For those who recall my August 8th blog article ("Stuck In Traffic, Not"), I have a minor addendum, unless one considers it to be very important in relation to Paul McCartney, in which case it might seem disrespectful to use the word "minor". Whether it is a minor or a major addendum, that is something for history to decide. Perhaps I shouldn't have even brought this question to the table. I have an addendum, I shall simply leave it at that, yes, that would be best. Oh yes, and as the title of this blog article states, most of you are unaware of any evidence for what I describe. You'll just have to total up the times I
have been able to provide in my blog articles evidence in matters of this nature, calculate an assessment of my character and intelligence, and stare in astonishment at the results!
Minor Addendum (Preface)In the above-referenced August 8th blog article, I described a message I sent someone that related to a video I made at CalArts in 1978, "How Did The Future Learn to Play Monopoly," a video which was a significant influence on many people's work, including Paul McCartney's work, particularly his movie, "Give My Regards To Broad Street". I also described in that article how that recent message was responded to, by way of Paul McCartney driving by me the following day on a road that resembled something out of his "Regards" movie, a beginning scene in that movie that directly related to a section I had influenced.
Yesterday I received a direct response from the person to whom I had sent the message. This may have been a reaction on this person's part to the very last paragraph of my Sept. 5th blog article, about emailed responses to phone calls or phone call responses to emails, and how this could generate the appearance of zero responses in the eyes of those presuming what form the responses must take for proper protocol to be involved. The response I received yesterday may additionally (as some actions are designed to serve multiple purposes) have related to the TV premiere (as an "Early Premiere" on Cinemax) of the Robert Downey Jr./Guy Ritchie movie, "Sherlock Holmes".
Follow Me, WatsonWhen I was in England for the first time, May 13, 1983, several days following my arrival McCartney and myself were nearly alone at the Baker Street Underground Station in London (facing platforms separated by the train tracks). Baker Street is, of course, very related to the Holmes mythology. When McCartney's "Regards" movie came out the following year,
Rathbone Inc. (Rathbone Industries?) were the bad guys. At one time the actor Basil
Rathbone was synonymous with Holmes (he played Holmes often). Also related is the fact that "Regards" includs a scene meant to evoke a Holmes-esque hunt for a criminal in 19th century London.
I Didn't Say I Was Finished Yet, WatsonI have previously been an influence on works that involved Holmes' Downey and Ritchie. One instance was Downey's "The Soloist", which made inside-reference to my 1993 video, "Mall Man" (posted at Archive.Org). For this and other reasons, I believe there are the right number of reasons for me to regard as deliberate the similarity between Downey's characterization of Holmes and my characterization of Mall Man. Not to mention the moment when Holmes discards a garment from his coach bearing a similarity to Mall Man discarding the socks.
We're Almost There
(I Thought I Told You To Use The Bathroom Before We Left)Tonight was the TV premiere of "Everybody's Fine," a movie that features a McCartney song written for the movie. Traditionally, movies that feature songs created by McCartney for the movie have invariably contained inside-reference to me/my material. I therefore would first want to state, I hope that the scene in that movie in the train station with the guy who destroyed De Niro's medicine was not that reference (by the way, I would be remiss not to mention that I have also been an influence on De Niro). I would never do something like that, and if McCartney's recollection of what happened at Baker Street remains accurate, I think he would have to agree. I just pointed him out on the near-empty platform to the guy strangely dressed like Sherlock Holmes sitting next to me, who clearly should have observed it for himself, and was therefore obviously putting me on (not just in terms of the fact that he wasn't the actual Sherlock Holmes). Did that person at Baker Street dressed like Holmes destroy anybody's medicine? No. We were both well behaved. Therefore: The only possible connection I was able to find in "Everybody's Fine" that might possibly have been put there for me to identify is the fact that the song title, "I Wanna Come Home" has the word "Home" in it. However, this song title's spelling of "Home" is different, and uses the singular rather than the plural, "Holmes". Furthermore, it would have been scientifically impossible for them to have arranged the TV premieres of these two movies to coincide one day after the other. I suspect magic may have been involved, if anything.