Lit Up

 

Christmas Skit

Beatles Christmas skit  December 26, 1964

Ringo in (Christmas) Lights

Happy Christmas to you all!

Here is wishing all of you a very Happy Christmas.    Thank you for sticking with me through my difficult year.     I hope to get the site back to the way I want it to be in 2020.    Best holiday wishes to all commenters, contributors, and lurkers of Meet the Beatles ... For Real. 

and an Apple in a tree.....

Meet the Beatles for Christmas

December 25, 1964 and you finally get the record you've been waiting for -- Meet the Beatles!   Unfortunately, your parents are using the one record player in the house to play Christmas records.  So you lay on the couch and re and re-read the back of the album while your stupid siblings pose for photos with their crap.

Wonderful Christmastime

Love & Peace to all of you

I want to take a moment to wish all of you readers of Meet The Beatles...For Real a very Happy Christmas.   I hope Santa has been kind to you this year and you were gifted with many Beatles goodies in your stockings. 

Many thanks to all of you for taking time out of your lives to spend a little time at this site.  In spite of my backward photos, incorrect spellings and misinformation, I hope that you have found things here that made you smile.


Please take time today to spread a little peace and love to those less fortunate in your area.   

Have a great and happy Crimble everyone!

Fan club Christmas card

From Sara Schmidt's collection 

Here is a fan club item I obtained this year.....a Christmas card sent to British fan club secretaries.   It was "signed" by the Beatles (most likely signed by someone at the Fan Club Office in London).     I love having items like this in my collection and wanted to share this with all of you.

The Beatles meet the abominable snowman

Brian Epstein presents.....

The Impossible Dream

Time for another fan written story from a fanzine of the 1970's   This story was written by Joanna Rakowsi and was published in the January/ February 1976 issue of The Write Thing. 

Charlene, Paul and Joanna December 24, 1975
photo by Joseph Maloney 

It seems that whenever Paul McCartney was in New York, I'd be the only person unaware of the fact.  Or I'd take a trip to London in quest of the man and he'd be on a flight leaving the same time -- going in the opposite direction, of course.   To make a long story short, I'd say that my luck has been about as good as that of a search party looking for a polar bear in a blizzard.

However, on December 24, 1975, my luck took an incredible turn in the right direction.    Our editor, Barb, called me at my house on Long Island with some encouraging news:  Paul was in the Hamptons for Christmas with his in-laws.  So, then and there, Barb and I made a unanimous decision to get the story for "the Write Thing".  I promised to visit Paul on Christmas Day and send back some kind of story.   Well, to me just seeing Mr. McC, was a story in itself, because I'd been waiting since 1964 for just a glimpse.

The next day, my sister Charlene, her husband Joseph and I began the journey of my eleven-year quest, some forty miles of the travel with very nervous stomachs.  We had passed the Lee Eastman home many times over the years and simply admired it.  It's a typical Hampton home with all the typical trappings, including a TV camera in the hedge which eyes all visitors' cars.  We drove silently by several times feeling a bit crestfallen.   There were no cars in the driveway and no lights in the house.  Finally, we conjured enough nerve to drive into the driveway and ring the doorbell.  Yes, we were right, there was no one home.  Slightly discouraged, we returned to the car wondering what to do next.

We were just about to leave the town when I thought out loud, "No one comes to see their family on Christmas day and then doesn't stay."  It occurred to me that maybe the object of our quest if you'll pardon the expression, was visiting with his brother in law, John.   Only where does John live?  So I went quickly to the nearest telephone booth and the phone directory.   Bingo!  Same street as his father.

Back across town, we went, our spirits high again.  Nearly to the end of the street, we came upon a small house with a Christmas tree flowing in the window.  On the ground on the sign:  John L. Eastman.  We decided all we could do was to go to the door and ask and all they could do was tell us to leave.   I grabbed the bottle of French wine I had bought as a gift and we hauled out of the car.  We were met on the porch by a blonde lady who looked very much like Linda.  It was her sister Laura.   I squeaked out, "Is Paul here?" in a meager voice.  It was answered by a curt, "What?"  I repeated my question with a growing apprehension.  John stepped out onto the porch just in time to hear Laura repeat another "What?"  Either she's very hard of hearing or she was putting me on.


"Are you friends of his?" John inquired.  Bingo! again.   The dead giveaway.   "Well, no, we're not actually friends but we have a Christmas present for him."  They both disappeared from the porch without another word.

No sooner than did John and Laura return to the house than Paul himself appeared, wearing a wine and cream colored smoking jacket and black velvet slippers.  At last, my quest was over!

I greeted him with a "Merry Christmas, darlin'".  We exchanged Merry Christmases twice and I handed him the bottle of wine.  Paul took my hand, smiling and kissed my cheek saying "Thanks!"  Then he turned to my sister and did the honors.   After he had announced that they were just about to "East a bit," motioning absently to the door, I started pouring out every question I could think of without seeming too anxious.

"do you have any specific plans for your upcoming album"

"No.  I have lotsa ideas," smiling that effervescent smile.

"No title tunes yet?"

No, he's just going in and let "whatever happens, happen."  This is going nowhere, I thought.  Then the tables turned and he was asking us the questions!  "You live around here?"  "How'd you know I was here?"  The walls have ears, huh?  Joanna told him no, New York has ears and the fans in New York told someone in St. Paul, who told her.  She said she was a friend of mine and Paul said, "Oh, I remember her."

Finally, after some small talk which I only vaguely recall, and seeing that Paul was freezing in the 10-degree weather, we asked permission to take a few pictures.  With a hearty, "Oh, sure, yes," as an answer, Joe returned to the car for his camera.

Meanwhile, Paul smiled a lot and asked my sister Charlene if we were related, remarking that we look so alike.  He was pulling on his blue suspenders with his thumbs.

Joe returned with the cameras and started snapping away while Paul offered suggestions (Let's get one with the twin sisters,  You want one with me and you?  No, I guess you don't want one for me with your husband.   Just me?  Okay how's this?)

Paul closed his jacket and looked toward the door.  "Well, I have to go eat now."  We thanked him for coming out into the cold and assured him that we'd be seeing him on the American tour this spring.  He grinned knowingly as he opened the door.

"Have a happy....rest of Christmas!"

Happy???!!!  Seeing Paul had to be the best Christmas present I could ask for.  At last, the quest was over and somehow, it didn't seem too long after all.  Thanks to Paul's admirable hospitality, the final journey was worth every mile!  He certainly made Christmas of 1975 one I'll never forget.  Thanks, my love....

Happy Crimble!

These are two original John Lennon designed Christmas Cards from 1965-1966 that I added to my Beatles collection in 2017

I wanted to take a little time to wish all of you from around the world that come here to Meet the Beatles..for Real a very happy Christmas!      I have been so blessed by this site and it brings me so much joy.   I just hope that a small part of that joy has been extended to those of you that come here. 

It has been such a blessing for me to meet so many of you at Beatle conventions, my travels and other events.  It still shocks me that people from all around the globe come to this site that me -- this obese middle-age teacher at her little house in Southern Illinois works on.    It is very humbling and I am so honored that you choose to spend a little part of your day or week with me.

All of this brings me back to the reason why we are here:  The Beatles.    The Beatles have given us many gifts over the past 55 years.   Obviously the gift of music is a huge part of that gift.   But they have also given us the gift of friendship.    When those four boys in Liverpool were singing in the Cavern Club, they would have had no idea that the friendship they had with each other would allow so many people from all over the place to become friends.    Take a moment and think about the friends you have that you would not have otherwise if it weren't for the Beatles.      And take a moment and think about the experiences you have had with those people that you wouldn't have had if it weren't for the Beatles.    That special concert, trip to England, a fun time at a convention ... and I am sure the list goes on. 

As fans of John, Paul, George and Ringo we are already all friends.    We have something special in common.  We believe that "All you Need is Love."    We know if you are talking about "Paul" who exactly you are talking about.    We can quote A Hard Day's Night word for word and still laugh at the jokes.   I guess you could say that us Beatle fans all live in a Yellow Submarine, but we have room for more inside.   

This Christmas I want to thank you all for your gift of friendship that you have given me through Meet the Beatles...for Real.    God bless you all.


Sara S.


P.S.  I will be taking just a few days off from the blog for the holiday.   Don't be alarmed. 

The Paul SNL Christmas tradition

Holidays with the Boys

Four St. Nicks and uuuuh Linda?

These photo make me laugh.   There are other photos from this series and all of the Wings circa 1979 members are wearing Santa outfits and there are decorations behind them.    In these frames, Linda has taken one of the decorations and made it into a dress??   Isn't that a plastic door decoration of Santa?   And is that a wreath I see around her neck?    Linda always marched to her own drum -- -and I always admired her for it.

Eskimo Paul

Backstage at Christmas

War is over (if you want it) Happy Christmas from Sara 2016

As this Christmas comes to an end, I hope that all of you visitors of Meet the Beatles...for Real had a wonderful time and if you celebrate this holiday, I hope you were able to spend time with family and friends.  I also hope that Santa was able to sneak a little Beatle goody into your stocking this year.


Every year at Christmas, I think about War is Over (if you want it).   I have expressed on this blog that my feelings are that for there to be peace on earth, we need to start with ourselves and end the wars that are going on in our lives.

I started to think about what wars I have going on and I began to think about my online life.   Having a somewhat popular blog has given me the opportunity to meet so many amazing people both in real life and through emails and messages.   But I also have met some not so nice people.  

I want to publicly apologize to Dirk Bock for being so rude to him for the past 10 years.   He has said some things that have deeply hurt my feelings and just plain annoyed me, but my response to him online and what I have said to others about him  has not been kind.    I hope that Dirk can accept my apology and that we can go into 2017 with a new outlook.    I hope that he will being to post nicer comments and I my responses to him will nice as well.    We are both Beatles fan and we have a lot to share.   Neither one of us knows more than the other---we just know different things.    

How about you?   Have you been kind to everyone in your life both off and on line?    Something to think about as we begin this new year.

I wish each and every one of you a very happy Christmas.  

Peace and Love,

Sara S.

They've practiced all year long....