RIP Michael Jackson (Page 4 of 4)

Is this topic dead  or is this where I get to say I never liked Michael Jackson songs or videos, Thriller was Bummer...His dancing was mostly copped, and....nevermind!
But I DID and DO love 2 songs of his: She's Out of My Life (wow-absolutely amazing) and a somewhat fitting and personifying greatness (maybe for "weirdness" I don't know) eternally embedded in the moving pictures of the mind's eye, in the form of a r-a-t.... the greatest moment for him, never to be topped (even though I think he was prodded he still delivered "for the pleasure or treasure of others") Ben, a stunning performance vocally.  I coulda been a friend like Ben...

Rock On & Keep the Faith not the r-a-t-s,
Rocket

Oh yeah O.J. Simpson was a great football star & yes I mean it sincerely

"He still doesn't charge for mistakes! "
http://jbonamassa.com/tour-dates/
"Everybody wants ta get inta the act!"
“Now, this isn’t your ordinary party crowd, here.  I mean, there are professionals in here.”

I recently read that his skin disease was the reason for the glove and lipstick. Apparently, vitiligo many time first appears on the hands and lips (which is what happened to Michael). The glove and makeup were to cover up the blotching on his hand and lips.
http://www.cnn.com/2009/SHOWBIZ/07/09/m … son.glove/

It's also very common to use skin bleaching to try to even out the severe blotching caused by vitiligo.

Imagine being one of the most famous entertainers in the world, getting ready to launch the biggest album of all time, and this disease begins to drastically alter your appearance...

On top of that, here was someone who was teased mercilessly by his father while he was growing up about his big nose and teenage acne (while he was very much the most visable star of one of the biggest groups in the world). Then you may begin to understand some of the weirdness about his appearance...

Everyone is entitled to their opinion concerning whatever subject. This is why I could never be upset or mad at my good friend Monsieur Shreddy!

Roy

Just for the record.  While I may disagree, I am not mad at anyone on this forum.  If  I made it sound that way, I am sorry. 

Peace and Love

Susan

Part of Scott Holt's latest blog covers his thoughts on the whole MJ, celebrity death, scandal thing. I'm pasting that part of it below as it is one of THE BEST things I have read on the subject.

Still getting over the shock of Michael Jackson’s death (and Steve McNair's for that matter!!) Now the investigations and allegations start and we are hearing everyday that Michael’s body hasn’t been buried, who will raise his kids?, he was on drugs, he was in terrible shape, he was in great shape, who has his brain?, it just goes on and on. I think that when you die, you should be allowed to die, be given the dignity in death that often your not given in life, be remembered for your good works and the world should just move on. If you don’t buy the argument that as an entertainer you make calculated choices to increase the mystique of your celebrity, (i.e. Wear masks, buy the elephant man’s bones, sleep in an oxygen tank, etc.) then at least grant the argument that as humans, we all screw up and if you’re a rich, international superstar with endless bucks and plenty of people willing to allow you a pass for any and everything you want, your mistakes will be ten-fold, hell, a thousand-fold what the rest of us do. The dirt and negativity serves no purpose. If we learn that Michael Jackson was a raging drug addict, it won’t stop people from abusing drugs, it won’t help in the reform of the pharmaceutical industry, or the general practice of over medicating, it won’t make people more sympathetic to how the world’s criticism can weigh on a performer and make a fragile human being turn to any sort of ‘self medicating’ protective devices. Most importantly, I think, it won’t help his kids. It won’t give them peace of mind or fond memories of their father, it won’t help them make sense of the loss of the only parent they’ve ever known. Same goes for Steve McNair; all of the sordid allegations of infidelity don’t help the family that he’s left behind to cope with their loss. We all do dumb things that we regret, we all make bad choices that come back and bite us, if you’re reading this and you haven’t made a poor choice in the last 24 hours, congratulations, I’d like your autograph!

I guess all this ties into the down side of having this insatiable hunger for the next piece of celebrity dirt. We like to build up our celebrities, tear them down, give them forgiveness and then tear ‘em down again if they make it back up. I’m not saying this from a position of “I know it all” but just working it out as I type it. What makes us like that? Is it some kind of, “well at least I’m not as bad as so and so.” thing? I remember when Elvis died, the first day it was all shock and sadness over his passing and then the drug stories started coming out and the eating stories started coming out and for a long time Elvis was the punch line to a fat, drugged out joke. If you ever go to Graceland, in the trophy room there is a frame with about 20 canceled checks to 20 different charities for $1,000.00 each, from like 1959 or something, anyway a LOT of money, just given away to help people. No framed headline from any newspaper saying, “Look what Elvis did!” just the checks framed long after he passed. You gotta admit though that that story isn’t as interesting as how much bacon he could consume at breakfast. At least now it seems like he’s finally being recognized (or at least debated)more for his contributions to popular music than for how many peanut butter and Demerol sandwiches he could consume in one sitting, but it sure is an interesting phenomenon. If you care, just watch the Michael Jackson story unfold; we’ll hear sordid tales of drugs and assorted mischief, his work will be over-shadowed and pushed to the back and then in 10 years or so when the dust has settled and some other poor soul has blasted off into outer space and become the new sensation, some new artist will do a cover of Thriller or name check Michael as their biggest influence and all of the sudden it will become cool to like Michael Jackson the entertainer again. I’m reminded of the tag line to a show that used to come on the E channel (yes I realize the irony of this sentence!) “Fame, ain’t it a #@$@#?”.