Michael Jackson

First "foreign" music I ever listened to. Growing up with his music, regular sports swapped by trying to copy his dance moves and desperately replaying the tapes to make sense of the lyrics. He never failed to amaze my friends and me. Even before MTV came to town, we caught the bug through his music video cassettes. At our local Saturday Club, every kid wanted to dance like him on the New Yrs Eve. The lock/pop sequence, the funny crotch grab, trouser pull & the flicking of the jacket, the anti-gravity illusion and above all the moonwalk. We caught about 15 minutes of "The Jacksons" the movie last weekend. We had to change channels because it was too depressing. His "I'll be there" has been airing for an ad lately and we have been humming that song subconsciously since then. And then the shocking news. A man touched by divinity in his talent; much will be written about him and it is not my place nor do I have the caliber to articulate. So I will merely post links of whatever I can find about that quirky, critically hurt but immensly accomplished star - The King of Pop - Michael Jackson.

Videos:
1. He likes what he looks like and doesn't have to change at all
2. A duet with himself
3. Patented "Smooth Criminal" leaning shoes along with the 6 minute video
4. Debut of the Moonwalk
5. Other must see videos: Thriller, Billie Jean, Beat It, Bad, Black or White, Scream, Jam, Remember the Time, Heal the World, The way you make me feel, Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough, ABC and I'll be there (several versions on YouTube).
6. MJ in India 1996.

What others are saying:
1. Thinking About Michael by Andrew Sullivan
2. The Prisoner Of Commerce by Michael Kinsley
3. Remembering The Time by Ta-Nehisi Coates
4. Deepak Chopra's Tribute to Michael Jackson
5. Huffington Post
6. NPR
7. Rolling Stone
8. Life Slideshows: Stars Remember, Live: Best Pics, Life and Times.
9. First two English words M.I.A. spoke.
10. More tributes here.

Curios:
1. Michael Jackson Auction: My Favorite Items
2. A Peek Inside Michael Jackson's Cabinet of Curiosities
3. Michael Jackson: Items for Sale
4. The Collection of Michael Jackson online catalogs

The side, I as a fan, didn't want to acknowledge:
1. MJ: Bad! and very dangerous
2. 1994-2005: Vanity Fair expose on the allegations

Smart phone de jour: Palm-Pre

Plam Pre dated to release on June 6th is the scoop of the town. Well until June 8th at least, that's when Apple would announce the new iPhone with 3.0 OS at WWDC. As tech reviewers have started getting their hands-on with the Pre, there are some noteworthy posts all around:

1. Engadget
2. Walter S. Mossberg
3. Wired
4. David Pogue from Times
5. Gizmodo
6. Gizmodo's Review Matrix

It does seem to beat the current iPhone on several grounds and it might have much ground to cover once the new one is announced. The App-store advantage that Apple has will be a steep mountain to climb for sure. I personally think they would have been better off releasing it after the WWDC. The two days that they have before, won't entice any early adopters because they have another thing coming soon. The anticipation attached with any Apple release is going to hurt. On the whole looks like the only one in the category to be of any real threat to the iPhone UI. More such competition means more choices for the consumer. Cool!

Cape Cod posts coming soon

Apart from the 780 miles on road, the trip was delightlful. More pictures and details will follow soon, meanwhile stare at my geisha pumas and her checkered chappals!

Reaching Cape Cod

What was supposed to be a 5 hour drive, turned into 9 hours. Well what were we thinking, it was the Friday of the beginning of the Memorial Day weekend. The traffic was relentless and getting onto George Washington Bridge seemed to take like forever.

Now the trick was in trying to stay in one lane and keep our minds off the clock, so we did crossword puzzles, sang along to Guns N' Roses and bitched about life in general. Chips & dip and brownies were devoured and some interesting pictures taken [click on the truck below!].

When we finally got to Providence where we had looked up a restaurant called The Cuban Revolution, it was already past 10. Built in a nook of an urban restoration area, we almost thought that we were at the wrong place. Once inside, its a different story. With murals and paintings of Cuban revolutionists and videos from their lives, it has a different appeal. Although filled with grim details, the menu booklet is worth a read while you wait for your food. We also got to try a local beer Narragansett.

Thankfully the food and drinks gave us the boost for another 90 minutes of drive to our SeaCoast Inn in Hyannis. A free room upgrade kind of redeemed the tiresome drive and we are looking forward to the next few days and hoping it doesn't rain.

American Idol (season 8)

We almost always used to drop out of watching AI after the first rounds. They were and I think still remain the most entertaining parts of idol. Without biases and prejudices, everyone is judged for pure talent. There are few whose mannerisms would tell if they are going to be good or comically tragic, but still there is little to form a preconceived opinion from. After last year's war of the David's, we gave American Idol a full shot for the first time and even voted for the first time. Followed posts and articles the next day, keenly supported and defended the ones we liked.

But it was not all firsts for us only. This was the first time for Kara DioGuardi as well. Howsoever irritating she might have been all of the season, she redeemed herself with the last night's performance. And I am not talking about just the flash.There was a first American-Indian guy who came thus far because he deserved it. Anoop Desai matters, as much as Kal Penn, Aziz Ansari, Mindy Kaling, Naveen Andrews, Parminder Nagra and Kunal Nayyar. Indian R&B, soul singer? Wow! He was the fourth wild card contestant, another first.

And finally, there was a first Led Zeppelin song on the show. There was a guy who not only got rock to AI, but also brought back the glitter from the 80s. Rock was boldest and most courageous then. It stood for lot of things and it was entertaining. Music with a statement and a purpose. A purpose not just to defy but to acknowledge the audience and to entertain. If you haven't, do see Velvet Goldmine. Adam Lambert was all that. He took the risks, experimented and most of all enjoyed himself. He was the only one, not stiff and competing on the stage. He was performing every time he went up on the stage. He worked on the songs as much on his clothes and his choreography. In all, he was the complete package, the real deal! From the moment he did Play the Funky Music, I had made my choice and then came Mad World. If you have seen Donnie Darko, you would instantly know what this song means and how crazy one has to be to sing it with the real feelings. He didn't stop there, effectively followed it up with Whole Lotta Love, Cryin' and One. He put his signature on all of them and at times did a better job than the original (Not Led Zeppelin, 'cause no one can!). For the final, he got A Change is Gonna Come. I remembered someone requesting this song on radio the day after Barack Obama won the elections. That was a first for America and I was convinced a change was to come for American Idol as well. People would look beyond Adam's preferences in life and see through Kris Allen's guy-next-door missionary, simpleton and humble (blech!) demeanor. This is a competition for god's sake, not a niceness test. Well its done. It might have turned out to be a Red State - Blue State proxy war, but when its about who sells more music, popularity counts. For all we know this could be good for Adam. Kris already announced a new single release of Kara's insipid No Boundaries (puke!) and will be bound by the American Idol contract for some time. As for Adam Lambert, I am buying.

Update: Rolling Stone's take on Adam Lambert's future and if he can pull it off like Chris Daughtry and Jennifer Hudson - the other non-winners! Huffington Post is churning out posts with a fury.