Seventy-two years ago today, 1941 December 7th (U.S. time), the Japanese Imperial Navy attacked the U.S. Navy base in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.
And tomorrow, 2013 December 8th, will be the thirty-third anniversary of John Lennon’s murder.
Also, the iconic Nelson Mendela died at the age of 95 the day before yesterday (2013 December 5th).
Sometimes quotes from songs and movies become so well-known and often used that eventually many people don’t even know that the expression came from a pop song or movie.
For example, have you ever heard this quote:
Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans.
Do you know where that simple but inspiring quote is from?
It’s a line in the song “Beautiful Boy” by John Lennon that was written for his son Sean Lennon.
John Lennon's "Double Fantasy" album (which includes the song "Beautiful Boy")
Here are some of the most often quoted lines from movies that I could think of off the top of my head (in no particular order):
I’m gonna make him an offer he can’t refuse!
-Marlon Brando (from “The Godfather“)
(I have a feeling) we’re not in Kansas anymore
-Judy Garland (from “The Wizard Of Oz“)
Go ahead, make my day!
-Clint Eastwood (from “Sudden Impact“)
What we’ve got here is failure to communicate.
-Strother Martin (from “Cool Hand Luke“)
Take your stinking paws off me, you damn dirty ape!
-Charlton Heston (from “Planet Of The Apes“)
Have you seen any of these movies? Surely you’ve heard those quotes before. Did you know they were from those movies?
What other famous movie quotes can you think of?
A number of American and European pop musicians have contributed songs for a charity album for the victims of the recent disaster in Japan.
The album is titled “Songs For Japan“.
"Songs For Japan" album cover
I assume that all of the artists that appear on this album are famous…but I personally have only heard of a few of them (and I like even less of them).
The musicians and track listing on this album are as follows:
01. John Lennon “Imagine”
02. U2 “Walk On”
03. Bob Dylan “Shelter From The Storm”
04. Red Hot Chili Peppers “Around The World”
05. Lady Gaga “Born This Way”
06. Beyonce “Irreplaceable”
07. Bruno Mars “Talking To The Moon”
08. Katy Perry “Firework”
09. Rihanna “Only Girl (In The World)”
10. Justin Timberlake “Like I Love You”
11. Madonna “Miles Away”
12. David Guetta “When Love Takes Over”
13. Eminem “Love The Way You Lie”
14. Bruce Springsteen “Human Touch”
15. Josh Groban “Awake”
16. Keith Urban “Better Life”
17. Black Eyed Peas “One Tribe”
18. P!nk “Sober”
19. Cee Lo Green “It’s OK”
20. Lady Antebellum “I Run To You”
21. Bon Jovi “What Do You Got?”
22. Foo Fighters “My Hero”
23. R.E.M. “Man On The Moon”
24. Nicki Minaj “Save Me”
25. Sade “By Your Side”
26. Michael Buble “Hold On”
27. Justin Bieber “Pray”
28. Adele “Make You Feel My Love”
29. Enya “If I Could Be Where You Are”
30. Elton John “Don’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me”
31. John Mayer “Waiting On The World To Change”
32. Queen “Teo Torriatte (Let Us Cling Together)”
33. Kings Of Leon “Use Somebody”
34. Sting “Fragile”
35. Leona Lewis “Better In Time”
36. Ne-Yo “One In A Million”
37. Shakira “Whenever, Wherever”
38. Norah Jones “Sunrise”
This album costs US$9.99 and is available from i-tunes exclusively. All of the money from this album will be donated to the Red Cross of Japan to help the victims of the earthquake and tsunami in the Sendai area of Japan.
Click here if you want to buy it.
John Lennon had a Japanese wife and they were both strongly opposed to war. So isn’t it ironic that he was killed on the thirty-ninth anniversary of the Japanese attack of Pearl Harbor?
On 1941 December 8th, the 日本海軍 (Japanese Imperial Navy) attacked the U.S. Naval base in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. (It was December 8 on the Japanese calendar but since Hawaii is on the other side of the International Date Line, it was December 7th there).
It’s the 69th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor.
Also on this date thirty-nine years later John Lennon of the English rock band, The Beatles, was assassinated in New York.
Today is the 30th anniversary of John Lennon’s death.
Click here to read a more detailed post that I wrote about these two events
The late, great rock ‘n roll pioneer and peace activist John Lennon was born on 1940 October 9.
If he were still alive, he’d be seventy years old today.
Yoko Ono and the late John Lennon protesting the Vietnam War.
John Lennon was murdered by a lunatic “fan” almost exactly eight weeks after his 40th birthday.
(I wrote this post about that).
A number of rock musicians have a Japanese wife…including Marty Friedman and Paul Gilbert. But John Lennon’s widow is probably the most famous Japanese spouse of a western celebrity.
I’ve been a fan of The Beatles since I was a child…but John Lennon is my favorite member.
But I’m mostly a fan of heavy metal music and many of my favorite artists, including KISS, Ozzy Osbourne and Marilyn Manson, are fans of The Beatles.
The way KISS has four members who share lead vocal duties (but mainly rely on two “main members”) is just like The Beatles.
Ozzy Osbourne often wears sunglasses that are similar to the glasses that John Lennon wore.
Motley Crue did a remake of The Beatles’ song “Helter Skelter“, Aerosmith redid “Come Together“, as so many other bands have done remakes of Beatles’ songs.
Here’s a video of Ozzy Osbourne doing a remake of John Lennon’s song “Working Class Hero“, followed by a video of Marilyn Manson singing the same song:
In honor of John Lennon’s 70th birthday today, there is a YouTube channel of birthday wishes to the late artist. There are videos by Yoko Ono, Ringo Starr, Jeff Bridges and many others.
The YouTube channel is here.
Here’s the birthday wish from Aerosmith:
I wonder, if John Lennon were alive today, what he would think of the world today.
I mentioned a couple of times on this blog that the world’s only official John Lennon Museum is in Saitama, Japan.
Well, I just found out that due to a declining number of visitors to the museum, it will close in 2010 October.
I’d like to see the John Lennon Museum but I’ve have never visited it yet mainly due to it’s fairly inconvenient location and the ¥1,500 (about US $12) per person admission charge.
But, since it’s scheduled to close in about ten months, I might visit it before then.
The news that the John Lennon Museum will close comes only five days after the 29th anniversary of John Lennon’s death…and also one day after I heard that Wendy’s fast-food restaurant is exiting the Japan market this month (Click here to read my post about Wendy’s Japan closing).
This museum’s closing reminds me of the closing of the Rock And Roll Museum in Tokyo last January.
(I mention it in this post).
I just added another great interview to my site.
This is an interview that I did with the famous rock ‘n roll photographer Bob Gruen.
Click here to read my interview with Bob Gruen (and my other interviews, as well).
I rented an apartment in Harajuku and spent most of a year there…I like life in Japan very much. I think it is much more civilized than most of the world…
Bob Gruen
I already wrote about this last year, so I’ll try not to repeat myself (please click here to see my post from last year…with pictures).
At 8:30AM on 1941 December 7 (Hawaiian time), (and 3:30PM on December 8 in Japan), the U.S. Naval base in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii was attacked by Japanese Kamikaze pilots.
It is taught in America that it was a sneak attack by the Japanese, but in Japan it’s said that America’s embargo on Japan was a declaration of war.
Either way, war is bad all around and it’d be nice if the world could be peaceful.
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And also, as I mention in my post last year, 1980 December 8 was the day that John Lennon was murdered.
I started this blog eighteen months ago, and last night my blog reached 100,000 hits!
The first month I started this blog (2008 March), it got only about 20 hits a day…but the number steadily climbed.
These days my blog gets between 700 – 850 hits a day. At that rate, it’ll get another 100,000 by next January.
My blog's monthly stats for 2008 March - 2009 August
Sometimes I’m surprised by the search engine terms that people have used to find my blog.
Such as:
How did you find my blog? With a search engine? What were you searching when you found it? Did you find, on my blog, what you were looking for?
And, if you have a blog, what search engine terms do people use to commonly find your blog?
Today is 十二月八日 (December 8th). The 67th anniversary of 真珠湾攻撃 (the attack on Pearl Harbor). Actually, America observes it on December 7 because the attack occurred on Sunday, December 7, 1941 Hawaii time…but in Japan, it was already Monday, December 8, 1941 (due to the time difference).
The anniversary of 真珠湾攻撃 (the attack on Pearl Harbor) is observed more in America than here in Japan, of course. In Japan, the WW2 anniversaries that are observed are the dates of atomic bombings of Japan (on August 6th and 9th) and the war’s end (on August 15th).
(Click here to read my post about the anniversary of the atomic bombing, click here to read my post about the anniversary of Japan’s surrender, and click here to read my interview with an American WW2 pilot.).
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Today is also the 28th anniversary of the murder of John Lennon (of the English band “The Beatles“), who was shot and killed on 千九百八十年十二月八日 「月曜日」 (Monday, December 8, 1980) in New York City.
I remember when I heard the news. I was eleven years old, and I had many classic rock albums (vinyl) that were given to me by my father and my uncle…including Pink Floyd, Cream, Rolling Stones, Aerosmith…and The Beatles. So, I knew who John Lennon was, and I was shocked that he was killed! Especially by a self-proclaimed Beatles fan!
Mark Chapman asked John Lennon to autograph the new (at that time) John Lennon / Yoko Ono album, “Double Fantasy” (which he did)…then he shot John Lennon in the back four times.
(Mark Chapman’s police mugshot)
(“Double Fantasy”)
John Lennon’s Japanese widow, オノ・ヨウコ (Yoko Ono) is in Tokyo for a concert to commemorate the 28th anniversary of John Lennon’s passing with a concert at the famous 日本武道館 (Nippon Budokan) called “John Lennon Super Live“.
At the promotion for the concert last week, she distributed pieces of a smashed clay pot that she made…and asked everyone who received a piece to return in ten years so that the pot can be reassembled.
Do you know that the world’s only official “John Lennon Museum” is in Japan?
It’s at the さいたまスーパー・アリーナ (Saitama Super Arena) near さいたま新都心駅 (Saitama Shintoshin Station) not too far from Tokyo.
Admission is ¥1500.
Tokyo Five 
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