Surprise Song Sunday: She's Out Of My Life - Michael Jackson

Word of the Day: Life

Yeeeeeeeeeeeaaah man

Taking a break from Linguistics, because it's doing my head in at the moment.

Usher gig was sublime. Trey Songz opening spoiled it a little I think, because that guy was atrocious. He just kept singing about how he was single, how good he is at life, how he's single and ladies should get with him, and that he was single and that he liked ladies.

Maybe it was a ploy by Usher to make himself look even more awesome in comparison.

And he was awesome. All-singing, all-dancing, all-talking. And he did all of that to perfection.

I thought that the best thing about the whole gig was that he sang so much of his old stuff. Kind of makes me wish I'd gotten better tickets for the spectacle. Don't know how much longer it's going to be until he performs his old stuff again.

See the thang, about you, that caught my eye
Is the same thing that make, me change, my mind

His MJ tribute was also very classy. Just dancing, no singing. Reminded me of the very touching John Mayer rendition of 'Human Nature' at the MJ memorial. All guitar, no singing. Something about not knowing him personally, so it wouldn't be right to sing. Here it is here.

Why, why, tell them that it's human nature.

Still gives me shivers.

Even though Usher did know him personally, I still think it was a great idea. So he put on the MJ shoes, and danced.

All hail the King.

I thought the whole thing was really a subtle MJ tribute. The red leather jacket, the MJ-aping dance moves.

Good stuff all around.

I'm going to leave you with this little video today. I thought I'd posted it at least a million times already, but I don't think I have, because the official vid won't let me embed it. You can have this pirated version instead.



Laters, Usher fans.

Word of the Day: Usher

Credit to Sarah Huang for the photo.

Lip sinking

What's the big deal about Britney Spears lip synching? Like, hello, she's been doing it ever since her first album. She's never been a very good singer, so what's new? It's almost like going to a Michael Jackson concert and making a big deal out of him dancing and singing live and not lip synching. I won't say who cares, because obviously people do, but I just think it's been completely blown out of proportion, and the reaction has been way, way, way above anything that I'd have expected. It's like the people that paid for the tickets expected her to not lip synch. When I put it like that, how weird does it sound?

Last night, I went to the first of many social events lined up for me these holidays. Banh had his 20th, and it was Friday the 13th. Nothing bad happened, unless you count Victor burning the food a bit. Good food and cool people all around. Sounds like a party I went to once. Oh, and good music, once I changed it to Ursher.

The food was very good. Vast improvement from when I first ate it. Not that it was bad in the first place. Which makes the improvement all the more surprising. Yes.

Yes. I'm suddenly feeling all pops, to use Yvonne terminology. Which is a very, very foreign feeling. Apart from that, things are starting to look on the up, except for being jobless. I shouldn't have said that. Every time I do, my world falls to pieces around me. But I can't help it.

Word of the Day: Britney

This Is It - Exam Time!

Ah, the joys of exams. A novel experience every time. Something new and exciting to add spice to an otherwise dreary period of our uni lives.

So yeah. On Tuesday, I had my first exam of this lovely exam period. It was accounting. Fun times, methinks. I don't think I crash and burned, but you never know with accounting. Best not to delve into too much detail, lest some evil force latches on with some amazing power or whatnot. Blah blah blah.

Anyway, the actual important thing that I wanted to talk about was seeing This Is It last Sunday.

As you (probably) know, it's a film about MJ's rehearsal for what was to be his last concert before retiring.

Overall, it wasn't a bad film. I mean, it was pretty well shot. It wasn't just some piece of junk cobbled together. And it was nice seeing him in some way perform live.

What I found most amazing was how picky, exacting and demanding he was about his music. It would've been hard working with him. The guy who co-ordinates music says that it's good that MJ knows what he's talking about, but deep down he must be annoyed, because he can't just fob him off, because MJ knows what he's on about.

The dancing was so-so. Whether an issue of age, sickness, rustiness, or because it was a rehearsal, or a combination of all of the above, the zing wasn't quite there most of the time. I'd like to think he wasn't trying very hard, as it was a rehearsal.

However, one can come to the conclusion that it would've been a good gig to attend. Would've been a show of gargantuan proportions. It's a shame he died, really. As I've said before, he was an extremely talented musician, and the world won't see his like in the foreseeable future.

On a side note, I like that guitar chick in film. Orianthi or something. Aaaandd, she's Australian. Thought she was English or something. I like her for her talent. Seriously.

Word of the Day: This Is It

Ambassador Camp

Camp was excellent. But a bit cold. It probably also would've been better if I didn't rip my knee to bits on the second day, but that's hard to say. Still had fun being a cripple. Some fond memories:

- Waking up at 6 after sleeping at 4 in an attempt to watch the sunrise with James, Hayley, Stef (ha, no typo) and Elena. We missed the sunrise, got frozen half to death, but took some awesome photos. Was also a good bonding time. The cold built character.

- Big 2 Moments with Anna, Kanji, Ray/Rui and the Canto Crowd (man, I'm so awesome at coining new terms). It was so addictive, like...a drug. Wow, original analogy. Completely justified 3 hours of sleep.

- Mafia aka Killers craziness. It was madness. Have never played 20 person Mafia before. Probably due to the fact that I've only played it once before. But still. It was huge. Just remember, Terry is always the killer, Kanji never actually has the 7 of diamonds, and you shouldn't accuse me because I'm a cripple.

- The amazing help I received after doing my knee. Ali and the whole Purple Soup team were awesome about it, and props to all my pals (you know who you are) for helping a brother out. I find this hard to say in person, but I love you guys.

- Watching part of the Michael Jackson tribute at the hospital. Amazing how some good actually came out of the injury.

- Making new friends. So many cool people in one place. I betcha the camp showed up on one of those newfangled heat-seeking devices as sub-zero temperature, due to the combined effects of the weather plus the coolness of the people there.

- The Egg Drop was pretty intense. Great to see how all our hard work (cough) paid off.

- The game at the end was pretty ego-boosting. I thought we were supposed to remember how many and which touches we got, so I was struggling pretty hard. And those hard pushes to the head just gave it away. So much for anonymity.

So want to do it again. Thanks for the great time people.

Word of the day: Camp

A...musings

Some random musings for today:
1. I have something for girls with nice smiles.
2. Playing soccer on terracotta tiles is a bad idea when it's raining.
3. Camp at Portsea, which is essentially a beach, in winter, sounds like an interesting, albeit cold, idea.
4. Vegetarian pies should not exist. They're akin to...vegetarian sausages.
5. I must be more outgoing and overcome my severe (but often justified) rock-bottom low self-esteem in order to succeed in life.
6. Billie Jean is not my lover.

At least one of these musings was garnered from the meeting for BusEco Ambassadors today. As a side note, the meeting was good. I now know what I'm supposed to ambass.

This random imparting of experience and knowledge should be taken on board by you, the reader, for future knowledge. This wisdom is invaluable. For example, if some idiot asks you to play soccer with them on terracotta tiles in the rain when you're wearing dodgy shoes, you'll know to say "Get lost." Because, as you know, this happens on a frequent basis. To many people.

Almost bigger than Manchester United

The Free-From-Exams Bandwagon is, in number of members, almost on par with The Lord of the Rings after the movies came out. It's so popular that the most popular kid in class, finding that he cannot beat it, bows down in its presence and joins it. The momentum that it gains straight after exams is like a tsunami, unstoppable in all it's sheer force and raw, uncontrollable power. All that give in to it are swept along, while those that attempt to fight it...well, they still get swept along. I mean, it is a tsunami after all.

Anyway, there are a number of reasons that I didn't join the bandwagon until today:
1. My last exam coincided with Michael Jackson's death on Friday. So for my MSN PM, it was a toss-up between 'FREEEEEEEEDDDDOOOOM' and 'RIP MJ.' I'm sure most of you agree that my 'freedom' from exams pale into insignificance against the death of the King of Pop.
2. As always, I am sensitive to the emotional turmoil that I may cause my friends and acquantainces. Com/Law students are liable to break down in tears upon hearing somebody has finished exams when they have *shock horror* not finished theirs. Despite this, I actually love you guys. Really.
3. Hmm. This point is really hard to articulate in words. It goes something like this: I'm not really that stoked about finishing exams. I had three of them. The last one was French, and it was worth 25%. The pessimist in me (that's a huge part of me) tells me that we (which in this case, means me) have been through three exam periods, with a further five left. So there are more remaining than there are completed. Plus, after five years of exams, the novelty kind of wears off a bit.
4. The last point, which is pretty key, and is kind of the crux of the matter, is that I dislike bandwagons/using a generic phrase to express my delight, or in this case, an almost lack thereof. So "FREEEEE" doesn't really cut it for me.

There you have it. First rant of the holidays complete.

Disclaimer: Apologies for the cynicism, sarcasm and general...being-a-toolness. I can't help it. I was born that way.

Word of the day: Bandwagon

The death of a flawed genius

On Friday, Michael Jackson died of a heart attack. With him died an era of music, and a musical genius the like of which will probably never be seen again. His death was sudden and unexpected, more so because he was so well known for his vitality and powerful presence, especially on the stage.

To fully understand why people of all age groups care so deeply about the death of one single pop star, it is necessary to separate the two parts of his life from each other, and to look at them separately. On the one hand, he was a brilliant musician and performer. However, this was marred by the other side of his character - his eccentricity and accusations of child molestation.

Michael Jackson is now the unreachable benchmark that every musician should aspire to. He wasn't just a musician. His ability and control over the entire musical process made him much more than this. From writing many of his songs, to recording these songs, deciding which ones would go on an album, then performing these songs with aplomb, Michael Jackson was, simply put, a musical genius. His vocal ability and technical proficiency was superb, while his ability to spot hits made his albums sell. Thriller, to this day, remains the highest selling album globally. While much of his music makes you just want to tap your feet and move, he also had an ability to write and perform ballads. By fusing rock, funk, and a myriad of other genres into his own music, MJ created pop music as it is today. Many artists, such as Justin Timberlake and Usher, are clearly inspired by his music.

Singing was only one aspect of his art. His dancing speaks for itself. The most iconic dance move in history, the Moonwalk, will be forever attached to his name. He could not stand still while performing, and when he moved, it was with liquid grace. His dynamic, high-tempo and intricate dancing was done will singing his songs live, which in itself is a feat that not many artists today can do. While Usher comes close, he lacks the charisma and dancing ability of Michael Jackson. He also made an artform of the music video. The MV for Thriller was seminal because of it's movie-like effect.

However, all of his achievements and enormous talent were perhaps overshadowed in later years by his strange habits and controversy which he courted. Child molestation accusations notwithstanding, Michael Jackson still managed to create a stir with instances of peculiarity. His obsessive and compulsive spending would eventually saddle him with a $480m debt and would send him bankrupt. The building of his Neverland Ranch, where he surrounded himself with children and animals, was probably a result of his deprived childhood where he was overworked. He may have dreamed of owning such a place as a child. His treatment of his children was also suspect. Dangling a child off a balcony is not exactly what one would call responsible parenting. His ever-stranger physical appearance, and his miscellaneous eccentric habits, such as insisting on recording songs in pitch-darkness, fuelled the rumours and accusations that dogged him.

Whether you liked him as a person or not, Michael Jackson must at least respected for his contribution to music. The number of fans he had, and still has, tell its own story. His planned 50 concerts in London sold out within minutes of going on sale. That kind of dedication is not the blind following of a flash-in-the-pan artist. It acknowledges that his music resonates with all sorts of people.

Single-handedly, he forever changed pop music and how it was delivered. Although he may or may not make it to heaven, his legacy as a musician will live on.

Word of the day: Michael Jackson