Sir Paul McCartney + The President = BFF

So I said I was going to blog about the Comedy Central Park event at SummerStage last week, but we didn’t end up going because the line was ridiculously long and it was a billion degrees and we figured we’ll just go see John Oliver when he does stand-up this fall in Boston. My friend and I ended up going to a pub for dinner, drinks (I got a cider in honor of our time in London), & catching up which was nice and I managed to figure out one of the buses on 5th Ave. that takes you directly to Penn Station, which was perfect. It was later than I usually go home on the subway, plus I wasn’t sure where the station in that area was. It’s funny because I’ve managed to figure out the bus system in other cities (even in other countries), but never New York. Being on this bus going all the way down 5th Ave. reminded me of the #10 bus my friend and I used to take to work (me at Universal Pictures, her at 20th Century Fox) last semester, which took us all the way down Oxford Street, which is pretty much the equivalent of 5th Ave. in NYC as a shopping mecca. Loved taking that 10 bus even for nights out because it ran late and brought us to SoHo, a very chill area of London (as well as NYC).

Anyways, last night I watched a program on PBS probably for the first time since I watched Zoom as a kid. They were airing the concert at the White House that honored Sir Paul McCartney for his Gershwin Prize for Popular Song. I absolutely love The Beatles, mostly influenced by my mother and my aunts being huge fans and my grandma influencing them as the ultimate fan. So we all grew up listening to The Beatles and know all their songs and lyrics. I even ventured to Liverpool by myself last semester since I was having a hard time trying to find someone to go with (some people didn’t even know The Beatles came out of there), but I wasn’t leaving England without making that trip, which ended up being the day before I left for the states. I went to The Beatles Story at Albert Dock, which is a museum showcasing everything about The Beatles from the very beginning right up until the end and including their solo careers. After that, I went on the Magical Mystery Tour that stopped at significant Beatles sights in Liverpool, from childhood homes to Penny Lane and Strawberry Fields and ending at the famous Cavern Club. It was a real treat to experience all of that finally and I’m glad I managed to organize a solo trip.

Back to the White House concert, Paul played a few songs and other singers and musicians did versions of Beatles songs throughout the night. Some of the best performances included Paul (obviously) starting off the night with “Got to Get You Into My Life” followed by Stevie Wonder singing “We Can Work It Out,” which he performed as if the song was made for him – it was incredible to watch. Jack White did an endearing rendition of “Mother Nature’s Son” which was perfect for him as well and equally as great was Elvis Costello’s “Penny Lane” tribute. One of my favorite performances that also seemed like the best match of a Beatles song to an awesome musician was Dave Grohl (Nirvana drummer, Foo Fighters frontman) doing “Band on the Run” which you thought the evening couldn’t get any better until Paul and Stevie performed “Ebony and Ivory” together. Appropriately, Paul performed “Michelle,” which President Obama was very pleased with as he, Mrs. Obama, and their daughters sang along adorably. Paul then went on to sing some of my favorite Beatles songs, including “Eleanor Rigby,” “Let It Be,” and a fantastic finale of “Hey Jude,” in which all of the performers of that evening got up on the stage at the end to sing the chorus, along with the President and his family. I loved seeing the pure joy on everyone’s faces, especially as Obama and everyone clapped and sang along. It was nothing less than awesome and a very special evening to witness, even if on public television.

Now for some shameless plugging of my own work, here’s some of the pieces I wrote in the past couple weeks for work and some news blogs as well:

TWoP News July 14th
TWoP News July 19th
TWoP News July 20th
TWoP News: July 21st
TWoP News: July 26th
TWoP News: July 27th
TWoP News: July 28th
Review of MTV’s If You Really Knew Me
Review of Homeless: The Motel Kids of Orange County
Dinner for Reality Show Schmucks

Internship update: it’s been an awesome and enjoyable few weeks, I was in the same elevator as Matt Lauer last week (still on lookout for BriWi!), and I just found out today that I got chosen to be an NBC Universal Campus Relations Ambassador for BU this year! So excited! Was supposed to head up to Boston this weekend, but had to push it to next weekend (if I can find a place to crash). Instead I’m trying to go to some comedy shows this weekend in the city for UCB’s Del Close Marathon (if I can find people who appreciate comedy to go with).

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