Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da
« The Reward for Mediocrity is . . . ? | Main | September Suggestion »Thankfully I'm not old enough to remember the 1960's. On June 1, 1987, the local newspaper celebrated the 20th anniversary of the release of the Beatles' Sergeant Pepper's, and when I started listening then I was hooked. I bought all their albums -- vinyl! -- and even though they're the Beatles, there was plenty of stuff new to me. Without a doubt the most unfamiliar work was the White Album, which as you probably know is completely different from the "I Want to Hold Your Hand" music. It was a fascinating mess, all the more so for a suburban kid who liked to question authority, but, well, not too much. "Revolution Number 9" really took hold, as I never had heard anything like it and yet it was the Beatles, and that combination meant of course it was the coolest thing in the world.
Then not long afterwards it dawned me that "Revolution Number 9" was garbage. They say McCartney and the Beatles' producer George Martin fought hard to keep it off the album, and I can't blame them. I've imagined a 13-year-old in 1968 spending his lawn mowing money on a Beatles double album, only to find twelve minutes of noise on the fourth side. What was Lennon thinking when he pushed that on his audience? Was his goal to see how many fans he could drive away? Or was he trying to find out how absurd he could be and still get paid doing it?
Like the White Album, 2006 has been an uneven set, and Mark Mulder's two starts are "Revolution Number 9". There's not much more to say here. Everyone's frustrated, even Al Hrabosky, hoping Mulder or LaRussa or DeWitt stops fighting the obvious. I only wish there was some way to blame this on Yoko Ono.
Posted by Rob at August 29, 2006 10:31 PMI was just listening to my Beatle albums today. I always skip #9 but yea, I don't know how blaming Yoko for Mulder's terrible season will help any.
Posted by: Daniel at August 29, 2006 11:44 PMThat said, I got hooked during the Anthology airing when I was in the 5th Grade.
Posted by: Daniel at August 29, 2006 11:44 PMI caught just a snippet of the radio broadcast last night, and I heard Mike or John say that they were going to discuss why TLR has been staying with Mulder. Unfortunately, I had to put kids to bed. Did anyone hear that discussion, and if so, was anyone impressed with the rationale?
TSF
Posted by: TedSimmonsFan at August 30, 2006 08:58 AMUh, if I say I like "Revolution No. 9," does that mean I have to like Mulder, too?
Because I don't.
Posted by: The 26th Man at August 30, 2006 11:16 AMIf you like #9, you don't have to like Mulder. But you may be able to shed some light on why some people still would.
Posted by: Liam at August 30, 2006 01:35 PMI guess I could see why some like #9. It just doesn't belong on my iPod, and in the same way Mulder didn't belong on that mound in a pennant race.
TSF, I didn't hear it and I don't expect the Cardinals would give it to us straight. It's sounded like LaRussa's Code of Honor was at work, and they probably shouldn't suggest that Mulder was given a start for political reasons. It also sounds like it's over though.
Posted by: Rob at August 30, 2006 04:59 PMSo, next turn will be Reyes again?
Posted by: MO Boiler at August 30, 2006 05:08 PMI like Shannon, but he defended the move, and reasoned that Mulder had won more games in the last 5 years than anyone, had more CGs, more shutouts...
Based on his past, he deserves.
I disagree.
Posted by: ol'abner at August 30, 2006 05:15 PMWhen I was in the 6th grade, I had a silly music class that all the kids would take on the days that we didn't have P.E. My music teacher was a nice lady, but boy did the guys in my class sure torment her. We actually made her cry one day. Anyway, to try to win favor with the class one week, she allowed us to bring in a song of our choice, and if we wanted to, lip sing and perform a dance, or whatever.
Well, after a week, I had had enough of the torment of watching the boys in ripped up jeans lip sing to Whitesnake, and all of the girls doing dance routines to Tiffany and New Kids on the Block! So I brought in my copy of the White Album, and for my turn, I asked the teacher to put on Revolution #9.
My best friend and I sat on folding chairs in front of the class. As the noise began, we both began to pretend to play air violin and chello, and began to lip sing "#9....#9.....#9....#9...." When the guy screams falling out of the window....we made a face...."you become naked....the watuzi, the twist"....and our favorite, "take this brother, may it serve you well."...I pulled something out of my pocket and handed it to him.
By the end of the song, the whole class was absolutely sick of us. We roared with laughter for weeks. Sweet revenge!
That was the end of the lip singing project.
Lennon was slamming junk at that point, and just screwing around with the "new technology" of the year....a sampler and a loop machine. As crazy as revolution #9 is, Lennon was right to say that "this is the future of music! You don't even have to play an instrument!" Just ask Puff Daddy; boy, was he a genius.
I've got no problem with the Mulder experiment in principle, since Shannon's right - he has earned the chance to come back. But it should be obvious to everyone (even Shannon) that Mulder just doesn't have it. Two starts is enough - shut him down for the year, sign him to a cheap Morris-type deal and see what happens next spring, since he obviously doesn't have the stuff to get major league hitters out right now. And if he's too hard-nosed to take a 1-year deal, I say good riddance.
Posted by: MO Boiler at August 30, 2006 06:54 PM