Bad is Better

A lot of us are thinking back on the soundtrack of our younger years today with great fondness. I cannot tell you how many laps around the skating rink were accompanied by the funk and freak of MJ and Vincent Price. But as I really look at the King of Pop's discography, it becomes clear that the followup to Thriller was at least slightly superior. The scope of both albums is vast (from Beat it to The Girl is Mine and Smooth Criminal to The Way You Make Me Feel). He was just as rock as he was soul - that is what pop meant when he was king.

But if I had to choose to just have one album, Bad wins. Dirty Diana may not be Darling Nikki, but it's pretty freakin' good. Man in the Mirror is actually still a little moving to me. And Smooth Criminal may be my all time favorite MJ song AND video. Yup. Bad wins.

And I think I'd be okay without ever hearing P.Y.T again. Or ever seeing the Say Say Say video (I know it isn't on Thriller, but it deserves a pan).

I have become re-acquainted with my fascination with tornadoes. They are crazy awesome. It is really just part of growing up in tornado alley (like hurricanes on the coast). I personally got excited any time that sky would get a green hue. You could see the fronts colliding in the evening sky. Just exhilarating. I have been withing a few hundred yards of a couple over my lifetime and seen several at the 2+ mile distance.

I think they don't get as much national attention as hurricanes b/c you can't track them for weeks and pontificate about where they may eventually cause destruction. You develop a relationship with a hurricane. Heck, they even have names. Tornadoes are like one night stands. You never know when one might spring up, and they'll be gone just as fast. If you are fortunate enough to experience one, you cannot back down. I mean, these regular guys drove right towards it. Just watching that video made my heart race a bit.


(as a point of disclosure, i have never in my life had anything close to a one night stand)