Smittyrock70 said:

i've seen mr. dean on keith olbermann's show many times. i wish mr. dean would show this column to olbermann, who has been only slightly less odious than king over the years toward mj. he allowed maureen orth, mj hater supreme, to come on countdown and spew venom unimpeded and unchallenged before mj was even in the ground.

WHAT THE FUCK!?!

Police: Minn. mom invoked Jackson ranch in slaying

5 hours ago

HASTINGS, Minn. (AP) — A Minnesota mother charged with murder told police she and her two youngest children planned to commit suicide together and invoked Michael Jackson's Neverland Ranch to them as an image of heaven, prosecutors said Friday.

Patricia Ann Becht, 42, was charged Friday with first-degree premeditated murder for the death of her son, Michael, 10, and with the attempted first-degree murder of her daughter, Erica, 11. The complaint said Becht gave police a statement in her hospital room Tuesday in which she admitted planning with the two children to commit suicide using pills.

The single mother told police she gave each child 10 tablets of Seroquel — which is commonly used to treat bipolar disorder and schizophrenia — and took 25 to try to kill herself, according to the criminal complaint filed in Dakota County District Court.

"She said that during the recent coverage of the death of Michael Jackson the children asked her about his home, Neverland. The defendant said she told the children that Neverland was a place for kids to go, and it was similar to heaven. The defendant went on to say that she discussed going to Neverland with her children as part of their suicide plan," the complaint said.

Becht's public defender, David Warg, said she was sent Friday to the Minnesota Security Hospital in St. Peter for the evaluation, and they'll decide how to proceed with her defense. He said he had no knowledge about what happened beyond the complaint.

"I really have no comment other than I share everybody's feeling about this situation and what a terrible tragedy it was," Warg said. "My concern now is for the well-being of my client."

In a suicide note to her 16-year-old daughter who was out of town, Becht wrote that she knew the teenager wouldn't understand and that she couldn't ask her to come with, the complaint said. She also wrote that she couldn't leave Michael and Erica behind, and that they all were finally at peace, it said.

Officers were sent to the Becht home on Monday evening after Becht's niece got a call from the 16-year-old asking her to check on the family, the complaint said. The niece said she had to enter the house through an open window. She found Michael not breathing, Erica semiconscious, and Patricia Becht vomiting in the bathroom. When the niece found the suicide note, she called 911.

Dakota County Attorney James Backstrom said Friday the daughter's condition was improving and her prognosis was good.

Police found "numerous" pill bottles in the house containing several psychiatric drugs. The complaint didn't say if Becht gave anything to the children except Seroquel. The manufacturer's literature says overdose deaths from Seroquel are very rare.

Judge Robert Carolan ordered a psychiatric evaluation for Becht and set bail at $1 million without conditions, or $750,000 with conditions. The evaluation is expected within the next 60 days.

"This is a deeply disturbing crime that has shocked our community," Backstrom said in a statement. He said a grand jury would review the case. Becht faces life in prison without the possibility of parole if convicted.

Copyright © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

Timmy84 said:

ahhh...with joe, right? they came out of nowhere when the concerts were announced claiming that they were managing mj, released a statement to that effect, right? yes, it's all coming back.

oh, god, no wonder...mj had so much to contend with.

suga10 said:

kibbles said:

Yep! With Joe... I think Michael was overwhelmed at the end, he had Randy Phillips and AEG pulling him ONE WAY, Joe and Leonard pulling him ANOTHER, Raymone Bain pulling him THIS WAY, and Patrick Alloco pulling him THAT WAY.

Ain't no wonder he "dropped dead" so to speak. They milked the udders dry before he got a chance to do anything about it. And not to mention the drugs that he was giving by this doctor and that doctor "reportedly".
[Edited 7/10/09 19:36pm]

Timmy84 said:

I honestly think Leonard Rowe is being truthful though. It's really obvious that MJ was in no shape or form to do these 50 shows. While he had a problem with prescription drugs, I think Randy Phillips and his orders to have MJ do 50 shows caused MJ to completely lose it. Rowe said he tried to negotiate with AEG with to reduce the shows to two per week instead, and Phillips wouldn't listen.
[Edited 7/10/09 19:42pm]

suga10 said:

It's a complex thing, a part of me thinks MJ was mad he was doing that much, another part of me thinks he was READY to do them, then another part of me does think he was probably "pushed" to it.

More details on instrumental album Michael Jackson started before his death, and his love of classical music

TV and film composer and conductor David Michael Frank may have been one of the last persons to collaborate with Michael Jackson on an artistic project. The pop singer’s untimely death left that project in an uncertain state. Initial reports suggested that Jackson planned to do an album of “classical music” he had written; the pieces were to be orchestrated by Frank. Actually, Frank says, the pieces were closer to film music and would have gone into an all-instrumental album had Jackson lived. The Baltimore-born Frank, interviewed by phone in California, gives an account here of his experience with the King of Pop:

Four or five months ago, I received a call from Michael Jackson’s longtime personal recording engineer, Michael Prince, who told me Michael was looking for someone to arrange some music for orchestra. I thought it was going to be for the tour he was going to do. For the next month or two, he would call, saying, ‘Michael Jackson says he’s going to call you.’

At the end of April, another Michael, Michael Jackson’s personal assistant, called me and asked me to come the next day at 10 a.m. and asked me the make and model of my car. I drove to the Holmby Hills home. I drove up to the front door, and was met by an assistant who told me to go inside. I was met there by a woman dressed like a housekeeper, but with a white turban on her head. She said, ‘Michael Jackson will be with you shortly.’ About two minutes later, he came down the stairs.

I was reluctant to shake his hand because I had heard that he was concerned about germs, but he immediately stuck his hand out and gave me a very firm handshake. He was very skinny, but not the least bit frail. He was wearing a suit and a hat. He was going to rehearsal later for the tour. He said, ‘You look familiar.’ I told him a long time ago I worked on a TV tribute to Sammy Davis, Jr. at Shrine Auditorium [that he had participated in]. I told him I had met him briefly there.’ He said, ‘I never forget a face.’

He told me, ‘I have three projects going on simultaneously.’ One was the tour that the whole world knew about. The other two I believe no one knew about. One was to be an album of pop songs. Then he said, ‘The other one is that I want to record an album of classical music’ — what he called classical music.

He said he listened to ...

classical music all the time; it was his absolute favorite. I was impressed with the pieces he mentioned: Aaron Copland’s Rodeo, Fanfare for the Common Man and Lincoln Portrait; Leonard Bernstein’s West Side Story. I mentioned Bernstein's On the Waterfront. Then Michael mentioned that he loved Elmer Bernstein's film music, too, and he specifically mentioned To Kill a Mockingbird.

I realized that almost all the classical pieces he mentioned are childlike, very simple and pretty, like Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf and Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker Suite. He also mentioned Debussy several times, specifically Arabesque [No. 1] and Clair de lune. He was very soft-spoken when were talking about music, but when he got animated about something, he was very changed. When he mentioned how he loved Elmer Bernstein, and I said I liked the Magnificent Seven score, Michael started singing the theme very loudly, almost screaming it.

He said, ‘I’m making a CD.’ Then his son, Prince Michael, came in, and Michael asked him to find a CD player. Paris found one and brought it in with Prince. Michael played the CD. It was very pretty music. He said, ‘But a section is missing.’ He played a second piece. And he said, ‘But a section is missing, too. But I can hum it to you.’ I asked if there was a piano in the house, and he said there was one in the pool house. We headed out there, but Michael stopped when he saw the dog was outside, soaking wet from being in the pool. He didn't want us to get splattered. It was kind of funny. Michael got another assistant to hold the dog while we went to his pool house.

I sat at the piano and Michael hummed the missing part of one of the pieces. I had taken a little digital recorder with me and asked if I could record him. He was in perfect pitch. I tried to figure out chords to go with it as he hummed. He said, ‘Your instincts are totally right about the chords.’

We talked about classical music some more. I played some Debussy pieces. Michael seemed very happy and I think he felt very comfortable with me. He mentioned Leonard Bernstein again, and I played some of West Side Story. He told me he had met Bernstein once and that Bernstein had said he was a big fan of Michael’s.

Back in the house, whenever he’d go from room to room, you’d hear, ‘I love you, Daddy.’ ‘I love you, Paris.’ They all seemed pretty normal and happy.

Michael was very anxious to get the pieces orchestrated and record the music with a big orchestra. I suggested we record it at the Fox, Sony or Warner Brothers lot. I asked if he could have someone call me to discuss the budget and he said he would take care of it. When I left there were several fans outside the gate.

[Later] I talked to Michael on the phone. He asked me how the project was going and I said I was waiting to hear from someone so we could set the deal. I suggested we could record the music in London while he was doing the show there. He liked the idea. He again brought up Arabesque.

I laid the music all out on my computer and started on the orchestrations. Finally, a week before Michael died, his manager, Frank Dileo, called and asked me for an email with the budget and an electronic mock-up of the music, the costs of orchestration.

Now I have no idea what’s going to happen with this. I’m hoping the family will do something to get this done. I will not bring it up [with them] until after what I think is an appropriate time.

My guess is that each piece would be seven to ten minutes long. [Each one] is more substantial than a song. It’s very pretty music. One piece had an Irish quality about it. I suggested that we could use a Celtic harp. The pieces sound like pretty film score music, with very traditional harmony, and definitely very strong melodies. One of them was a little John Barry-ish, like in Out of Africa -- that kind of John Barry score. I could hear [in my head] sweeping strings and French horns in unison.

I told Michael I was going to use one of Leonard Bernstein’s batons I had bought at auction when we did the recording. I knew he would have gotten a big kick out of that. I guess I still will use that baton if I ever get to conduct the music.

I've heard and read that "agreed to do 10 shows only" quote in numerous places since the beginning of the entire O2 project -- it's not something that is a new development post-mortem.

It's sad that he didn't even get to perform one of them.

China to build own Neverland as Michael Jackson tribute

SHANGHAI (Reuters) - Chinese developers are commemorating the late Michael Jackson by building a scaled-down replica of his Neverland Ranch on an island off Shanghai, a state-run newspaper said on Friday.

Investors in the project, which will cost about 100 million yuan ($15 million) to build, hope it will open on Chongming island ahead of next year's Expo in Shanghai, the China Daily newspaper reported.

While they are not as popular as the Taiwanese and Hong Kong stars who dominate the music scene in China, Western artists are making inroads in the local market, thanks to young fans.

"By building a Neverland here in China, we want to pay tribute to him and at the same time offer the Chinese people an outlet for expressing their love toward him," the report quoted Qiu Xuefan, one of the investors, as saying.

Jackson, who died on June 25 in Los Angeles, abandoned Neverland -- once filled with theme-park rides and even a zoo -- after his child molestation trial in 2005.

The Shanghai version will have "Chinese characteristics to have it blend in with the local environment," the paper added, without elaborating.

But not everyone is convinced it's a good idea.

"If the purpose is simply to pay tribute to Michael, I would suggest investors open it for free, just as Michael did for the children," said Wei Wei, deputy head of Jackson's Chinese fan club. "Otherwise, they are just making money from it."

But Qiu, who professes his love for Jackson's music, said the ranch would help keep the King of Pop's legacy alive.

"His music is a legacy to the world and should not be forgotten. We also would like to set up a fund, with profits being used to help encourage children with musical talent."

Last week, an "instant" biography of Jackson in Chinese hit the bookshelves, which local newspapers said was penned by two Chinese writers who worked on it for two days straight but who had never met their subject.

http://www.reuters.com/ar...XI20090710

Timmy84 said:

It's a shame the way AEG's part in this tragedy is being sanitized. I'm glad Leonard Rowe spoke up.

Se7en said:

I heard it too. For some odd reason, the death made the statements more profound. I dismissed it earlier thinking "oh no, if MJ wanted to do 50 shows, he would say yes, he can't be forced into anything"... now looking back, you wonder "was he?" Of course it's all speculative and I'll just say it was all an accident but we will never know even with the finished autopsy tests.

How long does it usually take for famous people's autopsies to be done? I remember when Ike Turner died in December '07, the "report" was that he suffered from emphysema, well it may have been two or three weeks later that autopsy reports said he died from a cocaine overdose.

babynoz said:

Yeah I have to admit it's nice to get the other side of it. I'm pretty sure Joe was thinking the same thing (that Randy booked too many shows) but who knows with him?

Timmy84 said:

I also have suspicions about whether they were the ones who hired Dr. Murray although they're supposedly claiming its MJ who did.

WaterInYourBath said:

AEG spent $20-30million just to set up the shows there is no way they were goin him to allow him to do just 10 shows. They had to recoup the investment and then some. Why was the setup so expensive ? of course they had to have plenty of smoke and mirrors of course MJs talent isn't at the same level and MJ couldn't last more then 10mins . I don't think they tricked him into 50 shows but he seems to have changed his mind as time came closer.
[Edited 7/10/09 20:00pm]

Timmy84 said:

I would dearly love for this music to be released.

Timmy84 said:

This is one of the biggest tragedies of Michael's career: the lack of output. Why did he wait so long between albums? I'm not saying he should've followed Prince's album-a-year approach, but on average they were 4 years apart!

I'm sure there are a lot of unreleased songs throughout his life, but my point is why not release them when they were new and fresh?

babynoz said:

Me too but to me this seems to make his tragedy even more sad when you realize Michael had more potential to do other things. He had ALWAYS wanted to do classical music because he grew up admiring it growing up in Gary and Encino. He said on his TV Guide interview ten years ago that "Invincible" was going to be his last album of pop songs and that he wanted to do something with classical music in the future, he also wanted to be a filmmaker. I keep wondering "what was holding him back? Why was he so hesitant to do it?" It might've been his children but what else was holding him?

Now these unreleased works will be out like 2Pac and like 'Pac he won't be around to enjoy it.
[Edited 7/10/09 20:04pm]

Timmy84 said:

The thing that takes so much time is the toxicology. Something about the tissue having to be in some type of solution for a period of time. Can't remember exactly.

babynoz said:

I see... no wonder the toxicology reports ain't come back... I guess it doesn't matter if you die of natural causes or an overdose?

Timmy84 said:

I always wondered the same thing. It almost makes me angry.

suga10 said:

Me too, especially the way they keep claiming that he passed a physical so they could "insure" him.

Mr. Rowe stated that you could look at him and tell that he was in no shape to play 50 shows. Hell, I could tell from just seeing his photos.

dreamfactory313 said:

And when you think about it, MJ had the talent to be truly prolific. OK, he was prolific enough in his Motown days but I'm talking about in his adult years, he had SO MANY songs he worked on that never got out because either they were unfinished, unreleased, or maybe even turned down by the heads of his record company. It's kinda like Marvin or Elvis, they wanted to do things that went beyond what people saw them as, but for some reason they either weren't allowed to do it or couldn't do it.

Timmy84 said:

Expectations and public demand.

Timmy84 said:

In most states you only get autopsied if a death is suspicious or you specifically request one.

babynoz said:

I definitely believe those were the factors. MJ often said he would like to perform differently onstage too but he always said fans wanted him to do the same type of performances and MJ wasn't one to disappoint his fans so he figured his fans wanted the same stuff, he feared they complain if he did it differently.

.
[Edited 7/10/09 20:22pm]

Timmy84 said:

Exactly, trying to please record execs and the public can wither a creative spirit and Mike loved to please...he was too nice sometimes.

babynoz said:

Yep. Sometimes you wish he was an arrogant musician so he could be more defiant saying "I'm gonna do what I wanna do" but he never had that edge, he didn't want Joe Jackson ingrained in him.

I'm going to strangle Joe with that Africa medallion if he says some more stupid shit. He better leave those kids alone.

Michael, brother, you need to do work on the other side.