PARIS – WHAT GOES ON AT THE BASE OF THE EIFFEL TOWER

Our intern Hanson is spending the next six weeks living in Paris, taking classes as part of a study-abroad program. We asked him to tell us what it’s like over there, being all bright-eyed and new to the international community at large, and apparently the first thing he did was visit the Eiffel Tower…
I’m completely overwhelmed. The next time world leaders get together to agree on things like banning land mines or lowering global emissions, they need to pass a law that requires all cities to be numbered and on a grid. Today I went to the Eiffel Tower, where there were two main events going on: A protest being held by what I can only assume were supporters of the Tamil Tigers (the protesters were holding the Tamil Tiger Flag and they didn’t not look like they could be related to M.I.A.), and a tribute to the life and works of Michael Jackson.

You know how much the French fucking love American culture. They love McDonald’s, they love Subway Sandwiches, and they love trying to dress like us. They just got Vitamin Water and they think it’s super hip. In a few years 7-Elevens will arriveand they’ll freak out over Big Gulps. Above all these things, however, they love the King of Pop.

Approximately 400 people danced in a mob under the base of the Eiffel tower for several hours. Some of these people held signs reading things like, “WE LOVE YOU MICHAEL!!” or “MICHAEL, THOUGH IT IS TEMPTING TO JUDGE YOU ON A PERSONAL LEVEL, I HAVE AN EMOTIONAL ATTACHMENT TO YOUR MUSIC THAT STEMS FROM MY YOUNGER YEARS AND FOR THAT I AM GRATEFUL!!” 

They sang along to his songs, from super hits like “Billy Jean” and “Thriller,” to only slightly less huge jams like “Beat It.” In spite of my instincts I found it strangely moving hearing hundreds of Frenchmen singing along to “We Are The World,” although it did suck to have listen to “Black or White,” which everyone knows is just a lame rip-off of “Ebony and Ivory.”

HANSON O’HAVER