Like most people around my age, I have memories of Michael Jackson from back when he really was the king of pop. I remember attending a "Thriller" video premiere party, I remember my sister once getting all excited about the song "Thriller" (mostly because of Vincent Price's voice over though). I know somebody in my house owned the album but I don't remember who it was that bought it. I remember where I was when I heard "We Are The World" for the first time (sitting in a college cafeteria eating a late breakfast). I remember watching the Motown 25 special live that more than anything put Jackson on the map. My most personal memory was when I was in Auckland, New Zealand in 1996. Jackson was on tour and performing in Auckland at the same time I was there, and I remember the cab driver who drove me from the airport to my hotel asking me if I was in town for the concert and then talking about nothing but Michael Jackson the whole rest of the way. It was also in Auckland that I saw the newspaper headline that called him "Wacko Jacko." I thought it was so good that I have been using it ever since, even in my American Idol recap of the show that Fox is re-airing as a "tribute" to Jackson on Monday. Of course now that he has passed away this may be the last time I do.
To be honest, the guy was a freak show for the last 10, 15 years or so. I liken it to a car crash; everyone will slow down to take a look, but then they will turn there heads and drive away. It also occurred to me today that Jackson was a real life Benjamin Button. Here you had this 8 year old kid singing about love and girlfriends who turned into a 48 year old man hosting slumber parties and riding Ferris wheels every day. I suspect that this is why he had kids around him all the time, even in situations that everyone else thought was inappropriate. I think he thought he wasn't acting like a creepy 48 year old, he was an 8 year old in a 48 year old body.
I listen to "I Want You Back", one of the Jackson 5's first hits (I think it may have even been their first) and I wonder what happened to the enthusiasm, the maturity, even the toughness that Jackson exhibited in his voice back then. He somehow went from being a confident and mature person to a very fragile, brittle figure both physically and mentally. He seemed to be someone who was one false step away from a total breakdown.
While the suddenness of Jackson's departure was surprising, the fact that he died at such a young age perhaps was not. Icons like Michael Jackson, Elvis, John Lennon, and so on typically don't go slowly into that good night (well, except maybe Sinatra, but he had connections). That Neil Young lyric that Kurt Cobain allegedly wrote at the end of his suicide note, "It's better to burn out than to fade away," seems to apply to icons like Jackson even if their departure was of no fault of their own, and if Lisa Marie Presley is to be believed even Jackson thought that this was his final fate.
While he was a freak show there is no denying the impact this cat had on the entertainment business. Justin Timberlake, among many others, have been imitating him for years to some degree. MTV owes its very existence to him. Indeed, I think every cable and satellite operator in the world do to. I would bet that there were millions of kids in 1983, including friends of mine, who pushed their parents to get cable TV just so that they could see the next Michael Jackson video. Music videos before 1983 featured white guys lip syncing their songs. Music videos after 1983 became 5 minute movies (or in the case of "Thriller" 13 minute epics) that told a story with pictures as well as words. In the age of New Wave he made R&B cool again, and in the process opened the door for the rap and hip-hop movements that now dominate the airways and music downloads. I think in terms of the extent of his talent and his impact on the music business Michael Jackson ranks right up there with Sinatra, Elvis, and The Beatles. There may be others that will one day reach similar heights (U2 comes to mind as one possibility) but there won't be another one quite like Michael Jackson, even if he was wacko.
Ironically I was in an electronics store on Sunday (4 days before Jackson died) buying a new battery for my camera, and on the TVs there they were playing the full length "Thriller" video, the first time I had seen it in years. Now that really is creepy.
Friday, June 26, 2009
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
The Commencement Address That I Never Had
In honor of my sister finally become respectable and earning her B.A. degree from the University of Oregon, I felt inspired to write a graduation speech that I would give to graduates today were there anyone to ask me to do so. Part of what inspired me to do this is because her graduation speaker, an editorial writer for The Oregonian who is an alumnus of Oregon (go Ducks), gave a pretty good speech that was also relatively short. I also still feel cheated that we did not have a graduation speaker when I graduated from Cal Poly 20 years ago (John Madden was rumored but alas this was just a rumor – we ended up with just the university president boring us all), and thanks to Alaska Airlines I had an longer than expected flight up to Oregon and I needed to keep myself occupied while sitting in the Sacramento airport waiting for my unplanned connecting flight to Portland.
"First I want to of course offer up my congratulations to you, the graduating class of 2009, and to everyone who helped you achieve the goal that we are here today to celebrate.
"Usually these speeches are intended to provide you with a glimpse into the future, the quote real world, and to give you words of inspiration as you set off into this world. Well, this isn't going to be one of those speeches, because let’s face it, the real world kind of sucks right now. I would guess that most of you know this already, probably better than I do, so there is no use going on with false platitudes about how there are a lot of opportunities out there for you because, well, there aren't a lot of opportunities out there for anybody. Instead, I hope to provide you with some advice on how to proceed from here. Hopefully this advice will one day be useful to you, or at least will not put you to sleep.
"Some of you may not care to hear any words of advice from me. You already know what you’ll be doing tomorrow and next week and beyond. All of your plans are set and you are ready to go. To you I can only say good luck and god speed, with the knowledge that most of the graduates who feel this way are skipping this ceremony and have probably already left campus for good such that I don’t need to worry about finding something witty or profound to say to them.
"No, my advice is for those of you who are not sure what you’ll be doing tomorrow or next week or beyond. Maybe you have a job or a grad school seat lined up, maybe you don’t. I would guess that you are feeling a mixture of emotions right now. Part of you is happy that you are finally done with school and will receive the diploma that you worked so hard the last 2, 3, 4, 5, or even more years to attain. I would bet, though, that part of you is sad to see this day come, because you are about to say goodbye to the world that you have built for yourself here and basically start all over again, and that can be one scary thought.
"If you ever want to know what a ghost town feels like, visit the campus tomorrow. All of the buildings, quads, and sidewalks that just yesterday were teeming with students will be empty. All of the students will be gone, all of the faculty will be back home, all of the buildings will be closed and locked, all of the dorms will be empty, and only the janitors will be around to clean up after the ceremonies. It is kind of eerie and spooky, perhaps even scary, to be surrounded by all that emptiness. It perhaps mirrors the feelings that some of you may have now, the scary emptiness that comes with saying those final goodbyes to your friends, your classmates, your professors, and the campus community that you have called home. You hope that by staying in contact with your friends and professors that you’ll be able to maintain some semblance of the life that you have enjoyed here, but deep down you know that it won’t be the same.
"And now you face the challenge of having to find a new home with new friends, new co-workers, new advisors, and a new life. This could seem daunting, especially with the current economic climate, but it is not as big of a challenge as it might now appear to be. For many of you your college experience was your first time away from home, the first time you got to decide what to eat for dinner or which roommates you lived with or even whether or not you were going to attend classes that day or which party to attend that night. Even if someone else was paying for it you still got to decide, or at least have a say, in how the money was spent. By surviving and perhaps even thriving in this environment you proved that you could make a life for yourself and that you could establish an identity of your own. The survival skills that you learned while being here will also help you establish a new life, a new identity for yourself, when you leave. And these skills are just as important as the technical skills and body of knowledge that you gained in pursuit of the degree that you will be awarded today.
"I would also advice you all to be patient. If you already have a career path laid out for yourself that’s great, but don’t panic if you don’t have any idea what to do. You still have plenty of time to figure that out. I know you hear all these platitudes about living for today and only doing what you want to do for a living, but unless you are very lucky or very crazy this is probably not the live that you will end up leading. Indeed, chances are that the life you will one day have will be very different from the one you now think you will have. It may turn out that you’ll end up in a career that is different from what you studied. I know plenty of people who have successful careers in fields that were not the ones that that they studied in college. That is not to say that your time here would have been wasted. My brother, for example, went to college with the intent on being an athletic trainer, but then signed up for an art class that he liked so much that he turned it into a career. If you are patient and flexible you will eventually be able to establish a career for yourself no matter what condition the economy or the job market is in, and who knows, you might even one day get that dream job where you get paid for doing what you want to do.
"I graduated from college with a degree in architectural engineering, but at the time I didn't really want to be a structural engineer. I did not share the same enthusiasm for structures and buildings that many of my classmates had, and unlike most of them I did not have a job lined up yet when I graduated. So I really did not know if I would be able and willing to last in this profession beyond a few years or so. After 20 years in the business I've come to the conclusion that this was the right profession for me, but it took a long time to come to that realization. I learned that structural engineering was the best combination of what I most wanted to do and what I was best capable of doing. I knew I was good at math but I didn't want to be someone that only calculated a bunch of numbers. I wanted to do something that I could see and show off to my parents, and also something that gave me opportunities to create new and interesting things. However, I also learned that my creative skills had their limits and that I would never be happy doing something that required a skill set that I just did not have. Structural engineering allows me to use my math and logic skills in creative and tangible ways without having to attempt to sketch a work of art. It provides an opportunity to give back to the community in visible ways that, yes, I can show off to my parents. While I still don’t get teary eyed and gushy talking about the latest building by the "it" architect of the day I now have a greater appreciation for the buildings engineered by others because I better understand the challenges that those other engineers faced and overcame, an appreciation that I did not have when I graduated.
"So my parting thoughts to you are this. It is perfectly natural to feel unsure and even a little bit scared about what will happen to you after today. Your life will be different and it will be a challenge to establish a new life for yourself, but the fact that you are standing here today is proof that you have the ability to overcome these challenges and succeed. It may take a while for it to happen, but if you were able to survive college and walk out of here with a degree in your hand then you stand a good chance to surviving life after college and walking onward into a successful career and a successful life. My hope is that this will one day happen for all of you. I wish you all the best. Thank you and good luck."
"First I want to of course offer up my congratulations to you, the graduating class of 2009, and to everyone who helped you achieve the goal that we are here today to celebrate.
"Usually these speeches are intended to provide you with a glimpse into the future, the quote real world, and to give you words of inspiration as you set off into this world. Well, this isn't going to be one of those speeches, because let’s face it, the real world kind of sucks right now. I would guess that most of you know this already, probably better than I do, so there is no use going on with false platitudes about how there are a lot of opportunities out there for you because, well, there aren't a lot of opportunities out there for anybody. Instead, I hope to provide you with some advice on how to proceed from here. Hopefully this advice will one day be useful to you, or at least will not put you to sleep.
"Some of you may not care to hear any words of advice from me. You already know what you’ll be doing tomorrow and next week and beyond. All of your plans are set and you are ready to go. To you I can only say good luck and god speed, with the knowledge that most of the graduates who feel this way are skipping this ceremony and have probably already left campus for good such that I don’t need to worry about finding something witty or profound to say to them.
"No, my advice is for those of you who are not sure what you’ll be doing tomorrow or next week or beyond. Maybe you have a job or a grad school seat lined up, maybe you don’t. I would guess that you are feeling a mixture of emotions right now. Part of you is happy that you are finally done with school and will receive the diploma that you worked so hard the last 2, 3, 4, 5, or even more years to attain. I would bet, though, that part of you is sad to see this day come, because you are about to say goodbye to the world that you have built for yourself here and basically start all over again, and that can be one scary thought.
"If you ever want to know what a ghost town feels like, visit the campus tomorrow. All of the buildings, quads, and sidewalks that just yesterday were teeming with students will be empty. All of the students will be gone, all of the faculty will be back home, all of the buildings will be closed and locked, all of the dorms will be empty, and only the janitors will be around to clean up after the ceremonies. It is kind of eerie and spooky, perhaps even scary, to be surrounded by all that emptiness. It perhaps mirrors the feelings that some of you may have now, the scary emptiness that comes with saying those final goodbyes to your friends, your classmates, your professors, and the campus community that you have called home. You hope that by staying in contact with your friends and professors that you’ll be able to maintain some semblance of the life that you have enjoyed here, but deep down you know that it won’t be the same.
"And now you face the challenge of having to find a new home with new friends, new co-workers, new advisors, and a new life. This could seem daunting, especially with the current economic climate, but it is not as big of a challenge as it might now appear to be. For many of you your college experience was your first time away from home, the first time you got to decide what to eat for dinner or which roommates you lived with or even whether or not you were going to attend classes that day or which party to attend that night. Even if someone else was paying for it you still got to decide, or at least have a say, in how the money was spent. By surviving and perhaps even thriving in this environment you proved that you could make a life for yourself and that you could establish an identity of your own. The survival skills that you learned while being here will also help you establish a new life, a new identity for yourself, when you leave. And these skills are just as important as the technical skills and body of knowledge that you gained in pursuit of the degree that you will be awarded today.
"I would also advice you all to be patient. If you already have a career path laid out for yourself that’s great, but don’t panic if you don’t have any idea what to do. You still have plenty of time to figure that out. I know you hear all these platitudes about living for today and only doing what you want to do for a living, but unless you are very lucky or very crazy this is probably not the live that you will end up leading. Indeed, chances are that the life you will one day have will be very different from the one you now think you will have. It may turn out that you’ll end up in a career that is different from what you studied. I know plenty of people who have successful careers in fields that were not the ones that that they studied in college. That is not to say that your time here would have been wasted. My brother, for example, went to college with the intent on being an athletic trainer, but then signed up for an art class that he liked so much that he turned it into a career. If you are patient and flexible you will eventually be able to establish a career for yourself no matter what condition the economy or the job market is in, and who knows, you might even one day get that dream job where you get paid for doing what you want to do.
"I graduated from college with a degree in architectural engineering, but at the time I didn't really want to be a structural engineer. I did not share the same enthusiasm for structures and buildings that many of my classmates had, and unlike most of them I did not have a job lined up yet when I graduated. So I really did not know if I would be able and willing to last in this profession beyond a few years or so. After 20 years in the business I've come to the conclusion that this was the right profession for me, but it took a long time to come to that realization. I learned that structural engineering was the best combination of what I most wanted to do and what I was best capable of doing. I knew I was good at math but I didn't want to be someone that only calculated a bunch of numbers. I wanted to do something that I could see and show off to my parents, and also something that gave me opportunities to create new and interesting things. However, I also learned that my creative skills had their limits and that I would never be happy doing something that required a skill set that I just did not have. Structural engineering allows me to use my math and logic skills in creative and tangible ways without having to attempt to sketch a work of art. It provides an opportunity to give back to the community in visible ways that, yes, I can show off to my parents. While I still don’t get teary eyed and gushy talking about the latest building by the "it" architect of the day I now have a greater appreciation for the buildings engineered by others because I better understand the challenges that those other engineers faced and overcame, an appreciation that I did not have when I graduated.
"So my parting thoughts to you are this. It is perfectly natural to feel unsure and even a little bit scared about what will happen to you after today. Your life will be different and it will be a challenge to establish a new life for yourself, but the fact that you are standing here today is proof that you have the ability to overcome these challenges and succeed. It may take a while for it to happen, but if you were able to survive college and walk out of here with a degree in your hand then you stand a good chance to surviving life after college and walking onward into a successful career and a successful life. My hope is that this will one day happen for all of you. I wish you all the best. Thank you and good luck."
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