Am I Really This Old?

No, this is not a birthday post. That event has already passed for this year. But this post does have something to do with age.

Many years ago someone asked me if I were a pre- or post- Shea Stadium baby. Meaning, was I born before or after August 15, 1965; the date The Beatles played Shea Stadium. For the record, I am a pre-Shea Stadium baby. In fact, I remember seeing the concert rebroadcast on television and the Fab Four running out onto the field to the stage set behind second base. You couldn't hear the music for all the screaming but it was opening night of the 1965 U.S. Tour and no one seemed to care. No one, except The Beatles.

Why is this important? I really don't know. I suppose it can seen in the same way that we look at events such as, say, the Kennedy Assassination, the first moon walk, the night Lennon was killed and September 11th. It is a way of taking an event that occurs at a specific moment in time and using it to distinguish a generation. Granted, a concert in the middle of a baseball field pales considerably when held against more monumental and catastrophic events. But still, it helped to define the generation of that era.

What does this have to do with a few Electric Mayhem road cases? It is the memory evoked by the stenciling on the case. Pausing for a moment, I remembered Beatle Boots and Nehru Jackets. I still burn the occasional stick or cone of incense. I still have a pair of tailor made bell bottoms that I bought on Regents Street in London in 1975 and my Indian Bedspreads were bought by Mrs. Doc in Visakhapatnam, India. And yes, there are a few tie-dyed items tucked away for when i need to listen to the "classics."

The point of all this is to highlight how the magic of the Imagineers impacts us. That magic not only effects us at the moment we are in, but also helps us to recall our past and hopefully inspire our future. The things that we see, hear, taste and touch work to create a new memory but also helps us to relive past ones. That, to me, is magic! And on that day, for a moment, there in the pre-show of Muppet Vision 3-D, I went back to a slower and simpler time, in our families den with my mom and dad and my sister and we watched four lads from Liverpool conquer America.

Paisley, Bell Bottoms, Nehru Jackets, Beatle Boots, Love Beads,

Incense, Indian Bedspreads, Tie-Dye Scarves, Groovy Shades

Note: The Beatles concert at Shea Stadium was performed in front of an audience of 55,600 people. It has been hailed as one of the most significant events in music history, being the first concert held in a major stadium. It held attendance records for the next 7 years.