'Meet and Talk' at the Abbey Road fest
by Pam Platt
The Courier-Journal

It was 20 years ago today... Great line, nice try, but not quite accurate:

It was 21 years ago in February that I walked the halls of the Omni International at a blowout event called Beatles Expo.

Did I enjoy that professional assignment?

Well, yeah, yeah, yeah.

I got to interview Pete Best, the Beatles' drummer before Ringo, and I had a talk with May Pang, who hung out for a year with John when he was batching it in L.A., away from Yoko. I met a guy who only bought and listened to Beatles music, I met another guy who sold his mobile home in Chicago to make it to the fest, met some more folks who sold autographed photos and slips of papers one Beatle or another had held once upon a time. I even bought a Meet the Beatles T-shirt (now a vintage item owned by my daughter). It was a sonic blast.

I'd been a Beatlemaniac since my heart went boom the first time I saw the boys on "The Ed Sullivan Show" in 1964, and their music assumed milestone and soundtrack status in my life, as it did in lives around the world, then, now and always.

Twenty years later after that love at first sight and sound, when I was on my honeymoon in Key West, my then-husband booked us into the same hotel the Beatles stayed in when they visited Key West on that first American tour. And you bet that was a big deal.

So when I was trying to figure out where to hold this month's Eat and Talk session — that's where I show up somewhere to listen to and talk with readers, usually over lunch or dinner, who want to talk C-J, news coverage, media or whatever is on your mind — and I heard that Abbey Road on the River, the big annual Beatles hullaballoo with music and much more, was happening, well, that was that:

May's Eat and Talk is going to have a bit of a twist — and maybe a shout, but that depends on what songs happen to be playing.

The Courier-Journal's marketing department has big plans for Abbey Road on the River, which is at the Galt House and Belvedere Festival Park Thursday through Monday. (Read more about the festival later this week.)

The emphasis is on the interactive and on courier-journal.com: The C-J booth will be open throughout Abbey Road on the River. It will feature free photos of folks who stop by (there will be a Beatles-esque backdrop in the pictures); the photos will be given to those in the photo and posted online (gift items such as cups and T-shirts that feature the photos can be ordered and purchased online). There will be a coloring table for kids, featuring Beatles pictures. There will be a Kentuckianamoms station that will be giving out items for families that might have been left at home (sunscreen, hand sanitizer and the like).

I decided to attach myself to this golden opportunity, so we'll do the monthly Meet and Talk at Abbey Road on the River, at the C-J booth from 4 to 8 p.m. Thursday.

Notice I wrote Meet and Talk.

No sit-down at the dinner table at this session. Instead, we'll have a laptop and we'll be posting entries about who stops by to talk — so, Meet and Talk!

Two special guests will be in attendance: John Mura, multimedia manager for The Courier-Journal, and Kim Kolarik, new media editor. They'll be able to answer your questions about courier-journal.com, and we'll be posting what's on your mind throughout our Thursday evening stint at Abbey Road on the River.

If you want to talk news, that's fine. If you want to talk 'net etiquette, that's fine. If you want to talk Beatles, that's fine. As always, you set the agenda. This time, we'll be blogging about it.

Look for us early Thursday evening at the Courier-Journal booth. If I can find it in my stash of memorabilia, I'll be the one wearing the Paul McCartney T-shirt.

For the record, Abbey Road on the River is 4 p.m. to midnight Thursday, noon to midnight Friday through Sunday, May 27, and 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday, May 28. Advance one-day admission is $15 for adults, $5 for 6- to 16-year-olds, and free for children 5 and younger. Visit courier-journal.com/abbey road to find a coupon for $5 off admission.

See you there.

Speaking of "all you need is love" . . .

I've been banging the civility drum for a while, especially as it pertains to the C-J's online chat function. I've written several columns about that issue, which all news outlets are trying to deal with.

Because of those columns, I was recently asked to make a speech at Spalding University about civility and how it might relate to a liberal arts education. In my research for that speech, I came across a book titled Choosing Civility: The 25 Rules of Considerate Conduct and written by P.M. Forni, a professor at Johns Hopkins University.

I contacted Professor Forni for that speech, and in the course of our conversations, both on the phone and via e-mail, I asked if he would be a long-distance guest for a courier-journal.com forum on civility, the Internet and society.

He graciously agreed, and we have set the date for that chat on June 7.

In the coming days, we will set up a forum for your questions. And in the coming Sundays, I'll write more about Professor Forni and his book.

Go Back To AROTR News