Your Morning Sift

Good morning.

Another week in the can, folks! Happy Friday. As you might expect, lots of posts last night about Michael Jackson's passing. There's that and more in your TGIF morning Sift...

A- Sweat Records ponders the life of Michael Jackson, as does 305. From the former...

Making cruel jokes at Michael expense said that I was a judgmental as*hole [Ed.]. I took more pleasure in mocking his queerness than in admiring his brilliance. Nobody’s dance moves made me ponder physics like Michael’s. No song can funk-up a crowd like “Billy Jean.” And no one took on the important social issue of walking away from street violence like MJ did in “Beat It.”

Let’s consider the adversity that Michael Jackson dealt with over his life…physical abuse, racial prejudice, isolation, going from poverty to abundant wealth, gender identity issues…you name it. And despite all that, he found the strength to continue making his art.

B- Mango&Lime recommends Gusto's sandwiches.

Driving South on Le Jeune toward Miracle Mile, shortly after you pass the Courtyard Marriott on the right side of the road, you may miss the sign on the window that reads Gusto Fino Italian Deli Market. I know I did for months after I moved to the Gables. And even after I took notice, the place remained only a mental note until last weekend when I visited thinking it was a market. Gusto Fino does sell a few things but I wouldn’t call it a market. It does, however, have a pretty big selection of sandwiches, pastas and salads.

C- Man or Maniac and Random Pixels also remember Michael Jackson...in a different way. From the former...

Michael Jackson may very well be the victim of our adulation, a boy thrust into the limelight and robbed of his childhood. Certainly, we loved his art more than the man. Let's be honest, no one ever really knew who Michael Jackson really was, including the man himself. His early work came from the heart: he sang of things that interested him, of things he wanted to say, of things he was feeling. But over time, his music became calculated. It was a man making music not because he wanted to say something, but because he wanted something to do, something to show he could still do...something.

And that is the real tragedy.

D- Obalesque takes a more, ahem, detached view of this week's celebrity passings.

Dying as they did in the first week of the summer in the first decade of the Oughts, they’ll be linked for awhile, and then forgotten. In fact, it’s almost the weekend. I vote for accelerating the amnesia. Whose round is it?

E- Coconut Grove Grapevine enlightens us with a little South Florida Michael Jackson trivia.

F- Some Cranky Guy's rant today deals with the Miami Herald's registration system. SFDB readers should remember that they can always use the user name SFDB and the password SFDBSFDB.

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