Dear James, Daniel and Emily,
1. Family plans
Once again busy Saturday followed by (hopefully) relaxing Sunday. Boys baseball in the morning/early afternoon (fun picture day to boot), with a good 3 hour gap between games, time to hit library, eat lunch etc. Then Dennis' birthday part in the afternoon/evening, looking forward to another family gathering (although minus Tammy and the kids). Tammy leaves tomorrow to take the younger 3 kids to their respective fathers for 2 weeks. Should make things a little quieter (unless Tammy does something even more outrageous than last summer). Sunday we have no plans, may go to the Sky Sox game in the afternoon, or may just go for a hike/visit to the park. So should be a good weekend overall though (barring some horrible onset of illness again).
2. The Day the Icons died
What a day! The passing of Farrah didn't mean that much to me, plus it was hardly unexpected. I may be one of the few people my age who did not have her iconic poster on his wall growing up (although my best friend did). But she was an Angel and a popular Icon and symbol of the times (says something about the times when someone can become a huge icon based on one season on a popular TV show and a poster...).
All I could think about with Michael was what it meant to our culture. His career and death are so similar to Elvis Presley that it is impossible not to draw comparisons:
-Huge Icon: people forget how big Michael was. Thriller still is the top selling album of all time. His concerts were huge. And what he did as the first black musician with a MTV video changed the face of the music industry. In fact when I attended a talk on Elvis in Grad school the professor made the point that the only contemporary figure to stand with Elvis was Michael.
-Oddity: Like it or not neither figure passed away at the height of the popularity. And in fact they had both reached the stage of self parody (Michael more so than Elvis, but I attribute that to Michael living longer). And I can easily see the Neverland Ranch becoming another Graceland. And there are also reports that Michael was in bad financial position. In which case his death, like Elvis, will probably end up being a huge financial windfall for the estate.
-Dying Early: Elvis was 42, Michael 50, based on the rise in life expectancy etc. that's roughly the same for both. We won't get to see them age (gracefully or not so much). We won't be subjected to watching them attempt to wiggle their hips or moonwalk in their retirement years. Which might be a good thing but still it feels kind of sad.
-Suspicious, tragic deaths: There are so many stories about Elvis' passing. And now it appears that Michael's passing is destined to make that look like small potatoes. Really? Do we have nothing better to do that speculate and pile on? And I won't get into Michael's legal troubles because I just don't think they change/obscure his impact on our culture.
So there you have it, Michael is my generation's Elvis. And like Elvis there are more than a few young people asking why we would even care for that crazy old guy. And I seriously doubt we will see another single figure this huge. The Media and popular culture are just too big and splintered now to have 1 figure capture the hearts of so many for such a long period of time. There are contemporaries whose passing will be remarked: Madonna, Springsteen. But who amongst modern young stars will have this big of an impact for so many people? But then again in 1977 there were probably very few people who expected little Michael Jackson to reach that pinnacle.
3. Sports low point
The NBA draft was yesterday and it is such a different event from the NFL draft. Partially the amount of time is so short after the Finals it feels like the season never really ends. But it does truly signal that it is time to turn the attention to football, except that it is a month from the beginning of training camp and the first pre-season games. Which leaves baseball, tennis, soccer. All very good reasons to get out of the house and go for a walk or hike in the mountains.
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