brainsplotch

...but hey, if everyone else is doing it, why not me? I have been quite affected by Michael Jackson's death, much more than I thought I would be. It really was a shock, which is strange to say since the warning signs have been everywhere for years now. Still, Michael always seemed superhuman, and it somehow doesn't seem possible for him to die. What makes it doubly strange for me is that I literally do not remember a time in my life when Michael Jackson has not been famous. Like so many others, I grew up with his music, and can remember watching the Jackson 5 on the Mike Douglass Show back when I was a kid in the seventies. I had to double check to make sure my memory and reality jibed ("was it REALLY the Mike Douglass Show, or am I confusing it with something else?" As it turns out, according to the Mike Douglass Show web site, the Jackson 5 appeared on the show three times: April 3, 1974; November 12, 1975; and February 8, 1977). I was mesmerized by the young dynamo...

Awhile ago, a friend of mind sent me, via a Facebook message, the "assignment" of comparing and contrasting Billy Joel's "We Didn't Start the Fire" and R.E.M.'s "It's the End of World as We Know It (and I Feel Fine)." This friend is someone I've known since about sixth grade, and we often go back and forth about music and pop culture. Anyway, this is my extemely off-the-cuff reply to his challenge. Thought you might find it fun: Billy Joel's “We Didn’t Start the Fire” is a litany of baby boomer-era cultural touchstones, and in the chorus Billy basically, in typical curmudgeonly Billy Joel style, says, "look, if you're pissed off about how f***ed up things are now, don't look at us (i.e. the boomers), it was already f***ed up when we got here, but we've been trying to make it better, so there!--and you know what, it'll probably continue to be f***ed up after we're dead." Billy Joel is the official apo...

Today is Memorial Day, a day on which we are to remember and honor the men and women in uniform who gave their lives in defense of our country, and for many others, a day on which we remember and honor all of our family members who are no longer with us on this earth. So what do we as American generally do on Memorial Day?: We cook out, go to the beach, do yardwork, or just plain goof around. Now I'm not saying that doing those things is bad (after all, Memorial Day is the unofficial start of summer--and a day off for most), but perhaps it's not completely in the spirit of what Memorial Day is supposed to represent. On Memorial Day 1998, I dragged my future wife to Belleville, Michigan, a town halfway between Detroit and Ann Arbor where several of my ancestors are buried. My maternal great-grandmother, great-grandfather, and a slew of others on my mom's side of the family have their eternal resting spots in Belleville. In the words of the old Blind Lemon Jefferson song, I ...

First day of the Memorial Day weekend, and the mosquitoes are out in full force in our yard. Those buggers are everywhere, making yard work an adventure. This is what happens when one lives in a community, Okemos, that was essentially built over swampland. I was able to mow the front yard, but the backyard will have to wait until tomorrow. Our neighbors, a young couple maybe in their late twenties or early thirties, are having a pleasant evening in their backyard, playing a game with the tiki torches going. I don't want to disturb them with my loud lawnmower. Besides, at this point it's nearing eight o'clock--too late to start anything new. I'm sure all of this is fascinating! Hope I'm not lulling anyone to sleep. I'm trying to devise of some future blog entries. I've entertained the thought of doing some reviews of some forgotten gems in my music collection. Recently, I've discovered the $7.99 bargain music bin at my favorite music retailer in the area,...

Hi everyone, I'm still alive! I thought I'd take a few minutes between watching the Preakness and going outside to plant some sod in the backyard to say "hi" to all one or two of my loyal readers out there in cyberspace. It's been one busy April and May for me. Between my oldest son's chess tournaments, soccer games and practices, baseball games and practices, and other sundry kid and school-related stuff, not to mention my Facebook obsession (which takes away valuable time that I could be spending doing important stuff like blogging), I've not been able to write anything in here. I really don't want to write in here if I don't feel like I have anything interesting to say. I don't know if writing little hodgepodge posts is all that interesting to anyone. Then again, nobody really reads this blog, so what difference does it make? Today, after my son's early morning soccer game, I got to go out by myself and drop off my lawnmower to get the ...

I wanted to write this post earlier, but for a variety of reasons (most of them associated with a schedule that revolves around work and family) I haven't gotten to it until now. I was greatly saddened a few weeks ago to hear of Mark "the Bird" Fidrych's tragic death. I remember the Bird's magic summer of '76, because that's the year I became interested in baseball. It was largely due to the exuberance and individuality of Mark Fidrych. He was one of a kind, and I don't know if we'll ever see a player quite like Fidrych. I lived in Detroit from 1973 to 1979, so I was there to experience the Bird. I, along with other kids on my block, mimicked all of Fidrych's oddball traits: running to the mound at the beginning of an inning (and running off the field after the third out), smoothing the mound, talking to the ball, and the Bird's herky-jerky pitching motion. I distinctly remember talking to a tennis ball (and telling it where to go in a way ...

As everyone knows by now, Michigan State lost to North Carolina 89-72 in the NCAA Championship game back on Monday. The Tar Heels proved that they were the best team in college basketball this year, but having said that, the Spartans looked out-of-sync for essentially the entire game (but particularly in the first half). However, even if State had played at the level they showed in the Louisville and UConn games, I think North Carolina still wins the game by about 7-10 points. What a great run the Spartans had this year. If someone had told me back in November or early December that this team would not only win the Big Ten title, but play in the national championship game, I would not believe him (or her). This team improved exponentially from the beginning of the season to the end. Delvon Roe finally got reasonably health and was excellent during the Big Ten season (but looked like he ran out of gas in the tournament), Goran Suton fulfilled his great promise in a big way, and Dr...