Remembering

TINA TURNER was not one of my favorites; I don't always understand and appreciate greatness. but her one hundred and fifty millionalbums speak volumes. For me, an inveterate rock n roller, Tina's music always seemed a bit over the edge in screeching screaming, gyrating body, and sexual content, not that I'm a prude or anything. A musicologist pointed to me that in terms of her title "the Queen of Rock", she really doesn't have much competition, rock n roll being heavily dominated by males. The reaction to her death was beautiful, warm, loving, and interesting. Interesting as a sociological phenomenon. The most obvious conclusion is that Americans simply, dearly love entertainers and celebrities; celebrity entertainers, of whom Tina was most certainly preeminent. Journalist Chris Hedges, who has been all over the world and experienced many diverse cultures, cogently points out that in America, we build monuments and shrines to our entertainers. We almost worship them as Gods, a pantheonn of glorious enshrined people who obtain sacred status in our holy canon of luminaries by making us smile, laugh, yell, and applaud. We start by emprinting their hand in wet concrete, to preserve the print forever, andgive people, millions of people, the chance to actually see in person the hand print made by John Wayne, Kate Hepburn, whomever. We certainly venerate entertainers more than military heroes in America, and perhaps that is a good thing. The tombstone in Paris for Jim Morrison is impersseve, a modern looking solid square bolck of dark granite in a cemetary in the middle of paris, though Morrison's marker is sorta hemmed in by older, larger monuments. I intend to find out why he is buried in Paris, even though he was there when he died, and liked being there, having lived there for awhile. Perhpas his father, the naval admiral, decided that it was best that qay, more appropriated, to give Jim a resting place where he could at once be prominent, and at ease in relative solitude. Admiral Morrison provided what I consider to be the best, most beautiful eulogy ever given by anyone; "My son possessed a unique genius, which he expressed without reservation." Or maybe the one at architect Christopher Wren's modest marker; "If you want a monument, just look around". Christopher Wren was the great seventeenth century English architect who designed almost every prominent building in London, massive granite structures, many of which remain today. I really like Einsteins's idea of being cremated and the ashes dispersed at an undisclosed location. I like it for environmental and spiritual reasons; Einstein simply didn't like the thought of long lines of tourists standing at his grave, taking pictures.