Anxiety said:

open viewing or private funeral.

dreamfactory313 said:

I don't even think i could handle it, so I dont think i'll be watching.

i think it'll be interesting if he died from prescription drug use, but not of the 'purient' ones everyone thinks. he may have been taking other medication to deal with lupus or some attendant disease. everyone will be disappointed if it isn't percocet and demorol a la elvis.

.
[Edited 6/30/09 19:17pm]

Harlepolis said:

It was called "This Is Our Time" and it was recorded for Invincible in 1999 but it didn't make it to the album. He was collaborating with alot of people from 1998 to 2001 for the album

BoOTyLiCioUs said:

you are not alone (no pun intended).

in the last five days, i've not been able to watch tv too much (thank goodness i got rid of cable a few months ago so i don't have to endure those sh*tmongerers the way the rest of you have!) or listen to the radio on the way to work.

i was here at work when i saw the news on the net. god, i was hoping tmz was lying. a rush of adrenaline ran through me and stayed there for two days. i didn't eat most of the weekend, i was so numb.

i wouldn't say over the course of my life i've purchased every j5, jackson, or mj album, but this family has been a part of my life since my conscience memory, you know? i remember 'i'll be there' when it was played on the radio the first time. it still reminds me of first grade. i felt much worse about mj dying than an uncle who i knew way back then who died about a month ago. but then i only knew him until '78, when i was listening to shake your body. i continued to 'know' mj, he continued to be a part of my life. i remember lying to my boss about having to get home to help my mom out, when in fact i wanted to leave to get home to watch motown 25 because i knew the j5 were going to be on. i will never forget that moonwalk! nobody was expecting that sh*t! they had to re-run that broadcast because not only was it a ratings bonanza, everyone and their momma was talking about mj.

and now part of my life is gone.

believe us, you are not the only one grief-stricken.

I've stopped watching the news, especially CNN. People can be so inhuman...

from Sony Music employee Jeremy Myers:

-RT @BreakingNews: WSJ: U.S. retailers sold 415,000 albums by Michael Jackson in the four days following his death last week.

-Michael Jackson saves Sony Music...again.

vainandy said:

One thing that I keep thinking of is,if Michael married Debbie Rowe,then why were the children conceived through invitro? Why were they not naturally conceived?

EmeraldSkies said:

They married for legal and probably religious reasons not romantic love.

I'm guessing Michael couldn't conceive his kids naturally as well either.
[Edited 6/30/09 19:52pm]

JackieBlue said:

He really wanted to be a father and was trying with Lisa Marie, then found out she was taking birth control...

he might've been sterile also

JackieBlue said:

That makes sense. From what I have heard she offered her body for him to use to have the children,so it was more of a business arrangment. She was paid for doing this wasn't she?

bboy87 said:

I wonder how he felt when she ended up getting pregnant again.

bboy87 said:

But they did use his sperm for the invitro process. That is what he said in an interview.

JackieBlue said:

True. I don't think she really loved him.

EmeraldSkies said:

Oh, I think she loved him. I'm guessing he felt sad but he already had his own children by then so maybe he was fine.

JackieBlue said:

I believe they were in love. They were friends even after the divorce. Remember them hanging out and holding hands when he was on the HIStory tour in London?

bboy87 said:

There was definitely love there.

bboy87 said:

oh we do. but she apparently didn't. that's why i really resent that blog she wrote. the past couple of years she's been claiming she left him and that was that. and the media never called her on it once, not once. what's worse, she could be snarkily evasive about the child abuse thing when she wanted to be; she helped keep the cloud hovering about him.

bboy87 said:

No I don't remember that.

Recording the unreleased album


[Edited 6/30/09 20:20pm]

As sad as it is to consider, it really does seem that if not actually planned, Michael was truly convinced his time was short. And if you consider the constant reports of his working on a new album that never surfaced, then it seems to me that perhaps his greatest act of love (among many) was his amassing of so many tracks that will belong to his children. With ownership passing directly to the kids, none of his immense debt will impact the money they make when the music begins to be released. Beautiful and sad that he so thoughtfully prepared for this sad event.

Peace and love to all

EmeraldSkies said:

She used him. Plain and simple.
[Edited 6/30/09 20:33pm]

bboy87 said:

Man, they don't even deserve that.

Question for the diehards...are there any MJ sites with custom DVD covers?

bboy87 said:

I saw this in my new Mike Time Mag.

LittleBLUECorvette said:

I still haven't found that or the Newsweek one. I am hoping to find it tomorrow when I go to San Francisco.
[Edited 6/30/09 20:39pm]

[list]

Miko is Marlon's son and one of Michael's best friends. He was the one who patted out the flames when Michael's hair caught on fire

http://larrykinglive.blog...n-he-knew/

Michael was my idol. He’s been my father figure since my father died. It’s strange living without him. I will never be the same, and I don’t know if I’ll ever get over this loss. It’s like losing your companion, someone you always thought would be there. It’s just not right. He meant a lot to me. I feel like a different person than I was before Thursday. I feel numb — lost. He was a good friend for so many years.

I treasure the time I spent with Michael. We’d go shopping together, go to Disneyland, take trips, spend time at Dad’s house. He’d just come over and set up camp at my dad’s house for a while. I enjoyed talking about music, eating together and having fun with Michael. We were just good friends, that’s the best way I can put it. He was always there for me when I needed him, and I’d like to think I was always there for him.

I don’t really have a single memory of Michael that sticks out. It’s hard to do when you’ve been friends as long as we have. My best memories are of the time we spent talking, him hugging me, having good conversations, and making him laugh — I really enjoyed making him laugh. I could say some things — just a few words in his ear, and I could get a laugh out of him. And boy, did he have an infectious laugh.

Above all, Michael was a very caring person. He had a lot of love in his heart. He cared about everybody, especially the people on the street. He wasn’t stuck up — he had no ego, and he tried to make time for everybody because he didn’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings. If he thought he did something wrong, it would really bother him. He had more love than anyone I know.

The Michael I saw everyday was one that loved his kids. They were his main focus. He was a very busy man, but he always made sure the kids were being looked after.

What a lot of people may not realize about Michael, is how good a businessman he was. The tour he was planning is a perfect example. He was a perfectionist, and he knew exactly what he wanted and how to get it. Everything regarding the tour had to be approved by Michael. Just because he hasn’t been on TV or out in public a lot recently, that doesn’t mean he wasn’t busy and active. A lot of people have speculated he was really stressed over the tour, but I don’t think he was. He went through the same routines he did for past tours.

I’ve thought about whether there were any similarities between Michael and my dad, and I cannot think of a single one. You’ve heard opposites attract? I think that explains their friendship. They had absolutely nothing in common, but when you got them together, you couldn’t tear them apart. He loved my dad, and they spent many days together at Dad’s house and at Neverland. They were very close.

Michael was instrumental helping my father through the last few years of his life. For that I will always be indebted to him. Dad had a hard time breathing in his final days, and he was on oxygen much of the time. He loved the outdoors, so Michael would invite him over to Neverland. Dad could name all the trees there, and the flowers, but being on oxygen it was hard for him to get around and see them all, it’s such a big place. So Michael got Dad a golf cart with a portable oxygen tank so he could go around and enjoy Neverland. They’d just drive around — Michael Jackson, Marlon Brando, with an oxygen tank in a golf cart.

Some of the best times I spent with Michael were just sitting on a bench at Disneyland’s “Main Street.” We would just sit there and people watch. Sometimes Michael would be in a getup so people wouldn’t recognize him — but they always did. When he was in a bad mood or a little down, I’d just say “Michael, the bench,” and that would bring him out of it. If I knew he wanted to have fun, or just get away, I’d say “let’s go to the bench,” and we were gone.

Of course, Michael Jackson in a public place like Disneyland was bound to draw crowds, and sometimes we would have park security with us. But they weren’t there to protect Michael, they were there to protect the crowds. He was never really concerned about himself, but that someone would get hurt in the crush of people that wanted to see him. People would just go crazy when they saw Michael Jackson.

Michael rarely cried, but I think he’d be in tears over the reaction to his death. He’d be overwhelmed and happy that so much of the love he gave was returned by the people he loved. I think he’d take a deep breath and just say thank you.

The family is still planning the funeral, but I think Michael would want it to be a celebration. He would want everybody there. He loved his fans. I’ve been around plenty of big movie stars, but Michael’s fans are beyond fans. He knew the fans were what made him, and he wouldn’t want to leave anyone out. Everywhere he went, fans would be there. He’d tell me the fans always knew what he was doing. I don’t think anyone has ever had fans like that. So Michael would want a funeral that included his fans and made them happy. He would want it to say: “I’m still with you and we’ll always be together.” He was happy, and he wanted to make everybody around him happy. Finally, he would want love. Above all, Michael was about love.