Beatles Haul for the Holidays 2009

Every year, I get  Beatles stuff for the holidays because everyone knows I've been a fan since 1964, when I was in elementary school.  I have such a collection of Beatle memorabilia..one year my son-in-law gave me a framed picture of the Beatles from the All You Need is Love video, with an original All You Need is Love pin and a piece of heather from the field inside the frame as well. Last year, my ex-husband's wife, who is from England originally, gave me a signed photo of the Beatles from 1964 which appears to be authentic; she bought it in Liverpool when she and her dad were visiting relatives there. I have action figures, many books, puzzles, paintings and drawings, you name it. Last year, Ken also got me a talking John Lennon doll which is about a foot tall and says "All that I'm saying is Give Peace a Chance, mon" and "Power to the People," when you push the button on the back, and I love it but it freaks me out, so mostly it never gets to say anything at all.

This year, Ken's nephews Jai and Joey gave me The Beatles Monopoly game, and Ken gave me the 7 disc set of The Long and Winding Road, with video reminescences from everyone, it seems, who has ever known The Beatles who was alive in 2003 when it was done. I was thrilled to see some of the ones I've read about for so long, like Alistair Taylor and Tony Sheridan for those of you who have been reading and watching for as long as I have. I've only seen the first three so far; I've been watching one a night. I highly recommend this set for any Beatles fan.

Ken also got me a book called Here, There, and Everywhere: The 100 Best Beatles Songs by Stphen J. Spignesi and Michael Lewis. So far, we made it all the way to number 8 before I disagreed with their choices, but I know they were only choosing their top 100 and it's a very personal matter. They seem to have their facts right, although some of their analyses of the songs are laughable and I could do without the "Why we like the song" sections, which seem to be a bit inane, really. Still, the book has interesting facts and recording notes and photos, so I like it.

Today, we went and fulfilled our tradition in which Ken buys me a new Beatles calendar either for Christmas or right after Christmas. We've done this for at least the last 10 years. This one, I think is my favorite. It is shaped like a record, comes in a Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Heart's Club Band box, and has the original cutouts from the Sgt.  Pepper album included with it.

So I have my book, my DVDs, my game, and my calendar. Tradition has been honored and the collection just keeps going.