detroit is still standing, gil, however, has fallen...

what do you do when your idols start disappearing two at a time?..

last week it was Randy "Macho Man" Savage. i didn't idolize Macho Man because of the eccentric style or the big elbow from the top rope nor the double axe-handle. Macho Man came with a style all of his own. he never asked you to be his fan, not once. you just were. i saw his first match in the WWE (then WWF) and was duly impressed, by his bravado and presence. in his second match he summoned all of the mangers from the time (Bobby Henin, Slick, Mr. Fuji et al) came down to watch Savage bombard Jose Luis Rivera over and over. i remember Gorilla Monsoon and Jesse "the Body" Ventura commenting that Savage was plying his wares to be picked up by one of the managers, but he chose none of them. He brought Elizabeth out his next time out. Sure, Elizabeth was attractive but that wasn't his point. his point is that he didn't need any help getting big, Savage was just going to get big...

tonight i find out that Gil-Scott Heron has died. for all of his faults and personal problems, Gil-Scott never stopped telling you like it was. he probably schooled somebody with his last breath. he was a unique talent that was marred by drug and alcohol dependency problems but he also gave us "Winter in America" an album that should be standard listening in any history class. a poet above poets and a man among musicians. i was introduced to Heron the way most are with "Whitey on the Moon" and "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised" but it was a stroll into a lower east side record shop, when the lower east side still had record shops worth going to, and being introduced to a 11+ minute live jam of "The Bottle". i know that Gil-Scott has seen his share and then some, but when great spirits leave, its a little less full in this world. there is no replacing Gil-Scott or Randy they were originals and only a few of us truly understand the true beauty of the flawed, and tortured, because we are flawed and tortured ourselves...

i'm sorry, Gil. i'm sorry you never got the chance to see the revolution. but rest easy, your work is done, we'll take it from here...