M.J. and Me

1983
I was four. I remember hiding under a crocheted blanket in fear, as my family watched the Thriller video for the first time in the den of my Aunt Shahin's house in Pennsylvania. Something about his eyes at the end of the video and Vincent Price's voice gave me nightmares. Twenty-six years later, it's still the best video ever made.

1988
Michael releases his "Smooth Criminal" video, which I think is his most under-rated. The choreography is ridiculous. Do you know how many times I've nearly busted my head trying to do that anti-gravity lean? Little did I know, Michael had patented the dohicky that allowed him to do that. (U.S. Patent No. 5,255,452)

1990
I was a tween and what did tweens in Wilmington, DE do? They went to the mall. Brian Wortham's dad gave me and him each five dollars to spend on whatever we wanted. Being boys, we ran to the arcade, where we discovered Michael Jackson's Moonwalker which featured electronic versions of "Beat it" and "Smooth Criminal." It was the greatest game ever and we blew our whole night and all our money on it. Using Michael's sweet dance movies we beat the bad guys and rescued monkeys. One day I'll buy that arcade game for my basement.

1992
One of the first times my father let me stay up late on a school night was to watch the made-for-TV movie, The Jacksons: An American Dream. Man, that Joe Jackson was a S.O.B. I don't know how accurate that one was, but I have since blamed the wacko jacko stuff on Joe because of it.

1993
I was a Buffalo Bills fan and I believed that third time in the Superbowl would be the charm. Boy was I wrong. The @#$%& Cowboys were up 28-10 at the half. The only consolation of that disappointing game was Michael's halftime performance. How did he move around the stadium so fast like that? Man, how did he pop out of the floor? And he just stood there, like a statue. For what felt like hours. But when he got going, he got going. It was rad. It was the first time in the history of Superbowl that the halftime show had greater viewership (125 million americans) than the game.

2001
What better way to end my Senior year and my last Y Chromes show than with a little Michael? In our last number, we busted out a fan favorite "No Diggity" featuring the sweet pipes of Broadway's finest, Shaun Taylor-Corbett. The highlight of this one though, without a doubt, was the "Billy Jean" interlude sung by who else but Matt "my everything is bigger than yours" Hearn. They'll be talking about this one still, when we croak. Billy Jean is still my favorite song.

2005
I was in the Raleigh airport grabbing a connection flight back to Florida after attending a Forestry conference, when I noticed a large crowd gathered staring up at a TV. They were about to announce the verdict of the "People vs. Jackson" trial, so I joined up. I had mixed feelings about the trial. I couldn't decide if it was legit or just some sad people trying to make a dirty buck. I still can't decide, but what I do remember is the racism from the people in the airport I saw when Jackson was acquitted. Several horrible things were said. So much for "Black or White" making a difference.

2009
"Baby, I got some bad news." Bethany says to me on the phone just when I had returned from a long hot day in the field. What a stunner. I have always been fan, despite his "lack of childhood" induced lifestyle. With Michael, I always tried to stay focused on the immensity of his talent and I hope others will too.

Got any Michael memories? Let us know.