Official Lennon web site

I just stumbled on an official John Lennon site. Click on the link (look to the right side of this page) and give it a go. Not sure how long it's been up, but it appears to be a few months old or so.

It's a nice site with videos, pics and a store with some cool t-shirts (if you're into that kind of thing).

Rating the "official" sites:

1) George: The best of the bunch. A little too "gimmicky", but a smart and fun experience with a lot of cool content. Performance is occasionally sketchy, but acceptable. Check it out.

2) John: It was worth the wait. This is a super site with lots of videos and a nice look and feel. Great performance so far.

3) Beatles: It's getting better all the time. When it first launched, the content was nil. But they're slowly adding features, which is actually the best to develop a site (IMHO). It looks like they've dumped the confusing "timeline" feature, which shows they're paying attention to just how usable the site is. A good sign. Performance issues are rare.

4) Ringo: Used to be #1, but performance issues (at least on my 'puter) have made me visit it less and less. Home video updates with Ringo were a highlight, but now they either don't load properly or the site itself doesn't launch.

5) Paul: Very little content, a barren look and nothing much happening here. Whoever is designed this snooze-fest should be canned. Performance seems fine, but who cares? It blows.

The online stores: George and Paul's stores only accept British currency which is not very user friendly (they might adjust to dollars if you actually get to the point of buying something but I've never purchased anything from any of the five "official" sites). Lennon's store is in dollars and Ringo's just links to Amazon (which is fine). Beatles.com lets you choose dollars or pounds which is the best and most friendly option.

Paul on SNL

Our Paul made a cameo on SNL two nights ago. Luckily, I always tape SNL, and even though the show has been lousy the last few years, I never miss an episode.

The show was hosted by Alec Baldwin. Paul did a walk-on on in a sketch which involved the continuing SNL backstory of a private lounge for people who have hosted the show multiple times (e.g., Tom Hanks, John Goodman, etc.). Steve Martin and Martin Short also appeared. It was the best bit of the night.

Paul didn't have any lines, and did his A Hard Day's Night/Help! double-takes while the other performers did their stuff. He also appeared in the end bit where the host thanks everyone. It was good to see him. I thought he looked a little tired and older, but my girlfriend said "Well, he is old. And at least he's in good shape." (i.e., not fat). I think she's right. He's not 25 anymore. But he did look tired. I think this whole Heather-thing has worn him out.

Paul was the weakest actor of the four Beatles. Ringo was always the center of the movie plots (being the "everyman" he was the obvious choice). John was very good at witty one-liners and playing the "leader". Interestingly, director Richard Lester says that George was the one who always delivered exactly what he was asked to do. And looking back, he's great in the "Advertising Agency" scene in Hard Day's Night. It's too bad he didn't have more to do in Help!.

Paul was too self-conscious in the movies. Which is probably why his big "solo" scene in Hard Day's Night was cut. George had the aforementioned "Advertising Agency" scene, Ringo had his "This Boy" sequence, and John had his memorable backstage run-in with the ladylike actress.

Paul's deleted scene was supposedly a "romantic" boy/girl thing that took place while the "boys" are looking for Ringo. Too bad it wasn't included in the DVD so we could see what was so awful about it.