I couldn’t believe it when I learned that Michael Jackson, the King of Pop himself, passed away today of an apparent heart attack.  One of the most iconic pop stars from our generation, Micheal Jackson will be remembered for the significant mark he made on popular culture.  He will also be remembered for his increasingly bizarre behavior as the years passed, however I prefer to remember him from his Thriller days:

Alas, I don’t actually own this album, but it is at the top of the list: The Best of Marcel Marceao.  Apparently both sides of the album have 19 minutes of silence, followed by a minute of applause.

Genius!

I’m not sure why Marcel Marceau’s name is spelled incorrectly on the album cover - does anyone know?

Happy Mother’s Day to all you Moms and women out there who have made a difference in a child’s life.

Here is a picture of my Mom with my brother and me on my second birthday:

My mom had four children over the course of seventeen years and this year my youngest sister is graduating from high school and my mom *finally* won’t have any more kids at home.  Mom is an incredibly caring, giving, smart, fun, and loving woman.  Now that I am a mom myself, I look to her as an example and just hope to be as good of a mom to RollerBoy as she was (and still is!) to me .

Love you, Mom!  And thanks for the Raggedy Ann doll (which I believe you made yourself)!

Do unicorns make you happy?  Are rainbows and sparkles missing from your life?  Have you never really outgrown your childhood obsession with My Little Pony?

If you answered yes to any of the above, then might I suggest cornifying your life by adding this handy little button to your web site or blog:

Click This Button!

Try clicking on the button multiple times. It’s fun! And everyone is doing it! Even the folks at ESPN!

Thanks to Otto at Deprogrammed Studios for turning me on to this fun new way to add some extra sunshine into my life :)  More info available at the Cornify web site.

I’ve been watching the news on the swine flu outbreak originating from Mexico, and was surprised to learn that worries over the swine flu are not new here in the U.S.

Check out these public service announcements from 1976 (the second one especially is somewhat disturbing… can anyone say panic?):

Many happy returns to Iggy Pop, who turned 62 on April 21.  I have to admit that Lust for Life is still one of my all-time favorite songs (despite its embarrassingly prolific use in T.V. cruise ship advertisements).

April 21 also happens to be the birthday of my son, who turned 13 yesterday.  Happy Birthday RollerBoy!

This week, our family watched the classic Disney movies Escape to Witch Mountain (1975) and Return from Witch Mountain (1978) in preparation for a viewing of the Rockfest Race to Witch Mountain which is in theaters now.

The original film, Escape to Witch Mountain, held up pretty well despite the 30+ year time lag since the movie’s release.  Laughable special effects notwithstanding, Tia and Tony are super cute kids with super cool powers and you can’t help but root for them in their escape from the evil Aristotle Bolt (played by Ray Milland) and his henchman Deranian (played by Donald Pleasance).  The children eventually join forces with a crotchety old man played by Eddie Albert, who helps them elude their pursuers and drives them to safety in his Winnebago.

In Return from Witch Mountain, Tia and Tony are adolescents who visit the big city of L.A. for a week.  The kids are separated and Tony is abducted by a pair of villains (played by Christopher Lee and Bette Davis).  Fortunately for Tia, she is befriended by a group of kids who help her find and rescue Tony.  Unfortunately for us, the kids are super annoying - they are in a “gang” called the Earthquakes and are vying for street cred with the other gangs of older kids.  With names like “Rocky”, “Crusher,” “Muscles,” and the unfortunate moniker “Dazzler,” the “gang” of kids had us rolling on the floor with laughter.  Definitely the worst movie of the three.

Race to Witch Mountain is supposed to be a re-imagining of the original film, although the plot bears hardly any resemblance to the first movie.  Gone are the cheesy one-dimensional villains and laughable special effects.  In this movie, our government plays the part of the villain and the special effects have been updated for the 21st century.  Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson takes up most of the screen time, but he manages to be both touching and funny and doesn’t take himself too seriously.  The movie included the occasional throwback to the original film, such as a few scenes in a Winnebago and cameos by the original Tony (Ike Eisenmann) and Tia (Kim Richards), but for the most part the movie was a completely different film.  We enjoyed the movie, however, not a bad way to spend a few hours at a Sunday matinee.

I am in the middle of reading the book Johnny Cash: The Autobiography and I’ve been inspired to look up some of his old television show recordings. Johnny Cash has always been one of my favorite artists, but I’ve never really explored the music from the Johnny Cash Show which ran from 1969 to 1971. Capitalizing on Cash’s success after his 1968 Live at Folsom Prison album, the weekly program was essentially a variety show including members of his own band, as well as guests such as Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Merle Haggard and Joni Mitchell.

The following segment features Louis Armstrong in one of his last performances:

Today I feel like celebrating a little girl power!  And what better way to do it then with this Enjoli perfume commercial from the 1970s?

On the one hand, the ad sings the praises of womanhood - as women increasingly began to enter the working world back in the 1970s they found themselves in the position of not only being wage earners but that of a wife and mother too who had to keep their households running.

But on the other hand, the commercial firmly plants women into stereotypical feminine roles - why doesn’t the husband do any of the cooking? The woman is not only working, but having to do all of the work around the house.

Regardless, the commercial is priceless and has perhaps the most (unintentially) hilarious lines in advertising history:  “I can bring home the bacon, fry it up in a pan, and never never never let you forget you’re a man!  Cuz I’m a woman!”

Enjoy

Thanks to my friend Nicolle Moser for turning me on to this ad