What's your favourite Michael Jackson memory ?

It's one of those moments.

It is really is.

Years from now, you will look back and find you will always remember where you were when you found out Michael Jackson died.

Especially if, like me, you grew up, to his music. If 'Bad' was among the first audio cassettes you owned. If , like me, you grew up watching a black kid trying to fit in with a cruel world by literally turning white... by watching him trying forever to be different and succeeding... by being the ultimate showstopper... the golden glove, the crotch grabbing, the 'hee-hees', the crazy fans idolation... and the music itself. I mean one of my first music video memories is him serenading a girl as only he could in "The way you make me feel". This is the guy who stunned us with the dance moves of "Smooth Criminal". I absolutely worshipped the variety of the album "Dangerous" be it the legendary "Black or White", the trademark "Jam", the haunting "Who is it", the supercool "Dangerous" or just the touching "Will you be there." If you haven't crooned "You are not alone"even once, if you haven't shaken to the beat of "They don't really care about us" or "Bad", my friend, you have not lived. This was the guy who invented moonwalking, made pop music an art form... along with the late Princess Di & Mother Teresa, he was one of the most recognisable icons all over the world at one time.

I'm not going to speak on the court cases, the bankruptcy and the final decades of a life ruined - that's not the Jacko I want to remember.

I prefer to remember him for who he was - THE KING OF POP.

In fact, seeing the grief online, I'm glad that atleast in death, people have been more forgiving of him than they were during his lifetime. I'm glad that like me, millions the world over, will remember his passing away for what it is - the end of an era.

What's my favourite Michael memory ? It's of an era I still consider the best time of my life - my school days and the memory of a friend with an uncanny likeness to the 'black Michael'. He too was a big Michael fan and we used to have the most hilarious times singing and mimicking the King. I still remember his awesomely soulful ( comical ) renditions of one of Michael's most underrated songs- Who is it. Man, you had to be there to see it - him singing to a rapt audience of teenagers in a very cool, heart rendering, ear piercing voice, the gals applauding, the guys beating the desks to his voice, the mega-cool standstill pose as featured in the pic above; sounds silly now, but back then as a teen, life was just about that - living life KINg sized. Enjoying it to the core. You can't replace that time and that era for all the Paris Hilton sagas in the world.

Generations grew up to his music decades ago... generations mourned his early and untimely demise today. I should know. Even my mom was heartbroken watching the news on his death... that says a lot.

What is your favourite Jackson memory... and favourite song ?

Below is the video of his "Will you be there"... I chose it because it shows everything I remember about him - a compassionate singer who loved to be a showman and had legions of supporters at the peak of his career... someone who was loved and respected by all. Someone who was a living God of music once upon a time.

Rest in peace, finally, Michael.

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You Are My Chicken Fry

This is one of the reasons I love YouTube.. where else can you get the world's most romantic Hindi song, Daler Mehndi, a young Will Smith and a butter paratha all in one video ?

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Ching-chongs and tootsies.

Holy invisible panties, Batman !!!

What is it, Robin ?

I just got off the Bat-internet and guess what ?

Has terror struck Gotham City, Robin ?

It's worse, Caped Crusader . Terror has struck the whole internet viewing globe.

What has happened, Boy Wonder ?

The Holy Triad is back again. They're all over the internet.

But that's impossible, Boy. We locked up the Joker, the Riddler and the Penguin in Arkham Asylum. There's no way they got out.

Not the unholy trio, the holy trio, Batman !!!

Oh no !!

Yes, Batman. Accidental pics of Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan's pantiless ching chongs and Britney Spear's tootsies have invaded the net again.

Damn it, Robin. There's nothing we can do about it. I should have expected this. After all, they had been quiet all year.

Quiet ? But I've been reading about their sex lives all year, Batman.

Yes, Robin. But it had been awhile since they'd displayed their ching-chongs and tootsies at us. Sure, they've done it in 2005 and then in 2006 and again in 2007 and '08, but it's June of 2009 and there had been nothing. We should have expected this visual onslaught.

Holy definitive strategies, Batman !! What should we do ?

Nothing, Robin. We just accept that they're doing the world a service, showing them what the rich and famous get to have and thus motivating young slumdogs all over the world to try harder to reach Las Vegas and behold the tootsies in real life.

They are the true example that this is indeed the land of the free... where everyone has the same opportunities with these three fair maidens, irrespective of nationality, colour and yes, even gender. God bless those big hearted girls.

Besides, do you know how much a Hollywood gynaecologist costs per appointment ? This way, they just have to email their snaps in and get free consultations... from a million expert non-certified ching-chong experts too.

Wow, Batman. I never thought of that. They're actually doing the world a service ?

Yes, Boy Wonder. They're motivating people to rise above their poverty and misfortunes and reach the path that millions have crossed.

Millions, Batman ?

Well, Hundreds atleast. Now, Boy Wonder. It's way past your bedtime and besides, I thought I told you that visiting such sites was bad for you.

Umm... I'm sorry Bats. I couldn't help myself. I just saw the link and had to click it to see if anything had changed since 2005.

It's alright, Boy Wonder. I understand. Has anything changed ?

Naaa... still the same on all three fronts, Batman. Perhaps you can confirm that ...

I'm sorry, Robin. I wouldn't know. I don't see such nudity. A woman's ching chongs and tootsies are her own business and we mustn't ogle at them. It is our responsibility to defend their honour, irrespective of the size of their tootsie cups. Remember that, Robin. Now off to bed. By the way, those new Teddy Bear pyjamas look good on you.

Holy Morals, Batman. You're the best. I'll head to bed right away.

I'll be right down to read you a bedtime story. I just have to check on a few things.

Robin heads to bed while Bats heads to the Bat Cave and turns on his computer and logs in. A few clicks later and he reaches his destination. He stares intently.

"That stupid Boy Blunder. Still the same on all three fronts, he says !!! Those Britney tootsies have definitely gained some weight."

Downstairs, Alfred the butler is going through the day's mail. He stops and goes through the Batman's credit card listings.

" Nudecelebs.com, Paparazziking.com, dirtyblondes.com.... Sigh !! No wonder they call him the DARK knight."

Author's note : Yes, there are new ( how ironic a term is that? ) accidental pics out. And no, I ain't leaving behind any links to them in this holier-than-thou blog !!! ( you wish !! ). For those of you who can't resist seeing what the rest of the world from America to Zimbabwe already has, here's a hint : G-o-o-g-l-e S-e-a-r-c-h.

P.S. : Use direct, real words in your search. If it worked for 'Robin', it should work for you too.

P.P.S : Ching chong is not a real word. I made it up. It stands for ...ummm.. uhhh.. a girl's ... you know... bajingo.

P.P.P.S : Bajingo is not a real word either.

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Payback

Welcome back. You've been by these dark roads before, haven't you ? You've been to Amberville once before. Well, it's been awhile, hasn't it ? And while your life has changed, so too has Amberville.. So welcome back to the land where everyone has a secret and someone's always waiting to get you....

I turned to Jimmy.

"You see, death really isn't an end. It's more like a pit stop in this never ending journey. In fact, some Indian religions really advocate this concept of reincarnation. I read in a book once that, as per their beliefs, after you die, you became all the animals you killed and ate and only after that, move forward to your next major human life. Can you imagine that ? It's so weird. It almost made me turn veggie, no seriously, man, it did... but then I figured, I'd eaten enough chickens and cows that it's gonna be an eternity before the Lord gets around to my next human life, so why bother ? You know ? Better to do good deeds in this life and pray he'll minus a few chicken lives from our register when we get to 'em gates of heaven. That's what I say anyway. That as long as you don't harm anyone unjustly, you're safe in God's books."

Jimmy didn't look good. He seemed pale, infact. I could see a few blood drops dripping of his head. I couldn't make out his expression though, what with him being upside down an' all. That's the problem with hanging people upside down of a rooftop.. you never know if he's smiling or it's an upside down frown.

He looked at me with his lesser swollen eye. " I hope they kill your bitch... I hope she dies writhing in pain ."

I smiled.

His leg loosened it's grip around my hand... or was it vice versa? His face registered shock for just a second as he fell. After that, the rain carried his scream down towards the pavement. It's raining bad out here in Amberville.

It's raining bodies.

I walk down the stairs calmly. By the time I reach the streets, I expect a crowd to be gathered around the body, expressing horror while memorising every gory detail to tell their loved ones the moment they get back home. I'm not disappointed. The crowd's building up as I walk amongst them, lost in the crowd, a fellow voyeur. I get a brief glimpse of Jimmy lying on the crimson stained sidewalk.

He's had better days. The fall's left him in an awkward pose. He looks like that road sign next to the traffic lights that says "Walk Now."

Heh.

Dead Man Walking.

I chuckle at that. It's the first time I've chuckled in days. And immediately, thoughts of Rhonda wash into my shores.

Rhonda. She's my gal. In this city of muck and grime, she's my angel. We'd crossed paths a few times before we first hooked up.. mostly outside Barney's bar where I'd go to spend the evenings and she'd be outside, waiting to pick up a friendly face... any friendly face... for the night. I guess she liked what she saw in me... God only knows what that was... but she came by one night when I was wasted and.. well, you know how the story goes. I took her over to my place, she stayed the night. I figured it was a pity thing, but turned out, like me, she too craved companionship. It actually worked out well for the two of us, despite our obvious differences. She didn't ask me where I was when I came home late, stinking of beer and skank or why I kept overdosing on my medications and I didn't ask her about her past and how many men she'd accompanied home before me. We just accepted each other.. two flawed creatures completing each other.

We were happy.

And then, last night, I came home to find the apartment door kicked in. The punks had torn down the place. The rooms were a mess like a tornado came by to take a whiz... the TV and my one good sofa were gone. And so was Rhonda. I'd like to imagine she put up a strong fight, but she really stood no chance. She's not built for this kind of thing. I don't know what horrors have befallen her in her past, but she turns foetal when confronted with danger or even a raised voice. And now she was in their hands. Whoever they were.

In the last 24 hours, I've been going over my list one by one. The guys most likely to do this to me. The guys with grudges against me. Big list. I've been paying them a visit. They weren't too pleased to see me. Naturally. We exchanged pleasantries. We exchanged words. We exchanged fists.

24 hours later, I'm still walking the streets, a step closer to finding my gal. Jimmy was very cooperative towards the end of our conversation. You know, right before he took flying lessons of the roof top. He gave me an address. Jimmy was a good guy. Who knows, if we'd been able to work out our differences, we could have actually been good friends.

As I head towards my final destination, I pass by the electronics shop... I catch snippets from the local news channel. "Suspect is reported to be an ex-policeman who was unceremoniously discharged following what officials described as 'bad conduct'. He is considered armed and mentally unstable. Anyone seeing this man should contact the police at this number immediately..."

I look at the screen.

I smile.

"Heh." I mumble to myself. "They got a pretty good pic of me."

Click here to find out the end of The Payback

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