Tag Archives: Prince

Goodbye and good riddance, 2016

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We’re still about two weeks from the end of a truly crappy year.

Not for me personally, mind you. My health remains good, as does my wife’s health. We’reĀ spending more time on the road in our recreational vehicle and having a blast every mile we’ve traveled. Our family is doing well, too. We’ve got some big changes in store for the coming year. You’ll be hearing about them as they develop.

No, this year sucks out loud because of the deaths that have occurred. I hope I’m not getting ahead of myself by taking note this far in advance of the end of the year. It’s been a tough time for iconic figures. For instance, we lost:

David Bowie, the genius British musician, songwriter, actor and trailblazing artist, diedĀ of cancer. Iggy Stardust is no longer with us. I knew he had cancer, but like a lot of his fans, IĀ was unaware that his time had run out.

Prince died at his suburban Minneapolis mansion. Talk about a genius. Wow! Have you seen that tremendous guitar riff he did during the 2002 concert memorializing the late Beatle George Harrison? He also left behind a vault full of hundreds of unpublished songs.

Muhammad Ali bid us farewell. This one hurt terribly. The three-time heavyweight boxing champion was far more than a warrior in the ring. He was a champion for the causes in which he believed. He fought for civil rights, against the Vietnam War (which costĀ  him his title) and for justice. Oh, and he was the most beautiful fighter any of us ever had seen. He fought with power and blazing speed and grace.

Arnold Palmer is gone, too. They called him The King of Golf. His majesty, indeed, brought golf into the television age. He was a man’s man. He played great — and exciting — golf. He was a middle-class guy who won — and lost — in unconventional ways. Fellow golfer Chi Chi Rodriguez once said it well: “Every golfer today owes everything toĀ  Arnold Palmer.”

John Glenn was 95 when he died just recently. He was a former U.S. senator, a Marine fighter pilot and an astronaut. Glenn was the first American to orbit Earth, on Feb. 20, 1962. He returned to space 36 years later to become the oldest man, at age 77, to ever fly in space; he took his place in the space shuttle Discovery, which lifted off the launch pad carrying “six astronaut heroes and one American legend.”

I cannot recall a single year producing this level of national and international mourning.

Oh, and we had that presidential campaign, too. It didn’t turn out the way many of us wanted. We’ll persevere, I’m sure.

So long, 2016, and good riddance! You really sucked all year long.

Tragedy produces unintended benefit

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Gosh, I hate to say this.

But here goes: Prince Rogers Nelson’s tragic death yesterday has brought welcome relief from the barrage of coverage to which we’ve been subjected about the interminable Republican and Democratic presidential primary contests.

Do not misunderstand me.

I am in shock over Prince’s death. I join my younger friends and family members who loved the man’s music. Hey, I loved it, too, man! The man was a virtuoso performer. How many instruments did this music icon play? Five, six, seven? A lot.

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The morning news/talk shows today led with continued coverage of Prince’s death, just as the evening news broadcasts led with it Thursday.

MSNBC broadcast a special one-hour segment during the evening with priceless video of Prince performing, with interviews of his former manager. My favorite segment was the video of Prince surprising Bryant Gumbel on the newscaster’s last day on “Today” in 1997.

All of this is to say that I do not miss the incessant coverage of the presidential campaign.

What does that say about the political process? Or … what does it say about the media that cover this process?

I believe it says that the process is too long and too overbearing.

It also says the media have doneĀ a lousy job of covering this process and delivering information to viewers and readers who want to know more about the candidates’ policy views and less about, oh, their assorted body parts.

All that said, I’m going to watch some more Prince videos.

And continue my mourning …

 

Sadness bumps goofiness off our collective radar

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It’s the way it works sometimes.

The public gets caught up in matters that occasionally disgusts it, makes us angry, or frustrates us in the extreme.

I’m talking, of course, about the presidential campaign that isĀ kicking itselfĀ into ultra-high gear with primaries coming up. We’re following the “horse races” in both parties and some of us at least are wondering how it’s all going to shake out.

Then we get news of an entirely different sort.

Prince Rogers Nelson died today at his Minnesota estate.

The word knew him as Prince. He was 57. Prince was, to put it mildly, a rock music icon. I am saddened beyond description to hear this news.

He came along a bit after I and others of my generation came of age. Many old folks like me listen more intently to the Beatles, the Rolling Stones and the Beach Boys than, perhaps, to artists such as Prince.

Still, there is no denying at all the man’s genius.

His creativity was unparalleled. His singing voice was, well, OK. I, though, am enthralled with the way he played the guitar.

It was magical to watch Prince play the instrument, let alone merely listen to him.

So, today many of us around the nation and the world are talking not about the goofy presidential campaign that is makes alternately angry and frustrated at the state of our national political process — but about the death of diminutive musician.

I hate the circumstance that diverts our attention away from the current political climate.

In a perverse way, though, I welcome the diversion.

I believe I’m now going to watch some Prince videos and marvel at the man’s genius.