Persistance of youth -- the boy who never grew up

I've been doing a lot of thinking about the 1980s recently. I was never far away, at least culturally (more than half the songs in my iTunes have a 1980s date). But recent events, especially my upcoming 20-year high school reunion (arrgh!), have given the decade renewed prominence.

Perhaps the death of Michael Jackson will help crystallize my feelings. Was I ever a huge fan? No. But "Thriller"was the first album I ever chose to illicitly copy (a cassette held up the the speakers while my cousin Marco's LP played). Jackson was a cultural phenomenon while I was in sixth grade (Lincoln Elementary) and junior high (Rosemont Middle School) and I enjoyed his music and showmanship for what it was worth.

Not that I thought the music was great (some of it began to grate on me rather early), but I thought Michael was amazing -- partly simply because he was popular. As soon as I got into Rosemont, however, the dissolution of my beliefs began. Michael Jackson was one of the first times (but certainly not one of the last) that I saw "tall poppy syndrome" in action.

"He's gay" (then as now one of the most misused epitaphs). "He's weird." "Michael Jackson is sooo lame." The put-downs came from right and left. And although I never did anything to show my fandom and was never victimized because of it, my enjoyment of Michael's music faded prematurely -- simply because of peer pressure. And to be honest, these put downs of Michael came before any of his well-document later behavior.

Whatever his later problems (and I am in no way saying look the other way when it comes to allegations about child molestation), I will choose to remember Michael Jackson as an extremely talented performer, an outstanding dancer and spectacular songwriter.

None of the numerous 1980s songs on my iTunes are by Michael Jackson. But thanks to the radio (BBC Radio 1 played an hour-long block of MJ songs today) I am flashing back to a more innocent time where I could make my own choices without worrying what others thought. RIP Michael. You were part of my youth and you leave with my respect.

Who says there's nothing good on Saturday night television?

A satisfying special. Too bad I had to resort to illegal means to watch it.

Saturday nights have long been a dead zone for anything worthwhile on TV. I don't know how many episodes of "Cops" I've watched simply because it was the only thing on. (I suppose I could go out and DO something, but hey, I'm getting old -- recently got a notice that my 20-Year high school reunion is coming.)

Anyhow, imagine my surprise when the two most entertaining moments of my week -- aside from Wednesday's concert -- came via Saturday night TV, albeit British Saturday night TV.

First, on Sunday, Claire and I watched the Doctor Who Easter Special "Planet of the Dead," which had aired the previous night on the BBC. Yes, I downloaded it illegally ("Free the Pirate Bay Four!"). Do I advocate illegal downloading? No. But if either BBC America or the Sci-Fi Channel had gotten off their duffs and shown it, I would go the legal route (I'm still waiting for the 2008 Christmas special, by the way). Heck, if the BBC had put in on Hulu or streamed it internationally over their website, with or without advertising, I'd have happily watched it that way. But I watched it the only way I could.

And I'm glad I did. It was a straightforward adventure story with some moderate tension. Michelle Ryan, who starred in the ill-received "Bionic Woman" remake in 2007, did a fine job as a one-off companion to the Doctor. She gave off an appropriate "sweet but bad news" vibe and her co-star got a "I'm really going to miss David Tennant" reaction from Claire, who's probably seen fewer than 10 episodes of the series.

I think "Planet of the Dead" resonated with me because it didn't get too ambitious. While there was a world-threatening danger, it wasn't over the top. There was a lot more humor (humour?) than we've seen in Who the last few outings and the plot was simple fun without being dumb.

Claire thinks "Doctor Who" is still a little too scary for Ian, and he did exhibit a little fear when the stingray-like aliens were shown in a clip, so he didn't watch the episode. Ian does occasionally watch a little "Sarah Jane Adventures" with me, so I have no doubt he'll be hiding behind the sofa with me some day soon.

Update (April 19, 2009, 9:59 a.m.): I found a YouTube link of a couple Scottish sock puppets reviewing the episode. The puppets tore the episode apart, but their review is hilarious. Warning, contains spoilers.

Left: Anyone who can do this to Simon Cowell deserves a shout out.

What show beat "Planet of the Dead" in the ratings? "Britain's Got Talent," which aired opposite "Planet of the Dead" on ITV. I generally hate "talent" shows and am happy to say I haven't seen a lick of "American Idol" this season. But sometime on Monday I was sent a link to the Susan Boyle segment.

If you haven't seen it yet, go to YouTube and report back. Bring tissues. The main video on YouTube has 26 million hits as of this afternoon (all that in one week!). I got in early, when it was at about five million.

I admit to have gotten a bit teary the first couple times I saw it and I've rewatched it a few times since. In fact, the only segment I've watched more on the Net recently was the latest Star Trek trailer (I can't wait until May 8!).

Boyle's performance was a huge "f**k you" to all those who judged her on appearance alone and a good affirmation that the public will still appreciate talent even if it isn't in a tiny, young and cute package. Thank the Gods!

Where courtesy cost you your life

The BBC last night reported the result of a study where the conclusion was, "More British passengers died on the Titanic because they queued politely for lifeboats."

Specifically, the study noted that women with children were 70 percent more likely than men to survive the sinking with the implication that the Brits were more altruistic than might be expected. In an early example of the "ugly American" stereotype, the article quotes university researcher David Savage as saying, "The American culture was set up to be a more individualist culture and the British culture was more about the gentlemanly behaviour."

I'm not surprised an Australian saw it that way. When I was in Adelaide in November, I saw what I can only say were the most well-organized lines for public transit that I had ever seen. People lined up very straight on the sidewalk lines for their buses -- without there being a single sign or conductor encouraging them to do so. I guess some of that Edwardian-era gentlemanliness rubbed off on the colony.

You can bet that if I were in a similar situation, such as being on the Titanic or last week's plane crash into the Hudson, I would definitely make sure every last woman and child got out -- possibly to the point of beating down any adult male who put themselves ahead. After the kids and females are safe, however, I'm pushing, clawing and scratching my way to the lifeboat and woe be unto those who get in the way.

Hey, at least I'm honest about it. It's called "survival of the fittest." (Wanna take bets this post will haunt me politically in the years to come?)

A brief musical interlude

It was probably the early 1990s when I was last current with my musical tastes, but working long, boring hours (check the time of this post),having a good Internet connection at work and flipping on the iPod when exercising has exposed me to a lot more modern music than I otherwise would've been.

BBC Radio 1, as stated in an earlier post, has gotten the bulk of my listening. Nova 96.9 (from Sydney) has gotten a lot of play as well, thanks to my upcoming Australia trip. Considering that I've generally had "foreign" radio exposure lately, my favorites have been a bit eclectic.

Having caught "That's Not My Name" on the Beeb in April, I soon became a fan of The Ting Tings (whom I might previously avoided simply because of their name) and was insipired to buy my first album from a "new" artist in probably about 15 years. "Great DJ" is a highlight of the album, "We Started Nothing."

Katy Perry's "I Kissed a Girl" was an over-played, over-rated gimmick. But her follow-up single "Hot N Cold" is an inspired piece of power pop that might have been recorded by the likes of Pat Benatar 25 years ago. It's catchier than that "Kiss" song and has some clever lyrics.

A couple white kids from Brooklyn have blended an intriguing combo of soul, 1970s psychedelia and modern club music in the form of MGMT. Their song "Kids" (which only has an UNofficial video on YouTube) has a spine-tingling synthesizer hook that sticks with you.

I also grew to like a certain Miley Cyrus song, as I stated in the above-mentioned previous post. I still make no apologies.

Quick, send more coffee to London's Bush House!

Driving home from last night's football game, I had the BBC World Service on in the car, thanks to a simulcast on a local NPR station.

I think we need to up caffeine shipments to Britain, as the announcer stated, "It's 0420 GMT, and repeating this hour's top story, US presidential rivals John McCain and Barack* M'Gomba have faced off in their first televised debate."

Graveyard shifts are apparently tough no matter where in the world you are ...

* She pronounced if like an army "barrack."

The Beeb (jail)baited me into it!

I don't listen to the radio much anymore, maybe a little news, sports or comedy in the car when I don't take the bus/train, but I do use the wonders of the Internet to listen to BBC Radio 1 at work now and then.

Thanks to the BBC, I've discovered a lot of artists I would never hear in California (i.e., Alphabeat, Gabriella Cilmi, MGMT) or discovered them months before they made news in the States (The Ting Tings, Duffy, Estelle). So when they recently began playing a new, fun pop song with an infectious beat and fun lyrics that you can't get out of your head, I thought I'd made a new discovery.

But when it turned out to be from an artist whom -- as a 36-year-old man who grew up on the sad stylings of Depeche Mode, Erasure and the Cure -- I'm not all supposed to like, one who by the stylings of society I'm even encouraged to ridicule, I paused. But then I threw caution to the wind and bought the song -- which is now in circulation on the iPod. More specifically, since I couldn't quite get myself to spend money on this tune, I went to Amazon and traded Pepsi Points for it.

Darn the torpedoes, it's just a good, fun, innocent pop song and I'm not ashamed to own it.

And that's how I became a fan of Miley Cyrus' "See You Again."

(Just be sure to get the updated 2008 version (aka the "Rock Mafia Mix"), which is a lot better than the original.)