Sunday Sinners and The Gloved One...
by Dean Speer

There we were, in Vancouver, B.C. on a early Sunday morning with nothing to do and no place to do it in. At that time -- about 20 years ago -- British Columbia laws did not allow most businesses to be open on Sundays. However, the doors to Vancouver Place, their huge underground downtown mall were open, even if the shops in it were not.

So, why not take a walk through the mall?

We were the only ones in the blocks long thing -- you really could have shot off a canon and not hit anybody, as the saying goes -- until we espied coming at us from the opposite direction way off in the distance, two black men.

My first thought was, "It's Michael Jackson!" as I exclaimed to my mate, who dismissed this as "Nah, it couldn't be." But as they got closer, it was clear to me it was.

Here the great Gloved One was walking through, presumably with the same intention of doing *something* in early Sunday morning Vancouver, with a lone bodyguard. I was suprised at how tall he was -- remembering little Michael from his Jackson Five days.

The rest is...HIStory.

Did you give him a wave? I would have blown him a kiss.

To bring in a ballet element, the BBC spoke to Carlos Acosta no less on Friday night asking for his impressions of Jackson as a dancer. Acosta was clearly a fan and although this quote isn't verbatim he said something along the lines of, 'as a dancer I'm pretty good but Michael Jackson really pushed the boundaries'. It was a nice tribute from one dancer to another.

The Vancouver, BC "Victory Tour" stop was in October 1984, so almost 25 years ago.

Here is Alastair Macaulay's tribute to Michael Jackson in the New York Times:

NY Times