Five Things You Had to See Online This Week

This week in “Thanks, Internet” — Michael Jackson like we’ve never seen him; rapping over cats; Groundskeeper Willie fights for freedom; octopuses on vice-presidents; U2 dj vu.

1. The King Is Back

We already loved Blank on Blank, and this week we were reminded why. David Gerlach and Patrick Smith unearthed a wonderfully candid 1980 interview in which King of Pop uses his teenage sister Janet as a go-between for the interviewer, John Pidgeon. The results might melt your heart.

2. Meow The Jewels

The proposed ‘Meow The Jewels’ cover art

(Joel Nixon)

Last year, rappers Killer Mike and El-P put out a universallyacclaimed record called Run The Jewels. This year they promised a follow-up and have released promisingpreviewsand a slew of insane premium packages. One of them involves cats, and now there’s aKickstarter campaign for it: if $40,000 is raised, the rappers have pledged to replace all of the album’s beats with cat meows. Hip-hop has (almost) never been more in touch with its softer side.

3. Prime Minister Willie?

It was a very big week for Scotland and a verylonglineof celebritieswere on hand to remind us. One stood out in particular, perhaps because he was the only one yelling. John Oliver, you’ve got some competition.

4. VPOTUS & OCTOPUS

Vice-presidents with octopuses on their heads

(Jonathan Crow)

The men who have stood in the very long shadow of the president fascinate artist Jonathan Crow so much that he started a blogand beganuploading portraits of every veep in the nation’s history. Oh, and he draws an octopus on each of their heads. He sort of explains why onOpen Culture:

Though the position bestows on it all of the authority and pomp of the U.S. Government, vice presidents throughout history have struggled to find purpose in a poorly defined role, all the while waiting for death. It’s a bit like life itself.A few, through ambition, talent and a lot of luck, ascended to the top job. Most moldered in obscurity. No wonder then thatJohn Nance Garner, one of FDR’s three VPs,calledthe job “not worth a bucket of warm piss.” I added the octopuses because I thought they were funny. It takes a rare person to pull off an air of dignity with a cephalopod on his head. It seems to fit with the absurdity of the job.

Actually, he didn’t explain that at all.

5. They Move In Mysterious Ways

UPDATE: Turns out this image is a fake. U2 did not distribute free cassettes of its 1983 album, “War”. If only.