Did RTL make fake "Michael Jackson alive video" as ad sales fell?

Two days ago a video surfaced that claimed to show Michael Jackson being escorted out of an LA County Coroner's ambulance in a dark tunnel.  Given that few had the actual footage of the vehicle entering the hospital, and the design of the one in the video, it was hard to tell if it was real or fake. 

The video made the rounds to many outlets around the World, and was the basis for my blog poll and video here. 




I was waiting for a statement by the LA County Coroner's Office to officially debunk the matter, but now we have the forum-based news being propagated that German TV organization RTL created the fake video.   I note it in this way because RTL has not as of this writing issued an official statement or press release; it's internet chatter.  But given RTL's economic woes, it's logical they would do this.

UPDATE: Press release by RTL (in German)

What's RTL? 

RTL Group Europe's largest broadcast company, and RTL Television is a division in it.  I discovered that Berlin-based RTL's facing a massive ad sales crisis, which undoubtedly led to the creation of this elaborate hoax.  Over the last six months, RTL has lost $150 million.  Gaining eyeballs around the World is RTL's desire and this "fake" project would be the perfect way to do it.  But now RTL needs to make an official statement and post it under the keywords "rtl michael jackson" before this gets even more out of hand. 

Is Michael Jackson still alive? Take my poll

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On YouTube.com

This has been a hard day to say the least with the passing of Senator Ted Kennedy, but harder still is the idea that the King of Pop, Michael Jackson may still be alive.

You read that correctly.

There's a video flying around the Internet that strongly claims to show Michael Jackson being assisted from the back of what looks like and apparently is a Los Angeles County Coroner's Office ambulance. The vehicle is captures on camera driving in a dark tunnel of sorts. A chain fence door closes as the camera approaches, keeping it from getting any closer to the ambulance.

The camera person has the presence of mind to zoom in and as the person did, a person walked around from the right and opened the door, assisting a small person dressed in a white shirt and black pants and what appears to be a kind of black shall covering their head. If it wasn't Jackson, the person was built like Jackson looks.

The person who put up the video at the YouTube channel LosAngelesCot24 wrote:

This video shows that Michael was still alive after his dead body was transported to the Los Angeles Dept. of Coroner I checked the license plate number and it looks like the King of Pop is jumping out of the same van, his dead body has been in. I got the original video tape from a trustworthy source. I know him for years. And I am sure it´s real and Michael is alive.

It's also the only video on that person's YouTube channel, below are other videos that report to show the bodybag Jackson was in moving. Frankly, it's hard to tell anything from those videos, but the LA Coroner video's another story.

Look at this photo:

 

Photo courtesy of  IrishTimes.com

This is a real picture of the LA County Coronor's staffers placing what's supposed to be the body of Jackon in the van.  Look closely at the van itself.  Notice the doors and how the blue stripe comes to a pointed end at the nearside door on the car's left.  Also, take note of the top light over the doors.  And the same license plate on that side.

Now, look at this still from the video claiming to show Jackson's alive:

It has the same license plate in the same area, same painting scheme.  Basically it looks like the same vehicle.  I can't read the numbers on the license plate, so it's hard to tell if it really is the car, but someone should have these videos and photos analyzed.  Also, the L.A. County Coroner's Office should issue some kind of statement.  

What does this mean?

I really don't know what all of this means except that this is something that should be looked into if only to debunk it.  It's all over the news, from the Chicago Tribune to the website Associated Content and TMZ.com.  Those outlets are trusted sources such that they do appears to believe this should be looked into.    

In the end, for some reason the words "Maybe now they will leave you alone" keep ringing in my head.   

What do you think?  Take my poll:

create a free poll on pollsb.com

Michael Jackson was killed

Sadly, and it's hard to escape what happened to Michael Jackson as even today I was listening to "Thriller" with a friend while working out at the gym, it's reported that Michael Jackson death was a homicide. The L.A. County Coroner reports that Jackson was given a lethal combination of drugs by his doctor Conrad Murray, but also that another doctor Arnie Klein may be involved, too.

Terrible.

Rev Al Sharpton's amazing speech at Michael Jackson Memorial

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On YouTube.com

One of the highlights of the Michael Jackson Memorial is an amazing speech given by the Rev. Al Sharpton. Sharpton's always a lighting rod for criticism for his "tell-it-like-it-is" style, and he presented it at the memorial. Sharpton gave one of the best speeches I've ever heard because it cut deep to the core reasons why many people love and defend Michael Jackson and for another reason: Jackson represents the growth of mainstream American Culture, where people paid less attention race and more attention to what they liked regardless of the skin color of the person who made what they liked.

Sharpton walked up and delivered an old-fashioned unplanned stump stemwinder speech. The kind I'd expect to hear from him in church. Here's the transcript of Sharpton's masterpiece presented by Seattlemedium.com:

All over the world today people are gathered in love viduals to celebrate the life of a man that taught the world how to love.


People may be wondering why there’s such an emotional outburst. But you would have to understand the journey of Michael to understand what he meant to all of us. For these that sit here as the Jackson family - a mother and father with nine children that rose from a working class family in Gary, Indiana - they had nothing but a dream.


No one believed in those days that this kind of dream could come true, but they kept on believing and Michael never let the world turn him around from his dreams. I first met Michael around the 1970 Black Expo, Chicago, Illinois. Rev. Jesse Jackson, who stood by this family till now, and from that day as a cute kid to this moment, he never gave up dreaming. It was that dream that changed culture all over the world. When Michael started, it was a different world. But because Michael kept going, because he didn’t accept limitations, because he refused to let people decide his boundaries, he opened up the whole world.


In the music world, he put on one glove, pulled his pants up and broke down the color curtain where now our videos are shown and magazines put us on the cover. It was Michael Jackson that brought Blacks and Whites and Asians and Latinos together. It was Michael Jackson that made us sing, “We are the World” and feed the hungry long before Live Aid.


Because Michael Jackson kept going, he created a comfort level where people that felt they were separate became interconnected with his music. And it was that comfort level that kids from Japan and Ghana and France and Iowa and Pennsylvania got comfortable enough with each other until later it wasn’t strange to us to watch Oprah on television. It wasn’t strange to watch Tiger Woods golf. Those young kids grew up from being teenage, comfortable fans of Michael to being 40 years old and being comfortable to vote for a person of color to be the President of the United States of America.


Michael did that. Michael made us love each other. Michael taught us to stand with each other. There are those that like to dig around mess. But millions around the world, we’re going to uphold his message. It’s not about mess, but it’s about his love message. As you climb up steep mountains, sometimes you scar your knee; sometimes you break your skin. But don’t focus on the scars, focus on the journey. Michael beat ‘em, Michael rose to the top. He out-sang his cynics, he out-danced his doubters; he out-performed the pessimists. Every time he got knocked down, he got back up. Every time you counted him out, he came back in. Michael never stopped. Michael never stopped. Michael never stopped.


I want to say to Mrs. Jackson and Joe Jackson, his sisters and brothers: We thank you for giving us someone that taught us love; someone who taught us hope. We want to thank you because we know it was your dream too.


We know that your heart is broken. I know you have some comfort from the letter from the President of the United States and Nelson Mandela. But this was your child. This was your brother. This was your brother. This was your cousin. Nothing will fill your hearts’ lost. But I hope the love that people are showing will make you know he didn’t live in vain. I want his three children to know: Wasn’t nothing strange about your Daddy. It was strange what your Daddy had to deal with. But he dealt with it…He dealt with it anyway. He dealt with it for us.


So, some came today, Mrs. Jackson, to say goodbye to Michael. I came to say, thank you. Thank you because you never stopped, thank you because you never gave up, thank you because you never gave out, thank you because you tore down our divisions. Thank you because you eradicated barriers. Thank you because you gave us hope. Thank you Michael. Thank you Michael. Thank you Michael!

Fox News Bill O'Reilly said Sharpton's speech was racist, but that's certainly not the dumbest thing I've ever heard O'Reilly say - his crack about not knowing "Black restaurants" could be nice places to go to takes the prize - but it's close.

The bottom line is Michael Jackson did change American Culture. Think about it. He became a singing star just four years after the passage of The Civil Rights Amendment in 1964 and continued to produce hit after hit to his death, all the time gaining fans around the World who didn't care what color his skin was; they just liked his music and him. That's powerful, and all the more so when one considers the racial problems we've seen and experienced. It's really gotten better and Jackson deserves a lot of credit for that.

Conservatives can't deal with anyone telling the truth about race relations, but they'd better start because it's their inability to understand how race relations have changed that has doomed the political future of conservatives and of the GOP.

A political party historically based on hating a racial group - as was true for the GOP for decades - can't survive when people of different colors are mating as one. Causing that in a small way is but one of Michael Jackson's gifts to society. If it's hard for you to deal with that fact, one of the "hard facts that create America" as President Lincoln would say, you're not American at all because you don't get your own country.

Michael Jackson Memorial dominates Google Trends

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I use Google Trends to follow the most popular Internet searches of the day, and today was no exception. After the moving Michael Jackson Memorial I decided to take a look at what the read was over at the site page. I expected perhaps one or two mentions of "michael jackson" but as of 3:09 PM PST, every one of the top ten searches concerned the Michael Jackson Memorial or some performance that was part of it, but I'm not sure about the reference to Jennifer Hudson being pregnant.  She was really on point with her singing, but she didn't look like she was "with child" to me:

1. michael jackson memorial booklet
2. is jennifer hudson pregnant
3. trey lorenz
4. brandon jackson
5. brooke shields and michael jackson
6. shaheen jafargholi
7. shaheen jafargholi michael jackson
8. john mayer
9. smile lyrics
10. smile lyrics charlie chaplin

And here's the screen shot of the site page:

This shows the World public's hunger to read and learn and just plain consume anything about or related to the King Of Pop is still at record-breaking levels. On the Thursday June 25th that Jackson passed, Google had so much traffic the firm's minders thought they were under attack, so it will be interesting to see how today's event impacts Internet traffic by days end.

Meanwhile, here's my take on the memorial with a great CNN-provided montage of Jackson's pop-history:

Michael Jackson : MJ Memorial makes time stop

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You know it's a special day when your T-Mobile cell phone allows you to make "Emergency Calls only", you know you paid the bill, and you can't even call customer service. I've seen a lot of days and a gaggle of events, but nothing like this. If you didn't know Michael Jackson passed way, today, you do now.

This memorial is incredible: Stevie Wonder just gave a terrific performance. Now, former LA Lakers great Ervin "Magic" Johnson is giving a really personal, funny, ("I didn't know Michael Jackson liked Kentucky Fried Chicken!") and touching speech. And now, Jennifer Hudson's taking the stage. It's simply amazing this was asssembled so quickly and yet so well. It's moving.

Unfortunately, in death, Michael Jackson is more powerful than in life. His power was always to make us happy, if just for one moment in time, feel carefree and joyful. Sadness today, yes, but also clapping, singing, laughter, and joy, and for me, awe. What an amazing power to have, that ability to bring a smile to someone's face. To change the world through the creative act of making a sound. A tune. A song. And how great to take that power and then give back with the money from it. Michael Jackson has given more to foundations and causes than any pop star in history. Michael cared.

For me, this feels like a weird kind of cultural flashback. Reverend Al Sharpton's talking about the 1970 PUSH Convention held in Chicago, at the Chicago Amphatheater, and I was there. From growing up on the south side of Chicago, and knowing people who at least claimed to know the Jacksons, who lived in Gary, Indiana, then coming out here to Oakland, then to Texas for college, and Berkeley for grad school, and everything else, there was Michael Jackson. Always a part of my life. And now, Brooke Shields is fighting back tears to explain a very personal relationship she had with MJ, but I feel like I've grown up with her too. There all of this is, my life in front of me. Maybe yours too.

And now Michael's gone.

But while he's gone, to Heaven, it's not just his music that lives on, but this message: make other people happy, if for one moment. If you have to write something, make it nice, not mean. Sharpton said it best a moment ago and to his kids: "There was nothing strange about your daddy, but what your daddy had to deal with." He's not kidding. Michael Jackson, from the time of his birth to childhood, to adult , to know, was an extraordinary, misunderstood genius of a man who just wanted to be happy, and spread happiness.

I hope and pray we take up his soul and do the same.

Michael Jackson | Jackson's kids should decide their fate

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The latest issue in the ongoing story of Michael Jackson's death is who should get Jackson's kids that he had with his third wife Debbie Rowe. Apparently, Debbie Rowe wants custody of the children, son Michael "Prince" Jackson and daughter Paris-Michael Jackson. Reportedly, Jackson's will states that he wants his mother Katheryn Jackson to take care of Prince and Paris, while Rowe wants them to live with her.

There are many reasons why Jackson's children should go to either person, but what I object to is the fact that what the kids want and where they want to go is not the first consideration of the judge. I write and say that because those kids are taking an emotional beating: they've lost their father and now don't know where their home will be or who they will be living with. That's enough to make any decent person cry for them. There's no reason at all the judge can't let their desires be consideration number one, and the only one.

The children undoubtedly feel like their lives are entirely out of their control, give them final say over their own destiny. It's the only fair thing to do.


A side note on how to look for tv



I was taking a sideways gander at Chris Matthews' show "Hardball" on MSNBC when Chuck Todd, who filled in for Matthews had on as guests Gloria Alred and an African American gentleman who's name I didn't catch appearing on a segment about Jackson. The dude's name's not important; how he looked is: terrible. He had on a slightly wrinkled shirt without a tie, open at the neck, a big 'fro that really needed trimming, and a weird blue colored something-like-a-cheap-blazer. It was as if they just pulled the brother off the street to come on the show. Then Todd asked him the standard issue "questions one would ask a black entertainment reporter" like "Can you comment on the cultural significance of three news networks playing the same video at the same time?"

What!?

I couldn't believe the question and "Frumpy 'Fro Brother" couldn't either, trying to duck it for a time before giving in. I'm sorry, but this isn't yet "postracial" America, so why dress to a "You know, I'm just a poor, hard working brother" stereotype? Come on!

Next time, wear a decent suit and tie; it's national television, your image, and mine too.

Michael Jackson's doctor talks to LAPD; not on the run.

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Contrary to reports, the LA Police have said Michael Jackson's cardiologist, Dr. Conrad Murray, was not missing and did talk to them Thursday afternoon, according to the blog Radar Online.

Officer Karen Rayner said to the blog that Murray has a brief conversation with them but she could not reveal the details of that conversation.

Earlier it was report that police were impounding his car and that he was missing, but the LAPD said he was not a person accused of a crime.

The police will talk with him again soon.

The public share its views:

Michael Jackson passes | public opinion: "We Are The World"

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YouTube, Yahoo, MySpace, Metacafe, DailyMotion, Blip.tv, StupidVideos, Sclipo and Viddler


Michael Jackson's passing is still a shock to me. The very idea that someone I feel like I grew up with left us at the age of 50 is just not right at all. I first saw Michael perform when I was 10 years old at the old Chicago International Amphitheatre in 1972; the Campbell family, who babysat me, took me and I remember it like it was yesterday. The Jackson Five was then the must see event and Michael was the star.

Michael was like my brother. In a way for many African Americans he was just that, a sibling. I knew him as the guy who grew up in Gary, Indiana. We knew people who knew them in Chicago, so I felt close to him long ago. I think it's for that reason so many African Americans were on Michael's side during the years when it seems he was kind of flying the coup: changing his skin color from brown to near white; narrowing his nose, and basically seeming to channel his best friend the legendary singer Diana Ross. Then, of course, there were the claims that he "liked boys" which we figured wasn't the case, and was more a byproduct of the money and attention seeking people who surrounded him. Michael was a person with an arrested development: he never had a childhood so to escape the trappings of a constant adult life, he created a childhood for himself.

I think being an adult just literally killed Michael.

For me, Michael Jackson was the person who wanted to bring us all together, as shown in his "We Are The World" effort. That amazing production and song, created with a group of the World's best known music talents, with Lionel Richie, Quincy Jones, Stevie Wonder, Steve Perry, Bob Dylan, the late Ray Charles, and a host of others and to raise money for famine relief in Ethiopia, was just amazing. Amazing. I loved that song then; I still do today and I cry every time I hear it. (the lyrics and video are at the end of this post).


Talking with people About Michael's passing

The death of Michael Jackson is one of those events that will cause you to remember where you were when you learned of it. In my case I'd just emerged from a private movie screening at the Saul Zaentz Film Center in West Berkeley, CA. My Mom just happened to call with the news as I was walking to my car; I was stunned. Just stunned. So I took my Flip Video Camera and set out to talk to people about what happened to Michael. I had plenty of places to do this: the BART train station, the San Francisco Magazine "Best of The Bay" party, and all points in between.

What's amazing is the sheer number of people who were immediately informed via text messages and the reactions: shock, sadness, but not joy. No. No one expressed anything close to that at all, even given the part of his life where it seemed he was overwhelmed with "kid" issues. Nothing.

Dominic Phillips, the master of event planning in San Francisco, and who produced last night's "San Francisco Magazine Best of The Bay" party said "It's horrible. First and formost, anybody dying is horrible. There are so many family members that are just gonna be torn apart. But also Michael Jackson; on the one hand he was a very maverick person. But on the other hand he was part of my generation's life. He was like part of my experience, my growing up and I feel a little robbed that he's not there anymore. Like whether you thought his experience was your experience,that doesn't really come into it for me. I just sort of bonded with him in my youth and now he's gone."

Another woman I talked to on Howard Street in San Francisco said "I was just walking and three people got text messages (that he died)...just terrible. My friend Beth Schnitzer, who's the Director of Sponsorship Marketing at Pier 39 said "I can't believe it. Every time I listen to his music, it brings back a great memory from growing up somehow, some way. You know, it really hasn't hit me. He was too young; way too young." Jerusha, "The Last Single Girl In The World" said, as only she can, "We all have to go sometime and boy did he have a fabulous life before he went. He did it up and he did it up right. You know what they say, you only live once and that's all you need if you do it right!"

I talked to a lot of people, and if you see my video there are more than what's presented here, but all just variations on what was expressed. People loved Michael, warts and all. The "Best of The Bay" event turned into a kind of tribute to Michael, with his music playing continuously through the evening, and people danced, especially to "Thriller" which is a modern classic.

Sad day it was to have this happen. Michael, the world will miss you.

We Are The World - Lyrics and video:

Written by Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie, produced by Quincy Jones.



There comes a time
When we head a certain call
When the world must come together as one
There are people dying
And it's time to lend a hand to life
The greatest gift of all

We can't go on
Pretending day by day
That someone, somewhere will soon make a change
We are all a part of
God's great big family
And the truth, you know love is all we need

[Chorus]
We are the world
We are the children
We are the ones who make a brighter day
So let's start giving
There's a choice we're making
We're saving our own lives
It's true we'll make a better day
Just you and me

Send them your heart
So they'll know that someone cares
And their lives will be stronger and free
As God has shown us by turning stone to bread
So we all must lend a helping hand

[Chorus]
We are the world
We are the children
We are the ones who make a brighter day
So let's start giving
There's a choice we're making
We're saving our own lives
It's true we'll make a better day
Just you and me

When you're down and out
There seems no hope at all
But if you just believe
There's no way we can fall
Well, well, well, well, let us realize
That a change will only come
When we stand together as one

[Chorus]
We are the world
We are the children
We are the ones who make a brighter day
So let's start giving
There's a choice we're making
We're saving our own lives
It's true we'll make a better day
Just you and me

Michael Jackson's 911 call: what did the doctor do?

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TMZ has a quicktime download of the 911 call made from Michael Jackson's home after he fell to cardiac arrest yesterday. According to TMZ, the doctor, a Dr. Conrad Murray , was the only witness. The LA police are searching for Dr. Murray, who's whereabouts are unknown.

Wild.

Here's my record of the 911 call, which you can hear at the link above as well:

Fire Paramedic33: Fire Paramedic 33, what's your emergency?

Michael Jackson's Caller: Yes sir, I need to, uh, uh I need an ambulance as soon as possible, sir.

Fire Paramedic33: Ok, Sir what's your adress?

Michael Jackson's Caller: Los Angeles, California, 90077

Fire Paramedic33: Say Carowood?

Michael Jackson's Caller: Carowood Drive, yes.

Fire Paramedic33: Ok Sir, what's the phone number you're calling from, and (unintelligible)

Michael Jackson's Caller: Uh, sir we have a gentleman here that needs help; he's not breathing. He's not breathing and we're trying to pump him..

Fire Paramedic33: OK, how old?

Michael Jackson's Caller: He's ah, 50 years old.

Fire Paramedic33: 50? Ok. He's unconcious. He's not breathing?

Michael Jackson's Caller: Yes. He's not breathing sir.

Fire Paramedic33: Ok. Where's he at right now?

Michael Jackson's Caller: He's on the bed.

Fire Paramedic33: Let's get him on the floor.

Michael Jackson's Caller: OK.

Fire Paramedic33: Ok. Let's get him on the floor. I'm going to help you with CPR ok? Just...We're on our way. We're on our way. I'm going to do as much as I can over the phone. We're on the way. Did anybody see him?

Michael Jackson's Caller: Yes, we have a personal doctor here with him, sir.

Fire Paramedic33: Oh, you have a doctor there?

Michael Jackson's Caller: Yes, but he (Jackson) is not responding to CPR, anything.

Fire Paramedic33: Oh. Ok. We're on our way there. If you have a doctor he's a high authority than me and he's on the scene. Uh, did anybody witness what happened?

Michael Jackson's Caller: No, just the doctor sir. The doctor is the only one here.

Fire Paramedic33: Oh, did the doctor see what happened?

Michael Jackson's Caller: (Over to doctor) Did you see what happened? Sir, if you just, if you please...

Fire Paramedic33: We're on our way. We're on our way. I'll pass these question on to our paramedics. We're on our way.

Michael Jackson's Caller: Thank you sir. He's pumping , he's pumping his chest but he's not responding to anything, sir, please.

Fire Paramedic33: OK. We're on our way; we're less than a mile away.

What did the doctor do? Well, it's believed that Jackson passed from a painkiller drug called Demerol according to the Telegraph UK. That medicine reportedly has a side effect of possible cardiac arrest if it's not taken properly. The house Jackson rented is marked as a crime scene.

My God.

(UPDATE: Fox News reports that a house dweller claims Dr. Murray never lived at Jackson's home and no one picked up the phone at Murray's Nevada office. The office is at 2110 E Flamingo Rd Las Vegas, NV 89119-5190 (702) 866-6802 according to a Google search. He's listed as a cardiologist. On the Internet website RateMd's.com , Dr. Murray has a good rating of 5.0.


I talked to people on their views of Michael Jackson's passing:

Michael Jackson passes | public opinion: "We Are The World"

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YouTube, Yahoo, MySpace, Metacafe, DailyMotion, Blip.tv, StupidVideos, Sclipo and Viddler


Michael Jackson's passing is still a shock to me. The very idea that someone I feel like I grew up with left us at the age of 50 is just not right at all. I first saw Michael perform when I was 10 years old at the old Chicago International Amphitheatre in 1972; the Campbell family, who babysat me, took me and I remember it like it was yesterday. The Jackson Five was then the must see event and Michael was the star.

Michael was like my brother. In a way for many African Americans he was just that, a sibling. I knew him as the guy who grew up in Gary, Indiana. We knew people who knew them in Chicago, so I felt close to him long ago. I think it's for that reason so many African Americans were on Michael's side during the years when it seems he was kind of flying the coup: changing his skin color from brown to near white; narrowing his nose, and basically seeming to channel his best friend the legendary singer Diana Ross. Then, of course, there were the claims that he "liked boys" which we figured wasn't the case, and was more a byproduct of the money and attention seeking people who surrounded him. Michael was a person with an arrested development: he never had a childhood so to escape the trappings of a constant adult life, he created a childhood for himself.

I think being an adult just literally killed Michael.

For me, Michael Jackson was the person who wanted to bring us all together, as shown in his "We Are The World" effort. That amazing production and song, created with a group of the World's best known music talents, with Lionel Richie, Quincy Jones, Stevie Wonder, Steve Perry, Bob Dylan, the late Ray Charles, and a host of others and to raise money for famine relief in Ethiopia, was just amazing. Amazing. I loved that song then; I still do today and I cry every time I hear it. (the lyrics and video are at the end of this post).


Talking with people About Michael's passing

The death of Michael Jackson is one of those events that will cause you to remember where you were when you learned of it. In my case I'd just emerged from a private movie screening at the Saul Zaentz Film Center in West Berkeley, CA. My Mom just happened to call with the news as I was walking to my car; I was stunned. Just stunned. So I took my Flip Video Camera and set out to talk to people about what happened to Michael. I had plenty of places to do this: the BART train station, the San Francisco Magazine "Best of The Bay" party, and all points in between.

What's amazing is the sheer number of people who were immediately informed via text messages and the reactions: shock, sadness, but not joy. No. No one expressed anything close to that at all, even given the part of his life where it seemed he was overwhelmed with "kid" issues. Nothing.

Dominic Phillips, the master of event planning in San Francisco, and who produced last night's "San Francisco Magazine Best of The Bay" party said "It's horrible. First and formost, anybody dying is horrible. There are so many family members that are just gonna be torn apart. But also Michael Jackson; on the one hand he was a very maverick person. But on the other hand he was part of my generation's life. He was like part of my experience, my growing up and I feel a little robbed that he's not there anymore. Like whether you thought his experience was your experience,that doesn't really come into it for me. I just sort of bonded with him in my youth and now he's gone."

Another woman I talked to on Howard Street in San Francisco said "I was just walking and three people got text messages (that he died)...just terrible. My friend Beth Schnitzer, who's the Director of Sponsorship Marketing at Pier 39 said "I can't believe it. Every time I listen to his music, it brings back a great memory from growing up somehow, some way. You know, it really hasn't hit me. He was too young; way too young." Jerusha, "The Last Single Girl In The World" said, as only she can, "We all have to go sometime and boy did he have a fabulous life before he went. He did it up and he did it up right. You know what they say, you only live once and that's all you need if you do it right!"

I talked to a lot of people, and if you see my video there are more than what's presented here, but all just variations on what was expressed. People loved Michael, warts and all. The "Best of The Bay" event turned into a kind of tribute to Michael, with his music playing continuously through the evening, and people danced, especially to "Thriller" which is a modern classic.

Sad day it was to have this happen. Michael, the world will miss you.

We Are The World - Lyrics and video:

Written by Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie, produced by Quincy Jones.



There comes a time
When we head a certain call
When the world must come together as one
There are people dying
And it's time to lend a hand to life
The greatest gift of all

We can't go on
Pretending day by day
That someone, somewhere will soon make a change
We are all a part of
God's great big family
And the truth, you know love is all we need

[Chorus]
We are the world
We are the children
We are the ones who make a brighter day
So let's start giving
There's a choice we're making
We're saving our own lives
It's true we'll make a better day
Just you and me

Send them your heart
So they'll know that someone cares
And their lives will be stronger and free
As God has shown us by turning stone to bread
So we all must lend a helping hand

[Chorus]
We are the world
We are the children
We are the ones who make a brighter day
So let's start giving
There's a choice we're making
We're saving our own lives
It's true we'll make a better day
Just you and me

When you're down and out
There seems no hope at all
But if you just believe
There's no way we can fall
Well, well, well, well, let us realize
That a change will only come
When we stand together as one

[Chorus]
We are the world
We are the children
We are the ones who make a brighter day
So let's start giving
There's a choice we're making
We're saving our own lives
It's true we'll make a better day
Just you and me

Michael Jackson Postpones London Concert; Skin Cancer?

 

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In a surprising turn of events, Michael Jackson, the self-described "King of Pop" has postponed his much-anticipated London concert series. While the official reason is not known, The Telegraph of London is reporting that Jackson is secretly fighting skin cancer.

(UPDATE): The Telegraph is now reporting - as of 5:25 PM PST - that Jackson's doctor's deny he has skin cancer.

The first concert of the "This Is It" tour that was set for July 8th is being moved back five nights to July 13th. The other concerts that were to be held this year, are now set for 2010 according to Billboard:

10th July will be moved to 1st March 2010
12th July will be moved to 3rd March 2010
14th July will be moved to 6th March 2010

Those who have purchased tickets and can't make the show will be refunded in full.

While some news outlets have reported no official cause of the concert delays, and others claim skin cancer which they say Jackson denies is the reason, The Sun explained in full on May 16th that Jackson is fighting skin cancer, but at the time he expected to go ahead with his concert schedule as it stood then. According to a source for The Sun, Jackson said he would fit the treatment around the concerts, but it seems Jackson may have changed his mind.

Today, May 20th, Jackson walked out of Bedford Medical in Virginia, which is known for its treatment of skin cancer declaring "I have nothing to hide."

The Concerts Are Jackson's Comeback

Jackson, commonly the focus of reports of bizarre behavior, is still a very popular singer for his library of hits that span four decades. I first saw him in August of 1972 at the Chicago Amphitheater when he was the child star of the Jackson Five. I feel like I've grown up with the man and love his music, even as I watched him alter his face to something south of Diana Ross, drop out of a number of well-publicized marriages, and allow his inner child to take over a bit too much. I hope he beats this cancer. I really do.

Michael Jackson? CNN, I Will Not Impersonate Michael Jackson

The CNN iReport team came up with this wild idea to ask iReporters to dance like Michael Jackson.  I'm not going to do that.  No way.  I have a reputation to protect.  So as you can see in this video, I protect my image:




Click for CNN iReport version here.

Michael Jackson Wants 50-Foot Robot Of Him To Zap Vegas Police (Partly Kidding)

Yep. Only partly kidding. But the part about the 50-foot Michael Jackson Robot is true. The laser beam part of the story is true to. But let's face it, what's a robot going to do with laser beams?

Where are those beams going to aim?

Ah?

Don't you think Michael Jackson's taste for authority is a little poor these days? What better way to keep the cops away from him than to have his giant robot zap a squad car or two?

Think about it.

My main question is will the robot have Michael's Black skin, or his bleached White skin?