Long Live The Last King

I wasn’t prepared to hear that Michael Jackson, The King of Pop , had died on Thursday afternoon. I was in my Holocaust class (of all classes) when peoples’ phones started buzzing with texts. The next thing you know, “Michael Jackson is dead…” was on repeat every two seconds. “What?!” I thought… How could he be dead? A world without Michael Jackson is like a world without simple everyday encounters like stop signs or door knobs. He comes with the package of life. His is the soundtrack to all of our lives. That’s the deal right? We’re supposed to keep him forever. It isn’t so. We have lost an icon of the universe. His career is the epitome of epic. He is and will always be the height of musical genius. Thriller was the best selling album in all of history. Will that ever happen again? No, the reign of Michael Jackson cannot and will not be replicated. I don’t care who you are or what you do. You will never be able to do THAT. And what was THAT? I have no idea…no one does. His presence, his iconic style, his voice, his melodies and rhythms are simply all his and no one else’s.

His influence on fashion alone is one of his most memorable contributions. The military jackets, the gloves, the colors, the sparkle, the leather, the EVERYTHING was out of this world.



Say what you want about his infamy. I’m not interested in that. He was misunderstood. End of story. Let’s move past all the things he allegedly did and remember the complete brilliance he created on stage. He wrote most if not all of his songs, and there was always light shed on something difficult to understand about the world in his lyrics. His melodies were like the neon colors in the crayon box. When you hear a song like Beat It or You Rock My World, you can't help but get up and move, snap your fingers, tap your foot. He is timeless. And his legend will absolutley live on.

His moves...a must see.

Beat it, live.


Best of Dangerous Tour...

Patrick Wolf, The Libertine

On June 15th 2009, I was in the presence of absolute genius. His name is Patrick Wolf and chances are that you don’t know exactly who this guy is. This is what I can’t stand about the U.S. The taste in music is usually based on popularity. And popularity is based on how often you hear an artist on the radio or the easy to remember, meaningless lyrics like, “I wanna take a ride on your disco stick.” (I don’t like Gaga) Yeah…okay.

Well, Patrick writes his own music, uses his own voice and plays several instruments to top that off. I love music with emotion, with words that I can relate to. The songs are like stories. He creates characters, gives them life and releases them to us to keep. I titled this “…The Libertine” because that’s one of my favorite songs of his. A libertine usually points to someone with sexual freedom (which he definitely has) but I see it more as someone completely unbound and unchained. That’s what we all strive to become, but I truly think Patrick is unparalleled with his ability to be uncensored and unapologetic. I love him for that and always will.

One of my favorite parts about him is his style. He is completely story book…The Mad Hatter meets Charlie Chaplin, meets Peter Pan. His clothes are genius (when he wears clothes, that is)

My photos, my videos...

P.S. Before he played the song ‘Paris’ (one of my favs!) he nodded at me…looking dead at me. I mean come on, how insane is that?! I must have looked very happy for him to do that, and I was…completely! Here's the video, it happens at about 22 seconds.

So I waited a loooong time for him to finally come on stage. This was the Nylon Summer Concert tour and there were three opening acts. Jaguar Love, The plastiscines and Living Things. My favorite was The plastiscines, an all girl rock band from France. They had great style, and I found their lyrics to be anthem like. Complete girl power, complete confidence. They were very French, very “ I can get away with anything, If I just smile at you.” Which is a rule I’ve always lived by. Put on the charm, and you’ll get what you want ;)

There is a castle on a cloud...

I read this quote by Henry David Thoreau today and was reminded of that song from Les Mis "Castle on a Cloud": a song that fully evokes everything I was as a little girl and everything that I still am. What are dreams for if not to transport us to places of endless possibility?

"Do not worry if you have built your castles in the air. They are where they should be. Now put the foundations under them."-Henry David Thoreau

"Have no fear of robbers or murderers. They are external dangers, petty dangers. We should fear ourselves. Prejudices are the real robbers; vices the real murderers." -Les Miserables

'The strange world of MIKA'

A journalist's job is to observe, and it's fitting that a UK publication like The Observer did just that with MIKA. They came up with the conclusion that the world of MIKA is in every way 'strange'. Having spent the last year and a bit studying journalism and all of its ethical standards, I can remind everyone that the subjet (MIKA) has no say in how the article looks at the end or what is written/ how the story is told. I think that's fair, and I think it's what's great about freedom of the press. I havn't read any article yet, though I definatley will when it becomes available to me. This video makes me happy, it brings me back into his world. I say it's "his" world because it absolutley is ALL his. He created it, he imagined it, he brought it to life. Do I think Mika's world is strange? I havn't decided. Do I think he thinks his world is strange? Who knows. For me there is something in his art, his writing, his voice that is so familiar to me that it becomes less foreign. He exposes the world's true colors in this cartoon way. As a result, life for us, the observers, is a bit less daunting and alot more beautiful.

Watch the video and if you're not already in love with him, you certainly will be...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/video/2009/jun/12/mika-observer-music-monthly