brain out loud

I'm sure by this point, everybody has heard the sad news. The legendary musical genius Prince has passed at the age of 57. Known as The Purple One, Prince Rogers Nelson was a once in a lifetime artist, an icon in every sense of the word and his influence stretched to nearly every musician that proceeded him.  "He's somewhere within every song I've ever written." Justin Timberlake - Instagram I don't need to go about his history, or just how gifted he was, or the amount of hit songs and awards Prince accumulated. There are probably tens of thousands of sites that have analytically recapped his amazing career and his seemingly unending talent. What I do want to do with this entry is address the tragic trend of the deaths of my heroes from the screen, film, music and even pro-wrestling that began at the turn of the year.

As a kid, I never had the first wave of straight-armed GI Joe action figures from 1982, or the reissued first wave with swivel arm articulation, or for that matter the second wave from 1983, or the third wave...etc. My love of GI Joe didn't start until one fateful summer afternoon in 1986. A friend of mine, who had a massive Star Wars collection I envied, was having a yard sale. I knew he wasn't selling anything from that collection, but I rode my bicycle over to the yard sale anyway. Other than a bedroom full of Star Wars toys, vehicles and play sets he also had a growing collection of GI Joe toys and comics. That collection was displayed on the folding tables arranged on their front lawn and I bought it all. I bought the comics, dozens of action figures, the GI Joe Killer Whale and the Cobra Terror Drome. I made multiple trips I bought so much stuff. After that afternoon, I was hopelessly hooked on The Real American Hero, and I mean a lifelong addiction. I built my respectabl