Purple Reign

Last week, the music world - correction, the entire world - was stunned by news of the sudden passing of Prince Rogers Nelson, better known by just his first name (and, at times, as "The Artist Formerly Known As His First Name") - the Minneapolis-raised musical genius who recorded hits such as “Raspberry Beret,” “1999,” and “When Doves Cry.”

In response, the globe went from Purple Rain to Purple Lighting faster than His Royal Badness could take a Corvette from zero to 60, as a number of significant structures were lit up in various shades of lavender - including the Eiffel Tower, Target Field in Minneapolis, and Detroit’s Renaissance Center. A multitude of tributes were expressed online and on air. Even the U.S. Senate, which has managed not to do its job in at least considering a ninth Supreme Court justice (among other things it has managed not to achieve), approved a resolution honoring Prince for his achievements as a musician, composter, innovator, and cultural icon.

Prince was, indeed, a musical icon. It could be argued, even before his death, that he was part of a Contemporary American Musician Mt. Rushmore, up in the stratosphere with Bob Dylan, Michael Jackson, and Bruce Springsteen.

He might even be the first face carved into the mountain.

There's a number of reasons for this consideration. First, the man was a musical genius. For example, on his debut record, For You, he's credited with playing 27 different instruments. This is extremely difficult; when I was in 11th grade, I took up the viola, having been playing the violin for six years and the kazoo for a few more. Playing two instruments was hard; mastering double-digit instruments is light years more stressful. And Prince - a teen at the time - did it.

And the dude was good. Really good.

There's not a ton of video clips online showing off Prince's prowess, so it's kind of slim pickings; but what is out there is breathtaking. The most widely circulated I've seen is from when he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2004, when Prince jams with Tom Petty, Steve Winwood, Jeff Lynne, and Dhani Harrison during the all-star performance of "While My Guitar Gently Weeps." Prince pops in about midway into the song and absolutely takes over:

He also took center stage for the February 2007 Super Bowl XLI Halftime Show in Miami, and what transpired was 12 minutes of sheer ecstasy. The setlist for Prince's performance was a short rendition of "We Will Rock You" by Queen, his hit "Let's Go Crazy," "Baby, I'm a Star," cover versions of Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Proud Mary," the Dylan composition "All Along the Watchtower," and the Foo Fighters song "Best of You," before finishing the performance with another signature song, "Purple Rain" while in a downpour. In 2015, Billboard ranked the performance as the greatest Super Bowl performance ever, and while I'm partial to Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers' halftime show the following year, it's difficult to argue Prince's show wasn't spectacular; it was.

It gets better. Not only was Prince a prolific musician, he was a prolific song writer. He released nearly 40 albums, or roughly one a year, and rumor has it there are thousands - possibly tens of thousands - of unreleased tracks stored in his Paisley Park studios. These don't even include the numerous songs and albums he wrote, performed on, produced and released by entourage bands like Morris Day & The Time.

And unlike many artists, who release album after album that sound virtually the same, Prince chose to take different paths. Some sounded funky or dove into the blues; others were laced with jazz and fusion. He rocked, he rapped, he hip hopped, he jammed, he went hippie, he went political. Above all else, he experimented, and didn't play the game by rules set up by the establishment. He may very well have been the most diverse performer in music history (and if he's not, I'm not sure who would be at the top of the list).

Speaking of which ... he demanded - and retained - complete control over his work. When he was offered his first record deal (and, again, he wasn't even 18 yet; when I was in high school, I was happy landing a freaking part-time job at McDonald's), he shot it down in flames, because he wanted a total say in what went into the recording. That, my friends, takes some serious chutzpah. But it paid off, and the same attitude of his not being controlled by the man upstairs in corporate headquarters was a standard the next 40 years.

A few years later, having scored a few hits, Prince ordered management to obtain a deal for him to star in a major motion picture. This resulted in the 1984 hit film Purple Rain, which starred Prince and was loosely based on his own life, and the studio album of the same name, which was also the soundtrack to the film. The fact he was able to pull off the movie, given his still somewhat-limited commercial success, is a tribute to perseverance, dedication, and confidence. He not only talked the talk, he walked the walk, and the results were mind-boggling. The Purple Rain album sold more than 13 million copies in the United States, and spent 24 consecutive weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Top 200 chart. At one point in 1984, Prince simultaneously had the Number 1 album, single, and film in the nation.

Not too shabby.

He wasn't too shabby with his professional advancement of female musicians, either. When he did start recording songs with an actual band (as opposed to playing every instrument on every track), there were women everywhere. His first band, The Revolution, featured Wendy Melvoin and Lisa Coleman. Later bands were also represented extremely well proportionally by female musicians. He created female-fronted (and in some cases, all-female) bands, such as Sheila E., Wendy & Lisa, TaMara and The Seen, Vanity 6, and Apollonia 6.

I heard about Prince's passing last Thursday afternoon, while in my English classroom, and the assignment we were working on - a reading and discussion of Randy Pausch's The Last Lecture - quickly dissolved into a discussion of Prince, his music, and his impact on pop culture and society. It even included me playing a few of his songs off the Internet. I joked with friends afterward that I could only play a few of his songs, because most of his material would get me fired if I played it.

The past week has been an interesting whirlwind. My car stereo has been tuned in almost exclusively to SiriusXM Channel 50, which has been playing Prince 24/7. There have been the drug rumors, and the revelation Prince died without a will to designate how his $300 million (or more) estate will be divided up among heirs.

Since his death, record stores have been sold out of his CDs and DVDs; according to Billboard, his April 21 death triggered a swell in digital song sales for the icon. Notably, 20 tracks of his have hit Billboard's 25-position R&B Digital Songs chart, marking the most simultaneously charting tracks ever on the chart. Additionally, The Very Best of Prince and the Purple Rain soundtrack hold the top two album spots. According to Billboard, Prince died the final day of Billboard's sales and streaming charts tracking week, meaning fans rushed to purchase his music in the roughly half-day left in the tracking week.

On a more personal level, Prince's death brought me back to my freshman year at Central Michigan University (1982-83), where five college friends (Ron Snead, Dean Sinclair, Randy Hanna, Cindy Stevens, and Kayla Smith) and I dressed up and performed at several "Mock Rock" air band competitions as Prince and The Revolution. It was a blast, with me playing the role of drummer Bobby Z as we jammed to "1999" and "Automatic" from the 1999 album before hundreds of somewhat inebriated students at Mt. Pleasant's Wayside Central bar.

Ah, memories.

When I first posted on Facebook about Prince's death (after first confirming it through multiple online sources, to ensure it wasn't another celebrity hoax death announcement), I included lines from the Prince song "Sometimes It Snows In April." The chorus expressed, I believe, a deep realization of both the sanctity and frailty of life:

Sometimes it snows in April
Sometimes I feel so bad, so bad
Sometimes I wish life was never ending,
And all good things, they say, never last

Prince died at 57. Baby, that was much too fast.

Insecurities Exchange

I was working with my novice debate class earlier this year on Original Oratory, a debate and forensic arts event where students research, write, memorize and present a 10-minute-long speech on a topic of which they feel is important to their individual lives. Usually it's a problem that exists, and the oration is structured to look at some background of the issue, why it's a problem in today's world, and how we as a society can attempt to resolve the situation in the future.

As part of the assignment, given to 30 first-year students (the majority of whom are freshmen), I also wrote an oration. The rationale: if I'm going to assign something, I'd better be able to do the assignment as well.  Some 27 rewrites later, this is what I presented to the class earlier this month.

- - - - -

Shirt? Check. Pants? Check. Belt? Check. Robe? Check. Light saber? Check.

Yes, I was ready. Ready to do some serious Obi-Wan Kenobi role-playing at the Florida SuperCon. I even jammed the "Imperial Death March" on my stereo while driving. But as I approached the vast superstructure that is the Miami Convention Center, it hit me. My outfit looked cheesy, as if it were purchased in the Halloween costume section at Walmart for $19 and change.

Which, of course, it was.

And, worse, I was all set up to meet one of my Sci-Fi heroes, George Takei of Star Trek fame.

What would he say? What would he do? Laugh at me?

If you’re like me – and may God have mercy on your soul if this is the case – then you find yourself constantly scrutinizing yourself, because of the insecurity within. Insecurity of getting the job done on time, or done right. Insecurity of meeting deadlines. Insecurity of living up to expectations from family members, or friends, or colleagues. Insecurity in coordinating your wardrobe at six in the morning. Insecurity of finding a clean pair of underwear at six in the morning.

For most of us, insecurity seems a bad thing, an unnatural thing, an unholy thing, permeating through us and causing us to err more often than not. And if you’re like me – and, again, why would anyone want that curse? – then dealing with insecurity leads to a regular sense of doom, of self-doubt, of total and unmitigated anxiety about yourself. And it’s that paranoia, that sense of not living up to whatever expectations have been set, which is from whence problems arise.

Personal insecurity has been the primary reason psychiatrists remain employed.

Insecurity has a bad reputation. But in many ways, it’s actually a benefit to us, because it helps us make better decisions, and serves as a means of motivating us to achieve beyond our own potentials.

So, let’s drop a nickel in Doctor Van Pelt’s jar and (a) discuss what causes personal insecurity, (b) analyze why this isn’t nearly as bad as you may think, and (c) reflect upon ways of dealing with this complex issue, while avoiding the added pressure of filing Obamacare paperwork to deal with the payment for such psychosis.

Weird Al Yankovic has made a career – well, part of a career, at least – twisting the “insecurity” thing around into humorous observations. For example, in his song "I Lost on Jeopardy," Yankovic misses every clue on the board, finishing in the red, before being told he made himself look like a jerk in front of millions of people, brought shame and disgrace to his family name for generations to come, and is “a complete loser.”

There is an internal dialogue that accompanies feelings of insecurity. This is called the “critical inner voice.” Dr. Lisa Firestone, who co-authored the book Conquer Your Critical Inner Voice, wrote, “The critical inner voice is formed out of painful early life experiences in which we witnessed or experienced hurtful attitudes toward us or those close to us. As we grow up, we unconsciously adopt and integrate this pattern of destructive thoughts toward ourselves and others.”

So, what events or attitudes shape this inner critic? The experiences we have with our influential early caretakers can be at the root of our insecurity as adults. Imagine a child being yelled at by a parent. “You’re an idiot! Can’t you figure anything out on your own?” Then, imagine the negative comments and attitudes parents often express toward themselves. “I look terrible in this. I’m so fat.” These attitudes don’t even have to be verbalized to influence a child. A parent’s negative attitude can leave children feeling insecure and believing there is something fundamentally wrong with them. An intrusive parent can cause children to become introverted or self-reliant in ways that make them feel insecure or untrusting of others. Studies have even shown that exaggerated praise can be damaging to a child’s self-esteem.

Unfortunately, being insecure is a part of life. And this can cause problems, not just for the insecure individual, but for others around him or her. According to Dr. Susan Krauss Whitbourne, a professor of Psychological and Brain Sciences at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, some people compensate for insecurities by trying to show that they’re better than others. They may constantly brag about their achievements, remind others about their successes (even if others are well aware of these), or belittle their friends and family members.

Psychologist Alfred Adler, who coined the term “inferiority complex,” referred to this tendency as “striving for superiority.” In the worst case scenario, striving for superiority means that you’re stepping on the feelings of those around you. The only way you can make yourself feel bigger is by making them feel smaller.

So, we’re insecure. Individually and collectively. Rockwell sang about this phenomenon in the 1980s, as did the Australian band Men at Work – who can it be now, indeed? Now what? Well, German psychoanalyst Eric Fromm said, “The task we must set for ourselves is not to feel secure, but to be able to tolerate insecurity.”

Everyone I have ever known – I take that back; every likable person I have ever known – has admitted to periods of sheer insecurity. They looked at themselves from the perspective of someone else – perhaps a person with no appreciation of their talents, personality traits, abilities – and judged themselves unfairly according to the perverted view.

Unfortunately, insecurity has a twin that is sometimes conjoined at the heart, and her name is depression. And that twin can be downright painful to deal with.

Robin Williams was, by far, my favorite comedian ever. He, along with Allan Sherman, the Monty Python's Flying Circus comedy troupe, and the Saturday Night Live “Not Ready For Prime Time Players,” were the "big four" of my formative teen years. And being young and impressionable, I immediately gravitated to Williams.

One of the first albums (rock or otherwise) I ever bought was his Reality ... What a Concept! which was released at the height of his Mork and Mindy fame in 1979. Looking back at my 15-year-old self, I didn't understand most of the jokes, drug references, and sexual innuendo he tossed at his audience from the stage. But I was totally entranced by the speed of his commentary, the variety of voices and languages, the sharp wit that saturated the entire performance – such as improvisational Shakespeare!

And we all know the film successes that followed. So many amazing roles. So many breathtaking performances. He transitioned from comedy to dramatic, and managed to do so effectively.

In August 2014, Robin Williams committed suicide. It was revealed following his death that Williams had been suffering from severe depression – a stunning realization about a man who many saw as one of the funniest people in the world – and had been sleeping in a different room from his wife due to restlessness and anxiety caused by early stages of Parkinson's Disease. Numerous individuals paid tribute to the comedic virtuoso that was Robin Williams, and continue to remember him for his abilities, his friendships, and his philanthropy. Suicide prevention groups quickly reminded individuals that, if they felt they needed help, to call for help – for example, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline.

My favorite Robin Williams movie is Dead Poets Society, which forces us to look at life from a different angle and do what you believe is right, even in the face of adversity. It embraces passion, youthful idealism, and romanticism. It focuses on relationships and what makes relationships true and good. It's about finding a voice and sounding barbaric yawps over the rooftops of the world – I am important! I am an individual! I am somebody! As his character, John Keating, proclaimed to his class, "The longer you wait to begin, the less likely you are to find it at all. Thoreau said, 'Most men lead lives of quiet desperation.' Don't be resigned to that. Break out!"

So, what can we do to break out of the circle of insecurity? How do we transform from Queen and David Bowie’s “Under Pressure” to Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believing”?

First, consider insecurity a good thing. Insecurity – vulnerability of spirit – is essentially humility, which is a divine quality. In fact, since pride is considered to be the origin of sin (for all of you fans of Saint Augustine), then humility would be the greatest spiritual virtue. With insecurity, we admit that it’s not all about us, and that philosophy in this world of narcissism is quite lovely. Says Stephen Fry in Moab Is My Washpot: “It’s not all bad. Heightened self-consciousness, apartness, an inability to join in, physical shame and self-loathing – they are not all bad. Those devils have been my angels. Without them I would never have disappeared into language, literature, the mind, laughter and all the mad intensities that made and unmade me.”

In addition, there is the use of humor. That whole Weird Al thing I mentioned earlier, for example; humor is an amazing elixir, a way of taking those less-than-stellar moments of insecurity and ripping them to shreds. Yankovic is a certified genius in achieving this. One of the best songs is, I believe, an epic tribute to interpers across the globe: "Skipper Dan," told from the point of view of a failed Broadway wanna-be who is stuck giving the Jungle Cruise tour at Disneyland. “I shoulda listened when my grandfather said, ‘Why don't you major in business instead?’” his protagonist laments. “Now my hopes have all vanished and my dreams have all died, and I'll probably work forever as a tour guide on the Jungle Cruise ride.”

But hey, at least he’s got a job in these difficult economic times!

So, always look on the bright side of life! When all was said and done, George Takei and I had a nice conversation about the differences and similarities between Star Trek and Star Wars, and the photo of Mr. Sulu and Darth Paul posing together graces my Facebook page.

Just one question … does my light saber make me look fat?

Happy Earth Day To You

With due respect to The Beatles - “You say it’s your Earth Day? Happy Earth Day to you!”

Yes, it’s Earth Day’s birthday, the forty-sixth such celebration of the world around us. The first one, which took place 1970, was marked with a rally in Chicago and several other cities. Twenty years later, in 1990, Earth Day went international, with estimates ranging from 100 million to 200 million participating across the globe.

This year, Earth Day is next Friday, April 22, with the theme, “Trees for the Earth.” According to the Earth Day Network, trees will be the first of five major goals they are undertaking in honor of the five-year countdown to its 50th anniversary. Its concept to plant 7.8 billion trees by Earth Day’s 50th in 2020 - or one tree for every person on the planet.

According to the EDN, there are three major reasons “trees” is the focal point being undertaken:

(1) Trees help combat climate change, by absorbing excess and harmful carbon dioxide from our atmosphere. In fact, in a single year, an acre of mature trees absorbs the same amount of carbon dioxide produced by driving the average car 26,000 miles.

(2) Trees help us breathe clean air, by absorbing odors and pollutant gases (such as nitrogen oxides, ammonia, sulfur dioxide and ozone) and filter particulates out of the air by trapping them on their leaves and bark.

(3) Trees help communities achieve long-term economic and environmental sustainability and provide food, energy and income.

The planting of trees is not a novel concept. Many nations and religions celebrate foliage annually. For example, some aspect of Arbor Day is celebrated in more than 40 nations, having originated in Spain in 1594. In Florida, Arbor Day is the third Friday in January, and closely coincides with the Jewish holiday of Tu BiShvat, which is celebrated as an ecological awareness day. National Arbor Day is celebrated the last Friday in April, or a week after Earth Day this year.

While trees are the focus, Earth Day also recognizes environmental advances that have been made, and the past 12 months have seen some extraordinary ecological activity - most notably last December, when 196 nations signed the historic Paris Agreement, the pact that commits virtually every government across the globe to work together in an attempt to limit climate change and stem the continued rise of greenhouse gas emissions. Locally, just last month the Florida Senate’s Appropriations Committee killed a bill that would have stopped towns from banning fracking - a move celebrated by environmentalists across the state.

So, plant a tree - or two! And have a happy Earth Day all year long!

Tax Evasion 101

In the world of journalism, reporters want scoops. It doesn’t matter whether political, sports or entertainment; beating the competition is paramount, and the bigger the story, the more satisfying the feeling among staff and management.

This week, possibly the most amazing scoop in journalism history took place, and it defied all the standards, because of its sheer size. And it may take months, maybe even years, to fully appreciate and understand the ramifications and fallout that will take place on a global scale.

Oh, the Panama Papers offshore tax evasion network started as a traditional scoop, by Suddeutsche Zeitung, a large Germany daily newspaper, more than a year ago after reporters in Munich were contacted by someone connected with a Panama law firm which creates anonymous offshore companies across the world. But because of the magnitude of documents - some 11.5 million, at least - the Washington, D.C.-based International Consortium of Investigative Journalists was brought into the fold. Roughly 400 journalists from more than 100 media organizations in more than 60 nations were involved in an investigation that covers roughly 40 years of deceit by some of the most powerful people in the world.

And yet, one of the most surprising things about the entire fiasco is the lack of surprise we have in what has been discovered. Yes, the sheer volume of data and individuals involved is pretty amazing. We’re kind of jealous we weren’t invited to the party. But is anyone actually shocked that the wealthiest individuals in the world have been afforded (for a price) the opportunity to hide their earnings in order to not pay taxes on said financial gains?

For years, there has been a growing disconnect between the “haves” and the “have not quite as much” and the “we have almost nothing” in the United States and across the world. This isn’t just about individuals, either; corporations have benefitted from extremely favorable tax laws to either pay a much lower percentage of taxes, or even get refunds despite millions or billions of annual earnings. Meanwhile, Joe Citizen ends up paying a comparatively larger percentage of his salary in taxes.

Much of the political discord taking place in the 2016 presidential campaign is tied to this. The reason so many people are angry with government - and leaders in both major political parties - is due in large measure to the financial frustration individuals have faced the past decade (starting with the 2008 financial meltdown). Whether hesitation is worthy of such anger is up to debate, but the world of “perception is reality” has resulted in thousands of individuals voicing their displeasure with the political status quo in a way not seen for years.

Regardless of who is elected to take over the reins from President Barack Obama in November, this is a situation that those in Washington - whether the political elite or those in the role of political revolution - need to take seriously. There must be some measure of tax law fairness that gives the 99 percent a belief that government truly is of, by, and for the people.