Michael Jackson memorial: Zwinky Style
I have a very vivid memory of a moment in sixth grade. I was standing in the school hallway, just outside my classroom. My locker was wide open – I think it was bright yellow, or orange. I know it was sloppy, with books and papers just shoved in willy nilly, and I know that inside the door was one of my pictures I had collected (and would continue to collect) of my favorite artist: Prince.On the same side of that hall, just a few lockers on the other side of the classroom door, stood Michelle W., her hand on her hip. She glanced at the inside of her locker door, then back at me. We were having the same argument we always had.
"Michael Jackson has more hit songs than Prince," she said matter-of-factly.
"Well, Prince is a movie star," I retorted.
I've been thinking about Michelle a lot lately, since that Friday when the entire world stopped at the news that Michael Jackson was dead, and especially today as the memorial service has taken over television.
As you can see from my picture above, I've tried to capture a little bit of this entertainment icon's inimitable style in Zwinky. (Thanks to Miss Thang for going shopping with me and giving me dressing room feedback!)
For days and days now it's all anyone can talk about. That day kids called their parents, adults in business suits furiously worked their smart phones to find out more. Suddenly every radio station, every car stereo, every Karaoke bar and even my iPod seemed stuck in a Jackson loop: "ABC," "I'll Be There," "Billie Jean," "Beat It," "Thriller," "Scream," "Man in the Mirror," and on and on and on...
Video homages and documentaries have been on just about every channel imaginable. And newspapers across the world have tried to capture the impact of this moment. On the subway this weekend I was fascinated by an elderly woman with a Chinese newspaper pouring over a five-page retrospective. At least that's what I guessed based on the pictures.
All of this, I suppose, is why I didn't jump to add to the pile of information out there by writing something in zwINK. But as monica_davis pointed out to me via Znote, "No one blogged about Michael Jackson or Billy Mays. I loved them both dearly..." Something, it seems, is warranted.
Infomercial pitch man Billy Mays – well, I'm sure he was a nice guy... loud, but certainly well-known as a TV presence. We've also lost actress Farrah Fawcett, TV personality Ed McMahon and football star Steve McNair recently. But Michael Jackson... Whew! Words don't suffice.
Let's ignore all the weirdness of his personal life for a while and concentrate on the musical legacy he's left behind. I can say sincerely that he will be missed. So here, courtesy of monica_davis, is a Michael Jackson memorial playlist to help us all remember the indelible musical imprint he made.
If you want to go even further, you can head to Webfetti and grab a man moonwalking cursor. Or copy and paste the code below to send a friend a Michael Jackson Smiley that sings and dances like we'll always remember him.
You can put some glitter on your page by copying and pasting the codes below.
Or you can go absolutely all out and turn your whole page into a tribute. Do a search for "Michael Jackson" in Layouts to find some really great user-made designs like this one:
