Parsing Through Dead Michael Jackson Jokes

I knew it would not be long for there to appear a website devoted to collecting Michael Jackson jokes, I present for your consideration: deadmichaeljacksonjokes.com! This site collects jokes told over that most folk of medium: the text message.

Jokes always arise during times of tragedy or death; they are a formulaic way of dealing with issues of ambiguity and of talking about concepts which are generally uncomfortable to talk about. And Michael Jackson was nothing if not ambiguous and uncomfortable.

A classic article about humor arising from the ashes of a hard subject was written by Bill Ellis a number of years ago, entitled "How to Make a Big Apple Crumble." Unfortunately it is no longer online, where'd it go?

The postings on Dead Michael Jackson Jokes can be separated into the following categories:

• Jokes that combine his alleged drug abuse and his alleged child molestation: Apparently the Police found class A drugs in his kitchen, class B drugs in his bathroom and class 5c in his bedroom...
• Jokes that reference his plastic surgeries, and his alleged child molestations: when michael jackson died doctors melted michael jackson since he was 99% plastic he was made in a box of legos so little boys can play with him; michael jacksons ashes will be sprinkled in to an Etcha-Sketch so little kids can still play with his Knob.
• Jokes that combine his song lyrics with alleged child molestations: wat did micheal jackson say to the little boy ? The way you make me feel , you really turn me on ... (n.b: not all the jokes are winners!)
• Jokes that mention his weird appearance: when the doctors gave michael jackson got cpr his nose snaped off like a cracker
• Jokes that play on celebrity deaths in general: What are Michael Jackson, Farrah Fawcett and Ed McMahon getting for christmas? Patrick Swayze!
• Recycled jokes from the original molestation charges: At the exact time of MJ's death Wal-mart decided to do a one time immediate sale...ALL BOYS PANTS HALF OFF!
• Jokes about the alleged molestation charges and food imagery: It has been confirmed... Michael Jacksons death was actually the result of CHOKING ON a 12year old nuts....; In honor of Michael Jackson, McDonald's is now serving a new sandwith called, the McJackson. It is made from 50 year old meat that is between 12 year old buns
• Pleas for reason: Maybe we should stop making jokes about MJ. Maybe his fans are right and we are going to hell. MJ is there and I don't wanna get sodomised...

There are many more jokes in this cycle. I see an article in the future!

FF Communications and Maurice

I was book-hunting in Boston last week and managed to snag a copy of FF Communications: Vol. LXXXVII: Studies in Finnic-Slavic Folklore Relations: Selected Essays by Felix Oinas. This is a find for many reasons - but even better was the inscription on the cover: "To Maurice - with all best wishes - Felix."

Even better, there was a note inside the book:

Dear Maurice:

Many thanks for your fine book. And for the comments on my article.

Felix

I am now scratching my head and doing my best googling to find out who was the previous owner of this book. I have started off with a search on folklorists with the first name of Maurice, of which I know of none off the top of my head. And then I probably should narrow it down to folklorists who worked in the Boston area (even though the book could have travelled a bunch), and were active in folkloristics (maybe with either a slavic or finno-ugric bent) during the late sixties.

Here's my list of suspects:

• Maurice Saxby - the doyen of Australian children's literature.
• John Maurice Miller - also published with the switched-up name Maurice John Miller, but during the turn of the last century. Not a likely candidate.
• Maurice Harris - wrote a book about the Talmud, but also the name of a boxer who goes by Mo Bettah!
• Maurice Baring - lived in England and died 23 years before this book came out.

I have to admit that I am stumped. If you have any leads, feel free to email me!

Baseball Card April Fool's Prank

Another cross-post from Snopes, but it deals with one of my favorite topics, Baseball!  Looks like as a lark the fine folks at Topps put out a fake card about a supposed Japanese pitching phenom named Kaz Uzuki.   Shades of Sidd Finch!

Online Folklore Community

When googling "folklore blogs," I am delighted when this blog is the number one entry on the first page.  However, the slight amount of traffic this blog receives disheartens me and makes me fear for the future popularity of folklore as a field of study.   Being No. 1 in folklore blogs isn't that impressive when it is outstripped in popularity by Professional Tiddlywinks.

Where my folklorists at?

There is sporadic traffic on the New Directions newsgroup, mostly of the "is there anybody out there" vein.  

First step is to invite others to contribute to this blog - when I created it I envisioned a sort of folklore parallel to the collaborative blog Boing Boing.   I am unable to contribute daily, I would love for others to enrich the site.   

Next step is to send out invitations to create a webring of folklore blogs - a community where folklorists meet to share interesting and useful information with one another.    I will probably send out personal invites to those of you who are out there!   

June Folklore Books

Here are a few books coming out this month that may be of interest to the folklorist:

• Tales from Slavic Myths - Ivan Hudec.  I have had this book on order from Barnes & Noble for over a year.  If this actually comes out this month I will be flabbergasted.
• Legends and Lore of Western Pennsylvania - Thomas White.   I went to school and have many friends from Western Pennsylvania, and I am sure that I have heards some of these tales recounted to me by local friends.
• This Is What They Say: Stories - Francois Mandeville.  Chipewyan story cycle re-told.  Evidently the new spelling is Chipewyan, a fact that I was unawares of.  
• Lakota Sioux Legends and Myths: Native American Oral Traditions Recorded by Marie L. McLaughlin and Zitkala-Sa.  - ed. by Peter Jones.  
• Naive: Modernism and Folklore in Contemporary Graphic Design - ed. by R. Klanten and H. Hellige.  
• Legends and Landscape: Plenary Papers from the 5th Celtic-Nordic-Baltic Folklore Symposium, Reykavik 2005 - ed. by Terry Gunnell.  Oooooo, I love this sort of things.  Symposia papers and festschriften get me excited!  
• Faustus: The Life and Times of a Renaissance Legend - Leo Ruickbee.
• Do You See What I Mean?: Plains Indian Sign Talk and the Embodiment of Action - Brenda Farnell.
• Sango in Africa and the African Diaspora - Joel E. Tishken, Toyin Falola, Akintunde Akinyemi, eds.  Part of the African Expressive Cultures series.  Sango is the Yoruba god of thunder.
• At the Font of the Marvelous: Exploring Oral Narrative and Mythic Imagery of the Iroquois and Their Neighbors - Anthony Wonderley.  

Not that many new books this month, but still too many to keep up with!  

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