Wendy Jane's Soul Shake

Did you even have to guess what this weekend’s pick would be? 🙂  Thanks to my cousin Samantha for delivering the video link right to my inbox on the day of Love Never Felt So Good’s release.

______

SOURCE:  www.youtube.com, VeVo, Michael Jackson & Justin Timberlake, Love Never Felt So Good

My daughter Leni and I were two lucky gals who got to see Bruno Mars in concert this week.  Bruno may be short, but Leni and I agree, he is a powerhouse!  His singing, dancing and showmanship, outstanding!  So many singers only sound good on their studio-enhanced recordings, but Bruno’s voice is rich, textured and powerful.  The band, with a great horn section, and the back-up singers were tight.

I want to call him, like friends of mine have intimated, my MJ replacement.  I think in time, I can.

This weekend’s song pick is from Leni–her favorite:  Young Girls.

The video on youtube posted by Prince Kiki, in which Bruno performs for a French audience,  had these comments posted below.  I agree with the French guy–give the audience a break–so what if they can’t clap in time?

American gal: whoo, how can people clapping off the key so badly xD

French guy: Bruno Mars is an american singer. It’s very rare for us, french people to have a chance to see him perform live in a TV show, and you have like 1 chance in a million to be a part of the audience. People were just very excited and wanted to show how much they appreciate him, by doin’ something, and they were clapping. It’s not pretty, but it’s not that bad. Don’t be so hard on them. Let them be happy. And be happy that Bruno Mars is from your country, we only have one concert date in Paris.

SOURCE:  www.youtube.com, posted by prince kiki, Bruno Mars – Young Girls (Live- Le Grand Journal)

Photo credit: www.last.fm

“Why are you wearing those Michael Jackson earrings?” the adult patient asked me at the hospital I work for.  “Is there a special reason?…Or, do you just like him or something?”

Some of the patients who have been in the hospital before and know me, know the MJ earrings, and know the answer all too well.  But, this new patient didn’t, so I told him… […]

Tuesday, June 25th will be the 4 year anniversary of MJ’s passing.

In his honor:  Human Nature.

SOURCE:  www.youtube.com MichaelJacksonVEVO

Can’t contain my giddiness: moments away from The MJ One Show

I am lucky.  I got to see the brand spanking new Michael Jackson One Cirque de Soleil show in Las Vegas last week.

Most of you who know me, know what a huge fan of MJ I am.  Okay, many of you think I’m over-the-top obsessed with him, which is why seeing the One show in Vegas, the epicenter of excess, was so perfect.  And, if you didn’t know, and need proof of how obsessed I am, you can read some of my earlier posts on Michael like All Right, I’m Finally Breaking Out The MJ, Calling Michael Jackson, and My MJ Thievery: There Goes The Neighborhood.

I even planned a special outfit for the night of the show:  my grandmother, Nanny Frances’s black cocktail dress, my MJ afro-puff earrings, and a purse I hand-painted the famed image of MJ’s on-his-toes black lace-up shoes and sparkle socks.  I was good to go… […]

I can’t remember how my older sister Sarah and I got on the subject of Brian Huff the other day–a gorgeous black kid that moved into town and became Sarah’s classmate in 7th grade.  I think we were talking about her old friend Audrey who had finally joined Facebook.  Audrey and Brian were “an item” back then, and I was jealous because, well, even though I was two years younger than him, whenever I looked at Brian, […]

It’s not always that when black people move into a white neighborhood, white people say to themselves, “there goes the neighborhood!”  Sometimes it’s the other way around.  Like the time I got caught defacing property in a black neighborhood in Brooklyn.  It was all because of Michael Jackson.  […]

I wrote this essay right after Michael Jackson died on June 25, 2009.  It follows my love of Michael as a young girl, my trying to find my own “Michael” with my childhood and teen year crushes, and the development of my love for Michael as an artist.  Whatever your feelings for Michael are, I hope the world continues to recognize how truly gifted he was, and the vast contributions he made to the history of music and entertainment.  R.I. P.  Michael.

It’s lengthy, but please enjoy my essay, MICHAEL JACKSON ADMITS TO LOVING WENDY

[…]

I fell in love with Michael and The Jackson 5 when I was in second grade. For years after that I created scenarios of how Michael and I would meet, how he would discover my true love for him and how we’d get married. Last week I posted about my favorite MJ meet-up scenario. But, my first plan, at age nine, was to call Michael Jackson on the telephone to introduce myself. […]

My friends, family, and especially my two daughters, know how much I love my MJ (Michael Jackson, if you really have to ask).  Even my daughters’ friends tease me about it.  At one sleepover, Leni’s friend June, upon spotting my MJ  pajama top, said, “You’re really obsessed with Michael Jackson aren’t you?  That’s kind of bizarre.”

Yes, lovely June, at age 10, was a bit precocious, but, perhaps  not far off the mark.  It’s not like I live in a home stuffed with MJ memorabilia, but when he passed away, I pulled out the box in my basement stuffed with magazines, two MJ dolls (still in the box), t-shirts, pins and MJ trading cards, and kept a few things out around the house to remind me of him, and his greatness as an entertainer.

I had  loved Michael since I was eight, and when I was a mature ten years old, I conjured up all kinds of fantasies on how we would meet and then marry.  This is my favorite, one that I thought up when my family was planning a vacation to California, and the one I thought had the most chance of working: […]