Farewell and R.I.P. - a surreal week

I hope this post coincides with a brief respite from celebrity deaths... this week has been surreal to say the least and I've got a few thoughts.

Michael Jackson - I am a little perplexed by the extreme bombardment of coverage of Michael Jackson's death. Yes I am bummed by it a little, and yes I was a huge fan as a kid. But I will say what has to be said - I knew he would not grow old. Now that doesn't make it any less sad, but it certainly does make it less surprising. I am not in shock over this just because I always had a really bad feeling it would not end well for Michael. His whole life was a tragedy in many respects and he was clearly abused as a child - he had an impossible fantastical life that never let up - it's hard to blame him for not turning out to be perfectly well adjusted. And while the freakshow his life became fascinates people (okay I admit it's a little fascinating), it's the "King of Pop" references and the "millions of fans" who are in mourning etc. etc. etc. that I don't get. Fans of what in recent terms? The guy has made 2 1/2 albums of crap in the last 18 years since Dangerous and that's it! He hasn't been relevant as a current artist in an entire generation. I'll give him that Thriller was the biggest selling album of all time and for a few years he was indeed the biggest star on the planet. The Jackson 5 was great and the Jacksons produced some great music here and there as teenagers, but let's break it down on the "King" as a solo artist. Off The Wall - borderline masterpiece - about 5 absolute classic tracks. Thriller - masterpiece all the way around. I don't really break it out and listen to it often, but I won't deny it's a bonified classic masterpiece. Bad - Good. Okay maybe very good. Do you really love that album all the way through? Really? Like one of your favorites? "Leave Me Alone", "Another Part Of Me", "Just Good Friends", "Liberian Girl" - are these great songs? I don't know.... Dangerous is a damn good album - actually better than Bad. That's where it ends. Maybe this isn't fair I don't know, but Prince as an example has produced no fewer than 20 albums better than everything other than Off The Wall and Thriller, with a few being the equal of either of them. And Prince wrote ALL the material on ALL of those albums and played guitar and in some cases plenty of other instruments on ALL of those albums. Was Michael Jackson a musician? Did he write even the majority of stuff on the couple of albums he made that really mattered?

And so there it is - I find myself criticizing Michael Jackson's body of work in the wake of his tragic death. Not what I want to be doing right now - but I feel like the hyperbole which has been shoved down my throat every time I flip on the TV has forced me to this point. It feels like it's 24 hours a day of Michael Jackson - there are a couple of wars being fought last time I checked. I didn't feel this way the first couple days after it happened, and so let me sincerely bring it back for one last time to say rest in peace Michael and thanks for the memories.

Another case which I'm conflicted about - Steve McNair. I feel badly for his wife and children, and by most accounts he was a guy who was loved and admired by many. A guy who was tough on the field and a guy who gave back to the community. However....... what kind of guy carries on like he did with this 20 year old? Did he deserve to get murdered? Heck no. Did he put himself in a situation that could only end really really really badly for someone - him, wife, kids, mistress? Absolutely. Was he out of his mind for putting himself in a situation like this particular one? Absolutely. Do I want to be speaking badly about a guy who was just killed? No - but how can you not help thinking he played with fire and got burned? His friends are trying to deflect this and talk about how he made a mistake and they hope he will be remembered for the good he did and his play on the field. He will be remembered for those things and he should be - absolutely. Unfortunately he will also be remembered for having an affair with a screwed up 20 year old who shot him to death before killing herself leaving his sons without a dad.

Farrah Fawcett - man did I love her. I actually had "the poster" along with a second one up in my bedroom growing up, and I actually took "the poster" up to college with me and had it up in my dorm room in 1988 long after her peak as the hottest sex symbol in America. Not that she ever really cooled off. I don't think we ever stopped loving her and I will definitely miss Farrah.

Curiously enough on July 1st Alexis Arguello who was the mayor of Managua committed suicide and Karl Malden died at the age of 97... who knew? Goodbye Ed McMahon and Billy Mays too...