It's summertime and time for the ice cream man to make his daily rounds while kids go crazy and chase him as they attempt to eventually cool down... anyway Eddie Murphy's "Delerious" is one of my favorite stand ups of all time and this clip is classic.. enjoy!
Monday, July 20, 2009
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Monday, July 6, 2009
"Ode to the Greatest"
As I sit here and think about the most appropriate way to go about writing about the passing of the only celebrity who has ever had a major impact on my life, I struggle to figure out where to start.. With that said, I've come to the conclusion that I will go about writing my "tribute" to the greatest icon in the history of entertainment in a different fashion than anything I've read as of yet.
Michael Jackson passed away about a week and a half ago and while many people are being reminded of how ingenius his songs, videos, concerts, and dances were, I needed no reminders. Ever since the day I found out who Michael Jackson was I tried to be like him in terms of attempting to emulate his dancing and even his singing at times. No one could dance like him. No one could sing like him. No one could perform like him... not by a long shot. He single-handedly saved MTV, the same network that for a long time denied him any airplay due to his race, and made it into what it is today. He made more great timeless music than anyone in my lifetime and has single-handedly influenced more artists and people in general than any other person I can think of. Anyone who knows me well knows how big of a fan I was of his so when he passed, as much as I feel strange admitting it, I felt like my uncle had just died.
As his record sales rise and get closer and closer to reaching an unprecidented 1 billion copies sold, I hope that people can remember Mike, not only for his incredible music, his untouchable dance moves, his one of a kind videos, his electric performances, and his universally known staples (crotch grab, leg kick, moonwalk, "shum on," "hee hee" etc.) but I hope that people see what I admired him most for... Allow me to elaborate: While Michael stood as the greatest entertainer on the entire planet, people tend to forget that he was also the greatest humanitarian and an incredible lover of people. Not only did he make more socially conscious songs than probably any other "pop" artist of our time, but he physically did so much to give back to his race... not blacks, not whites, but humans.
In 1984 when Jackson was very badly burned during the filming of a Pepsi commercial, he received a $1.5 million settlement from the soft drink company outside of court. After he got this money, the icon simply donated every penny of it to the hospital that took care of him during the incident. They eventually renamed their burn unit after Mike. Among his numerous Guiness world records is the record for most charities supported by a pop star (I believe it was 39 at the time). During his "Victory" tour in his early career, he earned about $5 million and donated it all to charity. When he and Lionel Richie co-wrote "We Are The World" they earned millions of dollars and donated it toward famine relief in less fortunate countries. He founded the "Heal the World" foundation to help fight homelessness, hunger, child abuse, sickness, and poverty. During the "Dangerous" world tour, he gave all of his profits to the foundation, eventually sending almost 100,000 pounds of supplies to the capital city of Bosnia. Those are just a few of the contributions that Michael Jackson made to the betterment of the world. He didn't just talk the talk, or sing the song for that matter, but the man walked the walk... he moonwalked the walk. He truly practiced what he preached and tried his hardest to really heal the world and make it a better place for the entire human race.
For one to care that much about others despite his personal fame, fortune, and success is admirable on so many levels. If people cared as much about the overall improvement of others as they cared about themselves this world would be completely different. When we succeed, we have a responsibility as human beings to give back. I can truly only speak for myself when I say that if I'm not positively effecting the lives of people around me, then I have no purpose. (This mentality is partially why I was unemployed for some time but thats another story). There will never be another Michael Jackson but if we all just consciously make ourselves aware of the ills of this world we live in and at least make an attempt to change it and make it a better place, we will one day be able to look back on our lives confident that we had purpose. No matter what other people choose to focus on when they remember the life of Michael Jackson, no one can ever say that the man died without fulfilling his purpose. He inspired, he loved, he created, and he truly did heal the world of some of the small wounds that it had and it is up to us and those who come after us to continue to live our lives with this in mind. R.I.P. Michael Jackson. May your music, dancing, service, and legacy live on through us all.
Michael Jackson passed away about a week and a half ago and while many people are being reminded of how ingenius his songs, videos, concerts, and dances were, I needed no reminders. Ever since the day I found out who Michael Jackson was I tried to be like him in terms of attempting to emulate his dancing and even his singing at times. No one could dance like him. No one could sing like him. No one could perform like him... not by a long shot. He single-handedly saved MTV, the same network that for a long time denied him any airplay due to his race, and made it into what it is today. He made more great timeless music than anyone in my lifetime and has single-handedly influenced more artists and people in general than any other person I can think of. Anyone who knows me well knows how big of a fan I was of his so when he passed, as much as I feel strange admitting it, I felt like my uncle had just died.
As his record sales rise and get closer and closer to reaching an unprecidented 1 billion copies sold, I hope that people can remember Mike, not only for his incredible music, his untouchable dance moves, his one of a kind videos, his electric performances, and his universally known staples (crotch grab, leg kick, moonwalk, "shum on," "hee hee" etc.) but I hope that people see what I admired him most for... Allow me to elaborate: While Michael stood as the greatest entertainer on the entire planet, people tend to forget that he was also the greatest humanitarian and an incredible lover of people. Not only did he make more socially conscious songs than probably any other "pop" artist of our time, but he physically did so much to give back to his race... not blacks, not whites, but humans.
In 1984 when Jackson was very badly burned during the filming of a Pepsi commercial, he received a $1.5 million settlement from the soft drink company outside of court. After he got this money, the icon simply donated every penny of it to the hospital that took care of him during the incident. They eventually renamed their burn unit after Mike. Among his numerous Guiness world records is the record for most charities supported by a pop star (I believe it was 39 at the time). During his "Victory" tour in his early career, he earned about $5 million and donated it all to charity. When he and Lionel Richie co-wrote "We Are The World" they earned millions of dollars and donated it toward famine relief in less fortunate countries. He founded the "Heal the World" foundation to help fight homelessness, hunger, child abuse, sickness, and poverty. During the "Dangerous" world tour, he gave all of his profits to the foundation, eventually sending almost 100,000 pounds of supplies to the capital city of Bosnia. Those are just a few of the contributions that Michael Jackson made to the betterment of the world. He didn't just talk the talk, or sing the song for that matter, but the man walked the walk... he moonwalked the walk. He truly practiced what he preached and tried his hardest to really heal the world and make it a better place for the entire human race.
For one to care that much about others despite his personal fame, fortune, and success is admirable on so many levels. If people cared as much about the overall improvement of others as they cared about themselves this world would be completely different. When we succeed, we have a responsibility as human beings to give back. I can truly only speak for myself when I say that if I'm not positively effecting the lives of people around me, then I have no purpose. (This mentality is partially why I was unemployed for some time but thats another story). There will never be another Michael Jackson but if we all just consciously make ourselves aware of the ills of this world we live in and at least make an attempt to change it and make it a better place, we will one day be able to look back on our lives confident that we had purpose. No matter what other people choose to focus on when they remember the life of Michael Jackson, no one can ever say that the man died without fulfilling his purpose. He inspired, he loved, he created, and he truly did heal the world of some of the small wounds that it had and it is up to us and those who come after us to continue to live our lives with this in mind. R.I.P. Michael Jackson. May your music, dancing, service, and legacy live on through us all.
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