Happy birthday John Lennon.  Led Zeppelin "Celebration Day" screening today. Stones 50th anniversary eBook out.  Happy pigs = tastier bacon. Women don't care about marriage as much. 5 creepiest towns in America.

JOHN LENNON

Today marks what would have been John Lennon's 72nd birthday. By nightfall tonight, hundreds of fans will have made the pilgrimage to Central Park's Strawberry Fields in New York City for a day of remembrance, sing-alongs, and celebrations dedicated to the memory of Lennon. Strawberry Fields, a triangular patch of land dedicated to Lennon by the city of New York and named after the Beatles' 1967 hit, sits directly across the street from the Dakota, Lennon's Manhattan apartment building, where he was gunned down on December 8th, 1980 at the age 40. Today is also Lennon and Yoko Ono's son Sean Lennon's 37th birthday.

Newly released is the Yoko Ono sanctioned book, The John Lennon Letters. The John Lennon Letters was edited by noted Beatles author Hunter Davies and features letters sent by the late Beatle to lovers, friends, family, and fans from every point in his life, and culled from a collection over nearly 300 letters and postcards. Highlights include Lennon's rants to and against the press, Yoko bashers, producer George Martin, and Paul and Linda McCartney.

Out today is the Beatles' long awaited Magical Mystery Tour DVD/Blu ray reissue which is sold in a special deluxe collector's edition. The special 10-inch-by-10-inch deluxe boxed edition includes both the DVD and Blu-ray, as well as a 60-page book with background information, photographs and documentation from the production, and a faithful reproduction of the mono double seven-inch vinyl EP of the film's six then-new Beatles songs, originally issued in the UK to complement the film's 1967 release.

LED ZEPPELIN

Led Zeppelin will meet the press today at New York City's Museum of Modern Art, following a screening of their new concert film, Celebration Day. The band -- Robert Plant, Jimmy Page, John Paul Jones, and Jason Bonham filling in for his late dad John Bonham -- will talk about the one-off reunion concert filmed on December 10th, 2007 at London's O2 Arena and performed as a tribute to Atlantic Record co-founder, Ahmet Ertegun. The band will appear again tonight at the gala premiere of the movie at the Ziegfeld Theater.

Jimmy Page told Rolling Stone that it was important to show the crowd back in 2007 that Zeppelin weren't just going through the motions, explaining, "The thing about Led Zeppelin was that it was always four musicians at the top of their game, but they could play like a band. Even in the first couple of rehearsal days, running up to the O2, we were playing pretty good. But we really wanted to shine as a band. . . I wanted people to feel, 'They're taking this seriously.'"

He went on to say that he doubts Zeppelin will reunite for any future live dates: "I think if there had been any more concerts to be done, we'd already be talking about them. So I don't see it. (Celebration Day) is a testament to what we did in 2007. There it is."

Jimmy Page said that he knew that the magic surrounding Led Zeppelin wouldn't last forever: "I said, basically around the time of the first album, it's all a race against time, and I think it is. It still is. It still is a race against time and trying to do good work and improve on what you've done. It's more difficult as you get older because you know your days are numbered, really. Within Zeppelin we had this amazing vehicle that we could continue and continue and just come up with amazing things -- which fortunately we did continue, and we did come up with amazing stuff. But I still thought it was a race against time. I had no idea how prophetic it would be with the loss of John Bonham."

ROLLING STONES

Out now is celebration of the Rolling Stones' 50th anniversary is the new eBook, called Mick And Keith: Never Stop. The a video-enhanced eBook features exclusive interviews of the "Glimmer Twins" -- Mick Jagger and Keith Richards -- by former Today Show music correspondent and rock reporter Rona Elliot.

The 133-page eBook features 22 video segments taped during a break in the Stones' 1989/1990 Steel Wheels/Urban Jungle tour and also includes classic images by such notable photographers as Henry Diltz, Bob Gruen, and Ebet Roberts -- as well as shots of one-of-a-kind memorabilia and Elliot's own photos from her personal archive. Keith Richards' primary collaborator over the past 25 years, X-Pensive Winos drummer/producer, Steve Jordan supplies the video introduction.

HAPPY PIGS=TASTIER BACON

 UK pigs are being given toys to play with in their pens -- because apparently happier pigs make tastier pork. The toys are part of a project funded by the British Pig Executive (BPEX) to improve conditions for pigs. Anxious pigs release more of the stress hormone cortisol, which affects muscles and so the quality of meat. Pork from stressed pigs is paler and softer. BPEX welfare co-ordinator Dr Nina Wainwright said: "Stressed pigs are likely to start biting tails, and sometimes ears, of other pigs and one of the main causes of stress is a lack of things to bite at." (news.com.au)

WOMEN DON'T CARE ABOUT MARRIAGE AS MUCH

 A new poll found that only a small minority of women view finding a husband as a mark of success and less than half of girls still see marriage as the "best" kind of relationship. The findings emerged from an annual study by Girl Guiding UK, tracking the opinions of more than 1,000 girls and young women aged seven to 21 on a range of subjects from politics to the family and education. While most of the girls viewed the institution of marriage in a positive light, only 46 percent saw it as the "best" kind of relationship and 29 percent actively disagreeing. Meanwhile seven percent of girls thought it would be better not to get married at all. By contrast 56 percent of boys polled saw marriage as the best kind of relationship. Polling from previous surveys suggests that attitudes towards marriage could also be hardening among girls. In 2009 41 percent believed that ideally marriage should come before parenthood -- something only 33 percent agreed with in a later survey. (Telegraph)

5 CREEPIEST TOWNS IN AMERICA (Away.com)

New Orleans, Louisiana: Few cities conjure up a creepy atmosphere as palpable as the Big Easy. Mired in a long and sometimes seamy history, New Orleans has been home to slaves and slave drivers, pirates, and -- as some will affirm without pause -- ghosts. The French Quarter, site of the city's founding in 1718, is a dense neighborhood of narrow streets and unique wrought-iron and wooden architecture -- a prime stomping ground for displaced souls.

Charleston, South Carolina: It's one of the oldest cities in the United States, and one of the most haunted. They say ghosts from the Civil War patrol some of the steeple-lined lanes of Charleston, while the Battery plays home to some of those lost during the slave trade. The city's beautiful old Southern architecture makes it worth a visit in any case. Consider a stop into the 1869 Dock Street Theater, especially if you want to try for a backstage glimpse of Nettie, a young lady killed here by a lightning strike in the 1800s, and Junius Brutus Boothe, father of assassin John Wilkes Boothe.

Salem, Massachusetts: Few American cities are so famous for a sordid past as Salem. Its nickname 'Witch City' comes from the Salem Witch Trials of 1692, when nearly 20 women were accused of witchcraft and hanged, and 150 more were arrested and charged. Today, this town of 41,000 residents throws one of the country's biggest Halloween celebrations, including the annual Festival of the Dead which 'explores death's macabre customs, heretical histories, and strange rituals.'

Key West, Florida: Once the richest city in North America, Key West was long a prime layover point for pirates terrorizing the Gulf of Mexico and looting the wrecked ships along the Florida reef. The island was remarkably isolated until a new railway linked it to the mainland in 1912. That meant years with buccaneers and rum-runners free to plunder as they liked, with local authorities only occasionally catching up with them. Executions were the only recourse for these savage souls, and bodies wound up in the local morgue, where now stands the allegedly haunted Captain Tony's Saloon. The 'hanging tree' outside made for a short distance to transport the bodies.

Savannah, Georgia: Local lore says that plenty of centuries-old ghosts have settled in Savannah among the great mossy oak trees, Gothic mansions, and aging cemeteries. Once voted America's most haunted city by the American Institute of Parapsychology, this seaport has served everyone from pirates to bootleggers to Civil War soldiers, many of whom were buried here. The only problem is that much of the city was built atop some of those centuries-old graveyards, making it a busy scene for ghostly sightings.

Thanks for listening to The Eagle while you work. Keep it fabulous, Houston!

xoxo,

Jennifer Tyler

Fabulous Mid-Day Diva