I was never a HUGE fan of Michael Jackson, but I didn't dislike him, either. He was someone who was simply always... there. Whether in remakes of Billy Jean playing overhead in the club, splashes of tabloids, and white gloved inappropriateness in comedy sketches. I heard the news of his death while I was at work and my cell phone went off with texts and people in cubicles across my floor started gasping and saying, "Oh my dear, that's just so sad." (I work with a lot of older women who have at least 2 kids) And though I wasn't an avid follower of his personal or work life, a flash of his life's details - that he had married and divorced Lisa Marie Presley, had a Neverland Ranch, multiple plastic surgeries, and dangled a baby from a balcony - all passed through my mind. Why did I know these things about a man I do not, for all intents and purposes, know?
Because he was someone everyone just knew, and at some point tried to emulate, most famously his moonwalk which even after all these years, people are still trying to do. I saw it most recently on Britain's Got Talent as an Indian man danced his way onstage with a bhangra accompaniment. It was epic. What other artist has so influenced an entire world with a single move? It's like the theme music to "Jaws." With just two notes, everyone was on the edge of their seats. And it somehow found its way into kiddie pools and two hands clasped above the head sinking under the water for hours of fear-inducing fun. I think it's an apt analogy, and yet disturbingly so given the kiddie reference. (I am neutral as far as those allegations go)
But aside from all that, and I'm no expert on the history of how certain artists were pivotal in the movement to revolutionize music, I felt, without knowing exactly why, a great loss. I can't pretend to expound on why Michael Jackson was as popular (and in some cases infamously so) as he was. I don't know how he exactly changed music, I couldn't point out the notes or the details of his success. I just know that he did. I couldn't tell you how he garnered so much attention, when stars everyday do a lot stranger things (I don't recall Michael ever eating a live bat onstage) and are found guilty of crimes far worse than those alleged to him.
He was a man no one really knew, but everyone said they knew and in that way, we were connected to him through ignorance, lights, and paparazzi. And despite the fog of this pretension, I think I feel a loss because there was more to him, as with anyone, than what was published. So here's to MJ, the king of pop, a man who shared his life through music, dance, and a little TMZ.
It's been a week since my last blog and I'm currently pondering the use of blogging for corporations who want to color their image with some youth or at least the illusion that they're "down with the people"? yay or nay? Don't leak corporate secrets! vs. Let's expand our network base. Seems to be the base arguments, but the question really is... Do corporations NEED to become a social enterprise? I imagine a stuffy old man rubbing himself with twitter/blogging/facebook to get in touch with his inner hormonal teenager. It's awkward and incredibly....amusing. There is the belief that nay, this isn't necessary because it's the consumers that need "bells and whistles" and businesses that need functional tools. But still, aren't shiny things nice? Me likey.
So these thoughts went down a wayward path towards specializing in Social Enterprise Administration in my stint to pursue an MSW. I'm wondering, aside from the non-profit world, does this extend into corporate philanthropy? Or am I walking down a question that is laughing at me as I ask it? A line of zeroes are following that increasing belly of debt and I'm wondering, what the monkey have I gotten myself into?
Apparently, weird words are common ones... at least now anyway when everyone has access to sites like http://www.worldwidewords.org/weirdwords/ I went through words like "balductum" the poor, unnoticed bastard cousin of the word "balderdash" and someone had that blogspot name. Someone even had "burgoo" which is a sailor's stew, "foofaraw," and "flapdoodle" (meaning both nonsense or naughty bits - why don't we use this anymore???? so versatile!)
In frustration, I typed in what the monkey! and someone had that, too. So, minus the "t" you now have my attempt at blogging. Which also many not last very long since the endless list of people who took what sounded to be original names have left it in the recesses of the world wide web, languishing with nothing but words that say "test," or "i don't know why i'm on here." Most blogs had died somewhere between 2002-2004. I'm not sure why. Did the Patriot Act swoop in and silence them from talking about the really hot guy they saw at the locker that day or how yummy that bowl of ramen was after smoking pot?
I wanted angry asian girl, for reasons apparent in the title, but someone took that too. I hoped to find a journal close to that of www.angryasianman.com with pictures, videos, and minority rants bordering on the inane. But instead, I found a single mild picture of a female who looked like she was 12, wearing white and smiling. Where was the grenade bomb and outfits of warfare? Or at least a cute cartoon of a small child stabbing something? Sigh. So disappointing. And now because of a junior high schooler, I'm stuck with "what he monkey." yay.
I was never a HUGE fan of Michael Jackson, but I didn't dislike him, either. He was someone who was simply always... there. Whether in remakes of Billy Jean playing overhead in the club, splashes of tabloids, and white gloved inappropriateness in comedy sketches. I heard the news of his death while I was at work and my cell phone went off with texts and people in cubicles across my floor started gasping and saying, "Oh my dear, that's just so sad." (I work with a lot of older women who have at least 2 kids) And though I wasn't an avid follower of his personal or work life, a flash of his life's details - that he had married and divorced Lisa Marie Presley, had a Neverland Ranch, multiple plastic surgeries, and dangled a baby from a balcony - all passed through my mind. Why did I know these things about a man I do not, for all intents and purposes, know?
