80's nostalgia = bankruptcy via itunes

Watching the end of the Michael Jackson memorial on tv at work today, I became very nostalgic as I listened to the guests sing "We Are The World". I decided to download the song when I came home from work. Then I thought of Janet Jackson and remembered that there were a couple songs of hers that I was missing in my library. Which led to Prince. And George Michael. And Wham. And then for the hell of it, a little Billy Joel and Bruce Springsteen. The purchase of "We Are The World" ultimately cost me about $30.

Wham!
- Careless Whisper
- Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go
- Everything She Wants
George Michael & Aretha Franklin
- I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me)
George Michael- I Want Your Sex
- Monkey
Prince- U Got The Look
Madonna- I Want You
- I'll Remember
- This Used To Be My Playground
Janet Jackson
- Together Again
-Again
-If
Billy Joel-Piano Man
-Uptown Girl
-Only the Good Die Young
-Just The Way You Are
-New York State of Mind
-My Life
-An Innocent Man
-Don't Ask Me Why
-Tell Her About It
-The Stranger
Bruce Springsteen
-Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out
-I'm Goin' Down
Berlin- The Metro
- Take My Breath Away
Cutting Crew-I Just Died In Your Arms Tonight

George Michael, I hope the money I sent your way tonight is spent responsibly. You know what I'm talkin' bout.

Memories of Michael Jackson

I am in shock over the death of Michael Jackson. His death is so profoundly sad to me. I feel as though he represents a very huge part of my childhood, but I am also sad that his life ended before he had a chance to amaze the world one more time. I really believe that he could have redeemed himself in the eyes of those who villified him by giving one last kick-ass world tour.

I remember my brother getting the Thriller album for Christmas one year. I was so young that I'm pretty sure my favorite thing about that album was the picture of the little tiger cub.


But soon enough, just like every other kid in America, we were watching the Billie Jean video on MTV. Ahhh, the good old days when MTV actually showed videos!

I don't know if Michael Jackson ever abused little boys. If he did, that's really too bad. But everyone has their own skeletons and it's not up to me to judge. I do think that there is no possibility that Michael Jackson could have had a normal life. As everyone knows, he had a pretty hard childhood and then he had to grow up in front of the world.

I do not envy celebrity life. I can't imagine how difficult it must be to have every action scrutinized. I don't think that it could have been easy for a man to be revered in the 70's and 80's and smeared in the 90's. I hope that his life was not as tragic as it seemed, but it is fairly obvious that the man has not been well for quite some time.

I will not remember Michael as a "freak" or a pedophile. I will remember Michael in his prime, singing "The Way You Make Me Feel" or "The Man in the Mirror". I will remember the red jacket and the glove and moonwalking. I will remember his Pepsi commercials! I will remember putting on my slippery socks so I could moonwalk on the kitchen floor.

When I was about 9, I asked my brother how much it would cost to go to a Michael Jackson concert. Being a little kid with no concept of money, I was pretty sure that it was hundreds of dollars for the priveledge to see him perform. I was stunned when he told me it was probably $20-30! I wondered if it would be possible to save my allowance for 20 weeks but after about 6 weeks, I decided to just buy the Bad album instead. If only I knew that I would never have the chance to see him perform!

Even though I wasn't around yet when the Jackson 5 was big, I was very familiar with them. I thought it was so cool that Michael and his siblings were in a singing group and I was annoyed that I didn't have more brothers and sisters! Most of all, when I think of MJ, I will remember this incredibly talented boy who would grow up and shape pop music in the 80's.

I hate Perez Hilton.

Perez Hilton is a douche. I had the pleasure of reading that he got the smackdown from Will.I.Am of the Black Eyed Peas last night.

Apparently, they were arguing over something that I don't care about (The Black Eyed Peas) and then they said things to each other that I don't care about, (about Fergie?) and then eventually Perez called Will.I.Am a fag. And Will.I.Am responded with his fist.

First of all, isn't it counter-productive to slam the former Ms. USA for not embracing gay rights, and then turn around and call someone a FAG when fighting with them?

Secondly, he seriously TWEETED for his fans to call the police?

I'm in shock. I need the police ASAP. Please come to the SoHo Metropolitan Hotel now. Please.

The Toronto police are here now. Thank you. Please stop calling them.

I won't be talking about this any further. It is in the hands of the authorities.

http://twitter.com/PEREZHILTON

And then he proceeds to continue talking about it further. (To be fair, he's responding to tweets from other people, but he should probably actually stop talking about it.)

Now, he saying things like "Violence is NEVER called for!" and of course, I agree. But seriously, my typically bleeding heart is kind of warm and fuzzy at the thought of someone finally giving him a good ass-kicking.

I stopped reading his site because I was fed up with his mean-spirited "gossip". I mean, what is the point of calling Adam Sandler's BABY fat and ugly? Not only is that mean and obnoxious, but it's not even celebrity news?

And then to refer to Miley Cyrus or Hannah Montana or whatever the hell her name is, as "Slutty" I don't know or care what the girl does, but it's just irresponsible and ugly to write that about an underage star, especially when it is primarily little girls who look up to her. (That is to say that I don't necessarily think that it's Miley Cyrus' responsibility to be a role model, but is there any good reason for a man in his 30's to say that about a 15 or 16 year old girl?)

I know it is his website. Just as I can write whatever I want on my little piece of internet real estate, he can state his opinion on his... but when he has nothing but hate to spew, I'm just not interested in reading it. There are plenty of other websites out there that can satisfy my gossip cravings without leaving an incredibly bitter taste in my mouth.

While violence is certainly never okay, I think that sometimes karma kicks a little ass.