Farrah and Michael
Was sitting at my desk this afternoon, listening to yet another thunderstorm banging on the metal roof of our shop.
Intercom call from a Coworker informed me that Farrah had died. I guess just about anyone who cared, and most of the rest who didn't, knew that the end was coming. You knew her death had to be pending because Barbara Walters had the special all locked and loaded.
My Coworker, a 39 year old single male, talked about "the poster". Farrah's iconic image hung on the walls of every guy I knew in the 70's.
As a teenage girl, she was our nemesis. The girl you couldn't possibly measure up to. The smile, the hair, the girl next door giggle.
Though she seemed all fluff and hairspray, some of her later work impressed me. The Burning Bed was a shocking role, and she was amazing. One of those rare TV movies that stood out was Small Sacrifices which I always check out when I see it on the cable guide. I'm sure both will pop up in upcoming weeks.
Her death seemed tragic, as cancer deaths always are.........but somehow spoke to something more. In 2009 I turn 50, and it seems like the halfway point. That's only true if I live to 100, but Farrah seems somehow part of my all important teenage landscape. The 70's was the decade of my adolescence and those impressions are burned on your brain.
Only a hour or so later, the same coworker told me as he passed my office, that there was an Internet rumor that Michael Jackson was dead.
Whoa.
As I heard a local reporter quote someone............"These people were on our lunchboxes." Ya, exactly.
I grew up with Michael. With him so close in age to me, it literally felt as though he was a classmate of mine.
We sat on the hardwood floors with mouth agape when he clearly overshadowed his brothers on every TV show we ever saw him on.
He was musical brilliance. And yes, "I'll Be There" gives me a lump in the throat nearly every time I hear it.
Shocking, shocking shocking.
A flawed.... deeply disturbed man who was a genius in his career......... and a train wreck in every other facet of his life.
Though opinions vary, few will dispute his talent, his impact on the music industry and the pop culture.
I was surprised at my own sadness.
Fame is a ruthless partner, who woos then destroys.
Intercom call from a Coworker informed me that Farrah had died. I guess just about anyone who cared, and most of the rest who didn't, knew that the end was coming. You knew her death had to be pending because Barbara Walters had the special all locked and loaded.
My Coworker, a 39 year old single male, talked about "the poster". Farrah's iconic image hung on the walls of every guy I knew in the 70's.
As a teenage girl, she was our nemesis. The girl you couldn't possibly measure up to. The smile, the hair, the girl next door giggle.
Though she seemed all fluff and hairspray, some of her later work impressed me. The Burning Bed was a shocking role, and she was amazing. One of those rare TV movies that stood out was Small Sacrifices which I always check out when I see it on the cable guide. I'm sure both will pop up in upcoming weeks.
Her death seemed tragic, as cancer deaths always are.........but somehow spoke to something more. In 2009 I turn 50, and it seems like the halfway point. That's only true if I live to 100, but Farrah seems somehow part of my all important teenage landscape. The 70's was the decade of my adolescence and those impressions are burned on your brain.
Only a hour or so later, the same coworker told me as he passed my office, that there was an Internet rumor that Michael Jackson was dead.
Whoa.
As I heard a local reporter quote someone............"These people were on our lunchboxes." Ya, exactly.
I grew up with Michael. With him so close in age to me, it literally felt as though he was a classmate of mine.
We sat on the hardwood floors with mouth agape when he clearly overshadowed his brothers on every TV show we ever saw him on.
He was musical brilliance. And yes, "I'll Be There" gives me a lump in the throat nearly every time I hear it.
Shocking, shocking shocking.
A flawed.... deeply disturbed man who was a genius in his career......... and a train wreck in every other facet of his life.
Though opinions vary, few will dispute his talent, his impact on the music industry and the pop culture.
I was surprised at my own sadness.
Fame is a ruthless partner, who woos then destroys.
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