My copy of Hello World finally came in today. Am jamming "Greatest Show on Earth!"

Right when I came home from work, the UPS dude was at my door. I was like "gimmie."

[Edited 9/24/09 18:54pm]

LittleBLUECorvette said:

I really REALLY want that set.

tangerine7 said:

his eyes ahah
[Edited 9/24/09 20:35pm]

LittleBLUECorvette said:

that's my song

*sings* love is like a circus and a carnival is beautiful to see

people are starting to wait outside for tickets to "this is it". let me remind u that it don't go on sale until SUNDAY!

iloveannie said:

Gotta just love Mike's fans, they always turn out!

This is gonna be huge, I'm gonna go see the movie and I know I'll be bawling all through it, but I have to see it!

mimi07 said:

Nice one kid. Of all the two fingers to stick up those are the best.

Timmy84 said:

ToraTora17 said:

mimi07 said:

There are people on the official website that have already got there tickets. My theater here is still not showing any sign of showing it here or starting to sell tickets.

Is it just me or does anybody else think that unless you're a fan the new movie will be utter shit? Docu-movie? Some good movies have been produced where one of the cast is dead (The Dark Knight, The Crow and Gladiator for instance) but I really get the feeling this will be utter shit for non-MJ fans. Of which there really are a lot.

iloveannie said:

Why the hell would anyone disinterested in Michael Jackson go see this in the first place?

It's not an actual movie in the traditional sense, and its not being marketed as such. That's kinda like saying "Do you think a rap album would be shit for an 80 year old Judy Garland fan"?

iloveannie said:

Perhaps,but I can't imagine a non-fan going to see this movie in the first place.This is a film that is strictly for die-hards,I would think.

mimi07 said:

Michael Jackson Exhibition To Open At London's O2 Arena
September 25

Press release:

Showcasing some of the most personal and iconic memorabilia from The King of Pop's extraordinary life, Michael Jackson: The Official Exhibition will celebrate his unparalleled career, opening for a limited run starting 28th October 2009 at The O2 Bubble.

The exhibit will chronicle Michael's rise to fame with The Jackson 5 at Motown Records, his record-breaking solo career as a global superstar, and end with the spectacular shows he had planned for The O2 arena before his untimely death. This extensive, never before seen collection will be exhibited across nine different themed galleries and include more than 250 objects.

Michael Jackson: The Official Exhibition will show for only three months at The O2 bubble.

The London world premiere will be one of only three cities and the sole European engagement for the exhibition.

The exhibition will include items that have never been seen up close by the public.

Michael Jackson's estate has opened up his extensive archives from his homes, Neverland Ranch, concert collections and video vault to present more than 250 items, including awards, clothing items and a wide range of personal belongings. These include an original Jackson 5 contract, personally commissioned portraits, the largest publicly displayed collection of his iconic concert and video costumes, his personal Rolls Royce and the famous sequined glove.

The exhibition is divided into galleries that reflect specific milestones in Michael's life, including: Motown, his solo career, dancing, costumes, his humanitarian efforts and a celebration of his life.

The exhibition is organized by Arts and Exhibitions International (AEI), the company behind the blockbuster Tutankhamun and Golden Age of the Pharaohs exhibition, and curated by The GRAMMY Museum. The final two venues and dates will be announced in coming months.

"Michael Jackson: The Official Exhibition will let Michael's fans celebrate his life, artistry and humanitarian efforts in a way that respects and honours his legacy," said John Branca and John McClain, Co-Special Administrators for the Estate.

Robert Santelli, executive director of The Grammy Museum, said of this exhibition: "Michael Jackson was undeniably one of the most significant entertainers in music history. His unique blend of dance, fashion, showmanship, spectacle, and true musical genius marked a watershed moment in popular music, weaving together an intricate story that deserves to be told."


Tickets

AEG President: Jackson Movie Will Clear The Company's Name
September 25

As dozens of buoyant Michael Jackson fans queued up in the Nokia Plaza to be among the first to see their idol's last performance, others watching the scene expressed mixed emotions.

Tim Leiweke, president of AEG, which bankrolled Jackson's "This is It" tour and is a key player in the film, recalled the moment he got the news of Jackson's death. "Well, at first it lets all the air out of you, and you sit here and you're stunned at how quickly it happened and occurred. You're in denial. You can't believe it. You're looking around, saying, 'What happened?"

Zip ahead some three months, to Thursday afternoon — about an hour before the opening of the nearly two-and-a-half day waiting line for advance tickets to "Michael Jackson's 'This is It'" concert documentary. Leiweke reunited with musicians, singers and dancers from the tour in a press conference held in the plaza, which is directly across the street from the Staples Center, the site of Jackson's rehearsals, the last of which took place just hours before his death June 25.

"It's mixed feelings, first of all, to see these guys again, and to be in this space," noted singer Darryl Phinnessee. "You know, we finished rehearsing at quarter to midnight the night before Michael died, and he was energetic and up and doing his thing, as you'll see in the movie."

Crafted from hundred hours of rehearsal footage, "This is It" is directed by longtime Jackson collaborator Kenny Ortega, who had been working with Jackson on the concerts.

"You see the music, the studios, the rehearsals, the dancers, the auditions, the costumes," Leiweke said. "You see all of the behind-the-scenes, and then you finally see the last few days of the dress rehearsals, and you begin to see the genius of Michael: the dancing, the singing, the choreography, and his concept of creating a one-time performance that no one would ever forget."

Leiweke said the movie also will provide proof that AEG had Jackson's well-being in mind.

"I think we still are hurt," Leiweke said. "Some of the things that people have said about us, which are so untrue, this movie's going to restore his legacy, and prove that we, in fact, gave Michael a second chance here. And an opportunity to make the kind of comeback he was dreaming of. And that we created an environment for him that was probably the best environment that the guy had the last 10 or 15 years of his life. And I'm very proud of the way we treated Michael, and very proud of the partnership that we had with him. And this movie is an opportunity to celebrate that, and we could get past all of the gossip and all of the innuendo."

"This is It" is set to open in cinemas worldwide Oct. 28.





http://www.google.com/hos...gD9AUCIGG0

Rabbi Schmuley Boteach, center, has written a new book based on 30 hours of interviews with his late friend, Michael Jackson.




'Michael Jackson Tapes' Details Star's Obsessions
September 25



A new book by Michael Jackson's former adviser says the pop superstar feared the ravages of old age and appeared to be abusing prescription drugs and cosmetic surgery nearly a decade before his death.

The Michael Jackson Tapes don't break much new ground, but author Shmuley Boteach provides firsthand detail in Jackson's voice about the excesses and obsessions the world glimpsed through the entertainer's public facade.

Boteach says the book is based on 30 hours of taped interviews with the entertainer. In it, Jackson is portrayed as an aging superstar, addicted to fame and drugs, who lacks the willpower to make changes needed to give his life new meaning.

Jackson died June 25. His death is being treated as a homicide.



http://www.usatoday.com/l...apes_N.htm

Copycat said:

Schmuley

dag said:

this guy has been trying to hawk these tapes for ages, years at least. i remember them coming out about 4 years ago, about the time of the trial.

like some people who knew mj, once he cut them out of his life for whatever reason, they got vindictive. the fact that this guy was taping mj - claiming that they were working on a book, but none of what i've heard suggest that they were, these seem like conversations you would have with a 'friend', and don't believe mj knew he was being taped - shows what type of person this man is/was, and also why mj finally cut him out of his life.

roger friedman has intimated that the falling out occurred b/c the rabbi pocketed money from a charity they were involved in. who knows, but i wouldn't put it past him, considering his behavior. he was introduced to mj by uri geller who also introduced mj to bashir. enuf said about this evil trio.

this book won't sell, just like dimond and jones' books didn't sell, and hopefully that will be the end of the good rabbi.
[Edited 9/25/09 11:19am]

whatsgoingon said:

I love all of those old MJ songs. That's the MJ that claimed my heart. Those photos were awesome. Some of them, I've never seen. Thanks.

Copycat said:

It's possible that sometime ago, Boteach couldn't get the book published. Aphrodite Jones self-published her book, "Conspiracy" because she said she could not get a publisher to touch a book about MJ. But, I just don't know about Boteach's kind of book, There is no way to know if MJ knew he was being taped. I seriously doubt it. But more than that, I know MJ's story. I just can't hear about any more pain that he's gone through. It's too much. I know of his pain. I don't need to keep reading about it. I'm about reading very positive things about MJ.

kellistarr120 said:

A. Jones had to self-publish her book, because no publisher wanted a positive book about MJ. You want to read good things about MJ? Read what his true friends say about him. Start with Brett Ratner.

Extract from Schmuleys Book:


Michael confused his afflictions of soul with ailments of the body. But whereas once upon a time the light of celebrity was hot enough to make him feel better, he had reached a stage where even that no longer warmed him. Drugs became the only balm by which to dull pain. As time went on I understood why things like painkillers or plastic surgery were so attractive to Michael. Michael knew nothing but pain.

Michael's drug use was difficult to detect because of how spacey and out-of-it everyone expected him to be. Plus, it was easy to assume that Michael took strong painkillers only when he was in physical pain. In the time that I knew him, he always seemed intent on me having a positive view of him and nothing untoward was ever done in my presence.

In retrospect, there were more signs that he was on something than I or anyone around him recognized or acknowledged. Michael was very forgetful. He sometimes seemed woozy. His head once drooped completely at the home of a friend that I had taken him to meet. But I just thought that with the kind of crazy hours he kept -- Michael was going to sleep at 3:00 or 4:00 in the morning -- he was just always tired. Michael often called me and spoke as if he was either tremendously inspired or a bit off.

"Shmuley, I'm just calling to tell you that I love you. I looovvveee you. IIII llloooovvveee yooouuu. . ." "I love you too Michael," I would say. But by and large, those conversations were very short, and I thought to myself, yes, that's strange, but that's Michael. He's different. He's eccentric. What perhaps should have made me most suspicious was Michael's constant physical ailments. He was always complaining that a part of his body was hurting or had been injured. This, of course, became a central staple of his trial. But the Angel Ball was my earliest exposure to it. Michael claimed that he had been slammed against a wall by fans and fellow celebrities trying to get his autograph. But even if that had happened, it seemed as though the smallest knocks could completely incapacitate him. And that was either true -- Michael did have a very fragile disposition -- or he was using these ailments, which in his mind were real, as an excuse to take more painkillers.

A few weeks before the major address Michael was to give at Oxford, when he was back in California and I was in New York, Michael called to tell me he had broken his foot while practicing dancing at Neverland. "Are you going to cancel Oxford?" I asked. "No," he said. "It's way too important." In due course, Michael arrived in Britain in a foot cast and on crutches. I heard him give a number of conflicting stories about how he had broken his foot, but again, I made nothing of it, thinking that Michael was forgetful.

A doctor traveled with him to England from the United States and stayed in Michael's hotel. Whenever he would complain of terrible pain from his foot, they would go together into his room and emerge, about a half-hour later, with Michael looking glassy-eyed. I asked the doctor about his background and his practice, and as I recall he seemed to give inadequate responses. He was a personal physician who practiced in New York. I wondered why he had accompanied Michael all the way from overseas just because of a broken foot. There were doctors in England if Michael needed one. But if he was being administered more painkillers for his broken foot, which is what I suspected, Michael was still nowhere near being so out of it that he couldn't function. Michael did come three hours late to Oxford, which meant that he did not attend the dinner that was staged by the Oxford Union in his honor, and he did arrive three hours late at our mutual friend Uri Geller's wedding ceremony the next day where I officiated and Michael served as best man. But other than that, the trip to Britain went off without a hitch.

As I was about to embark on my return flight home, Michael, who was staying on in Europe, reached me on my mobile phone. "Shmuulleeeey," he dragged out the word, partially slurring it, "Yesterday at the wedding, I was just staring at you conducting the ceremony. I was staring at you because I love you, because you're my best friend. I just loooovveeee you." I responded as I always did, "I love you too, Michael." "But no," he said, you don't understand. I loovvveeee yooouuuu," dragging out the words for effect. It was a flattering phone call, but it made me alarmed that Michael was on something very strong. I would continue having conversations with him about staying off the poison of prescription drugs. He never fought me and always agreed.

When Michael was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame that March, he invited me and my wife, Debbie, as his guests to the dinner at The Waldorf-Astoria in New York City. Although he was still on crutches, he seemed completely lucid. I spent a few hours in his suite helping him write his acceptance speech and he seemed cheerful and in good spirits. The next time we did a public event together was a few weeks later when we went to Newark, New Jersey. Michael's foot had healed and he was out of the cast. On that day, Michael seemed fine. Confident, chewing gum, and irritated with me as I explained earlier, but nothing more. I was certain that whatever medication he was taking had been connected with his broken foot and was now in the past.

It was a few months later, after I had severed all contact with Michael, that reports started to filter back to me from one of Michael's closest confidantes that he was hooked on prescription medication and imbibing large quantities of them. It was getting much worse, this friend said, and it was destroying his life. Demerol and Xanax, among others, were mentioned. "Is there a quack doctor giving this stuff to him?" I asked. "No," I was told. "The doctors around him seem okay. He seems to be getting his own supply; no one knows from where. Michael is injecting himself with the drugs intravenously." "Well," I said, noting that Michael and I had no interaction and I could therefore offer little assistance, you guys better do something and save him before he completely self-destructs." Michael's parents, Katherine and Joseph Jackson, were also concerned and invited me to their home in Encino, where they asked me to reinvolve myself in Michael's life. Michael's parents related to me that Michael had deteriorated significantly since I had last seen him. His state was bad enough for them to have attempted a family intervention to break the drugs' hold on him. Michael's brothers, a few weeks earlier, had arrived at Neverland unannounced to try to get him into rehab, where he had gone almost ten years earlier after admitting to an addiction to prescription drugs. Michael, however, had heard that they were coming and fled.

His parents were concerned, and I felt for them. But this just reinforced my decision. Not only was I sure that Michael would not listen to me, I knew next to nothing about helping people in this situation except to get them into rehab. Perhaps I could inspire Michael to make that decision, and his parents thought I could at least help. But I knew they were wrong. Michael had long since ceased taking my counsel. He found my advice too demanding. I was an irritant and was treated as such. Katherine, who was the anchor of Michael's life and whom I knew from the long interview I had done with her for this book, and Joseph Jackson, who I was meeting for the first and only time, had much more sway with their son than I did, and it was imperative for them to save their son's life by becoming available parents in his greatest hour of need. And if his own parents could not persuade him to get help, how could I?

Joseph Jackson also raised the subject of Michael's management with me. He said he didn't approve of the people running Michael's career at present and that he wished to reinvolve himself in Michael's management. I told him sternly, if respectfully, "Mr. Jackson, your son doesn't need a manager right now. He needs a father. You should relate to him as the father he feels he never had." I left that meeting shaken. How tragic for Michael, and how similar this was all beginning to sound to Elvis, a fallen star, in terrible emotional and mental anguish, turning to drugs for relief, until they eventually destroyed him. Would Michael end up dead at an early age as well?

According to someone very close to Michael, the year before his arrest, Michael got clean. This person told me that Michael had, by himself, "gotten off the stuff . . . he's completely clean." I was incredulous. "He didn't go for rehab?" I asked. "You're saying he got himself clean on his own?" "Yup," he said, "We're really proud of him. He's clean. I swear it's true." Well, that was good news. I was therefore extremely troubled to hear, from the same person again, that shortly after the arrest Michael had gone back on "the same stuff. He's delusional. That's how he's coping with the case. He's out of it a lot of the time." "Have you tried to get him to stop?" I asked. "Yeah, I had a meeting with him. I told him I was positive he was back on the stuff. He denied it, but I know what he's like when he takes that stuff. But he responded by sort of cutting me off from him. Now, I can't get access to him."

This, sadly, was a typical response to Michael hearing people criticize his behavior. He just shut them out. "Do the people around him know?" I asked. "I don't see how they can't," he responded. "He's drinking a lot of wine and mixing it with all this stuff." This last comment especially surprised me, because, to my knowledge, Michael never drank alcohol. Indeed, even when he came to our home for the Sabbath meals, he would reject the tiny quantity of sacramental wine I offered him, telling me that he never drank "the Jesus juice."

The fact that Michael Jackson had been taking large doses of prescription medication explained much of his erratic behavior. Why would the man who was so famously overprotective of his kids suddenly dangle his own new baby from a balcony in Berlin? Why would the man who was so famously reclusive agree to a British journalist virtually living with him for a tell-all television documentary? Michael always told me how much he hated the British press more than any other. He told me that "Whacko Jacko" had started in England. So why would he have allowed Martin Bashir to essentially live with him for so many months? Indeed, Michael's decision to grant full access to Bashir will forever remain the professional decision that most unraveled his life.

When I watched the 60 Minutes interview with Ed Bradley that preceded the trial, in which Michael accused the Santa Barbara police of locking him up for forty-five minutes in a feces-covered bathroom and roughing him up so badly that they dislocated his shoulder, it seemed so improbable that I suspected that Michael's reality had been impaired. Sure enough, twice in the interview they showed Michael stopping the interview to complain about how much his back hurt. The old opportunities (excuses) to take more prescription medication were back. I called my friend. "Did the police do all those things?" "No," he said. "They were really nice to him. Michael is delusional." Now this report may have been inaccurate, but I doubt it.

In 2004 I wrote in a public article, "If people around him don't save Michael from himself, Michael may be yet another superstar who dies young, God forbid, due to the quintessential celebrity-oriented diseases of drug and substance abuse. But a wall of silence around this problem, while it might protect Michael's image, will do nothing to protect him."

[url]http://www.starpulse.com/news/index.php/2009/09/25/read_an_excerpt_from_the_michael_jackson

xlad said:

And here's recordings from 'the tapes':
http://www.michaeljackson.../audio.php

It's not in the best taste but.....

Schmusley robbed money from Heal The World Foundation and, therefore, Michael wanted nothing to do with him. Schmusley became vindictive, according to what I'm reading.