Best Post-Beatles Beatles songs

In tribute to the to the 40th anniversary of the Beatles' Abby Road album I'm giving my unsolicited opinion on the best solo song of each Beatle.

John Lennon - Tough choice but after narrowing it down to two I have to pick Woman off the album Double Fantasy. A close second is Jealous Guy.

Paul McCartney - Silly Love Songs gets the nod easily. Best of his stuff with Wings and solo. It never get enough airplay on the radio & when it does I have to turn it up load and sing along.

George Harrison - This was by far the toughest to decide. First off, my favorite George song is Here Comes the Sun. But that my friend, is a Beatles song and not allowed on my list (BTW Here Comes the Sun is even better when listened to off the Abby Road album when it follows I Want You (she's so heavy). Abby Road is one of the best albums of all time, not only for the songs on it but for the order in which they are in. A real masterpiece.) But I digress. My top two other songs are My Sweet Lord and While My Guitar Gently Weeps. Since Eric Clapton plays guitar on My Guitar (and I really like Clapton) I picked My Sweet Lord. Confusing? Well, I think of My Guitar as almost a duet and since I am picking only George Harrison songs, My Sweet Love is the winner. How's that for logic!

Finally, Ringo Starr - He's actually the reason I got to thinking of a post Beatles list. He never gets any respect. Not as a musician or as an actor (if you haven't seen Caveman, go rent it NOW!) He also married a Playboy playmate/Bond girl. He was the original Mr. Conductor of Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends. Photograph is his best solo song. Even more now with the death of co-writer George Harrison. Of course other good songs are The No No Song, It Don't Come Easy & With a Little Help from My Friends.

Alright, let the arguments start! Post a comment and tell me what you think.

Pictures of the week

I added a second super to my beehive the other day. This gives the bees more room to live and store honey! I won't be harvesting any large amounts of honey until next summer but I stole a bit to taste when I opened the hive up. Mmmmmm. So much better than Sue Bee
I was out in the garden the other day and saw a butterfly (an Eastern Tiger Swallowtail) around Sheridan's sunflowers. I thought it would make a great picture. I thought it came out pretty well.
While at a rest area near the North Carolina/Virginia border I saw the above sign. Straight, direct and to the point. If that doesn't get you to pick up after Fido I don't know what will.

Lastly, I was cooking last week. Making some jambalaya. I paused for a moment and thought it would make a good "Living the High Life" picture. What do you think?

I added a small Fuelly banner to the side. You can click on it and find out all of the important fuel stats of Colonel Mustard. We went to Atlanta last week to see the Red Sox play (they won!). We drove Bessie our 1997 Ford Windstar. It developed a small then medium transmission leak. She ran fine especially on the highway but once we made bathroom pitstops the transmission would slip and rev until I topped it off with fluid. Then it would slowly leak out all over again. Anyway, I'll be driving the Colonel more this summer until I can get a new car (once the house renovations get done). I'm impressed with the almost 12 mpg I've gotten over the past 3 weeks.

Deja Vu all over again....

Didn't I predict this?? My timeframe was a little off but the results are the same.

Your daily geography lesson

Well thanks to Dave's link on his blog I've been having a few more visitors lately. Welcome!



Here's a link to a cool website that helps you keep track of your gas milagage and money spent on gas. I like how you can browse other peoples cars and compare different areas of the country with different cars. You can even link your car's results to a blog or webpage (look for my info coming soon to a blog near you).



Of course what would a pickles and beer blog post be without an updated garden picture. Here you go. It looks like a wild jungle but it's been a productive year so far here on Westgate Drive. I had green tomatoes by May 1st, red ones since June 1st and have been harvesting 1-2 cucumbers a day for the past 2 weeks. I'm crediting the Black Hen chicken manure I worked in over the winter. The zucchini is starting to fruit, along with pattypan squash. I'm looking for some recipes for them. If you know any let me know.



A great aricle in the NY Times today about South Carolina BBQ. No this isn't a couple of dogs on the grill!! This is by far the best food that isn't found up north. Gotta love the pork products! For the less educated there are 3 types of BBQ sauce. 1)Ketchup Base, 2)Mustard Base and 3)Vinegar Base. Most of your grocery store bottles are ketchup based. Lots of SC is partial to mustard based. The coastal area (where the BBQ stand in the article is located) and into the NC area likes a peppery vinegar base (that's my favorite). You can usually get all three in BBQ joints around here. Here's a map of the state I found that explains it all. Move a little west into Tennessee and you have your dry Memphis style rubs. Also good. But enough BBQ geography for now.

Yes, that is what you think it is. I have green tomatoes by May 1st! This year I'm growing 3 types; Black Krim, Hungarian Heart and Stupice. Of the three types the Stupice is the only one with green fruits. The description does say it is extremely early and productive. I planted the transplants the week before Easter. If these grow anything like the description in the catalog then I think I'll have a new favorite. I'll post more garden stuff soon.

A real Millionaire Next Door

Just a great little article from one of my favorite blogs. Over the past couple of years I've really tried to get my (our) financial house in order. The article hits the financial goals I have in life right on the head. Like John in the article, I want to retire at 55 with the house paid off and no debt. Pay the light bill and food, that's it! Oh, and $1,000,000 in the bank. If this interests you too, a good book to start with is The Millionaire Next Door by Thomas J. Stanley. It's a bit statistical at times but it's a great peak inside of what makes someone quietly successful. Of course I added the Amazon.com link but your local library should have it for free (that's how I read it).

What's your financial goal in life?