Friday, June 26, 2009

Michael Jackson, R.I.P.












I don't have much to say about MJ's passing that wouldn't or couldn't be said by many who are my age or close to it. In short, he was an incredible entertainer who didn't just transcend pop culture for a time...he was pop culture. He was my generation's Elvis. Yet...Elvis never ran around with a monkey...and didn't have a penchant for molesting sickly children.
I am still in awe of MJ's talent...go listen to "Who's Lovin You" to see how amazing he was at an early age...and will dance to his music until my soul escapes this world. Still, we can't lose sight of the person he became. In many ways...he personified the character of life on this planet....he delivered so much good...and exhibited so much evil.
So...rest in peace "King of Pop", if you can, and I'll moonwalk for the both of us.
Top 5 Michael Jackson songs:
1. Billie Jean
2. Who's Lovin' You ( technically Jackson 5...but he carries it).
3. Don't Stop Till You Get Enough
4. Rock With You
5. P.Y.T.
Honorable mention: Lady In My Life, The Way You Make Me Feel, Man In The Mirror, Workin Day and Night.










Wednesday, June 17, 2009

recent thoughts and musings 6/17/09...

wow...it has been a while. there are times, when my first response to current happenings is to turn to this place of exposition, contemplation...and sometimes...confession. still, a barrier has formed for me...one of life... one that has impeded submission. now, though, i feel the need to write, albeit, briefly:

1. politics. so much to say....because so much has happened. so...let's recap...those of us who voted against Obama ( and make no mistake...mine was not a vote for johnny mac)...did so with an informed suspicion that he was a velvet socialist...that the federal government would begin it's slow creep into our everyday lives. and here we are... in a few short months, we've seen our federal government, under the guise of crisis, take over 2/3 of our auto industry, force banks to take money...and then refuse to let them pay it back, appoint 22 "czars" to "oversee" industry and national productivity, threaten to tax everything from employee health benefits to work related cell-phones, and....please, let us not forget the bang-up job Obama's done with foreign policy...

my point is this: this guy was, and is, nothing more than a 21st century Fabian. in short, these folks believe that the government...not local government, mind you, but federal and unaccountable government....is the solution to every social and political problem. the ideology of socialism reeks of the blood of those helpless folks that bought into the idea of a forced equality...only to find the hand of an unfettered product of the system...tyrrany...waiting for them. just ask the venezuelans. our country has too much left in the founding tank to let this happen...yet.

2. music. at this moment...i'm revisiting a comfortable friend...miles davis' "kind of blue". this said, my musical tastes have been mercurial...gypsy kings, sade, the flaming lips, zero 7, bobby darin, allman bros, whatever compilation "that 70's guy" is working on....all satisfying in their own way.

3. readings. well...the last time i wrote, i mentioned that i'd be reading "atlas shrugged"...what i didn't know is that i'd be reading it with 5 guys that i trust implicitly...and that...as a group...would be a vestige of the famed "history 5". the reading went well...and i gleaned knowledge and perspective. an exposition is forthcoming. now, however, we are on to "that 70's guy"'s first submission (we collaborated to come up with a list...with each of us getting a "non-negotiable"...and this is his) aristotle's "politics". thus far, i'm intrigued...and skeptical as to application...still, an interesting tie-in to a randian projection of objectivism and individualism in a collective society.

4. life. without going into detail...let me say...that i am happier now than i've been in a long, long time. i feel blessed.