E’s song of the day
October 29, 2009
I’m so sorry for sloppily avoiding you for the last few days (especially since Steve is out of town this week and without internet). No excuse could pardon the infraction (not even the fact that I’ve been working hard all week and getting up at 4am (actually, 3am tomorrow). I just hope that breaking you off with a nice, eclectic trio of tunes will help ease the pain. One more day until the end of the work week is cause for celebration, and I’ve got an action-packed weekend filled with family activities. Tomorrow I’m going to cheer on my youngest sister in a big high school varsity volleyball rivalry match-up. If you’re in the bay area, roll out to CPS at 5pm tomorrow and help me watch the Jayhawks pound the Cougars. Then on Sunday I will be rolling to my other sister’s newish house for a family dinner with the Holland/Phillips clan. I haven’t seen Meryl and Chris’ place yet so I’m very excited! But now, on to the music! first up, a little song Ronin and I were curious about after hearing it in the newest commercial for the new season of “Friday Night Lights.” I haven’t watched it in a few seasons, but I used to really like the show, so I may try to see how things have developed. jam one: Greg Laswell – Come Undone. Enjoy….
I’ve been saving this next one near the top of my queue for some time now. Our boy Wes loves these dudes. Classic early nineties R&B, jam two: Ready For The World – Love You Down. A rare repeat appearance for a group on this series. Enjoy….
This next song is a version of a Bob Marley jam that a debate buddy of mine recommended as superior to Bob’s version. You be the judge. Jam three – Jacob Miller – Burning and Looting. Enjoy….
Neverland should be turned into a museum for Michael Jackson fans just like Graceland has for Elvis
July 1, 2009
I was driving to work with Becky and we were listening to Michael Jackson on Heart and Soul on Sirius/XM. When thinking and singing along (at least in my mind) about MJ, Becky came up with a great idea… She said, “Why don’t they turn Neverland into a tourist attraction?”
I didn’t have a good answer to her question. The more I thought about it, the better her idea got (it was already a great idea…) in my mind. I already hate on Elvis as much as possible, but his fans are some loyal fanatics.
Graceland and the pink caddy
Reading up on Graceland, I found a blog that talked about Graceland and their efforts to keep his image alive.
The keepers of the Elvis flame have rolled out television ads, a new website, and print ads to revive the lure of the King and to get people to visit Graceland. Here’s a New York Times article on the effort, which notes that “Cirque du Soleil is developing an Elvis-themed tour and has signed a deal for a permanent Elvis show based in Las Vegas from 2009 while American Greetings is planning to expand its line of Elvis Christmas tree decorations and greetings cards.”
The ability and promise of Neverland is enormous, starting with the front gate entry
The house that MJ built should be kept for a historical testemony to one of the most prolific singers in our time
The property itself is enough land to create the amusement park environment.
If Disney doesnt do it, then we could bring back the Captain EO ride that Disneyland used to have.
There is so much promise with a museum and Neverland. of course, we would have to have the Pepsi exhibit, that is also the cause of some of MJ’s painkiller usage. I think that they would have to serve Pepsi, even if I personally prefer Coke.
Also, here is a funny recreation of the famous accident, because if you are not laughing, you are crying, or killing yourself.
Here is the layout and the description of the property
The ranch operated as Jackson’s home and private amusement park when the facility opened in 1988. It contained, among other things, a zoo and a theme park, with two railroads (one 36″ gauge with a steam locomotive (Crown 4-4-0, built 1973, with 4 coaches) and a 24″ gauge amusement ride-type, a Ferris wheel, carousel, zipper, spider, sea dragon, wave swinger, super slide, dragon wagon kiddie roller coaster, and bumper cars.[citation needed]
Jackson hosted a number of children and their families at the facility during his residency there, a practice which came under scrutiny when Jackson was accused of sexual misconduct with minors, first in 1993 and again in 2003.
How isn’ this property perfect for the theme park and shine to MJ? They have already discussed about having the viewing/wake at Neverland, they should make it a permanent feature, but its against the law to bury him there.
At one stage it was suggested he might even be laid to rest at Neverland, but laws governing where bodies can be buried are understood to have scuppered the plan.
A private service for family and close friends is then expected to be held this Sunday.
It is believed the motorcade will set off from Los Angeles at around 10am on Thursday for the 250-mile journey.
The carriage that will parade MJ around for his fans to say their goodbyes
So, I guess we will just have to go the Madame Tussauds route and prop it up with wax figures
Participants attend the "Thriller" Dance Guinness World Record attempt at Madame Tussauds on October 30, 2008 in New York City.
The Daily Mail gives more details…
In death, as in life, Michael Jackson is doing things with fairytale extravagance.
The singer’s body will be transported to his funeral in a white carriage led by two horses, instead of the traditional black vehicle, it is understood.
His body will then be placed on show in a glass coffin at Neverland, to give fans a chance to say their personal farewells.
The coach and coffin fit Jackson’s obsession with children’s stories such as Peter Pan and the fantastical style of his Neverland ranch.
It would be a hit… I can see the dollars rolling in now…
See Black people, they are laughing AT YOU, not with you. It's your appearance and the things that you do that they find funny...
You know Black is the codeword for nigger, right? The show is about keeping coonery (yeah, I am making this word up) alive.
The modern day minstrel show (also the name of one of my favorite Little Brother albums)
that masquerades as an Awards show should be an affront to people of all races. This is exactly the kind of thing that you wouldn’t see other races (read whites) doing on mainstream TV.
I am down with the tribute to the King of Pop though...
The awards show, hosted by Jamie Foxx and held in Los Angeles, also included numerous tributes to the recently-departed King of Pop, Michael Jackson, by Foxx and some of the other performers. The gala event included Soulja Bit— I mean Soulja Boy doing the insipid “Turn My Swag On’ record; Jay-Z doing the damn anti-autotune song; his wife Beyonce performing “Ave Maria”; Keyshia Cole and Monica performing together; an assortment of old-school ’80s and ’90s artists including Guy, a 6-man New Edition (including Bobby Brown, Johnny Gill, BBD and Ralph Tresvant), and Keith Sweat; and Keri Hilson. But people have dismissed the whole show as sophomoric and class-less.
But the disappointing Wayne-and-Drake performance was more offensive to most of us than any of the lousy jokes that littered the show.
Now, we rep Drake at the blog and I personally hate on Lil Wayne. But the issue here is the message. I can synthesize and distill the messages that are a part of the music. Drake and Lil Wayne preformed the song “Every Girl” at the awards show. The radio is playing the piss out of the song currently, so you might have heard it. But if you have not, here are a sampling of the lyrics. Here is how Lil Wayne opens up.
[Verse 1 - Lil' Wayne]
Uh, I like a long hair thick red-bone
open up her legs to filet mignon that pussy
I’ma get in an’ out that pussy
if she let me in, i’ma own that pussy
go on’ throw it back and bust it open like
you ‘posed to
Now, I didn’t even need to get through the rest of the bars to tell you that this isn’t the song you want them preforming on stage. Yes, there is a slightly edited version, but the context is the same. Here is the chorus…
[Chorus: Lil' Wayne]
‘Cause we like her and we like her too
and we like her and we like her too
and we like her and we like her too
and we like her and she like us too
and ooooooh…i wish i could fuck every girl in the world
i wish i could fuck every girl in the world
i wish i could fuck every girl in the world
In context, that is a male and some females fantasy. But, an adult fantasy. This piece is not about being political correct, because we violate that from time to time. This is about knowing place and space.
Now, what if I were to tell you that Lil Wayne lives out his words on this song? I would think that you would not be surprised. He is a rap star and there are groupies out there. But, he spits it, like he lives it.
She got the bizness...(think the rest of the song...) Ms. Lauren London
Lil Wayne, who I thought didn’t like women…
Now be honest...if you are a guy, have you ever kissed a guy like that? If you have, then you are gay, or have gay tendencies. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that, but just admit it....
but, apparently he does.
Usually a pregnancy is something to be celebrated. Not however if the father of the baby is the world renowned “Pussy Monster” a.k.a. Lil Wayne! Lauren London is now six months pregnant with Lil Wayne’s son.
Now, those are the words of 24hourhiphip.com, not mine, but the main point we agree on. Now, forgetting for a moment that Brian “Baby” Williams looks more like a child molester than Michael Jackson (R.I.P.) Lil Wayne does not fit the mold of father material. But, maybe the cover doesn’t adequately tell the true story. The story continues…
It was just announced last week that Nivea is also now two months pregnant with Wayne’s son. It was said before that Lauren initially did not want to have the baby with Wayne but decided to keep it, fearing what impact an abortion would have on her career. It looked like things were as good as they can be between Lauren and Wayne until the bombshell about Nivea dropped, to which Lauren had to find out about through the internet gossip sites!
Girl, what is up on the color of your hair? Also, he is probably sippin on the sizzurp...damn shame
Now it is coming out that Lauren is seriously pissed and is about to go into war mode as soon as she drops the junior martian. Friends of Lauren say she plans on not letting Wayne have anything to do with the birth and plans on going hard when it comes to custody and child support. Wayne has made it clear in the past few months that he wants nothing to do with Lauren on the romantic tip but apparently has been supportive of the pregnancy so far.
The last sentence is the only redeeming thing for Lil Wayne. It’s not manly to have two women carrying your child at the same time. You are not Mormon, this is not some weird cult.
This is Tom “Lil Wayne” Green, his five wives and his 29 children, enough to have a football, basketball or baseball team, with plenty of reserves and people to work concessions….
You knew it was wrong…if you didn’t then you are not very smart
Now, that is not the reason to think that the show was misplaced in allowing that song to be played. The biggest mistake is that they had 12 year old girls running out to the song on stage and dancing with Drake and Lil Wayne. WTF? If I had a daughter ( and Mini-Me Lil Wayne does and she ran out there too) there no chance in hell that I would allow her on stage to that song. (The same would go if I had a son…There is a time and place for sex and its not 12) Now, I am not going to lecture about woman’s rights, but DAMN…you didn’t need them running out to that song. You could have used something else, or just not had them come on stage. Learn to distinguish laugh with you and at you…
Did the weight of all the accusations lead to Michael “The King of Pop” Jackson’s death?
June 29, 2009
This is the type of humor that could have contributed to the King of Pops death
People make fun of me when I defend Mike Tyson about his rape charge or when I defended MJ about the various molestation charges. I also was one who made jokes about it. “Who would be so stupid to send their kids to spend the night with MJ?” I would ask. Or, I would kid and say that for one night in the house of horrors, you can become a millionaire if you stay the whole time. While this sounds like it was written recently, it was written in the context of the MJ molestation trial that cost him in excess of 20 million dollars.
As the dust settles on one of the nation’s worst episodes of media excess, one thing is clear: The American public has never heard a defense of Michael Jackson. Until now.
It is, of course, impossible to prove a negative — that is, prove that something didn’t happen. But it is possible to take an in-depth look at the people who made the allegations against Jackson and thus gain insight into their character and motives. What emerges from such an examination, based on court documents, business records and scores of interviews, is a persuasive argument that Jackson molested no one and that he himself may have been the victim of a well-conceived plan to extract money from him.
This was one who took the joke too far and actually cashed in. This is not like R Kelly and his trials. There was not video that showed the act. But, because this nigga can sing and is making songs for the current generation, we just give him a pass. Plus, because it was a man and a younger girl, we are not offended. Our sensibilities are offended when we think that it’s a homosexual relationship.
He only saw the dollar signs when hanging out with MJ
Counterpunch.org, in a story written by Ishmael Reed lays out the devious plan that everyone was in on, EXCEPT MJ!
Fisher claimed that the first case arose from the ambitions of the thirteen-year-old accuser’s stepfather, Evan Chandler, who exploited Jackson’s friendship with his son. At one point, he asked Jackson to build him a house. Fisher said that the child denied being abused by Jackson until he was administered the drug sodium amytal, which is known to induce false memory. Chandler refused to be interviewed for the article and refused to appear on the Today Show, where Fisher repeated her charges before a nationwide audience. She said that the whole scheme was concocted by the child’s stepfather to destroy the superstar.
Mary Fisher wrote the 1994 GQ article (that is being referenced above) about the molestation case that should have illuminated our view of Michael. But, we are as a society, seduced by the salacious details of the crime to only look for guilt, not innocence.
Jackson’s personal eccentricities — from his attempts to remake his face through plastic surgery to his preference for the company of children — have been widely reported. And while it may be unusual for a 35-year-old man to have sleepovers with a 13-year-old child, the boy’s mother and others close to Jackson never thought it odd. Jackson’s behavior is better understood once it’s put in the context of his own childhood.
“Contrary to what you might think, Michael’s life hasn’t been a walk in the park,” one of his attorneys says. Jackson’s childhood essentially stopped — and his unorthodox life began — when he was 5 years old and living in Gary, Indiana. Michael spent his youth in rehearsal studios, on stages performing before millions of strangers and sleeping in an endless string of hotel rooms. Except for his eight brothers and sisters, Jackson was surrounded by adults who pushed him relentlessly, particularly his father, Joe Jackson — a strict, unaffectionate man who reportedly beat his children.
Now, I joke about this, but Evan Chandler seemingly went though with the plan. The pieces are laid out in the earlier GQ article
Does this Not Sound Like an Extortion Plot By Chandler’s Father and his Lawyer?
Everything’s going according to a certain plan that isn’t just mine. Once I make that phone call, this guy [his attorney, Barry K. Rothman, presumably] is going to destroy everybody in sight in any devious, nasty, cruel way that he can do it. And I’ve given him full authority to do that.”
…”And if I go through with this, I win big-time. There’s no way I lose. I’ve checked that inside out. I will get everything I want, and they will be destroyed forever. June will lose [custody of the son]…and Michael’s career will be over.”
Now, more light is shed on the various molestation charges.
A lot of this is from the self inflicted abuse post the molestation charges
Now what about the second molestation case? You know, the one where the jury found him NOT GUILTY? People love to gloss over that little fact. Again, we have to blame MJ somewhat. He could have avoided a lot of the scrutiny with not doing the TV show following the trial. But, look at his childhood. That explains some of his behavior.
Jackson’s early experiences translated into a kind of arrested development, many say, and he became a child in a man’s body. “He never had a childhood,” says Bert Fields, a former attorney of Jackson’s. “He is having one now. His buddies are 12-year-old kids. They have pillow fights and food fights.” Jackson’s interest in children also translated into humanitarian efforts. Over the years, he has given millions to causes benefiting children, including his own Heal The World Foundation.
But there is another context — the one having to do with the times in which we live — in which most observers would evaluate Jackson’s behavior. “Given the current confusion and hysteria over child sexual abuse,” says Dr. Phillip Resnick, a noted Cleveland psychiatrist, “any physical or nurturing contact with a child may be seen as suspicious, and the adult could well be accused of sexual misconduct.”
Reed gives more information. Instead of people joking about the crime that never happened, what about these pieces of information about the mother who lead the charge?
Jackson’s Attorney, Tom Mesereau Jr. got the teenage boy to admit that he lied under oath during the J. C. Penny case. USA Today reported on March 1, 2005, that the mother used the boy as a prop to get money from Mike Tyson, Adam Sandler, Jim Carrey, Jay Leno and others, “even though insurance was paying his bills. ” Linda Deutsch, one of the last of hard-nosed shoe leather journalists, reporting for the Associated Press on March of 2005. said that Mesereau got the 15 year old to admit that he’d told Jeffrey Alpert, a school official that “nothing happened “ between Jackson and him.
Did you really forget that the second trial, the mother had to admit that she was bilking all these other actors? MJ, because of his generosity and his ignorance, got caught up in the trap…
Connie Keenan, editor of Mid Valley News, wrote of a hoax that the boy’s mother perpetrated on that newspaper. She made a pitch that her son needed medical care and that she had no financial means to provide it. During the first week of the newspaper’s appeal, the mother received $965 in donations. It turned out that the boy was being treated at Kaiser Permanente in Los Angeles with no cost to the family. Connie Keenan concluded that “ My gut level, she’s a shark. She was after money. My readers were used. My staff was used. It’s sickening. ”
But, people still get away with calling MJ a child molester. The proof of the negative is impossible, but we have just let that charge stick to MJ without a shred of credible evidence… Now, we can say that the high tech media lynching of MJ worked. Enough people pimped the horse until it collapsed under the mounting weight of pressure. The guy was only 50, yet, he was 112 pounds and 5 foot 10. The Sun reveals how bad it got before his demise.
THE horrifying state of pop superstar Michael Jackson in his final days can be revealed by The Sun today.
Harrowing leaked autopsy details show the singer was a virtual skeleton — barely eating and with only pills in his stomach at the time he died.
His hips, thighs and shoulders were riddled with needle wounds — believed to be the result of injections of narcotic painkillers, given three times a day for years.
The examination showed the 5ft 10in star — once famed for his on-stage athleticism — had:
PLUNGED to a “severely emaciated” 8st 1oz. It is understood anorexic Jackson had been eating just one meagre meal a day.
Pathologists found his stomach empty aside from partially-dissolved pills he took before the painkiller injection which stopped his heart. Samples were sent for toxicology tests.
The Daily Mail begins to explain where MJ started to unravel. The first case with Jordan (the son) and Evan (the Dad) Chandler threw MJ into a pit of despair. It was so bad, that recently, MJ thought he was going to die and predicted his demise!
To understand why a singer of Jackson’s fragility would even think about traveling to London, we need to go back to June 13, 2005, when my involvement in his story began.
As a breaking news alert flashed on CNN announcing that the jury had reached a verdict in Jackson’s trial for allegedly molesting 13-year-old Gavin Arvizo at his Neverland Ranch in California, I knew that history had been made but that Michael Jackson had been broken – irrevocably so, as it proved.
Nor was it the first time that Michael had been accused of impropriety with young boys. Little more than a decade earlier, another 13-year-old, Jordan Chandler, made similar accusations in a case that was eventually settled before trial – but not before the damage had been done to Jackson’s reputation.
This goes back to your word and your bond. Once you have lost it, no amount of money really can restore the harm done. Now, the first case, Evan Chandler has allegedly (since this is not reported in the mainstream yet) has apologized and claimed that it was a plot of his father. Even without that (since you can’t really verify something like that, the facts stack up to show that there is reason to doubt the story or at least reasons to not prosecute MJ in the public eye…Ian Halperin in the Daily Mail continues to lay out the case for MJ’s innocence
I had started my investigation convinced that Jackson was guilty. By the end, I no longer believed that.
I could not find a single shred of evidence suggesting that Jackson had molested a child. But I found significant evidence demonstrating that most, if not all, of his accusers lacked credibility and were motivated primarily by money.
Jackson also deserved much of the blame, of course. Continuing to share a bed with children even after the suspicions surfaced bordered on criminal stupidity.
While stupidity should be a crime, it isn’t. MJ made horrible choices and surrounded himself with the wrong people. That is life..it shouldn’t come with the scarlet letter of child molester.
He was also playing a truly dangerous game. It is clear to me that Michael was homosexual and that his taste was for young men, albeit not as young as Jordan Chandler or Gavin Arvizo.
In the course of my investigations, I spoke to two of his gay lovers, one a Hollywood waiter, the other an aspiring actor. The waiter had remained friends, perhaps more, with the singer until his death last week. He had served Jackson at a restaurant, Jackson made his interest plain and the two slept together the following night. According to the waiter, Jackson fell in love.
The actor, who has been given solid but uninspiring film parts, saw Jackson in the middle of 2007. He told me they had spent nearly every night together during their affair – an easy claim to make, you might think. But this lover produced corroboration in the form of photographs of the two of them together, and a witness.
Other witnesses speak of strings of young men visiting his house at all hours, even in the period of his decline. Some stayed overnight.
When Jackson lived in Las Vegas, one of his closest aides told how he would sneak off to a ‘grungy, rat-infested’ motel – often dressed as a woman to disguise his identity – to meet a male construction worker he had fallen in love with.
Jackson was acquitted in the Arvizo case, dramatically so, but the effect on his mental state was ruinous. Sources close to him suggest he was close to complete nervous breakdown.
The face that they found in the initial autopsy that all that was in MJ’s stomach was some undissolved pills shows the depths of the charges. They couldn’t let the golden goose die. They pumped him with pills to get him ready for the shows at the O2 Arena
‘Collapse might be overstating it,’ said the aide. ‘He needed medical attention and couldn’t go on. I’m not sure what caused it.’
Meanwhile, everybody around him noticed that Jackson had lost an astonishing amount of weight in recent months. His medical team even believed he was anorexic.
‘He goes days at a time hardly eating a thing and at one point his doctor was asking people if he had been throwing up after meals,’ one staff member told me in May.
‘He suspected bulimia but when we said he hardly eats any meals, the doc thought it was probably anorexia. He seemed alarmed and at one point said, ‘People die from that all the time. You’ve got to get him to eat.’’
Indeed, one known consequence of anorexia is cardiac arrest.
That, plus Demerol makes a helluva death cocktail…
What could of been without the charges...This is what MJ would look like without surgery
Too Late for Michael, with lyrics.
June 27, 2009
Steve, I came back to read your MJ post again. This time I watched the videos. Big mistake. You had me at “We are the world”.
That sh-t is emotional yo!!!
Seeing Stevie, Al (Jarreau), Diana, Ray, Dionne, even Bruce and of course MJ was just childhood overload. Those cats, back then, were tight. Never to be repeated with today’s bunch of no talent losers. MJ was born from the Motown blood, sweat, and tears. Where heart and talent were everything.
But, Michael was more than just a singer. MJ bridged the gap between R&B/Soul and Pop. He was a choreographer. In fact he is the reason I even know what that word means. He was the first to bring our attention to the dance/music art. An true innovator. The moonwalk, anti-gravity move etc. How about the music video. MJ pretty much invented that also. And his videos told a story. A real story. And a long story most of the time. The way it should be done. The way if it were done today they would matter again. But more than the on stage wizardry MJ was all about HEART. When he spoke you knew he meant what he was saying with all his heart. Like he held the conscience of a country, no world, in his heart. Like a parent wishing only good for his/her children. MJ was everything good, virtuous and pure. And in a Johnny Carson homogeneous society of the 80’s everyone stayed tune to his every move. MJ could also organize like no other prior nor since. Everyone wanted to be close to MJ. Maybe that’s why “We are the world” touched me so much. Who could put that together today with all those stars? No one! Or how about the video for “Remember the Time”? Who the HELL could assemble all that talent for one video today?
Some wanted Michael to “Do more” or “Speak out”. But not everyone is a Jim Brown? Some have to do it their own way. And MJ did. He didn’t just knock on White America’s door and ask for permission to enter like others before him. Instead he kicked in the door, slapping them in the face while moon-walking across the living room and demanding to be noticed. And they did. White America embraced MJ like none other. This spoke volumes to millions of black kids….and one particular little black kid getting bused to a white racist school for a better education. Maybe there was hope for this world after all he would think on the way up the hill to school. Young innocence I guess. Either way it was MJ that opened the door wider than anyone before him.
Some say that door was open too wide. That Michael had crossed the line. Skin bleaching, nose jobs and all. And he did. But when the world was against him during the touchy-feely trial Black America had his back just like OJ before him. There is just no escaping it. Black America knew MJ wasn’t right. They knew somewhere along the line a cute little boy in the Jackson 5 had turned into a freak of plastic surgery and into a grown man that sleeps with children. But it just wasn’t enough then and now to turn their backs on someone that was truly their advocate of virtue when they were young and maybe too innocent.
So when the sheriff cuffed you up, the money ran out, the bill collectors came ringing and White America turned their back on ya, you hit the road. Dubai I hear. But who really knew? Wherever you went for some reason it didn’t feel like Gary, Indiana. So, you came back.
But it was too late. Just too late.
Too late for a world famous Pop Star.
Too late for the embarrassment not to wear off.
Too late for the jokes not to sting.
Too late for the phone to ring.
What’s that? Say it louder. No one cared…anymore.
Sucks it had to go down like that. Must have hurt like very few will ever know.
So I say…Thanx for everything Michael. You can buy me a drink in HELL.
