Black Friday Brawl for it All

For the life of me, I will never understand the thrill of Black Friday shopping. Maybe I should research the genesis of Black Friday madness. Whoever came up with this concept should be both saluted for brilliance and cursed for the madness created as a result of this shopping holiday.

I thought of this as a New York Daily News article popped up in front of me on a social media channel. The article details fighting, wrestling and other foolishness as fools be fools. Whether it's toys, clothes, Air Jordans, video games, or whatever -- fools spending money they likely don't really have is epidemic.

My first memory of shopping foolishness was way back in the mid-1980s when people were losing their minds over purchasing Cabbage Patch Kids dolls.

Yeah, interesting memories. It probably doesn't feel quite as good to look at it 30 years later.

Skip Black Friday. Shop with sense and avoid fighting over toys and other items. It's really not that important, folks.

What Is Going On With Joe Jackson?

Look, I’ll cut Joe Jackson a little slack as he is mourning the somewhat mysterious and sudden death of his son, legendary entertainer Michael Jackson (the greatest entertainer of my lifetime and arguably the best ever). But, I found it more than a little uncomfortable listening to him at the BET Awards and during a news conference today (flanked by the Rev. Al Sharpton) promoting his record label.

Sorry, but it just didn’t feel right.

Here is how one blogger saw it:

This is just awful. Earlier tonight CNN’s Don Lemon interviewed Joe Jackson on the red carpet at the BET awards, where Jackson displayed indifference over the recent death of his son and then plugged some Blu-Ray disc he’s peddling.

The Blu-Ray plugging comes in at about the 3:20 mark, but the whole thing is completely cringe-worthy right from the start and doesn’t stop until the very end. To his credit, Don Lemon maintained his composure throughout the interview and resisted what must have been an overwhelming urge to grab Jackson, slap him across his face a few times and shake him vigorously while screaming, “What the hell is wrong with you old man!”

That was painful to watch and listen to at the BET Awards and to listen to him in a press conference today (June 29).

Again, I will cut him some slack as this might simply be his way of grieving the stunning death of his son.

Remember the movie “The Jacksons: An American Dream” (from the early 1990s) that still plays once in a while on VH1? The portrayal of Joe Jackson in that movie looks too similar to the Joe Jackson we’re seeing today. Joe’s handlers might want to work with him a little more because, right now, Joe is not coming across well.

Frankly, it’s too early to discuss business ventures, protecting Michael’s legacy and promoting record labels.

Hopefully this merely is Joe’s way of grieving.

I know some people will think I am being tough on Joe Jackson. I just hate to see him come across the way he’s coming across (negatively).