In case you missed it, the Vatican’s official literary organ, L’Osservatore Romano (The Roman Observer) recently published its choices for the ten best albums in pop music history, a self-described “modest guide [that] can point you on the road to good music.” This latest offering continues a string of commentary by the Holy See’s newspaper on such pop culture phenomena as Harry Potter, the Twilight series, James Cameron’s Avatar, and The Simpsons. L’Osservatore Romano’s sudden engagement with contemporary Western culture and its often polemical judgments in these editorials has sparked considerable debate, and while this top ten list seems designed to provoke further controversy – as such lists are prone to do (Rolling Stone’s top 100 guitarists of all time, anyone?) – this compilation of undisputed classics merely treads a safe middle ground. Yet its inclusion does raise interesting questions about the motives of the newspaper’s editors and the values that they endorse.
Staff writers Guiseppe Fiorentino and Gaetano Vallini assembled the list of desert island discs, which they claimed provided an antidote for the “rigors of winter” as well as alternatives to the cloying, formulaic ditties slated for such perennial events as the Sanremo music festival in Liguria, Italy. The approved albums span over thirty years and, in order of release, are as follows:
(1) The Beatles, Revolver (1966)
(2) David Crosby, If Only I Could Remember My Name (1971)
(3) Pink Floyd, The Dark Side of the Moon (1973)
(4) Fleetwood Mac, Rumours (1976)
(5) Donald Fagen, The Nightfly (1982)
(6) Michael Jackson, Thriller (1982)
(7) Paul Simon, Graceland (1986)
(8) U2, Achtung Baby (1991)
(9) Oasis, (What’s the Story) Morning Glory (1995)
(10) Carlos Santana, Supernatural (1999)
What message(s) does such a list project, or intend to project, to the public about the reigning Papacy? Are we supposed to envision His Eminence opting to sing along to his trusty iPod instead of diligently practicing his beloved Mozart at the piano? Better still, who will heed the advice of this newspaper – whose relationship to the Vatican has been compared in the past to Pravda of the Soviet-era Kremlin – on which films to watch, books to read, or music to listen to? Judging by the attention that L’Osservatore Romano has been generating, it turns out that quite a few readers are taking notice.
The newspaper’s revised focus in recent years reflects the appointment in October 2007 of church historian Gian Maria Vian as its editor-in-chief. With newspapers quickly becoming an obsolete medium, Vian is determined to revitalize L’Osservatore Romano. Indeed, with over 100 staff members on his payroll, a meager circulation of less than 100,000 copies, and an estimated deficit of 4.5 million Euros, Vian certainly has his work cut out for him. Sensationalist journalism is one such tactic, and judging from the publicity that L’Osservatore Romano has attracted since Vian assumed leadership a few years ago, his approach appears to be working. So too, these editorials seek to overturn public perception of the Vatican as out-of-touch with contemporary culture and society as well as renovate the tarnished image of the Catholic Church, which has absorbed major scandals in recent years. Appealing to a younger readership seems to represent a step in the right direction.
However, such a vested interest in popular currents seems in conflict with the standards set forth by current Pope Benedict XVI Joseph Ratzinger, who in 1996 (then as Cardinal) declared rock music the “instrument of the devil” and contemporary pop culture a morass of depravity. Consider L’Osservatore Romano’s dismissal of Avatar’s pantheism as “sentimental and facile, anti-imperialist and anti-militarist,” while Twilight amounted to a “moral vacuum with a deviant message.” Last year, the newspaper praised Harry Potter for its depiction of the “eternal battle between good and evil,” overturning its decision from a year prior that J. K. Rowling’s writings promoted witchcraft and the occult, and contradicting Ratzinger’s condemnation of the series in 2003 as “subtle seductions [that] deeply distort Christianity in the soul.” Considering Ratzinger’s stance, how did drug-addled soundtracks like Revolver or Dark Side make the cut?
It helps that several albums rank among the best sellers of all time, including Thriller (26 million copies), Rumours (18 million), and Dark Side (15 million). Other selections feature all-star ensembles that arguably symbolize either an artistic communion (Graceland, If Only I Could Remember My Name) or utopian existence (Nightfly), while other acts received more explicit endorsements. In a November 2008 article, Vallini hailed Bono as a “true crusader for Christianity,” while a November 2008 article recognized the White Album’s 40th anniversary by declaring the Fab Four as vastly more creative than the “standardized and stereotyped” bands of today. Santana’s Supernatural proved that the Latin axe-slinger was “the only member of the Woodstock generation still at the top” (I guess Vian missed The Who’s rousing halftime show at this year’s Super Bowl). The Gallagher brothers, those “enfants terribles of the working class,” gave the world a “jewel produced by torment” with Morning Glory, while more than one writer has raised eyebrows at the Vatican’s advocacy of Michael Jackson’s music.
Moreover, L’Osservatore Romano’s staff writers have also developed a knack for creating just enough ambiguity to allow the Pope to retain plausible deniability. After panning Avatar for suggesting that the worship of nature can replace religion, Vatican Radio waffled by deeming the film a “rather harmless” portrayal beleaguered by “sappiness.” Likewise, Fiorentino and Vallini qualified their top ten album list as only a “semi-serious” appraisal that was inevitably “partial.” Robert Mickens, a Vatican correspondent for a Catholic weekly The Tablet, supported this view in his contention that “the topics [discussed in L’Osservatore Romano] hardly ever deal with Catholic doctrinal questions, so it was never considered a high-risk strategy.” It seems as if the risks that Vian and his staff are calculated ones with big payoffs. Then again, maybe the albums on this top ten list are simply guilty pleasures without all of the heavy-handed social commentary. Who’s to say? Any deeper symbolism into this issue I happily leave for Dan Brown to unravel.
MANILA, Philippines – When I was a PR officer at Manila Hotel, I was assigned to head the annual Orphan’s Christmas Party where 300 children from different orphanages around Metro Manila were treated to a day of fun and surprises. It was one of the biggest projects on my plate and it was such a challenge to focus on work the day before the big event, knowing Michael Jackson was billeted in the hotel.
Two nights before, I had been fortunate to be part of his welcome line at the hotel lobby together with the rest of the PR and sales staff but was content enough to see him walk by.
The day before, a guy claiming to be Michael Jackson’s aide from Mamarao Productions came to the office. I couldn’t recall his name but he looked for the “person in charge” and said his boss had read the announcement about the event in the Dear Guest flyers we had circulated to all the rooms a week before. Michael wanted to know how he could help.
His aide went up to the Penthouse and down to the PR office several times after we gave our suggestions.
Michael offered to fill up the 300 loot bags with goodies and toys, candies and chocolates. But after getting close to 50 sponsors, it was actually a problem for us to dispose of everything.
So I thought hard…how can the King of Pop meaningfully join the affair? I couldn’t possibly have him be with the kids in the palayok game or the pabitin as he might end up being mobbed! And since the annual event was really all about giving, I mustered all my courage and told the Mamarao guy that the best thing I could think of was for Michael to literally be present to help distribute the loot bags, sign autographs and pose with the children for photos. “Wow, that may not be easy. You’re talking about handing goodie bags to 300 children and I can just imagine the chaos. We’ll see, Ms. Jacinto. I’ll get back to you,” he said.
Lunch break came and it was the most hurried one I ever took in my entire life. It wasn’t until after 5 p.m. that Michael’s aide came back and said, “Michael is more than happy to do whatever you suggest. How do we go about it tomorrow?”
I wanted to scream. I had to calm myself and regain composure as the Lizzie Maguire in me said, “Get real, get back into focus.”
We agreed that Michael would join after the games, musical program and snacks, and at the last part to give out the loot bags. My colleague Annette Africano and boss Dulce Agnir requested for additional security around the garden and the stage area as this was where we decided to distribute the gifts. We made sure the children would form an orderly line.
Then the moment arrived. It was at the Champagne Gardens on Dec. 7, 1996. I was surprised to see him walking towards us, guided by his aide. Michael came up to me as I had to brief him.
“Hi, how are you? Thanks so much for letting me in, I know I’m early ‘coz I didn’t want to miss the program.”
I said, “Are you kidding? Thanks so much for volunteering! Here’s what Michael, why don’t you just sit here and watch the musical numbers before we get into the gift giving. I will have to tweak the program a bit.”
He replied, “Sure, anything you say… (pausing to look at my name tag) Gwen!”
I was stunned at how incredibly sweet and modest he was. And in my mind it was, “Oh my God, this is really happening!”
Amazing how he patiently sat through the whole program. Carol Banawa, then an Ang TV mainstay couldn’t believe Michael Jackson was watching her perform. She had her red blouse signed by him right after her number. Then followed Stefano Mori’s dance number. Later, his back up singers and dancers came up on stage followed by select kids from different orphanages who danced to the beat of Billie Jean. Oh, the smile on Michael’s face was just amazing.
Then we announced that Michael will be distributing gifts onstage. I explained to him that there’s a loot bag for the younger kids and another for the older ones and he nodded. The thrill and excitement he gave those children was incredibly touching. It was in between the gift bag distribution that I caught a glimpse of Michael Jackson, not as a performer but as a person.
It was one in the afternoon. Santa Claus (David Endriga, a friend of fellow PR officer Francis Capistrano) was with us.
The heat was scourging and I was worried that Michael felt so hot with his black long-sleeved signature attire and hat.
“Are you alright Michael? We can let you take a break,” I asked.
He said, “I’m cool Gwen. Just imagine how Santa feels inside his velvet suit and beard. We’ll be fine.”
I never heard him complain or say a word about how hot it was or how long the line was. He had the most beautiful manners. He didn’t even ask for a drink or a towel to wipe his sweat but one of our banquet staff made sure he got a glass of fresh orange juice.
An hour passed and we were halfway through gift-giving when we noticed that the garden was getting filled up. Suddenly, there were people from media, politicians, officials and hotel guests including those in a wedding reception at the nearby Champagne Room who deserted the newly-weds just to get a glimpse of the King of Pop.
“Oh oh, this isn’t supposed to be, I’m so sorry,” I said. It’s all right, we’ll get through it,” Michael said smiling.
As we finished giving out the last loot bag to an 11-year-old orphan, a new line of more kids and adults formed. Michael’s bodyguard, Wayne, said. “We can leave now.”
Michael replied calmly, “We can’t leave when there are still people in line. It’s Christmas, dude.”
I felt my heart beat faster and the hair on my arms and the back of my neck stood up. He wasn’t just the most electrifying performer, but the most generous person.
One of the most memorable moments was when a lady came up to him for an autograph. Laughing and holding his tummy, he said “Hey Gwen, you’ve gotta check this out. He whispered, “It’s a blank check. The lady is making me sign on a blank check.”
We laughed hard and little did we know that it wasn’t even half of the comedy. He later showed me and Wayne other stuff people would use or pick up on the ground when they couldn’t find paper for him to sign on. One lady made him sign at the back of her elegant, designer Filipiniana gown. One teenager came up to him holding a dead leaf and another one, a popped balloon. Imagine how our laughter ballooned as well.
It was an amazing, genuine experience. At one point he asked if I was going to catch his History concert and I said “tomorrow night.”
“Oh, you’ll have a blast!” Michael told me.
At this point he became concerned about the stage as adults outnumbered the kids. His face had nervousness written all over it but he still didn’t complain. He tapped the wooden floor with his foot several times making sure it was sturdy enough not to fall apart. “I’ve experienced the stage collapse and I just want to make sure we’re all safe here,” he explained.
Half of me wanted the line to finish because we were literally melting and worried about our safety, but half of me didn’t, knowing that once the line ended, Michael will leave.
At some point it did end. I managed to get an autograph for my sisters and me before our general manager, Clem Pablo, requested him to sing Give Love on Christmas Day.
Cesar Sarino, one of the hotel’s officials, addressed his thank you note to the King of Pop. Then I saw his guards and aides whisking Michael off stage.
I said in my mind, “Oh man, I didn’t even have the chance to say goodbye.”
Suddenly, I saw Michael return on stage and say, “Thanks so much to you and your team, Gwen. This really means a lot.”
Then he held me beside him and said, “I’ll see you at the concert.”
As Michael Jackson is laid to rest and returned to pristine condition in the afterlife, these two incredible acts of the King of Pop – volunteering for charity and unselfishly spending time with the less fortunate, will forever be the way I will remember this man.
I think I was 16 or 17 when I bought the single “Looking Through my Eyes” by Bone Thugs ‘N Harmony, back in the day when we still wanted singles. I never bought “Crossroads”, but that is such a lovely song also. Especially the music video. I’ve always liked the ending.
Not so long ago I discovered that Bone Thugs had sampled Michael Jackson’s “Earth Song”. What’s cool is that they did it before he died, and not after. I’m not sure if they intended to have the song on any of their albums, but there’s a video of them playing the song for a live audience.
I liked the song immediately. Lyrics (those I can figure out LOL) are awesome. They blend perfectly with Michael’s voice. (How great is Michael’s voice really? OMG…)
They were supposed to be having a concert in my city before Christmas I think it was, not sure if it happened, but I wanted to go.
There have been many Michael Jackson tribute songs after he passed away. “What Have we Done” were not intended as a tribute song, but it has become one. I think it’s one of the greatest. Especially because they chooses a song and a theme that Michael cared deeply about.
Im Sure by now you have all seen the “We Are The World” video that premiered during the opening ceremony of the Vancouver Winter Olympics. Its truely an inspiring video given the recent events in Haiti. Did you know it is a remake of a video made with artists Lionel Riche, Stevie Wonder, Kenny Rogers, Billy Joel, Tina Turner, Diana Ross, Michael Jackson, Bruce Springsteen, etc. Here is the old and new video.
The older version is just as inspiring. You can really tell that these artists knew they were apart of something special.
For those of you who missed the new version with artists Jennifer Hudson, Justin Bieber, Keri Hilson, the Black Eyed Peas, Mary J. Blige, Miley Cyrus, Celine Dion, Josh Groban, Jamie Fox, Pink, Usher, and some of the original Michael Jackson recording
Its unfortunate that this crisis had to come for some of these videos. However some other really great tributes have been made by other artists. I love seeing all these artists join together so quickly to create /re-create these events. Here are some other videos you may not be so familiar with.
International Artists came together to create & record this beautiful song “Everybody Hurts” Leona Lewis, Susan Boyle, Jon Bon Jovi, Mariah Carey, Michael Buble, James Morrison, and more.
Christian Artists: Michael W. Smith, Steven Curtis Chapman, tobyMac, Nicole Nordeman, Nicole C. Mullen, Amy Grant, Vince Gill, Wynonna Judd, Melinda Doolittle, and more. These artists all came together and recorded “Come Together Now”
It’s great to see so many artists contributing to things like this. It’s amazing how much good it does. Obviously the massive explosion of “We Are The World” on iTunes last week has allowed the campaign already to raise over $63 million. The Help For Haiti telethon raised over $57 million. Its amazing the power behind music and when we really focus it can be put to such good use.
Downloading any of these songs gives all profits to the relief effort in Haiti. Here are some other ways to give to Haiti if you haven’t already.
Katie’s ethnic make up will be discussed at a later date, but please check out her face and remember her features and skin tone because she is my poster child for this series. More pictures will be shown later as well.
-Oooh, her daddy must be White or High Yellow!
-Your daughter is beautiful! She looks nothing like you. (Yes, in the same breath.)
-She must look just like her daddy.
-Is that your daughter?
-Is your daughter Mexican?
Over the past eight years the above things have all been said or asked of me because of my daughter. I am a Black woman and I have a child by a White man. These comments used to bother me when my daughter was a baby, but I am used to it now and I respond accordingly with the right amount of venom in my tone.
When I found out I was carrying a baby by a White man I wasn’t happy. There is a long story behind this that will be shared with you in my memoirs one day, but one of the reasons is the fact that I knew I was going to have to deal with all these dumb ass questions and statements. And, the staring…oh gawd people could win staring contests when they see a Black women with a White looking child.
I also worried that I would not know how to or be able to deal with raising a biracial child. May seem ridiculous to you, but I really thought about what type of things I would have to teach her about her background and how to deal with people liking or disliking her because of things like her skin tone and hair. I worried she would be different than me and she would catch hell because of it.
I was right and I was wrong. I’m her mother. She has my DNA. I am raising her and I deal with any issues quite well. If she had come out half of whatever the hell Yoda is from Star Wars I would still love her lil’ brownish-green ass to death.
Ethnicity and color are not issues for me. Never have been. I love everyone and I hate everyone. My feelings are equal opportunity. I won’t love you just because you’re Black and I won’t hate you just because you’re White. Like someone once said – “Just because you’re my color it doesn’t mean you’re my kind.” Truer words have never been spoken.
For some odd and stupid ass reason many of us continue to be color struck. I really think most of us are dumb or at the very least forgetful. Black people who look White is not a new phenomenon. Back in the day Black folks who appeared more White than Black “passed” all the time. Hell, some people are still passing today. There are some people that could pass but don’t like my man, actor Wentworth Miller.
Look at him:
Wentworth Miller
Would you have guessed that he has a Black parent? Well, he does. I first saw Wentworth in the film The Human Stain. It’s about a man who passes for White, but is really Black. If you haven’t seen it check it out. Good flick! Anthony Hopkins plays Wentworth’s role as an older man. We all know Anthony is not Black in any way shape or form, but I’m sure he was cast in the role to make a point.
Back to Wentworth; I fell in love as soon as I saw him on the screen. He is a beautiful man. I saw The Human Stain around the same time Prison Break started on FOX, so I immediately started watching it every week thereafter.
Some of you who know me are laughing and probably saying,”Yea, she likes ‘em light, bright, and damn near White.” True, I do tend to go gaga more for light skinned dudes or mixed dudes. Hey, I like the best of both worlds. Sue me! When Black and White come together it creates something beautiful. That’s not to say that when anyone else comes together that it’s ugly, so don’t go there. I like what I like! There are no self hating reasons for it and I love chocolate brothas too. I like men! Period.
I can’t find one I want to call my boyfriend, but that’s another story.
Again, back to Wentworth. I was sprung after seeing him in The Human Stain, but when I read an interview where he explained that he is Black and just plays a White man for TV, I fell in love. Why? Because he had the nerve to be who he is, when he does not appear to be.
My true inspiration for starting this series are Michael Jackson’s children:
Prince, Paris, and "Blanket"
-Those are not his biological children.
-They look nothing like him or any of the other Jackson kids.
-Those are White kids.
-White never trumps Black. Never!
-Why is he trying to pass these White kids off as his children?
These are just a few of the things I have heard aimed at Michael’s children. These comments piss me off and I take them personally because as you have already read I get some of the same ignorant reactions because of my daughter.
In the next part of the series I will get deeper into Mike’s babies and the issues many people have when Black and White DNA come together to create a child that appears White.
In the meantime, let’s get back to Katie. Answer this poll:
Joe Jackson is entitled to get copies of Michael Jackson’s medical records … according to the judge in the Michael Jackson estate case. According to the judge’s ruling, Joe Jackson is only entitled to records from UCLA made on the day Jackson died. Joe Jackson wants the records for a possible wrongful death case. Howard Weitzman, lawyer for the estate, says “The estate has no problem with the Court’s ruling which substantially limits what Mr. Jackson was asking for.”
-”The BklynBandette.” Mr. Hollywood’s Co-Defendant.
Ever paid for an increase on your insurance rates because of an accident, even if it’s not your fault? In the words of the late and great Michael Jackson, you are not alone.
Keep in mind that “fault” is determined by the authorities. You may feel that you were not at fault in an accident, or that the other driver was insane. But, the authorities make that decision, and the party that is ticketed during the incident is considered to be at fault.
Insurance companies base their premiums on risk-factor. So, even if someone rear-ends you while you’re singing along to your favorite tune, if you’ve had a speeding ticket or other violation prior to this accident, you might be deemed an at-risk driver. Each insurance company has different policies and standards, but they look at your overall tendency towards accidents.
The number of accidents you are in directly affects your premium. You could be in four no-fault accidents, and your company would still raise your rates. They feel that even though the authorities determined these accidents not to be your fault, that you must have something wrong with your driving to be having so many crashes. Are you cursed, or just accident-prone? Insurance fraud also plays a small factor in this equation. Many people “stage” accidents to obtain settlements from insurance companies. A high number of no-fault accidents might raise a red-flag with an insurance company.
We here at CWI Underwriters write auto insurance with eight “A” rated companies, which all have different ways the evaluate accidents and tickets. Give us a call! 888.636.6438
Anyone still reading this? looks like going by the number of hits.
Listed here is an archive of films I’ve seen in theaters. Two of them have been nominated for Academy Awards. The review contains the film’s title, genre, an overview and some trivia.
Movie Reviews
2009-Early 2010
Below are a list of reviews for movies I’ve seen in 2009 and early 2010. The list ranges from films seen in theaters to ones rented on DVD. At the end of each review are few ‘Trivia’ notes. So… read on!
Rating system:
5 stars – A must see
4 stars- Good
3 stars- Rent it on DVD
2 stars- Fair
1 star – Not worth seeing
Michael Jackson’s This Is It
Movie poster(c) Columbia Tri-star
Studio: Columbia Tri-Star Motion Picture, Sony Pictures, The Michael Jackson Company.
Theater release: October 28th 2009.
DVD Release: 1/26/2010
Rating: PG.
Running time: 1 hr. 51 min
Main actor/actress: Michael Jackson
Supporting Cast:
Daniel Celebre
Shanon Holtzapffel
Charles Klapow
Kenny Ortega
And Others
Category: Documentary/Musical/Performing Arts
Info: A look at the final days of one of the greatest entertainers. The documentary features behind-the-scenes footage, rehearsals and interviews with collaborators and close friends of Michael Jackson.
Reviews and ratings: “Nothing at all like I was expecting to see” – Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun Times.
Personal rating: **** Good
Opinion: ‘This is It” is an enjoyable film for those who are fans of Michael Jackson. The effects and choreography were done well. There are a few comical moments as well as some that are dramatic and heartwarming.
Trivia: This is It is complied of an estimated 80 hours of behind-the-scenes and rehearsal footage for the late entertainer’s sold out 50 shows at London’s O2 Arena. The concert was scheduled to begin in July 2009 before Michael Jacksons’s death in June at the age of 50.
Kenny Ortega directed the documentary as well as Michael Jackson’s other music videos.
All the songs featured in This is It are sung by Michael Jackson.
The documentary is dedicated to Michael’s children, Paris, Prince Michael and Blanket.
Originally scheduled for a two-week theatrical release, news of an extension had been announced.
This is It was nominated for a Critic’s choice award.
Studio: 20th Century Fox/ Lightstorm Entertainment.
Theater release: December 18th 2009.
DVD release: N/A
Rating: PG-13
Running Time: 2 hrs 40 min.
Main Actor/Actress: Sam Worthington- Jake Sully and Zöe Saldana- Neytiri
Supporting Cast:
Sigourney Weaver- Dr. Grace Augustine
Stephan Lang- Colonel Miles Quaritch
Michelle Rodriguez- Trudy Chacon
Giovonni Ribsi- Parker Selfridge
Joel David Moore- Norm Spellman
CCH Pounder- Mo’at
Wes Studi- Eytukan
Laz Alonso- Tsu’Tey
Matt Gerald- Corpal Lyle Wainfleet
Dileep Rao- Dr. Max Patel
Peter Mensah- Akwey (aka Horse clan leader)
Sean Anthony Moran- Private Sean Fike
And Others.
Category: Sci-fi/ Action/Adventure/Drama
Info: Avatar tells the story of Jake Sully who is paralyzed from the waist down. Jake travels to Pandora, a moon located in Alpha Centuri. While there, he meets Norm Spellman and few other employees who work for the RDA mining company run by Parker Selfridge. During a walk out in the forest with Grace Augustine and Norm, Jake is chased by one Pandora’s top predators, the panther-like Thanator. After getting separated from Norm and Grace, Jake is now lost and unaware he’s being watched!
That night, Jake encounters a pack of Viperwolves which are similar to hyenas and gray wolves. Though he tries to scare them off, the wolves seem to be giving Jake a run for his money so to speak; until Neytiri steps in. Shortly after, the viperwolves flee; sometime later, Jake meets Neytiri’s parents, Eytukan and Mo’at who are also leaders of the clan. At first, Eytukan isn’t too keen about Jake and neither is Tsu’Tey, another clan member. After Jake explains himself, Mo’at announces Neytiri will be tutoring him. Later on, Jake tells his co-workers about what happened. The head of security, Miles Quaritch, tells Jake to go ahead and learn about the Na’vi. He also gives Jake a three-month deadline to get the clan to move after Parker explains that the village is sitting on a large deposit of a mineral called Unobtainium. If he manages to pull off the job, Miles states he’ll see about helping Jake ‘get his legs back’ via surgery. Although Neytiri was ready to gut Jake like fish when they first met, she gradually befriends him. Over time, Jake also becomes friends with Norm and Trudy, even Grace warms up to him. But later, Jake is caught in a bind to either finish the job or help his new friends.
Reviews and Ratings: “An extraordinary film” – Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun Times.
Personal rating: **½ -Fair.
Opinion: Though the storyline is interesting, there are some things that weren’t so great. The effects and performances by the cast were done well. Overall, for those who are curious about the film but choose not to see it in theaters; either rent it, catch the movie on TV or just skip it altogether. Although, for this being James Cameron’s first feature film since ‘Titanic’ which was released in 1997; he’s definitely proved he can still put on quite a show.
Trivia notes:
This is the first feature film James Cameron has directed since Titanic.
Avatar won the golden globes for Best Director and Best Picture(Drama).
The film has been nominated for nine Academy Awards and held the #1 spot at the box office for seven weeks straight before it got demoted by the movie, Dear John.
Motion capture was used in the film.
The script was originally written in 1994 and James Cameron had wanted to release it in 1999 but the idea was turned down due to the high budget.
Avatar cost over $300 million to make and $150 million spent on marketing. The film so far has made a total of $ 2 billion dollars at the box office.
The cast spent time in a bonding boot camp in Maui months before filming.
James Horner composed the music for the film; the last time he’s worked with James Cameron was when he did the music for Titanic in 1997.
Two other films Sam Worthington and Zöe Saldana starred in were Terminator Salvation and Guess Who, working alongside Bernie Mac and Ashton Kutcher.
Actress Michelle Rodriguez starred in the Fast and the Furious.
Though James Horner is mostly known for composing scores for kid/family films including: An American Tail, Balto, The Land Before Time and several others.
Avatar sold more tickets during the opening day than Star trek did when it was released in early 2009.
The film was nominated for best original score at the Golden Globes but lost to Disney and Pixar’s Up.
Coincidentally, Avatar, Fantastic Mr. Fox and Alvin and the Chipmunks: The squeakquel are all 20th century Fox films.
Info: Based on the book written by Roald Dahl. Fantastic Mr. Fox is a stop motion animated comedy. The film starts out with Mr. Fox and his mate, Felicity stealing poultry from the farms owned by Boggis, Bunce and Bean. The two are later caught in a trap by one of the farmers. After Felicity announces she’s pregnant; she tells her mate to make a promise to stop stealing birds and take up another job if they escape from the trap alive. Although Mr. Fox does keep his promise and now has a job as a journalist, he slowly slips back into his old habit of stealing from the farmers. Sometime later when Boggis, Bunce and Bean discover Mr. Fox’s raids they decide to catch him. As a result Mr. Fox’s family and neighbors are at risk. With the animals trapped underground, Mr. Fox and friends band together against the farmers.
Reviews & Ratings: “This movie deserves to be called groundbreaking”- Peter Travers, Rolling stone.
Personal rating: *****-A must see.
Opinion: Being a stop motion film fan and animal lover this is a film worth seeing. An enjoyable movie from start to finish. Highly recommended.
Trivia notes:
The recording sessions took place both outdoors and indoors.
In the original Fantastic Mr. Fox, he and his mate had four pups (3 males 1 female) whereas in the film, Ash is their only son and Kristofferson is Mr. Fox’s nephew.
Though the film most likely takes place in England, possums like Kylie are typically found in America.
Kristofferson is Ash’s cousin. On his unaccompanied minor I.D. tag his last name is Silverfox. Most likely, Kristofferson is a silver phase red fox.
Another trademark Fox and Badger friendships is featured in the Animals of Farthing wood book series. A cartoon adaptation came out in the 90s and ran for three seasons.
Prior to doing the voice of Coach Skip, Owen Wilson played Lightning McQueen in Disney/Pixar’s Cars.
Wes Anderson worked with the animation crew for Aardman whose work includes Wallace and Gromit, Creature Comforts and Chicken Run.
Beagles are used as guard dogs by the farmers in the film. Though they are originally used to track and catch rabbits and hares, beagles have also ran alongside their larger cousins, the Foxhounds.
Though the film is based on Roald Dahl’s book, some characters have been added or have a more prominent role than they had in the book. One example is the character, Badger who is Mr. Fox’s neighbor, attorney and friend.
Fantastic Mr. Fox was nominated at the Golden Globes in the animation category but lost to the movie Up.
The movie is also an Academy Awards nominee for best animated film.
Well that’s part one of my Movie reviews.Stay tuned for reviews for the following films:
- Quincy Jones
- Lionel Richie
- Pink
- Janet Jackson
- Justin Bieber
- Sugarland
- Celine Dion
- Lil Wayne
- Wyclef Jean
- The Black Eyed Peas
- Josh Groban
- Santana
- Jason Mraz
- Nicole Scherzinger
- Jennifer Hudson
- The Fray
- The Jonas Brothers
- Robin Thicke
- Miley Cyrus
- Tony Bennet
- Mary J. Blige
- Barbra Streisand
- Enrique Iglesias
- Jamie Foxx
- Adam Levine
- BeBe Winans
- Usher
- Orianthi
- Toni Braxton
- Mary Mary
- Isaac Slade
- Akon
- T-Pain
- LL Cool J
- Snoop Dogg
- Busta Rhymes
- Swizz Beats
- Iyaz
- Kanye West
- Patti Austin
- Philip Bailey
- Fonzworth Bentley
- Bizzy Bone
- Ethan Bortnick
- Jeff Bridges
- Zac Brown
- Brandy
- Kristian Bush
- Natalie Cole
- Harry Connick Jr.
- Nikka Costa
- Kid Cudi
- Faith Evans
- Melanie Fiona
- Sean Garrett
- Tyrese Gibson
- Anthony Hamilton
- Keith Harris
- Rick Hendrix
- Keri Hilson
- Julianne Hough
- Nipsey Hussle
- India.Arie
- Randy Jackson
- Taj Jackson
- Taryll Jackson
- TJ Jackson
- Al Jardine
- Jimmy Jean-Louis
- Ralph Johnson
- Rashida Jones
- Gladys Knight
- Benji Madden
- Harlow Madden
- Joel Madden
- Katharine McPhee
- Mya
- Freda Payne
- A.R. Rahman
- RedOne
- Nicole Richie
- Raphael Saadiq
- Trey Songz
- Musiq Soulchild
- Jordin Sparks
- Rob Thomas
- Vince Vaughn
- Verdine White
- Ann Wilson
- Brian Wilson
- Nancy Wilson
- Michael Jackson.
Remember you can buy the song on iTunes with all proceeds going toward Haiti relief!
As I’m sure you know I used to do weekly accapellas on my youtube site. I have started to do acoustic bits instead now BUT I had a lot of requested so I recorded 7 accapella dedications. And since today is V-Day I thought it would be the perfect day to upload and declare my appreciation for the love and support.
Enjoy!
I’ll Be There – Michael Jackson
Everytime We Touch – Cascada
Comfortable – Tulisa from N-Dubz
Baby Baby – Smokey Robinson
Ego – The Saturdays
Beyonce – Hello
Please leave a comment and enjoy!
And please subscribe to my youtube channel – www.youtube.com/niecey738
(You know, you uh, you make me feel so good inside…
I’ve always wanted a girl just like you, such a P.Y.T., Pretty Young Thing – Oooh!)
Where Did You Come From Lady
And Ooh Won’t You Take Me There
Right Away Won’t You Baby
Tender roni You’ve Got To Be
Spark My Nature
Sugar Fly With Me
Don’t You Know Now
Is The Perfect Time
We Can Make It Right
Hit The City Lights
Then Tonight Ease The Lovin’ Pain
Let Me Take You To The Max
[Chorus]
I Want To Love You (P.Y.T.)
Pretty Young Thing
You Need Some Lovin’ (T.L.C.)
Tender Lovin’ Care
And I’ll Take You There
I Want To Love You (P.Y.T.)
Pretty Young Thing
You Need Some Lovin’ (T.L.C.)
Tender Lovin’ Care
I’ll Shake You There
[Background]
Anywhere You Wanna Go
[2nd Verse]
Nothin’ Can Stop This Burnin’
Desire To Be With You
Gotta Get To You Baby
Won’t You Come, It’s Emergency
Cool My Fire Yearnin’
Honey, Come Set Me Free
Don’t You Know Now Is The Perfect Time
We Can Dim The Lights
Just To Make It Right
In The Night
Hit The Lovin’ Spot
I’ll Give You All That I’ve Got
[Chorus]
I Want To Love You (P.Y.T.)
Pretty Young Thing
You Need Some Lovin’ (T.L.C.)
Tender Lovin’ Care
And I’ll Take You There
I Want To Love You (P.Y.T.)
Pretty Young Thing
You Need Some Lovin’ (T.L.C.)
Tender Lovin’ Care
I’ll Take You There
Breakdown
Pretty Young Things, Repeat After Me [Michael] I Said Na Na Na [P.Y.T.'S] Na Na Na [Michael] Na Na Na Na [P.Y.T.'S] Na Na Na Na [Michael] Na Na Na [P.Y.T.'S] Na Na Na [Michael] I Said Na Na Na Na Na [P.Y.T.'S] Na Na Na Na Na [Michael] I’ll Take You There
[Chorus]
I Want To Love You (P.Y.T.)
Pretty Young Thing
You Need Some Lovin’ (T.L.C.)
Tender Lovin’ Care
And I’ll Take You There
I Want To Love You (P.Y.T.)
Pretty Young Thing
You Need Some Lovin’ (T.L.C.)
Tender Lovin’ Care
I’ll Take You There
(Girl I think it’d be real nice, if uh… you and I could, you know…
I’m Not Gonna Spend My Life Being a Colour
by Lorette C. Luzajic
I’m a black American, I am proud of my race. I am proud of who I am… When people make up stories that I don’t want to be what I am it hurts me.
-Michael Jackson
Newsweek isn’t supposed to be a gossip magazine, but something about Michael Jackson gave free reign to even the most reputable publications to make up whatever they wanted to. After Jackson’s death, author David Gates puppeted tabloid consensus and reported on the superstar’s “profound loathing of blackness.”
Writers like to use words like “simulacrum” and Gates at last had his chance, calling Michael a “simulacrum of a white man,” something he’d apparently achieved through hatred of kinky hair and bleaching of the skin.
Gates did bring up in passing a supposed “skin condition” but he fails to mention how vitiligo turns a black man into the polka dot door. Vitiligo is not always just skin deep, either: it’s an autoimmune condition.
Gates also fails to mention that those straight sleek bobs, those curly ponytails, those unusual hairstyles, are all wigs. I’d bet everything I have that Jackson much preferred the kink in his hair to nothing at all- he’d been virtually bald for over two decades.
The hushed whispers about Michael’s skin bleaching enigma have been with us for as long as I can remember, some 25 years or more. And the condition had begun to manifest itself around Off the Wall. As with so very many of the things, Michael Jackson told us what was going on. But he was so soft-spoken, it barely registered. Even if we heard, we found reason to distrust his word. Perhaps when he said, so quietly we could barely hear, on the “Oprah” show, that he had “vitiligo,” we could have all done some research. And then, perhaps, we could have considered that maybe the man didn’t WANT to look like a giraffe or use two tons of cocoa coloured makeup every day. And neither do the thousands of other people with the condition.
But we were too busy judging a man for the colour of his skin.
Maybe Michael didn’t want to go bald during his sexual prime, forced to wear all manner of wigs until his death. Maybe he didn’t want his obsessive nose surgery to turn out like that, and maybe it wasn’t obsessive- perhaps the surgeon fucked up badly, and Michael suffered the scalpel in hopes of restoring some normalcy to a nose that ruined his face, or worse, his vocal sound. And hasn’t anyone else noticed that half his family members share a version of this nose? What if you’d gotten a nose job when you were young and foolish and then found your voice was wrong?
Maybe he didn’t want to have third degree burns all over his scalp and face and have scalp and facial reconstructive surgery. Did you know how bad that Pepsi burning accident was? Third degree burns to face and scalp. Maybe the plastic surgery obsession happened because half of his head melted off. Maybe Michael Jackson hated what having vitiligo did to him, and hated what had become of his hair, nose, scalp and face. He did, in fact- he was crushed by how “disgusting” he looked, in his own words, like a “lizard.”
Maybe he dealt with it as gracefully as he could. If our self-esteem is battered by a pimple or a bald spot, what would it be with the same issues if we were at the peak of world stardom as a sex symbol?
Some sleazy tabloids just don’t know any better. They’ve never met Michael, and they’re out to make a dollar, same as anyone else. But Quincy Jones helped make Michael Jackson, and knew him intimately. He has no excuse. After Michael’s death, he said he didn’t believe Michael about vitiligo. “I don’t believe in any of that bullshit, no. No. Never. I’ve been around junkies and stuff all my life. I’ve heard every excuse…but it’s bullshit. You’re justifying something that’s destructive to your existence. It’s crazy. I mean, I came up with Ray Charles, man. You know, nobody gonna pull no wool over my eyes. He did heroin twenty years! Come on… It’s ridiculous, man! Chemical peels and all of it. And I don’t understand it. But he obviously didn’t want to be black…Well, what do you think? You see his kids?”
Well- have you seen Quincy Jones’ kids? Or his wives, for that matter? With all due respect, what a pompous arsehole.
One of the reasons that the black press has largely championed Michael is that they HAVEN”T dwelt on the colour of his skin. As a community icon, his accomplishments as an African American usurp any insecurities he may have had. Many black journalists have done their background, and know vitiligo is real.
I certainly hope Jones is cringing now that everyone’s hauled out their scrap albums, circling incidents of Jackson’s spotting effects. Because there it is, glowing under his makeup. Eventually, makeup became too tedious, too faulty. What is vitiligo? It’s a pigment disorder where skin begins to spot and lose pigment in spots. White people get it too, but it’s not as visible, of course. In some people, a few patches lose pigment slowly over time. In other people, the effect is like marble rye. For others still, eventually they have nearly nothing of their original pigment.
For the record, re-pigmentation is nearly impossible, and the rate your skin loses pigment will far supercede the minute amounts you can change back, some fraction of an inches worth per annum. So depigmentation is the only answer. Did anyone ever consider the considerable pain this would cause Michael Jackson? That the vitiligo was not an effect of his condition of hatred, but that the condition itself would cause him emotional pain and identity crises? Did you ever think that maybe he was thrilled to be a black contributor, and deeply wounded to be unable to wear his colour? Did any of those journalists ‘reporting’ his black shame ever for one second consider that maybe, just maybe, Michael didn’t have surgeries and skin bleaching because of his self-esteem problems, but that his self-esteem was injured because he lost half his head and face and went bald when he was already dealing with unsightly pigment blotching?
I would find it very difficult indeed if suddenly I began developing dark brown spots of pigment on my skin, spots which grew unruly and unpredictably. It would do a number on my self-esteem- not because I’m ashamed of my German-Canadian heritage, not because I don’t like black people. Simply because I don’t want to look like a damn Dalmatian dog. Step away momentarily from your judgement and examine yourself. Chances are, you suffer from depression, addiction, bulimia, feelings of poor worth. So what the hell are you doing judging Michael for his lack of self-esteem?
Of course, members of the black community who didn’t know about his conditions and accidents couldn’t consider how that might affect him psychologically, and they would understandably felt betrayed. They worked hard to be represented and admired, to erode racism, and felt Jackson should have been more outspoken about black pride. But I think he was quite outspoken- in word, and in example, working with, traveling to, helping all cultures. A careful examination of his words, thoughts, actions, and art show clearly he loved black people, and all people. Because of tabloid manipulation, Michael was reclusive and didn’t speak at all for over a decade. This period coincides with the aftermath of the Pepsi burning accident. Even the most reputable writers and thinkers were led astray by the tabloid frenzy.
How could anyone forget the old standby scoop about the oxygen chamber? Guess who uses oxygen chambers? Burn victims, that’s who. Oxygen helps speed healing. Michael Jackson slept in an oxygen chamber the way those who suffer from third degree burns do during medical treatment. He also built a burn unit for other victims.
Still we judged. Michael made the best of it. “I’m not gonna spend my life being a colour,” he blasted us in “Black or White” which was dismissed as too little, too late, by the deaf, dumb and blind.
I can’t see inside Michael’s private neurosis. Did he spend as much time worrying about his nose or his leopard print skin as I spend worrying about my varicose veins?
And sure, it’s possible Jackson chose white children because he hated black children. But then, there’s also that slim chance the kids do have his parentage. I think it’s highly unlikely, just like everyone else does. Our nosy minds will be satisfied eventually. Maybe he picked the rumoured doctors, white, simply because he trusted them as friends and longtime champions, colour be damned.
Or maybe he chose not to parent his own children genetically because he did not want to pass the many vicious health problems on to them. Vitiligo, lupus- serious immune system disorders, lung conditions, highly inheritable. It’s also possible that Michael was conscientious enough of the fact that his sperm would be laden with drugs, which he took off and on since the Pepsi incident, to numb the physical and later, the emotional pain.
It’s not that I naively think Jackson had no inner demons. He was crashing emotionally- who wouldn’t under that pressure- when he went berserk blaming Sony and white or Jewish men for his tarnished image. By that point, he was feeling incredibly victimized- he WAS victimized, but perhaps not by the names he was naming. He couldn’t trust even those he trusted most. He was paranoid, cornered, sick, and frightened. He was ridiculed at every turn. I was ridiculed in high school and the scars ran deep. Thankfully, the whole world doesn’t think I’m a child molester even though I’m not. Jackson had to be pretty tough to get through that without putting a gun to his head. He had an unusual sentimentality about children, and then, they, too, betrayed him. That must have hurt terribly. A child he helped save from cancer sold him out for his trash mother- a task the kid had helped her do before, and helped her do again shortly after, by the way.
It was this unending river of pain that set Jackson on a downward spiral. He lived his whole life in tremendous physical and psychological pain. He lived in exhaustion and fear. He lived with broken bones, lung problems, immune system issues- the man was sick for most of his life.
Is it possible that all this, in conjunction with the usual scars of childhood acne and taunting, and the emotional and physical abuse from his father, caused any esteem issues that he had? That they were not fear of the black man? Let’s visit a few facts:
One of the core subjects of home schooling his extremely well educated children was African-American history.
He said in several separate video interviews “I’m a black American and proud of it.”
He said it on “Oprah.”
His idol was James Brown, a black man.
He had many other black idols and mentors. Yes, he did have white friends. He had relationship with people of many ethnicities.
He told Jesse Jackson that he loved African music. “The rhythms of Africans. Which is the roots of rhythm. That’s my favourite music. That’s my favourite music of the world because all music is defined from that. Africa is music. It is the origin. It is the dawn of existence. You can’t avoid that. It is in everything that is about myself.”
He also told Jesse that he could not take credit for the moonwalk, that it was from black kids. “These black children in the ghettos are, they have the most phenomenal rhythm of anybody on the earth. … I get a lot of ideas from watching these black children. They have perfect rhythm. From just riding through Harlem, I remember in the early, you know, late 70’s early 80’s, I would see these kids dancing on the street and I would see these kids doing these, uh sliding backwards kinda like an illusion dancing I call it. I took a mental picture of it. A mental movie of it. I went into my room upstairs in Encino, and I would just start doing the dance, and create and perfect it. But, it definitely started within the black culture.”
He spoke extensively of his love for Africa and traveled it widely, often with his children.
“In my heart, deepest of heart, I really love Africa and I love the people of Africa. That’s why, whenever I get the chance, the children and I, we jump on the plane and fly to Africa and we vacation there. I spend more of my vacation in Africa than in any other country. And ah, we love the people and we love the environment. Topographically, one of the most beautiful places on the surface of the Earth. They never show the sandy white sugar beaches, and it’s there! And they never show the beautiful, you know the landscaping, never show the buildings, the metropolis and urban – Johannesburg, Cape Town, Kenya, ur, you know the Ivory Coast ur, you know, Rwanda, how beautiful the place is! And it’s really stunningly beautiful! And I want to heighten that awareness with what I’m doing and it’s been my dream for many, many years. And everybody around me knows that, because I go there very much…the world is jealous of Africa for many centuries because it’s natural resources is phenomenal. It really is. And it is the dawn of civilization…”
He said the story of Nelson Mandela and Muhammad Ali, among others, were giving him strength to deal with the trials.
He initiated his own search for his DNA roots, leading him to the Ivory Coast, where he has been Prince Michael since 1992. The Sanwi people in the Krindjabo rainforest honoured Michael as their Prince, later asking Rev. Jesse Jackson to fill his glove. They even had a traditional ceremony for Michael’s funeral, with over 2000 attendees, and two days of ritual dancing, complete with Jackson look-a-likes. Maybe it sounds weird to you. Why? Is it too black? Too African? Why should Michael’s West African fans- his family- not mourn him?
Of course the media vultures made up stuff about “Princess” Michael’s trip. Really bizarre, hateful things like MJ found the African people smelled bad. I mean, how childish can we get here? Turns out eyewitnesses saw differently. “I was impressed with the interaction between Michael and the children. He sat on the bed with children who were deformed and children that were ill… He sat there and talked to them, hugged, cuddled them,” said tour guide Charles Bobbit.
While doing a “concertless” tour of Africa- visiting orphanages, churches, schools, and so on, he received a Medal of Honour from President Omar Bongo of Gabon, a medal that had previously only gone to diplomats and dignitaries like Mandela.
He had a lifelong love of Africa. In 1992, he told Robert E. Johnson of Ebony Magazine about memories of the Jackson Five. “When we came off the plane in [Daka, Senegal] Africa we were greeted by a long line of African dancers. Their drums and sounds filled the air with rhythm. I was going crazy, I was screaming, All right! They got the rhythm… This is it. This is where I come from. The origin.”
In “They Don’t Really Care About Us” he features legions of black and other ethnicity drummers. Musicians, dancers, and hot women in all of his videos span many cultures. (The babes are always skinny- I mean, holy anorexia- but they sure as hell are black.)
In front of millions of people on “Oprah,” Jackson said, “I’m a black American, I am proud of my race. I am proud of who I am… When people make up stories that I don’t want to be what I am it hurts me.”
So why didn’t he tell us he had vitiligo?
He did. On that same program, in front of the whole world, he told us. ”I have a skin disorder that destroys the pigmentation of my skin; it’s something that I cannot help, OK? But when people make up stories that I don’t want to be what I am it hurts me.”
Does all of this sound like a man who is ashamed of the colour of his skin? Maybe it does. Maybe he was ashamed of the mottled, speckled colour, the white colour. Michael was sick. And he’s been telling us all along. But his soft-spoken voice could not be heard above the cacophony of lies.
He was telling us all along, but no one was listening.
1958-2009
This essay is one of over fifty pieces in Goodbye, Billie Jean: the Meaning of Michael Jackson. Click here to see more.
25 years ago, Michael Jackson, Lionel Richie and Quincy Jones created “We Are the World”. This song was written and performed to provide relief to famine-stricken Ethiopians. They assembled a group of 45 artists-most of whom were undeniable legends (Ray Charles, Bruce Springsteen, Stevie Wonder, Smokey Robinson, Paul Simon, Tina Turner…even Steve Perry, Kenny Loggins and Hall & Oates), and people worldwide opened their hearts and wallets to donate to the cause. “We Are the World” became a #1 smash and won Grammys for Record and Song of the Year. Despite the fact that the song itself wasn’t exactly Michael’s or Lionel’s finest songwriting hour, it’s heart was in the right place.
In 2010, “We Are the World” has been resurrected to provide relief for hurricane-stricken Haitians. Again, the heart is in the right place, but this time, the song has become an abomination. I couldn’t even get through the entire video, it was so bad. See for yourself.
It’s really difficult to rag on a charity song. Haiti definitely needs your help, and I urge you to donate if you can. But I’d probably just give a few bucks to charity (or purchase the “Hope for Haiti” CD off iTunes) rather than download this piece of crap. Here are a few gripes (there would probably have been more if I’d have made it more than 2/3 into the song):
*No one who can’t sing without Auto-Tune should have been allowed to appear on this song.
*If the old recording of MJ was going to be at volume level 10 and Janet’s vocal was going to be at volume level 1, what was the point of having her on the song in the first place?
*Wyclef Jean sounds like a dying sheep.
*I’m hip-hop till the day I die, but some songs are better without rap interludes. “We Are the World” is one of them.
*Did we really need Jamie Foxx to imitate Ray Charles AGAIN? Couldn’t they have spliced Brother Ray’s original part in?
*When the most “rock” you get is Isaac Slade from The Fray, you have a problem.
*Dear Lil Wayne: do I really need a convicted criminal who is throwing gang signs on the cover of Rolling Stone singing a charity song? Same goes for Busta “I Don’t Know Who Shot and Killed My Bodyguard” Rhymes.
*Pink, Jennifer Hudson, Mary J., Tony Bennett and Barbra Streisand…I appreciate y’all, but this song is a shit stain on the brand new white drawers of music. Timberlake, Beyonce, Jay-Z, Rihanna, Gaga and everyone else who didn’t participate on this song? GOOD CALL!!!
Michael Jackson heard this song and rolled over in his grave. Sometimes, you need to just leave well enough alone.
Late pop legend Michael Jackson’s “unsettled” spirit has apparently begged ex-wife Lisa Marie Presley to forgive him at a seance, her friend Karen Fayehas revealed.
Faye, who was Jackson’s make-up artist, said she and Marie Presley, 42, contacted the King of Pop using a psychic last week where he asked for forgiveness for his wrongs to her, reports thesun.co.uk.
“He seemed to be on a mission to reach out to people in his life and be forgiven. Michael spent his time explaining his faults and wanting us to forgive him. He seemed unsettled,” said Faye.
Faye insisted the medium had “no idea” of their link to Jackson, who died aged 50 last June.
“There were definite, deep insights that would have been difficult to make up. It was detailed on the inner dynamics of his family and his levels of pain and emotional inability,” she said.
She further informed Jackson would not discuss manslaughter charges faced by his doctor Conrad Murray in Los Angeles.
“He said he was detached from things,” he said.
Jackson married Marie Presley in 1994 before splitting after 18 months.
When I first read about Cupid’s Hunt, I jumped in with the blind enthusiasm of a novice and wrote eight playlists of songs about longing love, lost love, abusive love, and even cheating love. My favorite playlists were I Want You – my very first mix – and First Dance.
We get many ‘first’ dances in our lives. Whether we’re teens, on the crowded floor of a basement blue-light party; or newlyweds, after the floor has been cleared; or parents, when only the music and a dance quiets a fussy newborn; a first dance can be a sweet memory.
When I asked a few friends about their first dances, I heard stories about first dates; parents’ anniversaries; proms, weddings and receptions; and late-night baby dances. I included the favorite songs from those dances in this mix, along with some of my favorites: Soul Generation’s “That’s The Way It’s Got To Be (Body and Soul)”, my first dance at a basement blue-light party; Earth, Wind & Fire’s “I’ll Write A Song” and Sade’s “By Your Side”, first dances with my newborn daughters; and Natalie Cole’s “Unforgettable”, a song my son, Robert, and I had to use to learn the box step for a debutante ball.
The two most important of all my favorite first dance songs are also included, and they are the reason I’ve been working to get this mix out before Wednesday. On February 10, 1979, as Greg and I were married as my sister-in-law sang Smokey Robinson’s “Wedding Song”; and we danced our first dance to LTD’s “We Both Deserve Each Other’s Love”.
So, with our 31st anniversary just days away, I dedicate this mix to Gregory T. Bethune, Sr., who has made every dance since feel like that first one.
Cupid’s Hunt: TNS – First Dance
Playlist – Title – Artist – Album [Time]
With You – Tony Terry – Tony Terry [5:06]
Night Shift Cupid’s Hunt Welcome – JBethune – Promos [0:13]
At Last – Etta James – Her Best [3:00]
Even If My Heard Would Break – Aaron Neville, Kenny G – The Bodyguard [4:58]
Walkin’ in the Sun – Rufus – Rags To Rufus [3:01]
Cupid’s Hunt All The Right Places – TGrundy – Promos Cupid’s Hunt 2010 [0:07]
The Lady In My Life – Michael Jackson – Thriller [5:00]
You Put A Move On My Heart – Tamia/Quincy Jones – Ultimate Collection [6:13]
A Smile Like Yours – Natalie Cole – A Smile Like Yours [4:23]
Unforgettable (Duet with Nat King Cole) – Natalie Cole – Unforgettable: With Love [3:31]
This Will Be (An Everlasting Love) – Natalie Cole – The Natalie Cole Collection [2:51]
Cupid’s Hunt Best Music – TGrundy – Promos Cupid’s Hunt 2010 [0:08]
I’m Yours – El Debarge/Quincy Jones – Ultimate Collection [4:16]
I’ll Write A Song For You – Earth, Wind & Fire – All ‘N All [5:24]
My Reason To Be Is You – Marilyn McCoo & Billy Davis, Jr. – Wedding Songs [4:41]
That’s The Way It’s Got To Be (Body and Soul) – Soul Generation – Beyond Body and Soul [3:08]
I’d Still Say Yes – Klymaxx – Wedding Songs [4:41]
We Both Deserve Each Other’s Love – Jeffrey Osborne – Ultimate Collection [3:07]
Wedding Song – Smokey Robinson – A Quiet Storm [3:35]
If you missed any past posts or mixes, feel free to visit The Archives. If there are any problems with the links, mixes or pages; if you have found another cool music blog; or if you have a music request, please drop me a comment or an email.
“You can never have enough records. It’s like a drug – you need more and more. I remember almost every break I’ve got, if not by name then by sound or picture. [But] I’m not as fanatical as I used to be. When we were 14 or 15, we were crazy. If we heard that there were ten copies of a record in Eastbourne, we’d jump on a train and go and get it!”
The above is a quote from hiphop DJ and self-confessed beat junkie DJ Pogo, in an extract from the sleeve notes of Block Party Breaks 2, a compilation of original funk and soul tracks popular with hiphop scratch DJs. What’s important about it is that do something like that now would be archaic and ludicrous, but it still seems like the complete antithesis of consumer apathy. A state of mind which is all too common in the 21st century consumer market place. Why would we even leave our house to go and buy a RECORD, when anything we want is available right here through good old Amazon or Play? And for the more daring, those prepared to break the law, you can probably get it for free from various constantly-changing and evolving sources.
This is trying to be put across in such a way that I don’t sound like I’m writing it from my study with a fountain pen whilst listening to the latest gramophone record, but yet I do long for one element from a previous generation’s musical mindset: The idea that you have to find something you want, not the assumption you have the right to own it immediately. The advances in music file-sharing and the explosion in popularity of social networks in the last five years have done undoubted harm to the music industry, and has forced the major labels to seriously consider their future business models, and conduct a serious review of their traditional revenue streams.
Apple launched the iPod way back in 2001, when the compressed digital file format MPEG layer 3, or mp3, was merely itching the pants of its ageing father, the compact disc. Although, the phenomenal popularity of mp3s didn’t really kick off properly until around 2004, which was coincidentally also the nadir of the UK top 40 chart singles sales, with Eric Prydz’s number one single ‘Call on Me’ being the single with the record lowest sales (23,000) to ever hit the top spot.
This nadir also heralded a new dawn however. With the decline in physical sales, the decision to include sales of downloads has set a new precedent for judging and compartmentalising modern (and, interestingly, not so modern music). It’s time to consider some of the side effects, both good and bad, of this paradigm shift in music consumption.
The decline in record sales leads to independent labels going under
This is undeniable and one of the worst side effects of the mp3 revolution. Major labels – in the short term – fare better than their independent counterparts because they a) have greater brand visibility and can use this to focus on other revenue streams e.g. touring, merchandise etc, and b) they have a larger roster of artists and can more easily balance the books to ensure overall company profitability. BUT…independents are more inclined to adopt a siege mentality, far more used to fighting to get to the top and are far better prepared for future shifts in buying trends. This means that they are ready to adopt emerging technologies and communications channels such as Twitter or Spotify. But the fact remains that unit sales are bread and butter to majors and independents alike, and now that this figure has irreversibly dwindled to insignificance, live performance has become the major money spinner, which is where independents could come unstuck. For those with a lean roster of artists, it is harder than ever to make money.
A decrease in manufacturing figures decreasing leads to a more level playing field between majors and independents (in terms of reputation)
Manufacturing figures on the wane has been disastrous for major labels, but the positive spin for independents is that their sales figures are a lot closer to independents now, and this coupled with the relative (non-)trackability of download sales means that the profile of independents can rise unchecked.
Old music can chart again
Nothing like death to make you popular. Michael Jackson is only the most recent of a long line of musical icons to prove that. But his case was somewhat different to, say, Elvis or John Lennon in that his music was available to buy IMMEDIATELY. And it was all chartable. A ‘best of’ would have hit the top for Elvis or John, but Michael had singles and artist albums propping up the download charts, and Amazon couldn’t shift them fast enough. Granted, a high percentage of the sales were still CD-based, but the rise of the mp3 meant that, at no extra outlay to the record company, Jackson’s back catalogue was immediately exploitable. Gone is the traditional model of press-X-number-of-copies-initially, promote, sell, await successful figures, repress etc etc etc, until interest dwindles and the album/single goes out of print until a 10-20-year anniversary special edition or cheap label knock-off money maker for a fiver in petrol stations. Now your music can sell forever. And ever. Until after you’re dead. Mp3s are forever.
More on this next week.
Okay now Enough Is ENOUGH. He Killed Michael Jackson; He Knows It, We ALL Know It! So WHY The Hell Are The Authorities Playing With This Fool? All week Michael Jackson’s personal physician, Conrad Murray, was said to be turning himself in. Now they’re saying he will walk into court on his own free will Monday and face the judge after being charged with involuntary manslaughter in the death of the King Of Pop. Word on the Blok is that counsel for Murray spoke by phone with members of the L.A. County District Attorney’s Office this morning and the D.A. agreed Dr. Murray could surrender without being arrested. Unless the LAPD intervenes on its own and hooks Dr. Murray up, word is he’ll show up in court with a bail bondsman on Monday. Also, word is the recommended bail will be $25,000, which will be posted on the spot. The arraignment will take place at 1:30 PM on Monday.
The judge will order Dr. Murray to go to an LAPD station for booking. It’s unclear how long Murray will have to appear at the station.
-”The BklynBandette.” Mr. Hollywood’s Co-Defendant.
Over seven months after his death, Michael Jackson is etched in the hearts of millions of fans – and also in 12 feet of black granite that its maker plans to ship to the late king of pop\’s Neverland Ranch in California.
The statue is drawing curious crowds at the ninth International Granites & Stone Fair being held in the Bangalore International Exhibition Centre (AIEC), about 20 km from here.
“It’s a personal tribute to the greatest pop singer of our times! He lives in our hearts as he was on stage for years,” R. Chandrasekaran, managing director of RC Golden Granites Ltd, told IANS.
As a diehard follower of the American singer who died suddenly June 25 last year, Chandrasekaran, 40, plans to gift the 3.5-tonne statue carved out of black granite to Jackson’s estate in California.
Jackson’s sprawling estate is located at the Neverland Valley Ranch in Santa Barbara County. The rock singer lived there from 1988 to 2005.
“I have written to Jackson’s family that I want to donate the statue for installing it in his famous estate. I will bear the freight charge, which is about $2,500,” an elated Chandrasekaran said, while spectators thronged his company’s stall to touch and feel the legendary singer in awe.
The Chennai-based granite firm spent a whopping $25,000 (Rs.1.2 million) in sculpting the statue out of a single block of huge rock that was quarried from a mine near Kanakapura, about 50 km from Bangalore.
“We employed six artisans to chisel the granite into Jackson’s shape in 45 days at our factory in Kancheepuram. As black granite is brittle, the aesthetic art work was a test of patience, diligence and skill. His face and eyes were the most challenging as we wanted the statue to be expressive and poignant,” Chandrasekaran said.
The company plans to ship the statue to the US west coast by next month after the family’s consent in writing for securing clearances.
This is not the first time the four-year-old export firm has carved a statue for an icon, as it had sculpted a skeleton in black and white granite last year in aid of the campaign against smoking launched by former central health minister Anbumani Ramadoss.
“We specialise in sculpting exquisite monuments, statutes and other artefacts carved out of granite rocks, which are the oldest geological formations on earth. All our creations are exported to European customers on order,” Chandrasekaran noted.
The skeleton statute, seated on black granite and titled “Hell’s Preferred Citizen”, was displayed at the Granite Monument Stone Fair in February 2009 in Chennai and at a fair against tobacco products in Mumbai, March 2009.
“The statue, dedicated to the anti-smoking campaign, has been installed at Nirman Bhavan in New Delhi where the health ministry is housed,” Chandrasekaran noted.
As a music lover, Chandrasekaran also plans to create a statue dedicated to music maestro A.R. Rahman, who won two Oscars and two Grammys for the film “Slumdog Millionaire”.
“We will take Rahman’s consent for making a granite statue in a pose and colour of his choice. At such a young age, he has brought so much fame and acclaim to our country from the world over,” Chandrasekaran said.
Besides Jackson’s statue, the four-day expo during Feb 4-7 is showcasing a Taj Mahal and a statue of Bollywood star Aishwarya Rai Bachchan in granite created and displayed by other companies.
I’m sure you have heard the expression before, “Diamonds are Forever”. You probably heard it on a jewelry commercial about engagement rings because true love and diamonds are suppose to last forever. But what if there were a whole new meaning behind the phrase?
LifeGem has found a way to make diamonds out of deceased people. So now instead of having grandma in an urn on the mantel you can wear here around your neck. My husband says jokingly “When you die, I’ll give you to my next wife as an engagement ring.” Thanks, but no thanks. If I’m going to be made into a diamond when I die I would rather go to my daughter. She will keep me in the family.
Are you wondering how the dead are being made into diamonds? Basically, it works like this: First, the carbon inside human ashes is captured. Then, it is heated to temperatures so high it transforms into graphite. The graphite is then pressed into a diamond. A human diamond will have a different color than a natural diamond though.
Did you know they made some of Michael Jackson’s hair into diamonds? When his hair caught on fire during a Pepsi commercial Ralph Cohen scooped up the charred hair. He kept Jackson’s hair until Michael died in 2009. Now John Reznikoff, one of America’s most highly respected collectors, will keep a portion of his hair for his collection. Another portion is being used by LifeGem to create a small number of certified, high quality diamonds as a tribute to Jackson’s life.
In 2007, Rexnikoff and LifeGem got together to successfully create diamonds from Beethoven’s hair.
Now you have something new to think about the phrase “Diamonds are Forever”. When you die do you want to be forever a diamond?
The family of Michael Jackson is pressing for murder charges to be brought against the doctor who administered the injection of hospital anaesthetic that caused the pop-star’s death, their lawyer said Wednesday.
The family’s Attorney Brian Oxman told CBS’ Early Show that reports that prosecutors planned to charge Dr Conrad Murray with involuntary manslaughter were “just a slap on the wrist, and a slap on the face.”
Oxman argued that Murray should be charged with second degree murder because he was “reckless” in administering the drug propofol as a sleeping aid to the frail singer.
“Michael Jackson was someone who we knew was in danger of being brought to his knees, brought (to) his death, by the use of these medications,” Oxman said.
His comments followed a statement from Murray’s attorneys that the controversial doctor was ready to surrender to authorities if charges were pressed.
“I don’t have any specific information that leads me to believe he is going to be charged this week,” Murray’s attorney Ed Chernoff told the Los Angeles Times. “But if he is, we’ve made it clear he’s available to turn himself in.”
Murray, 56, has acknowledged giving Jackson propofol after other medications failed to help him sleep. Shortly after receiving the drug Jackson suffered a massive cardiac arrest and was pronounced dead June 25, 2009.
LOS ANGELES – Prosecutors plan to charge Michael Jackson’s doctor with manslaughter rather than take the case to a grand jury, a law enforcement official told The Associated Press Tuesday.
Prosecutors will file a criminal complaint against Dr. Conrad Murray, who practices in Houston, instead of taking the case before a grand jury, which is done in private, the official said.
The person is not authorized to speak publicly about the case and only spoke on condition of anonymity.
The complaint would be the prelude to a public hearing in which a judge would weigh testimony from witnesses to decide if there is probable cause to try him on an involuntary manslaughter charge.
Jackson died June 25 from an anesthetic overdose. Murray maintains nothing he gave Jackson should have killed him.
Murray arrived in Los Angeles last weekend in anticipation of a charging decision from the district attorney’s office, a spokeswoman said Tuesday.
“Dr. Murray is in Los Angeles for a dual purpose — on family business and to be available for law enforcement,” said spokeswoman Miranda Sevcik. “We’re trying to be as cooperative as we can.”
There is no official word on when an announcement about any charges might come. David Walgren, the deputy Los Angeles County district attorney handling the case, declined to comment Tuesday.
The district attorney’s office has for weeks been working closely with Los Angeles Police Department investigators to build a case against Murray.
Jackson, 50, hired Murray to be his personal physician as he prepared for a strenuous series of comeback performances in London. He died in Los Angeles after Murray administered the powerful general anesthetic propofol and two other sedatives to get the chronic insomniac to sleep, according to the Los Angeles County coroner’s office, which ruled the death a homicide.
Murray has denied any criminal wrongdoing.
“We continue to maintain that Dr. Murray neither prescribed nor administered anything that should have killed Michael Jackson,” Sevcik said.
I am getting back into updating my blog. So initially, I want to post a lot of my past writings. Some more poetry will go up, but for now I want to put up some pieces I have previously had published in various magazine and websites. The following piece on Michael Jackson was originally published in inGen Magazine, which is a monthly magazine in San Francisco.
In one’s childhood there are those rare events profound enough as to to emblazon a memory that remains as vivid as when it actually occurred. I distinctly remember Christmas morning in 1983. I had just turned eleven and while I still had the exuberance of a child for presents under a decorated tree, I had also begun to comprehend the meaning of cool. My hope was that this idea of cool would have my name on it and be amongst the carefully wrapped boxes beneath the family Christmas tree.
So early that morning my brother and I raced as we did every year to the living room eager to rampage through the careful architecture of presents stacked beneath the tree like Godzilla and Mothra in downtown Tokyo. But this year, I didn’t have to search for that one special gift. Instead, it was waiting for me. Leaning up against the wall next to the tree was a boyishly good-looking face looking at me with a smile that said “we’re going to be good friends.” It was a vinyl copy of Michael Jackson’s Thriller with a small bow attached to a corner. I hadn’t find cool, it had found me.
From that moment on, my friends and I sought to imitate Jackson’s every dance move; we waited impatiently for every new video. When the video for the single “Thriller” was premiered on Mtv, we sat in awe at the creative spectacle, the magical story being told through music and dance. Little did we know at the time that we were watching what is still considered to be the greatest music video ever produced. But Thriller really was about the music: for the first time in history, an album borrowed from R’n'B, soul, hard rock and disco and successfully blended it into timeless pop music.
It is impossible to overstate the cultural transformation initiated by Thriller’s release. There were the obvious fashion and dance influences that immediately took place: black and red leather jackets and feeble attempts at the moon walk come to mind. On a larger scale, though, Thriller initiated the era of the modern pop star. With the arrival of cable television and 24-hour news coverage, his every move could now be monitored, every rumor endlessly discussed. Over time, Michael Jackson was transformed from a mortal into a myth: sometimes he would be portrayed as the Herculean hero, and other times he would be labeled the Minotaur.
But beneath the layers of media coverage, court cases and Jackson’s tragic journey through drug addiction lay a man who was perhaps the greatest talent of our time. The quality of his voice was unparalleled in its emotive range: the childlike innocence of “The Girl is Mine” to the raw emotional content of “Beat it.” But he wasn’t just a singer, he was a performer. Nobody could dance like Michael Jackson – nobody. The flow of his body to the rhythm and the constantly cutting-edge dance moves inspired a generation of performers. He is the only singer whose back-up dancers had to keep up with him, never able to match his grace and flair. The remarkable thing when one sees footage of him dancing in the final days before his untimely death was how amazing he still was as a performer – an immortal figure upon the stage.
So much has changed since the release of Thriller. Today’s pop stars come prepackaged with auto-tuned vocals, lip-synced performances and air-brushed videos. Anyone can become a celebrity these days; no talent is required. One of technology’s ironic twists is that it has elevated mere mortals to the stage once graced by the King of Pop. The other irony is that the media that displayed Jackson’s talent to the world would also ultimately be a contributor to his demise. The ever-present eye of the media combined with the ungodly revenues from his album sales and constant touring allowed Jackson to create his hidden world, the details of which we are now just learning.
The shadow of tragedy will forever cast a shadow on Jackson’s legacy. But fame itself has become a tragedy. What has been surprising in the months since his death is that the faults of the man are slowly being forgotten. We are now left with the epic story of his talent: the records, the videos, and the performances. The renewed interest in the life of this artist has made people remember just how remarkable a human being Michael Jackson really was. The mythical beast has been made human once again, and with the return of his humanity, Michael Jackson’s legend lives on.
An hour passed and we were halfway through gift-giving when we noticed that the garden was getting filled up. Suddenly, there were people from media, politicians, officials and hotel guests including those in a wedding reception at the nearby Champagne Room who deserted the newly-weds just to get a glimpse of the King of Pop.
Late pop legend Michael Jackson’s “unsettled” spirit has apparently begged ex-wife Lisa Marie Presley to forgive him at a seance, her friend Karen Fayehas revealed.
Over seven months after his death, Michael Jackson is etched in the hearts of millions of fans – and also in 12 feet of black granite that its maker plans to ship to the late king of pop\’s Neverland Ranch in California.
The family of Michael Jackson is pressing for murder charges to be brought against the doctor who administered the injection of hospital anaesthetic that caused the pop-star’s death, their lawyer said Wednesday.