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Tyler, 24, is from Middlebury, Connecticut, and has grown up spending his summers outside: swim practices in the morning, fishing, sailing, and tubing the rest of the day. He loves skiing, and has recently completed a winter squeezing in as much as he could in Vail, Colorado. Tyler is a 2015 graduate of Washington and Lee, where he decided to major in geology, which allowed him plenty of time out in the field, studying the Shenandoah Valley and Blue Ridge Mountains that surround his school. He led week-long pre-orientation trips for incoming freshmen along the Application Trail, and found it to be one of the most rewarding experiences of his collegiate career. After an incredible summer leading our Cataract Canyon adventure, we're so glad to have him back on board for his third summer on Northern Lights!
Favorite Moondance Memory?
"Moonup in the Manti La Sal forest, overlooking the town of Moab, sky full of stars, all of our participants were a lot closer after that night. Very cool stuff… the power of Moonup!"
How would your best friend describe you as a person?
"That I can make people laugh and can accurately recite quotes from any episode of The Office (pre Michael Scott's departure of course!)."
Joanie Davis, 26, comes to us from Chicago, IL, and is a graduate of Colgate University, where she studied Geography. She has always held a love for the outdoors, which began on her family camping trips to Lake Tahoe every summer. Joanie is a Moondance alum, having participated on both our Pacific Northwest and Northern Lights trips in years past. She credits Moondance with jump starting her love for the outdoors and had the time of her life on her trips. Joanie is returning to the Moondance family for her third summer as a leader. She's changed lives in Thailand, she's worked wonders in Chamonix, and now, she's off to do it again in Yosemite! She's a beloved role model to her students and peers alike, someone that leads effortlessly and has a contagious laugh. We are thrilled to have Joanie's happy smile on board with us again this summer!
Chamonix Alps 3B • July 6-July 28, 2018
Final Farewell!
Well, that's a wrap. The final trip update is always a difficult one to write. There are far too many inside jokes, memories, views, laughs and tears to put into words. If your children have returned exhausted, I have included a country specific itinerary to break down why. It is as follows:
Atlanta>France>Switzerland>France>Spain*>France*>Spain>France>Switzerland>France>Italy>Switzerland*>France*>Switzerland>France>Atlanta.
* denotes a country crossing by foot.
48 hours ago we rolled into Paris. A city that, until The Chainsmoker's recent hit single, "Paris", remained in relative obscurity. Since your child is likely home by now, they can explain that one to you. A brief excursion into the jungles of the metro, we arrived at our hostel, located equidistant from Sacre Couer and Moulin Rogue. Purgatory, if you will. After checking in, there was no time to spare. We needed to see the Mona Lisa, at all costs. Another descent into the belly of the beast, we were back on the metro, headed to the Louvre. The first museum of this brief sojourn to The City of Love provided a needed respite from the heat wave. After following the maze of the Louvre, wading through crowds of selfie sticks, Hard Rock Café t-shirts, and fanny packs, there it was, the most famous painting in the world. The group was in agreement. It was definitely worth the price of free admission.
Back out in the Paris heat, we began sweating from places we hadn't accessed before. Shins and fingernails, in addition to every other part of our body, began dripping. After walking through the gardens surrounding the Louvre, it was time to descend back into the cool, fragrant Metro. Ricky remarked that this was the first time he had ever ridden a subway. He did so beautifully, never getting caught in closing doors or stabbed. With a full day of travel and new experiences under our belts, it was time to relax. Pizza helped in this endeavor. Cooper's 34 on the ACT came in handy when we needed to figure out how many slices per person each student would receive. Mixed with Rob's selflessness to eat one less slice of pizza, the meal was a success. After, we held a Moonup on the lawn before Sacre Couer. An immaculate view of the city filled our hearts as we reminisced on so many deep moments we shared over the previous twenty days.
Final day, final meal of bread, coffee, and bread. With that under our belts, we set off for another museum journey. Sure, the Louvre might have managed to be both overwhelming and underwhelming at the same time, but we weren't going to let that stop us from accessing some art. Thankfully, Kate has both knowledge of art and a strong opinion of where we should go. Cut to the Musée D'Orrsay. Here we found everything we could want in an art museum. Every single member of the group was floored by the Van Gogh exhibition. Carter, who was our guide for the exhibit, impressed our leaders deeply by being their personal tour guide through the cosmos of Vincent Van Goghs life and work. Monet, Rembrandt, Renoir, and many others provided a nice artistic compliment to all the natural beauty we saw in the days prior. The museum was a hit. Take that, Louvre!
After, we walked to the famous Luxembourg Gardens to have a picnic. A vibrant display of fruits, cheeses, sandwiches, drinks, cookies, chips, chocolate, breads and jellies mixed nicely with the still-raging heat wave to send us into a blissful lethargy after this memorable meal. No Nutella for LC though, who started to go into Nutella withdrawals and breaking into cold sweats. But there was no time to waste, for there was shopping to be done. First, Shakespeare and Company, one of the most famous bookstores in the world. Here, Sierra felt at home. Next, shopping, because why not? Lastly, Zara, for all the girls, but most specifically, Ellie. We settled into our final banquet meal of Fish and Chips and air conditioning. Except Oscar, who was jonesing for a steak, in order to prepare his body for a return to the states. Blake chose one final time to step outside of his comfort zone and eat every single person's leftovers. It was a memorable last meal, breaking bread one final time.
Any final Moonup is perhaps the best definition of the term "bittersweet". Ours was lucky enough to happen on the lawn of the Eiffel Tower. It had the effect of immediately drawing out hoots of excitement from Liv and a few tears of joy from Mary Lee. Whenever it would display its light show on the hour, we were reminded of how quickly time passed when deep laughs and well-earned compliments were shared. It was a somber mix of elation and exhaustion on our trip back to the hostel, but the final Moonup had confirmed what we had known from the first day: this was no ordinary Moondance group. This was something entirely special. Parents, we thank you for raising such memorable, thoughtful, intelligent, and all-around wonderful children. They have made our summer one we will never forget, and our lives are all the richer for getting to spend it with them.
-Tyler Gabrielson and Joanie Davis
TMB!
Saturday morning was an early one, such as to avoid "tunnel traffic". With our passports in hand, we headed towards the 12-kilometer tunnel underneath Mont Blanc. The country-hopping in this trip continued, as when we emerged, we were in Italy. The low hanging clouds at the trail head and continuing up the glacial valley to the pass provided as perfect hiking weather as you can ask for. With a refined set of hiking legs and the attitude of a personal trainer, we were up the pass and conquered the elevation gain for the day before noon. A nice added surprise: we were now in Switzerland. An hour into the descent we broke for lunch. Fitting with the theme of surprises, the leaders of the day broke out McDonalds bags to reveal that we would indeed be returning to our American roots for this meal. See, the night before, we arrived at our hostel, immediately at dinner, and went into the town of Chamonix only to find that all the grocery stores were closed. Liv and LC, the leaders of this day, made the executive decision to grab kilos of McNuggets and Double Cheese burgers. They kept it a secret up until lunch. Though the meal was far from fresh, it kept well, and the group enjoyed it. Thoroughly. We arrived in the quiet mountain town of La Fouly and enjoyed a few free hours to read, journal, catch up on sleep, and decompress before a dinner and Moonup. Sunday brought another memorable day of walking. Today, we weren't climbing a pass or peak. Our path would follow babbling brooks through the forest. When we would emerge, it would be to walk across farmland or through the streets of quiet, tiny Swiss villages. It was a respite from the elevation change which seemed to follow us on every previous day of hiking this trip. We approached the town of Champex to find quite the jubilee going down. This group has tremendous luck, for this town has a festival once a summer, and it just so happened to be the one day we would be staying there. THIS was Switzerland- raclette stands, accordion ensembles in laderhossens, and stunning lake backdrop to heighten the amusement. The kids had a ball exploring the festival and stands selling their food and trinkets. Mary Lee embraced Swiss culture and ordered up a raclette. Cheese was melted under a heater and right when it was crisping and bubbling it was scraped over boiled potatoes. Our bellies full of cheese, everyone squeezed in a nap before dinner. Ricky, the prankster himself, got a taste of his own medicine. The group, guide and leaders included, convinced him that he had slept through dinner, Moonup, and was now at breakfast. Despite being served a "breakfast salad", pasta because "we had a big day ahead of us" and even a dessert "because it's custom in Champex", we had Ricky duped the whole meal. Thank you for being a good sport about the prank, Rickster. The group remained up for a bit more, playing various games and crushing their summer reading books. Nights before, Blake had taught Oscar how to play chess. This spawned a group wide chess competition throughout the days following.Day three. Our brief vacation from climbing hills was over. Though again, it was never as difficult as it was ten days prior in the Pyrenees. Our group was now a hiking machine. After a dozen or so switch backs and some song paradoxes to distract us, the ascent was over, and the rest of the day would be just down, down, down. We arrived reasonably early to our hostel in Trient. What a treat this lodging was, complete a view of the Trient Glacier behind a delightfully out-of-place pink church. The lodging also feature a sauna, which the group of already sweaty boys punished. The meal tonight was the zenith of the trip: vegetable soup decorated with edible flowers, rainbow salad, and either Swiss fondue or pork. A feast for the ages. Cooper was the smartest of all and took advantage of his new found friendships and went splitsies with Tyler. This strategy left him with both unlimited pork and melted cheese. Well done, Coop.Sadly, the last full day of hiking was upon us. Thinking the hardest was behind, we set out for the day with spirits high and bellies full. The high season of trekking in the Alps is in full swing, and this became abundantly clear with the amount of people on the trail. In Moondance fashion, we took the alternate trail which led along a different side of the mountain. Due to its difficulty, there wasn't a soul on the path except for a few daring locals. This trail was steep. And uphill, very uphill. Blake led the group up the mountain and kept spirits high as the terrain got steeper and steeper. With the France/Swiss border in sight, Kate fueled our family with animal crackers. Who would have thought small vanilla cardboard flavored parrots and horse crackers would be so tasty. The last twenty minutes LC and Liv busted out in some and sands with classics such as The Climb, Don't Stop Believing, and Bohemian Rhapsody. Steps before France our guide Maud has everyone close their eyes and grab the backpack of the person in front of them. Blind leading the blind everyone stepped up the last bit to the pass. On the count of three the group opened their eyes; right there, in the flesh, was the beautiful Mont Blanc. Our first glimpse of her the entire trip and everyone went crazy. Sierra's emotions peaked and stray tears rolled down at the sight of one of the most known mountains in the world. The rest of the afternoon was a breeze as we walked downhill to the base of the Chamonix valley. Our hostel for the night had delicious food. Carter was a true team player, helping to clean up the dinner plates from our extravagant feast. Moonup wrapped up an amazing day as thunder rolled in the distance.Say it ain't so; it's the last day of hiking. Ricky led the group off in our classic morning stretches and unsurprisingly befriended fellow hikers. Our hike was a mellow walk in the trees. The rain from the night before left a fresh pine smell wafting through the forest. We walked silently for 15 minutes as we reflected on an incredible trip and the challenges we overcame as a group. Bounding down the last hour, everyone made plans to visit each other; Oscar especially excited for a rare occasion to visit the south. And finally! We made it to Chamonix! The group enjoyed well deserved free time in the home of the first 1924 Winter Olympics. Rob wandered the small roads and got a new hat that had his name written all over it – a grey fleece Chamonix baseball cap with ear flaps hanging down. Just Rob being Rob. Resting before dinner, Ellie queued up all the songs we'd been singing on the trail and struggling to remember the lyrics. All in one room, we sang along to everything from Elton John to Justin Bieber to Eminem. Tomorrow we'll get on a speed train to end our trip in Paris.
Carter: I have eaten too much Nutella but it's okay because I'm 2 days sober from sour cream and onion Pringles and I'm a pringaholic and I've accepted that. #sorrynotsorry xo
Kate: Hey Mom and Dad! I am having such an incredible time and cannot wait to tell you all about the trip. I love and miss you both but I REALLY REALLY DON'T WANT TO LEAVE.
Sierra: hey parents! Im having such a great time. Four Nutella jars later, and I'm still not tired of it. Love you guys. Make sure Carmen doesn't forget to pick me up.
LC: heyo family, I am having the greatest time ever here! I miss you all so much and can't wait to tell you all about the trip. Make sure you give daisy and Finn lots of love from me. love y'all so much, xoxo
Mary Lee: hey mama, daddy, and laney!! I've had the greatest time ever, and I have so many stories to tell y'all when I get home!! (can y'all both pick me up from the airport please?? I don't want to tell everything twice haha) Tell Lexie girl that I love her so much! I'm so thankful for this opportunity and I can't wait to see y'all!
Liv: hey family and friends. I miss you all so much. Can't wait to tell you all about it. Please give Prince and Molly a huge hug for me. Please keep tracking my money that I spend and happy late birthday mama. Mae, go eat some pinkberry :)))
Ellie: hey family!!! I am having the best time ever! can't wait to see y'all and tell you all about it! Hope all is well at home, thanks for sending me on this amazing trip! Give belle and lib a hug!Love and miss you lots!!! sleep loose xoxo
Cooper: hey family. I love you guys so much, and I'm having a great time. I can't wait to see y'all in a few days. Also, please return my overdue library books. I owe thousands to Fulton county because of those. It's a real problem, so good luck with those. Love y'all lots.
Blake: hey Ronga fam! So much has happened in these past 20 days that I will never forget. I have met some awesome people and been to some incredible places. Can't wait to tell you all about it.
Oscar: Hey ma and pop. Y'all won't believe the incredible suppers and fixings I've had. Nah but for real it's been cool. Can't wait to come back up north. Thanks for sending me here!Rob: hello family. I'm having a lot of fun. I miss yall. I still have not started my book and at this point it's just a waste of space. Thanks for sending me on this trip. It's so much fun.
Ricky: what's up wit it. so this trip is awesome! I miss the land. I miss my truck. But most of all Cole Bonner. Also tell Wesley Williamson were mud wrestling and I will destroy him this time. Let me see them thumbs. I'll see y'all when I see y'all I miss y'all a ton
This Chamonix Family is Closer Than Ever!
We write to you from the road, once again. Our two fulls days in Costa Brava have felt like two full weeks. So much laughter, sunshine, and food packed into a brief 48 hours. Let us recap:
The bus ride from Lourdes to the Spanish seaside of L'Escala was more exciting than we could've fathomed. Why? Because our veins were coursing with a small bakery's worth of sugar, allowing us to sing non-stop for close for nearly an hour. It was hit after hit as we made our own music and mashups. I do feel for the bus driver though. Bless him. Lucy Claire certainly won the non-existent award for singing the loudest. She knew every word to every song and belted it out disregarding tone or pitch. We should've been drained by the long travel day and concerning levels of sugar, but arriving in the Mediterranean seemed to have given the group a second wind. After dinner and a Moonup on the beach, we wandered back to our campsite to find the most bizarre sight of the trip. Fitting, because our morning quote by Mark Twain several hours prior had come to fruition; "Apparently there is nothing that cannot happen today." There it was before us, in all its glory: a popup DJ stand with two dozen raving and dancing pre-teens. American music. Lighting. Fog machines. Of course, we obliged. Before too long, it was like we were at that first school dance. You know the feeling. It's like learning to walk again. Ricky took center stage and showed off his dance moves that he had been inconspicuously hiding until that point. Exhausted after this impromptu dance party, we showered off and went to bed with smiles on our faces.
The next morning brought us another day fresh with new experiences. A brief walk to the beach from our bungalows brought us to our kayaking outfitters. Many took to the activity like long time veterans of the paddle. Ellie's years behind the helm of a kayak shone brightest, impressing the guides and outfitters with her ability to nail an Eskimo Roll with such style and grace. She even took it upon herself to teach the rest of the group and encourage everyone to safely roll their kayaks. We steered through tiny inlets wide enough for only one boat, explored caves teeming with bats, and finally made it to lunch. Here the day took a new hold. The group was ready for some adrenaline. It was time to find a good spot to jump into the sea. With some diligent scouting of the water depth, Cooper found the spot. He took us up over the hill and traversed the rocks to a perfect area and view of the Mediterranean. Carter had the most courage pumping in her heart. Maybe it was the Nutella, but she set the example and was the first one to jump in the water. Soon nearly everyone was hooting and hollering in the water below, feeling a rush that we had long forgotten.
It's not uncommon for a Moondance group to have a few awkward moments at the beginning of the trip – this group was a glaring exception, bonded as a single unit from the first day. Our leaders believed it best, therefore, to split the groups for an "iron chef" competition. We split the teams in a classic girls vs. boys fashion. Tonight, the girls would step up and cook for our esteemed panel of judges. This was the first time the group had the chance to cook on the trip, and what a hoot it was! It was a meal that reminded us of home, a respite from the daily barrage of decadent cheeses and breads. An oldie, but a goodie: burritos. Mary Lee took control of the appetizer, which was a delightful quesadilla that teased our tastebuds for the Mexican meal to come. Sierra was thoughtful and spearheaded the buffet and laid out ingredients, which had both vegetarian and non-veggie options. Meat eaters chowed down of some much needed ground beef while veg-lovers went crazy over sizzled peppers and onions. Ladies, well done. The boys would have to bring their A-game the following evening if they wanted to keep it a tight race.
Our second day of sea kayaking brought us an hour away to another beautiful section of coast, to the Spanish seaside village of Timaru. The coastline here was even more spectacular than the previous day. We were gliding through tiny slots, so narrow we had to push with our hands on the rock, and forget our paddles. Wildlife, too, was abundant, as we took turns gently holding a sea urchin and found many sea tomatoes.
Now was the time the boys had to step up to the plate for their turn at Iron Chef. Big game was talked all day. Rumors of a nine course meal or a guest appearance by Super Chef Bobby Flay floated around. The meal's theme: Trailer Park Thursday. An out of place but refreshing, delicious fruit salad was followed by barely toasted hamburger buns, pasta covered in cold tomato sauce (though fresh from the jar), all finished with a melted puddle of ice cream. Oscar preceded to make 3 trips to the grocery store after the boys forgot some pretty crucial ingredients: salt and pepper. Rob spearheaded the "legendary" garlic bread and learned a valuable lesson: microwaved hamburger buns covered in garlic may not be a crowd favorite, though we do love Rob! Any meal tastes great when mixed with an absurd amount of laughter, which was in no short supply. Out of nowhere, Kate impressed the group with hysterical tricks she could preform with a single piece of spaghetti. We laughed, some cried, and we all had a night we'll never forget. The judges did not make a decision based off of food alone; there was a crucial entertainment component that could tip the scale either way. On the beach, Liv's show choir and cheerleading talents came into play with an out-of-this-world performance of song and dance. Let's not forget her ability to also say the alphabet backwards from Z to A in one breath. The boys continued their theme and incorporated it in an improv comedy skit. Laughs were shared throughout as Blake committed to his character and couldn't shake his accent for a good time after. The winner, however, was abundantly clear. Congratulations ladies.
We are now en route to our final portion of our trip: five days of hiking the Tour du Mont Blanc. Soon we will arrive in Chamonix, the legendary mountain town and namesake of this even more legendary Moondance trip. We'll be eating in three different countries and trekking across some of the most pristine landscape. Parents- know that your children have formed a group so tight knit and close that it has blown their leaders away. There is never a dull moment. The energy and passion of this group is remarkable, and we cannot wait to see what the magical Alps have in store.
Pyrenees: Check!
Bonjour from Lourdes, France!
After two countries, 8 days of walking, 80+ kilometers later, and more blisters than we can count, our Moondance group has finished our section trekking in the Pyrenees. It's been a while since they've left the good ole States, but we are fully immersed in Europe now. Our diet is entirely bread, saving room only for some coffee and cheese. We have our hiking legs underneath us, a positive spirit to brave the weather conditions these mountains throw at us, and are fully feeling the "Moondance Magic".
Our first day in Europe, when we picked the students up from the airport in Geneva, was relatively uneventful. We scooped them up from the airport and explored downtown Geneva for a bit. The energy was understandably in short supply, after all, Delta airlines doesn't exactly provide the best sleeping arrangements. Without much more to add, we ate dinner at our hostel, and had our first "Moonup": a nightly meeting to reflect on the day just spent amongst one another, to share answers to a common, sometimes deep question, and to go over the next days plans.
Speaking of the next day, it was thankfully more eventful than the previous. We travelled entirely across the country of France by way of three trains, passing by scenery that immaculately blended the most picturesque landscapes of Kansas, Alabama, and North Dakota, before arriving to the foothills of the Pyrenees in Lourdes. The tedium of this travel day would soon payoff immensely. The group took this time to get to know one another and teach each other card games. Liv met two French speaking people traveling, and she spent some time exchanging vocabulary as they pointed out items. We even introduced them to peanut butter and explained, "no I swear, it really is delicious with bread and jam." You would expect this group to have been at the end of their Moondance trip, not the very beginning. After our meal and Moonup, we retired early to bed to fully vanquish our jetlag and get ready for our foray into the Pyrenees.
With the weather on our side, we were picked up by our outfitters and headed an hour west into the mountains by vans. Having used planes, trains, and (now) automobiles, the only thing left to do was walk. If some members of the group had minimal hiking experience before this trip, they did not show it. Truly. The group absolutely crushed the first day of hiking, which featured an immediate 800 meter ascent to above tree line. Morale and energy was high enough the group to swim in the first alpine lake, despite overcast and non-optimal weather. We had no one to thank more for this than Spartanburg's finest, Rob. Thank you for jumping in the water and therefore encouraging the rest of the group to also join in on the fun. After a long day of hiking, the group was ready to rest at the first mountain Refugio on the trip. Intrigued by the mountains surrounding the Refugio, the group reflected on the day's events during our Moonup time, which was lead excellently by Cooper "Coop-daddy" and Ellie "Beastmode" Williams. The LODs challenged the group in a thoughtful discussion as we chatted about our fears while 5 waterfalls poured down in the distance. Following Moonup the group decided to star gaze and truly take in the mountain air and change of scenery. The Pyrenees is one of few places in the world where the night sky is protected by law and lights turned off by a certain time; a magical place to spend a week.
The following day brought excitement and a newfound energy as we continued to embark around the France portion of the Pyrenees. To keep the group motivated and on their feet, Rob and Blake continuously placed rocks in others bags. This joke soon turned into a competitive game between everyone as the group grew cautious of the weight of their backpacks. Many other games were incorporated during the hike including riddles, 20 questions, and the groups all time favorite, the animal game. Each student picks an animal sign and one person stands in the middle while the circle conspicuously passes the sign trying not to get tagged. The game was dependent on speed and ability to think on their feet. Blake thrived, although his strategy included changing his sign midway through. Although most members thrived during the activity, Liv and Carter continually struggled to play the game due to laughing fits and friendly distractions. Upon arrival to the hostel the group was fascinated by the surrounding "exotic" animals including donkeys, horses, and the well-liked marmot. This new hostel was filled with World Cup excitement, as tired hikers sat down ready to watch their team thrive. Sierra took a special interest in watching the game and anxiously cheering her team on alongside the French hikers. The French vs Belgium game was streamed on a small laptop in the dinning area and all hikers despite their nationality cheered on France with whoops and hollars.
Day three of hiking started off with a pleasant surprise, oatmeal! We savored this treat and used our faithful bread to help transport it to our mouths. Today's hike took us through the trees and along the ridge to the famous Cirque de Gavernie. The tallest waterfall in Europe is the backdrop for this picturesque town in the valley of the mountains. The group grinned ear to ear as we walked past creperies and mountain stores with hot showers in our future. We scrubbed the sweat and dirt off before indulging in a home cooked meal of fresh trout and blueberry pie.
Well rested and freshly bathed, we said our "au revoirs" to France and headed straight uphill, climbing all the way up to the Spanish-France boarder. It is an experience to walk into another country. Here, the boarder was made even more special by being the placed on a mountain pass. This was the beginning of two days we would spend on El Camino de Santiago – a famous pilgrimage through Spain for devout Catholics. Ellie weeks before had hiked about half the trail and was teaching everyone about the ins and outs of El Camino. With yet another difficult morning under our belts, the rest of the day was a smooth downhill to our abode for the evening. This group hikes at a really remarkable pace, leaving enough time for us to bathe in the waters of the river that runs near the Refugio. This quaint, old monastery by the river had our first dorm room where we all slept as a unit. Thankfully, none of us are that loud of snorers.
On our fifth day of walking, we took a much needed break of elevation gain. In fact, there was almost no uphill, but rather, a walk in the woods following the river. The group took advantage of the morning by practicing a silent, near meditative hike. It was a good moment to reflect on the sounds of nature, which became so much louder and vibrant when given their time to speak. The group found the experience to be a beneficial one, to finally relax and see what thoughts rose to the forefront of their minds when not having to focus on anything by trail in front of them. Mary Lee had an interesting experience where she noticed the smells of the forest and how they changed as we got closer and farther from the river. After our meditative hike, it was time for everyone's favorite group game: death sack. Played with a hacky sack and a reckless abandon, this adrenaline inducing game brings out the cutthroat competitor in even the most meek Moondancer. Lucy's soccer skills and competitive drive came out as she became the reigning champion (and still has yet to lose). Our final destination was Torla, a Pyrenean mountain town frozen in time. Narrow cobblestone roads brought us to our hostel for the evening, which thankfully was only 500 years old on the outside. Everyone took their time exploring the village cobblestone streets and local craft stores. Dinner tonight was quite the treat as we were presented with a foreign concept, a menu! Numerous choices including trout, lamb, chicken and pork were listed out and soon a delicious three course meal was at our fingertips. A good meal for a difficult day ahead…
Day six of walking. Early in the morning we took a bus to bring us to the mouth of the largest canyon in Europe. Three hours later, we were in the belly of the beast. Putting in the work early in the day to climb near the rim, we walked a pleasant afternoon, looking down upon those hikers who chose to walk the easier, but less rewarding path. This day proved the most challenging of our journey thus far. Thankfully, we had our leader-turned-troublesome student, Tyler, to complain, saving the kids their valuable energy to focus on the path ahead. His constant negativity united the group in a common cause: get to the top so we don't have to listen to him anymore. The weird leadership style did the trick, as their minds were redirected from the most difficult hiking of arguably the entire trip. The location of our Refugio made the long, grueling hours of sweating out all our Nutella totally worth it. The evening's Moonup was deserved of its capital 'M'; a postcard-esque view, a deep question, and plenty of stars in the sky.
On to the penultimate day of walking. One week on the trail, which has felt like a month. In the best way, of course. Our quads are barely recognizable, and our socks smell downright offensive. The camaraderie is that of a sports team at the end of a winning season. Our hearts are full and our minds are clear. Riley took his place leading the morning stretches and has become an honorary LOD every day as he yells to check everyone's thumbs to make sure we're good to go. We abided by the age old saying "never come back the way you came." Instead of reverting to the same path on the side of the canyon, we walked along the river floor looking up at the high red rock towering above us. The new perspective was a friendly reminder of the beautiful place we've been lucky to hike through. We stopped at a perfect grass clearing in the sun for the group favorite activity, death sack. Lucy still holds the W, but Kate's expertise from her time in Alaska proved to be good competition. She perfected her lunge kick and is known for diving full body to get he ball. We ended our hike at our favorite bridge that we had visited before, and the majority of the group cooled down in the river. Blake was the first to rip off his T-shirt and jump in the icy water. Cooper was the hero of the day when he jumped in and dove to the bottom of the river bed to retrieve a bracelet that was lost days earlier by another student.
Our last day in the Pyrenees started with an early morning and yoga session. Our guide advised us we had a half day walk to the parking lot where we would be picked up and driven to Lourdes. Little did we know this "half day walk" was a steep uphill hike up over the pass from Spain into France. Winds were blowing, rain falling, and fog so thick we could barely see 10 meters in front of us. Oscar kept spirits high as he sang classic rock tunes so catchy that everyone couldn't help but sing along. We ate lunch in an abandoned Sheppard's house minutes from the top. Here, Carter practiced her photography skills with Rickey as her model, which produced many laughs among the group. This gave us new found energy as we pushed up the final steps and ended the hike arm in arm. It was a symbolic ending – crossing the Spain/France border back over the pass we'd already climbed days before, but so much closer as a group. Everyone is excited to give our hiking legs a break as we head south to the Mediterranean for some sunshine and kayaking!
Safe Arrival!
Hello Chamonix Families!
We have heard from our leaders, and the group has arrived safely in Geneva. The trip is off to a great start! Stay tuned for more news from their adventures.
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Home►"The Ballad Of John And Yoko"
"THE BALLAD OF JOHN AND YOKO"
(John Lennon / Paul McCartney)
There had been over an eight month gap between Beatles singles in the US, "Hey Jude" being released in late August of 1968 and "Get Back" coming out in early May of 1969. American fans were not used to waiting this long for the next Beatles hit single, but they undoubtedly were surprised to find that, while "Get Back" was swiftly climbing the charts, their favorite group came out with another new single with just a one month gap between releases. Now they had to decide which 45 to spend their allowances or baby-sitting money on.
So what were the events that led to this quickly released second single? Apparently, it was because of an unexpected knock on Paul McCartney's door! On April 14th, 1969, John dropped by Paul's home with a new song that he wanted his long-time collaborater to help him complete. "John was in an impatient mood so I was happy to help," Paul stated in his book "Many Years From Now." Co-author Barry Miles adds: "They quickly finished it off and went straight round to Abbey Road to record it...John wanted 'The Ballad Of John And Yoko" out fast, like a piece of musical journalism."
And so, with George out of the country and Ringo busy filming the movie "The Magic Christian," John and Paul summoned producer George Martin and a couple engineers to record the song that day so as to release it as soon as possible, per John's insistance.
Songwriting History
"The follow up to 'Get Back' is 'Ballad Of John And Yoko,'" Lennon explained in 1969. "It's something I wrote, and it's like an old-time ballad. It's just the story of us getting married, going to Paris, going to Amersterdam, all that. It's 'Johnny B. Paperback Writer'"! With tounge-in-cheek, John here describes it as a nod to narrative rock'n'roll songs, such as Chuck Berry's "Johnny B. Goode" and The Beatles' own "Paperback Writer."
"I wrote it in Paris on our honeymoon," John told Playboy in 1980. "We had it before we were married. It's a piece of journalism, a folk song. It's like a traditional folk ballad." John and Yoko were married on March 20th, 1969 and, since the song is describing events pertaining to and following the wedding, the above comment about the composition being written "before we were married" couldn't be true, although the plan to write a song about this chapter in their lives could have been the case.
In any event, one can place the time of the writing of "The Ballad Of John And Yoko" to between March and April 14th, 1969, when John met at Paul's house to "help him complete" it, as Barry Miles explained above. Paul's authorship may very well have been minor, such as parsing out the lyrics into a rhyming scheme and work out the musical arrangement, but he apparently did have some input into what primarily was a Lennon composition. Paul transcribed the lyrics into his 1969 notebook of songs on this day, which can be seen in the "Track By Track" section of the book that accommodates the "Super Deluxe" 50th Anniversary of "Abbey Road." Interestingly, this page reveals that the song was titled "They're Going To Crucify Me" at that point.
As the lyric unfolds, the first verse was described in detail by John in 1980: "We wanted to get married on a cross-channel ferry. That was the romantic part, when we went to Southampton and then we couldn't get on because she wasn't English and she couldn't get the day visa to go across. And they said, 'Anyway, you can't get married. The Captain's not allowed to do it any more.'"
As the second verse relates, the couple then flew to Paris, John chartering an executive jet with the intentions of getting married in France. While there, waiting to hear back from his office about whether a quiet wedding ceremony could be arranged in this country, they spent some time "honeymooning" (although not yet married) "down by the Seine," which is a river that flows through Paris into the English Channel. "So we were in Paris," John continues, "and we were calling Peter Brown, and said, 'We want to get married. Where can we go?' And he called back and said, 'Gibraltar's the only place.' So – 'OK, let's go!' And we went there and it was beautiful. It's the Pillar of Hercules, and also symbolically they called it the End Of The World at one period...it was like the Gateway To The World. So we liked it in the symbolic sense, and the rock foundation of our relationship."
Interestingly, Paul's originally transcribed lyrics read "You can marry in Gibraltar in Spain," instead of "near Spain" as John sang in the finished recording. With the ownership of Gibraltar being a matter of dispute for a long time, had the lyric remained "in Spain," this undoubtedly would have kept the song from being banned from the Spanish airwaves.
But, why was Gibraltar the only place that they could get married? "I think John and Yoko were trying to keep the wedding fairly quiet; that's why he went to Gibraltar," stated Ringo in the book "Beatles Anthology." However, there was more to it. According to Steve Turner, in his book "A Hard Day's Write," "Peter Brown discovered that (a marriange in France) couldn't be organized at short notice but that they could marry in Gibraltar because it was a British protectorate and John was a British citizen." It is also to be noted that John had been traveling abroad without his passport.
A private plane was chartered to dispatch the couple to Gibraltar on March 20th, 1969, for the quick ten-minute ceremony. Having been on the ground for less than an hour, they immediately flew to Amsterdam, The Netherlands, to spend their actual honeymoon, having booked a week in the Presidential Suite at the Hilton. These events are briefed over in the third verse of the song, one discrepancy being that they hadn't "drove from Paris to the Amsterdam Hilton." Instead, they flew from Paris to Gibraltar to marry, and then flew to Amsterdam afterward.
They spent their actual honeymoon, as the third verse relates, "talking in our beds for a week." "Yoko and I decided that we knew whatever we did was going to be in the papers," Lennon explained in 1975. "We decided to utilize the space we would occupy anyway, by getting married, with a commercial for peace." As printed in "Beatles Anthology," John continues: "Now the bed-in was just to catch the attention of the press...We sent out a card: 'Come to John and Yoko's honeymoon: a bed-in, Amsterdam Hotel.' You should have seen the faces on the reporters and the cameramen fighting their way through the door!...The press seemed to think we were going to make love in public because we made an album with us naked – so they seem to think anything goes...We talked to the press...We said, 'let's get some peace, peace, peace, peace on the headlines, just for a change!"
After the song's bridge speaks of the couple's charitible aspriations, as explained by a quote from Yoko about how "when you're dead, you won't take nothing with you but your soul," the fourth verse details their next stop in Vienna, Austria. They stayed overnight at the Hotel Sacher and sampled a bit of their famous Sacher Torte, which was a rich chocolate cake, before viewing the premiere of a film the couple had produced.
"We were asked to make a film for Austrian TV," John explained in 1971, "which we did, called 'Rape'...So when we went to Austria to show it, we did a press conference in a bag. And it was great, because all the press came in and they never saw us – we were both in a bag, and they interviewed the bag. They were saying, 'Is it really you?' and 'What are you wearing?' and 'Will you sing a song?' They were saying, 'Why us?' 'What is this?' and I said, 'It's total communication.'...If everyone went in a bag for a job there'd be no prejudice; you'd have to judge people on their quality within. We call it total communication. It was a great press conference, and they all had a very serious conversation with a bag. The next day the headlines in Austria were – they'd show a bag with all the press men just talking to it." Of course, when news of this hit the world press, the opinion was that Yoko had dramatically changed John, as the fourth verse explained, "She's gone to his head!"
Beginning on April 1st, 1969, when they arrived back in London for a press conference, the fifth verse of the song plays out. With all of the unorthodox activities that ensued in regards to their marriage, bed-in, and display of "bagism," they expected the usual hostile treatment from the press upon their return. Instead, they were warmly welcomed with well-wishes, expressing that it was "good to have the both of you back."
As for the lyric "fifty acorns tied in a sack," this referenced John and Yoko sending heads of government and crowned rulers a small package with a note that read, "We are sending you two living sculptures – which are acorns – in the hope that you will plant them in your garden and grow two oak-trees for world peace." The couple had done this themselves back in June of 1968, planting them in the ruins of Coventry Cathedral, a medieval building destroyed during an aerial bombing raid during World War II.
The ill-treatment that John and Yoko had been receiving because of their highly publicized activities, as well as their struggle for a location to be married, were equated with the struggles of Jesus in the song's chorus, which made for the most controversy in regards to the recording's success. Lennon knew in advance that this would send some shock-waves, as witnessed by his note to Tony Bramwell in Apple's promotion department prior to the record's release: "No pre-publicity...especially the Christ bit – so don't play it round too much or you'll frighten people – get it pressed first."
During the week that the song was released in the UK, John and Yoko were holding their second 'bed-in for peace' in Montreal, Canada, news traveling quickly about the controversial nature of the lyrics of the single that was scheduled to come out days later in the US. "It's like a prayer," John tried to rationalize to DJ Bob Lewis during the 'bed-in.' "You know, 'Jesus, you alone should know it ain't easy.' And it has the street language connotation too. But even when it's used irreverently, it's in effect a prayer too. It's a gospel song. I'm a big Christ fan. The song is a prayer."
American cartoonist and Quebec separatist Al Capp, who was sent to interview the couple during the Montreal 'bed-in,' wasn't buying John's explanation: Capp: "In the lyric, you said they're going to crucify you." John: "Yeah, you can take it literally." Capp: "So, how did you mean it?" John: "It means everything you want it to mean." Capp: "What did you want it to mean?" John: "They're going to crucify me and you and everyone else." Capp: "I'm upset that they're going to crucify me. Who's going to make the time to crucify you?" John: "Everyone!" Capp: "But you said, 'They're gonna crucify me.'" John: "Oh, if you're going to take everything litereally."
Recording History
"John and Yoko came round to see me," Paul recalls about April 14th, 1969, "and John said, 'I've got this song about me and Yoko, and I'm hot to record it. I'd like to ring up the studio, get some time and we could do it right now. You could play bass and you could play drums,' because he knew I could just about do them."
Once the two of them finished off the writing of the song, as described above, they drove over to EMI Studio Three, where they had just hastilly booked 2:30 to 10 pm, to record this newly completed composition. George Martin happened to be available, as were engineers John Kurlander and Geoff Emerick, the latter having not worked with The Beatles since his quitting his relationship with them in disgust during the sessions for the "White Album."
"I received a phone call from Peter Brown," Emerick relates in his book "Here There And Everywhere," "telling me in breathless tones that John had just written a new song and would be coming into Abbey Road...Would I be willing to do the session? I asked Peter rather tentatively if John was 'OK' these days. He understood exactly what I was getting at; as the Beatles' designated minder, he had seen plenty of Lennon at his worst. 'Yes, he's fine,' Peter assured me. 'He's in really good spirits at the moment, and he's really up about the new song. And he specifically asked me if I could get you to engineer it.' How could I possibly say no to that?"
Tensions were quite high in recent months between John and Paul due to their trying to decide who they wanted to hire to manage the affairs of the band; John, George and Ringo wanted to employ Allen Klein while Paul favored the law firm of Eastman and Eastman, who was run by his new lin-laws. However, John's enthusiasm for this last-minute project rubbed off on Paul, the two of them now determined to tackle this undertaking on a day they had nothing better to do anyway. They may as well make it a productive day off!
"The session was booked to start in mid-afternoon," Emerick continues, "and to my amazement, a chipper John actually rolled up spot on time, with Paul following just a few minutes later. It was officially supposed to be a Beatles session, but they were the only two band members to turn up that day, Paul taking the drummer's chair, playing Ringo's kit with confidence and ease. The two Beatles seemed remarkably relaxed, despite the horror stories I had heard about the rows and bad feelings engendered by the 'Let It Be' sessions. On this one day, they reverted to being two old school chums, all the nastiness of recent months swept under the rug and replaced by the sheer joy of making music together."
"It was a great session, one of those magic times when everything went right and nothing went wrong...A new eight-track machine had been installed in the control room just recently, and we put it to good use that day. The eight-track recorder allowed for lots of overdubs, so John played all the guitars – lead and rhythm – while Paul handled bass, piano, percussion, and drums; they made for a great two-man band. That was one of the first times I put microphones both on top of and under the snare drum, which imparted a larger-than-life crack to the sound, the perfect complement to John's aggressive vocal."
The "sequence of events – for reference," as John Kurlander called it, was preserved in detail by the engineer on the recording sheet. The rhythm track consisted of John on acoustic guitar (track two), Paul on drums (track three) and John's lead vocal (track four). John's vocal track was treated with a bit of slap-back echo reminiscent of Gene Vincent's "Be Bop A Lula," an effect that John would use quite regularly during his solo career.
They recorded eleven takes of the rhythm track, only takes one, seven, ten and eleven making it to the end of the song, the others breaking down early. Most of the aborted takes broke down at the same spot, Paul mistakenly playing an extra snare drum fill before the vocal line "made a lightning trip to Vienna." 'Take two' ended early because of John breaking a guitar string, a usual event for him in the studio through the years. After this occurred, John called out to assistant Mal Evans, "Mal!...Un string avec caput, Mal," signaling him to appropriate a replacement in due haste. 'Take three' ended early because of Paul speeding up on the drums, the tempo-perfect Ringo not being present as usual. "It got a bit faster, Ringo," John instructs, prompting Paul to chuckle and reply, "OK, George!" These fun-natured exchanges, representative of how much they were enjoying this session, were captured on various 50th Anniversary editions of "Abbey Road."
These editions also contained the entire 'take seven,' which reveals that John originally began the song alone on acoustic guitar before Paul joined in just prior to the vocals of the first verse. We also witness John vocalizing the concluding guitar figure that he would overdub later, reminiscent of "The Honeymoon Song," a selection by Marino Marini and his Quartet from 1959 that The Beatles used to perform regularly in their early years, their own rendition included on the 1994 release "Live At The BBC." It only makes sense that John would insist on this reference since the subject matter of "The Ballad Of John And Yoko" included their own honeymoon. Since five attempts of the rhythm track broke down prior to 'take seven,' this complete rendition ends with a jubilant cry from Lennon: "Yeeeeah, We'll have it, we'll have it!", followed by Paul privately celebrating the occasion with some additional drum work. John then states, "it was worth it for that, 'cause you came out before it; that's alright." Paul then replies, "Ah, I think we'll listen to it."
After takes eight and nine break down, 'take ten' made it through to the end of the song. Even though John thought it was acceptable, Paul voiced the opinion, "I thought the others were better." John then asked the engineering team, "What'd you think in there?" before they did one further take in an attempt to raise the key to G major. After realizing it sounded better in E major, they decided to return to 'take ten' for overdubbing purposes. Onto 'take ten,' Paul overdubbed bass (track one), John added electric guitar (track five), John doubled his electric guitar while Paul added piano (track six), Paul provided backing vocals (track seven) and John thumped the back of his guitar while Paul played marracas (track eight).
"The whole record was completed in just a few hours, from start to finish, including the mix – just like the good old days," Geoff Emerick recalls. John and Paul entered the control room of EMI Studio Three just after the overdubs were complete to assist the engineering team in creating the stereo mix of the song, only two hours needed to get the perfect mix. From 9 to 11 pm, they created five mixes, the fifth being deemed best for what became the first ever stereo Beatles single in the UK ("Get Back" was issued as a stereo single in the US). "The luxury of eight tracks allowed us to do a detailed stereo mix and, as icing on the cake, the record ended up being mastered by Malcolm (Davies) at Apple (Studios)," Emerick continues. No mono mix was deemed necessary, which was also a first for Beatles recordings.
On the tape box that contained these mixes, the phrase "Another winner from 'ERNIE'" was written. As Kevin Howlett explains in the liner notes for the 50th Anniversary release of "Abbey Road," "This was a familiar phrase in the UK at the time. The Electronic Random Number Indicator Equipment generated a selection of prize-winning Premium Bonds that had been purchased as part of a national savings scheme."
Sometime in 2019, George Martin's son Giles Martin, along with engineer Sam Okell, returned to these master tapes to create a stereo mix of the complete 'take seven' of "The Ballad Of John And Yoko." Because the song was recorded during the months that resulted in the "Abbey Road" album, this outtake was included in various releases in celebration of the LP's 50th Anniversary, complete with interesting banter inbetween early takes as described above.
CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO A BRIEF AUDIO HISTORY OF THIS SONG ON OUR PARTNER WEBSITE "THE BEATLES SONG BY SONG"
Song Structure and Style
The structure of the song parses out to 'verse/ chorus/ verse/ chorus/ verse/ chorus/ bridge/ verse/ chorus/ verse chorus' (or abababcabab). A brief introduction and conclusion is also included, while no solo or instrumental section was deemed necessary.
After a simple two-measure introduction, which comprises John on acoustic guitar and Paul on drums and overdubbed bass, the first eight-measure verse begins. John's lead vocals begin on the downbeat of the first measure, while his slight lead guitar riffs and echoed riffs appear in the second and fourth measure, both of these guitar overdubs being panned to opposite channels in the stereo landscape. This moves directly into the first eight-measure chorus with the same instrumentation. John plays four lead guitar riffs, in measures one, three, five and seven respectively, in a descending scale that harmonize with each other, both overdubs still panned to opposite channels. The seventh and eighth measures feature the first appearance of Paul's piano overdub playing simple E major triads while the eighth measure has the final note of John's lower lead guitar riff pulled up the fretboard at the end.
The second verse/chorus pair appears next, which is essentially the same as the first pair. John's second lead guitar phrase in the fourth measure of the verse lasts slighly longer, this delaying his echoing riff in the opposite channel until the fifth measure. Traces of Paul's piano is heard in measure eight of the verse and measure four of the chorus, as well as a full return of the triad E major chords in measure eight of the chorus. All the while, Paul plays a strict 4/4 drum pattern on closed hi-hats with no drum fills in sight.
The third verse/chorus set is also essentially the same, John's second lead guitar riff being doubled in measure four of the verse, pushing the single echoing lead guitar riff to measure five once again. The eighth measure of this chorus features Paul haphazardly hitting nonsence stabs on the piano in a descending arrangement while he also puts in his first snare drum fill, this being a segue into the bridge that follows.
The bridge is also eight measures in length and in 4/4 time like the rest of the song, with the exception of measure eight which is in 6/4 time. The extra two beats contained in this eighth measure is to accommodate a 'Beatles break' that corresponds to John's lyrical instruction for us to "THINK," which falls on the three-and-a-half beat of the measure. After a short break, Paul counts the song back in with three snare drum beats, ushering in the next verse/chorus set. Other noticeable features of this bridge is the piano chording throughout as well as Paul's harmony vocals in measures five through eight.
The fourth verse/chorus pair introduces Paul's maracas and John's acoustic guitar thumping overdub throughout. During the verse, Paul provides harmony only on words that end phrases, these being "bag," "said," "head" and "drag," and during the chorus he harmonizes in measures four through eight. John alters his lead guitar riffs substantially this time around, even performing a harmonized ascending guitar phrase in the third measure of the chorus. Paul becomes more confident on the drums at this point, adding simple drum fills in measures four and eight, while the piano chording doesn't come in until the eighth measure of the chorus this time around.
The fifth and final verse/chorus set is next, the final chorus being twelve measures long this time to accommodate a repeat of the final phrase "the way things are going / they're going to crucify me." All instrumentation is in full force during this climactic finale, Paul's piano also being heard throughout. Paul sings harmony all the way through the verse and chorus, except for his timid ommision of the word "Christ," which John emphasizes enthusiastically. John's lead guitar work becomes even more expressive, including multiple stabs in measures five and six of the verse as well as another harmonized ascending figure in measure three of the chorus. Paul also delivers simple drum fills in measures eight and twelve of the chorus, this final measure also including the beginning of John's harmonized "Honeymoon Song"-like guitar riff.
The four-measure conclusion to the song primarily features the triplet-like guitar run John started in the final measure of the last chorus, his vocalization of this riff from the rhythm track even being detected, while the rest of the instrumentation is playing at full bore. Everyone comes to a final halt on the downbeat of the fourth measure, all cymbals and guitars ringing until Paul's final drum and hi-hat beat has the final word.
"The story came out about that only Paul and I were on the record, but I wouldn't have bothered publicising that," John explained in 1969. "It doesn't mean anything. It just sort of happened that there were only us two there. George was looking for a house somewhere, and Ringo, who was on the film set, said he couldn't come that night. Because of that, it was a choice of either mixing or doing a new one, and you always go for doing a new one instead of fiddling about with an old one. So that's what we did, and it worked out well."
Were the other two band members upset about not being on the latest Beatles release? "That was OK," Ringo declared. "'Why Don't We Do It In The Road' was just Paul and me, and it went out as a Beatle track too. There's good drums on 'The Ballad Of John And Yoko.'" George reasoned: "I didn't mind not being on the record, because it was none of my business. If it had been 'The Ballad Of John, George And Yoko,' then I would have been on it."
American Releases
Being that the events described in "The Ballad Of John And Yoko" were the very recent exploits of the couple, Lennon wanted the single out as soon as possible. However, with the release of the long-awaited "Get Back" single being delayed until April 18th, 1969 in the UK (and May 5th in the US), John's desire to have this new single released approximately on May 2nd needed to be rethought. "We'll release it as soon as the other Apple singles go out of the charts, because it might kill the sales," he stated at the time. "I suppose we're cowards that way. I don't regard it as a separate record scene...It's The Beatles' next single, simple as that."
As it turned out, "The Ballad Of John And Yoko," with George's "Old Brown Shoe" as the b-side, was released in the US on June 4th, 1969, just shy of one month after the "Get Back" single was released in the states. By July 12th, Billboard charted this new single at #8, the first of three weeks at that peak position, while "Get Back" was still in the #1 position. One might think that its being released while their previous single was still doing so well on the charts did indeed "kill the sales," as John feared would happen. However, the problem here undoubtedly was because of several key American radio stations refusing to play the song due to its lyrical content.
While many radio stations refused to air the song because it "mentions Christ in a manner considered blasphemous by some critics," as Billboard magazine reported in its June 7th, 1969 issue, others decided to give it heavy airplay one way or the other. In 1980, John explained to what degree some American radio stations would go to get the song played: "What they did was, because they don't like the word 'Christ' – unless you're wearing a white robe, you can't say 'Christ' here – they turned it round so it would go: 'Rrrrp, you know it ain't easy...'" In any event, despite its only reaching as high as #8 on the US charts, the single still sold over one million copies, giving The Beatles yet another certified gold record.
This single was also the final Beatles record to also be released as a "Pocket Disc." This short-lived format comprised four inch flexible discs that were manufactured by Americom Corporation in New York and were made available to consumers either from store counter displays or vending machines for 50 cents each. While it was claimed that the sound quality on these thin flexible discs were every bit as good as vinyl, the shallow grooves could not contain the same amount of audible information. Shortly after this single was released, the "Pocket Disc" format was discontinued for good.
The first album to contain "The Ballad Of John And Yoko" was "Hey Jude" (originally titled "The Beatles Again"). This was released on February 26th, 1970 and was the fourth American Beatles album on Apple Records. It peaked at #2 on the Billboard album chart where it stayed for four weeks in a row, the album remaining in the top ten for eleven straight weeks. It was eventually released on compact disc on January 21st, 2014.
Next came the double-album compilation "The Beatles/1967-1970" (aka "The Blue Album"), which was released on April 19th, 1973. The first compact disc version of this collection came out on September 20th, 1993, and then in a remastered state on August 10th, 2010.
On March 7th, 1988, the CD "Past Masters, Volume Two" was released, which contained all of the later Beatles tracks that were not contained on British albums, "The Ballad Of John And Yoko" being among them. Both volumes were combined into a 2CD set simply titled "Past Masters" on September 9th, 2009, all of the tracks being remastered on this release.
Then comes the highly successful compilation album "Beatles 1," which came out on November 13th, 2000. Since "The Ballad Of John And Yoko" reached the #1 position in the UK, it earned its place on this album containing only Beatles' songs that have reached the summit in either the UK or US. Its remastered version was released on November 6th, 2015.
'Take seven' of the rhythm track of "The Ballad Of John And Yoko," as recorded on April 14th, 1969, was included on the "Super Deluxe" 3CD + Blu-ray edition of "Abbey Road," as well as the vinyl "Triple Album," both of these being released on September 27th, 2019 in celebration of the album's 50th Anniversary. This song's inclusion here was warranted because of its being recorded within the time period that "Abbey Road" was conceived.
John and Yoko in the backseat of their Rolls Royce from their promo film.
The Beatles were well past the point of concert performances by the time "The Ballad Of John And Yoko" was released in June of 1969. Therefore, the song was never performed live by the group, nor was it ever included in any solo Beatles set lists thereafter.
In order to promote the single, however, Apple Films created two 16mm color promos to be shown on television. Both films were essentially the same, one of which was chosen to be sent to the US for airing on the premier editon of the ABC-TV series "Music Scene" on September 22nd, 1969. The promo was pieced together, matching film footage of John and Yoko in Paris, Amersterdam, Vienna, and at their London Airport press conference whenever these events were mentioned in the song. Footage of Peter Brown on the phone with John is included when the lyrics call for it, while a sign with an exclamation point briefly appears on the screen whenever the word "Christ" is heard. In order to create the illusion that "The Ballad Of John And Yoko" was a full band effort, footage of The Beatles rehearsing at Twickenham Studios in early January, 1969, with a Krishna disciple visible at times sitting on the floor behind them, is interspersed throughout the film. Also of interest is footage of the couple travelling the British roads in their Rolls-Royce, John at one point clipping his fingernails.
Although this promo film didn't receive much exposure at the time, at least in the US, it was included in the "Beatles 1+" DVD set that was released on November 6th, 2015.
By 1969, John Lennon became more and more interested in documenting his life with music, something he continued in earnest with his solo career. In fact, there were times, the first being "The Ballad Of John And Yoko," where he wanted them to be released immediately, if possible, to share his life with the world as the events were happening. His albums "Two Virgins," "Life With The Lions" and "Wedding Album" were expressions of these intentions, as was his "Give Peace A Chance" single.
The event of breaking free from his Heroin addiction was the next subject to be tackled, the song "Cold Turkey" being written and readied for immediate release to the public. What many may not know is that, if the other Beatles would have agreed to it, this single would have continued the group's career past what most assume was the intended last Beatles album, "Abbey Road."
"I offered 'Cold Turkey' to The Beatles," Lennon explained about the October 1969 released record, "but they weren't ready to record a single. When I wrote it, I went to the other three Beatles and said, 'Hey lads, I think I've written a single.' But they all said, 'Ummmm...Arrrr...Well,' because it was going to be my project. So I thought, 'Bugger you, I'll put it out myself.' So, I did it as 'The Plastic Ono Band.' I don't care what it goes out as, as long as it goes out. You have to realize that there's a peculiar situation in that if 'Cold Turkey' had the name 'Beatles' on it, it probably would have made the #1 position. 'Cold Turkey' has got Ringo and me on it and yet on half of the tracks on 'Abbey Road,' I'm not on them. I'm not even on half of the tracks on the ("White Album"). Even way back then, sometimes there might only be two Beatles on a track."
"It's got to the situation where if you have the name 'Beatles' on it, it sells. So you get to think,'What are we selling?' Do they buy it because it's worth it, or just because it says 'Beatles'? George is in the same position. I know that he's got songs that he's been trying to get on our albums since 1920! So, he's got to make an album of his own. And maybe if he puts 'Beatles' on the label rather than 'George Harrison,' it might sell more. That's the drag! Of course, we could each make an album and call it 'The Beatles,' but that would be cheating, and that's not my scene."
In the case of "The Ballad Of John And Yoko," Paul was agreeable to cooperate with John to release a new Beatles single despite the uncertainty of the group's future at the time. However, even after Lennon's announcement to his band-mates on September 20th, 1969, that he was leaving the group, he apparently had a change of heart and asked the others to record "Cold Turkey" as the next Beatles single. Had they agreed, more new Beatles product could very well have been issued after "Abbey Road," "Let It Be" and beyond.
However, as history shows, John continued to document his life with Yoko to the world without The Beatles, such as with "Instant Karma." Then, on April 9th, 1970, while John was at Arthur Janov's private clinic in London undergoing "Primal Scream Therapy," McCartney phoned Lennon to inform him that he was leaving the group. Finally the uncertainty of The Beatles' future was decided for good.
Song Summary
Written by: John Lennon / Paul McCartney
Song Written: March through April 14, 1969
Song Recorded: April 14, 1969
First US Release Date: June 4, 1969
US Single Release: Apple #2531
Highest Chart Position: #8
First US Album Release: Apple #SW-385 "Hey Jude"
British Album Release: Apple #SKBO-3404 "1967-1970"
Key: E major
Producer: George Martin
Engineers: Geoff Emerick, John Kurlander
Instrumentation (most likely):
John Lennon - Lead Vocals, Rhythm Guitar and thumping (1964 Gibson J-160E), Lead Guitar (1965 Epiphone ES-230TD Casino)
Paul McCartney - Drums (1968 Ludwig Hollywood Maple), Bass (1964 Rickenbacker 4001 S), Piano (1905 Steinway Vertegrand), maracas, backing vocals
Written and compiled by Dave Rybaczewski
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Nick Beck
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CEO and founder Tug Agency
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Nick founded Tug on the belief that search marketing was the first channel to bring Media and Creative back together into the same agency. With more than 17 years of digital marketing experience, Nick's advertising life started as a suit, servicing clients such as American Express, Unilever, Yahoo, IBM, Royal Mail and Mercedes Benz for Oglivy Interactive and JWT. That blue chip experience coupled with a passion for digital media has helped Nick to build Tug into a global media agency that truly delivers to a client's bottom line. His stated aim is simply to build an agency that ambitious clients want to work with and ambitious people want to work for.
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3 Things To Look Out For At Cannes This Year in MAD London on 06/14/2019
From tech titans to the rise of "out-housed" in-housing, what's in store at this year's Cannes Lions?
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(1989) A little kid reads along with Hans Christian Andersen's statue; maintenance crews clean up after an open-air concert; Coppola films his New York Stories segment; plus behind the scenes admin arguments. 16mm. Approx. 176 min.


We specialise in release agents. This is the clear focus of both our services and products. We are continuously analysing the market, assess its potentials and develop products to meet almost any type of requirement.
The members of our sales team also act as technical consultants and provide our customers with qualified support, thus enabling us to acquire competence and experience in the area of release agents for almost any type of material and product. This experience is directly applied in our research activities – the motor that keeps our continuous development process running.
Our production is subject to an ongoing quality assurance system so that our customers can always profit from a constantly high quality level. Just in time, of course – so that your production process goes like clockwork.
The key to the success of Münch Chemie International is our team because we are all acting in concert.
Without large hierarchies, the employees and executives work together on the chemical solutions of tomorrow: creatively, quickly and flexibly.
Within the shortest time possible, we develop solutions that, when leaving our labs, can be applied directly on site. To this end, we establish small and effective teams that gather and evaluate national and international data and use them for development purposes.
Teamwork is our recipe for promptness and, thus, the shortest time-to-market periods possible.


Words are a powerful weapon in our confidence battle.
Speak to yourself gently, be forgiving and understanding of the mirror.
And remember–your mind and thinking should be your best allies and helpers, not your biggest bullies.


Hello Fellow McKinney Young Professionals!
As the incoming Chair for the McKinney Young Professionals, I first want to thank our current Chair, Brandon Herbison and all our committee members for their dedication and commitment to the community and MYP. Your efforts in planning meetings and events have been great and your work has impacted McKinney.
As the year draws to a close, I recently found myself looking back at my 2018 goals and even came across goals from previous years. In 2016 I set a goal to get more involved in the community. I found a really great opportunity to do that by joining the McKinney Young Professionals. For two years now the group has added to my life personally and professionally, making connections with some wonderful people in the community I might not have had the opportunity to meet otherwise.
If part of your 2019 plans are to get more involved in the community, expand your network, make a difference, I encourage you to join the McKinney Young Professionals. We have exciting events planned for next year including after-hours events, meetings with elected officials, business tours, civic involvement and professional development opportunities including the Annual Professional Development Summit.
To finish the year strong, plan to join us for our Holiday Ugly Sweater Party at Landmark Bank on Thursday, December 13 from 5:30 – 7:30 pm. Landmark Bank is graciously sponsoring and hosting the event at their new venue and will include food, drinks, and door prizes We will also be introducing you to the 2019 McKinney Young Professionals' Advisory Committee.
I look forward to serving as the 2019 Chair for MYP and I hope to meet you soon!
Let's keep in touch! Check out MYPS on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
I hope you plan to participate in the exciting times planned for 2019!


If you're a fan of I'm a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here or Hollyoaks you're in for a treat as star Jamie Lomas is coming to a Lincoln nightclub.
The star who was runner up in this years I'm a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here, and was character Warren Fox in Hollyoaks since 2006 will be at the club to meet party goers.
He will be at Home Nightclub in Lincoln on Tuesday January 30 where he will be making his appearance at the student night Union.
Early bird tickets are only £3.50 and can be purchased on the website where you can also purchase tickets for a meet and greet opportunity.
The event will run from 10pm until 3am.


text:
Quesenberry, Krista: "Intersectional and non-human self-representation in women's autobiographical comics." In: Journal of Graphic Novels and Comics 8.5 (2017), S. 417–432.
BibTeX citation key: Quesenberry2017
Keywords: "Adventures in Depression", "I Am Not These Feet", "The Story of my Tits", Anthropomorphism, Autobiography, Body, Brosh. Allie, Disability, Disease, Finland, Gender, Hayden. Jennifer, Leka. Kaisa, USA
Creators: Quesenberry
Collection: Journal of Graphic Novels and Comics Views: 4/268
Informed by life-writing, comics, feminist and disability studies, I consider autobiographical comics in which the categories of 'female' and 'woman' are directly opposed by the authors' visual-verbal representations of themselves as avatars. Specifically, I discuss animal representations in Jennifer Hayden's The Story of My Tits and Kaisa Leka's I Am Not These Feet, as well as a less precise non-normative self-representation in Allie Brosh's (Hyperbole and a Half) Adventures in Depression. I argue that comics is a medium of fundamentally intersectional self-representation, so that during experiences of illness, disease or disability, comics artists are compelled to self-represent in 'freaked and Othered bodies' that highlight particular aspects of their experiences not easily accessed by more normatively encoded bodies. That is to say, the categories of identity that structure composition, analysis, and histories of women's autobiographical comics may be insufficient in describing identities that emerge and disrupt during experiences of illness and disability.


text:
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In Their Own Words: Richie Cortes
For NBA LIVE Quality Designer Richie Cortes, video games are more than play, it kept him out of the streets and his life on track.
At EA, our team members lead amazing lives outside of their work duties of creating great games for our players. Meet NBA LIVE Quality Designer, Richie Cortes, and learn his extraordinary career path and his American Ninja Warrior hobby.
How did you begin your video gaming career?
Coming out of Full Sail University, where I got an Associate's Degree in Audio Engineering, I needed a job and I needed it fast. Bills were mounting, and my degree was not leading to steady work. I was also a Hip-Hop artist, and I was getting more paid work for performing at shows that I was with mixing/mastering audio.
One day, I was setting up a show in downtown Orlando at a now defunct club called AK Lounge, and I saw a newspaper on my way up the stairs to the club's entrance. There was a big EA logo on it that said that it needed testers for games. I applied instantly, and before I knew it, I was crushing an interview for a role as QA tester. – talking to my past gaming experience, my favorite game ever in Chrono Trigger (at the time), and speaking to my sports experience and knowledge. I was hired immediately to a position on Madden NFL '08 in April of 2007 and eventually converted to a Regular Full-Time (RFT) and the rest is history.
What are some of the challenges you face in your role?
Well my biggest challenge has been in my new role as a Quality Designer (QD). Previously I was a Project Manager on the NBA Live team but was given an amazing opportunity with this role to essentially define what a QD does. The hope is that there will be QD's for all of our EA titles.
QD is a new position for EA. So basically, I run surveys for the internal NBA Live team (along with some of the members outside of the team) on a weekly basis to generate feedback that helps guide our test planning and, ultimately, affects our weekly game tuning during the game development launch cycle. This is one of the most evolved quality feedback process at EA
I am also a part of both the Quality Design Family Initiative —to spread the best internal sentiment gathering practices across all EA titles— AND the Player Plus CDS Initiatives —a push to spread the best community play testing practice externally, for lack of a better explanation, an elevated form of beta testing— which will work to expand our quality feedback program from being not just a beta game testing phase but done through the entirety of the game development cycle. My work is making an immediate impact to the quality of our games as it helps recognize the sentiment of the public before we launch. Defining, evolving and spreading this position, while maximizing the impact of these two initiatives, is by far my most daunting challenge at EA yet.
How do you unwind and unplug?
Now this is a loaded question! Gaming with my son is #1, as is spending as much time with my family as possible. But I also do so much outside of work that my "unwinding" may seem like more work to others.
I am a certified personal trainer who owns the premier Ninja Gym in Central Florida – Ninja Fit Gym. I am also an American Ninja Warrior Athlete, competing nationwide in several ninja leagues and I have been on ANW on NBC for two seasons now (only getting very limited TV time up to this point though). Many times, I "unwind" with my training, or building/working at my gym. It's another love of my life that I get to do as an adult. With all of that, I have still been able to give 100% to all of my endeavors even though it's quite the balancing act.
What has been the most rewarding thing about working at EA?
Doing something I love man. Doesn't get any better than that. Growing up, and where I am from, I never once imagined that I would have a career period, let alone one in gaming. It was always an escape, and outlet to stay out of some of the lifestyles that filled my environment growing up. I did not want to be a part of the gang life that was everywhere in the early 90s growing up in Fayetteville, North Carolina, and video games, along with sports, kept me out of the streets. And when I did eventually fall into bad habits, video games and sports once again pulled me out and got me back on the right track.
To then come to where I made a sustainable career that helps provide for my family with a consistent lifestyle that I didn't have growing up, that is by far the most rewarding part of being in the EA family.
What advice can you give to someone who aspires to a career in the gaming industry?
Know when to listen and don't be afraid to speak. Don't be afraid to knock down the perceived glass ceiling as you will only go so far as your tenacity can take you.
This industry can be daunting and exhausting to some. It can wear down even the most resilient of individuals with the size and multi-function nature of our teams. However, always remember that the best games are made from the best collaborations. If you believe that you have strong concrete, do not be afraid to pave your own road.
Want to work at EA Orlando? Join the team here!
Stay in the conversation of all things Inside EA: Visit our site, and follow us on Twitter, Linkedin and Instagram.
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"THE WAY BACK TO THE WATER"
WE DONT HAVE A " NO WAKE ZONE "
CERTIFICATES TAKES 10 MIN TO RIDE !!!!!
What do I need to know before renting?
At Big Lagoon Jet Ski Rentals , we want you to experience as much fun as possible. We also want you to be as safe as possible. You are required to follow all rules and regulations when renting a personal watercraft. PLEASE read everything below!
All drivers must have a valid government ID (passports are okay), that show picture, date of birth, issuing agency, and expiration date.
Operators born after January 1st, 1988 must have a Florida boating education ID card. A temporary test is offered on site for $3.00. We provide a study guide to review before testing. After passing the test, the temporary license is good for 12 months for all vessel rentals in Florida. click here for a study guide to prepare in advance for this test if you need to take it. We have these study guides on site to provide prior to testing as well.
All state boaters cards (NASBLA approved courses) are honored by the State of Florida. If you want to take the test and get a lifetime license, use this link, or the Boating Authority associated with your state.
A damage waiver is required to be signed and a major credit card provided for any possible incidental damages.
Plan to arrive 30 minutes in advance of your reservation time to complete paperwork, obtain temporary boating license (if required), and to receive a safety/operational briefing on the jet skis before pushing off.
All sales are final. No refunds will be issued for early ride termination, especially those terminated due to UNSAFE behavior. You may reschedule or cancel your rental reservation with 24 hours notice without penalty. Any no-shows will be charged in full. Cancellation fee of $50 per jet ski will be charged for cancellations under 24 hours (this will be waived if rescheduling). Weather factors forcing rescheduling or cancellations are not penalized.


text:
Judicial Conference to reconsider policy on cameras in federal courts
Judicial Conference to reconsider policy on cameras in federal courts11/29/94 WASHINGTON -- The Federal Judicial Conference may reconsider its two-month-old…
WASHINGTON — The Federal Judicial Conference may reconsider its two-month-old decision not to allow cameras in any federal courts when its ad hoc committee meets in December, the Associated Press reported in mid-November.
Thirteen appeals court chief judges have signed a letter asking the committee to recommend permanently allowing cameras in federal appeals courts, despite the Conference's vote to ban them.
The 27-judge conference, headed by Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist, voted in late September to remove cameras from federal trial and appellate court civil cases at the end of the three- and-a-half year experimental program. That program is scheduled to end December 31.
Chief Judge Gilbert S. Merritt of the Court of Appeals in Cincinnati (6th Cir.) told the Associated Press that cameras in appellate courts do not prompt the same concerns about their effects on witnesses and jurors as in trial courts. In appellate courts, attorneys argue before a panel of judges without witnesses or jurors.
If the proposal is accepted by the ad hoc committee, the full conference could approve it as early as March, Merritt said. The chief judge of each circuit would then be allowed to decide whether to allow camera coverage of the circuit's appellate hearings, he added.
Other proposals to expand trial coverage are also being presented to the ad hoc committee, including one that would require media to install and maintain camera coverage for the duration of a trial, although they would not have to broadcast all of the material videotaped. Another proposal reportedly would require media outlets to air at least 60 to 90 seconds of any courtroom excerpts at one time.
Camera coverage set to come back into spotlight
Judicial conference votes down cameras in court
Judicial Conference changes stand on cameras in appellate proceedings
Judges grant camera access to California recall appeal
Two federal appellate courts vote to allow cameras


We can modify ANY of our house plans to meet your EXACT needs! Just pick a plan that you like and contact us for a 100% FREE Modification Quote! Simple, Quick, & Easy!
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Alterations were made professionally and quickly. Our plans were delivered when House Plan Gallery said (very quickly) and were of high quality. Very much appreciated all your efforts, we would definitely recommend House Plan Gallery to our friends and or use House Plan Gallery again. Thank you - good luck.
We would recommend House Plan Gallery without reservation!
House Plan Gallery has been a pleasure to work with on designing the plans for our new home. They have been available to answer any and all questions that my wife and I have had.
Stephen made several relevant suggestions to us to help us through this process. My wife and I are contracting our house ourselves and the team at House Plan Gallery has been there to help direct us on each phase.
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Newlywedded
observations on marriage and motherhood
« Please vote for Newlywedded | Main | Marley and Us »
For the past few weeks, Mike's been working on a History channel show called...THE NEXT NOSTRADAMUS...sounds uplifting doesn't it?
It's all about this professor who is considered to be the NEXT Nostradamus and he makes all of these predictions about the end of the world and how everything that's happening at this moment was predicted by the Mayans and by the bible and that this is the official beginning of the end. Now, many people do a nice job of leaving work at work, but when Mike's on a project, everyone watch out. This time, none of us are safe. Whether you're family or the bagger at Gelson's, if you've had contact with Mike, you're prepared for the apocalypse...and according to him, it's going to be soon...really soon.
The other night, while getting ready for bed...
ME: "So how's the edit going?"
MIKE: "Great...except for the fact that we're pretty much all going to die in four years."
ME: "Oh come on, stop it."
You see, here's where I'm waiting for the joke...the typical "Mike making light of things" air...the guy I married, but instead...
MIKE: "No, I'm serious. It's over. Everything that's happened-from terrorist attacks to the Iraq war to the Tsunami, Hurricane Katrina, the fires, everything...it's all been predicted. Yup, by 2012, it's going to be complete chaos."
ME: "You just mean that there'll be a really big earthquake...and we're prepared for that kind of emergency, honey. Don't worry."
Here's where my voice climbs higher and higher in an effort to convince myself that not only am I right, but that stupid Next Nostradamus guy is completely overreacting and my husband who's usually able to make light of just about anything is simply having a bad day.
MIKE: "Can't prepare for this one. All you can do is hope you have...."
ME: "A full tank of gas?"
MIKE: "Nope"
ME: "Cash?"
MIKE: "Nope."
ME: "Your passports handy?"
MIKE: "Nope. Just..well...probably just a gun and well...hope for the best."
ME: "When is this happening?"
MIKE: "2012"
ME: "Wow, uh, that's super soon. What's the plan?"
MIKE: "Vegas."
And so, the next few weeks moved forward with Mike working diligently and me so scared I could barely sleep. Then, I realized that he sort of enjoyed knowing this "secret" information. He was getting joy out of scaring the living shit out of people. I watched as innocent victims of Mike's new gig listened to the "predictions" while running through emergency preparedness strategies in their heads-take the photo albums, take the cat, oh wait, he said we're all just going to die like the dinosaurs anyway so I can't take anything...wow...I'm really helpless and scared now.
At a wedding in Mexico earlier this month, not even a gorgeous, white sand beach could deter him from telling everyone. Wasted on margaritas, victims of Mike's 2012 speech were paralyzed, jaws dropped as he explained that they didn't have a prayer for survival (at least according to the Next Nostradamus). During the reception, I walked over to Mike just as he was about to do a tequila shot with another couple.
ME: "Hey guys! Watcha talking about?"
THE COUPLE: "How we're all going to Vegas for 2012! Woo hoo!"
They shouted in glee and downed their Don Julio. I shot Mike a "how can you do this to these people who've paid $800 for their hotel rooms-they're trying to relax?!" look and wandered around the party where it seemed that every conversation and whisper echoed 2012 2012 2012...the Next Nostradamus had permeated the entire party...and to my chagrin, they were loving every second of it.
ME: "Babe, don't you think you're scaring these people just a little bit?"
THE COUPLE: "No, this is fascinating!"
When the evening was finally over, I found Mike chatting with another group of people.
ME: "Honey? It's getting late..."
THE GROUP: "Wait...he's telling us all about this project he's working on...we're about to call and make reservations for Vegas in 2012!"
Guess I should be calling too. I wonder if I should book a spa treatment or not even bother...
The Next Nostradamus AIRS AGAIN THIS SATURDAY AT 6PM ON THE HISTORY CHANNEL
December 03, 2008 | Permalink
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