I (Dove) am a little obsessed with 2 things right now. They consume all of my free thinking time.
1. The Pillars of the Earth
I'm about 1/2 way through this behemoth read and I can't put it down. It's riveting and salacious and well thought out with webs woven through the character's lives that leave me on the edge of my seat at all moments. Now, truly it is Days of Our Lives set in the 1100's. It's the story of a man who is building a cathedral and the brutality of life in this era. For whatever reason, it's interesting to note that peeps were just the same then as they are now. Some are good, some bad, some both, and at the end of the day life is all about having food in our bellies and someone to love/reproduce with. Thank goodness it's long (nearly 1,000 pages) and that there is a an equally lengthy sequel so I can enjoy the compellingness for a loooong time.
2. MJ (I know it's a little late to spout on him, but I can't suppress it any longer)
I've never not been a fan, but since his death I can't stop (til I get enough). I listen to him on my commute with a more discerning ear than I've ever before listened. I watch youtube videos. And I don't do stuff like this. Ever. I don't buy into hype & am usually content to let the bandwagon pass me by. I am totally mesmerized right now though.
I read the Time Michael Jackson Commemorative Issue on a flight a couple weeks ago from cover to cover. LOVED it. Oh it was so good. I've browsed through a few other gossipy magazines about him and I didn't enjoy them at all. The Time issue chronicled his life, but didn't glorify or vilify him. To quote the opening paragraph of the magazine, "Michael Jackson kept his most stunning performance for the very end. Always able to command an audience, he knew how to bring whole arenas to fits of exultation with his moves and then silence them to the point of tears with his poetry. He was brilliant, excessive, maudlin, tacky and possibly criminal, but could never ignore him. So it was fitting that in death, he momentarily silenced the largest arena humanity has ever known, the Internet." Did you know that his death caused major disturbances in web traffic, momentarily disabling and/or surging Google, Twitter, Facebook, CNN, etc?
I was about 6 when Thriller came out. I didn't see his rise to fame so I didn't have any reason to understand what a phenom he was. I learned in the tribute that when his brothers were forming the original group, they didn't even intend for Michael to be in it because he was so young, but when people started to see his talent they not only added him to the group, but made him the headliner. I remember being amazed at Beat It, Billie Jean & Thriller on MTV, but didn't know what a talented anomaly he was, simply because I didn't have the life experience to accurately form a comparison. As I read Time I had my ipod on and listened to his hit songs as they were described in the magazine and heard them again for the first time, finally understanding the reason he blew minds all over the world.
One of my favorite childhood memories is when my mom gathered us around the TV to view the moonwalk when he performed at that Motown Records show. Oh we were so thrilled. My mom was totally enthralled by the Thriller album when it came out. She said she would listen to it over & over and find reasons to stay up late, cleaning the kitchen or whatever she could find to do, just so she could keep listening. He toured after that and my mom wanted to go so bad, but our finances were too restricted so she honestly thought about putting us kids to work worming so we could all buy tickets & go. Worming, if you don't know, is where you go out after dark and spread worm poison on grass. The worms begin to suffocate so they come up for air and you, with spotlight in hand, collect them to sell as fishing bait. Yes, people actually make some pretty good side money this way. Oh how I wish my mom had followed through on this idea. Can you imagine if you had seen that tour? Would probably still be one of the highlights of my life 20 some odd years later.
If you have a minute and haven't already, you gotta check out (with your now adult eyes & critical thinking abilities) some of his videos. One of the things I learned to appreciate from reading the magazine were his little idiosyncrasies...the funny little noises and unique ways he throws his body around. Chekkit.
Billy Jean (best bass line ever written):
Beat It (can't embed, but you gotta go see it...such drama)
Thriller (my kids have long loved to watch this mini-movie):
If you ever went to Disneyland in the 80's, you are sure to love Captain Eo.
And in case you want a moonwalking tutorial (I wish you could see my kids right now after watching this).
I am not in denial that he turned into a serious weirdie. I'm sad about that. And I realize he is a walking contradiction (Man in the Mirror, Heal the World...assuming he was guilty of that which he was accused), and I don't pretend to know the truth about what happened. None of us really do. He certainly did some good in the world, however. We Are The World (which he wrote with Lionel Ritchie) raised over $63 million for famine relief in Ethiopia.
I remember this song being on the radio about every 15 minutes when it was released. I just watched the video with my kids, pointing out all the super stars in it...Lionel Ritchie, Paul Simon, Kenny Rogers, Cindy Lauper, Willy Nelson, Bruce Springsteen, Kenny Loggins, etc. They didn't know one of them. I'm annoyed about it. Looks like I have some educating to do.
Remember our friend, Pager Stalker? He had this to say after Mikey died. "Before he started cutting his nose (and thus part of his tone generator), he had such a smooth and pleasant tone to his voice. You might say that as a smooth singer, and clearly a never-convicted-criminal, he was a very smooth criminal." Ohhh, another great song....
Okay, I've spent far too much time writing this post. Time to return to my book (YEAH!!!), but first one last video. Even if you hate him, watch this and just try to deny that he deserves the moniker King of Pop. The dude has some serious moves. I love him. Seriously.
-Dove
