Hello! :waving:
Question time!
Do you have any pets?
What is your favourite sport?
Do you prefer to take showers or baths?
A: I have a lucky bamboo plant/Victorian Gentleman named Vincent. My brother has a cat named Gino who may qualify as a pet when I am at my mother's Haus, but Vincent is entirely mine.
A: I'm not very active in sports. I would fence, except I'm very much a member of the proletariat, so I can't afford to sign up to a private fencing club or to purchase any equipment, and since I went to public school, fencing was never offered and all the sports which they did have were proletariat sports such as football, American football, basketball, volleyball, track, lacrosse, etc. I used to do karate as a child, but never seriously enough to amount up to anything, and my karate classes came to an abrupt conclusion when our teacher broke his leg, and by the time he was back into teaching, we had moved away. With that said, I was proudly the only biological female in the classes, as our school had a more-or-less strict girls do ballet and boys do karate after school sports policy. I was originally signed up for ballet by default, however, I told my grandma I wanted to do karate with my brother, and she nagged the school enough for them to let me (not to mention I was a wretch at ballet). Interestingly enough, I like to watch "girly" sports like ballet, figure skating, and gymnastics, although I would never partake, even if I had the talent. I also love to watch fencing, and would love to do it.
A: I like baths for their soothing qualities, and have lavender bath salt, soap, and bath milk (with bubbles), however, the pressing demands of my busy schedule only allow me to take baths on rare occasions, so I have to make do with water-consuming showers the majority of the time.
Do you consider yourself interesting company? If not for others, at least for yourself? Why so?
Would you ever consider plastic surgery? If so, what would you do?
What do you like about your life?
How did you get hooked on MJ?
A: I don't think I'm particularly interesting company for others. I'm unsociable most of the time, and pretty much uninterested in sharing my time with others in the real world. I like the Internet because it allows me to talk to people without being "bothered" by their presence. I know that sounds arrogant, but I don't mean it that way, as I don't think I'm better than anyone, however, I don't like human contact (physical contact especially)/presence, and the less social stimulus I receive, the better (by that, I mean things like seeing who I'm talking to, hearing their voice, having to deal with their demands, or sharing a space). I'm perfectly fine amongst people, say, at the mall, where I can just aloofly ignore them as they go about their business ignoring me also, but when engaged in a casual conversation with someone, I'm not really interested. There are a few exceptions, such as my prof. with whom I could talk (and with whom I have talked) for hours, but the default is the less "real" contact with the person, the better. I don't even like talking on the phone, but I also don't text (since I have no friends to text, my phone is pretty much what it should be for everyone--a lifeline to be used in an emergency to reach competent authorities, or to get in touch with someone under absolutely necessary circumstances such as locating a child, or knowing when one is going to be picked up [I do text for those, though]). With that said, I don't think anyone would find me particularly interesting company if they were to converse with me in person. I am very interesting company for myself, and I have been conversing with myself for years now, to my mother's horror.
A: Yes. Ideally, I'd like gender reassignment surgery, as I have never felt like a girl. However, I don't like the overly masculine look either and the technology for totally successful reassignment is faulty at best, especially for FTM, so I would settle for a complete breast removal, so as to look androgynous, which is really the way I feel. Additional procedures I would like to undergo are: nose job, as I have always hated my nose, and a lip reduction.
A: I like the fact that it won't last forever.
A: There is a lot to be said for Michael in regards to talent and musical prowess especially, however, what really intrigued me about him was his authenticity. He didn't have an air of pretentiousness like most pop stars do these days, we all know the super-famous and entirely superficial guys and girls who claim to be "deep" or "symbolic", "legit" or "misunderstood", but are really just more of the same and anyone with eyes and a brain can see they're no different from the other dime a dozen pop people. As evidenced by all the media attacks against him for the past 20+ years, Michael really
was misunderstood, and he never understood why (and for that matter, neither do I). He wasn't some pseudo-rebel making intentionally provocative/incendiary/I guess some would say lewd videos
a la (currently) Rihanna or Lady Gaga (currently among the most mainstream/popular pseudo-rebels [singers who like to pose as rebellious but are actually enforcing the status quo by their actions/lyrics] out there). Everything he made after
Thriller had a relevant message, especially
HIStory and
Dangerous. His songs had messages seldom found in pop/mainstream music, songs about the unfairness of the world like "They Don't Care About Us", child abuse like "Little Susie," the banalization of sex (judging by the lyrics, especially among teens/young adults, since a mother figure is mentioned, and the line "love ain't what it used to be" implies the speaker reflecting upon past times as compared to a very distinct present, in which case the past values would differ from those of the present, and by default the people of the present would have to be younger as they are adhering to present values) in "Superfly Sister", important issues being ignored over celebrity gossip in "Why You Wanna Trip On Me," racism in "Black or White," drug use in "Morphine," the evils of the for-profit world in "Money" (in the lyrics they apply directly to his life, however, the things he mentions such as having no qualms about behaving unethically to make a profit, back-stabbing, and questionable loyalties could be applicable in any professional relationship), environmentalism in "Earth Song," making the world a better place in both "Heal the World," and "Cry," and caring for one another and realizing change in "Man in the Mirror" (although he didn't write it, that song embodied things he believed in). These things are impressive enough, but I think we all know that Michael did much more than talk the talk. He also strove to make good on his word to make the world a better place throughout his life, and since his philanthropic efforts seldom received news coverage during the later part of his life, we can safely assume he didn't do it for the recognition. Moreover, since his efforts consisted of more than just donating money, we can also rule out tax-related reasons for his potential motivation for wanting to do these things, which only leave us with authentic desire to help his fellow humans as the only remaining option. He also didn't just half-heartedly endorse some lipstick, donate a song for some relief campaign/charity, or support some hamburger helper campaign. He literally put his heart and soul into helping people, and this was really what his life was about, more than the music and the magic, it was about the love he felt for every living thing on this planet. Michael was never cruel, petty, or mean, nor did he think himself to be any better than "normal" people--he knew he was different, but he never thought of himself as being above anyone and was always very humble about his achievements, which is why I have to laugh at anyone who dubs him a "self-proclaimed" King of Pop. He never really liked the title anyway, and Liz Taylor was the one who gave it to him--despite his many achievements and incredible talent, Michael always remained down-to-Earth, unlike the fame-obsessed divas (both male and female, but sad to say predominantly female) and attention whores who plague mainstream music. His mind carried so much wisdom, which further distinguished him from the rest, and in his writing you can tell he's authentic about what he's saying, and that it really means something. The symbolism he uses, especially in his poems and reflections book,
Dancing the Dream, is so powerful it touches the human heart to the core and brings some [myself among them] to tears. There are some musicians who claim to be "deep" and "symbolic" in both lyrical and prose works, however, one can quickly tell when something is truly meaningful and a rich brew of metaphor "for the ages," so to speak, and when something is half-baked pseudo-metaphoric/symbolic fodder with no real or relevant meaning whatsoever. Of course, he was also multi-talented, not only possessing genius-level skill in music and dance, but also being incredibly talented as a writer, an artist, and a speaker. The speech he gave at Oxford University, touching upon such relevant topics in this world as the future of modern children, is really among the most fantastic and inspiring pieces of verbal wisdom I have ever heard. So, in short (as this is long enough already), his being got me hooked on him. There are many musicians I find to be greatly talented, but none have amazed me as thoroughly not only as musicians, but as human beings, as Michael Jackson has, which is why I'm an active member of this forum.
I just discovered this thread! LOL
Ok-here's my question--
What does your screen name mean?
A: Mikage Souji is my favourite anime character, from the series Revolutionary Girl Utena. Formerly known as professor Nemuro, he's a genius student/professor at Ohtori Academy, who also runs the Mikage Seminar and the Circle of the Black Rose. He's tormented by an unrequited love for his boss, Tokiko Chida, and regret over not being able to save her terminally ill brother Mamiya Chida. When he spies Tokiko kissing another man, the sight causes him to go insane and burn down a building with 100 students [Nemuro Memorial Hall] in a possible attempt to sabotage the project to bring the world revolution by reaching eternity. It is through his efforts building a perpetual motion machine that the Castle of Dios is able to be seen from the dueling arena. The machine further enables Akio Ohtori, the acting chairman of the school [and the man Tokiko kissed] to project mass illusions to those students whose innocence and hope for eternity, idealism [a perfect "shining thing" with which to escape the imperfect world], miracles, and power would allow them to see the images Akio projects before them with Mikage's machine. After setting the building on fire (the sacrifice he believed was necessary to obtain the power to revolutionize the world) his insanity deepens and he is so tormented by the guilt of his own actions that his mind completely changes both his identity and his perception of reality. By the time Utena [protagonist] attends Ohtori, Nemuro is known as Mikage Souji, and his memories of his former self are corrupted to protect his mind from realizing the truth of his actions [in his mind, it was Tokiko's brother Mamiya who set fire to Nemuro Memorial Hall, and Mikage takes the blame supposedly out of love for Tokiko]. He also is not fully in the present time, and projects images of the past unto those of the present [such as confusing Utena for Tokiko, while being unable to recognize the real Tokiko, who has aged about 20 years since she left Ohtori after the fire and her brother's death, showing the audience that he is "stuck in the past."] So, Mikage should be around 40 years old [same age as Tokiko, who was in her 20s when she worked for Akio]. However, since he is stuck in the past, Mikage still looks 18 years old, so as to imply he is frozen in time. Much speculation exists among fans as to whether Mikage actually exists at the time Utena enters Ohtori, or if he is really a ghost. Not much supports the ghost hypothesis, especially when comparing him to Chigusa Sanjouin, a ghost in the Utena Sega Saturn game who died under similar circumstances to Mikage's students, except her death in the white fencing hall fire was a suicide over being jilted by the teacher she was in love with, resulting in no casualties outside of herself. However, to manifest at Ohtori at the same time Utena attends, Chigusa needs a yorishiro, an object which serves as the ghost's connection to the physical world. Her yorishiro is the teacher's name tag. Mikage doesn't have one, so he can' be a ghost. Once her yorishiro is destroyed by the teacher's daughter, who is the video game protagonist, she is defeated by Utena, and disappears forever. When Mikage is defeated by Utena in the series, he is simply "graduated" from the academy by Akio and presumably goes to the real world, where he either ages naturally from that point on and picks up the pieces of his life, or he magically ages 20 years all while finding out he barbecued 100 of his students, Mamiya is dead
and Tokiko is married to some guy. The combined impact of these realizations would probably make him go insane all over again.
Here's a picture of Mikage, from a fan quiz. I got him as a result when I took it a while ago, lol:
(Two-faced? Not really, at least not in the traditional meaning of the term. I assume they are alluding to his split personality [Nemuro/Mikage], but if anything Mikage is overwhelmingly loyal to those he loves/cares for [Tokiko and Mamiya]. He does manipulate other students into joining the black rose circle and dueling Utena, however, his personality always remains detached, so he's not "two-faced" with the approach, and manipulates/prompts them into dueling Utena via psychoanalysis, not two-facedness. Two-faced would be an adjective more fitting towards characters like Shiori Takatsuki or Anthy Himemiya, who never are quite what they present themselves to be, something no one could say of Mikage.)