So I was watering my recently purchased Obama Chia Pet yesterday, and thinking of all the hype surrounding the release of Michael Jackson's "This Is It!" video, when I had a stray thought:
What would Michael have looked like if he had never underwent any cosmetic surgery, skin whitening, etc? Remember all the speculation as to Why he did it? There was the 'He's ashamed of being black, he wants to look white' camp. And the 'He just wants to look like Diana Ross' school of thought. But no one ever thought to ask what he'd look like with None of it. I guess back then it was a moot question. But given today's leaps of technology it doesn't have to be, or be just speculation. We now possess the means to know the answer to this important issue.
You know that software developed for law enforcement, to age a person, show what they might look like in a couple of decades or so? The program they use on the last pictures of children who've been missing forever, to reveal what they might resemble today? Well, isn't that kinda what happened to MJ? He was certainly fond of telling us over and over how his childhood had been taken from him.
So, you take one of the photos of the Jackson from when he was nine or ten, and run it through the aging software. You might be surprised at the results!
See, kid, iffen you'd just kept singing the likes of "ABC," "Rockin' Robin," and "I'll Be There," the whole turning white thing just mighta happened all on its own!
jay amicarella
April 06, 2010
Michael Jackson Meets Modern Science
September 15, 2009
We're Short One Wheezer Today posted by Jay Amicarella
The world is a Wheezer short today for the first time. Neil, maybe the most beloved of all the Wheezers, and definitely the funniest, is gone, and the surviving members of The Society are grieving, collectively and individually. I remember a time when I thought anyone in their fifties was ancient. Now, to lose a friend in this age bracket is to lose a friend way too early. It is a burnout rather than a fade away. I'm not ready for a world without Neil Sterett in it, and to say we are diminished is an understatement. He was truly the Wheeze in the Wheezer Society.
My emotions have been crazily rollercoasting since I got the news, and I've been alternating crying over our loss, and wheezing over different memories of Neil that have been popping, unbidden, into my head. I remember meeting Neil for the first time my Junior year of high school. Scott Leverenz brought us together by bringing Neil and his current girlfriend to a party at my house in Hillsboro, Oregon. That first meeting was inauspicious, as Neil and his girlfriend spent most of the party locked in one of our bathrooms, making out in the tub. I didn't find out how funny he was until later, at school, when he began holding court at our lunch table, where he never failed to have us wheezing and choking all through the lunch period. It was here that I heard for the first time his standard line "I've got another one for ya," whereupon he would launch into another comic tirade that would have us all falling out of our chairs laughing.
His humor was generous and involving. In our twenties, he would treat guests at my parties to elevator rides: Neil would gather four or five at a time, stuff them into my front closet, shut the door, and for the next five to ten minutes regale them as a twisted elevator operator at a bizarre, psycho-delic department store.
Dammit, Neil! How the hell are we going to have parties or Wheezer get-togethers without you? You were our drug of choice...it was like 'the real party' couldn't begin until you got there. "Where's Sterett?" was the most often spoken line by all of us the night of a meeting of the Wheezers. And it was like the party until you got there was just small talk, a preamble to the real festivities. And, like a good narcotic, you never once disappointed. You knew your role was Jester to the King(s), and you Never had an off-night. Ah, God, I'll miss you...
He was loyal to friends and family. He was the first guy I knew who actually had a good relationship with an older brother, in his case, Phil, another one of the funniest people I've ever met. Phil, old friend, Neil always looked up to and admired you, not just for your wit and wisdom, but because you are one of the planet's few genuinely kind people. God Bless You during this time of loss...
We all knew Neil battled his own personal demons when he wasn't making us wheeze,but, except for a few feeble efforts when we were able to help him ward them off, we seemed powerless to really effect a cure. He would be broken, and we would be putting on band-aids. We even joked, including Neil himself, about how he would be the first of us to go, but, oh Neil, not like this, like this...
April 24, 2009
Oodles of Noodles
World Laughter Pledge: Laughing AT Them Or WITH Them?
At British gent, Robin Graham, has launched a website announcing the "World Laughter Pledge" Their website reads:
For 2009, we invite people to laugh at 9 AM local time wherever they are, every Saturday, and we will send a laughter wave around the world! Anyone can join in, on their own or with other people. Chuckle for seconds or minutes! We are making a list of at least one person in each country who pledges to join in every Saturday
Graham's hope, is that the laughter wave will ripple around the world bringing happiness and peace.
While I love a good wheeze as many time each day as possible, on this one, I think I'm laughing AT them, not WITH them.