Happy 71st Birthday, John Lennon

Today would have been John Lennon's 71st birthday.

He was highly influential in my life.  That's obvious.  My daughter is his namesake.  We're teaching her about Karma, and about doing her best to make this world a peaceful place to live in.

Below is one of our favorite Lennon songs as a family.  Jessi and I had planned to get married to it, at one point. It originated as a demo recorded in 1979 entitled 'Real Life'.  After six sessions, it became 'Real Love'.  It wasn't released until years after his death, when the documentary 'Imagine:  John Lennon' debuted in theaters.

Here is Regina Spektor's cover of the song, which is simple and beautiful.



In totally unrelated Beatles news, Paul McCartney got married earlier today to New Jersey trucking heiress (I'm not making this up) Nancy Shevell.  They exchanged vows at London's Marlyebone Town Hall, the same location that Paul married his first wife, Linda, in 1969.

Quote Of The Day

"Stories soon emerged that the marriage was in trouble – at one stage I was played a tape of a message Paul had left for Heather on her mobile phone. It was heartbreaking. The couple had clearly had a tiff, Heather had fled to India, and Paul was pleading with her to come back. He sounded lonely, miserable and desperate, and even sang ‘We Can Work It Out’…"

- Piers Morgan, writing for 'The Daily Mirror' in 2006, on a voicemail between Paul McCartney and, then wife, Heather Mills.  McCartney is currently in contact with London Police, saying that Morgan could have only heard the message due to their phones being hacked.  At the time, Morgan was an editor for the now defunct 'News of the World'.