Best Michael Jackson songs radio forgot?

While trolling the interwebs, I came across an article listing the top 10 Michael songs radio rarely (if ever) plays (link at end of this post).  Here's my take on their list:

"Maybe Tomorrow" - I can see why radio forgot it. Sorry, not a fan of this one.

"I wanna be where you are" - I hear this every once in a while. It would be nice to hear more, but when you have an artist with the sheer volume of Jackson's output, some songs are going to take a back seat.

"She's out of my life" - Here, I agree fully. I love this song and wish it would be played more on the air.

"Can you feel it" - UGH. Sorry, but I think the Jacksons as a group got stuck in the 70's and never let go. I hate this song.

"Say, say, say" - Again, I agree. Why is this not played more on the air? I love it, and have several remix versions to keep me singing along.

"I just can't stop loving you" - Agreed. More airtime deserved for this one. This is one of his best ballad-esque songs ever.

"In the closet" - While I would like to hear it on the air more, it is not "safe" for radio to play this one. Then again, what is "safe" anymore? Alas, like George Michael's "I want your sex," "closet" will have to remain, er, in the closet.

"Who is it" - This is one catchy tune. I'd like to see more airplay here, too. Granted, most folks won't catch the lyrics, but who cares about that anyway? I didn't know half the lyrics of the songs I grew up listening to.

"Will you be there" - I like the song okay, but with all the other ballads, I can see why this has faded from the airwaves. I think it got some more airplay after Jennifer's rendition, but that didn't last long. It would be nice to hear every now and then.

"They don't care about us" - Oh, I would love to hear this come on the radio. I'm not sure I've ever heard it on air.

Whats your take?

Original article:
http://music.msn.com/music/article.aspx?news=738683

Michael Jackson: The Experience (MJTE)

For Christmas, I received MJTE for the Wii.  I popped it in the console and fired it up.  I wasn't sure what to expect because I had only seen trailers for the game online and on TV.  When the menu came up, there options for "DANCE" and "TRAINING VIDEOS" (or something like that) and a couple other options that I do not recall just now.  I immediately jumped over to the training video to see if I could pick up some tips before getting started.  BZZZTT.  You have unlock the videos as you play the game.  That's all fine and well, but they should have given the players ONE video to start with.  Instead, I was greeted with an essentially blank screen with no direction as to what to do.  Eventually, I just went "BACK" and worked my way to the main menu.  From there, I chose "DANCE."

And then, the magic began.  I am a long-time Jackson fan.  Watching the familiar MJJ walk-on sequence brought goosebumps.  Yeah, okay, so now it's called "Triumph" but those of us old enough to know the MJJ logo (the one with Michael on his toes and white lines shooting horizontally) will always know it as the "MJJ Logo."  BTW, if you are not familiar with it, allow me to describe:  A pair of feet (presumably Michael's) walks on to the screen from the right.  Soon, sparkles start shining on the socks and then they fall off and bounce on the floor.  When the feet stop walking, there's a little shuffle, a spin, and a guitar riff as he strikes the "on-toes" stance.

When the game starts, the player is presented with a carousel of songs, each with an associated graphic.  The songs range from known hits to a few lesser known titles and from his classics up to "Earth Song."  It would have been cool if they had "This is It" on there, too.  And, who knows, maybe other songs get unlocked as you play.  I don't remember the first song I chose, but it was probably "Bad."  No, it was "Thriller!"

The videos are actually animated interpretations of his music mini-movies.  This works really well for most songs, and really only serves as the backdrop for the animated "coaches" that appear on the screen.  The player uses the Wii remote in the hand that would represent Michael's gloved hand.  The music starts, and the dancing begins.

The screen is laid out with icons in the upper corners, alerting players to upcoming moves.  In the main area, the "coaches" perform moves that the players replicate in real-time.  This can be thoroughly exhausting!  I am talking killer workout here.  Keeping up with Michael through his various twists, turns, crotch-grabs, etc gets fast and furious in many of his songs.  Along the right and left sides, there are arcs that represent each player's "star rating."  The better the player does, the higher their rating.  Each player can get up to a level 5 star rating.  You gotta be dogged good to get there.  There are some "super moves" that appear during the songs, too.  Perform those perfectly, and you get bonus points.

My biggest problem when playing is that I keep watching the icons in the corner and forget that when there is no icon, Michael is on-screen doing stuff that I am supposed to be imitating.  I often stand there looking like a statue while the "coach" is dancing up a storm. I'm sure practice will help with that.

Emily, Shan, and I (along with Nick, Michelle, and Kay) have all played some, and we've unlocked several training videos.  I have yet to watch any though.  Ill let you know what those are like eventually, but I can't see firing up the game to watch videos - after all, I come to dance.

As I said before, the game is a workout.  We were physically and mentally challenged as we worked our butts off to match moves and worked our brains out trying to mimic moves and remember just how the choreography maps out during any given sequence.  Whew!

As a Michael fan, this is a fantastic way to listen to his music while dancing along with the King of Pop.  Michelle (Shan's BFF) said that if nothing else, I've got the facial expressions down pat while I'm playing the game.  Too bad this does do facial recognition.... yet. ;-)

Michelle, Kay, me, and Nick ready to dance as I explain how it works on NYE 2010

Life after Michael and novel writing

To paraphrase Kermit the Frog, "It ain't easy being Michael."

Today was the first day back to work after "David Being Michael" came about.  In the aftermath, I left many "fans" sorely disappointed.  It turns out that many folks at the Elementary School had anticipated "Michael's" arrival.  I had not known this, so when Emily's classroom party was over, we went home.  MANY people told Shan and emailed/ texted/ facebooked/ etc their disappointment that I did not visit each of the grades at the school.

Another set of "fans," those with whom I work either directly or indirectly, missed seeing me dressed up and thus were not happy that I did not come visit.  I actually had a school visit scheduled for Friday, but other things work-related came up and I could not get there.  I have since been told to re-dress as Michael and come to the school this week.  As tempting as that is, I cannot bring myself to dress as the King of Pop at a school without a true, semi-valid reason.  Perhaps next year's getup will warrant such demand and admiration - or humiliation - whichever.

So, today, I heard MANY shouts of "Hey, There's Michael!" and "Hey, Where's Michael?"  It was flattering and strange all at the same time.  I never understood the "problems" of celebrity, and for a few days, I have had a chance to experience it.  It's great and scary all in one.  The scary part is the folks running up to you.  I'm talking grown adults running up shouting, "I need a picture! Can I have a picture with you?"

In a way, I suppose, it was a chance for some folks to connect with someone that many of us grew up knowing, admiring, scratching our heads over.  Would I do anything differently?  Actually, yeah, I would.  I would visit each of the grades at the Elementary building.  I would have also at least tried to get back a few of the "Michael Moves" just to give folks something to see.  Oh, I did a little side-stepping and moonwalking, but I used to have many of his moves down pretty well (or at least *I* thought so).  I suppose what I am trying to say is that I would have "showed out" a bit more, much like the King of Pop would have done himself.

As weird as it sounds, I did not dress like Michael to make fun of him. Not in the least.  Well, okay, maybe a little.  I mean, it *IS* Michael, after all.  But, aside from his wackiness, he was one of the greatest entertainers of all time. This was my little way of making him, "A Part of Me."

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I am working on my novel, and am on day two of the National Novel Writing Month contest.  I have 8010 words written out of 50000 so far.  I am not sure if my program and their program counts words the same way, so I am hoping to have at least 51000 or so by the time it is said and done.

The "secret," so I have read, is that you can't go back and edit anything. You basically start writing and let the muses sing.  Edit later.  Make inline notes if you have to, but keep writing.  It's harder than it sounds.  In some places, the story takes a weird tangent or you see where a paragraph would work if it were in a different place, but you keep pushing through it.  In just two days, I have asked myself things like, "Am I being too wordy here? Am I not giving enough detail there?"  I have decided that I am going to go way overboard with details.  The story will have more information and description than anyone in their right mind would want to endure.  This serves two purposes: 1) It gives me a better chance of hitting the goal by being so wordy, and 2) You can always cut things out of a story but trying to add stuff in afterward is tough.

I'll keep you posted on and off about my progress, but you can always click the "NaNoWriMo" icon over there on the right side at the top of this blog if curiosity gets the best of you. :-)

Saturday in the park

No, it wasn't the fourth of July, and well, really, this post is more about Saturday than it is about any park.  Actually, it's not even about a park.  I could have just as easily titled it "Saturday Night Fever," but then that would have sparked a discussion about fevers, of which I have none, so even that would not have been totally accurate.  Are you with me?

Kay and Linda (Shan's Mom and Aunt, respectively) had tickets to attend a fund-raising event for Rep. Mike Ross with special guest President Bill Clinton.  Shan wanted to do some shopping for Emily, so we all piled in the van and headed to Hot Springs (which is then a discussion about Hot Springs National PARK, and thus, there *IS* a park in the post.  Thank you, thank you very much. Uh-huh!).  The event was at the Convention Center, and I had been there this summer for a distance learning conference.

On the way up there, Kay mentioned something about a band.  I said that I had read Jeff Madlock's Facebook post about having two gigs 100 miles apart and wondered if his band was playing for the shin-dig.  Jeff is the technology coordinator for Hope Public Schools, and is one of the most versatile, and crazy, guys I have ever met.  Was it his band?  Read on to find out.

Between the dropping off and picking up, Shan, Emily and I headed for shopping.  First, we made a stop in at Ci-Ci's Pizza for supper.  I am a big fan of Ci-Ci's!  It's been a LONG time since I had eaten there, so we pulled in and grabbed a bite.  If you have never experienced the place before, it is a buffet pizza place.  No menus.  You go in, pay, and eat.  No servers to deal with - just pizza and the best desserts ever!  Hot cinnamon rolls things, brownies... Oh, yeah.  They create all kinds of pizzas, so you never know what's going to be on the buffet and not everything is great (to me anyway).  Shan tried a chicken alfredo pizza that she didn't care for, and I tried a taco pizza that was actually pretty good.  Of course, they had cheese, pepperoni, supreme, and who knows what else - all for the eatin!

While we were eating, we watched the Arkansas Razorbacks on TV score a touchdown.  If you saw or heard, you know that we lost to the Gators by a field goal.  Some would say that is a disaster.  I say that's pretty dang good, considering the Gators are #1 and everyone in the world thought the Hogs would get their butts handed to them.  Instead, Florida struggled to beat us.  It's one of the rare times when you can feel okay about a loss.  At least, in my book.

After we ate, we hit the mall.  Emily picked up some very cute boots with fur on the top.  They also have silver peace signs on them.  Emily is BIG TIME into peace signs.  I hope this doesn't mean she is heading down the path of "peace, love and many groovies."  Basically, I'd like her to steer clear of anything remotely akin to "Jenny" in "Forrest Gump!"

We shopped around some more, stopping by the Hallowen shop to find a costume for Emily.  Somehow she decided she wanted to be Daphne from Scooby-Doo.  Holy crap, she *IS* heading down that road! LOL!  We couldn't fins a costume in her size, but I did manage to find a "King of Pop" costume kit. 

I have ben debating whether or not to dress up as Michael Jackson for Halloween.  I would love to do it as both a tribute to him and for the goofy fun of it.  My biggest problem is one of appropriateness.  Is it right to dress up as a guy with peculiar behavior when it came to children in general?  Then again, people dress up as Jason, Freddy Krueger, and even the clown from Saw, so, why bother going down that road, right?  If I decide to dress up as the King of Pop, I'll be sure to have pictures taken.  If I am going to scare local kids, I might as well scare the rest of you with it, right?

Emily picked up a Bobby Jack sleepover monkey.  She made a deal that if she got the monkey, she would have to sleep in her own bed (she likes to crawl into bed with us during the night).  We gave her a "fre night" for Saturday, but starting tonight, all bets are off.  It is going to be a very tough time for Emily and Shan. Maybe I shold have picked up a monkey for both of them.

We piddled around for a bit and then decided to make our Wal-Mart run while we waited for Kay and Linda to call us back.  Of course, we got the call at about the halfway point in our grocery shopping.  Luckily, they weren't in a hurry to go, but just wanted us to know that they were ready whenever we were.  We finished our shopping and headed back to the Convention Center to pick them up.

Kay got some great pictures, so I am hoping to borrow them and post them here later.  Whether I am fan of Bill Clinton (and/or Mike Ross) or not really has little to do with my wanting to post the pictures.  The fact that Clinton was one of Presidents is the main reason.  Politics aside, I think it is very cool when someone you know gets that close to a former leader.  Of course, Shan has a picture of her with Clinton from his Governor days and she was part of Girl's Stae or some school-related program.  Maybe she was a Page or something.  Well, hopefully, she will enlighten you when she reads this and leave a comment to set me straight. 

And, as for Jeff playing at the Ross/Clinton event.... Yes!  It was his band there.  Kay said she went up to him and asked if he was Jeff.  When he said yes, she asked if he knew my name.  He asked Kay if she was my Mom.  "Even beter," she said, "I'm his Mother-in-Law."  That is funny!  Here is a photo of Jeff I found online, but it pretty much explains it all:

This Is It - The Movie! October 28, 2009

Man, Toy Story and Toy Story 2 in 3D and then a special engagement of "This Is It!!"  I am going to see this, even if I have to go by myself to do it. :-)  I haven't checked where it will be playing near my house, so I will need to check on that pretty quick!

I can feel 'em flyin like a hand out the window as the cars go by

I cannot believe it is already Saturday, July 11. The last time I posted, I was feeling pretty 'puny' as they say in these parts. Since I last posted, the doctor put me on Meclazine to help with dizziness. I hate that stuff. It might temporarily relieve the head-spinning, but the other 'features' of the meds are bluh-bluh-bluh! Makes me way too drowsy to function. Heck, I'd rather be slightly off kilter, thank you.

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There was also this little thing called the "Michael Jackson Memorial" that took place since my last post. You might have seen something about it on TV or online or on the radio or maybe as you looked over the magazine racks at your local store. What I'm saying is that unless you took a vacation from the planet, you are most likely very aware of the fact that the King of Pop was given a huge memorial service. And, in my opinion, a very, very well-deserved one. Whether you liked his music or not, whether you believe he was innocent of the charges brought against him or not, whether you agree with the title 'king of pop' or not, there is absolutely *NO* denying his impact of the world of entertainment. Frankly, I think his impact was greater in the scheme of things that The Beatles and he rivaled Elvis in terms of overall impact and contribution to the world of entertainment. No one else, to me, comes even close. And his memorial was done beautifully - a superb mix of his music and memories, of his impact and the hole left behind.


The most endearing parts came from Brooke Shields and from his daughter, Paris. Brooke showed Michael in a light few people ever got to see, ever got to experience, ever even heard about. And, Paris came to the microphone with a strong presence, only to show the world that she was deeply hurting from the loss of her Daddy.

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During the week, I also led a class in an introductory overview of Office 2007. That went very well, though in a couple places, I stumbled a bit (literally) due to my brain being slightly off center. I also managed to trace an errant SharePoint site down to some kind of problem with one of the color themes we had assigned to the site. I'm still not sure what that was about, but at least it appears we found the problem. The fix was to simply reset the site back to the default color scheme for now. Next week's project will be to see if I can find out what went wrong and see if I can right it.

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Also next week, Emily Grace has her BIRTHDAY!!! Wahoo!!! It is hard to believe she is already SEVEN! How did THAT happen!? Wow, do the days go by....

Michael, Remembered

I am 10 years younger than Michael Jackson, so by the time I can remember things like "Rockin Robin" and "I Want You Back," Jackson was already well on his way to super stardom. By the time I was seven or eight years old, he was 17-18. Other than hearing his songs on the radio, though, I really didn't "discover for myself" the amazing talent that was Michael Jackson until I was in junior high school.

I specifically remember all the hype surrounding this 'mini-movie' that was being released. Television was touting the release of a 14-minute music video. FOURTEEN MINUTES!? Are you kidding me? And then, Jackson changed the world of video entertainment forever. "Thriller" was the most amazing music video I had ever seen, and I was hooked on Jackson from that moment on.


During my freshman and sophomore years in college, my obsession and adoration of what Michael Jackson was doing musically took the form in way of things like a white fedora. I had a felt white fedora like the one he wore in "Smooth Criminal." I wore that hat everywhere, even getting kicked out of a club in Virginia because I refused to take it off.

Over the years, as Jackson's personal life became more and more tumultuous, I made the conscious decision to support and enjoy him as the entertainer that truly was "The King of Pop" while reserving judgement of his personal life for others to handle. There is no doubt that he had a very different view of things, and the fact that he settled his cases for money reflects badly on all parties involved. If my child had been molested, I can assure you that NO amount of money would shut me up. To me, it's obvious that 'something' was going on, but the definition of that is something that will probably never come to full light. In my opinion, I don't care to know.

As I have got older, my obsession has waned, but my admiration for his talent remains as strong as it has ever been. I never had the good fortune of seeing him perform in person, and it is one thing on my own 'bucket list' that I will never be able to cross off. The world has lost one of the greatest entertainers in history. Whether you like him, dislike him, like his music or not, you cannot deny his impact on music, video, and concert entertainment on a worldwide scale. His impact will be felt for lifetimes to come. He will be missed for generations.

Two icons pass... I'm still in shock...

I heard earlier today that Farrah Fawcett passed away. And then on my way home, word came across the radio that Michael Jackson had died. At the time, the source was TMZ, which is a paparazzi group, basically.

But, as the evening wore on, it became clear that Michael had indeed passed away.

I am a long-time fan of the entertainer-side of Jackson. I will most likely post something more in depth, but the absolute shock of the situation has me speechless.