sexist Run For Your Life.

  116. 116.

    bjacques

    November 22, 2010 at 10:05 am

    I vote for these two Paul McCartney classics:

    Head Lice

    and

    I’ll Kill

  117. 117.

    Wallis Lane

    November 22, 2010 at 2:25 pm

    C’mon people. Hey Jude is the worst.

    There, I said it.

    Nah, nah, nah, f-ing nah-nah-nah, nah, nah-nah-nah, nah F You (repeated 527 times) (head banged against wall).

    Man, I wish Jude would just answer the phone already.

    And could someone please shovel the dirt over Eleanor Rigby already, and pave over the Long and Winding Road.

    Gimme Everybody’s Got Something to Hide, Sexy Sadie, Ballad of John and Yoko, She Said, And Your Bird Can Sing, Please Please Me, I’m Looking Through You, Help, You’re Going to Lose That Girl, or Revolution any day of the eight-day week.

  118. 118.

    jh46inaz

    November 22, 2010 at 9:56 pm

    Hide Your Love Away — best ever . . .

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