Losing Michael Jackson

When Ed McMahon passed away at 86 it wasn’t too surprising considering his age. And even when Farrah Fawcet died a couple of days later it was not unexpected because of her long struggle with cancer. But having Michael Jackson die suddenly from cardiac arrest at age 50 was indeed a shock.
I wouldn’t call myself an MJ fan by any stretch, but I do feel a connection to him in that he was one of the first pop culture icons I became aware of in my youth. The Jackson 5 were a big hit in the early 70s when I was in first and second grade. Songs like “Rockin’ Robin” and “ABC” were some of the first pop tunes I can remember and I got the distinct impression back then that Michael was about my age, although he is actually six years older.
The Saturday morning cartoon show featuring the Jackson 5 had the biggest impact on me, no doubt.



Years later, Michael Jackson would retake the center spotlight by storm, taking advantage of the new music video genre and MTV to become a household name and an established pop icon. Videos for Billie Jean and Beat It ran in heavy rotation on MTV when I was in high school, but the tour-de-force was the 13-minute video short for “Thriller” that sent his popularity into orbit. I remember being at a mall somewhere and noticing a big crowd of people gathering around a storefront window where there was a TV set up. The reason? Thriller was about to air. People were tingling with excitement.
Thriller was still a big hit when I started college. And yet it would be years later before I would get around to purchasing the album for myself. In fact, I had the Wierd Al Yankovic parody long before I picked up the original. But the next year when his big follow-up album “Bad” was released I broke down and bought a copy on cassete. Wierd Al, I think, owes MJ a big debt of gratitude for all the mileage he got off of his two big parody songs - “Eat It” and “Fat.”
I also picked up the “We are the World” album around that time which Michael Jackson was instrumental in producing. I was very impressed at the time with his efforts on that front and still feel it is a large part of his legacy.
Years later, as Jackson devolved into the sad, strange shell of a man that he became, I had mixed feelings. I was never as condemning as many people were. I mostly felt sorry for him. I do believe he had some serious problems especially with regards to the issue of inappropriate contact with children. He should never have been allowed to have unsupervised contact with children after the problem first came to light, but money and power can often shield people from the kind of help they need. In the big molestation case from a couple of years ago that destroyed his image despite his eventual acquittal, I always felt that the real villians were the kid’s parents. It was well known by then that Jackson had this problem, and yet they still allowed their child to spend the night alone with him. That was a complete failure of parental responsibility. And then to turn around and file a multi-million dollar lawsuit made it seem like they were using their kid to fish for money all along. Really sad.
We still don’t know why Jackson suffered cardiac arrest at 50. He had a long history of health problems and was taking untold numbers of medications which could have contributed to his death. I suppose we will eventually find out. But in the meantime I am going to dig out my double CD of Michael Jackson’s Greatest Hits.

Oscar problem resolved!

Wow! This is fantastic news!!
2010 Oscars to have 10 Best Picture nominees

One of my biggest pet peeves with the Academy Awards is that they have been ignoring popular box office hits in favor of artsy, elitist pictures that few people have ever heard of.
I’ve expressed bitter frustration about this issue and feel that it is the reason that ratings for the annual awards show are way down.
But this should fix that problem. Just like they did back in the 1930s and 40s, the Academy is going to honor 10 films with nominations and not just five. That should guarantee a spot this year for Pixar’s Up and probably a spot too for the very popular and well done Star Trek prequel.
If this rule had been in place last year, there would surely have been Academy Award nominations for Dark Knight and WALL-E and possibly Iron Man as well.

Republican “Family Values”

John Ensign and Mark Sanford - two Republican idiots who will NEVER be president.
In just a matter of weeks we have seen two rising stars of the Republican Party and highly-touted future presidential candidates immolate their political careers on national television.
First, Sen. John Ensign, R-Nevada, admitted to cheating on his wife with a campaign staffer (just like John Edwards). And now we learn that an adulterous affair was at the core of the fiasco surrounding South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford’s disappearing act this week. Which, of course, brings to mind former New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer’s fling with a prostitute earlier this year.
Spitzer, a Democrat, was forced to resign.
Edwards, also a Democrat, was drummed off of the political stage.
But so far, both Ensign and Sanford are acting like they intend to hold onto their seats (as is Sen. David Vitter, R-La., whose name showed up on a prostitute’s client list in Washington).
These guys weren’t just any old Senator or Governor, either.
Ensign was chairman of the Republican Policy Committee, the fourth-ranking spot in the Republican party’s leadership.
Sanford was chairman of the Republican Governor’s Association.
I think Ensign should resign. I think Sanford will be impeached if he doesn’t resign soon.

TPA Roundup 6-22

It's Monday, the day after the first day of summer, and it's time for another Texas Progressive Alliance blog roundup.

President Obama, Bill White, and John Sharp are all in the same sinking DOMA boat. The Texas Cloverleaf comes off of hiatus to tell you why.

CouldBeTrue from South Texas Chisme cheers the impeachment of Judge Kent. 4 articles passed without a single nay. Lets hope the Senate is through with him by August.

BossKitty at TruthHugger finally signed up for Twitter to get updates on the Iran protests. What a day of drama and emotion it brought, Icons and Martyrs – All Day On Twitter Watching Iran. I was really meaning to highlight the regressive influences causing upheaval in personal lives, especially in Texas. Immigration Policies and Gay Rights – Contradictions

Unlike Nevada Republican Senator John Ensign, Neil at Texas Liberal makes a promise he'll keep - He'll never cheat on his wife! Also, Neil sings the Damned's Wait For The Blackout at the Houston Ship Channel.

Off the Kuff takes a look, then a second look, at the bills Governor Perry vetoed.

WCNews at Eye On Williamson knows in order to solve big problems it takes leadership, Who is willing to lead, who has enough LBJ in them?.

Castle Hills Democrats heard candidates Tom Schieffer, John Sharp, Bill White, and Neil Durrance speak at the Dual County Fish Fry in north Texas. The blogger reviews their messages--and reports on feedback from the Dems in the audience.

WhosPlayin investigated the claim by a former mayoral candidate that the city is hiring illegal aliens for its road projects because one of its contractors doesn't yet use the E-Verify program.

Teddy at Left of College Station writes about escorting at Planned Parenthood and how what happens in Kansas doesn’t stay in Kansas. Today on Left of College Station: a report from the T. Don Hutto Residential Detention Facility and the protest on Saturday (including exclusive photographs).

Big Gas wants you to believe that regulating hydraulic fracturing is a state's rights issue. The truth: Only one state in the US regulates hydraulic fracturing. TXsharon busts the Big Gas bubble again on Bluedaze: DRILLING REFORM FOR TEXAS.

Citizen groups opposed to new coal plants being built in Robertson County and near Victoria were given a chance to intervene last week when two of the 12 newly proposed coal plants in Texas had preliminary hearings for their waste water permits. Check out the video over at Public Citizen's Texas Vox.

Over at TexasKaos, Libby Shaw tells us that Dumb, Self-serving Politicians Make Dumb, Self-serving Decisions. What a surprise that Governor Goodhair takes the starring role in this little drama. Check out the details.

Do you love the Real Housewives on Bravo? Were you a little less than impressed by the NJ version? So was Barfly over at McBlogger.