Allright guys, come on-
I read about two pages of this thread a couple of hours ago at work and I have to say that I'm a bit dismayed. A man dies, and some people want to focus on his bad points. That is really kind of tacky-
OK. This man, this Michael Jackson? I suspect that he is gay, and there is the definite possibility that the things he was accused of are correct. Generally, where there is smoke there is fire. At the same time, nothing has been proved in court [I know...as if THAT is a real test what with LAWYERS and all~], and at this time, when the man is dead....perhaps it is best for everyone to look at the good points and leave the bad stuff behind. Steven King in his book "Pet Sematary" had a character who stated:
"Death is when the pain stops and the good memories begin"
I take that to heart these days, as my elderly relatives die off; you see, that runs in my family: dieing. It helps me through those times, and I think it applies here as well. You may not like the music, and the "man" was just plain old-fashioned BIZARRE... but there is a time and a place for everything and now is time to consider the positives that he gave us.
1981: I was a freshman at Bedford Senior High School in Temperance, Michigan. NO it was not a dry town! Anyway, this suburb of Toledo, Ohio was 100% WHITE. There were NO black kids at all in this school- pretty bizarre, since the school sat no more than 3 miles north of the Ohio-Michigan border and Toledo was probably 20% African-American at the time. One day in science class, I started, under my breath, totally unaware....to hum Michael Jackson's "Off the Wall". The girl next to me, Valerie Becki...suddenly came unglued.
"Norman! What are you doing!"
-You see, if you weren't into Heavy Metal in this high school, then you were a total outcast, likely to be beaten up and probably considered to be a "fag". Well, I liked heavy metal as much as any other high school kid in 1981, but I also liked Michael Jackson's music. Yet...I wasn't allowed to speak it out loud.
What a place, huh-
I was happy to move out of Bedford Township, Michigan in 1985!
As to the music itself, I think I have about 6 songs of his on my iPod, which generally powers the stereo in my 928. Michael Jackson was unusual in that he didn't learn to drive until he was in his 30's, and despite the fact that he was famous for buying his friends Rolls-Royces [did he like them or hate them? RR's until BMW came along were
HEINOUS from a reliability standpoint-!], Michael actually only drove one vehicle: an early '90's Ford van. Generally, he was chauffered around town in his Rolls or Bentleys, but when he actually drove it was in the van. He actually took it through the drive thru at some fast food places in California, obviously freaking out the workers at the place.
The other car story with this guy? Ryan White was this kid in Indianapolis who had HIV due to blood transfusions. He gained national attention because the local school system kicked him out; Michael Jackson bought him a 5.0 liter Mustang in support. I guess the guy had a thing for Fords.
Anyway, RIP.
N!
PS: You know...if he suddenly were to "ressurect" tomorrow...it wouldn't be totally out of character for this publicity-hound. Especially since he was scheduled to perform concerts in London, UK for two months this summer~