MB Hair

in my life after HAIR I was a chef for a number of years, consequently
my son was brought up in restaurants among other cooks etc. so his
career is a direct shadow effect.
Good Job

1955-2011

He was only fifty six, yet his work has changed the world.
My only way of knowing him was filtered through my son.
He had a wife and children and a home with in-house chef,
while his eating habits challenged him and almost everyone.

Recipies were copied, some were borrowed, some just bought,
others were experiments brought home from other parts.
His tastes, somewhat eclectic, maybe strange a better word
since his travels showed him kitchens making different works of art.

Food for him was held as fuel, sometimes social played a part
but finding what was useful didn’t always taste that good,
so my son would have to reconstruct from what worked in the past
and bring in new ingredients with techniques he understood.

To make it right sometimes meant; bring water from Japan,
or spend time in a kitchen where English has no voice,
or a kitchen up in Napa where food building is an art
that employs hi-tech techniques, a very different choice.

Imagine that the mind that has his chef explore the world
has visions for the rest of us that we can’t comprehend,
yet changed our day in such a way that makes life magical
by building all of us a tool that can connect and heal and mend.

His technology has given us connections round the world,
we can see and hear and speak ourselves in the language of the host.
We can even see our world up close or from space like astronauts.
Regardless of the perspective, Steve has given us his ghost.

From pockets of designer jeans to shelves on bedroom walls,
his genius has helped alter us in ways we still don’t know.
Our children speak a language in a text that’s alien,
already universal in most countries on the go.

John Lennon said the Beatles were more popular than Christ.
For a moment that was true but so what, unless we,
can use the music of the world to bridge the different faiths.
With the I-fon now there is a chance to alter history.

Steve Jobs has touched the whole world with ways to interact;
to know the size and weight of time in Mozambique and Rome,
and grasp the notion of the ocean on this planet earth;
to hear and see and feel the wars from near or far from home.

Communication is a start, that much he’s given us.
An example is the folks out marching in the streets,
their cell phones linked to marchers 3000 miles away,
all united in a cause, though they may never meet.

I’m grateful for conveniences that save me time and grief,
like microchips that open doors and tell my stove to stop.
I even find myself in stores, my cell against my ear,
hearing my wife calling me while we’re still in the same shop.

What we’re calling Hi-Tech now was science fiction then.
When Dick Tracy wore wrist TVs and rockets flew to Mars.
The world is changed we’re smaller now, we know more than we need.
Steve’s given us some basic tools, our next stop is the stars.

Embi  10/10/11

On 10/15/11, Michael Butler <michael@michaelbutler.com> wrote:

http://www.michaelbutler.com/blog/mbutler/