Althouse: Sunrise on Lake Mendota felt like an outtake from "Help!"

January 30, 2026

Sunrise on Lake Mendota felt like an outtake from "Help!"

The ~~Fab~~ Bad(ger) Four run back into the sunrise:

What did make the cut in "Help!":

40 comments:

Beasts of England said...: Great Beatles video! How did they get that grand piano on the slopes? And that song reminds me: I need a Rickenbacker 360-12…; 1/30/26, 8:31 AM
Meade said...: Enjoy the day, Beastie!; 1/30/26, 8:32 AM
Ann Althouse said...: This isn't an open thread.

Go a few posts down if you want an open thread.; 1/30/26, 8:32 AM
Yancey Ward said...: My father, relatively uninterested in music in deep contrast to my mother, myself, and my three sisters, loved "Ticket To Ride".; 1/30/26, 8:34 AM
Yancey Ward said...: With this extended deep freeze system, Lake Mendota's ice will be extremely thick- probably thicker than it has been in 40 years.; 1/30/26, 8:35 AM
Iman said...: Teh Four Norsemen of the Apairalips…; 1/30/26, 8:40 AM
Beasts of England said...: Whoopsie! George received the second 360-12 ever produced (ser. no. CM 107) from the Rickenbacker factory in late ‘63, and the rest is history. The first few produced has a simple stamped metal tailpiece in the shape of a squared-off ‘U’. The rest, such as the two vintage 360-12’s I’ve owned over the years, have the script ‘R’ tailpiece. A pain in the booty to tune, but there’s no other sound like them.; 1/30/26, 8:41 AM
Peachy said...: Cool. For a brief moment, the Beatles were heading to meet you.; 1/30/26, 8:41 AM
Beasts of England said...: And the reason I’m over-sharing is that the arpeggio guitar introduction on ‘Ticket To Ride’ is played on that Rickenbacker 12-string electric. Such a great sound and an unforgettable guitar lick. :); 1/30/26, 8:44 AM
Peachy said...: I grew up eavesdropping outside my older brother's bedroom door listening to his Beatles obsession. My nephew - his middle name is Harrison, and he wears hats like that. Even better - he now lives in Whales with his new wife and he goes to school in Bristol. Nuclear engineering.; 1/30/26, 8:44 AM
Peachy said...: I hope to go visit him over the summer. I will keep my mouth shut so I don't get arrested.; 1/30/26, 8:46 AM
baghdadbob said...: Peachy, the U of Bristol is where the Beatles attended their first TM lecture by the Maharishi.; 1/30/26, 8:50 AM
Jersey Fled said...: Am I the only one who never really liked the Beatles?; 1/30/26, 8:51 AM
Peachy said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 1/30/26, 8:54 AM
Joe Bar said...: I am here for the morning infusion of Blue Oyster Cult.; 1/30/26, 9:00 AM
Peachy said...: I love the Beatles.; 1/30/26, 9:03 AM
tcrosse said...: There are strange things done in the morning sun by the folks who watch it rise.
Each lakeside trail tells a winter's tale that's easy on the eyes.; 1/30/26, 9:05 AM
Wince said...: Such a gorgeous and memorable music video. The musical notes on the wires, the little capes, the ski pole zoetropes.

Meanwhile, the Maharishi chanted “more cowbell” in Bristol.; 1/30/26, 9:11 AM
Peachy said...: I googled that - Not finding the U Bristol/Maharishi connect. You are pulling my leg?; 1/30/26, 9:18 AM
bagoh20 said...: Liverpool looks wonderful in winter.; 1/30/26, 9:19 AM
baghdadbob said...: "Peachy said...
I googled that - Not finding the U Bristol/Maharishi connect. You are pulling my leg?"

No, just incorrect. When you wrote "whales" (sic), I read Bangor rather than Bristol. U of Bangor, in Wales, was the Beatles TM encounter. Whoops!; 1/30/26, 9:29 AM
Peachy said...: My nephew and his wife live outside of Bristol in a different area. Bristol is expensive and a lot like Boulder. It's funny to us that he ended up there. His GF (now wife) went over first to go to school.; 1/30/26, 9:29 AM
Howard said...: And then one day you find ten years have got behind you
No one told you when to run, you missed the starting gun

And you run, and you run to catch up with the sun, but it's sinking
Racing around to come up behind you again
The sun is the same in a relative way, but you're older
Shorter of breath and one day closer to death; 1/30/26, 9:30 AM
Peachy said...: Whales. LOL - I didn't even catch that.
Wales.
*doink*; 1/30/26, 9:31 AM
Peachy said...: He gave me a little map of Wales for Christmas. and I still can't spell. I went to the learing center.; 1/30/26, 9:32 AM
Amexpat said...: Fun seeing the Help! clip after so many years. It also demonstrates why why the Monkees don't deserve to be in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.; 1/30/26, 9:39 AM
Peachy said...: Bagdad - thanks.; 1/30/26, 9:42 AM
Lazarus said...: Black bloc. They must have missed the bus to Minneapolis or Portland.; 1/30/26, 9:42 AM
RCOCEAN II said...: Good thing they didn't slip on the ice. Cool they can run accross the lake.; 1/30/26, 9:43 AM
boatbuilder said...: Peachy: https://www.tiktok.com/@tommyrobertbelcher/video/7561229342454418743; 1/30/26, 9:58 AM
Peachy said...: I need to see some whales. whale tail. whale breach.
boatbuilder - cannot get the sound to go. Again - I went to he learing center.; 1/30/26, 10:03 AM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 1/30/26, 10:30 AM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: Sorry. Didn’t see that it wasn’t an open thread.; 1/30/26, 10:31 AM
Meade said...: “ Meanwhile, the Maharishi chanted “more cowbell” in Bristol.”

Haha!; 1/30/26, 10:32 AM
boatbuilder said...: Peachy--

Interviewer: Are you two women from Scotland?
Woman: No, it's Wales.
Interviewer: Are you two Whales from Scotland?; 1/30/26, 10:34 AM
Peachy said...: moo.; 1/30/26, 11:13 AM
Jay Vogt said...: Yeah BoE,

There's nothing like a Rick 12! Loved them then and love them now. Rarer to hear these days though.; 1/30/26, 1:45 PM
Jay Vogt said...: The year that was released (1965) was probably the year that I learned to ski. I might have started in '66?

I don't think that I've ever seen that video before, although I seen a Hard Day's Night.

In any event, it's not the reason that I did learn to ski, but if it could have been, it would have been!; 1/30/26, 1:51 PM
Beasts of England said...: ’There's nothing like a Rick 12! Loved them then and love them now. Rarer to hear these days though.’

It’s rare to hear any 12-strings these days, other than the occasional acoustic on some fills, but the ‘chime’ from those vintage Ric twelve-strings doesn’t fit with much of the current music…; 1/30/26, 3:02 PM
Jim at said...: Am I the only one who never really liked the Beatles?

I wouldn't say I dislike the Beatles, but I'm kinda 'meh.'
More of a Stones guy.; 1/30/26, 6:10 PM