Michael & Me

Let me clarify something before I dive into the meat of this post.

I killed Michael Jackson.

Yes, you heard me.

I'll say it again.

I killed Michael Jackson.

Well, not literally, of course.

But, I was talking to a friend on her drive home from work yesterday, and she commented on the death of Farrah Fawcett.

I off-handedly said something along the lines of, "Well, that wasn't too shocking, since Farrah launched an entire media campaign surrounding her illness. But, what would be surprising is someone relatively young and unexpected passing away."

Before the conversation was over, Twitter was abuzz with the news that the King of Pop had suffered a cardiac arrest and "wasn't doing well."

So, to the Jackson family ... I'm sorry. I promised to use my superpowers for good and not evil, and apparently failed.

Seriously, the only online comment I made about Michael was this: "Yes, I owned Thriller. Yes, it was on vinyl. Yes, I'm old."

Here's the weird thing, I don't really consider myself much of a Michael Jackson fan.

I acknowledge his creative genius, and his place of inspiration for other artists, but I just wasn't a huge fan.

So, it kind of surprised me when I realized that Thriller was not just one of the few, actual, you-know, RECORDS, I owned ... it may have been the first one I EVER bought.

See, that's where those of you too young to remember America in 1982, probably don't truly understand how 0ff-the-charts (and on), unbelievably, impossibly huge this guy was.

He was so gigantic, that an 11-year-old white kid from a cow town in Ohio bought Thriller as his first foray into music.

Why? Well, first of all, at 11, you're always trying to be cool.

And you couldn't be cool if you didn't have Thriller. That's how big of a record it was, literally everyone had it.

Secondly, why a record? Well, believe it or not, boom boxes were just starting to come into vogue, and I would have one soon enough, but not before buying an actual album or 2 (the other was Def Leppard's "Pyromania".

And the third reason consisted of 3 little letters ... MTV. Yes, it was a network that, back then, actually played music videos.

Michael Jackson and MTV grew up in the early-80's together, and you could argue that Michael was the artist who pushed the network into super stardom.

The Thriller video wasn't some cheap, throwaway promotional ad shot in front of a white wall, like so many others.

Michael sunk big time money into it. Making a mini-movie, and hiring a big name director to shoot it. It was 14 minutes long, and MTV ran it twice an hour to meet demand.

(Oddly enough, I didn't realize until Jackson passed away yesterday that MTV initially refused to play his videos, and he really opened the door for African-Americans on the network.)

And the last reason for owning Thriller ... well, it was good. I mean, really, really, really good.

Jackson could have likely released almost every song on the record, and had a hit. As it was, he did release 7 of the 9 tracks.

It was laced with guest stars, from legendary producer Quincy Jones, to a duet with Paul McCartney, to the signature guitar lick of Beat It, courtesy one Eddie Van Halen.

Oddly enough, I never bought another Michael Jackson record (or tape, or CD, or digital download for that matter.)

Why? I don't really know.

Thriller was probably too perfect ... a combination of time, and place, and age, and tastes.

Jackson's death yesterday was certainly sad, but it probably didn't hit me as hard as the passing of founding E Street Band member Danny Federici last year.

For me, Springsteen's music was much more of a soundtrack to my life than Jackson's.

But, Jackson's influence is undeniable. His reach was long, despite his erratic behavior over the last 15 years or so.

And somewhere, deep down, that 11-year-old kid from Ohio, will miss him.

Diminishing Returns?

A funny thing happened on the way to the ballot box yesterday.

The local media, with one exception, stopped using social media to deliver me the news.

As a former media member, I'm watching with great interest from outside the industry, as stations adapt to using Facebook, Twitter, and other sources to deliver their content. In fact, I've written about this before.

Last night was particularly interesting to me, as there was a special election you might have heard about ... as Akron Mayor Don Plusquellic battled to avoid recall.

This issue has been dominating the discussion in Summit County ... with mayors from Hudson to Green chiming in on the effort.

So, needless to say, I watched with great interest as the returns came in.

Now, I'm smart enough to know where to get the results myself, but I thought I would keep an eye on the social media sites to see how the local media would deliver me the numbers.

To my surprise, outside of the fine folks over at Akron News Now (who also delivered a live video feed from their newsroom, which unfortunately, I missed), they didn't.

So, I started delivering the results myself ... on both Facebook and Twitter, sometimes even getting the numbers up faster than the folks at ANN (but not by much.)

Interestingly, one television station (who shall remain nameless), had an assignment editor "tweeting" the results under her Twitter account, but only after she received a call from the reporter in the field.

In other words, by the time they were "tweeted" they were already behind.

Here's what confuses me. Why not just have the reporter tweet them himself?

The old ways of delivering results are dead, folks.

The social media world, and its consumers, want their news hand-delivered, and they want it fresh.

It absolutely floors me that television stations and newspapers that tweet on a regular basis didn't bother to offer the results through social media.

So, when it came to getting the results yesterday the quickest, Akron area consumers basically had three options.

1. The Board of Elections website.

2. Akron News Now.

3. Me -- a guy sitting in his office delivering the numbers while listening to a Tribe game.

The fact that there are at least 7 or 8 other news organizations that I, personally, defeated last night should be of GREAT concern to them.

Because, if private citizens like me can take journalism into their own hands, what use will we have for those who actually get paid to deliver the news?

PS: To every news outlet who wants me to be their "Facebook Friend of the Day" ... stop pandering. Don't lip service social media ... either go all in, as ANN did, or face the consequences.

On The Recall

My post-a-day promise rolls right along ... with politics!

It's not something I write about very often, but this is an issue that I feel pretty strongly about ... so here goes.

I believe the effort to recall Akron Mayor Don Plusquellic is wrong, and should be soundly rejected by voters tomorrow.

Before I go further, a little bit of disclosure. First, I don't live in Akron, so I will not be casting a ballot. Secondly, I've met the Mayor on a few occasions, but I wouldn't consider myself a friend or a crony. Third, I've had a number of interactions with the Mayor's Office ... some good, some bad, some ugly.

Most of my reasons for opposing this effort to recall Plusquellic have already been written by others, but I'm going to state them in my words.

Mainly, I'm against the idea because the arguments and accusations leveled against the Mayor are issues that should be contested and debated during a primary/general election cycle, not a recall.

To me, recalls should be used like those oxygen masks on airplanes ... only when the worst is about to happen.

In the case of politics, that should be when the incumbent is charged criminally ... or responsible for the most heinous acts of disregard for his office.

Now, those opposing Plusquellic are acting within the boundaries of the city charter. So, I can't blame them for them for taking action. The charter makes it too simple to recall an elected official, and no matter the outcome of tomorrow's vote, you can bet it will be changed.

But, just because the recall is legal ... it doesn't mean it's right.

Look, I'll be the first one to say that over the past several years, Plusquellic's manner has grown more brusque and bully-like. Opponents often point to the fact that the Mayor "tells it like it is", even if it offends many.

But, honestly, in this day and age where every politician, athlete, news anchor, and head of industry sanitizes their words to save themselves from the PC police ... isn't it somewhat refreshing to have a leader who says what's on his mind?

I mean, the President just took heat for killing a fly, for God's sake.

I want a leader like Plusquellic. I want a leader who says what he thinks, even if it ruffles a few feathers.

He's earned the right to say some of those things by his performance. Sure, city debt is high. Sure, Akron isn't immune to things like the foreclosure crisis.

But, you'll notice when those lists of "declining cities" are issued ... Cleveland and Canton are always included, but Akron is mysteriously missing.

Under Plusquellic's leadership, Akron has new restaurants, a beautiful ballpark in which to watch baseball, a transformed university campus, new places to live, work and learn and a renewed commitment to the arts.

Have there been missteps? Sure. The Inventor's Hall Of Fame was and is a boondoggle. The aforementioned sewers plan was rushed to the ballot. Relations with safety forces could be better.

However, there have not been enough missteps to remove Plusquellic from office mid-term. If you don't like what he's done ... or what he's said ... run against him in either the primary or the general election.

If you beat Plusquellic then, well, the change you want will have occurred in the way it was intended.

Finally, you may ask why I care? I don't live in Akron. I don't work there. What does it matter to me?

My answer ... I believe Don Plusquellic is not just good for Akron ... he's good for the region. Like it or not, he has clout ... locally, statewide, and even nationally. And folks in the burbs may not like this, but what's good for Akron is good for it's neighbors.

I'd wager the jobs saved by retaining Goodyear and Firestone don't belong to folks who live exclusively within the city limits.

When Akron benefits, we all benefit.

And Don Plusquellic is a good leader, who's fighting for his political life, because of a bad idea.

And while I don't expect this post to sway a single person, I urge everyone who supports the Mayor to not take their votes for granted tomorrow ... if you want Plusquellic to stay in office, get out and vote.

PS: I have one other message, to those Akron City Council members who are considering a run for Mayor should Plusquellic be removed ... you are cowards. You would rather sit quietly under this Mayor then challenge him directly for the job. Anyone who runs for the sole reason that they no longer have to oppose Don Plusquellic should be sure to print their campaign signs in yellow.

Signal Strength?

I know most bloggers would probably use this space today to write something nice about their fathers.

I should too. Except I think that might violate the rules of my previous entry on TMI in the blogosphere/twitterscape/facebookland/online nation.

Instead, I want to write about something I noticed while driving around this weekend.

You see, I'm one of those types who think that the general rules of decorum have disappeared on the nation's highways and biways.

During my semi-annual migrations to the East, I've discovered that drivers in Maryland, for instance, have little regard for lane movement or speed limits.

Which is fine, it's something more simple that's bugging me.

And that's the complete and utter failure of 80% of drivers to use their turn signals.

And not just for when they're making turns, even for simple things like shifting lanes.

Now, when you speed and drive recklessly ... I get it ... that's a conscious decision to break the law.

But, not using a turn signal is just plain laziness, right?

I mean, if you drive with your hands at 10 and 2 (or even just 10), using your turn signal requires your left-hand to slide a whole 3-4 inches down the wheel ... and then you have to extend a couple of fingers to flip a lever.

And, most of the time, the car even turns the signal off FOR YOU!

So, I really gave it some thought ... and compiled a list of possible reasons why people may not be using their signals.

1. The above-mentioned laziness? Perhaps Ohioans are heading to Jabba The Hut-dom a lot quicker than we think.

2. Phobias? Perhaps right-handers are scared of using their left hands to signal. And it's just too darn hard to reach across with their natural hand.

3. Accidents? Is there a lost generation of Ohioans who lost their left-hands to wheat threshers as children? If so, I apologize for this post.

4. Distraction? Perhaps the blinking light on the dash, and it's corresponding sounds, are too distracting to drivers who are already on the road, on their phones, sending e-mail, doing their makeup, reading the paper, writing their thesis, and splitting the atom from the cockpit.

5. Electrical problems? Perhaps there has been 5-6 years of shoddy light bulb production in this country ... causing a mass blackout of turn signals!

Perhaps there's another theory I'm overlooking ... in any case, c'mon folks ... how hard is it to signal?

PS: An apology to any and all friends of mine who work in television and read this after looking at the title, and thinking I honestly had something to say about DTV.

Age of TMI

Keeping up with my post-a-day promise ... and with a busy day this one's coming early.

Today, I'm tackling Twitter.

Yes, I tweet.

And, yes, I see the value in it, both as a a way for organizations to market themselves, and as a way to keep in touch.

I think it has some other pretty cool uses.

Recently, I followed a Bruce Springsteen concert as it unfolded, when a concert-goer "tweeted" every song as it came up.

Pretty fun, right?

But, there's a down side to all of this.

TMI. Especially on the "personal" level.

I'm not sure I really want to know, or care to know, when some people are getting out of bed, what they're having for breakfast, what they're seeing when they open their eyes, or every movement they make.

In fact, I actually considered, as a joke, taking this to the extreme.

My idea, post a tweet every time I move. Literally. Tweet as I walk from my living room to the office. From there to my kitchen. From there to my bedroom.

Or, I could just post longitude and latitude and let people figure out the rest.

It's not that some stuff isn't fun to read, it's just that I really wonder whether I need to know EVERYTHING that's happening in someone's life.

It all comes back to an old Dennis Miller joke I remember hearing, when home video cameras were first hitting the market.

Miller quipped that he thought people should have to prove their lives are interesting enough to be taped before being allowed to purchase one.

I kind of feel the same way about personal tweets. Is your life REALLY interesting enough for me to learn of your EVERY move?

In fact, I see some people who scream bloody murder when Twitter goes down even for a short while.

I like to think that I could survive without a phone, TV, computer, Twitter, Facebook, etc., if any of them should be removed for a small period of time.

That's when I go outside. Read a book. Fiddle around with a hobby. Without tweeting about it.

So, before you consider that brain implant that will upload your thoughts directly to Twitter ... ask yourself ... "is this really necessary?"

PS ... 2 other quick Twitter rants.

1. If you're going to tweet a lot, please spell correctly. I'm now to the point where I'm not ashamed to correct you.

2. Please, don't try to send too many tweets to celebrities (unless they ask for them) ... otherwise, you just look desperate (and a little stalkerish).

I'm Back Baby!

I just realized something ... today is the 1st anniversary of this blog.

I have to admit to both of my regular readers, I've been remiss in writing over the last few weeks.

The reason?

Well, first off, I just didn't feel like doing a lot of writing ... mainly because I didn't think I had anything interesting to say.

But, to celebrate my blog's 1st year of existence, I'm deciding to recommit to it.

My goal, a post a day ... about something.

Anything.

I'll need to put my thinking cap on, but it will come.

I hope.

So, anyways, happy birthday little blog ... and I promise not to be so neglectful as we head into Year 2!