My heart goes out to the family and fans of Michael Jackson. His death was indeed tragic. But it was hard to watch the media coverage and not be struck by the absurdity of it all. Here are a few things I observed. (Friday questions will return next week.)A police officer leaving Jackson’s Holmby Hills home was asked, “What’s the mood in there?”
A fan on camera said the news of Michael Jackson made her burst out hysterical at Gelsons.
Another was so upset she had to leave Popeye’s Chicken.
One local station showed this graphic:
-- Pronounced dead at 2:36P
-- Died at UCLA Medical Center
--Jackson Family heartbroken
Until I saw that graphic I had no idea the family was upset.
Fans flocked to the Michael Jackson star on the Hollywood Walk-of-Fame. But it was talkshow host’s star, not Jacko’s. His star was covered by a red carpet laid down for the premiere of BRUNO.
But here’s the great part: The fans were informed this was the wrong Michael Jackson but they remained and set up their shrine anyway.
Anytime a station went to their on-site reporter for a live look-in, everyone behind the reporter had a cellphone and was waving to whoever they were talking to. Not exactly folks in deep mourning.
We were told Elizabeth Taylor was too distraught to Tweet a statement.
And no Tweets from Oprah or Diana Ross either.
But M.C. Hammer was all a-Twitter. Fox News ran a banner that read: ‘MC Hammer tweets on Jackson death: `I have no words.' This they consider a headline???
One fan said the world’s going to unite, just like they did with Obama. She said his death was on a par with Martin Luther King and Gandhi. (The reporter added “and Sinatra”) And this fan went on to predict, “You’re going to see a paradigm shift in the consciousness of what one man did.” I’m not sure what that means but I’m using it my next eulogy.
Below is one grief stricken fan.
Corey Feldman issued this statement: “"I come to you today with great sadness, acknowledging the loss of the greatest entertainer in the history of mankind.”
Even so, I'm even more upset that Sky Saxon from the Seeds also passed away yesterday.
I wonder if ESPN NEWS still cut away to Albuquerque to show Manny Ramirez’s at bats in a minor league game.
More fan reactions: One said the best thing about Michael Jackson was how he could seduce women. And he said this with a straight face. An Asian girl at the wrong Michael Jackson star said she saw a small crowd milling about and “asked a couple of gay guys what was going on.” The reporter cited her as an example of the international popularity of MJ because she had come all the way from China. Yeah, but she was here already on vacation. She didn’t fly over just for this. She was probably just coming out of Popeye's Chicken.
Footage of the paramedics at Jackson’s house showed the ambulance took forever trying to back out of his narrow driveway. Footage supplied by one of the great news bureaus of the world -- Hollywood Starline Tours.
If there is anyone who thinks there's still not enough Michael Jackson coverage it's South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford.
Maybe if the major networks still had news departments the announcement of Jackson’s death wouldn’t first be reported on TMZ.
Poor Farrah. Both ABC and NBC had tribute specials for her ready to go and they were either scrapped or folded into the Michael Jackson coverage.
And finally this: One local news outlet showed a few people gathering on the lawn of MJ’s modest boyhood home in Gary, Indiana. It’s this little matchbox. The news anchor said, “This will be the next Graceland”.
And this stuff is only from the first day.
"I have no words" must be the ultimate, quintessential Twitter.
ReplyDeleteAnd the headline: "MC HAMMER TWITTERS: "I Have No Words" is an all-purpose headline. You could run it with ANY story.
Tonight, the kids of the world will sleep a little safer. I know he was a huge influence on 20th Century pop music and entertainment, but for me that doesn't even approach justifying the monster he became.
His passing is, like it or not, the best thing that could have happened for his kids. While they will never know normal lives, at least he's finished screwing them up personally. Let's hope they can recover from the damage already done, as what is likely to be an ugly family battle for control of what money he had left begins.
Great post but...
ReplyDeletePLEASE PLEASE PLEASE
Our name isn't that hard to spell... It's 'MichAEl. :)
I haven't seen this kind of a media overreaction since Princess Di died.
ReplyDeleteEnough already.
Much worse than the wrong star, in my opinion: one of the twitter trending topics is currently "Micheal Jackson."
ReplyDeleteThe one true way to memorialize your dead icon? Misspell his name.
This is SUUUUUUUCH bullcrap! "...And for you straight guys, here's a little Farrah coverage." Jeebus, I thought it was bad when young Kennedy disappeared. It's a sad day for America's joke writers.
ReplyDeleteHollywood gossip monger Jeannie Wolf actually compared Jackson's death to JFK....give me a frigging break!
ReplyDeleteGoing to offer a dissenting opinion, but I find it amusing that there is this huge backlash about this considering its less than 24 hours old. I have had friends on Facebook say they could care less about Michael Jackson, others who say that this kind of coverage would never happen in the era of Tom Brokaw (something I proved wrong with a simple trip to You Tube), and others say that ignoring Farrah is an outrage.
ReplyDeleteI don't think it can be debated that Michael Jackson was, at one time, the biggest celebrity in the world. I also don't think that if you listen to anything from Thriller backward you can argue that the man/child was not incredibly damned talented.
When I heard this yesterday, I felt like I was hearing a punchline to a joke that had yet to be written. In my mind, the Michael Jackson whose videos people my age (Late 30s/early 40s) eagerly anticipated had disappeared, replaced with the fake-faced freak who loved children the same way some priests do.
Then I put Billie Jean on my iPod last night on my way home from work and bit of the early 80s came rushing back to me. I teared up a bit.
MJ is no more important than other megatalent celebrities of years gone by, and certainly of far less importance in the general scheme of things than Iran, North Korea, and unemployment. But for many of us he was an icon of our lives, both as a mega celebrity and the cost of that celebrity.
But back to MC Hammer, if you say you have no words, haven't you proven yourself wrong?
The news affected myself and my wife (both fifty) and our 19 year old daughter and her friends.
ReplyDeleteHow many other artists would have that generational effect?
Click on 'playfull' above to read my thoughts on what next...
I co-sign everything Rob writes in his comment. The media coverage is surely ridiculous, but people still have their right to be shocked about this. I've been youtubing old MJ videos myself and admit it's a little hard to grasp. Doesn't mean I defend the Jacko freak show more than anyone else.
ReplyDeleteThe downside to it is that people everywhere suddenly crawl out of their hidings to try their best Leno-material.
I blame the boogie.
ReplyDeletewv: mitype = mistype for 'mistype'
Surely you mean "cited."
ReplyDeleteMy wife and I were also at Popeye's when we heard the news.
ReplyDeleteWe finished our dinners.
You can go to the most remote area of the Himalayas, the ice sheets off Labrador or the Gobi desert and you will have a very hard time finding anyone who doesn't know the name Michael Jackson.
ReplyDeleteRegardless of the media storm or the man's private life and public scandals, he had an incredible, universal appeal that is rarely seen more than once in a generation.
Rest in Peace, Michael (if they'll let you)
If only the American people gave this much of damn about health care, Wall Street fraud, election fraud....
ReplyDeleteTo steal a line, “Is it too soon to start hitting on Mrs. Jackson?
ReplyDeleteA phrase that’s been used before: “The end of irony.” Except for your Sanford observation -- in the words of Barbara Walters, “So twue.”
BTW, Diana Ross was even more crushed when she heard all this talk about the Supreme leader wasn't her.
If I ever had a punk band, I always wanted to name it Another Roadside Shrine.
CORONER’S PRELIMINARY FINDING death by negative ambulation (paseos negativo).
Think about it. How do they test your heart? Stress test. They put you on a treadmill and start you walking forward until your heart rate reaches near dangerous levels, but you never get anywhere because of the treadmill. In fact, if you’re not careful you end up going backward while walking forward – or as that’s otherwise known, MOONWALKING.
Now picture the guy doing that for 27 years since Thriller. Dude was on a perpetual stress test. Now think about doing all that for most of those years in a surgical mask --with hardly a nose to breathe with? While grabbing your crotch?
Also possibly a factor, the first law of perambulation – look where you’re going.
I was an AC disc jockey in the '80s. Never got why people love him so much then. I surely don't get it now (freakazoid child molester).
ReplyDeleteI was at an all day chiropractic seminar yesterday when the news broke. I'm pleased to say the people in the room were more distraught over Farrah than MJ.
...and then we went back tot he subject at hand and forgot about them both.
WV:pansub--- restaurant review for Subway
Speaking of absurdity, how about all the media shots of the Sheriff's rescue helicopter on the hospital rooftop waiting to fly Michael Jackson to the coroner?
ReplyDeleteAm I missing something? The whole state is broke and we're flying a dead guy to a coroner.
What's the rush?
The country is getting dumber by the minute and at times like these, it seems to leave a benchmark as to just how dumb it really is.
ReplyDeleteMJ's last words:
ReplyDelete"Take me to Children's Hospital..."
My wife commented that she felt sorry for Jackson--someone whose family and fame obviously screwed him up beyond repair, until he became a danger and a punch line.
ReplyDeleteNow the media are truly the punch line.
My favorite blurb from all of this from last night as a local news anchor was doing the promo for the late news: "... Phil Jackson is dead."* The station went directly into the next commercial, and I thought to myself, "Well, maybe the Clippers have a chance now."
ReplyDelete* I wound back my dvr just to make sure and the anchor did indeed say, "...Phil Jackson is dead." How ever will the Lakers go on?
I had SUCH a crush on Farrah when I was in college. And I was one of the "odd ducks" I guess; I never thought the iconic poster was that attractive of a photo of her.
ReplyDeleteI will admit that I even sat through a couple of "Charlie's Angels" episodes just to see her. But a couple were all I could handle.
Farrah was one of those celebrities that really was famous for being famous. Her acting career was less than stellar and except for modeling, she never really tried to branch out into other realms of entertainment.
Reminds me of a headline I saw many, many years ago on a newspaper parody of the New York Post:
ReplyDeleteMICHAEL JACKSON, 6 BILLION OTHERS, DEAD!
sub-head: ASTEROID STRIKES EARTH
Thanks for the tongue-in-cheek commentary. My only reflection is that AM (after Madoff), Michael's half-billion debt seems like chump change.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite moment had to be on NBC4 in LA, a reporter was interviewing a fan who said "It's just fucked up..." at which point the reporter proceeded to tell the man he was on national television. The man continued, "Sorry, but he touched so many people in differnt ways." He did touch so many people in different ways, I almost died laughing when i heard that.
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of Graceland, I await with trepidation the first series of stories, websites, twitter posts, etc., which follow the Elvis pattern and claim Michael is really alive and is actually working at a Burger King outside Cincinnati or something (Perez Hilton's since-redacted post yesterday claiming Michael was faking his coronary doesn't count...)
ReplyDeleteHey, A. Buck Short--
ReplyDeleteAre you perchance swiping your jokes from the New York Times crossword puzzle?
Because last Sunday's puzzle had the clue "Supreme leader?," with the answer being "Ross."
a lot of real arrogant people here tossing around the word "freak" trying to marginalize his life and work while pretending to show respect and/or restraint
ReplyDeletehis life and work had special meaning to black people and that is clear from the coverage we've seen since the tragedy
there nothing to be skeptical or snarky about. the man died a hero to hundreds of millions of people.
i just wish some of you losers posting would have some respect for someone who aceived so much against such great odds...
the willingness to say something negative or bring up unsubstantiated rumours right after the man passes says a lot...
have some class -- say something nice or leave it alone...
R.I.P MJ you were a thriller
Well, the Farrah special on ABC did run. A SEPARATE one for MJ. Thank goodness ABC had only reruns (Grey's Anatomy/Private Practice) to pre-empt.
ReplyDeleteI'm sort of numb to the MJ coverage because I expected it -- the coverage, not his death, although for some reason I'm not surprised he died.
ReplyDeleteI'm more upset at Barbara Walter's special about Farrah's death. Her questions were over-the-top intrusive with a sick sort of voyeurism. Did she know you? Could she speak? What did you say when you held her close as she was dying? Wow, Barbara, why not just ask them to describe in detail how she looked, ravaged by the disease and with her life counted down by breaths?
It isn't that I'm a huge Farrah fan. I'm sorry for her loss and, having nursed my mother during her terminal cancer, I feel a lot of compassion for her and everybody who loved her. The whole show left me queasy.
"ringo chan said...
ReplyDeletehis life and work had special meaning to black people and that is clear from the coverage we've seen since the tragedy"
Even after he spent millions, and endlessly disfigured himself, in an effort to turn himself white? I'm missing something there.
"ringo chan [also] said...
there nothing to be skeptical or snarky about. the man died a hero to hundreds of millions of people."
That this reprehesible criminal died a hero to "hundreds of millions of people" (it's 2009. I think that can be reduced to "thousands" by now) is itself reason to snark. This wasn't Gandhi or Nelson Mandela, or indeed, a great man at all. This was a highly-talented child-molesting perv. Did his lack of a childhood screw him up almost beyond comprehension? Yes. But at some point, adults have to take responsibility for themselves and their own adult acts.
Michael Jackson of the long ago past deserves the lovong memory of those that loved his music. (It never did a thing for me, and I always found his appeal incomprehensible, but that's obviously just me) But the Michael Jackson who died yesterday deserves about as much respect as OJ. The "Millions" who idolize him need to find idols more worthy of worship.
Mr. Levine, I (32/m/Holland, admirer of your script-writing) have a simple but serious question: "but how does Michael Jackson's death make you feel? What was your first response when you heard it?" (your 'gut reaction').
ReplyDelete(I always felt pity for his alienated life and resentment towards his megalomania).
Please forgive my bad grammar.
Funny, but Tim Russert's death hit me harder than MJ.
ReplyDeleteringo chan said...
ReplyDeletesay something nice or leave it alone.
Well, he was ahead of his time with the swine flu surgical mask.
Seriously, we feel your pain --- just deeper down than you do. That's what we're all about. Can’t help it. To paraphrase Firesign Theater, “We’re all losers on this bus.” This is just how some of us handle that. No, most of us wouldn’t say some of this to people we didn’t know, or on something like TV – at least without the passage of time. But this blogging gets a little clubbish now and then. Without tragedy there would be no comedy. Actually, sometimes there’s no comedy anyway. We figure we can get away with it, as long as it’s not only mean.
Sonderangerbot, what we’re supposed to try this stuff out in New Haven? Sadly my best-Leno material days are behind me, now that it’s got to be ready by 10 O’clock.
Bobwa Wawa, Good one! (Excuse me, have to cover myself here, “Good one…you sick bastard:)
Lawrence Fechtenberger > I think you must have me mixed up with that Will Shortz. If I were the kind who could do the Times puzzle, I’d be annoying people on a lot classier blog than Ken Levine’s. But thanks for the tip. I’m not sure if it’s art imitating life or life imitating art. All I know is if you want anybody imitating Diana Ross, your best bet might be a drag club in West Hollywood, an old SNL clip of Garrett Morris, or any of the 150 names in the LA yellow pages under “amazing” Diana Ross Impersonator.”
FineWIET I can tell you most men’s first reactions to earlier Michael stories wasn’t the same as their reaction to the Mark Sanford “shocker.” I mean the first thought in my mind was never, “Gee, I’d like to get a look at that kid."
Oh, and Mary, I’m with you too on this one.
Now please tell me nobody trotted out the old Ryan O’Neal “Love is never having to say you’re sorry clip” from Love Story. OK, tell me, I can’t monitor ALL this crap for you.
Blogward wins Best Post of the Thread!
ReplyDeleteIt was indeed the boogie...
You know, I'm very sad.
ReplyDeleteOf course I'm sad at the news of Michael Jackson's tragic death, but I'm particularly taken-aback at the fact that a man whose work I admire, you Mr. Levine, has inspired and provided a forum for disrespect toward another man because of the way he lived his life.
You, as a writer, should be aware of the fact that our lives are rarely, if ever, as others see them. As a person working in the arts as long as you have, who has a made a name for himself over the long and hard years, you should have learned this lesson by now.
Certainly, I wonder if you and others here who criticize and cast aspersions on Michael Jackson's name and memory (all for sake of humor) felt the need to make similar public accusations, insults about JFK, MLK, Bobby, Elvis, John Lennon or anyone else in the public gaze who meant so much to so many when they were taken from us so tragically? I wonder.
Certainly, womanizing, drug use, orchestrating coups, executions, alcoholism, assault, abuse, criminal behavior, just to name a few, are not exactly the kinds of behavior one would herald in any person we admire. Yet, in your mind, as expressed here, and in the minds of those commenting (obviously, first-hand experts all, in handling the pressures of global fame flawlessly) Michael's unforgivable sins of misguided cosmetic surgery, allegations of sexual contact and any other idiosyncrasies are far, far worse. Is that how it is?
And were these facts about those other famous individuals gleefully and with similarly jaded cynicism shouted from rooftop forums such as this, immortalized in print, paraded on street corners and blabbered around the water cooler as so very many within earshot of your words suffered the loss? I somehow doubt it.
And when those others left us so tragically was your silence out of respect? Or were you aching to crack a joke, like you do here, about their misled fame, their bad decisions, habits and quirks? Were you brimming over with perfectly witty rejoinders to all that silly, gloomy mourning and those inconvenient traffic snarl-ups that put a slight delay in your daily routine?
Or maybe, just maybe you were not. Maybe you felt the loss yourself. Maybe you were showing respect and sympathy, both woefully absent here in your attacks on Michael Jackson and his fans for his one unpardonable crime of being such an easy target.
Ken, I've admired your work for a long time. But I can no longer read/watch any of it, or any production for which you were a part without remembering your actions here and those you've inspired, without having them tinge forever my appreciation of it. Just like Michael Jackson's deeds will overshadow the good he did, in your eyes, this is equally true of the effect of your choices, your own actions upon what contributions you've made in mine.
There is so much rumor, speculation and misunderstanding concerning any public figure, particularly a lost soul such as Jackson's, thrust into fame practically just after infancy, that I wonder how many of us could survive that kind of attention with anything even close to his ability to deal with it? Who knows? We never shall, that's for sure.
But one thing is certain. Michael Jackson, whatever his flaws, never tried to hurt anyone. By generating this mockery and deriding others for paying their respects - making jokes about his lifestyle, his health, his family, his appearance, etc. you have clearly shown you ARE trying to hurt, for the sake of a wry comment or a laugh or maybe even more hits on your blog.
Pretty sad.
If you believe in karma, and I happen to think you do, this, like everything else does not go unnoticed. (No disclaimer, added later, can wipe it away, either.)
Rest in Peace, Michael.
I hope those here, by contrast to the character you've shown, are given the proper respect and courtesy when it's your time to go, when it's your time to leave this world.
That is, of course, if your absence is even noticed.
You know, Ringo, I don't give a good goddamn about Michael Jackson's fame or music. I'm just glad that one more child molester is off the planet, especially one that can buy his way out of justice.
ReplyDeleteI dunno. It's not that the jokes aren't deserved, I'm just saying he's not even around to hear them anymore and there are people upset or in shock about the loss of the positive (believe it or not) things the man MJ contributed in their lives, so maybe that should be shown some respect in the closest time being.
ReplyDeletePlus, as if I couldn't be more contrarian here and now, I always preferred the blonde that succeeded Farrah on Charlie's Angels.
If you read my piece carefully you'll see I was not making jokes at Michael Jackson's expense. I was pointing out the absurdity of the media coverage and the over-the-top reaction by some fans and celebrities.
ReplyDeleteAnd I stand by that.
Now I understand, courtesy of the Mayo Clinic:
ReplyDelete"Schizoid personality disorder is a condition in which people avoid social activities and consistently shy away from interaction with others. People with the disorder are generally loners with a profound inability to connect with others and form personal relationships. To others, people with schizoid personality disorder may appear aloof, dull or humorless, and they're often ignored in social settings. People with schizoid personality disorder show a flattened or restricted range of emotions, and can appear indifferent to what's going on around them."
Or...at your next fun function, you just might want to leave Schizoid Mann off your guest list.
D. McEwan,
ReplyDeleteright on!
Maybe those millions should find a better hero - possibly one that wasn't trying so hard to not be like them. If I were black, I think I'd find him an insult to all black men. If you make a lot of money, or sing a pretty song, or snag a Hiensman we'll look the other way?
WV: dolable = handy with Dolelamite
Glad you mentioned Iran. The Michael Jackson coverage vs. Iran coverage was the subject of my satirical news story today. This is a big story but shouldn't be covered to the exclusion of, well...stuff that really matters.
ReplyDeleteI agree, the death, any death is tragic, but the media coverage is absurd. Even the WEATHER Channel covered it. ANNOUNCER VOICE: "Its 76 degrees and sunny outside the UCLA medical center where Michael Jackson has just been pronounced dead.."
ReplyDeleteKINDNESS
ReplyDeleteBefore you know what kindness really is you must lose things,
feel the future dissolve in a moment like salt in a weakend broth.
What you held in your hand,
what you counted and carefully saved,
all this must go so you know how desolate the landscape can be between the regions of kindness.
How you ride and ride
thinking the bus will never stop,
the passnegers eating maize and chicken will stare out the window forever.
Before you learn the tender gravity of kindness,
you must travel where the Indian in a white pancho lies dead by the side of the road.
You must see how this could be you,
how he too was someone
who journeyed through the night with plans and the simple breath that kept him alive.
Before you know kindness as the deepest thing inside,
you must know sorrow as the other deepest things.
You must wake up with sorrow.
You must speak it till your voice
catches the thread of all sorrows
and you see the size of the cloth.
Then it is only kindess that makes sense anymore,
only kindess that ties your shoes
and sends you out into the day to mail letters and purchase bread,
only kindness that raises its head
from the crowd of the world to say
it is I you have been looking for,
and then goes with you everywhere like a shadow or a friend.
-Naomi Shikah Nye
http://www.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUSTRE55P68O20090626
ReplyDeleteYou missed one Jay! Miami, guy on a bus gets the word (twitter probably) that Jackson is dead, annoucned it to the whole bus. Bus driver says "that man should have been in jail a long time ago" the passenger retorts that the world lost " a huge musical talent" to which another passenger takes offense, they argue, a knife is pulled and the first passenger is chased down the aisle.
I think no one was hurt.
It was wrong that fans of Jackson maintained his innocence, just as it would be wrong to maintain he was guilty. Nobody had conclusive evidence and it was all speculation. Personally I think probably he did, and I think he was a sad, confused, child..his whole life. I felt sorry for him, and sorry if he also mistreated other children however it appeared in his mind.
I wasn't a big fan. It was too commercial, and just too bizarre i a bad way. I don't wish anyone dead, but people that say he did or didn't molest...nobody knows. At least now. Expect folks will now come out of the woodwork with stories, but that is what we have courts for. They bought their way out of some of the problems, which still doesn't mean they were true, but just that there was never a real day in court on many charges.
"His passing is, like it or not, the best thing that could have happened for his kids."
ReplyDeleteSure - why don't YOU tell his kids that?
Mr. Levine, did you know Farrah Fawcett or ever work with her? I'm so sorry that her death was so immediately pushed aside. She had her problems but she seemed like a nice lady who never tried to hurt anyone.
ReplyDeleteFinding humor in death is nothing new, but the internet does get the jokes out there faster. Personally, I like to confine my snark in such matters to remarks among friends who understand my sense of humor.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the Anonymous who posted at 1:58 a.m. -- there appears to be no way to get at the truth about Jackson's "proclivities." I wouldn't be shocked if all the allegations are true, nor would I be surprised to find that the man-child restricted his actions to snuggling, tickling, pillow fighting and sharing the occasional ice cream cone. He was a weird dude.
"Anonymous said...
ReplyDelete'His passing is, like it or not, the best thing that could have happened for his kids.'
Sure - why don't YOU tell his kids that?"
It is not necessary for them to know it for it to be true, and it IS true. His kids will probably never recover from the damage he has already done them (And remember, he is not a blood relation of any of his kids. They were all "surrogate-fathered." They were very high-end accessories; living toys.), but at least he won't erode their minds further.
As for why I don't tell them; I'm not allowed near the Jackson Family Offspring anymore than you are. "Excuse me, Jackson Famliy; I have this man here; he didn't like your late son, and feels he bought his way out of monstrous crimes, but he'd like to have a little serious sit-down chat time with Paris and the Prince Michaels. Is that okay with you?"
I don't see that going well, Anonymous, do you? By the way, did you forget how to spell your own name, Mr. Couragous? My comment, however appalling you found it, was signed with my real name.
Obviously, there are a lot of assholes who have no idea of what the term "acquitted" means...
ReplyDelete"But we KNOW he's guilty"...
Sure - just like all the people who walked scot-free during lynchings in The South. Lot of God-Fearing, Law Abiding Citizens like you, who just didn't believe any wrong had been done.
I know there was a lot of heresay and circumstantial evidence presented --- and the only thing to come of it was people made a lot of money, Jay Leno built a career out of it, and still no one REALLY knows a damn thing.
Fuck the lot of you.
Rob said, "I also don't think that if you listen to anything from Thriller backward you can argue that the man/child was not incredibly damned talented."
ReplyDeleteI honestly thought at first that you were being very unfair in critiquing someone's work by listening to it backwards. I thought you were going to tell us some secret messages you heard in such listening. I guess "Turn me on dead man" would be inappropriate.
I know better now.
You know nothing about me, as I know nothing about you, apart from your anger and your gift for hyperbole. I'm assuming, of course, that "P.O.S." stands for "Person Of Stature."
ReplyDeleteThe many black men I have dated over all of my adult life have all failed to find me racist, or closeted for that matter. But then, they merely knew me intimately, so we can hardly take their opinions over yours, who know nothing of me at all. Clearly, you're the expert.
If must rant, Big Black, learn to spell. The word is "hearsay."
ReplyDeleteWell, as long as we're being picky:
ReplyDelete"Big Black said...
D. McEwan -
... and that's probably your GOOD qualities."
Actually, that should be "and tHOSE ARE probably your good qualities."
Plus, you omitted my rosy disposition and my pretty brown eyes, my other good qualities.
But then we're none of us perfect:
"D. McEwan wrote...
they merely knew me intimately, so we can hardly take their opinions over yours, who know nothing of me at all."
I should have written "who knowS nothing of me at all."
On hearsay/heresay:
"Hearsay," the reporting of another's words by one who claimed to have heard them said. "He asked me, 'Would you like some Jesus Juice? This is gonna be great'."
"Heresay," a statement made in this place: "I heresay: potato chips make for some mighty fine snacking."
WV: oriam: The Oriental art of talking about oneself by folding paper.
D McEwan said: "We assholes know what it means. It means exactly what it meant when OJ was acquitted: "Stupid Jury." There's a HUGE difference between acquitted and exonerated."
ReplyDeleteSo, basically, white folks are exonerated; black folks are acquitted (and it doesn't mean anything, they're still guilty). Nice.
Again, you're reading a racial interpretation into my remarks that I never put there. You are DETERMINED to find racial bias where there is none, probably because you have no other card to play. Whom I am prejudiced against are criminals who get away with it, white, black, brown, yellow or chartreuse. Race isn't a factor.
ReplyDeleteAnd I have the balls to sign my own name to my comments. What was yours again, Anonymous? I didn't quite catch it. When you can identify yourself like a man, I'll take an interest in your point of view. Otherwise, you're just another coward hiding behind anonymity.
@A. Buck Short
ReplyDeleteI have no idea what you're talking about (late reply, sorry)