Is this too soon?

The recent Triple J Hottest 100 Countdown of All Time was not only plagued by men, but dead ones at that. Nirvana took out the top spot with the 90s grunge anthem Smells Like Teen Spirit, which everybody saw coming. Kurt Cobain killed himself two years after the song’s release. One gets the impression Cobain went down as something of a martyr, as rock enthusiasts everywhere never cease to regard Cobain as a legend. I can’t help but wonder if Smells Like Teen Spirit would still have scored number 1 if he had not dramatically taken his life. I’m also sceptical about its popularity when the lyrics are virtually incomprehensible. Hallelujah’s lyrics are far more worthy, but Jeff Buckley couldn’t even think of them himself. He scored number 3 with Cohen’s famous cover, which is probably more famous than the original. Buckley released one studio album before drowning in the Mississippi River. One album and he too is a Rock God. Buckley left at the height of his one-album career, and left a lasting legacy, which is mostly just a drawn-out version of an amazing original.

So when Michael Jackson prematurely died I was not surprised that he managed to jump 40 places in the Hottest 100 during the 3 days after his death before voting closed. Did everybody forget his music and it took his death to remind them? As a friend said, “death is great publicity.” I heard the news as it broke on Triple J and admittedly, I wasn’t as upset as my peers. To me, I grew up regarding MJ as a possible child molester who was so ashamed of his background he may have intentionally changed his skin colour, and was so famous he felt he could turn up to court 90 minutes late wearing his pyjamas. To me, he was, and always will be, Wacko Jacko in great financial debt. Yet in the 24 hours following his death I discovered that a significant portion of friends were lifelong Michael Jackson fans and I had never noticed. I hereby attest the claim that there is no better self-promotion than death, as I leave you with this famous Chaser clip to think upon.

Where to begin?

After putting it off since early 2007, I have finally surrendered and created this weblog, or as the kids say, “blog”. There is a high chance this “blog” will quickly become neglected as I succumb to laziness. Most of my endeavours end this way. So far I have failed at reading the Lord of the Rings trilogy, going to the gym regularly and trying to make people pronounce my name as dee-ahh-nah purely because I could not be bothered. Even simple tasks, like baking a cake, eating a bowl of pasta, or listening to the entirety of an album are seemingly difficult tasks often quickly discarded for something more entertaining. And now I’ve started rambling. Two things are not allowed in this blog; rambling and pretentiousness. So here we go.

Today I slept 14 hours. This is preparation for uni, which resumes tomorrow. With three 9 o’clock starts this semester, very little sleep will be had. So, sleeping in til 3:50 this afternoon is accepted. Further uni preparation; I think I might re-watch a lovely (boring) independent film called Love and Other Catastrophes. The reason I am watching it a second time is because I feel guilty not doing anything uni-related when I have so much time on my hands, and watching a banal film is an easy way to prepare; very little thinking is required. You will love this film if you are into bad acting, the grounds of Melbourne Uni and tedious lesbian relationship dramas. Unfortunately I am into none of these things and the only benefit I get out of this are the brilliant nineties outfits. Here endeth the lesson.