Back-to-back blogging, I'm on a roll here.

I'd like to begin this post with a shout-out to my buddy Jake, who helped me move a metric ton of furniture out of my old apartment and into storage. It took most of Saturday to either mentally prepare for it or do it, and it was cool of him to give up his time for said purpose.

The funniest part was when we were lamenting the insane heaviness of some of the things I own (sofa-bed, I am coming for your soul) and picked up a large recliner I have. When I picked it up by the front end, it seemed much lighter than it should. I remarked, "Oh, this is EASY!" and, with perfect timing, the retractable foot rest part came out. I fell into the chair on my face, providing many laughs.

The other thing that happened was the death of Michael Jackson. I am going to offer some completely unoriginal thoughts on this.

Michael Jackson was convicted in the press for being a freak, a monster, a child rapist, and possibly an alien. Every time he was in the news, it was a punch line. Now, I'm not saying that's wrong. But it just strikes me as odd that he's suddenly a shimmering god in everyone's eyes.

Don't get me wrong. I, like everyone else, enjoyed the hell out of his music when I was a kid in the 80s. I'll never forget the first time I heard Thriller as a really young kid, and the crazy laughter scared the shit out of me, but the song was so awesome I just wanted to hear it again. And then when I saw the video, it was like an even more intense version of that. Crazy, fucked up, frightening, but awesome.

In a way that's the best way to describe Michael Jackson, I think. Crazy, fucked up, frightening, but awesome (in the sense that he was a goddamn creative genius.) Why can't the news report it that way?

I understand the inclination to want to remember someone in a positive light when they die. But that's the job of pastors and funerals. If the media doesn't want to seem like complete hypocrites, they need to be a little more grounded in, you know, what they've been saying for the past 15 years. Why does it have to be one way or the other?

I'm just looking forward to the inevitable biographies that tell more of a realistic version of what he's like in person. Say what you will about the guy, he was a fascinating figure. And "Don't Stop Till You Get Enough" is basically the pinnacle of modern pop music. There will be no argument on that subject.