For Your Listening Pleasure
Badly Drawn Boy – Have You Fed The Fish?
News to You
Wow, I miss a week (unless you count my review of Ben Kweller’s Sha Sha) and so much has happened! I guess I owe it to you to run through some of the highlights, but first I want to send out get well wishes to Gamble, who I’m sure will have a quick recovery.…
Let’s see…
I saw 8 Mile on it’s opening weekend, and I have to say I came out VERY impressed with Marshall Mathers’ performance. We all know that Em’s got great charisma on stage and in the studio, but his acting in this film is “Tupac in Juice” quality, and even more so when you take into account the fact that he’s more than just a supporting player here. Plus, this soundtrack is solid… especially the songs that are in the movie but have been left off the recent release. The movie takes place in 1995, and the opening scene where Rabbit’s in the bathroom preparing to battle by listening to Mobb Deep’s “Shook Ones, Part II” sets the feel for the entire movie. And to all the Eminem haters out there: no, he didn’t shoot any pregnant women in the stomach or beat up his mom in the film. I guess ya can’t have everything…
Also last week, I started my Christmas shopping by heading over to the local bookstore, and it’s impossible to avoid the display of Kurt Cobain’s journals right when you walk in the door… so I took a peak. I haven’t felt that weird or dirty flipping through pages since I was about 12 or 13 years old and would sneak a few peaks at my dad’s “hidden” copies of Playboy and Celebrity Sleuth (hi, Dad!). There’s some crazy stuff in the journals, and I definitely want to own the book, but I’m still torn over whether or not I will actually get a copy (you can read a review of it here). As I said in a column a few weeks ago, one of the excerpts shows Kurt plainly saying that those who read his private journals are “raping his thoughts.” But then the damn book opens with an invitation, right out of one of his journals, inviting you to read what he has to say… (It’s okay, Matt, don’t be torn. Just keep reminding yourself “It’s all Courtney’s fault. It’s all Courtney’s fault.”)
Is anyone really gonna buy the reissues of Ice Cube’s albums???
I understand that Adidas means well by announcing that they’ll be making a Jam Master Jay inspired shoe, but isn’t it a bit too soon? Seems just as appropriate as the September 11th action figures I’ve read about…
Freakboy’s back, and he’s quoting Lionel Richie and paying tribute to Jam Master, so show him some love…
In some good news for once, Congress is allowing small Webcasting sites to pay lower royalty fees than the big boys. Well, in that case, I’m not so upset about all of my civil liberties the new Homeland Security Department will probably be jeopardizing. Tap my phones! Monitor my IM chats! As long as I can keep listening to Celtic Folk Songs on the ‘Net!!!
Kid Rock apparently just made $30k to NOT sing at an auction recently. Why didn’t someone think of this sooner? Where can I get in on it? Will Nick Carter be appearing at any auctions in the near future?
And finally… first Michael Jackson’s nose falls off, then Justin Timberlake breaks his foot! What is this world coming to???
Leave Him Alone
Okay, so it’s kinda hard to take Michael Jackson seriously…
But with this whole “swinging his child over the ledge of a balcony” thing in front of the media, what did he think was gonna happen?
Although, I’m not convinced that anything he did was really that bad. After everything he’s been through, isn’t a man (?) entitled to a play a little “airplane” with his son? Plus, the entire thing was educational. Is it ever too young to teach your child a little physics? And if the baby fell, there were so many people there staring at this spectacle, is there any doubt SOMEone would have caught him? See? No danger at all.
The other question that’s been on my mind may be a bit of a stretch, but, seriously, how do we know it really was his son? All the pictures that I’ve seen show Michael holding what LOOKS like a baby. But have you seen a face? Is there any proof that this was more than just a sick stunt by the King of Pop with a Cabbage Patch Kid? We may never know…
That being said, I do not condone swinging babies over ledges, and Michael better realize he’s not Invincible before something really bad happens… what a dumbass.
Here’s my friend Jay’s take on it:
The King of Drop
By Jason Newman
So last Tuesday, Michael Jackson decided to hold his kid over the railing of his hotel balcony and the whole world was shocked and appalled that someone so normal would do something so unusual. This is a public statement to those who were shocked and/or appalled: relax.
It’s gonna be okay.
No one was hurt.
Michael Jackson is not a normal parent. Not only is he under 24-hour scrutiny and must contend with thousands of wackjobs in the circus that is his life, he also has to play the role of poppa and do stuff with his kids like peek-a-boo and changing diapers (hence the surgical mask). That’s a lot of stress for one man.
When you think about it, we are really just a bunch of hypocrites. I mean, what parent hasn’t thought about dangling their infant over a hotel railing? I’m no father, but I’ve heard kids cry and moan incessantly to the point where even the mightiest of men would break down faster than a priest at a father-son picnic. And that’s just an “average†dad. Now compound that with trying to salvage a career where you once had a nickname with the word “King†in it. Not president, or even oligarchy. King. One person running shit. With all that pressure, we should be lucky that MJ has only resorted to baby-dangling.
Realizing his next album may hit negative sales unless remorse was shown, Jackson eventually apologized, saying, “I made a terrible mistake. I got caught up in the excitement of the moment.†Who can’t relate? Everyone does stupid things when “caught up in the excitement of the moment,†which may be how MJ’s son was conceived in the first place. And the same things that make babies so cute (their size, their defenselessness) are the same things that make it so easy to displace all the anger, frustration and pressure a parent has. Just think. What would Jackson have done if he didn’t get a room with a balcony? As we all know, dangling a baby is just no fun with less than 10 feet below it. That baby might have gone through a window or drowned during a tragic swirlie incident gone awry. If you really care about the baby, you should feel blessed that he ended up okay, with the only consequence being mild, subconscious emotional trauma. And by the time that comes out in therapy 15 years from now, we’ll care as much about MJ as the lead singer for Stryper.
Besides, don’t tell me there weren’t people out there (Cough, media, cough, Banned from TV producers, cough) that weren’t secretly hoping Jackson’s arm slipped. Sadly, the producers will have to postpone the Celebrities Gone Insane video and the headline writers will just have to wait another day to print “The King of Drop.†But, alas, their loss is the baby’s gain. (See, he gets to continue living. Get it?)
So I think we should all take a step back, take a deep breath, and pray for the kid. Not because he wasn’t dropped. But because he is going to have to grow up having Michael Jackson as his father his whole life. Kinda makes you think twice about saying, “I know everyone says this, but my parents really are the weirdest people ever!â€
That, my friends, is Newman in prime form. Not sure how true the rumors are that he was, in fact, dropped on his head as a child.
Until next week…
peace. love. moe.
– Matt
Till My Head Falls Off can be found weekly on 411 Music (old columns are archived in the pull-down menu below). Already hit everything on 411? Matthew Michaels also contributes to 1-42.
