Where were you when you heard?

The passing of Michael Jackson has just been compared to the deaths of Lennon and Elvis.  A moment in time one will not forget, it seems.  So where were you when you heard the news?

As is the case when I’m hanging out in the City, sometimes I get bored, need to clear my head and go for a drive.  I remembered I was expecting an e-mail so I parked close to a place I knew had Wi-Fi.  I checked the e-mail, then decided to check my Facebook, and that’s when I saw some confusing posts.  He’s Dead, No He’s Not, He’s Sick.  So, I took off, turned on CNN on Sirius and there was Wolf Blitzer talking about a coma and cardiac arrest.  By this time, I got close to another HotSpot, turned on my phone, and checked again on MSNBC and the LA Times had confirmed that the King of Pop was gone.

I got a little sad. I thought about his mother Katherine and how parents should never bury their kids.  I was at a stoplight listening to CNN and I felt a little teary.  I look over to the car next to me, and there’s a black woman in the car in tears.  That did it.

I’ve always thought of Michael as a musical genius.  I recall an interview regarding one of his “comebacks” with a new album.  Perhaps it was BAD, maybe it was Dangerous.  But he basically described his process of making music, turning himself into a sort of human beat box. Then he turned on the recording machine and exhibited the finished product. The only word I could think of was GENIUS.

Michael was never able to out-do Thriller, and who said he had to?  He just needed to make more music, and do it well.  And he did.

Memories:  The one that I keep thinking about was me and my friend/neighbor Steve Garza hanging out in our car garage lsitening to Thriller.  For some reason, PYT was our favorite song.

And this, from Cartoonista Lalo Alcaraz: