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Remembering the Time

25 Jun

The truth of the matter is, Michael Jackson hadn’t released a truly great album since Bad.

But then again, after you’ve put out a masterpiece like Thriller, where else is there to go but down?

Still, it’s hard to deny that MJ put out some damned good songs when he was in his prime. I mean, “Rock with You,” “PYT,” “Wanna Be Startin’ Something,” “Billie Jean,” “Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough,” “Man in the Mirror,” “Human Nature,” “Smooth Criminal,” etc.

One hit after another.

And that’s not even touching the Jackson 5 classics. The guy was just great and all those songs stand the test of time. Continue reading →

Enjoy the Silence

23 Sep

Marcel Marceau, the great mime, has died.

Please join me in observing an ironic, but appropriate, moment of silence.

I Already Miss Her

28 Nov

As much as I knew one day my grandmother would die, when it happened this morning I still wasn’t ready.

To say we were tight would be an understatement. But then again, I’m sure all my cousins would say the same thing. We were lucky in that our grandmother treated us all like we were each the most important person in the world to her.

Likewise, that’s how I’d like to think I treated her. And it was true; she did mean that much to me. Continue reading →

Goodbye, Marc

18 Oct

If you’ll allow me to get serious for just a couple minutes, I wanted to acknowledge my friend Marc Kaplan, who passed away Tuesday morning after a nearly five-year battle with brain cancer.

I met Marc through my friend David (one of the Playland folks), and when Marc lived in Boston for a couple years (I believe it was from 1998–1999) we became good friends.

Since then, however, due to distance (Marc moved to Atlanta) and time, we drifted apart, and in these most recent years we really weren’t in touch at all.

Of course, it was during this time that Marc’s brain tumor came back (he had been in remission), and things got progressively worse for him. Continue reading →

He Had Mail

17 Oct

You’re all forgiven for the birthday cards that never arrived.

And now I think I know why I never got those issues of Entertainment Weekly and Rolling Stone too.

Apparently, they were all at Alan Gagne‘s house.

He’s one of the mailmen for the Coolidge Corner area — or was, until he was found dead in his apartment last week by a supervisor who was making sure Gagne was alright.

For many years (since the 1980s apparently), and for no apparent reason, Gagne had been holding onto people’s mail. Sure, much of it was junk (circulars and other crap), and I thank Gagne for not delivering it to me, but a good chunk of it was normal, everyday, first class mail.

Thankfully, Gagne never opened it, so I suppose there’s a chance I’ll finally get that card you told me you sent three years ago. Maybe I’ll also get my copy of the current issue of GQ, which still hasn’t arrived.

(In all seriousness, poor Alan Gagne. I hate to make fun of the recently deceased.)

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