lenetaylor

[lenetaylor]

That time Paul McCartney stole a London street sign (probably)

Whilst perusing this photo set, my attention was caught by the street sign in the background, fixed to the wall:

The sign says Wellington Road NW; this road runs parallel to Cavendish Ave.

So at first I thought he and Heather were somewhere out on Wellington Road, but this didn't make sense: there are no places to swim (except the canal at the southeast end of Wellington, but, gross), and anyway Heather's wearing a nightgown. But as I looked more closely, I realized the photos were actually taken (by Linda, I assume, perhaps in 1969) the backyard of his house at Cavendish. The crappy paving stones and the multicolor brick wall match other photos at roughly the same time:

Note also the railing and steps, which match the fifth photo of Paul with his leg up.

But where did the sign come from?

These street signs were and are ubiquitous in Westminster. The original signs (installed in the 1950s) are cast iron and use the Crown Estate’s gilted crown emblem and relief lettering in a serif font. They look like this (note the Cavendish Place sign in this lot!):

In 1967, they started replacing them with a new style of sign, designed by Sir Misha Black. From this article:

If you ask most people what the typical London street sign looks like, they will probably describe something that looks very like the classic Westminster design: white enamel with neat black lettering and the postal district in red, then the name of borough in red across the bottom, all in sans serif. This classic and copyrighted design – many genuine examples of which are currently being auctioned online by Catherine Southon Auctioneers – feels historic but was in fact conceived as recently as 1967 by Misha Black’s Design Research Unit. Black was commissioned by Westminster City Council to design a simple and striking template that would replace the existing anarchic street sign policy – which he did with great success.

Here's the new Wellington Road sign:

The old Wellington Road sign ended up in Paul's backyard sometime after 1967. I think he must have seen it on the side of the road and picked it up while he was walking around, or fished it out of a skip. Or maybe he straight up nicked it while they were doing the sign replacement. Who can say?

I'd love to know how long he kept it fixed to the wall.

In conclusion, Paul McCartney stole a street sign (I think).

[lenetaylor]

[lenetaylor]

@katherynefromphilly adorbs!!!

Battling my fear of posting random little sketches, so here's a Luke study for you Because I love him and because art block

[lenetaylor]

Ringo Friday

Ringo Starr, country and western hero!

[lenetaylor]

Story Credit: John Hughes

yeah, him

what the genuine fuck @ this cartoon from National Lampoon magazine's 1977 Beatles issue

basically Brian is an evil ex-Nazi who kidnaps the Beatles in Hamburg to turn them into his sex slaves via Dr. Frankenstein operations. (John and Paul are the sex slaves, George is just... there??, and Ringo is an unholy amalgam of bits of Stu and Pete.) They later escape but he wins them back by getting them a recording contract. In the last panel they're shown plotting to kill him.

putting it under a cut because yeah, antisemitism and homophobia

[lenetaylor]

just a couple of pictures of Mike Nesmith with his dogs

Mike and Spotte

Mike and Micky and Fraak

[lenetaylor]

ed zitron of better offline does a great job of explaining why it's like this

he's righteously angry about it and I love him

I don't know I'm not done talking about it. It's insane that I can't just uninstall Edge or Copilot. That websites require my phone number to sign up. That people share their contacts to find their friends on social media.

I wouldn't use an adblocker if ads were just banners on the side funding a website I enjoy using and want to support. Ads pop up invasively and fill my whole screen, I misclick and get warped away to another page just for trying to read an article or get a recipe.

Every app shouldn't be like every other app. Instagram didn't need reels and a shop. TikTok doesn't need a store. Instagram doesn't need to be connected to Facebook. I don't want my apps to do everything, I want a hub for a specific thing, and I'll go to that place accordingly.

I love discord, but so much information gets lost to it. I don't want to join to view things. I want to lurk on forums. I want to be a user who can log in and join a conversation by replying to a thread, even if that conversation was two days ago. I know discord has threads, it's not the same. I don't want to have to verify my account with a phone number. I understand safety and digital concerns, but I'm concerned about information like that with leaks everywhere, even with password managers.

I shouldn't have to pay subscriptions to use services and get locked out of old versions. My old disk copy of photoshop should work. I should want to upgrade eventually because I like photoshop and supporting the business. Adobe is a whole other can of worms here.

Streaming is so splintered across everything. Shows release so fast. Things don't get physical releases. I can't stream a movie I own digitally to friends because the share-screen blocks it, even though I own two digital copies, even though I own a physical copy.

I have an iPod, and I had to install a third party OS to easily put my music on it without having to tangle with iTunes. Spotify bricked hardware I purchased because they were unwillingly to upkeep it. They don't pay their artists. iTunes isn't even iTunes anymore and Apple struggles to upkeep it.

My TV shows me ads on the home screen. My dad lost access to eBook he purchased because they were digital and got revoked by the company distributing them. Hitman 1-3 only runs online most of the time. Flash died and is staying alive because people love it and made efforts to keep it up.

I have to click "not now" and can't click "no". I don't just get emails, they want to text me to purchase things online too. My windows start search bar searches online, not just my computer. Everything is blindly called an app now. Everything wants me to upload to the cloud. These are good tools! But why am I forced to use them! Why am I not allowed to own or control them?

No more!!!!! I love my iPod with so much storage and FLAC files. I love having all my fics on my harddrive. I love having USBs and backups. I love running scripts to gut suck stuff out of my Windows computer I don't want that spies on me. I love having forums. I love sending letters. I love neocities and webpages and webrings. I will not be scanning QR codes. Please hand me a physical menu. If I didn't need a smartphone for work I'd get a "dumb" phone so fast. I want things to have buttons. I want to use a mouse. I want replaceable batteries. I want the right to repair. I grew up online and I won't forget how it was!

[lenetaylor]

important context

I just wanted to talk about how Unification was a great follow up to the other Rodenberry archive short film Regeneration which came out a year and a half ago. In Regeneration, we saw Spock visiting Kirk's grave on Veridian III and picking up Kirk's insignia from atop the grave where Picard left it after burying him.

Unification implies that the events of the photo novel Strange New Worlds are canon in that Gary Mitchell became a powerful non-corporeal being after his death on Delta Vega. Mitchell initially wants revenge on Kirk but Kirk eventually gets him to realize that he can set aside human desires and flaws. Mitchell sets out to travel the universe. And in Unification, Mitchell finds out about Kirk's death, sees Spock mourning at Kirk's grave, and Kirk's remains in storage at Daystrom Station.

So Mitchell brings Kirk back, has his insignia returned to him, and gives Kirk and Spock one last sunset to share together. And that's beautiful.

There's been so much focus on just the Spirk moment that I didn't want the rest of it to be overlooked and under appreciated.

[lenetaylor]

oh and also, they're communicating telepathically, right? i thought it was super obvious. as soon as the touch hands, they are also touching minds. what was that conversation.

All the AI computing power in the world and they STILL can't get Shatner right! Who is this guy?? He looks more like James Cawley than Bill. Jeez. I'm adding this to the Kirk-Not-Kirk list.

Oh well. I guess K/S is canon now.

(also: LOCKWOOD!)

[lenetaylor]

All the AI computing power in the world and they STILL can't get Shatner right! Who is this guy?? He looks more like James Cawley than Bill. Jeez. I'm adding this to the Kirk-Not-Kirk list.

Oh well. I guess K/S is canon now.

(also: LOCKWOOD!)

[lenetaylor]

the best art

robert fraser would have loved this

olivia steen's art and the beatles [1] [2]

inspired by @artofdying1970 post

[lenetaylor]

1000%

I am incredibly thrilled for everyone in the Star Trek: TOS fandom right now, but I feel like I have to rant for a moment.

STOP USING A STUPID PORTMANTEAU.

"Spirk" just sounds silly. You could at least gone with Kock.

But either way, your fandom INVENTED SLASH. You are why this genre exists. SLASH. THAT's YOU. YOUR FANNISH ANCESTORS MADE ALL THIS. They co-opted an entire symbol of punctuation and made it mean gay love and sex, FOR YOU.

"Kirk/Spock". That is literally ALL YOU NEED.

Honor your fore-mothers. Reject the portmanteaux!

[lenetaylor]

@katherynefromphilly ?????

Does Tumblr know that Eoin Macken, Rupert Young, and Tom Hopper did a Merlin-themed photoshoot for Gay Times magazine?

[lenetaylor]

ringo: RINGO!

THIRTEEN REASONS TO GIVE RINGO SOME RESPECT By John Bryant

Ringo was the first true rock drummer to be seen on TV. All the Rock & Roll drummers featured with Elvis, Bill Haley, Little Richard, Fats Domino and Jerry Lee Lewis were mostly R&B drummers that were making the transition from a swing drumming style of the 40’s and 50’s toward the louder and more “rocking” sound that is associated with “I Want To Hold Your Hand”. They were dressed in tuxedos and suits and held the drumsticks in the “traditional” manner of military, orchestra, and jazz drummers. Ringo showed the world that power was needed to put the emphasis on the “rock” in Rock & Roll music, so he gripped both sticks like hammers and proceeded to build a foundation for rock music. 

Ringo changed the way drummers hold their sticks by making popular the “matched” grip of holding drumsticks. Nearly all drummers in the Western World prior to Ringo held their sticks in what is termed the “traditional” grip, with the left hand stick held like a chopstick. This grip was originally developed by military drummers to accomodate the angle of the drum when strapped over the shoulder. Ringo’s grip changes the odd left hand to match the right hand, so that both sticks are held like a flyswatter. Rock drummers along with marching band and orchestral percussionists now mostly play with a “matched” grip, and drum companies have developed straps and accessories to accomodate them. 

Ringo started a trend of placing drummers on high risers so that they would be as visible as the other musicians. When Ringo appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show in 1964, he immediately caught the attention of thousands of “drummers to be” by towering over the other three Beatles. Elvis’s drummer was looking at a collection of backs. 

These same “wannabe” drummers also noticed that Ringo was playing Ludwig drums and they immediately went out and bought thousands of these drumsets, thus establishing Ludwig as the definitive name in Rock & Roll drums at that time. 

Ringo changed the sound of recorded drums. About the time of Rubber Soul (released Dec. 6,1965), the sound of the drumset started to become more distinct. Along with help from the engineers at Abbey Road studios, Ringo popularized a new sound for the drums by tuning them lower, deadening the tonal ring with muffling materials, and making them sound “closer” by putting a microphone on each drum. 

Ringo has nearly perfect tempo. This allowed the Beatles to record a song 50 or 60 times, and then be able to edit together different parts of numerous takes of the same song for the best possible version. Today an electronic metronome is used for the same purpose, but the Beatles had to depend on Ringo to keep the tempo consistant throughout the dozens of takes of the songs that you know and love so well. Had he not had this ability, the Beatles recordings would sound completely different today. 

Ringo’s “feel” for the beat serves as a standard for pop-rock record producers and drummers alike. It is relaxed, but never dragging. Solid, yet always breathing. And yes, there is a great amount of musical taste in his decisions of what to play and when to play it. In most recording sessions, the drummer’s performance acts as a barometer for the rest of the musicians. The stylistic direction, dynamics, and emotions are filtered through the drummer. He is the catcher to whom the pitcher/songwriter is throwing. If the drumming doesn’t feel good, the performance of any additional musicians is doomed from the start. The Beatles rarely if ever had this problem with Ringo. 

Ringo hated drum solos, which should win points with quite a few people. He only took one solo while with the Beatles. His eight measure solo appears during “The End” on the “B” side of Abbey Road. Some might say that it is not a great display of technical virtuosity, but they would be at least partially mistaken. You can set an electronic metronome to a perfect 126 beats per minute, then play it along with Ringo’s solo and the two will stay exactly together. 

Ringo’s ability to play odd time signatures helped to push popular songwriting into uncharted areas. Two examples are “All you Need is Love” in 7/4 time, and “Here Comes the Sun” with repeating 11/8, 4/4, and 7/8 passages in the chorus. 

Ringo’s proficiency in many differen styles such as two beat swing (“When I’m Sixty-Four”), ballads (“Something”), R&B (“Leave My Kitten Alone” and “Taxman”) and country (the Rubber Soul album) helped the Beatles to explore many musical directions with ease. His pre-Beatle experience as a versatile and hard working nightclub musician served him well. 

The idea that Ringo was a lucky Johnny-on-the-spot-with-a-showbiz-stage-name is wrong. In fact, when Beatle producer George Martin expressed his unhappiness after the first session with original drummer Pete Best, the decision was made by Paul, George, and John to hire who they considered to be the best drummer in Liverpool - Ringo Starr. His personality was a bonus. 

The rumors that Ringo did not play on many of the Beatle songs because he was not good enough are also false. In fact, he played on every released Beatles recording (not including Anthology 1) that include drums except for the following: “Back In The USSR” and “Dear Prudence”, on which Paul played drums due to Ringo temporarily quitting the band, “The Ballad of John and Yoko”, again featuring Paul on drums because Ringo was off making a movie, and a 1962 release of “Love Me Do” featuring session drummer Andy White. 

When the Beatles broke up and they were all trying to get away from each other, John Lennon chose Ringo to play drums on his first solo record. As John once said, “If I get a thing going Ringo knows where to go, just like that..” A great songwriter could ask no more of a drummer. Except maybe to smile and bob his head. 

[lenetaylor]

if any of you followed me on twitter, i have deleted my account. I'm on bluesky now: https://bsky.app/profile/lenetaylor.bsky.social

[lenetaylor]