Positive MJ snippet(s) in the press / media

myosotis

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I just thought it would be good to share random positive sightings / mentions of MJ in the press....not specific articles, but just little snippets that refer to Michael as a good example/ role model/ are generally positive.

I found this one at the weekend, in the UK Sunday Times, (non tabloid paper). This paper always includes lots of folded-in supplements, and they are currently running a series called '100 answers every grown-up needs to know'....with different general knowledge topics each week. This week the topics included 'the human body' and one question (Q 77 :) )was ''Why can some people dance, and others can't?'.

I've included a scan below, for the pictures: Bad dancer, Good dancer, and Michael (Bad , in a good way)....Indeed, definitely something 'every grown-up needs to know'!


Oh, and in case the text is too small to read, the explanation is apparently to do with the way GABA (gamma-aminobutyric acid) varies in different people...scientists think it helps to make connections in the brain that enhance the learning process for sequences of dance moves.

http://[URL=http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/21/pressstimes100thingsjpe.jpg/][/URL]

Date 16th Oct 12
 
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In the section entitiled 'My heros and heroines', by Katie Piper

Michael Jackson. I've been a huge Michael Jackson fan since I was 10; he was a genius and a fantastic entertainer. I find his lyrics inspirational, but also his charity work and the kindness which he showed to so many.

From 'The Sunday Telegraph' 'Seven' supplement, 16th Dec 12 (UK)
 
In today's 'Metro' newspaper, and online, from an interview with 'Skyfall' actress Naomie Harris:

Were ladies fainting all over the place when Daniel Craig was around?
They were – he’s so loved all around the world – women and men actually adore him. I can’t imagine what it must be like being him and getting that sort of adoration. I knew Daniel in a different context and he’s a lovely, down-to-earth man, so to interact with him at that level then see people getting hysterical about him was strange.

Have you ever been like that about anyone?
I was completely obsessed with Michael Jackson. I did a film called After The Sunset, which Brett Ratner directed. He was really good friends with Michael and he kept saying he was going to visit the set but he never did. It’s one of the great disappointments of my life.


http://metro.co.uk/2013/02/22/bond-...-i-was-obsessed-with-michael-jackson-3507910/
and p22 in the paper version
 
The King of Pop Pushed Me To A 5K (Cute Little Story!)

Source: Bad Bobby – WordPress

jeffreysymondsfinishjpg.jpg


Picture source: Ironman

So today at the gym I prepared myself to do a 5K run. This is what I’ll need to do in my Pigman Triathlon. I was debating on music, should I go rap, mix, rock…ended up with the Michael Jackson folder. May he RIP, but he helped push me to the 5K. He kept telling me to “Beat It,” so I figured he wanted me to leave so I kept on running. When I started to feel some pain, he told the pain to “Leave Me Alone.” When I felt I was to a breaking point he told me, “Don’t Stop Till You Get Enough.” During the final run time he kept yelling in my ear that I was a “Speed Demon.” Then nothing like a cool down to being “Invincible.” Thank You MJ for pushing me to the 5K marker. The most I have ran in a single time.
I felt great afterwards and headed down to do my leg lifts before I sit in the sauna. This only means the next time I do a Backwards Triathlon I will be running the full 5K and not just 2 miles to really get my training going.

http://badbobby.net/2013/02/14/the-king-of-pop-pushed-me-to-a-5k/
 
Paris78;3930070 said:
[video=youtube;Oc0NAOErcNw]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oc0NAOErcNw#t=3713[/video]
Michael part starts at 55:20

Darren Hayes ‏@darrenhayes
Really touched by this interview by @ladygaga where she talks about @michaeljackson

http://darrenhayes.tumblr.com/post/66941493392/gaga-on-michael-jackson-i-really-believed-that

GaGa On Michael Jackson:
”I really believed that the world killed him. I believe so strongly that he died of a broken heart”

I was so touched by the words spoken by Lady Ga Ga in this interview with Howard Stern I wanted to share them.

You know I’m a massive Michael Jackson fan. The reasons go beyond his magical talent and abilities and I don’t need to constantly explain it beyond saying his music and his imagination were a saviour to me when I was hurting as a child. He was my first hero. He reminded me constantly that you didn’t have to look a certain way or act in a certain manner or fit in to be special. When I was being bullied at school I’d go home and find so much inspiration from Michael’s extraordinary spirit. When I was 15 his posters were like a big brother, a father, best friend and hero all wrapped up in one. When he died, like many people, I was in shock and I broke down when I watched his funeral. I felt that the world had killed him.

This interview with Lady Ga Ga is the first time I’ve ever heard someone describe my hero in the way I felt about him and I cried hearing her compassion about his legacy. You can hear these excerpts at the 55.53 mark and again at 59.10 But what she did to preserve his costumes and his legacy is wonderful.

Gaga on Michael Jackson
 
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I've just been watching a UK BBC TV programme about Astronomy, called 'Stargazing live'. This is a 'magazine' format programme, with sections involving invited guests. I was most interested to hear from the lady pictured below who is the Cassini imaging lead for NASA. Carolyn Porco also seems to be a fan of the biggest star in our galaxy, and assured the BBC presenters that she could dance like Michael too. (This photo was broadcast in the BBC programme). This amazing lady has been named (in 2012) by TIME magazine as one of the 25 most influential people in 'space'.

I have included a link to her full biography below. Truly a very inspiring scientist!


http://[URL=http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/827/ka3j.jpg/][/URL]


Carolyn has been the recipient of a number of awards and honors for her contributions to science and the public sphere. She is the namesake of Asteroid (7231) Porco, which was named to honor her work in planetary science. In 1999, she was selected by the London Sunday Times as one of 18 scientific leaders of the 21st century, and by Industrial Week as one of "50 Stars to Watch". In 2009, New Statesman named her as one of the "50 People Who Matter Today." In 2010 she was awarded the Carl Sagan Medal, presented by the American Astronomical Society for Excellence in the Communication of Science to the Public. And in 2012, she was named one the 25 most influential people in space by TIME magazine.

http://carolynporco.com/about/biography/
 
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Michael 'still' appears to be a benchmark for measuring 'knowledge of Western culture'. :)

I heard this investigative journalistic piece on a news-related BBC programme this morning. The piece is mainly about a western-funded college for N Korean boys from 'powerful and influential families'. It was interesting to see that the question 'Do you know who Michael Jackson is?' was used by a BBC interviewer to investigate the boys' familiarity with western culture. Almost five years on...and he is still a benchmark as the 'most famous man in the Western world'.

I hope that the North Koreans will one day be free to know more about the West, about western music and about Michael.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In the heart of North Korea's dictatorship, a university - largely paid for by the West - is attempting to open the minds of the state's future elite. The BBC's Panorama has been granted unique access.

Entering the Pyongyang University of Science and Technology, it is immediately clear this is no ordinary academic institution.

A military guard salutes us as our vehicle passes through the security checkpoint. Once inside the campus we hear the sound of marching and singing, not more guards but the students themselves.

They are the sons of some of the most powerful men in North Korea, including senior military figures.

"Our supreme commander Kim Jong-un, we will defend him with our lives," they sing as they march to breakfast.

"Patriotism is a tradition," explains a 20-year-old first-year student. "The songs we sing as we march are in thanks to our Great Leader."

There are 500 students here - dressed smartly in black suits, white shirts, red ties and black, peaked caps with briefcases at their sides. They are all hand-picked by Kim Jong-un's regime to receive a Western education.

The university's official aim is to equip them with the skills to help modernise the impoverished country and engage with the international community.

All classes are in English and many of the lecturers are American. This is remarkable because North Korea has isolated itself from the outside world for decades and the US is its hated enemy.

After 18 months of negotiations, we have been given unique access to the students - though we are constantly monitored. The students explain they are warming to Americans - if not the US government.

''Of course at first we were nervous, but we now believe American people are different from the US," says one student. "We want to make good relationship with all countries," adds another.

Pyongyang University of Science and Technology The university, located on the outskirts of Pyongyang, was opened in October 2010
The founder and president is Dr James Chin-Kyung Kim. The 78-year-old Korean-American Christian entrepreneur was invited by the regime to build a university based on a similar one he had opened in northern China.

He raised much of the £20m it cost from American and South Korean Christian charities.

"I am full of thanks to this government - they accepted me. They fully trust me and have given me all authority to operate these schools. Can you believe it?"

It is hard to believe - human rights groups say North Korean citizens found practising Christianity are persecuted.

Inside every classroom, portraits of North Korea's brutal dictators take pride of place above the whiteboard.

Lecturer Colin McCulloch gives his time for free. Some of the other 40 lecturers are sponsored by Christian charities. Mr McCulloch has moved from Yorkshire to teach business to the regime's future elite.

He splits the students into groups and tells them to form their own fantasy companies and compile their profit projections.

In a country where the supply of all goods is controlled by the regime, the concept of a free market is new to the students.

Students take part in a parade-ground workout before lunch every day
"I'm sure the leaders and the government here recognise they need to connect with the outside world," Mr McCulloch tells us. "It's not possible to be a totally hermetic, closed economy in the modern age."

The university's foreign lecturers are up against a lifetime of propaganda and conditioning - and almost complete isolation from the rest of the world, as we discover when American Erin Fink invites us to take part in her English class.

"It will be good for you to listen to these guys because their accent is very different from my accent - they speak British English," she explains to her first year undergraduates.

They tell us they like a North Korean girl group called the Moranbong Music Band, one of Kim Jong-un's latest propaganda tools.


When we mention Michael Jackson, we get a room full of blank faces. We try again.

"Raise your hands if you've heard of Michael Jackson." Not a single arm goes up.

You might have thought students would have found out about Michael Jackson from the Internet - unlike most of North Korea it is available at the university.

But in the computer room a female minder censors all internet access. It is strictly no email, no social media, and no international news.

In North Korea, only absolute devotion to the supreme leader, and praise of all things North Korean, is permitted. According to human rights groups, that devotion is the result of conditioning from birth - and fear of execution or imprisonment in inhumane labour camps.

"The key question is whether the university is training those young Koreans most likely to change the country in a positive way, or those most likely to perpetuate the current regime," says Greg Scarlatoiu of the Washington-based Committee for Human Rights in North Korea.

"If the price to pay for being allowed to establish a presence inside North Korea is ignoring the country's egregious human rights violations, I will say that price is too high."

Lord Alton chairs the All-Party Parliamentary Group on North Korea and is a patron of the university.

He hopes the experiment could kick-start more fundamental change and alter the mindset of a generation.

"You have to start somewhere. This isn't an excuse for appeasement, which I'm totally opposed to.

"This is a form of engagement in order to try and change things."

But are the students actually interested in embracing change? Even during the guarded conversations that we are allowed, it is clear some students are keen to connect with the outside world.

"We are learning foreign languages because foreign language is the eye of scientists," says one undergraduate.

"And learning a language is learning a culture. I want more of that."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-25945931#?&co=f000000013912s-1248979084
 
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This is nice, for Michael's birthday....

Actor Madhur Mittal, got his break in Slumdog millionaire.

Q How did you get your start as a performer?

I began as a Michael Jackson impersonator. I won my first dance competition when I was three years old. I'd done about 1,000 stage shows as a mini-Michael Jackson all over the world before I was 14. Then in 1997 I won Boogie Woogie, the biggest dance competition in India. I'm also the biggest Michael Jackson fan. My regret is that I never got to meet him. There are talks about a film inspired by my life, in a way- a kid who falls in love with Michael and wants to meet him.


UK Metro Friday 29 August 14
 
Thought this was interesting!

http://www.inquisitr.com/1697225/mi...ings-dropped-zombies-from-harry-potter-books/

<header class="article-header" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;">[h=1]Michael Jackson&#8217;s Undead: Why J.K. Rowling Dropped Zombies From Harry Potter Books[/h]</header>
THRILLER-michael-jackson-7324653-1440-900-665x385.jpg


<section class="entry-content clearfix" itemprop="articleBody" style="box-sizing: border-box; zoom: 1; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; margin: 1em 0px !important;">Interesting news comes from the popular Harry Potter-related website, Pottermore as author J.K. Rowling admits she is a big fan of Michael Jackson&#8217;s album, Thriller, in which the popular singer danced like a zombie. In fact, that album is one reason why she decided not to feature zombies in her Harry Potter books.

Each day, a riddle is posed on the Pottermore website, and the latest called on guests to the website to name the zombie-like creatures with the cloudy eyes, surrounding the lake when Harry and Dumbledore tried to escape. This is what brought up the whole Michael Jackson story.


When speaking of those animated corpses, used by Voldemort to guard his Horcrux, she explained to ABC Showbiz why she created the species known as &#8220;Inferi.&#8221;
She said she had several reasons for not calling these guardians of Horcruz &#8220;zombies.&#8221; She said that first of all, zombies are not included in the folklore of Britain and are more likely to be associated with Haiti and various parts of Africa. She said the students at Hogwarts would be taught about zombies in their lessons, but would never get to meet them in the streets of Hogsmeade.
Rowlings explained how the name &#8220;Inferius&#8221; comes from &#8220;Inferus,&#8221; meaning &#8220;below&#8221; in Latin, and &#8220;Inferi&#8221; relates to the underworld and in no way relates to zombies.
She added that zombies of the Vodou tradition would only be reanimated corpses, while the sorcerer would use their souls in order to sustain himself. This related in no way to Rowling&#8217;s Horcrux story and she did not want to suggest that Voldemort would have any other ideas for his Inferi other than using them as guards.
It was then that Rowlings went on to explain how zombies have appeared in various forms in film and music over the last fifty years or so, including Michael Jackson&#8217;s music video, and they have many associations of absolutely no use to her stories. Rowlings said that she is part of the &#8220;Thriller&#8221; generation, and to her, a zombie will always bring to mind Michael Jackson dancing in a bright red bomber jacket.
This was part of Rowling&#8217;s thoughts on her creatures and characters, which started on December 12 and will lead up to the Christmas event on Pottermore. Another interesting note was that last week, when speaking of vampires, she insisted that Snape was not a vampire, even though his complexion is so pale.
Each day, a new surprise will be unwrapped at the Pottermore site, so why not head over and read the latest?
Meanwhile on the Michael Jackson side of things, the Inquisitr reports that his estate recently renewed the long-standing partnership with BMI, who have represented Jackson&#8217;s work since he first started out as the youngest member of the Jackson 5.
Enjoy the music video of Michael Jackson&#8217;s &#8220;Thriller&#8221; below.
</section>
Read more at http://www.inquisitr.com/1697225/mi...-from-harry-potter-books/#KhCgbuzp11bgHh5m.99
 
I was reading a 'terrible tabloid' today, and found a nice story which I hope is true!

Prince Harry (UK, younger son of Princess Diana), has been visiting Jamaica to attend the wedding of a friend.
A report says that during the wedding reception, Prince Harry took to the dancefloor and did a moonwalk to Michael's 'Billie Jean'. Unfortunately, while travelling backwards, he ran into a waitress and sent a tray of drinks flying :) The report continues: 'Harry gasped, looked shocked and put his hands on the waitress's shoulders and apologised'.

I'm glad to know he's a fan and appreciates the moonwalk. :) :moonwalk:moonwalk:moonwalk:moonwalk:moonwalk


Completely unconnected to this, but maybe of interest to UK TV viewers; a while ago Nadiya Hussain (Great British Bake-off winner 2015, and shortly to host a new UK TV cookery series) was asked 'Who would you invite to your dream dinner party'? She responded: David Attenborough, Michael Jackson and Trevor McDonald'.
 
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