$ign$ Of The Time$

Okay, I've resisted writing a Michael Jackson post until after he was buried.  And in fairness, this isn't really about him.  But, here are some of my thoughts.

---

T-SHIRTS – Michael Jackson died late on Thursday afternoon, June 25th.  On Sunday afternoon, June 28th, about 72 hours later, while we were at the Taste of Chicago, Cora and I saw people wearing different styles of Michael Jackson Tribute T-Shirts.

These weren't crappy, home made iron on things that people made on their ink jet printers.  These were quality t-shirts with well done graphics and looked to be on reasonable quality cotton.

Think about that.  Less than 72 hour for someone to design, silk screen, and distribute the shirts.  Not sure if I should be impressed or repulsed.  And I wonder if it's like obituaries, where they have them ready to go, and all you need to do is add a date or something, and start the production run.

I bet in the last week and a half, the t-shirt guys have made more money off of Michael than his record label has in years up to that point.  And I'm not sure I feel good about that, either.

---

MEDIA – I'm almost starting to wonder if the "leadership" in Iran had Michael assassinated, in order to swing the media spot light off of them.  If they did, it worked.  I'm pretty sure I know how I feel about the media coverage of this whole affair.  I've been desperately trying to avoid this sideshow, but it's not easy.

So, I've distracted myself with the whole Steve McNair thing, instead.  As a Steeler's fan, I often rooted against the Oiler/Titan/Raven QB, but with respect.  This is a real shame.

---

PRODUCTIVITY – During the memorial service, our internet connection at work was super slow with people streaming the video feeds.  Really?  You can't watch at home?  It took me forever to try to navigate around my vendor's sight looking up the status on an issue.  I finally gave up and did something else.

Our crack networking team shrugged and went back to talking about the Tour de France.  Thanks guys.

---

VICTIM STATUS – Michael Jackson was not a victim of his celebrity.  Michael Jackson was a victim of Michael Jackson.  He was an adult who chose to live his life not grounded in the real world that you and I know.  He had lots and lots of enablers, I'll give you that.  But he was an adult who made choices, and he should be used as a cautionary tale in the celebrity world:  This could happen to you.  Sadly, I fear too many wouldn't think it was such a bad deal.