Saturday, January 30, 2016

ES-Say #58 Australia Still Loves Paul McCartney. Do Not Be Fooled!


There has been a bit of backlash in the press over the Australia Day message that Paul McCartney released on social media last week. Here's an article written about the brouhaha- The Daily Telegraph. To summarize, some comments on Instagram, were less than favourable due to the the photo used for the message. This photo was a press picture from fourteen years ago, promoting his planned tour of the country that was subsequently cancelled. A number of Australian fans, have since complained that the Australia day message is causing them to, (for a better word)  relive the situation surrounding the cancelation.

A rumor has also developed based on this message that Paul hinted at returning for a tour. His message mentioned "Watch Out For Flying Kangaroos!". This could be a cryptic message. Unless he meant the comment literally, there seems that there could be some truth to a tour.

The fact that the media, in recent times, likes to use social media comments of the public to report the overall feelings of a particular issue seems a bit slanted. Unless there is a mob at the British Embassy protesting this message of good will on Australia Day, I can never understand how a sample of comments lean towards generalised facts. While some public comments have not been favourable, I would like to point out that over 36,000 fans liked this message posted on Facebook. I'm not suggesting that the 36,000 are Australian, but it shows that generally not everyone was up in arms.
It doesn't always seem accurate when news stories are created based on a selection of backtalk, especially when Australian fans have had fourteen years to decide to either hold a grudge due to his 2002 cancelation or not give a Kangaroo either way. Everyone has varied opinions, but they can't always be counted as facts to lead news reports.

I found a facebook group called 20 years since Paul McCartney's last Aussie tour is not fair dinkum . 170 people like this group, which hasn't been updated for three months. I don't know what "dinkum" is but as the population of Australia in 2013 was 23.13 million people, I can't really agree that the situation of Paul not touring Australia is "not fair dinkum."

Publicity, good or bad is always good for musicians because it is an example that people are aware of your "brand". Yet, if a negative news story of Paul McCartney in the future is to be reported it would be more helpful for these stories to be edited with accurate data.

They might want to take it to an impartial vote- Dinkum or No Dinkum...

Speaking of social media, do you know we have a Not Saying Anything To Paul McCartney Twitter page(see the widget on this page). Also, you can join our Not Saying Anything To Paul McCartney "Fun Club" Group on Facebook. (we have way less that 170 members, but I'm not making the outrageous claim that it's the best Paul McCartney facebook group on the internet. That's for you to decide.)      

Monday, January 25, 2016

ES-Say #57 Paul McCartney To Tour, Sometime, This Year...

Same Time Next(or This) Year? Macca Fans Are Waiting For Official Tour Information, not yet forthcoming.

According to a recent Beatles Examiner article , Rolling Stone hinted in a photo caption that Paul would be returning to touring in 2006. Regardless, this isn't new information as PaulMcCartney.com(the official website) is basically telling people to "watch this space." Rumors of countries that will be stops on the not-yet-named new tour(as the three year"Out There" tour has supposedly ended)  have been speculated. The only confirmed date is the Chris Evans charity event in June. The recent David Bowie tribute concert in NYC that was planned rumoured that Paul will attending, but confirmation hasn't materialised.

Are you with me so far? In a nutshell, PaulMcCartney.com hasn't updated their website with any new tour information. For myself, this is not a major concern, as frankly, I'm broke. I don't have money saved up that would support flying to a show or enough for a decent view seat. I can wait until this tour news irons itself out, and I think there's no point refreshing websites to get the latest tour news. I can tell you, it won't be a secret. I'm going to get at least a minimum of about 10 emails when anything is announced. So, unless I stop reading my emails daily, I will definitely hear about tour dates.

Do I want to attend a show this year? Most definitely! The only thing I can't stand is quick onsale dates. In other words, a couple days after an announcement, tickets are available for pre-sale. The Foot Bomber(our official blog nemesis) turns into the most angry and possessive Foot, during this time. He will not leave the room or refuse to "give up" the computer about an hour before the nightmare(aka buying concert tickets) starts. Myself, I get tunnel vision and every answer out my mouth is "what time is it?" as all I care about when the box office(or Ticketmaster) opens. You can only imagine how awkward life becomes when one person is taunting the other by repeatedly singing "The Frog Chorus"(The Foot Bomber) and the other, myself, whom strongly dislikes "The Frog Chorus" is yelling "Cut it out! WHAT TIME IS IT!!!"

There is only a sigh of relief and remembering to eat and bathe after securing Paul McCartney tickets. But, I don't feel like skipping meals or showers anytime soon. I would also like some "Peace In The Neighbourhood" with my relationship to The Foot Bomber. Fighting over Paul McCartney is a very silly thing to fight over.

I will try to direct any anger towards Ticketmaster, they do get away with a lot of silly charges!

ED Note: We'd like to thank BeatleLinks.Net (click here) for adding the blog to its index. Much appreciated.     

Sunday, January 17, 2016

ES-Say #56 The Year Of The Charity Shops
An example of a recent find from a charity shop- a 1986 music score book for £1.50

That's it! I'm declaring that 2006 is the year where I try to increase my personal McCartney\Beatles collection by adding bargains found from charity shops or collecting through other means. 

Now, don't be confused because I said "other means". I'm just saying that in general, because if, let's say "Back To The Egg"(on vinyl) falls out of a bird's nest and hits me in the head, I'm keeping it. I will not be "stealing" or "cheating" anyone to receive McCartney items(besides, I did that already last year...*). This is a New Year's resolution to try and save money by being thrifty.**

Yes, I'm usually extremely thrifty, but I'm going to make a bigger effort. It is in my best interest to try and work towards an expensive, but worthy goal of going to Liverpool. If going to Liverpool happens in the near future, you might never hear the end of it. As going to Merseyside might take longer to happen then I anticipate, even with cutting down on the collecting, thankful my dear readers have probably eighteen more months of nessary content. Going on and on about Elenor Rigby's headstone will probably lead to the demise of this site. Some people might be pleased about that, but I hope to not turn people off with redundant fan girl drivel.

Usually, I plan trips to record conventions or even far away record stores through out the year. This I plan to limit this year. If it costs more money in expenses(ie. travel, entry fees) than it does to buy a 45 rpm, I want to avoid doing it. I actually enjoy making little effort for a collectable. The photo of the music score(above) for example. To buy that, I rolled out of bed and took a ten minute walk. I used all the collecting skills I normally use- gazing at stuff for long periods of time- and voila! I spent little money, it presumably went to charity, and I continue to have fit legs(from walking).
 
Oh yeah, let's not forget the book! I really like having the music scores because then I can sing out loud proudly to Beatles hits! Besides that, it makes me reflect on the wonderful Wings music score book that I found at The Strand, a famous bookstore in NYC. I paid about $18.00 for it and that includes whatever cheap price the subway was over a decade ago. Currently, I'm not sure where the book is(another redundant story) but it probably is first print and from the 1970s. 

Give me about 18 months to find it, and I can devote an entire blog to that, followed by something about a gravestone...

Not Saying Anything To Paul McCartney would like to thank the following people this month- Jorie Gracen, The Macca Report , Our Facebook Fun Group, Our Twitter Page wigetted on the right, people who like horror movies, people that waited like a month for this ES-Say, My mom, The Foot Bomber, THE Paul McCartney(even though I'm not saying anything to him), and David Bowie(RIP).

*I lied, I'm awesome
**Who knows? It's a resolution(rather than a revolution!) 

***Ed Note: ????? We think it's a Beatles pun...typical!