Thursday, June 25, 2009

In Memoriam - Michael Jackson


Nothing else happened today. June 25, 2009 will always be the day that Michael Jackson died.

In the coming days you'll hear about the music he made, the videos he dazzled the world with, and the Guiness world records he set and broke. You will hear about Thriller, the biggest selling record of all time; and We Are The World, a record that tried to heal the land. You will hear about how on 6 out of 7 continents; over excited concert goers who spoke little or no English cried, fainted and had to be carried out of concerts. Concerts that they had paid good money to see from begining to end. They were overcome by being in the presence of unrefined raw genius. You'll hear the other stuff too, the personal stuff.

But nothing you will hear will compare to the sound, the vibration really, of that sonic boom that started in the emergency room at the UCLA Medical Center and sent ripples around the globe. An emotional tsunami of grief. It was the sound of the collective hearts of three generations breaking today. Our hearts didn't all break at once though. They broke one at a time, like falling dominoes as the word passed from one to another. "Did you hear...?"

He is gone, our only consolation is that he left us with a catalogue of music that will live as long as the children of the eighties do. His legacy will live on as long a people love good music. The king is dead. Long live the king.













Tuesday, June 23, 2009

People of Iran Rise Up

I’ve changed my Facebook and Twitter profiles to green ribbons in support of the protestors in the Islamic Republic of Iran. I support people who choose to express their political views through non-violent protests. I am thrilled when people who have had their backs pressed against the wall stand up straight and say “The situation in which I find myself is intolerable.” But while I stand in awe of the courage of these protestors I have to question their raison d’ etre.

I know that ostensibly, the people want their votes to be counted fairly. But I submit to you, gentle readers, that a fair vote count is the least of their problems. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is, well as kindly as I can put it, off his rocker. But he’s not the people’s biggest problem. The solution to the people’s problem is not likely to be Mir-Hossein Mousavi either. While President Ahmadinejad is a largely unpopular figure in Iran and around the world, it is not clear to me that Mr. Mousavi would be any better. For better or worse, it is true that sometimes the devil you know beats the devil that you don’t know. The real problem is the country’s constitution. From that poison root, flourishes the strangling vines of the Grand Ayatollah Alik Khamenel aka The Supreme Leader. According to the constitution The Supreme Leader is the most powerful person in the government. He is the puppet master behind the scenes pulling all the political strings.

I have a natural mistrust of Popes, pontiffs, and potentates regardless of their religious affiliations. History shows that absolute power corrupts absolutely. And when that corruption is shrouded in religious dogma the poor and the ignorant suffer; while the bright and talented either yield to corruption themselves or face extermination.

The Koran, like the Torah and the Bible, was designed to be a light to guide individuals to a closer walk with God. The use of it to break a subjugate people is a perversion.

My hope is that this protest against a perceived injustice will develop into a real revolution that strikes at the heart of the real infringements to justice and freedom.

Thursday, June 11, 2009

Cristiano Ronaldo The 130 Million Dollar Man

Real Spain just paid Manchester United a record $130 million dollars for footballer Cristiano Ronaldo. Ronaldo the 24 year old Portuguese winger is in Los Angeles and not getting much love in the press. TMZ calls him a “greasy euro douche”. Most of the twitter responses say that England fans are glad to be rid of him. There is no end to the negative comments on the web about his over prossesed hair, his orange tan, his too tight shirts, his short shorts and his over rated skills on the football field. It all looks to me like a big steaming pile of hate.

Come on, the kid looks like a machine built with blue prints drawn from Leonardo DaVinci's design of man, he is ubber talented on the soccer field, young, and rich. Sure he was born under one of the luckiest stars. But he also works hard, has strict diet and plays brilliantly. So I say this to all the haters; hit the gym, find a tailor, and figure out a way to make a profit doing whatever it is YOU do best. That will leave you personally fulfilled. And it will leave you with a lot less hate to spew.