Michael Jackson was one of those talents that only comes along in a generation. He pushed the envelope of music with a combination of well written, superiorly recorded songs (thanks largely to producer Quincy Jones) combined with an infectious dance presentation that has to be marveled at. In 1984 there was nowhere you could escape the sounds of his album “Thriller.” Even now, years later, the album holds up as a classic. Michael will live in our hearts musically forever…his songs we will hear over and over again for years to come. It has been reported that there are over 100 unreleased recordings by Michael in the vaults. Over the next few years there are plans being set in place to release them. Now on to the other half of the story.

 The tragedy of Michael Jackson has happened before to many who have been swept up in the glaring lights of fame and excess. The eerie similarity surrounding Michael’s death and that of Elvis Presley is shocking. Elvis was an icon that pushed the envelope of music for years. Many fans split his career into two stages….before he went into the army in 1958, and after. The changing moment in Elvis’s life was, while stationed in Germany he discovered “prescription medication.” He took pills to keep him up at night when he was out on maneuvers. One problem, when Elvis returned from the army in 1960 the drug taking continued. Elvis never thought he was addicted…to him, it was all legal. He never went to the street corner to buy off the local drug dealer. He just had a series of doctors write him prescriptions. When anyone approached him that he may have a problem with the drugs, they were banished from his realm. What Elvis had left was an entourage of “yes” men. Fast forward to August 1977, and his tolerance and abuse of the medications took his life.

 Michael Jackson in 1984 burned the top of his head when a mishap occurred during a Pepsi commercial. That was the beginning, experts say, with his fascination with “prescribed medication.” Here we are 25 years later, and Michael has left us with suspicions of the same problem as Elvis. Friends have been coming forward saying that they had tried to warn Michael about his growing dependency on drugs. Anytime they brought up the subject, they too were banished.

 There are more glaring similarities. Shortly before Elvis’s death he had just played a game of racket ball while preparing for an upcoming concert tour. Michael had just been rehearsing two days before his death, for a series of concerts in England, which he called his “This Is It” tour. Oddly, another thing they both have in common… Lisa Marie Presley. Elvis’s daughter, and Michael Jackson’s ex-wife.

 Abuse of prescribed medications is turning into an epidemic in the United States, and probably in other countries too. If I see another commercial that says “Ask your doctor if this medication is right for you,” I’m going to scream! A friend of mine recently told me that half of his son’s college class is on mood stabilizers. If anything good is to come out of the death of Michael Jackson, I hope it is the revelation of the escalating abuse of prescription drugs in this country. We only hear about the rich and famous who die from the abuse…not the many others who don’t get a headline.

 Rest in Peace,

Jennifer Avalon

© 2009 Jennifer Avalon

Time is either a journey along a continuous line, or a circle that revolves over and over again. Mankind is at the crossroads to determine which one is true.

As the old saying goes, if we forget the past, are we destined to repeat it? Or are we doomed to consistently repeat old formulas and ideas that have been proven time and again to fail? Each morning when I pick up my newspaper and read the headlines, is it me, or do you also, after a while, start to feel that you’ve seen this movie before? Have we as a society forgotten what works, and what doesn’t?

Can mankind overcome its defects, to the point of not repeating them? I want so much to believe in the perfect world, where everything can be negotiated and compromised…where nations can sit down around the table, discuss their differences, and find peace. A world where thieves and crooks don’t have their way in our financial markets. Is it naive to want a better world for our children? Eerily, more and more I start to see the mistakes and demons of the past begin to show their faces with new masks. The name Neville Chamberlain has been going over and over in my mind this past week. He was the Prime Minister of Great Britain who tried to reach a peace treaty with Adolf Hitler. Chamberlain was convinced that he could sit down and negotiate an agreement with Hitler, that intelligent men could meet and find a compromise. He watched as Adolf Hitler signed the agreement not to invade Poland, brought that agreement back to the British people and, as he was getting off the plane, held out the agreement and said “Peace in our time.” Before the ink was dry on that agreement, Hitler invaded Poland. We all know where that ended up.

We will find out in the next couple of years if Time is a straight line, or a repeating circle. The past few months President Obama has opened his hands to compromise and peace, over and over. He wants so much to reach common ground with those who consider America their enemy. President Obama will either succeed, or become Neville Chamberlain. What we as a society are going to have to see firsthand is, are there people who want peace, or are there people that will do anything to avoid it?

Time is the great commoditizer. Products that were once extremely expensive eventually drop in price so that just about everyone can afford them. Computers, televisions, flat screens, and yes, eventually, robots. Unfortunately, so too has nuclear material become commoditized. Where once nations shuddered at the thought of a nuclear war, other groups now see no problem with purchasing and using such weapons. Is the time line flat, or a circle? Can one rationally have a conversation with a madman?

I love my country, I love the world. I want all God’s children to get along. Time hangs in the balance.

May true hearts prevail,

Jennifer Avalon

© 2009 Jennifer Avalon