Hearing that he had died was a shock. I'm a bit sad for his family but not quite to tears.

IMO he was a pedophile. No, he was not convicted. What normal man has sleepovers and the like with kids.

Sure, he was "just a nice guy", you say. OK. You keep believing that and my opinon hasn't changed.

To his credit however, I never saw him truly angry. He had become a joke to many people with his legal and financial troubles but never seemed to have anything bad to say about anyone. Never seemed to get mad.

It seems to me that he didn't really have any issues with anyone....but himself ( plastic surgery and all )

Did I miss some fit of outrage at some point?

The timing of his death was also bad. Just before redeeming himself ( professionally anyway ) .

He was a very strange man but I'm sorry to see him pass.

Liked some of his music but since i didn't know him, it doesn't really matter to me that he died. He would have eventually anyway.

Somone has a sense of humor:

You know MJ gets far too much credit for Thriller. Quincy Jones produced it, brought in top people to play on it and top engineers to record and mix it. MJ wrote half the songs on it, but you know those songs were fleshed out in the studio. For example, MJ is credited with "Beat It", but he didn't know what guitarist would be brought in to do the signature solo. MJ wrote "Billie Jean" but the engineer created the signature drum sound. Guys from Toto, who were long-time serious studio guys, wrote "Human Nature", and you can tell.

MJ had a remarkable voice at the time, and little vocal signature moves that were genius. He could dance like a mothafucka, and he still had enough shit together to be creative about things like that. I guess if there's no MJ, it's not a phenomenon, but there must be about 100 people who contributed to Thriller and made it what it was. Team effort.

He lived a life far removed from mine and I was sorry for him when it was obvious he was mental about his nose. He was so very talented, but, became a freak. Saw a photo of his children. All three are attractive. I liked his music and danced to it many a night back in the day. LOL

We put too much value in the lives of celebrities. Michael Jackson contributed far more than the likes of, say, Anna Nicole Smith, but the media is responsible for blowing both deaths way out of proportion.

That's only cause Farah couldn't dance.

Sadly, the media is giving the people what they want. If no one paid attention, they wouldn't cover it because no one would be watching.

thread doubleplus ungood refs unpersons

..you gotta be kiddin me.

From here.

Attachment 24054

My reaction was "Oh! That sucks." And then I moved on.

I was momentarily saddened for his children and family -- as someone said earlier, it's always hard to lose a family member. I think he contributed a fair bit to music and dance, but I've never been a big fan. I hope he's at peace.

I was watching some videos that were on yesterday. Whether you like that style of dance or not, you can't deny how freaking good he was. He did moves people still can't figure out.

But, I'm a big fan of great dancing, from Fred & Ginger to MJ.

I loved him when i was a kid. ABC, The Wiz, Captain EO , Moonwalker.... All great stuff , full of fantasy like his Neverland. I guess he was a big (rich) kid and people will always try to take bits of that wealth! After "Bad" i found him getting weird and yep.... wacked! But his music was great , wether he made it or just sang it!
The Martin Bashir story shocked the world and more people suspected him on things never proven. I could understand more after the American interview... He just got lived and never had a real youth... But he was a great entertainer and ill miss him!

This is a dude who wanted to die.

http://www.nypost.com/seven/06282009...ops_176587.htm

I texted my Mum the actual joke. She sent one back saying Yu Tinker x. I forget she learned how to text from my 14 year old niece.

The full anecdote is now mine to tell though. I love it. I have no-one else to tell, sadly. But in years to come, when I have friends, it will be mine.

Anyway, to the point of this message...
I was sat in the town centre reading (a library book - resting from walking like a demon in the heat) and I almost-heard a woman reading out Michael Jackson jokes from her phone. What clued me in was the joke LJ heard of course, although it was 6 year old nuts in his throat. But she kept reading them, in a flat voice on and on and on. Nothing worse than a badly told joke, unless it's a badly told joke I can't hear properly.

When I got up to walk away I looked over to where they were. Two women, fag-ashing away. One with a 6 year old, one with a 10 year old in tow (approx ages). And she'd been reading these really quite filthy jokes out like a shopping list in front of them. Luckily they both looked as clueless as their mothers, so my hope is it won't do them any lasting harm.

FTR - anyone else concerned that Jackson Pere is going to be bringing up Michael's children?

I want to know who's been raising them up to this point. No way in hell do I believe MJ was doing it himself. I think the nanny, the tutor, and the chef probably ought to get custody.

I was only surprised it wasn't due to a glich in his hyperbaric chamber.

And... considering he had ownership of the elephant man's remains I wonder what his plans are for his own?

Jesus, fog of war over this?

This is starting to piss me off.

People didn't rave and rave him before his death. Hell, most people made fun of him for being a convicted pedophile and being made of plastic!

Then, BOOM! All the sudden, without notice, he dies!

Now everyone is acting like they "were fans from the beginning" and have always loved him.

Peter Pan's magic was never strong enough to survive in the real world.

Ahahahahahahahahahah!
 

What....no? Really? London's The Sun newspaper printing inaccuracies and lies? Surely some mistake.

One less creepy weirdo in the world. Less tabloid fodder. Good riddance.

Not that I care, but to be accurate, he was acquitted, not convicted.

Personally I could care less. Not really a fan, and everyone dies eventually. He changed music, and he changed dancing, and I know a lot of people are saddened. Frankly, I'm sick to death of hearing about it. Even the fucking NEWS networks are playing MJ nonstop. WTF. Like there isn't any other news happening in the world? It just goes to show what a bunch of morons we are in this country, when a freaking celebrity becomes more important than world events.

it's not just the US. The same is happening here. I don't know if it's just because he was a celebrity though.

He's a man the world watched grow up. He's someone whose life was almost always mixed up and controversial. He's someone many people see as a hero (for a number of reasons aside from his music). He's a person many could relate to. He's someone individual who achieved greatness in his chosen field against the odds purely through his talent. He was a person many people felt they knew.

There aren't many people who walk the earth and influence or affect so many people one way or another. Whether you like it or not, his passing is big news to the world.

Oh I'm not begrudging the news covering him, and there is absolutely nothing wrong with honoring his memory, and doing specials, and having segments in the news about him. What I am griping about is the NONSTOP coverage that is pushing everything else completely out of the news.

Maybe it's a slow news week? ;)

How did he come up with those dance moves?

There is nothing new under the sun. ;)

Bravo! There is some great footage in that video, and I mean the pun as well.

The way some people can move!

I'll be sending that on to my mom, we both love dance and have seen and discussed much...she'll love this.

Very nicely said, Ali.

I understand the coverage is crazy, and annoying, but I really don't understand it being something that bothers me (I can ignore when I choose to) because it just is the truth, all the things you said.

Our heroes have not always been completely sypathetic characters. I can glean the amazing and let the rest fall away.

I reckon doing that would encourage tourists. Thousands of them. Any shrine to MJ is going to become a 'destination'.

I guess where theres money , there's trouble! What is find really sad is that Jordy Chandler dude saying in an short interview afters MJs death " im so sorry i could never apologise to him" " I lied because my dad wanted me to" It broke the man , it made him an emotional wreckage that didnt trust the kids he so loved!

Not me.
Same as when Diana died.

The grief bandwagon doesn't seem to stop at my house.
Or maybe just that I don't trust the red tops to accurately portray my opinion.

This guy makes it clear how good Jackson was.

Why does that video start out with Kenny from South Park?

Or this:

I thought they'd cremate Jacko. Since he was mostly plastic, they could melt him down and make Legos®. Then little boys could play with HIM for a while.

I voted other. I liked his music, especially the early stuff, but I wouldn't let him watch my kids. I am able to separate his private life from his music. I'm not broken up about it and I'm not really surprised since he always seemed delicate and sickly.

I'm not worried about his kids because I don't really believe they are his kids. I just think the gravy train is over for the Jackson family other than maybe Randy.

Whether they're his biologically or not, they've been raised as his. What's the difference between his situation (whatever it is) and other adopted kids for example.

Your lack of compassion for them surprises me Radar.

The gravy train just got a whole lot richer thanks to his death. I'm pretty sure the whole family will be fine for many years to come.