R.I.P. The King of Pop

I was in elementary school when Michael Jackson became the biggest thing on Earth. Everyone in my grade sans three kids were fans of him -- and I was one of those three! See, as a KISS fan, I loved hard rock and completely rejected the pop stylings of Michael Jackson. Yet, when I was at home, his MTV videos from the Thriller album slowly wore down my defenses and eventually I couldn't help but like the videos and the songs.

While the utter coolness of the "Thriller" video prompted me to turn in my membership to the Michael Jackson Haters Club, it was the awesomeness of Captain EO at EPCOT Center in Disney World that really won me over.

I had already been pondering whether I would go see Michael live if he ever toured the states again and I was definitely leaning towards YES. Too bad I will never get that chance.

I certainly felt some sadness today as the grim news came in. It's a shame that he didn't have a little more time to repair his image with the concerts he had planned. No matter what strangeness went on in his personal life, the pop legend will be missed.