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Writer's pictureThomas Tittmann
Jun 21, 20215 min read

Monday, Monday...May it be Mirthful, Manic, Moral & Tubular

“Get Back” – ALL YOU CAN...


--Uh Oh! - looks like our boys got infected with the Blue Meanie virus...so, let's HELP them with some laughter and music and other good vibrations...


A good friend sent the following email about our planned gathering to view what we thought was going to be a fun movie theater event to see a new film about one of our favorite bands.


“Apparently we won't have our Aug. 27th Get Back viewing/party. Per the attached article, they changed the plan from an August movie to a three-part showing on Disney+ in November. Boo!!!!



Corporate greed?...OR, is Peter Jackson offering us an opportunity to go on yet another magical mystery tour - "Furthur" into the wilds of Pepperland?


Read on and then decide if Mickey is turning over in his mouse grave...or putting elvish bread into his saddle bags and joining this adventure...Blue Meanies be warned...we’re armed (with music and flower-powered weapons) and we're dangerous!!!


FYI – I had completed this whole post WITHOUT first reading the article my friend had attached. As an example of how our confirmation bias affects HOW we see something, I saw the big corporations as the “bad guys” and wanted to expose their greed. THEN, after reading the story and seeing that the originally planned 2-hour movie (regular strength) was going to be expanded into a 6-hour mini-series (extra strength), I changed my perspective and CAN’T WAIT!


FYI – Our son John introduced Eileen and I into the magical world of epic fantasies like The Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit and the Marvelous Marvel Comics Universe. Last summer, we watched all 30+ movies and have started re-watching – a practice I quip of “watching it again for the first time.” John likes to "go big or go home" and gets the extended (extra strength) versions of the epics. Thanks, Buddy!!!


Rings Around the Collar...the Shire...and Saturn


While crafting this post, “I came upon this child of G-d” (no, I’m not on the way to Woodstock), and, again, was amazed but not surprised how perfectly it fit in with this unfolding narrative:



“In the years since, it has been confirmed that Paul McCartney would've portrayed protagonist Frodo, John Lennon would've been Gollum, George Harrison was set to play Gandalf and Ringo Starr would appear as Samwise Gamgee.”


The writer goes on to cite that the band approached Stanley Kubrick to direct. Considering the boys psychedelic habits, the only rings they might have encountered would have been on Saturn. “Up, Up and Away!”


We now return to our regularly scheduled program...



Seeing that it’s a Monday, my wheels started turning...and the following 4-part missive - filled with musical and mirthful ammunition - unfolded:

  • Mirthful Monday

  • Manic Monday

  • Tubular Tuesday (huh? It breaks the alliteration)

  • Moral Monday


Note: Sung in the key of F-demented ***


***listen in to the next song to see someone we all know and love pose the following question to fellow Playing for Change musician Robbie Robertson (The Band):


"What key is it in, Robbie?" to which he answers his own inquiry with:


"F-demented!"




MIRTHFUL MONDAY


As the wise old Madison Avenue father once said to his son who wanted to enter religious life,


“No, Son, you don’t want to be a prophet, you want to make a profit.”


Coulda come from the lips of one of my favorite funnymen...who, by the way, in a different movie, once donned the cloth as “Rabbi Tuckman,” with lines such as



Fans: Here’s a challenge – see if you can guess where I’m leading you BEFORE opening the clips. LMK how you do.



As Yogurt enters his shop, he uses a line from another of his classic comedies - did you catch it? Here’s the clip:



He does this “self-referencing” in other movies like this one:



Pollution is no laughing matter...or is it?


One more Funnyman and his take on the environment. Eerily prophetic...as he mentions how the Earth might use mutating viruses to defend itself. LMK what you think.

FYI: I capitalized the “F” in "Funnyman" to alert you to his frequent “F” bombs.



MANIC MONDAY


Now that we retirees are all laughing cause we don’t have to go to work today...

...BTW - that’s why I captioned this section as “Manic Monday”...


And of course this title comes from a great song. Before you listen...I’ll share a little family practice – one that originated from following the wisdom of “Yogi Yogurt” (Hey, that sounds better than just “plain yogurt”).


Since retiring, Eileen and I have adopted a sacred Sunday night ritual. As we’re climbing into bed, one of us initiates the ceremony with these words,


“You know what today is...SUNDAY...and we DON’T have to go to work tomorrow.” AMEN!!!


Now to the song:



Next, an intermission before moving on to our next “Monday” section...



TUBULAR TUESDAY


It so happened that in my search results for “manic Monday” was this cool surfing clip...that I might retitle as “Tubular Tuesday”... so we have a reason to get up tomorrow. Hang 10!!!



Wishing you an Endless Summer...


I thought I was finished but got swept up by a WAVE of inspiration and found this trailer for a remastered version of THE classic surf adventure - one that I lived out in VW Buses in the late 60’s and early 70’s with some buddies and my brother Mike, as we looked for waves on both coasts. We limited our explorations to the coasts because in the heartlands all we could find were “amber waves of grain.” Here’s the trailer:



What amazed but not surprised me were the comments about how surfing around the world helped the participants to experience different cultures, different customs, even different religions - thereby enriching their own experience of life. This presented a perfect segue to the next section of this 4-part post.


First, let’s “stay in the excitement of the tube” just a little bit longer, as we ride waves of these cool sonic vibrations...



MORAL MONDAY


As I posted on Facebook yesterday (Sunday), I’ve been learning from and working with the Poor People’s Campaign (PPC) to address long-standing injustices such as: poverty, racism, ecological devastation, lack of adequate wages, housing and healthcare, militarism and the war economy and the distorted moral narrative of religious nationalism.



TODAY (Monday June 21), the Poor People’s Campaign is holding a live (Raleigh, NC) and simultaneous online Moral Monday event to announce the launch of their 3rd Reconstruction strategy for addressing these systemic evils. It’s a one-year plan of on-the-street activism and related efforts that will culminate in a June 18, 2022 Moral March on Washington.


To participate online TODAY, and for more information, including signing on to get involved, visit:


Local folks, consider checking out our Long Island chapter. Call, email or text me.


WILL YOU COME WITH ME???


--VW Buses: always a kindness ambulance dosing out Rx's of LOVE...


CODA





tOM




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