When I left work yesterday, at about 5:30, all seemed normal.
When I got home, my tenant told me that the world had changed.
Not in so many words. With an astonished look on his face, he started talking about how quickly the news about Michael Jackson had changed, and I needed for him to slow down and back up.
"He's dead."
Then it was my turn to be astonished. Incredulous may be the better word. Acknowledging the fact, but not accepting the reality.
I had to run an errand after dinner. I tuned my car radio to a station that was playing MJ songs. Kept thinking, he was 50, I'm 57; I can't waste time.
Later, my wife tuned the TV to BET, offering a marathon of MJ videos. I canceled my workout to watch "Thriller." Samuel L. Jackson echoed what I had always believed, that "Thriller" changed the game when it came to music videos; that Michael Jackson elevated the music video to an art form. In fact, I have long suspected that "Thriller," and the videos that followed, may have had a larger impact than his music itself.
Janet and I didn't talk much; I couldn't think of much to say. Kept thinking, will I ever do anything as well as he did his thing?
Michael Jackson's funeral will, of course, be huge. I wonder if anyone local will hold any sort of memorial event?
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Posted
Jun 26 2009, 12:21 PM
by
Elwin Green