To the King of Pop...

Dear Michael Jackson,

This morning I woke up to the news that you are no more. I didn't know what to think. I still don't. I did not want to believe it. How could you, a king in every sense of the word, be dead?

But it seems that you are, and that saddens me to no end. Like millions of others across the globe, I grew up listening to you and idolising you. I know the words to every single one of your hits. I have seen every single one of your music videos, hundreds of times, seen most of your concerts on VHS and later on on DVD. Over the years, I've tried to emulate you, to copy your innovative dance moves, especially your signature moonwalk. Tried and failed miserably.

To me it didn't matter if you were "black or white"; you were a living legend. You were an awe inspiring performer and an entertainer extradionaire. Your career was a "thriller" to your loyal fans. When controversy was threatening to turn you into a "stranger in Moscow" you told your critics to "beat it" in your own quiet, soft-spoken way.

You're truly a king. Every man, woman and child on Earth knows your name. There are millions who'd give anything to see you perform live. It's always been one of my biggest dreams to see you on stage, but I guess that dream will never come true now. But no matter. You have given me enough to be thankful for.

Thank you for the music.

Rest in peace, your majesty.

That questionnaire - I'm in the mood

OK, so everyone's been filling up that questionnaire thing lately, and so I thought I'd take a shot at it myself. Not that I'm really into that sorta thing, but since I'm new here and all... You get the drift...

Oh and I'm borrowing Makuluwo's questions without her permission.

OK, so here goes...

1. Who are you in one word? Me.

2. Do you believe in true love? I want to.

3. Are you easy to be friends with? Depends... are you easy to be friends with?

4. People person? Yes, but again, depends on the people in question.

5. Dreams? Does "to b happy" sound too corny?

6. Roots? Colombo.

7. Education? Yes. :p

8. Music? Rock, rap, hip hop, classical and a bit of techno... Guns n' Roses, Tupac, Enigma, Enya, Yanni, Eminem, Bob Sinclair (when I'm in the mood), the music of the '90s, Michael Jackson (anyone who tells you that they don't like his dancing is a liar. Don't trust them with anything. :p )

Basically, anything that sounds good.


9. Sound you're hearing right now? That of my CPU fan.

10. Last Movie and with who? If you mean at a theater, The Dark Knight with my ex. Planing to go see Madagascar 2 asap.

11. Favorite movie (pick one)? Way too many to list. I'm a sucker for LotR, Star Wars, etc.

Love comic book movies, all time favourite being The Dark Knight (they'd better give Ledger that Oscar he just got nominated for).

Jurassic Park, Schindler's List, Munich, The Prestige, Batman Begins, Spider-Man 2, Shrek II, Iron Man, Tropic Thunder, Catch Me If You Can, Forrest Gump, Saving Private Ryan, AI, The Village (not really, but I liked the way it ended), The Blair Witch Project (quite possibly the scariest movie ever made, you don't want to watch it all by yourself, in the dead of night with just the headphones on, trust me), Sin City, the American Pie trilogy (the first three only), Ben Stiller movies, and the list goes on and on...

Yes, I LOVE to make boring lists that no one will ever find interesting.

12. Currently reading? The Audacity of Hope by that guy who just moved to the White House.

13. Working at - An office complex somewhere in Colombo.

14. Like your job? Yes and no. The job is something I've always wanted to do... just wish I could say the same about the pay.

15. Are you egoistic? Not as much as you are.

16. What's the craziest thing you've done? Singing the National Anthem as loud as I possibly could inside a van on my way back to the Unawatuna Beach Resort from Weligama with some friends.

What? I like the melody.

17. What's your favourite song? Do you really want to be bored by another long-ass list?

Yeah, didn't think so.

18. Favourite hangout? I'm a people person, remember? :p So anywhere is cool with me as long as the crowd's good.

19. What do you love most? How do people come up with questions like this? Honestly.

20. Your weakness? I'm one of those "nice guys", but I'm working on being a nice asshole as per the general consensus reached on what men ought to be in the eyes of women following the comments on this post by me and this one by TheWhacksteR.

21. What pisses you off? People with superiority complexes. (I had to steal Makuluwo's answer to this one. Sorry, Spidey).

22. Your Hell? Hell.

23. Food? Anything edible.

24. The ideal lifestyle? Living it up on the monthly interest of your 10 million dollar bank account without having to work. Yes, I'm lazy. Sue me.

25. If you could have one wish? The power to keep on wishing. Duh?

Hello, Mr. President

So our favourite African American (after Michael Jackson) is having lunch with 200 guests in Washington DC at this precise moment. Among those guests are his erstwhile enemies, harshest critics and those looking to use him to get what they want - and of course those who genuinely and enthusiastically supported his bid for the Presidency.

In his 18 minute speech that, in my humble opinion, slightly lacked (VERY slightly, microscopically so) the sheer awesomeness of his post-election acceptance speech on November 4 that moved Jessy Jackson and millions of others to tears, he had two important things to say to the enemies of his country - 1) Don't fuck with us, 2) If you really want to fuck with us, let's discuss the terms first.

Therein lies the difference between Obama and practically every single US President of late, most significant of them being George Walker Bush. Obama will have his gun loaded and ready, but he will not pull the trigger unless he really has to. He'd much rather try talking to them.

While the conservative media led by Faux News tried to paint him as a sympathiser and even worse, an appeaser, of global terror in the run up to the elections (he was actually called a "terrorist" by overenthusiastic McCain supporters at at least one Republican rally, largely ignored (if not egged on) by that nightmare of a VP candidate, Palin). Obama appears to have silenced those critics now and today, in true American fashion, he told their "enemies" in no uncertain terms that they need to be watching their asses. "We will defeat you," he said quite convincingly. If I were an Al-Qaida dude, I'd start looking for a place to hide right about.. NOW.

BUT, he also said that he's willing to work together with the Muslim world and work towards building trust and understanding based on mutual interests (read oil).

Well, something's better than nothing, right? There's enough shit going on in the world right now. Even at the risk of letting the ice caps melt, the West and the Middle East need to CHILL, and if that means more oil politics, then so be it. Just enough with the fuckin' violence already.

And then there's Gaza, as I said in one of my previous posts, this is one issue on which Obama's stance has been... ambiguous, at best. But according to CNN he has expressed a personal interest in getting involved. Dunno how factual this is, though. If it is then, great.

But then what can he do? He's just one powerful man against a much more powerful Jewish lobby. His Chief of Staff is Rahm Emmanuel - enough said.

Anyway, let's wish the man all the best. At least he'll do a better job than his predecessor.

Oh and by the way am I the only one who felt kinda bad for Bush Jr today? I mean I know he's responsible for half the shit that's been going down and all, but I dunno... I couldn't help but feel sorry for the guy as he sat there, his expressionless face staring into nothingness as he listened to that left wing black guy make some veiled references to some of his supposed blunders. "How dare he?"

I dunno. I thought Obama should've cut him some slack there. It was Bush's last day in office after all.

Oh well. Just my two cents.

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Image courtesy Wikipedia.