Well the rat bastards did it....they passed a "net neutrality" without knowing what it is......Remember Obungler care......Same thing. How much longer before us conservative bloggers start vanishing, losing our connection, or we can't find information anymore that is critical of the "Dear Leader" and his group of minions, crooks and hustlers.
WASHINGTON (CBSDC/AP) — Internet service providers
like Comcast, Verizon, AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile now must act in the
“public interest” when providing a mobile connection to your home or phone, under rules approved Thursday by a divided Federal Communications Commission.
The plan, which puts the Internet in the same regulatory camp as the telephone and bans business
practices that are “unjust or unreasonable,” represents the biggest
regulatory shakeup to the industry in almost two decades. The goal is to
prevent providers from slowing or blocking web traffic, or creating
paid fast lanes on the Internet, said FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler.
The 3-2 vote was expected to trigger industry lawsuits that could
take several years to resolve. Still, consumer advocates cheered the
regulations as a victory for smaller Internet-based companies which
feared they would have to pay “tolls” to move their content.
Verizon said in a statement — which was originally released in Morse code — that the FCC’s move imposes 1930s rules on the Internet.
“The FCC’s move is especially regrettable because it is wholly
unnecessary. The FCC had targeted tools available to preserve an open
Internet, but instead chose to use this order as an excuse to adopt
300-plus pages of broad and open-ended regulatory arcana that will have
unintended negative consequences for consumers and various parts of the
Internet ecosystem for years to come,” Verizon said.
Net neutrality is the idea that websites or videos load at about the
same speed. That means you won’t be more inclined to watch a particular
show on Amazon Prime instead of on Netflix because Amazon has struck a
deal with your service provider to load its data faster.
Opponents, including many congressional Republicans, said the FCC
plan constitutes dangerous government overreach that would eventually
drive up consumer costs and discourage industry investment. House Speaker John Boehner denounced the vote in a statement.
“Overzealous government bureaucrats should keep their hands off the
Internet. Today, three appointed by President Obama approved a secret
plan to put the federal government in control of the Internet,” Boehner
said in a statement. “The text of the proposal is being kept hidden from
the American people and their elected representatives in Congress, and
the FCC’s chairman has so far refused to testify about it. This total
lack of transparency and accountability does not bode well for the future of a free and open Internet, not to mention the millions of Americans who use it every day.”
Republican FCC Commissioners Mike O’Rielly and Ajit Pai, who voted
against the plan, alleged that President Barack Obama unfairly used his
influence to push through the regulations, calling the plan a
“half-baked, illogical, internally inconsistent and indefensible
document.”
Michael Powell, a former Republican FCC chairman who now runs the
National Cable and Telecommunications Association, warned that consumers
would almost immediately “bear the burden of new taxes and increased
costs, and they will likely wait longer for faster and more innovative networks since investment will slow in the face of bureaucratic oversight.”
Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee,
said he would pursue industry-friendly legislation, although it was
unlikely that Obama would sign such a bill. The FCC’s five commissioners
are expected to testify before a Senate panel March 18.
“One way or another, I am committed to moving a legislative solution,
preferably bipartisan, to stop monopoly-era phone regulations that harm
Internet consumers and innovation,” Thune said in a statement this
week.
President Barack Obama personally tweeted from the White House
account that millions of Americans made their voices heard on the FCC
vote
Well on Monday, my son was out of school and he had a friend spend the night, the spousal unit mentioned..."You know that you promised to take the kids to the range..." I gave her the patented look....you know the one that says
Yeah..that is the one...
Well we went to the range near my house and we only brought the .22LR rifles....The EBR stayed home this time, we just shot the regular .22's
The kids had a good time shooting and they took it seriously the marksmanship. Both kids enjoyed it and I was there having fun...and supplying the ammo....
Practicing the fundamentals
It was a good day at the range...then we headed to the next town over and
ate gyro's and other fun food, then we went home and I crashed on the recliner, the cold I was arguing with hit full bore and all I wanted to do was sleep. the boys played computer games and they were happy also.
I am arguing with a cold, and I had taken today off because my son is out of school today. So we went to the range, but more on that in a subsequent post.
I was stationed at Fort Devens in Mass for Advanced training and this song showed up on the MTV playlist that was playing in the breakroom. We would be ready to march to class, so we would sit in the breakroom and wait for the time for us to go. This is the place where I saw Whitney Houston for the first time, along with level 42 and many other bands. It was a good memory for a place that I have a love/hate relationship with. Fort Devens was returned to civilian control in the 90's during the early round of BRAC
We GI's liked the band behind Robert Palmer......While doing research for this posting I found out that Tina Turner has her version that was around almost as long. Her version is different but good, Nobody can do it like Tina Turner. I will probably do a Tina song for next weeks "Monday Music"
"Addicted to Love" is a song by English rock singer Robert Palmer released in 1986. The song has become known as his signature song, thanks in part to a highly popular video featuring high fashion models. Other artists have released versions since.
It is the third song on Palmer's Riptide album. The most commonly heard version runs around four minutes, but the full album version runs a little over six minutes.
The song entered the Billboard Hot 100 chart the week ending 8 February 1986. The song ended up topping the Billboard Hot 100, as well as the BillboardTop Rock Tracks
chart. It was one of the last 45 RPM singles to receive a
million-selling Gold certification. It also reached number one in
Australia, and number five on the UK Singles Chart.
Originally intended to be a duet with Chaka Khan,
the song was made without her because her record company at the time
would not grant her a release to work on Palmer's label, Island Records.
Chaka Khan, however, is still credited for the vocal arrangements in
the album liner notes. Andy Taylor of Duran Duran (and a bandmate of Palmer's from The Power Station) provides lead guitar. The other guitar part on the song is played by Eddie Martinez and keyboards by Wally Badarou.
The song is also notable for its unaccompanied drum opening, which has a
time signature of 7/4. The rest of the song is in common 4/4 time. Noddy Holder (the lead vocalist of English rock band Slade)
stated in an interview that this song was the main track he wished he'd
written himself. "The one main song that I wish that I'd written and
recorded is 'Addicted to Love' by Robert Palmer. To me, that's a perfect
pop song. Everything about it really hits the nail on the head."
The 1986 produced music video (which uses the shorter single version of this song), directed by British photographer Terence Donovan,
was one of the most iconic of the era. The video features Palmer
performing the song with an abstract "band", being a group of female
models whose pale skin, heavy makeup, dark hair and seductive, rather
robot-like expression follow the style of women in Patrick Nagel paintings.
The five models in the video are Julie Pankhurst (keyboard), Patty
Kelly (guitar), Mak Gilchrist (bass guitar) and Julia Bolino (guitar)
and Kathy Davies (drums).
Mak Gilchrist recalled to Q magazine:
“I was 21 and got the part on the strength of my modelling book. We
were meant to look and 'act' like showroom mannequins. Director Terence
Donovan got us tipsy on a bottle of wine but as we were having our
make-up retouched, I lost balance on my heels and knocked the top of my
guitar into the back of Robert’s head, and his face then hit the
microphone."
Palmer recycled the video's "iconic models" concept for the videos of
three other songs of his : "I Didn't Mean to Turn You On" (also from Riptide), "Simply Irresistible" and the animated "Change His Ways" (both from Heavy Nova). VH1's Pop-Up Video
trivia about the video include the fact that a musician was hired to
teach the models basic guitar fingering techniques, but "gave up after
about an hour and left". The episode also pointed out several
choreographic errors, including the models moving out of sync with one
another, and moving during points with no back beat, such as the second
chorus.
The music video ranked at number 3 on VH1's Top 20 Videos of the
1980s and was both the first and last video shown on long running UK
music programme The Chart Show.
The models were also used in the spoof of the video in "Weird Al" Yankovic's UHF wearing glasses and moustaches.
The music video was parodied in the music video of Stardust's "Music Sounds Better with You" and in Shania Twain's "Man! I Feel Like a Woman!".
Tina Turner
has made "Addicted to Love" a regular feature of her live shows since
1986, although her version did not make it onto the market until two
years later.
A live recording from the 1986/1987 Break Every Rule Tour of the track was included on her Tina: Live in Europe
album in 1988, and was also issued as the lead single to promote the
album in certain territories — instead of "Nutbush City Limits" — and
was a Top 20 hit in the Netherlands.
The two singles had the same B-sides: live recordings of "Overnight Sensation" and ZZ Top's "Legs"
and near identical picture sleeves. The version of "Addicted to Love"
issued on the single was in fact an alternate mix of the track; the
single mix was later included on the European editions of her 1991
greatest hits album Simply the Best, as well as All the Best in 2004 and Tina! in 2008.
I have been busy at work, but no overtime this week(drats) so I was working a bunch of chores that needed to be done, the next 6 weeks until spring break promises to be hectic. I will be posting more movies and video shorts, those will be easier for me to post on my tablet.
One of the things I did was put new tires on my Ranger, she needed tires for a long time and I finally put the original rims and tires on the truck. Now the Ranger looks like a truck again:) She is my camping and run errands and haul stuff Ranger, I have no complaints, the truck is in excess of 300,000 miles and runs good and she has all of my disgruntled veteran stuff on the back.
New Tires
Gone Camping(disgruntled Veteran) pic
One of the things I did today was pick up more ammo, I saw the proposed rules from that rogue agency of the rogue Obama regime, the ATF is proposing a ban on the popular green tip 855 round for the AR pattern rifles. people are angry and there is another run on the ammo.......again. I have been buying a box here and a box there every week or so and I have been doing this since the Sandy Hook fiasco. I don't want to be running like a lemming trying to buy ammo at the last minute.
It is not a lot of ammo, but multiply that by every couple of weeks and it starts to add up after a while. I learned the lessons after Sandy Hook. I have been expecting something from the Obama Regime after the 2014 elections, the petulant boy king(I havn't used that in a while) is still throwing a temper tantrums over the 2014 elections. he is pouting and I am sure that the director of the ATF didn't get this idea on his own. Gotta choke off the ammo for all those bitter clingers.
They are still talking about net neutrality and the government attempt to "regulate it in the Public interest" like a utility. I am hoping that there is such an uproar that the congress will use its power of the purse to rein back the FCC, although I have a gut feeling that the GOP will roll over on this one also.
On a different note, I ran across this video from Star Trek "Prelude to Axanar" it is about 21 minutes long, there is supposed to be a movie in the works, this is a fan based movie and it is very well done. If you are a fan of the "original" series before the JJ Adams version hit, you will really like this. It is the story of the Federation and the Klingon empire that had a war before the adventures of Capt Kirk. It is a very good movie short and worth the watch.
21 minute movie short
Wednesday, February 18, 2015
I made one of my infrequent forays into the land of Facebook and ran across this comment from Mike Rowe. My response was in "blue" it was a very good article
College
education don't equate to intelligence and desire to work. I have met
people with college degrees that are as stupid as a bag of hammers and
very smart people that never finished high school. You use what God
gave you.
Off The Wall
Kyle Smith writes...
Howard Dean recently criticized Gov Scott Walker for never finishing college, stating that he was "unknowledgeable." What would your response be on college as a requirement for elected office?
Hi Kyle
Back in 1990, The QVC Cable Shopping Channel was conducting a national
talent search. I had no qualifications to speak of, but I needed a job,
and thought TV might be a fun way to pay the bills. So I showed up at
The Marriott in downtown Baltimore with a few hundred other hopefuls,
and waited for a chance to audition. When it was my turn, the elevator
took me to the top floor, where a man no expression led me into a suite
and asked me to take a seat behind a large desk. Across from the desk,
there was a camera on a tripod. On the desk was a digital timer with an
LED display. I took a seat as the man clipped a microphone on my shirt
and explained the situation.
“The purpose of this audition is to
see if you can talk for eight minutes without stuttering, blathering,
passing out, or throwing up. Any questions?”
“What would you like me to talk about,” I asked.
The man pulled a pencil from behind his ear and rolled it across the
desk. “Talk to me about that pencil. Sell it. Make me want it. But be
yourself. If you can do that for eight minutes, the job is yours. Ok?”
I looked at the pencil. It was yellow. It had a point on one end, and
an eraser on the other. On the side were the words, Dixon Ticonderoga
Number 2 SOFT.
“Ok,” I said.
The man set the timer to
8:00, and walked behind the tripod. He pressed a button and a red light
appeared on the camera. He pressed another button and the timer began to
count backwards. “Action,” he said. I picked up the pencil and started
talking.
“Hi there. My name’s Mike Rowe, and I only have eight
minutes to tell you why this is finest pencil on Planet Earth. So let’s
get right to it.”
I opened the desk drawer and found a piece of
hotel stationary, right where I hoped it would be. I picked up the
pencil and wrote the word, QUALITY in capital letters. I held the paper
toward the camera.
“As you can plainly see, The #2 Dixon
Ticonderoga leaves a bold, unmistakable line, far superior to the thin
and wispy wake left by the #3, or the fat, sloppy skid mark of the
unwieldy #1. Best of all, the Ticonderoga is not filled with actual
lead, but “madagascar graphite,” a far safer alternative for anyone who
likes to chew on their writing implements.”
To underscore the claim, I licked the point. I then discussed the many advantages of the Ticonderoga’s color.
“A vibrant yellow, perfectly suited for an object that needs to stand out from the clutter of a desk drawer.”
I commented on the comfort of it’s design.
“Unlike those completely round pencils that press hard into the web of
your hand, the Ticonderoga’s circumference is comprised of eight, gently
plained surfaces, which dramatically reduce fatigue, and make writing
for extended periods an absolute delight.”
I pointed out the
“enhanced eraser,” which was “guaranteed to still be there - even when
the pencil was sharpened down to an unusable nub.”
I opined about handmade craftsmanship and American made quality. I talked about the feel of real wood.
“In a world overrun with plastic and high tech gadgets, isn’t it
comforting to know that some things haven’t evolved into something shiny
and gleaming and completely unrecognizable?’”
After all that,
there was still five minutes on the timer. So I shifted gears and
considered the pencil’s impact on Western Civilization. I spoke of
Picasso and Van Gogh, and their hundreds of priceless drawings - all
done in pencil. I talked about Einstein and Hawking, and their many
complicated theories and theorems - all done in pencil.
“Pen and
ink are fine for memorializing contracts,” I said, “but real progress
relies on the ability to erase and start anew. Archimedes said he could
move the world with a lever long enough, but when it came to proving it,
he needed a pencil to make the point.”
With three minutes
remaining, I moved on to some personal recollections about the role of
pencils in my own life. My first legible signature, my first book
report, my first crossword puzzle, and of course, my first love letter. I
may have even worked up a tear as I recalled the innocence of my youth,
scribbled out on a piece of looseleaf with all the hope and passion a
desperate 6th grader could muster...courtesy of a #2 pencil.
With :30 seconds left on the timer, I looked fondly at the Dixon
Ticonderoga, and sat silently for five seconds. Then I wrapped it up.
“We call it a pencil, because all things need a name. But today, let’s
call it what it really is. A time machine. A match maker. A magic wand.
And let’s say it can all be yours...for just .99 cents.”
The
timer read 0:00. The man walked back to the desk. He took the pencil and
wrote “YOU’RE HIRED” on the stationary, and few days later, I moved to
West Chester, PA. And a few days after that, I was on live television,
face to face with the never-ending parade of trinkets and chotchkies
that comprise QVC’s overnight inventory.
I spent three months on
the graveyard shift, five nights a week. Technically, this was my
training period, which was curious, given the conspicuous absence of
supervision, or anything that could be confused with actual instruction.
Every few minutes a stagehand would bring me another mysterious “must
have item,” which I’d blather about nonsensically until it was whisked
away and replaced with something no less baffling. In this way, I slowly
uncovered the mysteries of my job, and forged a tenuous relationship
with an audience of chronic insomniacs and narcoleptic lonely-hearts. It
was a crucible of confusion and ambiguity, and in hindsight, the best
training I ever had.
Which brings me to the point of your question, Kyle. I don’t agree with Howard Dean - not at all.
Here’s what I didn’t understand 25 years ago. QVC had a serious
recruiting problem. Qualified candidates were applying in droves, but
failing miserably on the air. Polished salespeople with proven track
records were awkward on TV. Professional actors with extensive credits
couldn’t be themselves on camera. And seasoned hosts who understood live
television had no experience hawking products. So eventually, QVC hit
the reset button. They stopped looking for “qualified” people, and
started looking for anyone who could talk about a pencil for eight
minutes.
QVC had confused qualifications with competency. Perhaps America has done something similar?
Look at how we hire help - it’s no so different than how we elect
leaders. We search for work ethic on resumes. We look for intelligence
in test scores. We search for character in references. And of course, we
look at a four-year diploma as though it might actually tell us
something about common-sense and leadership.
Obviously, we need a
bit more from our elected officials than the instincts of a home
shopping host, but the business of determining what those
“qualifications” are is completely up to us. We get to decide what
matters most. We get to decide if a college degree or military service
is somehow determinative. We get to decide if Howard Dean is correct.
Anyone familiar with my foundation knows my position. I think a
trillion dollars of student loans and a massive skills gap are precisely
what happens to a society that actively promotes one form of education
as the best course for the most people. I think the stigmas and
stereotypes that keep so many people from pursuing a truly useful skill,
begin with the mistaken belief that a four-year degree is somehow
superior to all other forms of learning. And I think that making elected
office contingent on a college degree is maybe the worst idea I’ve ever
heard.
But of course, Howard Dean is not the real problem. He’s
just one guy. And he’s absolutely right when he says that many others
will judge Scott Walker for not finishing college. That's the real
problem.
However - when Howard Dean called the Governor
“unknowledgeable,” he rolled out more than a stereotype. He rolled a
pencil across the desk, and gave Scott Walker eight minutes to knock it
out of the park.
It’ll be fun to see if he does.
Mike
Well I tried to get this out on Monday but I was overcome by event....Like Work and wanting to sleep. I will post some pithy comments tomorrow...
I remembered when Thriller came out, the Album...It was a good album, the songs "Billy Jean" and "Beat it" were huge smashes in their own right, but "Thriller" totally eclipsed the other video's and it became the standard for Music video's. I remember being in High School and we all would talk about the new music video coming out on MTV
There was a huge hype and buildup for this song and video, after it exploded on the airwaves, MTV would schedule subsequent screenings and people would run home to catch the video. It was that huge...
I liked Michael Jackson, before he got strange. He was a hugely talented musician and artist whose influence is still felt today. I have the album on vinyl, it is still one of my favorite albums. I never picked up the CD version.
"Thriller" is a song recorded by American recording artist Michael Jackson, composed by Rod Temperton, and produced by Quincy Jones. It is the seventh and final single from his sixth studio album of the same name. It was released on November 12, 1983 in most countries and January 23, 1984 in the United States by Epic Records. The song has appeared on multiple greatest hits compilation albums from Jackson, including HIStory (1995), Number Ones (2003), The Essential Michael Jackson (2005), and Michael Jackson's This Is It (2009) and it was remixed to the Immortal album in 2011. The song, which has a voice-over from actor Vincent Price had originally been titled "Starlight".
The song's instruments include a bassline
and synthesizer. In the song, sound effects such as a creaking door,
thunder, feet walking on wooden planks, winds and howling dogs can be
heard, and the lyrics contain frightening themes and elements.
"Thriller" received positive reviews from critics and became Jackson's
seventh top-ten single on the Billboard Hot 100 Chart from the album, while reaching the top of the charts in France and Belgium and the top ten in many other countries.
"Thriller" was adapted by American Werewolf In London director John Landis into a highly successful music video, known independently as Michael Jackson's Thriller.
At fourteen minutes the video is substantially longer than the song,
which ties together a narrative featuring Jackson and actress Ola Ray
in a setting heavily inspired by horror films of the 1950s. In the
video's most iconic scene, Jackson leads other actors costumed as zombies
in a choreographed dance routine. Though it garnered some criticism for
its occult theme and violent imagery, the video was immediately popular
and received high critical acclaim, being nominated for six MTV Video Music Awards in 1984 and winning three. In 2009 it was added to the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress,
the first music video ever selected. Although the song itself was a
huge success commercially, the video outshone its popularity.
"Thriller" was written by Rod Temperton, and produced by Quincy Jones. "Thriller" was originally titled "Starlight",contrary to other reports of the title "Starlight Love".
While the song was titled "Starlight", the song's hook lyrics were
"Starlight! Starlight sun...", but after the song was changed to
"Thriller" the hook was rewritten to "Thriller! In the night...". Temperton commented,
Originally, when I did my Thriller demo, I called it Starlight.
Quincy said to me, 'You managed to come up with a title for the last
album, see what you can do for this album.' I said, 'Oh great,' so I
went back to the hotel, wrote two or three hundred titles, and came up
with the title 'Midnight Man'. The next morning, I woke up, and I just
said this word... Something in my head just said, this is the title. You
could visualise it on the top of the Billboard charts. You could see
the merchandising for this one word, how it jumped off the page as
'Thriller'.
While Temperton was writing "Thriller" he stated that he'd "always
envisioned" a "talking section at the end" on the song, but did not
really know what "to do with it", until deciding "to have somebody, a
famous voice, in the horror genre, to do this vocal." Jones' then-wife, Peggy Lipton, who knew Vincent Price, suggested Price for the vocal part, which Price agreed to do.
Vincent Price
"Thriller", along with other songs from Thriller, was recorded by Jackson over the course of eight weeks, in 1982. Jackson recorded the song at Westlake Recording Studios on Santa Monica Boulevard in Los Angeles, California. Bruce Swedien, the song's engineer, said of the song being recorded,
When we started 'Thriller', the first day at Westlake, we were all
there and Quincy [Jones, the producer] walked in followed by me and
Michael and Rod Temperton and some of the other people. Quincy turned to
us and he said, 'OK guys, we're here to save the recording industry.'
Now that's a pretty big responsibility – but he meant it. And that's why
those albums, and especially 'Thriller', sound so incredible. The basic
thing is, everybody who was involved gave 150 percent … Quincy's like a
director of a movie and I'm like a director of photography, and it's
Quincy's job to cast [it]. Quincy can find the people and he gives us
the inspiration to do what we do.
Swedien and Jones stated that Vincent Price recorded his introduction
and voice-over rap for the song in two takes; Jones, acknowledging that
doing a voice-over for a song is "difficult", praised Price and
described his recording takes as being "fabulous".
Swedien said of Jackson recording the song, that, "I tried all sorts of
things with Michael – for instance, he would sing the main vocal part
and we'd double it one time and then I'd ask him to step away from the
mic and do it a third time and that really changed the acoustics in the
room so it gave Michael's vocals a unique character … We recorded some
of those background vocals in the shower stall at Westlake."
Throughout the song, sound effects such as a creaking door, thunder,
feet walking on wooden planks, winds and howling dogs can be heard. Bruce Cannon,
a sound effects editor for "Thriller", said that, "Things like the
lightning may have come from old Hollywood movies – we'll never know
which movies – but the best sound-effects editors do go out in the
desert and find a coyote, so I have a feeling that was a real howl."
The backing track, especially the bassline, has certain similarities to the 1981 number-one R&B hit "Give It to Me Baby" by Rick James. The bass part was made from two modified Minimoogs playing in unison.
Quincy Jones
"Thriller" received high acclaim reviews from contemporary music critics. Ashley Lasimone, of AOL's
Spinner.com, noted that "Thriller" "became a signature for Jackson" and
described "the groove of its bassline, paired with Michael's killer
vocals and sleek moves" as having had "produced a frighteningly great
single."Jon Pareles, of The New York Times, noted that Thrillers
tracks, "Billie Jean", "Beat It", "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'" and
"the movie in the song 'Thriller'", were the songs, unlike the "fluff"
"P.Y.T.", that were "the hits that made Thriller a world-beater;
along with Mr. Jackson's stage and video presence, listeners must have
identified with his willingness to admit terror."
Ann Powers, of the Los Angeles Times, described "Thriller" as
being a song that was "adequately groovy" with a "funked-out beat" with
lyrics that are "seemingly lifted from some little kid's 'scary
storybook'".
After Jackson's death, AOL's Radio Blog released a list, titled "10
Best Michael Jackson Songs", which placed "Thriller" at number one.
In 2009 Melissa Cabrera, of AOL Radio Blogs, listed "Thriller" as being
the fourth best song on their "Top 100 '80s Songs" list.Eliot Glazer, AOL's Radio Blogs, placed "Thriller" at number one on a list titled "Top 1984 Songs". "Thriller" was also listed at number two on the "10 Best Halloween Songs" and "10 Best Party Songs" lists by AOLs Radio Blog, and at number one on "The Top 10 Halloween Songs" list by Billboard.
The music video, directed by John Landis, was filmed in various locations in New York and Los Angeles. Contrary to reports of $800,000 to $1 million production budgets, Landis stated that the music video was made for $500,000.
Jackson said of making the music video, in an interview that aired on
December 11, 1999, for MTV's 100 Greatest Videos Ever Made:
My idea was to make this short film with conversation ... I like
having a beginning and a middle and an ending, which would follow a
story. I'm very much involved in complete making and creating of the
piece. It has to be, you know, my soul. Usually, you know, it's an
interpretation of the music. [...] It was a delicate thing to work on
because I remember my original approach was, 'How do you make zombies
and monsters dance without it being comical?' So I said, 'We have to do
just the right kind of movement so it doesn't become something that you
laugh at.' But it just has to take it to another level. So I got in a
room with [choreographer] Michael Peters, and he and I together kind of
imagined how these zombies move by making faces in the mirror. I used to
come to rehearsal sometimes with monster makeup on, and I loved doing
that. So he and I collaborated and we both choreographed the piece and I
thought it should start like that kind of thing and go into this jazzy
kind of step, you know. Kind of gruesome things like that, not too much
ballet or whatever.
The music video of the song also included on the video albums: Video Greatest Hits - HIStory, HIStory on Film, Volume II, Number Ones, on the bonus DVD of Thriller 25 and Michael Jackson's Vision.
Following the release of the music video, a 45-minute documentary was
released that provided candid glimpses behind the scenes of the music
video's production.Entitled Making Michael Jackson's Thriller, it, like the music video, was shown heavily on MTV for a time and was the top-selling home-video release of all time at one point, with over nine million copies sold. MTV paid $250,000 for the exclusive rights to show the documentary; Showtime paid $300,000 for pay-cable rights; and Vestron Video reportedly paid $500,000 to market the cassette, in a profit participation agreement.
Set in the 1950s, Michael and his unnamed date (Ola Ray) run out of gas near a dark wooded area. They walk off into the forest, and Michael asks her if she would be his "girl";
she accepts and he gives her a ring. He warns her, however, that he is
"different". A full moon appears, and Michael begins convulsing in
agony, transforming into a werewolf.
His date runs away in terror, but the werewolf catches up to her,
knocking her down and begins lunging at her with his claws. The scene
then cuts to a modern-day movie theater where Michael and his date,
along with a repulsed audience, are actually watching the scene unfold
in a movie called Thriller.
Michael's date leaves the theater as Michael hands his popcorn to a
stranger, catches up to her, and assures her that "It's only a movie".
Some debate follows as to whether or not she was scared by the movie.
They then walk down a foggy road as Michael teases her by singing the
verses of "Thriller". They pass a nearby graveyard, in which zombies
begin to rise out of their caskets as Vincent Price performs his
soliloquy. The zombies corner Michael and his date threateningly, and
suddenly, Michael becomes a zombie himself. The zombies then break into
an elaborate song and dance number,
followed by the main chorus of "Thriller" (during which Michael was
reverted to human form), frightening his date to the point where she
runs for cover.
Michael (turned back into a zombie) and his fellow corpses then back
the frightened girl into the corner of a nearby abandoned house. Michael
then reaches for his date's throat as she lets out a bloodcurdling
scream, only to awake and realize it was all a dream. Michael then
offers to take her home, and she happily obliges. As they walk out of
the house, Michael eerily looks at the camera, thus revealing his yellow
werewolf eyes, as we hear Vincent Price's haunting laugh
The music video was listed as the "Greatest Video" on VH1's "VH1: 100 Greatest Videos" in 2001.MTV listed the music video as being the "Greatest Music Video Ever
Made" on their list, "MTV: 100 Greatest Music Videos Ever Made" in 1999. In July 2011, the music video was named one of "The 30 All-TIME Best Music Videos" by TIME magazine.
I ran across this and saved it to post it when I had an opportunity.
I am an Army veteran so we can make jokes at the Air Force. They DO treat their people better and that is a fact.....although I and other veterans do consider them........well pampered comes to mind.
I will also add another one that had made the rounds a few times and I had seen a copy of this at the flight operations hut at Katterbach Germany(Near Ansbach)
or phone, under rules approved Thursday by a divided Federal Communications Commission.
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