Talk about a piece of knowledge.

When I was younger, I kept a running list of things I had learned in life that I deemed to be important. Sure, we all do in some way. However, these things were not obvious things like "It is standard procedure to wipe after a poop," or "It is best to look over one's shoulder before engaging in a racist joke, no matter how light-hearted." And they weren't profound things either like the value of honesty and accountability. Mainly they were tidbits of knowledge on people I admired and/or people I knew personally. For example, one of my favorites was that my friend Stevie dated a girl who attended clown college.

We all learn cool shit every day, hopefully. And today was no exception when, while watching VH1, I heard of the most kick-ass interview in the history of all rock journalism, maybe even journalism as a vast and endless whole.

In the Spring of '69, the Beatles were months away from an official statement by Paul McCartney announcing their disbanding. At that time, John Lennon found refuge in Canada after the U.S. refused to let him return due to his fervent protesting of the Vietnam War. In Canada, newly married Lennon and Yoko Ono arranged their Montreal Bed-In to advocate for peace.

For then 14-year-old die-hard, Jerry Levitan, it was a chance of a lifetime to shamefully stalk the famous Beatle by knocking on every door of the Queen Elizabeth Hotel until Lennon was found. Not only did the fucker find him, his request for a follow-up interview that he could take back to his high school was granted with enthusiasm.



Levitan's short interview tape was adapted into an animated short and nominated for an Oscar last year. In the recording, Lennon whimsically rambles like any optimistic hippie of the era yet pearls of universal truth are abundant, particularly the deeming of school kids who don't like The Beatles as, "kind of square."