It would have been John Lennon's 67th birthday yesterday, and Yoko Ono has bought him a celestial column of light dedicated to him in Iceland – it's nice, but we hear John Lennon would have actually preferred a Nintendo Wii.
Still, the light tower thing would probably have got more headlines, so Yoko Ono went with that. Yoko Ono has unveiled the Imagine Peace Tower on Videy island near Reykjavik, a stunning beam of light pointing heavenward that will be lit for two months each year in the memory of John Lennon. Yoko Ono's Imagine Peace Tower emerges from a wishing well that has the phrase "imagine peace" written on it in 24 different languages, presumably because something more suited to John Lennon like "I like hitting women and taking heroin and refrigerating entire apartments to store my fur coats in" wasn't as snappy when translated into Malay-Indonesian.
John Lennon would have turned 67 yesterday if he hadn't have been murdered, and the memory of his is as strong as ever. That's partly because he hasn't stayed alive long enough to wank about on a mandolin like a cheeky goon on an iTunes advert or tit around nodding his head on YouTube like Paul McCartney, and partly because Yoko Ono has made it her personal mission in life to never ever shut up about John Lennon ever.
Stick Yoko Ono on the radio and she'll talk about John Lennon. Give Yoko Ono a piece of newspaper to fill and she'll talk about John Lennon. Put Yoko Ono in front of some strangers and she'll slag off Paul McCartney but make it sound like she's talking about John Lennon. Yoko Ono even wants every December 8 to be an international John Lennon Day where everyone can put down their weapons and assess the lyrical content of Do The Oz or something. Seriously, Yoko Ono yammers on about John Lennon so much that her Turkish employees actually try to kill her.
But, since yesterday was John Lennon's birthday, it was always a given that Yoko Ono was going to do something big to mark the day – and that's why Yoko Ono unveiled a bunch of light going up into the sky in Iceland, more or less. The Press Association reports:
John Lennon's widow Yoko is due to unveil an Icelandic monument to his memory. She will light the Imagine Peace Tower on Videy island near the Icelandic capital of Reykjavik on what would have been Lennon's 67th birthday… The tower is a beam of light, radiating from a wishing well bearing the words "imagine peace" in 24 languages. The plan is for it to be lit for two months each year starting on his birthday… Ono said she chose Iceland, the world's northernmost country, because it was very eco-friendly.
And that just makes it all the more beautiful, because there's nothing like digging a massive hole in the ground and filling it with carbon-farting lightbulbs in an eco-friendly country, is there. But, as admittedly impressive as the Imagine Peace Tower is, it's thought to be just step one of a range of events held to commemorate each of the Beatles' birthdays. Every July 7 after he dies, for example, Ringo Starr's birthday will be marked when one of those people who hold the Subway Sandwiches signs up in Cheltenham High Street points a torch in the air for six seconds. At noon. Unless it's raining.
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