Is it possible to dislike Beatles music?

The recent release of the new Beatles electronic game (and subsequent remastered works) has brought out the Beatles haters in force. I have always wondered how--no, more like questioned, whether someone can genuinely not like their music. I have explored this question from every angle I can think of...and have not yet found a plausible case for disliking the genre. I call it "genre" because it is a body of work large enough and different enough to warrant it.

And that brings me to my conclusion that it is not possible to hate Beatles music. I will concede that with a mild brain defect, it is fathomable that one may dislike many of the tunes the Fab Four produced. After all, some people don't like steak. Others still, don't like lobster. Therein lies the rub and the crux of my argument. The Beatles "buffet" consists of not only juicy steak and succulent lobster, but also lasagna, cherries, ice cream, cheesecake and several other recipes I can't put my finger on at the moment.

You tell me, dear reader, how anyone cannot find something to enjoy in that array. From She Loves You to Twist and Shout to Sgt. Pepper to Something to Back in the USSR to Long and Winding Road to--I'd better stop myself here or I might name every one of their songs. Their music spans much of the universe of sound. From the child-like tunes to the amazingly crafted ones, there's something for every taste. To continue the gastronomic metaphor, to say you don't like Beatles music is like saying "I don't like food".

So, to those who insist they hate the Beatles, I can only feel sorry for you...just as I feel sorry for those who suffer from anorexia...or mental illness.

On his last legs

AMSTERDAM, N.Y. – After he finished his lobster dinner, an upstate New York man apparently was still hungry for seafood so he swapped the lobster shell for crab legs — and now he faces a petit larceny charge.

Montgomery County Sheriff's deputies said a 57-year-old man brought back a reassembled lobster shell to his local Price Chopper store and claimed the crustacean was spoiled.

The store manager was about to let him trade the lobster for a $27 bag of king crab legs when he discovered the lobster was just a shell. Deputies said the man ran from the store clutching the crab legs when he was confronted.

Deputies said the man had already devoured the crab legs when they caught up with him at home. He was given an appearance ticket to answer the larceny charge in court.

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The story reminded me of the turkey scene in Chevy Chase's Christmas Vacation, which always makes me grin.

Ripped from the headlines

The Canadian Press

N.S. lobstermen told to stay clear of area near sunken, diesel-laden barge

November 24, 2008 6 p.m.

HALIFAX, N.S. — On the first day of the fall season for Atlantic Canada's biggest and most lucrative lobster fishery, federal officials warned Nova Scotia lobstermen to stay away from an area where a dredging barge carrying 70,000 litres of diesel sank in rough seas on the weekend.

An emergency response team confirmed Monday that surveillance flights spotted a long, narrow slick of some kind of oily substance about 15 metres wide and about 1,600 metres long.

Reporters aboard several news helicopters as well as small crafts that have made their way to the scene confirmed that the government's warning to lobstermen is being heeded as none of the creatures have been spotted near the wreck thus far.

File photo of lobsterman.

News item