Two interesting POVs on recent Beatles news.

1. John Lennon recently joined the list of celebrities doing posthumous commercials. Steve Marinucci, who runs the website www.abbeyrd.net, has a take on this development:
http://www.examiner.com/x-2082-Beatles-Examiner~y2008m12d28-Is-it-live-or-is-it-Lennon

2. Allan Koznin, who has covered The Fab Four in the past (as well as having written a book about them), recently wrote an op-ed piece for THE NEW YORK TIMES on the snail's-pace (or sometimes wrongheaded) business decisions made by Apple Corps--namely the procrastinating on CD remasters/mp3 releases of Beatles albums: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/27/arts/music/27beat.html?_r=1

My favorite revelation of the Koznin article: Apple passed on a 40th anniversary reissue of THE WHITE ALBUM, but agreed to issue an expensive "White Album" commemorative ballpoint pen instead.

All you need is lots of cash: new Beatles clothing at Bloomingdales.

Yes, I know it's Bloomingdales. But, with the current economic crisis, it seems a rather inopportune time to introduce a pricey line of Beatles clothing (some of it done by Name designers): http://www1.bloomingdales.com/search/index.ognc?SearchTarget=*&Keyword=Beatles&KEYWORD_GO_BUTTON.x=9&KEYWORD_GO_BUTTON.y=10

For those of us who balk at the idea of paying more than $25 for a Beatles T-shirt (some of the Bloomies items can be found in less expensive versions at The Fest for Beatles Fans site), a more cost-effective alternative would be to buy or rent the current ALL TOGETHER NOW documentary about the creation of the Cirque du Soleil show LOVE.