July 7, 2009

wildlife, food, the media, and fashion...





the sangwich: i'm addicted to subway. i get all different kinds of subs. but what does BMT mean? i know it's greasy, salty lunch meats (which i might occasionally consume) but am wondering what BMT stands for.

the turban: i'm obsessed with turbans. specifically, the lead singer of "the fabulous thunderbirds" wearing one in early publicity photos. i remember elizabeth taylor wore them in the 70's. i need to bring that look back.

the phone: i hit some wrong buttons on my blackberry and lost everything except a set of phone numbers from a year ago. what a pain in the butt. i was going to throw it in the well and buy an iphone, then i saw how much they cost.

the deer: we have a large buck hanging around. his antlers are huge and they look almost furry. when i tried to walk to dogs out back, he didn't budge. i turned around and went back inside, since i'm told the deer are not so friendly. we also saw a mother deer nursing 3 little baby deer (fawn?) the other day. it was strange to see, almost surreal. they were so close to the road as we whizzed by.
the media: i watched a lot of news shows last night. a lot of coverage of the michael jackson story and today's funeral. i had a ton of stuff to say about it, but my lunch break's almost over. so i will say this: i think it's sad he died. and i think it's normal for fans to grieve the lost of a beloved artist. but the level of grief seems so off the charts.
i think people are looking for their own "generation changing event." for some folks it's JKF or MLK being shot. or maybe the end of the vietnam war. i remember a little about watergate, jonestown, and elvis dying. i think my big event was lady diana passing away in the car wreck. it was just shocking to me that someone so famous and beautiful could die like that. then 9/11 made that seem like a small ripple in a big pond.
maybe people are looking for a post 9/11 "event" to bring them together? who knows.... i'm just thinking out loud... and lunch break is over!

11 comments:

copaX said...

You of all people didn't wiki for BMT..

BMT

copaX said...

My problem with the Michael Jackson furor is the claim that he's deserving because he's such a great artist. If that's the case, than there are hundreds upon thousands of artists who should get the same level of national attention that he's gotten, but barely made a blip on the nightly news.

He died, and that's tragic, and I'm not trying to diminish that at all. But I do not condone the idol worshiping nature of these memorials.

Jen said...

I think with MJ, people my age (and a little older) grew up with the Jackson 5 and he was sort of like everyone’s child. Just so bright and talented. Then he went away for a few years, and came back with “Thriller”, which for people my age (and younger) was epic. Seeing him “moonwalk” on TV, the 15 minute “Thriller” zombie video on MTV, those were huge cultural markers.

After he peaked with “Thriller”, he went downhill fast. Plastic surgery, Neverland Ranch with Bubbles the chimp, more plastic surgery, and then the stuff with kids. He became “tarnished.”

Then he went away again, and got out of the public eye. So when he up & died at a relatively young age, I think people fell into 2 camps: those who remembered the huge impact he had in the 70’s-80’s, and those who thought of him as the freaky guy who dangled his baby from a hotel window and might have molested kids.

I might be somewhere in the middle…..

copaX said...

ok, I can see your point there, but does that really merit a golden casket in the center of an arena of tens of thousands of people and even more outside?

I can't think of any off the top of my head, but I've got to believe that there are other musicians and artists who had similar impacts on their craft that don't get treated like a "king" upon death? especially a questionable one at that?

Perhaps I'm jaded.

Jen said...

BMT: originally stood for Brooklyn Manhattan Transit but now stands for Biggest, Meatiest, Tastiest.

Jen said...

i think it was like this when elvis died, only no CNN abd internets.

Jen said...

abd= and

copaX said...

perhaps it was. This whole thing just really rubs me the wrong way. and I can't quite put my finger on why. I used to be a pseudo-fan of his music as a kid, and before he became wacko jacko. Maybe I'm judging him harshly because of the rumors of medication abuse.

I don't feel like I'm intending to diminish what he did or what he meant to people, it's more that there are other deserving people who should get more respect and reverence than they have gotten/did get.

copaX said...

btw, I got a letter from Uncle Tank the other day. He still doesn't quite have a handle on email, yet. He typed it up in gmail then printed it out, folded it up and mailed it to me. One of these days I'll try to explain to him how the interwebs work.

Anyways, he said in his letter that he used to be friends with Michael Jackson back in his hey day. I guess there was a summer when Uncle Tank lived out in Hollywood. He had this idea for a game show involving cats in costumes and balloons filled with pudding, but he never got the financial backing to get it off the ground. Regardless, while he was out there, I guess he ran into MJ at a costume shop, while he was checking out infant costumes that could be adapted for cats. He said he thought the guy was kind of weird, and that he was looking for a pair of gloves.

glittermom said...

I dont think MJ took drugs to get high and have a good time....I think he was a troubled man/boy and it was his way of coping...Its just a shame he had to die because of it....and if people want to imortalize him thats up to them..Maybe it makes them feel better..I dont think it has to do with whos more famous..

jnet said...

thriller was huge for me as a kid. huge! i have to agree with mom (i can't even believe i just typed that...) that MJ was a trouble man/boy probably all steming from a fucked up childhood/possibly abusive father. who knows. it's still sad, especially for his kids. but like someone i know said on facebook, the michael jackson i knew and loved died a long time ago.