So, This is my last word on Michael Jackson, Maybe

So, This is my last word on Michael Jackson, Maybe

It’s already been a few weeks since the passing of Michael Jackson, and just a few days since I have heard a story about his death, will, family, children or a comment on the merits of his death as actually being news. After listening to Bob Scheiffer have his say on Face the Nation, I’m a fan, and it occurs to me how many people miss much of Mr. Jackson’s significance.

As a college student I found the need, more than a couple of times, for help lifting me out of feelings of over-whelming despair. I found solace in music, in particular there were 2 songs that I could listen to and suddenly I could dance and smile and solve the challenge that moments before had made me quake. The first song was Sly and the Family Stone’s “Everybody is a Star”, the second, the Jackson 5’s “ABC”. For these gifts I am eternally grateful and an unapologetic fan!

My purpose is not to convert anyone into a Michael Jackson fan but to point out that, in my belief, those who understand that ours is a society of consumption and whoever drives consumption will be the ones who ultimately prosper. Forget or argue whether Michael Jackson had a gift to entertain, dance, sing compose choreograph, the man knew how and was one of the drivers of how we consume music for almost 3 decades.

I do not believe that any of us have the luxury to afford to miss shifts in our culture or our society if we choose to be a participant, and certainly not if we count ourselves as a leader! As for me, I would like to simply offer my thanks to Michael and move on.

“ABC, it’s easy as 1,2,3”

Important Lessons

Few things excite me in life as learning something new. I love information, I love thinking, God knows it has kept me away from more productive pursuits for a life time. To this day I am convinced that All I Ever Really Needed to Know I Learned in Kindergarten - by Robert Fulghum, is one of the most profound things I have read. Along the same lines, I share this short piece by David Paulson titled:

“4 Times Crayola® Fired Their Crayons”

1. “Flesh” Crayons Change Their Name

While everyone acknowledges that the civil rights movement brought about great strides in American society, most individuals overlook the huge advances it brought to the crayon community. In 1962, Crayola voluntarily changed Flesh to Peach in an attempt to avoid any legal issues and encourage people to embrace seeing the world in black and peach.

2. Prussian Blue receives Icy Treatment

The Kingdom of Prussia (part of modern-day Germany and Poland) remained an independent state from 1701 to 1871, but the crayon dubbed Prussian Blue had a far shorter reign in the kingdom of colors. Introduced in 1949 alongside a cadre of 39 new cohorts, Prussian Blue was unceremoniously stripped of its name in 1958, after teachers continued to voice concerns that the crayon wasn’t Cold War-sensitive. Crayola hoped the color’s new name, Midnight Blue, would help make it less political and certainly less useful in coloring Iron Curtains.

3. Indian Red was a nod to India?!

Introduced in 1958 with 15 additional colors (finally giving children 64 shades to work with!), this color was actually named for a pigment that originated in India. Over the years, teachers began to worry that children would see the crayon as a reference to American Indians’ skin color. In 1999, the Crayola company changed the name to Chestnut-but that too came with a disclaimer. The crayon manufacturer warned children that, despite the famous song, these chestnuts should never be roasted over an open fire. Mainly because they soften and melt at around 105 degrees Fahrenheit.

4. Kindergarteners Get Drunk with Power

In celebration of Crayola’s 100th birthday in 2003, consumers were encouraged to suggest new crayon names as well as vote out four crayon colors. The casualties of the Crayola tribal council were newer colors Blizzard Blue, Magic Mint, and Teal Blue, and the older Mulberry. These proud veterans stepped aside for such wildly creative crayons as Inch Worm, Jazzberry Jam, Mango Tango and Wild Blue Yonder-proving that allowing kindergarteners to have veto power over your marketing department isn’t always the best idea.

Inspiration and Perspective

I humbly share a blog by Michael Strieb as an example how perspective adjusts our views of life and what is felt as important. Thank you Michael, I appreciate the mind shift!

Reflections on TAM 7

Written by Michael Strieb

Tuesday, 21 July 2009 00:00

For several months now, this webpage has been headed by a banner advertising TAM 7. As a member of the JREF forum, I had been following the excitement surrounding the event for some time. I followed much more closely when I learned I was the fortunate recipient of a scholarship and would be attending myself. I arrived on Thursday not quite sure what to expect. I knew I’d be overwhelmed. But I thought what would overwhelm me was going to be the experience of being in the presence of celebrities. That’s what we’re led to believe, that famous people are awe-inspiring. I met so many of them. I had my picture taken with Banacheck, Mac King, Penn, Phil Plait, Jamy Ian Swiss, Teller, the Great Thomsini, Captain Disillusion, and of course Randi, whom I had the pleasure of sitting next to during the entire magic show. As amazingly cool as all of that was, though, it’s not what really astounded me. What has really touched my heart, what overwhelmed me, is the kindness of simple, ordinary people. To put the significance of this into context, I need to give you some of my background. I have ALS, better known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. It has left me (more or less) wheelchair bound, with excessive weakness in my hands and arms. As if that weren’t enough, it has also left me with a severe speaking disability. This makes daily living difficult, to say the least. The prospect of a 2,500 mile trip by myself was daunting, and seemed to court disaster. Well, disaster was not only averted, it never had a chance. Here were people I had never met, people I had only known as anonymous nicknames on the JREF forum, and yet they took me under their wing. They arranged for me to get there, got me a place to stay, met me when I arrived, invited me to join them for dinner, pushed my wheelchair around, opened doors for me, picked up all the crap I kept dropping, took the time to sit and talk with me, waited exceedingly patiently while I struggled to scribble a sentence or two, said “It is such a pleasure to meet you”, and meant it. These people, every single one who made eye contact with me and smiled, they are the reason this was an Amazing Meeting. I overslept and missed Adam Savage’s talk because I was up so late the night before shooting the breeze with fellow JREFers (and it was totally worth it—sorry, Adam!). If not one single speaker showed up, it still would have been well worth it. It occurs to me that there are those of a religious bent who have said that skeptics, particularly atheistic ones, do not have a moral code to live by. And yet I spent four days in the company of skeptics who have proven that they live by the most basic moral code of all, the one most others are based on and without which would be useless: do good things on a daily basis, be kind to other people, and enjoy the time you have to spend with them. Sure, you could add another 635 rules and regulations on top, but what it really boils down to is what I witnessed. Do good. Be kind. Enjoy life. I went to TAM this year to hear some famous people speak. I’ll be returning next year to spend time with friends.