Remembering Michael Jackson

Posted by Spencer on Jun 25, 2009 in Music, Op-ed | 8 comments

Michael Jackson was a person of a specific time and place. From little Michael to Billy Jean billie-jean-jackson_lMichael – there is probably no one else that I associate with the late 70′s to the mid 80′s than Michael. Right now MTV is running Michael Jackson videos all night long as if to say “thank you, because without you, we don’t exist.” If he didn’t invent MTV, he certainly made it viable.

I grew up listening to the music of the Jackson 5 and then the music of Michael Jackson. I remember hearing “Ben” on the radio when I was a child. Off the Wall came out when I was in middle school, and nothing seemed bigger than that – until Thriller was released. When I hear people say they’re not fans – I don’t think they realize that in that day and age, there wasn’t a choice. I’m sure even the punks looked at him perform the moonwalk and wondered how. Some things you don’t love or hate – they simply are a part of the fabric. This was Michael Jackson.

I know that in recent years Michael grew more eccentric and the allegations of child molestation forever took the gloss off of his image, but that doesn’t take away from what he did as an entertainer. His contributions are just too great for that.

I’m still shocked at today’s news, but I’m not surprised it happened – if that makes sense. Michael old-michael-jacksonwas my generation’s Elvis, and as such we probably should have expected that we would leave too early. The decent into the Michael of the past few years only serves as to provide a stark comparison to what he once was. And just like Elvis, they will be playing his music for generations.

Thank you Michael for providing a soundtrack for my childhood.

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Michael Jackson dead at 50

Posted by Spencer on Jun 25, 2009 in Music, Op-ed, entertainment | 0 comments

I’ll write more on this later, but this along with Farah Fawcett’s death are a blow to anyone who grew up in the 70′s and 80′s. Very sad news.

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70′s era Phillies take another hit: Danny Ozark RIP

Posted by Spencer on May 7, 2009 in Philadelphia | 0 comments

Danny OzarkThis has been a tough year for Phillies fans that grew up in the 70′s as I did.  First Harry Kalas and now Danny Ozark.  Ozark was not as beloved as Kalas – he managed the Phils for 7 years and never made the World Series, but without him, the Phillies don’t win the series in 1980. Those teams he had in the 70′s were fun to watch – Cash, Bowa, Maddox, Schmidt, Luzinski, Carlton, Johnstone, McGraw, among others.

No he didn’t win the series, but he set the stage and was part of the most successful stretch in history for the Phillies – from 1976-1983.

Ozark is survived by his wife, Ginny, two children and three grandchildren.

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Thank you Harry

Posted by Spencer on Apr 18, 2009 in Philadelphia | 0 comments

[audio:high hopes.mp3]

harry-kalas

Baseball won’t be the same.

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R.I.P.: My Thirties

Posted by Spencer on Sep 21, 2008 in About Spencer | 7 comments

Yesterday was my 40th birthday and unlike a lot of people, it doesn’t bother.  It does however present an opportunity to look back on the last ten years.

  • Met the girl of my dreams and got married
  • Visited Ireland, leaving North America for the first time (once more than Sarah Palin)
  • Visited 20 states
  • Concerts of note: Radiohead in NYC one month before 9/11, U2 in NYC one month after 9/11, the Pixies reunion tour, Throwing Muses in San Francisco, Prince 9 rows from the stage, Elvis Costello the night I proposed
  • Never more disappointed in our government than in the days after Katrina
  • Never sadder than in the days after 9/11
  • Had a niece and a nephew born
  • Saw the first viable minority Presidential candidates
  • Had dinner with Michael Penn
  • Met Aimee Mann a couple times – the second time, she approached me and said “Hey, I know you”
  • Favorite album: Elliot Smith’s Figure 8
  • Favorite movie: Ocean’s 11
  • Favorite TV show: Buffy the Vampire Slayer
  • Saw no championships from my favorite teams
  • Favorite drink at 30: Canadian Club and ginger ale with lime
  • Favorite drink at 40: Gin (Tangaray 10) and tonic
  • Went from Friendster, to Myspace, to Facebook.  What’s next?
  • Went on my first real one week vacation
  • Lived in two apartments
  • Bought my first home
  • Favorite moment: on the park bench after our wedding ceromony
  • Lived in Conshohocken, PA for all 10 years
  • Opened the summer in Outer Banks for 5 years
  • Saw my nephew graduate college
  • Saw my friends have 13 children
  • Spent 10 years doing the same job for 4 different companies – the longest tenure was 3 years and 9 months
  • Didn’t vote for a winning President (so I was right)
  • Had my optimism in government restored by Barack Obama
  • Owned or leased 4 cars
  • Started 2 blogs
  • Had my heart broken for the first and second (and last) times
  • Count ‘em: 4 iPods and 4 Macs
  • My debt went up, then down, back up again, now back down
  • My weight did the exact opposite
  • Adopted two cats

Seems like a pretty eventful, life changing decade of my life – and I’m looking forward to the next 10 years.

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