The sad news started around lunch time, when I found out that Farrah Fawcett, of Charlie's Angels fame, had passed away after a battle with anal cancer. Fawcett never really gave the world too much, mostly just that iconic poster of her in the wet, red bathing suit back in 1976. She is also remembered for her short stint on Charlie's Angels, where she quickly quit the show to pursue a film career that never took off. She later, at the age of 50, would pose semi nude for Playboy, and looked amazing for her age.
Then, things just got strange, which is only fitting. I just arrived at the Porthole, an ocean side bar in Portland, when people started claiming that Michael Jackson, the King of Pop, had passed away. Meanwhile, others were saying that he had been hospitalized, but was not dead. Now, this is not cool. I have been an MJ fan since I was little, I even dressed up as him for Halloween one year (I painted myself a pale shade of brown, wore the one silver glove and had a silver top hat, I was a mini version of him!). I am now scouring the internet on the blackberry trying to determine what is going on! Every report I was finding was stating that he was rushed to the hospital of apparent cardiac arrest, but no confirmation of his death yet. At this point, there are about 30-40 people calling, texting, and searching for more info, with lots of conflicting info being bandied about. Finally, at 6:30 PM last evening, we found the confirmation from CNN and ESPN (very reputable!) that Michael Jackson, at the age of 50, had passed away.
I'm in a total state of shock, I have to be honest with you. I, still today, listen to him at least once a week. He is on several different playlists on my iPod. We did the Thriller dance at our wedding! I mean, I just can't believe this! Everywhere we went last night people were talking about it. Everyone was playing hits from both the Thriller and Bad albums.
Now let's face it, MJ was a mess. He was an international superstar at a very young age, and his stardom only grew as he put out hit after hit in the 80's. He also became increasingly more strange as time passed as well. He tried his hardest to change his appearance, almost appearing to be white due to all the plastic surgery he had. I have heard everything from 3 surgeries (cleft in his chin and 2 nose jobs) up to about 17. It's really hard to tell for sure, and we may never know, not that it really matters. It appears to me that, because he never really had a childhood, he tried everything he could to act and appear younger than he was. He owned Neverland Ranch, which was basically a big amusement park. He befriended a chimpanzee and many young boys, and spent a lot of time and money trying to convince people that he did nothing wrong with them. It is my opinion that he just wanted to never grow up. Having hated his father, and because he never really had the chance to be a kid, he tried to relive his youth, albeit in odd ways, but, then again, he was an odd man.
Despite all his odd actions, and the crazy stories about him, he was an amazing musician, and while his music was never quite the same after the Bad album, he was, and always will be the King of Pop. I know I speak for many people when I say he will be greatly missed, may the Thriller dance live on forever, I'm just saying...
About Me
- Mark
- I've always wondered if people actually read this stuff. I never do when I'm on other pages. Well, in case, for some strange reason, you find it necessary, I'll give you a little knowledge. I was born in The County. For those of you who don't konw better, that would be Aroostook County. For those of you who do, your jokes won't work on me, they are lame. I'm the son of an investment banker that squandered his every penny on tuna fish sandwiches in the late 80's, and my mother was the lead singer for the Bangles. Neither of those is true, but again, I'm convinced nobody is reading this anyways. I met my wife at a carnival, and we were married by the bearded lady in front of the entire clown brigade. I have a daughter who is training for the 2012 Olympics where she will compete in the Triple Jump and Javelin. We live in a nice little shanty in the woods and are hoping to one day have running water. Any questions?
