The Boy Who Flew: A Piece on Michael Jackson

There's a famous story in Greek folklore about a father and son named Daedalus and Icarus. They were imprisoned by King Minos and kept in a tower on the island of Crete. Fortunately, Daedalus was a skilled craftsman and created wings for both of them to escape from the tower out of wax and feathers. As they escaped using the wings, Icarus wanted to fly as high as he could to be with the gods. Despite his father's warning, he flew higher and higher until the wax melted. With nothing to hold the feathers, the wings gave way and he fell to his death.

I'm reminded of this story because when the news of Michael Jackson's death first broke, I realized the parallel between his life and that story. With a few but vital and sad differences.

Michael was imprisoned in such a tower; created by his own mind and kept there by his father who was not a Daedalus but a King Minos. So with Michael acting as both Daedalus and Icarus, he fashioned wings for himself to escape this prison. However, these were no ordinary wings made of wax and feathers. They were created out of his talent. His passionate vocal, his keen songwriting, his powerful dancing and his boundless creative spirit. With these wings, he flew into the clear blue sky.

As he went higher and higher, many others started to exploit all of the cracks in his armor from the damage inflicted on being in the tower. With this fear, he became scared to land, so he continued to fly higher and higher. Unfortunately, for all of his talent and wealth, he could only fly so high. So on June 25, 2009, his wings, just like Icarus', gave way and he fell.

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When I was 7-9, I was a Michael Jackson freak. I listened to him obsessively, emulated his dance moves and saw him as a hero. This, like many of the musical phases of my life, passed me by. However, when I heard he had died, it all came back.

He brought so much to this world despite all of the bull that happened to him or that he brought to himself.

He will be missed.

The Battle: A Story of Wind

Wild Spirit, which art moving everywhere;
Destroyer and preserver; hear, oh, hear!
-Percy Bysshe Shelley (Ode to the West Wind)

I love the wind. It's the only phenomena in nature that I respond to. There is just this sense of power and calm when you feel the wind in your face, whether it be a gust or a breeze. Just to stand outside and let the intensity of it run through your clothes and skin, to me, is the most exhilarating feeling ever given to us on this green Earth.

That doesn't mean that nature is always nice and formal. With the effects of Hurricane Ike still being tallied we can never underestimate what this crazy planet can do. The hurricane even gave a little hit to my hometown on September 14. By the time it reached us, the hurricane calmed down a lot since Galveston, but the wind still had the strength of a stubborn lower level hurricane (somewhere in the 20 mph range). At around 2 pm our power got knocked out by the wind along with 680,000 others around us. I didn't mind it initially, just because I always found the wind so fascinating, even if it did knock branches off trees and shingles from rooftops. After two spells of standing in the middle of the street and just enjoying it, I decided to to call the wind out.

You see, when God gave the Earth to us humans, he basically stated that this was our domain to be watched over. So over the entire course of history, the human race has continued its dominance over its domain with ingenuity, intellect and ever-changing technology. My favorite author, Ayn Rand, points out how every new advancement and skill we come up with as individual beings is a glorious statement to the power of humanity's spirit. So with that in mind, I decided to have a mental battle: the wind against me.

Armed with my iPod, I headed outside towards the gusting winds while blaring "Tales of a Scorched Earth" by the Smashing Pumpkins. When the lyrics blasted (So fuck it all cause I don't care/So what somehow somewhere we dared/To try to dare to dare for a little more), this sense of empowerment started rising in me. I was pacing up the street and yelling at the wind as if to say, "Yeah, come on! Is that the best you got?" It got better when I played U2's "The Electric Co." I started running, doing windmill air guitar moves and jumping around like a goon, with nothing in my way (except for the presence of our fellow neighbors who were checking out their respective damage).

Finally, I decided to go all out. Opening my shirt, I began listening to The Who's rendition of "Young Man Blues" from their famous gig at Leeds. With a band like The Who, you feel like you can take on the world and win. This thought was the most potent during the line (Well, you know in the old days/When a young man was a strong man/All the people they stepped back/When a young man walked by). During this line I held out my arm as if I was going to stop the wind with my bare hands as it flapped in the folds of my shirt. I kept running and jumping all the way through the song and by the end of it, I felt I won.

As I was rebuttoning my shirt and heading back inside, a small drizzle began, perhaps as a cop out, but the match was over. Before 7 pm our power came back and the house was back to normal; but I knew I had fought the fight, and humanity won... again.

Concert Memories: Radiohead (August 3, 2008)

(Thom Yorke and Colin Greenwood of Radiohead performing)

Any study of modern rock music will eventually come across Radiohead. This English quintet has become one of the most critically acclaimed bands by doing essentially what a good band should do: carve its own path. After their 1993 hit "Creep," the band refused to be pigeonholed creatively. With 1995's "The Bends" and 1997's "OK Computer" they made other alternative music sound tired and flat. After that, they pulled a 180 and released their techno landscaped "Kid A" in 2000, which proved they could change up their game, without sacrificing excellence. In addition to all of this, their seventh and most recent record, 2007's "In Rainbows," was released via the internet where listeners pay for the amount of the album their own way. This is unheard of in this day and age of music piracy and iTunes domination.

Personally, I have an immense fondness for this band. Listening to an album of theirs is lucid dreaming on record, even more than Pink Floyd sometimes. That doesn't mean I worship at the alter of everything they do. About half their records are not as high on my list of acclaim, but that's okay; you can't win 'em all. So after years of waiting, I finally got to see these guys live. Usually, they are placed high on lists of the best live acts ever and the footage of them on YouTube has always intrigued me, highlighting their prowess and confidence.

Sure enough, they simply walk out on stage, bow and immediately start into the twitchy opener, "15 Step" with the same kind of confidence as I see in those videos. Still, during the first two songs, guitarist Ed O'Brien kept fiddling with his deck. Poor guy. It probably still was acting up from Lollapolooza or something. After that though, they didn't slow down. Not for a bit. Even when guitarist and mad scientist Johnny Greenwood and vocalist Thom Yorke were trying to figure out starting chords, they didn't take forever, it was almost systematic.

The main way you can tell when a band is having fun onstage is one of two ways. Either, they're smiling and really enjoying the energy around them; or, they are in intense concentration, giving the feeling that nothing else matters at this moment except the music. Radiohead has always been a band in the latter category. Not even rowdy crowd members, flashing lights or loud amps can stop these guys. The best example is Johnny Greenwood, whose face you never see, only his black hair being visible. His head is always down to his instruments in deep focus. The only way you could possibly get his attention is if you smacked him on the back of the head and insulted him, but I'm not sure if even that would work. You could also say the same for drummer Phil Selway, whose eyes are either continually forward to the drums or closed in diligent calm. He takes keeping the band in time together very seriously and you never get a sense of wear and tear from him. He just keeps plowing away with vigor.

Now this doesn't mean that the band is serious all the time. As I watch Thom Yorke move his head around and dance, I always get the feeling that the music is continually playing in his head and he must get it out, or else. He concentrates, but almost in a trance-like way. The music is his muse and he must follow it. The bassist Colin Greenwood however, is the only member who outwardly looks like he is having fun all the time. You see him smile, bob his head in rhythm and put his arms in the air to get the crowd going. This makes for a cool contrast between him and Phil, giving the rhythm section a fiery energy. The one member I couldn't read as well was Ed O'Brien, but he seemed to be sort of ticked off the entire time. Probably because of his deck acting up, throwing off his groove.

The stage was set with a back row of screens and several rows of rod lights which set an appropriate tone with each song, including some bright back lights for effect. Even if those rod lights were eco-friendly, they certainly lit up the night beautifully. I turned back a couple of times and saw a crowd beneath the cover of radiant colored light. The screens themselves showed off each band member, but with a kind of voyeuristic feel. You never see their faces directly often, as you would a regular concert. Usually, they're shown in very arcane angles, keeping with the setup they established in both "Thumbs Down" and "Scotch Mist" video podcasts; both shot during the promotion of "In Rainbows." It's a great continuation of the idea established in U2's groundbreaking ZOO TV Tour where you use video screens to obscure rather than enhance the action onstage. Although that didn't stop Thom from gooning in front of the camera during "You and Whose Army?"

But even if you have the lights and attitude, if you don't have a good performance, it's all for naught. Thankfully, that was never an issue. Apparently their four weeks of rehearsing 70 songs paid off in full. The band played with precision and tact with each member switching to different tasks and instruments, not unlike the way The Band used to do. The set list was varied, both in date and musicality, even picking good songs from "Amnesiac" and "Hail to the Thief," albums I don't care for as much. It also impressed me that they played "In Rainbows" in full throughout the show, whereas most bands favor the tired old hits for their gigs. Even when they went back to earlier material, the band picked many hidden gems, including two of my personal all-time favorite Radiohead songs: the haunting "How to Disappear Completely" and the elegiac "Exit Music (For a Film)." They didn't ignore their hits entirely though, they ran through awesome renditions of "There There," "Pyramid Song," "Karma Police" and the poetic show closer, "Street Spirit (Fade Out)."

Overall, they have gained a higher esteem in my mind from this outing. I do hope that they continue setting their own vibe; otherwise they'll be just as innocuous as most of their peers.

As a final note, the opening act was independent act Grizzly Bear, which I didn't have the privilege to see because of tardiness on my part.

Main Setlist:
1. "15 Step"
2. "Bodysnatchers"
3. "There There"
4. "All I Need"
5. "Pyramid Song"
6. "Nude"
7. "Weird Fishes/Arpeggi"
8. "The Gloaming"
9. "Climbing Up the Walls"
10. "Faust Arp"
11. "Videotape"
12. "Morning Bell"
13. "Idioteque"
14. "Reckoner"
15. "Everything in its Right Place"
16. "Just"
17. "How to Disappear Completely"

First Encore:
18. "You and Whose Army?"
19. "Bangers and Mash"
20. "Exit Music (For a Film)"
21. "Jigsaw Falling Into Place"
22. "Karma Police"

Second Encore:
23. "House of Cards"
24. "The National Anthem"
25. "Street Spirit (Fade Out)"

The "U2 3D" Experience (Mind Officially Blown)

There's a moment that I'll never forget as I was watching this film. As the opening for the song "One" started, Bono began singing, "Oh... shine a light." Slowly, little digital lights from cell phones all across the massive stadium began lighting up. As he keeps singing that simple phrase, the crowd became a sea of illumination -- an entire group of people who had come together, if just for this time and space. At I sat there, I felt something that rarely comes to me. Serenity. I felt at peace with the universe and myself. I had been lifted higher. It had been a while since that has occurred, the last time being when I was watching the film "Spirited Away." But that divine moment, like an angel, came back to hold me in its arms.

That's what "U2 3D" is like. This is not a concert film, this is a holy rock and roll experience. You ethereally float around the stage and stadium and watch everyone with pure elation. The detailed 3D itself does not inhibit the performance, but enhances it greatly. The intense bouncing of the enthusiastic South American crowd during "Where the Streets Have No Name" makes you feel energized, while the effect of the words flying toward you in "The Fly" makes you feel like you're in the Star Gate in "2001: A Space Odyssey."

The film also gives a very appreciated display for each band member who individually show their own passion for the music that they play as a whole. These men have a fire when they play these songs, even when they are more calming, including the personal "Sometimes You Can't Make It on Your Own" or the gently operatic "Miss Sarajevo." Most importantly, the film showcases U2's desire to reach out to an audience, like a restless spirit trying to get to you and only you. No moment shows that more than when Bono asks you to "wipe your tears away" during "Sunday Bloody Sunday" and extends his arm for yours. At that second you want to take his hand and hold on to him forever.

I have to tell you. Besides that, it would be an epic essay to accurately describe what I felt about the film. I will say this, though:

In the Cinematical article "The Exhibitionist: You Too Need to See 'U2 3D'," the author, Christopher Campbell, mentions how the film could have the same effect on HD Digital 3D as "The Jazz Singer" had for sound. Personally, I hope it does come to pass.

(The Edge, Bono and Adam Clayton rockin' out)

A Formal Introduction

Hi, my name is Sam and I'm an autistic arts lover; though what I just said is kind of contradictory. In a lot of ways, I shouldn't be a arts lover. I become uneasy during long continuous stimulation, I'm impatient, my thoughts drift, my mind goes a thousand miles a minute and I don't like to go out unless I feel like it. But, I'm bonded deeply with the art of film and music because they (as well as TV in a smaller way) have literally saved my life.

When I was young, many experts thought that I would not be able to communicate properly outside my own world, like many autistics. But I was also blessed with an innate sense of memory and imitation. Through the films that I watched and the music that I listened to, I began to build a knowledge of phrasing. Miraculously, I found that I could use quotes and song lyrics to communicate how I felt or thought. Also, films and songs gave me a window to the typical world, a world I couldn't grasp. Then, using quotes and lyrics as a basis, I began forming my own style of speech and connection. Which all lead me to where I am today; I'm a sound, happy and proud cinephile and audiophile.

Now, I may not see or listen to everything that comes my way, which may alienate some people. But as I said earlier, I can't handle continuous mounting stimulation, so I will miss out on some cool things until much later. Though I assure you this passion I have means the world to me and it never diminishes for any reason, including myself.

I hope you all enjoy my blog and continue reading my thought on the things I care about.