Positive websites and videos that celebrate MJ

[Ashtanga]

Michael Jackson: Remembering his Kindness and Compassion for Others

Today was a day well spent: surfing the web for articles about Michael and youtubing Michael for the most unique, rare, unseen images of Michael. And then I found this jewel with many never-before-seen images. He told Frank Dileo once, who accompanied him to the hospitals and orphanages "This is our real job, Frank , not the tour, but alleviating the suffering of these children and their family in any way that we can". What a unique, selfless, intensely loving and caring man. My example and spiritual teacher!
His smile is so beautiful and pure it lights up the room.
Michael, I love you so very much! :heart:

:wub:

 

[MJJLaugh]

A Poem Written on Michael's behalf
by DanceofZenab1994

In my english class, we were asked to write a poem and pretend to be someone else and I wrote this on Michael's behalf:

Music Was Me

From the moment my soul descended to Earth on August 29th 1958, only one thing was clear to me - life was music and music was me.
I spent seconds and days out of reality
In the dreaming notions of sound
And in the dance of divinity I soared
They did see that - to be fair - but they tormented me beyond compare
Why? I'll never know
But perhaps it was the connotations of my name
After all, Destiny dictates that it is hard being Michael Jackson
And only God knows just how hard it is to be Michael Jackson.

On the face of Earth it is difficult to be kind
For me, it cost the world to breathe
They won't let you live without scars, without a sigh
And persecution is never far behind
And proficients were they to destroy me
Proficients!
Because if you are so giving of your core
You must be out to gain, out to steal, out to destroy.
Right?
Wrong.

I saw the altruistic light from the mirth that children spread
I saw the agony, the despair, the torture from tears that they shed
I made removing what ails them a mission; I made it my life purpose, my reason for survival
And I achieved it - to some extent
Until they decided I was doing wrong
And they had ardent anathema for me
Ardent.

There are those who listened to me and followed me
There are those who worshipped me
Like a prayer
I am a prayer
And those who murdered me with scandal
With drugs, with needles, with money, but mostly scandal
Their pens were their swords
Who knew me?
Who knew me?

They accused me
Charged me
Tore me
Destroyed me
Isolated me
Forgot me
But now they remember
After I returned home to Heaven on June 25th 2009
Now they remember!
Now they love me!
Now!
Do you see the melancholy?
Do you see the irony?
Humans truly are fools, aren't they?
Adamant to remain fools, aren't they?
I know you say "better now than never"
But it still aches.
Why now?
Now that I'm gone and shan't return, even with mercy from angels
Why now?

But I suppose my soul can continue anyway
My music will live anyway
How do I know this so well?
Because you loved me at first.
Do you remember?
You did.

Thank you Zenab, my friend, for allowing me to post your very poignant and touching poem here.

 

[xo_lola_xo]

^ Thank you very much, honey, for posting it and I am glad you like it.

 

[MJJLaugh]

Michael Jackson - It's too late to apologize

Michael Jackson was persecuted, hurt, ridiculed and made fun of during his lifetime.
Media, please get in line to offer your apology to Michael and his family for the scandalous way you treated him! He did not deserve this. Words can hurt very badly.
Check out the voices education project about "Words and Violence" at http://www.voiceseducation.org
It is too late for Michael, but it is not too late for today's children, who will be tomorrow's adults, to learn about words and their impact. If I say "I love you" to my cat, she always runs towards me for a cuddle. She doesnt understand a single word but she sure gets the intention.
Maybe we need to speak less and listen more, with an open heart ?
Joining together in a common purpose, to heal our wounded planet and to cry at the same time tonight. I love you all!

 

[shba1]

WOW! I can't stop crying, this video said it all. Thank you for sharing.

 

[Ashtanga]

Thank you Zenab, my friend, for allowing me to post your very poignant and touching poem here.[/QUOTE]
OMG DanceofZenab1994! :wild: I loved it! :yes: :clapping:

 

[MJJLaugh]

Where Paths of Compassion Grow- There Walk Goodness and Truth

Michael Jackson August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009


It is so sad when the public judge even the innocent- for any reason, and accusation... But where the paths of compassion grow, in the end - these paths reveal lives authentically lived. Many lights among us are passing on- We have all have lost so many beloved - Some who touch our lives like a lighthouse shining through all storms... The news today of renowned singer Michael Jackson's passing leaves many bewildered. Creative icons are as human as each of us.
I am always touched, how in death, so much more is revealed. There is such great beauty in how friends and loved ones are able to come forward to give testimony in grief for the beloved passing.

I wonder also how easy it is for people to judge without knowing any truth, and how easy it is to cling to images that are not true, or to defend after death what some fear to defend in life. The Maya ???? (the illusions of what is seen as duality) of life spins ever tangled webs. Those who live intensely with the core of creativity often suffer this stigma. There is also a phenomena when there is so much light, one can be blinded by its intensity. I think also, the more light in a life, the more shadows of Maya/controversy pursue a life.


May the true singing of soul ever continue in our hearts.
blessings, love and light,
Rebekah

Source: http://www.intent.com/alsterberg/blog/where-paths-compassion-grow-there-walk-goodness-and-truth

 

[MJJLaugh]

Calling All Angels - Michael Jackson


“If you enter this world knowing you are loved and you leave this world knowing the same, then everything that happens in between can be dealt with.” ~ Michael Jackson







The girl who silenced the world for 5 minutes


“In a world filled with hate, we must still dare to hope. In a world filled with anger, we must still dare to comfort. In a world filled with despair, we must still dare to dream. And in a world filled with distrust, we must still dare to believe.”
~ Michael Jackson

 

[Ashtanga]

Calling All Angels - Michael Jackson

:clapping:

 

[MJJLaugh]

Cute Michael Jackson Stories


In Search of Neverland by Gloria Rhoads, 1983

“When he was about 24 years old, Michael was given a big, shiny, black Harley Davidson in return for a favor he had done for someone. The motorcycle was a fancy one, worth around $35,000, and it was placed in the foyer of the house on Hayvenhurst, right below the staircase.

(The author says she has a talk with Katherine and she tells her she’s worried about MJ riding because he’s inexperienced.)

Later on, I went over to the music studio where Michael was working. He was writing some new lyrics and creating new arrangements for a song. When Hw as finished I visited with him and he told me he was going to ride the motorcycle.

“Are you sure? I don’t think you should risk it in town. There’s too much traffic.”

Michael replied,”I ride very early in the morning, when there’s little or no traffic. Sometimes when I ride, I ride around the park.”

(The author explains that the park is the 2,500 acre Encino Glen Park)

I said,”Michael, now you’re sure you want to do this? You need to take care of yourself.”

He said,”Well, I want to feel the wind. I need to fill my lungs up with fresh air. And I like the purity of the park, and the smells of the park.”

“Well, you know best what to do”, I replied.

Eventually, he persuaded me to take a spin with him. I reluctantly got on the back of the bike and put my arms around Michael’s chest.

Suddenly, he zoomed off at such a speed that I was holding on for dear life and screaming like crazy. That only made Michael laugh-and go faster! We sped around around the park, me scared out of my wits but loving it in a way, Michael going faster and faster and enjoying the whole ride.
Of course, he returned me safely to where we had begun, but what a ride.

After that day, I understand he only rode the motorcycle about six times. Everyone was concerned for his safety because he really had to be careful. Michael Jackson was insures by his record label and by the companies that employed him to do commercials. If he took unnecessary risk, their policies might cancel.

MJ, Rolling Stone, February 17th 1983

Alas, he is still at the dining-room table in his condo. But despite the visible strain, he’s holding steady. And he brightens at a question about his animals. He says he talks to his menagerie every day.”I have two fawns. Mr. Tibbs looks like a ram; he’s got the horns. I’ve got a beautiful llama. His name is Louie.” He’s also into exotic birds like macaws, cockatoos and a giant rhea.

“Stay right there,” he says, “and I’ll show you something.” He takes the stairs to his bedroom two at a time. Though I know we are the only people in the apartment, I hear him talking.

“Aw, were you asleep? I’m sorry….”

Seconds later, an eight-foot boa constrictor is deposited on the dining-room table. He is moving in my direction at an alarming rate.

“This is Muscles. And I have trained him to eat interviewers.”

Bob Giraldi, director of Beat It, 1983

How did you cast the real gang members?
It was Michael. He went out and he got ‘em through, I guess, the LAPD’s gang squad and he convinced them that, with enough police presence, this would be a smart and charitable thing to do; get them there to like each other and hang with each other for two days doing the video. I didn’t like the idea because it was hard enough to direct actors and dancers, let alone hoods.

So he tried to use the video to foster peace between them?
Michael was always about peace. He was always about some sort of peace offering. That was his idea and the cops did go along with it and as history has it, we were almost shut down the first night because, as you know, film sets get to be very boring after the first hour.

I guess the Crips and Bloods started to get on each other’s nerves – they are mortal enemies – and we had a few incidents and two cops came to me and said they wanted to close it down. I somehow convinced the cop squad guy to just let me [shoot the] dance. I was gonna hold the dance for the second night of shooting. I said, ‘The only thing I can think that’ll save this is to let me just blast the music. I have a feeling it’ll calm everything down. Can’t get any worse, just give me a chance.’ And the cop was cool, he looked at me and said, ‘OK, not much more.’ I couldn’t go much more because it was volatile – no question about it – and scary. So we were in that warehouse, change of plans we’re going to do the dance, get Michael out of the camper, here we go.

What happened next?
The gang members couldn’t dance so they formed the ring and watched. And the [dancers] all started to dance with Michael Peters and Vince Paterson. When Michael Jackson comes down and does what he does, I remember looking at the faces of all the Crips and Bloods lined up and their expressions as they listened to that music and watched those kids dance. Those kids were basically, most of them were gay… and when they started to dance, the Crips and the Bloods had that look like, ‘You know what? With all our wars and vendettas and stuff, that’s cool right there. That’s something we’ll never be able to do.’ And that’s what made that evening work.

What impact has “Beat It” and working with Michael Jackson had on your career?
I met a man who I have total respect for. One of the most interesting things he ever said to me, I’ll never forget, we were arguing, he said to me in that very high-pitched voice of his, ‘You use the F-word to much’. That always stuck with me. I thought that was smart to say at a time like that.

I watched a man dance better than anyone I’d ever seen in my life and I watched a man talk softly and carry a tremendously big stick, get what he wanted and get his way. And as we know now 25 years later, perhaps he got his way too much. But nonetheless, I watched him get his way but always using the softest, quietest approach you could possibly have used. I was influenced not only by his talent, but by his personality.


Thriller video, November 1983

John Landis It was amazing working with Michael at the time because it was at the height – it was like working with The Beatles at the height of Beatlemania or something, it was extraordinary being with him, because he was just ridiculously famous. It was like being with Jesus I used to say, because people used to see him and go into hysterics. Also, Michael’s friends – it was so nuts. It used to be like, ‘Michael, William [son of Walt] Disney’s on the phone,’ or Fred Astaire, who Michael had known very well since he was a kid. ‘Mike, Henry Kissinger’s on the phone’; ‘Mike, President Reagan’s calling.’ Bizarro shit all the time.

My favourite moment during the making of Thriller, and one of the few times in my life I’ve ever been speechless, was when we were shooting the graveyard set in a meatpacking plant in East LA, a dodgy neighbourhood, by a freightyard. And we’re shooting away and Michael’s assistant comes to me and he says, ‘Michael would like to see you in his trailer.’ And I was like, ‘OK, I’ll be out in 20 minutes.’

So I go out – and it’s like 3.30 in the morning – and there’s a Winnebago out there and there’s loads of security there, so I step up and I knock, and Michael’s like, ‘John, do you know Mrs Onassis?’ and it was Jackie Kennedy…

John Landis: We had a première – which was a riot – because Michael wanted a première. I’ve been to the Oscars and I’ve been to the Baftas, I’ve been to the Emmys, I’ve been to the Golden Globes, and I’ve never been anywhere like this première. It was incredible. There was everyone from Diana Ross and Warren Beatty to Prince. It was nuts. Amazing… got a standing ovation and all that stuff and they’re shouting, ‘Encore, encore,’ and I said ‘Encore? There is no f—ing encore!’

Then Eddie Murphy got up and shouted, ‘Show the goddamn thing again!’ So they sat and they watched Thriller again. Why not?

It was just amazing, it was just amazing…

Marty Thomas (props assistant on Thriller): It was a long job and it was secret, you know? I remember we had to sign a non-disclosure agreement and not to tell anybody what we were filming, not to tell family or anything… very, very rare for music videos back then. What they would do is print up maps to the location and leave them around, but they were false locations. Somebody from the press would sneak on set and steal these maps and they were just sort of locations of the shopping mall that’s closed, way way out in the Valley.

I was having lunch and Michael came and sat at the head of our table to talk to somebody else. It was just a crew table, and usually he was pretty separated – in fact, they told us at the start of the shoot, if anybody talks to Michael, you’re fired. So he sat down and we’re like, ‘Oh, God,’ and he started talking with us, and he had with him a mayonnaise and beansprout sandwich, and he said, ‘Anyone wanna finish this?’ and I said, ‘I’ll finish it!’ So he gave me half of his mayonnaise and beansprout sandwich.

I ate a few bites and after he left I didn’t finish it, and one of the guys said, ‘Why’d you take that?’ I said, ‘Actually, I just want to be able to say when I’m 80, I just want to say, I ate half of Michael Jackson’s sandwich.’ Like, mayonnaise is supposed to be so bad for you now – he won’t eat meat, but he’ll eat all that lard.

Recovering from the burn, January 1984

Michael awoke to a breakfast of fruit and juice and a tidal wave of messages from friends and fans. Diana Ross called. So did Liza Minnelli. Jackson’s favorite among the hundreds of telegrams was one from a girl that said, “I heard you were hot, Michael, but this is ridiculous.”

By the time Hoefflin arrived the next day, Jackson had watched American Bandstand on TV and, according to one nurse, “was bebopping in bed while the doctors examined him.”

Joan Rivers presenting the Grammys, February 1984

“The reason we’re reading the rules is so that all the losers will know why they lost to Michael Jackson.”



Marlon Brando’s telegram to Michael, 1984

On the evening of July 6th, 1984, The Jacksons reunited and embarked on a 55-date tour of the U.S. and Canada. Prior to the Victory Tour’s first show, the following ‘Good Luck’ telegram was sent to Michael Jackson by his friend, Marlon Brando.

Transcript

DEAR MICHAEL

THINKING ABOUT YOU THIS EVENING PLEASE TRY NOT TO MAKE AN ASS OF YOURSELF AND PLEASE FOR GOD’S SAKE DON’T FALL IN THE ORCHESTRA PIT.

MARLON

John Landis, visiting Disney World with Michael, 1984

“After Thriller we went to Disney World and I have this photograph in my library that I really treasure which is a really silly photo of Michael Jackson, Mickey and me. The guy took like two pictures when I heard this deafening noise and I looked and I saw this security guy *****ing out and talking into his microphone. I turned around and I don’t really know how to explain it but it was the only time in my life that I was truly terrified and I thought, “We’re dead”. It was a sea of people and they completely surrounded this island of grass and they were held back by this little chain and by when I saw a sea of people, it was people as far as you can see in every direction. There were thousands of people, all of whom were hysterical. The kind of hysterical like Beatles, Elvis, Sinatra-hysterical. They were Michael Jackson hysterical. I looked and I thought, “Oh my God”, and it got louder and the screaming and you had to shout to hear the person next to you. And at Disneyland, the characters in those costumes, they’re never allowed to speak and then Mickey looks at me and goes, “Holy ****!”. And I don’t know how long it was but out of nowhere this Cadillac limousine, I’ll never forget it, I don’t know here it came from… just *poof*… it was Disney magic, and the security people grabbed Michael, Mickey, and I and throws us into the car with Mickey’s giant head and slams the doors and the chains broke and it was like the ocean, like surf. This wall of people, you know, like the Sorcerer’s apprentice, surround the car. And Mickey and I are just platzing, the driver was like, “I don’t know what to do” and I said, “Don’t drive you’ll kill somebody!” and Michael was like, “Hi…, Hello”, totally not phased!”

Fan remembering the Victory Tour, July 1984

My strongest memory from the night was when one of the Jackson brothers ripped off Michael’s white t-shirt with fringe at the bottom (this was 1984) and tossed it into the crowd. My mother was holding me and standing on her chair, and my father was holding my brother; my parents dropped both of us as they leaped up and grabbed the t-shirt. Two guys behind my father also had their hands on the t-shirt and they would not release their grip. I was crying on the floor. My brother was crying on the floor. My father was fighting for the Michael Jackson t-shirt. Finally my mother picked us up, and my father decided that the only solution was to split the t-shirt with the guys.

Hot balloon flight, October 1984

“We were flying fairly low,” Bansemer said, “and we flew over what looked like an elementary school with children playing in the playground, and he started to sing to them, and of course they had no idea who that was. Who would think, ‘Hey, that’s Michael Jackson?’ We were high enough that he wasn’t highly recognizable.”


Stephen Davis, Moonwalk ghostwriter, 1983-86

“Michael had this monkey called Bubbles. And they brought in Bubbles one day after lunch when my daughter was with me – she was seven at the time, her name is Lilly. And there weren’t many kids around at that time. This was in the Encino house, before he moved out to Neverland. And the monkey comes in and takes one look at Lilly, my little seven year old girl, and grabs her by the arm – and then starts dragging her out of the room. And Michael Jackson grabs Lily’s other arm. And he says to the monkey, “Hey Bubbles – Where you goin’ with my girlfriend?”

Meanwhile, I notice that the hand that is being held by the monkey is turning blue, because he’s got this vice grip on it. So I said, Mike, this is getting a little old here, I’m a little worried about the hand turning blue. So he kind of intervened, sort of kicked the monkey with his foot. But it’s that moment – where the monkey is pulling one way, and Michael is pulling the other, and Lilly looks up at me, and Michael goes, “Hey Bubbles – where you going with my girlfriend?” And my heart just went out to him, it was such a sweet thing to do.”

Shaye Areheart, editor for Moonwalk 1983-1988

The last room we toured had a very large glass terrarium with a lid on it. It was a low table, and it was hard to see what was inside. Jackie and I were looking around admiring some very beautiful birds in cages, oblivious to what Michael was up to, when suddenly he turned from the terrarium and said with a sweet smile, ”Here, Shaye, you want to hold Muscles?”

Languishing across his outstretched hands was a very pretty boa constrictor. I took it. It felt like damp silk and, much to my surprise, began to move sideways, so that I was in danger of dropping it. I exclaimed to that effect, and Michael protectively retrieved his snake with a look of abject disappointment on his face. It was only much later, when he teased me about it, that I realized he was hoping — wildly hoping — for a shriek from me and, maybe, a hysterical dash out of the room. He was a kid at heart — then and always.
[..]
In the evenings, we would sometimes see a movie in the screening room. I remember him taking his friend and advisor Karen Langford and me to the L.A. County Children’s Museum, which they kept open for us after hours. We exhausted ourselves leaping against Velcro walls, standing in front of spinning lights, and throwing ourselves into the pools of plastic balls. On the way home, he asked his driver to pull over somewhere near the intersection of Hollywood and Vine and jumped from the car to dance on his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, singing some perfect little bit of a song before leaping back in, and off we went into the night. It was exhilarating to be in his presence. He was exciting and funny and brilliant.

Stories from David Gest’s autobio “Simply the Gest”


On Michael’s own money, he and I flew to Nashville and rented a car. He drove. I soon set about driving him mad, just totally bonkers.

In Nashville we were booked into a really nice hotel, Spence Manor. We pulled up alongside an intercom system you had to get past to get to go through the main gates. Michael didn’t know Nasville, so I sensed an opportunity to have some fun.

I told him that because we were in the self styled “Music City” we had to abide by one of the local traditions.

“Michael, you have to sing into the intercom,” I said.

“Sing what?”

“You have to sing ‘It’s Music City and I am here. I’m Mike McDonald so let’s raise a cheer.’ Otherwise they won’t let you in. You have to do it,” I told him.

He gave me a puzzled look but went along with it. The guy on the end of the intercom came on and said in his southern accent, “How can I help you?”

Michael began to sing and the voice on the intercom replied, “Sorry, we don’t let weirdos in here.”

They wouldn’t open the gates. I was laughing so hard I was on the floor. Michael didn’t quite get it for a moment but as soon as he did he nearly peed his pants too. He couldn’t believe he had been such an idiot as to do that.

[...]

Michael and I used to have so much fun playing jokes on each other. My favourite prank was to put on another voice and pretend to be someone else – I loved to do voices. In the early days of working together, Michael went to stay at a hotel in Little Rock, Arkansas. He loved to eat. He had just arrived and I knew the first thing he would do was order food from room service. So I beat him to the punch. As soon as he got to his room, I rang him up, putting on a woman’s voice, and said, “Honey, do you want to order room service?”

“Oh yes, baby, I’ll have a hamburger,” he said. He always called people sweetheart or baby.

“Ok, darling,” I replied.

“I would like some mustard and ketchup.”

“Baby, we have no mustard and ketchup.”

“None?” he asked.

“None. We just ran out and our shipment is two days late,” I replied.

“Ok, I will have some relish.”

“Honey, we’re all out of relish. We just got rid of the last of it.”

“Ok, I’ll have mayonaise.”

“No mayonaise.”

“Cheese and lettuce?”

“No cheese or lettuce.”

“Fries?”

“No fries.”

“Well, just put some butter and tomato in the bun.”

“Honey, we have no buns, just toast.”

By this point he had enough, so he just started screaming, “You have no mustard, you have no ketchup, you have no fries, you have no buns. What kind of restaurant is this?”

I started cracking up. It was then that I realized I had him. I did exactly the same thing to him 25 years later. We weren’t working together then but I knew where he was staying.

[...]

Michael used to love calling people up. He would do it when he came over to my house. He would just pick up the phone, dial a random number and start horsing around.

The person at the other end would pick up the phone and Michael would say, “Who’s this?”

They would reply something like, “It’s Lenore.”

He would go, “Oh, Lenore, listen, we’re going to have to get a divorce. I can’t carry on like this.”

“She would go, “No, no, you have the wrong…”

Michael would interrupt and say, “No, Lenore, don’t even try that on me. I’ve just had it with you. We’ll divide the property evenly and everything but it’s got to be this way.”

Then he would hang up, leaving the person on the other end of the line wondering what the hell had just happened.

(1978)

Michael was staying at my place on Dohney and was happy to come along. He really respected Burt (Bacharach) but wondered, as we all did, what made him tick.

Burt had ordered a bottle of expensive French red wine, which he, Carole (Bayer Sager) and I were drinking. Michael never drank but that night he got interested in wine. Unbelievably; he didn’t even know what wine was.

‘What’s it made of?’ he asked me.

‘Grapes’, I said.

‘I like grapes,’ Michael said. ‘I think I’ll try some.’

So we poured Michael a glass and he drank it. He obviously liked it because he drank another one. We were drinking a 1982 Pomerol that tasted like candy, so he was bound to like it.

By this time, we all had a glass or two and the bottle was finished. So Burt ordered a second bottle. This time, Michael drank virtually the whole bottle. He had really aquired a taste for wine, fine wine at that, and was guzzling the stuff down.

So we ordered a third bottle and Michael drank most of that as well. That’s when I knew we were going to have a problem that night.

The evening came to an end and I drove Michael back to my place. He was, understandbly, happy. In fact, he was flying high, very high. In the car he was talking and laughing. He was singing ‘I Want To Be Where You Are’ and ‘Never Can Say Goodbye’.

Then he started singing more of his hit songs like ‘Ben’. He was giggling away all the time.

‘You’re going to be in trouble,’ he said. ‘I’m going to tell Joesph what you did.’

I wasn’t taking the bait. ‘I didn’t do it, you did,’ I said.

It took us a few minutes to get back to my place. The minute I parked the car and opened the door for him, Michael leaned out and threw up all over the place. He spent the rest of the night hanging over the toilet. He was as sick as a dog. I was up all night with him.

He kept saying, ‘I’m going to tell Joe you corrupted me,’ I was kinda worried he would but he never did.

It was his first taste of wine, something he would come to love a little too much in later years. I always felt bad about that night but it sure was funny!

(Al Green’s church, 1978)

When it came time to head for the party, Michael cried off. He had the worst case of crotch rot from wearing his underwear too tight. He couldn’t move. The sides of his legs were all sore and had broken out in a rash.

We went to Al Green’s church the next day, even though Michael was still in a lot of pain. The rash had spread all over his legs and he couldn’t walk properly.

When we arrived, Al was singing the Curtis Mayfield classic, “People Get Ready.” He still had the most amazing effect on people, only now it was a more religious thing.

This woman who was sitting next to us suddenly started hyperventilating, like a lot of Southern African American women do when they go to church. She started speaking in tongues and jumping up and down. Then she fell right into Michael’s crotch.

I will never forget the look on Michael’s face. It was pure horror.

He just sat there, frozen, obviously in terrible pain, whispering, “Help me, help me.”

I just smiled at him and said, “What am I going to do? I’m not going to get her off your penis. You will have to play with your own organ today!”

That woman lay there for ten minutes. It was only when Al Green ushered Michael up to sing with him that we were able to remove her from Michael’s crotch.

[...]

We would go to Disneyland. We both loved rollercoasters. Sometimes we would go on them twenty times in a row.

Often, Michael would wear disguises. Once, he was a sheikh and I was his translator. We would go into a place called Carnation Restaurant in Disneyland where they served great tuna salad and sandwiches. Michael was eating organic food only, although, at that time, he had a rather strange idea of what organic was. We would go to KFC, Michael reckoned if you took off the skin it became organic.

Anyhow, at Carnation on this particular day, there were two elderly women and a gentleman in their eighties from Croydon. We started talking in our mock Arabic to each other.

When the two ladies looked over, I turned to one of them and explained, “The Sheikh Majolini wanted me to tell you that you are a beautiful woman and so is your friend,” I said.

These two ladies probably hadn’t been paid a compliment like that in the last couple of decades so they started smiling. We then got talking. They asked what the Sheikh was doing here and I said he had just got divorced from his 97th wife and was now on his 154th child.

“He has 154 children?” they asked, looking shocked.

“That he knows of,” I said. “He has had 97 wives…” and I started naming them, “Jada, Jami, Shakira, Vera…” with Michael saying them in mock Arabic.

There was nothing malacious in it. In fact, Michael picked up their bill. He was like that, always pulling practical jokes on people.

Sometimes though, the joke would be on us. The funniest thing that ever happened to us was when we went for pancakes one night. It was after 1am and our regular haunt, Dupars, was closed, so we went to another pancake house that we knew on Ventura Boulevard. There was only one couple in there; normally it held 150 people.

The waitress who served us was in her late sixties or early seventies. This was around 1979, when Off The Wall came out. Michael was the no. 1 artist in the world. She didn’t recognize him at all.

We got to the table and she come over and asked us what we wanted to order. I put on a Saudi accent and went “Yamaka fallesh.”

Michael started laughing. The waitress slapped him across the face with the back of her hand. She said, “This is not funny. Your friend is from a foreign country and you have respect for people from foreign countries.”

Michael got nervous. He wasn’t used to being treated like that in public. He slid further inside the booth so he couldn’t get slapped again.

I asked, “What is pancake? Explain please.”

The waitress started miming a pressing motion. She said, “It’s like a cake that you press down.”

Michael started to laugh again and she started to put her hand up again, so he slid further away.

She then said, “Ok, I’m going to take you back to the kitchen.” She and the cook showed us how to make pancakes. I ordered some.

When the pancakes came to our table, I took the syrup bottle and emptied the whole bottle all over the pancakes. She immediately slapped me across the face. It hurt.

“Not funny,” she said. Michael was laughing again.

She brought me a new batch and I ate them. When we left, Michael left her a $200 tip.

We were in the car park, heading back to Michael’s Rolls Royce, when the waitress came running after us.

“I’m not taking this. You boys are probably working your way through college and you need the money,” she said, not even noticing the car he was driving.

Michael insisted but she said, “No, I’m not taking it.” We couldn’t believe it.

[...]

We’d get in the car and sing songs together. He used to tell me I was the worst singer he’d ever heard! He always made me laugh. Michael had a great sense of humour which most people never saw. We loved to go antiquing for furniture and paintings as well as memorabilia. Our favourite thing to do was walk into a store and go, “Do you have any John LeCockah paintings?”

The antique dealer would respond, “We’ve just sold the last one for $100,000.” I’d say to Michael, “Oh no, he’s just sold the last John LeCockah painting.” We would plead for him to get another in and he’d respond, “They are just too hard to find.” We’d walk out and go, “We’ll never buy from that dealer because there’s no such painter!” Michael would be laughing so hard. He had a laugh that was like a cackle: Hhk hhk hhk hhk hhk.

We’d do very normal things. We’d go out for pancakes and French toast and I’d drive his Rolls-Royce. When we stopped for gas, I’d ask him to fill the tank. He’d say, “I’m the star here. I can’t believe you’re making me put gas in the car.” And I’d tell him, “When we’re together, there’s only one star.” That was the reason our friendship was so good. I never treated him like he was a big deal.

(at the 7th Annual American Cinema Awards where Michael was honoured, 1990)

When Michael Jackson came on stage to take his final bow at the end of the evening with Celia (Lipton Ferris – she was the executive producer of the show), she got even more excited. At one point, she wrapped herself around Michael shouting, ‘He’s the greatest, he’s the greatest!’ Finally the musical conductor danced with Celia and Michael could free himself. It was very funny. Even Michael enjoyed it.

[...]

I remember we once went to Disneyland. He was in disguise and we watched Captain EO, a Disney 3D movie which he starred in.

When we came out I said, ‘You were brilliant’ and he went, ‘Oh thanks, have you only just realised?’. Then when we got home I made him Moonwalk in my kitchen — then I tried it and fell flat on my face!?

The Michael Jackson I will remember was smart, articulate and made me laugh. His death was a huge shock but it brought back so many happy memories.

Sheryl Crow, Bad Tour 1987-88

“It was really surreal. I was lucky in that I got to hang out with him on a number of occasions by myself,” she recalled, “He invited me to his hotel room in Tokyo and we watched ‘Amos & Andy’ videos and the movie ‘Shane,’ just completely unexpected.

“He was funny, he had a big laugh, he loved practical joking and I can remember vividly going to Disneyland and going on a ride with him and he wouldn’t let the ride stop and by the end of it I was just absolutely ill. And he thought that was the funniest things he’d ever seen.”


Source: http://lacienegasmiled.wordpress.com/2010/08/17/cute-michael-jackson-stories/

 

[MJJLaugh]

Michael Jackson Photo Tribute

Both videos share the same music from the movie "Edward Scissorhands", yet they are totally different video, luckily with the same main man!



Ice Dance - Michael Jackson

 

[Ashtanga]

Cute Michael Jackson Stories

Oh Michael.... :lol: Cute stories! :wub:

 

[MJJLaugh]

[size=+1]The Cold Case: Director Mick Garris on Michael Jackson's Forgotten Ghosts[/size]

Exhausted by endless replays of Thriller? Fed up with CNN treating Michael Jacksons’s “ghost” as actual news ? This week, a special edition of The Cold Case talks to Mick Garris about 1997’s Ghosts, the all-but-forgotten 38-minute film he created with Michael Jackson, the late Stan Winston and horror legend Stephen King.

In the 24/7 media meltdown that surrounded Michael Jackson’s untimely death, it appeared that every clip of the superstar was unearthed, dusted off and replayed over and over. Even so, somehow, every story or tribute package led to 1983’s Thriller, that game-changing 14-minute horror short that remains the highest-selling music video of all time. We should probably be grateful that the networks didn’t have a working VCR and a copy of 1997’s Ghosts, lest we be subject to an immediate overload of TV talking heads’ endless analysis of what it meant and, God forbid, what it predicted.

To be fair, this 38-minute short film, not so much a sequel to Thriller than an operatic bookend, lends itself to such discussion. In it, Michael Jackson depicts himself as a misunderstood monster who’s persecuted by those who love and hate him — led by himself. The singer messes with his face, turns white, dies, is resurrected and moonwalks as a skeleton. Most poignantly, Jackson asks his fans and followers whether they’ve been scared and whether they’ve had fun. The answers are yes and yes.

Early in his career, Mick Garris, creator of the Masters Of Horror TV series and director of Stephen King adaptations such as The Shining and The Stand, and his wife Cynthia donned zombie make-up for Thriller. A decade later, Garris became part of the team that put Ghosts together. He spoke with Movieline recently about developing the project, working with his formidable creative partners and how Jackson battled monsterdom both onscreen and in real life.

First things first: How did you come to be a zombie in Thriller?
John Landis had already been a friend for several years. We actually met when I was a receptionist for the original Star Wars at an off-lot office at Universal. John’s office was next door to mine when he was prepping Animal House. And Rick and his wife at the time, Elaine, had been very close friends and neighbors to me and Cynthia. So when they invited us, we came running. I was a hopeful writer then, doing publicity for studios and the like, just starting to get screenwriting jobs.

Was there the sense that you were seeing pop-culture history being made?
We knew we were doing something special, but had no idea just how special. We knew it was a much bigger scale than music videos at the time had been, and so much different than the usual 1980s performance things. But watching Michael come alive on that first night I was there was electrifying. I became a fan right there.

Did you become friends with Michael Jackson then?
We did not become friends at that point. Later on, when I was shooting The Stand, Stephen King and Michael put together a script for another scary music video — one with huge scale, even compared to Thriller. King recommended me for it, and that’s where I really met Michael on a one-to-one basis. We became friends through that experience.




What did you think Michael wanted to achieve with Ghosts?
Michael wanted to make the biggest, scariest music film ever. Well, I don’t know that that’s what happened; you can’t really be scary in this context, but it’s huge, the music and dancing are great, and it’s quite the spectacle. And it definitely got its point across. That theme of the outcast stranger that he and King created was important, and stayed the focus through various incarnations.

How did you get involved, and how did the collaboration between you, Michael, Stan Winston and Stephen King work?
I was actually the original director. It was begun in 1993, and I worked with him throughout pre-production and two weeks of production. It shut down for three years before resuming under Stan Winston, who was doing the effects work when I was directing. I recommended him to finish shooting when it resumed, as I was about to shoot The Shining. So yeah, I was on set a lot. But I was not there when the production continued in 1996. I’d get midnight calls from Michael, who was so passionate about finishing it, making it special. He and Stan had become friends way back when they did The Wiz together.

In the beginning, he and Steve did the script together, and I wasn’t really privy to what went on then. It was when it was greenlit that Michael and I and Stan would get together for hours on end, planning the complicated effects as well as the music and storytelling. But it started as something completely different. Nobody knows this, but it was originally going to be a video to promote Addams Family Values. In fact, Christina Ricci and the boy who played Pugsley were both in it. We shot for two weeks and never got to the musical numbers. It was very expensive and ambitious. And when the first so-called scandal happened, it was when we were shooting. Suddenly, Michael was out of the country, and the studio no longer wanted him to help promote that film.

What does it mean to you now that Stan and Michael are both gone?
It’s incredibly sad, of course, and really tragic. Stan was a very talented and funny and friendly man. But I was closer to Michael, spent more time with him. It really breaks my heart to see what happened to him. He was always very fragile, had lots of trouble sleeping. He reminded me a lot of Don McLean’s song about Vincent Van Gogh. The world can be mean, and Michael didn’t have a mean bone in him. Very vulnerable and sweet. And what most people don’t realize is how smart he was and especially how funny he could be. A very witty, explosively talented guy.





Did Michael hope Ghosts would break out as big as Thriller?
Michael always seemed to hope to make something that would be huge. He thought big, because his whole life seemed to be surrounded by magnitude. I don’t know what his hopes were in terms of comparing it with Thriller, but I know he thought it would be very special.

Ghosts and Thriller see him as a charismatic, playful “monster”. Do you think he kept having fun with that reputation, even when the media turned on him?
He was very playful with that image, though as the press got meaner, he was definitely hurt by it, and pulled back and became more reclusive. But though we were friends, it wasn’t like I saw him all the time. A couple years could go by without seeing or speaking with one another, but when we did, we always had a good time.

Where were you when you heard he’d died? What did you immediately think and feel?
I was driving in my car when I heard on the radio that he’d been found unconscious and had been rushed to the hospital. I was stunned, of course, like everyone. Then, about an hour or so later, when I heard it rumored that he had died, I just couldn’t believe it. It took a couple of days for it to sink in. Maybe it was inevitable, I don’t know. I just know that he was fragile, sensitive, and an incredibly sweet and generous guy. It broke my heart, just like it broke the world’s. And I really felt for his kids, who are terrific and unspoiled in a way you wouldn’t imagine. At least, they were when I last saw them a couple of years ago.

As someone who knew him, what’s your reaction to the 24/7 speculation and media coverage?
I don’t know, I hate to speculate. I know he had his demons, fears, fragility. I really wasn’t exposed to the drug usage or any of that stuff. It was not that intimate a relationship. All I know is that he was someone I liked a lot, and was privileged to know and work with, and I miss him. Even though I hadn’t seen him in a couple of years, it always seemed like we’d be getting together again soon to talk about movies, and laugh and joke and have fun. It makes me so sad that it won’t ever happen again.



Did you see the loneliness and sadness claimed to have been his constant companion?
One of my earliest meetings with him was in New York, where he had a penthouse apartment in the Trump Towers. He was so very lonely. He’d take me to the window and point down at Fifth Avenue below and tell me he’d give anything to be able to just walk down there and go into the shops, but he couldn’t. I went out to visit him in Orlando, and was surprised to find that I was the only one, other than staff, that was around with him. There was nobody but us for a couple of days. I don’t think he had a lot of close friends, people who didn’t want something from him.

Your enduring memory of him will be…?
Making him laugh. When Michael laughed, when you got to him for more than just that giggle behind the hand, it was a sight to see. He just loved to laugh, and it was fun to tease him gently. Maybe one of my favorite memories was on the set of Ghosts; we’d finish a take, and if I wanted another, I’d put on Bullwinkle’s voice and say, “This time for sure!” The first time, he just laughed and laughed and laughed. Then he’d keep asking, even after the good takes: “Mick, do Bullwinkle!” That’s how I like to remember him.

Will Ghosts get a DVD release now?
I hope so. It was hugely expensive, and never released in the United States. He paid for it out of his own pocket, too. So I don’t know who owns it. But I think people would love it. It changed a lot from the time that I worked on it to the time it was finished, but it’s quite an accomplishment. I’d love to see it available. The only copy of it I have was one I came across in a music store in Hong Kong, on the old VCD format. It deserves better.





Source: http://www.movieline.com/2009/07/th...rris-on-michael-jacksons-forgotten-ghosts.php

 

[Ashtanga]

[SIZE=+1]The Cold Case: Director Mick Garris on Michael Jackson's Forgotten Ghosts[/SIZE]


:clapping:

Ghosts is sooooooooooooo perfect!!!! :wild:

 

[MJJLaugh]

How To Show Your Love For Michael Jackson

Michael Jackson's Walk of Fame Star in Hollywood


Michael Jackson is undeniably one of the most controversial and mysterious entertainers ever. Yet, that hasn't stopped millions upon millions of people all around the planet from appreciating his caring soul, sincere personality, uncommon engagement with and respect for fans and others, unmatched record-breaking generosity, and, of course, legendary artistic genius. Show your love for the larger-than-life man behind more than four decades of incredible music, dancing, and celebrity by doing some things for Michael Jackson that are as meaningful and wonderful as the numerous things he has done for his admirers and the world.
Difficulty: Easy
Instructions
Things You'll Need:

* Common sense
* A forgiving, non-judgmental attitude

1. Celebrate Michael Jackson's enduring creative legacy by indulging in his music, books, films, writing, and artwork however, whenever, and wherever you want.


2. Overcome the urge to fixate on Michael Jackson's children. Prince, Paris, and Blanket are intelligent and well-behaved, and they should be allowed to live their lives in peace, free of the unrelenting media and public scrutiny that hounds their father.


3. Cut Michael Jackson's family members some slack. Family is family, no matter what has happened in the past. Only he has the right to judge his relatives and their behavior towards him.


4. Understand how difficult it must be to grow up and live in the harsh public spotlight like Michael Jackson, with nearly every move you make subjected to the intrusive and overly judgmental lens of both the media and society.


5. Educate yourself and others about the unfair, unjustified, and untrue criminal allegations directed at Michael Jackson; he is innocent on all counts. Start with the "GQ" article "Was Michael Jackson Framed?" by journalist Mary A. Fischer and the book "Michael Jackson Conspiracy" by author Aphrodite Jones.


6. Fight for Michael Jackson's reputation. Speak up when ignorant or uninformed people try to spread lies and malicious rumors about him, and correct their wrong information and assumptions.


7. Resist the temptation to think you know everything about Michael Jackson. No matter how many appearances you've seen, speeches and tales you've heard, or articles, books, and interviews you've read, he has a private life away from prying eyes. He deserves to have that life remain private.


8. Remember Michael Jackson's compassion, kindness, and philanthropy always. He has more than a dozen "Guinness World Records" for his great generosity to charitable causes, most benefiting children, and his unrivaled professional accomplishments. He also dedicated a large amount of his personal time to visiting sick and disadvantaged children wherever he traveled and toured, and to hosting, sponsoring, or appearing at events for them.


9. Admire the fact that, despite Michael Jackson's immense celebrity, he is basically just a human being with faults, trying to do the best he can in his given circumstances ... exactly like the rest of us.


10. Embody and spread Michael Jackson's message, which is essentially consideration, empathy, and love for others and concern for the environment.



Read more: How to Show Your Love for Michael Jackson | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/how_6244931_show-love-michael-jackson.html#ixzz0zXIcEkUm

 

[MJJLaugh]

Michael, I See Your True Colors

11. Make beautiful, touching videos about Michael that show how much you love him.

 

[Ashtanga]

Michael, I See Your True Colors

11. Make beautiful, touching videos about Michael that show how much you love him.

Beautiful! :wub:


Oh Michael.....

 

[MJJLaugh]

MICHAEL JACKSON: COSMIC ALIEN

by T. F. Hodge
(California, USA)

Ever sense the spiritual graduation of the entity the world recognizes as the 'King of Pop', I've been reluctant to share my thoughts about the life and times of the greatest entertainer - Michael Jackson. I figured there would be countless writings, pontifications, and opinions; mainly about the, mostly negative, superficial aspects of his journey through this experience we call life.


In other words, I was hoping to read or hear much more about the greater meaning and significance of the life of the 'gloved one'. Although his many outstanding achievements and highly publicized trials and tribulations are nothing short of legendary and at the same time pitifully sobering, I find myself wanting us to realize what I have about this often misunderstood entertaining 'alien', who's gone too soon.


When I first heard the news of his passing from family and friends (because I don't watch much television) I didn't react with any measure of passion worth noting. But as I began to recall my days growing up in the 1970s, I started to feel, more deeply, the 'real' life purpose of this giant of a spiritual being. He is much greater than we have seemingly yet to allow ourselves to recognize!


Beyond the fascinating ability to 'moon-walk', or the epic trend setting video productions, or the mountains of philanthropic donations he personally gave to charities; I still see far beyond the world of magic and make believe he so profoundly manifested for our collective and hyper emotional enjoyment.


Though he dazzled us with his awesome 'flex' and rhythm, the prodigal son was trying to teach us all something far less shallow and deeper than setting fashion trends, for example. MJ, all along, was telling a story, in each and every song, of acceptance, joy, peace, understanding, inclusion, gratitude, respect, praise, healing, humility, introspection, and compassion, to name a few.


What he wrote in the form of lyrics while sitting in Neverlands' oak tree, were cosmic universal, poetic metaphoric messages about the internal, higher true self? the 'man in the mirror.' If we seek to continue dissecting all the external, material aspects of his 'reality', we are certain to loose the message he personified; the message of the great eternal spirit??the message of love, agape!


So as we look to the days ahead, for confirmations of things that ultimately matter not, I am comforted in the promise that Mr. Jackson's message will rise above the perception of scandalous gossip, and take spiritual flight in the hearts of those who know, from within, the true essence of his ultimate becoming.


For those who willingly insist on beating the negative drum(s) of judgment and aim it at the one who suffered silently, but smiled anyway, I would say to you, bless you??and so would he! May you rest in eternal peace Mr. Michael Jackson. And thank you for loving a strange and fearful planet.


One day, as sure as the sun rises in the east and sets in the west, we shall know, internally, what you were so well aware of. Until that time comes, I'll keep "living off the wall!"


Source: http://www.spiritual-healing-secrets.com/michael-jackson-cosmic-alien.html

 

[MJJLaugh]

Michael Jackson - Beautiful Neverland (part1)

Neverland was a place where he could not only escape the glare of the public eye, but share it with sick and terminally ill children and their families from around the world. A place where they could come and, if just for a day, forget their illness and simply be a child again.
He did this as a gesture from his heart, using his own money, not running it as a charity or wanting anything in return but to see the smiles on their faces.




Michael Jackson - Beautiful Neverland (part2)

 

[Ashtanga]

Michael Jackson - Beautiful Neverland (part1)

Neverland was a place where he could not only escape the glare of the public eye, but share it with sick and terminally ill children and their families from around the world. A place where they could come and, if just for a day, forget their illness and simply be a child again.
He did this as a gesture from his heart, using his own money, not running it as a charity or wanting anything in return but to see the smiles on their faces.




Michael Jackson - Beautiful Neverland (part2)

Makes me cry.

 

[Billie_Jean09]

http://bestofmichaeljackson.jclondo...ook-fanpage-than-facebook-long-live-the-king/

Found and liked this!

 

[MJJLaugh]

Michael Jackson : Up Close and Personal
by Shelah Moody

The three words just don’t belong together. Michael. Jackson. Dead.

Perhaps Stevie Wonder summed it up best when he sang his heart wrenching ballad, “I Never Dreamed You’d Leave in Summer,” during his performance at Jackson’s Memorial Service at the Staples Center in Los Angeles on June 7, 2009.

I met Michael Jackson once—outside his Neverland Ranch in the spring of 2005. Jackson was on trial for child molestation and other charges (of which he was later acquitted), and I was one of the few who got to observe the courtroom proceedings in Santa Maria, Calif. first hand.

As a journalist, several questions had been running through my mind during those two days. Was Jackson targeted by the prosecution because he was black, because he was an eccentric millionaire whose facial features had mysteriously morphed from Negroid to European over the years, because he had spoken openly about sharing his bed with children in his opulent lair? Could he actually get a fair trial with the intense and media coverage and speculation from the hyperbolic Nancy Grace and others?

Jackson’s parents, Joe and Katherine, entered the courtroom first. The room was silent when Michael walked in. I had almost expected the floor beneath him to light up, like the sidewalk panels in his “Billie Jean.”

Jackson was certainly dressed like a superstar, in a natty black suit, accented with a gold vest and one of his trademark armbands. His gait was steady and confident, his demeanor calm, as he offered a shy smile and wave to his fans before he took his seat near his defense team, Thomas Messereau, Jr. and Susan Yu. We all rose for Judge Rodney Melville, who presided over the case, and then the jury came in.

Hearing testimonies by Jackson’s former travel agent, videographer and his ex-wife, Debbie Rowe, it was clear that so many people had benefited from Jackson’s vulnerability and generosity.

I caught a ride to Neverland on my last day in Santa Maria with a group of superfans, two young African American women from California and a young couple from Newcastle, England. The drive to Los Olivos was beautiful—we passed verdant hills, fields of lavender and a farm for miniature horses.

A crowd had gathered outside the estate to welcome Jackson as he returned from the courthouse. It was a blustery day and rained intermittently. Fans sat on rocks and picked at the wildflowers surrounding the property.

MJ as a Kid. Photo I purchased at the Michael Jackson Auction in 2007, Las Vegas.I remember the deafening screams of “Michael!!!!” and the crush of bodies I got lost in when I approached the black SUV as it slowed. Joe and Katherine were seated up front and his brother, Jackie, was behind them. Michael was way back.

“Michael?” I said.

I reached for his hand and he took mine. It was cool, steady and trusting, a distinct shade of pink with flecks of brown, evidence of the skin disorder, vitiligo. I remembered the hero of my youth and when I looked at the man in the car, I could see the physical and emotional toll the trial had taken on him.

My friend had given me a strand Ogún beads that I often wore for safety and protection when traveling to unfamiliar places. I took off the black and green necklace and folded it into his hand. He accepted it and nodded. No words passed between us. Then, I watched Michael Jackson’s SUV disappear through the gates of Neverland.

Part II Bay Area Fans and Visitors Honor Jackson’s Legacy

Indeed, the loss of Michael Jackson was felt by all in the Bay Area.

Dorothy King, owner of Everette & Jones in Oakland. Photo by Diane “Livonn” Adam (c) 2009

On the June 26, 2009, the day after Michael Jackson’s passing, Dorothy King, owner of Everett and Jones restaurant in Oakland, and her friend Annemarie Stephens hosted a Goodbye Party (on her birthday) to mourn the loss of the King of Pop and to celebrate his life, legacy and contribution to the world.

On June 28, the R&B Grammy nominated sisters Hélène and Célia Faussart paid tribute to Jackson during their performance at the Stern Grove in San Francisco. Les Nubians began with a French/African version of Jackson’s jazz-inspired, “I Can’t Help It,” written by Stevie Wonder for Jackson’s breakthrough solo album, Off the Wall.

In a pre-concert talk, the sisters held back tears as they described Jackson as one of their biggest influences and remembered sneaking out of their beds to watch the Thriller video on television when it premiered in 1984.

Les Nubians. Photo by Kimara Dixon (c) 2009

“The beauty of music and the beauty of art is that it makes you immortal, eternal,” said Celia. “Michael Jackson will definitely be eternal for the next generation and the generation after that.”

During their 4th of July performance at Pier 23 Café in San Francisco, the Mighty Diamonds, Jamaica’s premiere vocal trio, paid tribute with a stirring rendition of Jackson childhood ballad, “Ben.” At first, the audience got quiet, and then everyone cheered.

The Mighty Diamonds and Taj Mahal. Photo by Shelah Moody (c) 2009The Mighty Diamonds began their career in 1969 covering American R&B tunes in Trench Town as the Jackson 5 were making a name for themselves in the U.S.

Lead vocalist Donald “Tabby Diamond” Shaw remembers meeting Jackson and his brothers at a Jackson 5 show in Kingston. He recalls Jackson as a curious, humble youth who was interested in his surroundings.

“Everybody loved Michael Jackson in Jamaica,” said Shaw. He was a role model for most kids. He was a special person.”

Although he never met or recorded with Michael Jackson, Tarrus Riley, currently the number one singer in Jamaica, shares a common bond with him.

Six months ago, Riley recorded a cover of “Human Nature” (listen to the Human Nature clip) for a compilation of Michael Jackson covers produced on a Japanese label. Before Jackson’s death, the song had already reached number one in parts of the Caribbean. “Human Nature” will appear on Riley’s next album, Contagious on VP Records and is not a permanent fixture in his concert repertoire.

Riley was just a kid when Thriller came out. Rastafarian, Riley offered some comforting words on life after death for Michael Joseph Jackson.

“Michael is in the place he was before he was born, before he was in the flesh,” said Riley.

During a stop at Jamaica Place restaurant in Emeryville, Grammy winning jazz/blues artist Taj Mahal, who lives in Berkeley, commented on Jackson’s untimely death. His favorite Jackson recordings are the ones that Quincy Jones produced, such as “Off the Wall” and “Thriller.”

“We lost one of the most incredible innovators in popular music,” said Mahal. “He opened the door for a lot of people. I never worked with them, but I saw the Jackson 5 at the Grammys in the seventies.

Narada Michael Walden. Photo by Kimara Dixon (c) 2009

Soon after he got word of Jackson’s death, Grammy winning producer Narada Michael Walden went into his Tarpan studio in San Rafael and began to build an upbeat, funk-infused tribute entitled “Michael” (see the video on YouTube).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=POPUGnMDP5E

Acclaimed recording engineers David Frazier and Jim Reitzel assisted him on the song. Walden said the Spirits gave him the lyrics, which are intended to acknowledge, comfort, and pay homage to everyone who loved Michael Jackson.

Walden first met Jackson in the late seventies in New York at Central Park during the time Jackson was filming The Whiz.

“He was like a deer—a doe, very gentle,” said Walden. “We just talked—of course I knew his music and he knew mine at the time. It was a really nice encounter. No pressure, just hanging out talking. The next time I saw him was at the Oakland Coliseum (now Oracle Arena) backstage when he played there with his brothers. He reminded me when that we had met in New York. He was sharp to remember that.”

Source: http://cityflight.com/?p=491

 

[MJJLaugh]

Together Again: Michael & Janet Jackson

A brother and sister, both extremely talented.often coming up with the same kind of ideas.
This video is in honor of Michael and his sister Janet.
Enjoy it!

 

[MJJLaugh]

Michael Jackson's Lawyer, Bob Sanger, Talks to West Coast Sound About the Pop Star, His Life -- and His Reading Habits

Bob Sanger: This is what I want to say. I do think it's appropriate to speak out at this point in honor of Michael. First of all, he was a great musician and performer, and his impact on music goes on today. I saw something on television today, I forgot who it was, but I looked at it, a current star doing a music video, and thought, 'That's Michael Jackson.' You can just see where all that came from that didn't exist before he started doing that sort of thing. The beat, and the music and everything else. That's an impact that he'll have forever, or certainly for a long time. I think that what people don't appreciate about Michael Jackson was as a human being, which I got to see, was privileged to see this, because he does have a lot of people around him.

When you represent him, which I did, unfortunately - unfortunately for him that we had to do this, but you do get very close to a person, and I sat next to him for four months in the criminal case - it took a full four months, and he was there every day. But what I did learn in the years that I represented him - particularly in that last case - is that he is a very kind person. Truly from his heart. And his whole family is like that. His mother, Katherine, and his sisters, LaToya and Janet - they have their own personalities onstage and everything, but they are the kindest, sweetest people you'll ever want to meet. And his brothers are very nice; they offer to do what they can for you.

I remember having a family meeting out at the ranch, in a room out there that was nicely appointed, as everything was. And we were all going to sit down and have a big meeting. And Janet says, 'Bob, you don't have a place to sit.' I told her it was okay, I could stand, and she said, 'No, no, no, I'll get you a chair.' She walks out the door, and I figure she's going to get someone to bring me a chair. She walks in with this big wing-backed armchair that she's carrying into the room - Janet Jackson - for me to sit in. It wasn't remarkable in that it was any different that what you'd expect from anyone in that family, or from her.

They were very kind. You would go to the ranch, or a house elsewhere where we met on other occasions, and you couldn't get away without being offered something to eat or drink. And personally, and I don't mean snap your fingers and someone comes to do it, they would be very concerned and very kind and generous about everything. And Michael was the same way. He believed that one of the things he could do in life in addition to entertainment was that he could really help children. And I know that's going to immediately get some kind of sarcastic response, but it's absolutely true.

I was there at his ranch when he wasn't even there on at least two occasions when he had a giant group of kids come up. One, a bunch of kids who were from hospitals down in LA -- children's wards -- came up with their families and everything else, and another time it was disadvantaged kids with their families, they were brought up and came up on buses - he had a couple of buses - and he would bring people up and it was like they were at Disneyland. His staff was there, and at one point he had a hundred-something people on staff. They would be offering everybody candy, and something to drink, and play in the game room, and go to the movie theater. And you'd see these kids, and it was just remarkable to see these kids and their eyes so wide and being treated this way.

Did the attorney in you ever become concerned with that? Here are hundreds of strangers coming into this multimillionaire's home, and anyone of them could have ulterior motives.

Well, I don't want to get into all that.

No, no, I understand.

Well, you know what? Yeah, the attorney in me, I look at what clients do and I always wonder. But, I've got to tell you: until we saw what this last family tried to do to him, which was so completely bizarre and off-the-wall, unfounded, manipulative -- the DA was so committed to get back at Michael Jackson that they just looked with blinders at these people, and ignored the fact that they had scammed other people, and so on. But when you saw that family and looked at that, you had to say, 'Oh my god, how vulnerable' - clearly he was vulnerable. But for a family like this to be able to get the attention of a district attorney and law enforcement was just remarkable. And it just shows you how vulnerable people can be.

And I've certainly seen that in my career in representing people for the last 35 years, certainly there are cases - people are prosecuted because they're guilty, sure, but people are also prosecuted because the government can, and sometimes there are some bad motives. And I don't want to talk about the particulars of that case, but it was just so clear how vulnerable he was.

The groups stopped at that point because we were in the trial - or at least I didn't see any, because I was busy trying to save his life, basically. But prior to that when I'd see these people come in, the generosity, and the kindness - the staff was told at all times, whenever you go to Neverland, or to his house elsewhere, the staff was always instructed to be absolutely kind to everybody. The kindness ran from the top down. And it wasn't the obsequious kind of stuff. It was true kindness, and it came from the top. Michael was kind, the whole family was. And that's the stuff that people don't see. They don't understand how deep the concept of kindness ran in his family.

And the third thing was that Michael was extremely well-read.

I didn't know that.

No. Few people did. In trial - and I knew Michael, but I got to know him a lot better at the trial. The judge was doing jury selection, and it was time for break. Judge Melville said, 'Ladies and gentlemen, I want you to know that jury service is very, very important.' He's trying to convince people not to have stupid excuses to get out of jury service. All judges do this. He says, 'The jury system is a very time-honored system. It's been around for 200 years. We're going to take a break and come back in 15 minutes.

We stand up and the judge leaves, and Michael turns to me and says, "Bob, the jury system is much older than 200 years, isn't it?' I said, 'Well, yeah, it goes back to the Greeks.' He says, 'Oh yeah, Socrates had a jury trial, didn't he?' I said, 'Yeah, well, you know how it turned out for him.' Michael says, 'Yeah, he had to drink the hemlock.' That's just one little tidbit. We talked about psychology, Freud and Jung, Hawthorne, sociology, black history and sociology dealing with race issues. But he was very well read in the classics of psychology and history and literature.

That's fascinating.

He loved to read. He had over 10,000 books at his house. And I know that because - and I hate to keep referring to the case, because I don't want the case - the case should not define him. But one of the things that we learned - the DA went through his entire library and found, for instance, a German art book from 1930-something. And it turned out that the guy who was the artist behind the book had been prosecuted by the Nazis. Nobody knew that, but then the cops get up there and say, 'We found this book with pictures of nude people in it.' But it was art, with a lot of text. It was art. And they found some other things, a briefcase that didn't belong to him that had some Playboys in it or something. But they went through the guy's entire house, 10,000 books. And it caused us to do the same thing, and look at it.

And there were places that he liked to sit, and you could see the books with his bookmarks in it, with notes and everything in it where he liked to sit and read. And I can tell you from talking to him that he had a very - especially for someone who was self-taught, as it were, and had his own reading list - he was very well-read. And I don't want to say that I'm well-read, but I've certainly read a lot, let's put it that way, and I enjoy philosophy and history and everything myself, and it was very nice to talk to him, because he was very intellectual, and he liked to talk about those things. But he didn't flaunt it, and it was very seldom that he would initiate the conversation like that, but if you got into a conversation like that with him, he was there.

Do you remember the last time you saw him, or talked to him?

The last time I talked to him was right after the trial, and then he moved out of the country. I had not seen him personally, in person - I talked to him on the phone - since them. Of course, I talked to people around him, because we still took care of matters for him. But the best I can say, and I don't want to oversell my significance in his world, but I want to convey this side of him that people didn't see. I just hate - every time I hear Jay Leno or somebody take a cheap shot - and Jay Leno I think is a very funny man - but every time they take a cheap shot I think, that really isn't fair, because that's not who he is. And few people had an opportunity to really experience the kindness of him and his family. And few people really had the opportunity the have these intellectual discussions about great thinkers and writers. Freud and Jung - go down the street and try and find five people who can talk about Freud and Jung.


Source: http://blogs.laweekly.com/westcoastsound/michael-jackson-lawyer-bob-san/

 

[MJJLaugh]

MICHAEL JACKSON TRIBUTE POEM By Apollo Poetry


Once every millennium or so comes along…
a being who feels the world
and its pain
in his own heart
takes it on as his mission
exacts our attention
and leads us to compassion. Some might call such a one “Humanitarian”
Some might call such a one “Prophet”
Some might call such a one “Visionary”
Some might call such a one “Shaman”
Some might call such a one “Guru”
Some might call such a one “Master”
Some might call such a one “Bodhisattva”
Some might call such a one “Messenger”
We had such a one.
And we just called him…
Michael Jackson
~ posted on the Inner Michael blog




You can read the poem of video at TravelingPoet.com

 

[MJJLaugh]

Bright Angel

Why?
What forged this bond?
Did you need me
Or the other way round?

Did you know I was here?
How could I help you?
So far away
How could I reach out
Beg you to stay

We met in the music
Our souls embraced
We danced in the rhythms
never face to face.

The words you had written
entered my heart
Was it my imagination?
Was it just art?

Closer and closer
Becoming so fond
I felt your pain
Heard the sound
Of your anguished cry
From across a world
I wept with you
As their weapons unfurled

Not separate
No space between us
Your pain in my heart
Your tears burning my eyes
Closer than my skin
my heartbeat, my breath
I longed to touch
To hold
When darkness closed in
To comfort
Against the gathering din

Did you need me?
Of what use was I?
Did you give me the words?
Did you hear my cry?

Our lives were joined
From that day to this
Hand in hand
Each following our bliss
You with your music
Your dance, your creating
Me with my stories
My articles berating
The blindness, the iniquity
The hatred, the insanity

I watched in amazement
Your comet blazing ‘cross the skies
Until one day last summer
They said you had died

My heart stopped
How could this be
That you are not
Here with me

Then I remembered
A thing you had taught me
Love never dies
In the place you had sought me
In our souls we are one
And once joined this way
I never have to
Beg you to stay

For we are together
Still hand in hand
‘Tho our feet do not touch
The paths or the sand

In our hearts we have bonded
Never to sever
In our thoughts of healing
We will not waver

You continue to shine
In the sun’s bright beams
We reflect your brilliance
Dimmer, it seems

You told us
We’re just another part of you
In the space where we meet
We learn that it’s true

So, Bright Angel,
Lead on
We follow behind
Help us to be
Loving and kind
by your example
ever present in our minds

Jan

Source: http://withachildsheart.wordpress.com/2010/09/15/bright-angel-3/

 

[MJJLaugh]

Michael Jackson Interview with US Navy Radio from 1984

This is an interview with Michael from the Thriller era.
Enjoy!

 

[MJJLaugh]

Building Neverland: Local contractor turned a cattle ranch into Michael’s Jackson’s unique estate

The train station at Neverland Ranch


When the news of Michael Jackson’s death spread throughout the Santa Ynez Valley, where the “King of Pop” had many admirers, one local man felt a particularly deep sadness because he knew that his 20-year friendship with Jackson could never be rekindled.

However, nothing can take away Tony Urquidez’s memories of the extensive construction he did to turn a cattle ranch into Neverland — from the gatehouse to the amusement park, train station and other elements — and even the piece of equipment he built for the “Smooth Criminal” music video.

Recalling his first project in 1988, he said, “I was called by a local architect to bid a proposal for a gate house, but didn’t know at the time who it was for. We weren’t the cheapest, but we estimated to get it built faster than the other bids.”

Urquidez, who owns Urquidez Construction in Los Olivos, came to think of his relationship with the late singer as more than just business as they often spoke on the phone and socialized in the years that followed.

statues near the front gate with aspen behind

While he was building the gate house, he said, a limousine came down the driveway and he had to quickly move the truck that was blocking the ranch’s driveway. As the limo drove by, it paused and the window rolled down a bit so that he could just see two eyes looking at him before it continued on.

That Sunday night after the project was completed, Urquidez received a phone call from a person claiming to be Michael Jackson. He hung up on him, thinking it was a joke. The phone rang again, and the person on the other end assured him it was in fact Michael Jackson. He asked Urquidez to come to a meeting the next week — and that was the beginning of Neverland.

“We sat at this huge conference table, and when Michael showed up everyone got up to greet him. He immediately asked me to step outside with him, and we took off from everyone, even his bodyguards. We zoomed around the ranch on a golf cart and he explained his vision for Neverland, the amusement park, the large animal zoo, theater, train, everything. I just thought to myself, ‘This guy is goofy,’” Urquidez said.

The Neverland clock at the main train station.

The next project Urquidez worked on at Neverland was the theater, with a state-of -the-art sound system, a candy and popcorn bar, a dance room, seats that had beds, and a stage big enough to fit an elephant under it if need be.

“He wasn’t the demanding type, but more of a little kid that wanted things immediately. We had crews working all hours of the day, and you could tell Michael was so excited. He put pressure on me, but it was a different kind of pressure, a fun pressure,” Urquidez said.

Once the theater was completed, Urquidez would get calls in the middle of the night from Jackson, asking

him to come watch a movie or just talking about ideas he had for the next project.

“Michael gave me a mental visual of what he wanted, and I had the freedom to create. After several projects like the ‘Magic Walkway,’ the bridge to the treehouse, the pirate ship, and the water fort, we had a language to ourselves. I knew what he was envisioning and I made it happen,” Urquidez said.

Urquidez’s son Aaron, now 28, said Jackson would call when he was a teenager and ask him about the latest trends in toys and games, then have him and his older brother Chris come out to test them.

“My favorite was the water fort. It was made into ‘Old West’ buildings and we would have teams against each other shooting out of water canons and guns,” Aaron said.

In researching all the amusement rides and games Jackson had on his ranch, Urquidez would go to conventions all over the country and even to amusement parks to test the rides in person.

“Michael always had to have the biggest and the best. The upside to all the strange requests was that I was able to work on projects I’ll never get to do again,” he said.

The bumper car tent

Jackson’s life started to go downhill after he was acquitted by a Santa Maria jury on child molestation charges and left Neverland for good. In November Jackson defaulted on a $24.5 million loan backed by the ranch and sold it to Sycamore Valley Ranch Company LLC for approximately $35 million, although he still retained an interest in the property.

When Jackson bid farewell to Neverland for good, Urquidez said, he started hearing less and less from the pop star.

“He would call me and we would have personal talks, but I can say in the amount of time I spent at Neverland I never saw anything out of the ordinary. Yes, he had sleepovers, but I never got a weird feeling.

The front gate at Neverland

“He asked sometimes for my boys to spend the night, and the only reason I said no was because I knew they would be up all night eating sugar, and I didn’t want to deal with them like that,” Urquidez said.

Urquidez still has a high opinion of Jackson, and thinks of him as a philanthropist. Jackson loved opening his ranch to underprivileged, inner-city and local children, he said, and when Urquidez built the steam-engine train that looped around the property, he had direct orders from Jackson to make it possible for bed-ridden people to ride.

Shortly after the train layout was completed, a bed-ridden, terminally ill boy with cancer visited Neverland, and he died days after his visit. Urquidez heard that the boy was all smiles about the train ride, and died peacefully.

As Urquidez recently sifted through the boxes of memorabilia he kept from Neverland, such as pictures of him working on the steam engine and the Time magazine from 1993 that showcased the ranch’s amusement park, he recalled instances of Jackson’s personality.

“Working with him so regularly, you forgot how big he was. I got a rare glimpse into his life and sometimes he would just burst into song or dance and I would think to myself, ‘Wow, that’s Michael Jackson!,” Urquidez said.

He also has throngs of items that Jackson personally gave to him, such as the original casting for the number 1 symbol off the steam engine, and the hat from the “Smooth Criminal” music video in which Jackson defies gravity.

Lithograph of Michael Jackson with children at the front gate

Urquidez built the hitch that Jackson could clip into the stage, allowing him to lean forward beyond his center of gravity.

“He was always giving and so considerate. In the years we spent together he never once tried to buy my affection. Michael was brilliant,” Urquidez said.

Source: http://www.syvnews.com/articles/2009/08/09/news/news03.txt

 

[MJJLaugh]

Michael Jackson *rare* FotoShoot 1991 + Cute photo's

First part of the video contains pictures from a photoshoot by Dilip Mehta in 1991, some of them taken at Neverland.

 

[Ashtanga]

Building Neverland: Local contractor turned a cattle ranch into Michael’s Jackson’s unique estate



Neverland was a paradise/dream for any adult/child. :wub: Construction, architecture, everything.... perfect. :wild:

That Sunday night after the project was completed, Urquidez received a phone call from a person claiming to be Michael Jackson. He hung up on him, thinking it was a joke.

:lol: