Sep 02 2010
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Sunrise
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This is when I fell in love with Michael. I was 12. It wasn’t sexual at all because I knew nothing of that much at the time. It was just pure love, some other kind of ecstasy. That voice! That VOICE! And that charm, such a poised young gentlemen. When I see sunlight streaming through the leaves in the treetops in the morning like veils of sheer golden satin – that’s what Michael’s voice reminds me of. Pure beauty and light. That’s him. Angel. Always was. Always will be.
Aug 29 2010
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Katherine and Baby Michael (?) - still trying to verify the baby - could be a grandchild - Taj?
Michael, I hope you don’t mind my sharing some loving memories from your family and friends with your fan-mily tonight. Don’t worry, it’s all good!
I hope you understand that although many know about how Jehovah’s Witnesses don’t celebrate birthdays and holidays, some didn’t know that even after you left the church, it still bothered you somewhat to celebrate them for yourself and that you asked Turkle to never say ‘Happy Birthday‘ to you to you because it upset you.
On days like today, it’s important for us to realize that even though you made sure you celebrated your children’s birthdays and they had the most beautiful Christmases, there was deep in your own heart, still a sadness and guilt about celebrating them for yourself. I know that on your first Christmas with Dame Liz Taylor, you went into the bathroom and hid and cried because you felt so guilty. Michael, I’m just sorry you hurt. No matter the reason I never want to see you hurt and my heart aches for all the pain and abuse you endured in your life here. I still feel bad about it. The horrible way you were treated by some people and entities. And, that I didn’t do more to support you – write you letters – send flowers – something! It’s a horrible regret I’ll carry for the rest of my life. I hope that you are free of pain and worldly concerns and are living in bliss and endless love up there with the other angels! One thing that is a comfort to me is to be able to believe that you are no longer suffering. God, I hope it’s true and that you’re OK. I’ve heard from you (I think) so I’m guessing you are doing fine, or you wouldn’t be sending me these little messages. And just so you know, I LOVE them – it’s always so nice to ‘hear‘ from you in the ways you manage to let me know you’re around!
But Michael, please know that I don’t mention this about birthdays and holidays to slam you at all. I just want people to understand you – because they love you and it’s important to understand your heart. It’s not that JH beliefs are wrong and everyone else’s are right – that’s not true! We all should celebrate these things every day and not just on special days. There is sensible logic in that. There’s no wrong or right here and no judgement – only understanding. We love you just the way you were and just the way you are! Nothing changes that!
Know that we celebrate today because we love you so much. Because your life and your work; your talent, music, dance and filmmaking; your humanitarian and philanthropic work was so incredible; because you awakened and inspired so many people; you broke so many barriers and records and opened so many doors and set so many fine examples for the rest of humanity, we want to celebrate the day you arrived in our world. To us, you are one of the most magical, amazing and special human beings who ever lived. You were an angel here, a precious gift to humanity and the world. Now, you have your wings. We are grateful every day and feel blessed to have lived here during the same time that you did. And we feel that way not only on your birthday, but every day, even though we miss you terribly, too.
Katherine tells Taj that your birth certificate says you were born at exactly 7:33 p.m. Central Time, on August 29th, 1958.
Austin, your nephew, tells us:
My Uncle was the most thoughtful person in my life and always managed to bring a little bit of magic into my childhood years. Being Jehovah’s Witness, I never celebrated holidays. One Christmas, when I was 8 years old, my Uncle Michael made sure I came over the day after Christmas. Walking into his house, he brought me over to the Christmas tree where I found 40 gifts with my name on them. I was filled with all the excitement a child could have seeing gift after gift with my name on it, but I asked him,”Why did you do this?” he said, “to make up for all the Christmases you’ve missed.” After this, I felt like Christmas became my holiday. He always managed to make my life a little happier,a little more exciting, and a little more special. You had a rare heart. Happy B-day, I miss you.
-Austin Brown
Omer Bhatti tells us that when he was little, you gave him the nickname “Lil Monkey“, and I thought that was odd because that’s my nickname for you, Michael! Omer also asked that no one else call him that name because it’s special, so people should respect that. You are the only person who can call him that.
But I will still call you my “Lil Monkey“, Michael! And, just so you know, I adore my Lil Monkey!
Your cousin Anthony Jackson remembers:
… when you read Jonathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach all the way through in one sitting at Disney World. Thank you for always being there for me and for teaching me to believe in dreams! We miss you..Happy birthday!
-Anthony Jackson
That is one of my favorite books and Richard Bach is one of my favorite authors! I wish we could have talked about this together, and of course many other things too. Maybe some day we still can.
Your brother Jackie says:
I’m so thankful we got to write 2 magical songs together! “Can You Feel It” & “Torture” will always be very special to me! My favorite short film you did is “Ghosts“! Love the choreography &of course your performance of so many different characters. Because of the messages in your music, we all make better choices in our lives today. We have to keep trying to make the world a better place. You would be so proud of your 3 children right now, they carry on your spirit with so much pride… I love and miss you!
-Jackie Jackson
Your sweet nephew Taj says:
There will never be another person who genuinely loved his fans as much as you did. Today, they are showing that love back. I will forever live my life trying to make you proud. You have made me who I am. Love you forever!!!
The day after my mom died, you played Hide and Go Seek with all my school friends at Hayvenhurst.
You grabbed a baseball bat after the ‘94 Northridge earthquake & said “This is when people start acting crazy“. We all hopped into my car after the earthquake and there was no gas in the tank. You climbed our tree when there was an aftershock. We asked what you were doing, you said, “that tree is not going anywhere. It’s been there before we were born.” You had a point.
You told us the importance of visiting children hospitals around the world when we toured.
-Taj Jackson
Brother Jackie also says:
I remember how in the 80’s you turned Hayvenhurst into a mini-zoo, with giant snakes, llamas, tigers, parrots and monkeys.
I remember how one day the snake escaped & we were so scared, especially Toya, Janet & Mother. (Taj thought that was pretty funny!)
-Jackie Jackson
And Ms. Jodi Gomes shares this funny story of an encounter with our little “Funky Monkey“:
I was a young TV producer recording/mixing Voice-over for an animated Nickelodeon series in the early 90’s. We booked a room weeks in advance, but the day of our session were told a client rented the entire facility. Of course, lil miss ambitious, I was beside myself. I pleaded with the management to let us use one room for just an hour, because it was a nightmare rescheduling the child actors. He reluctantly asked the client – and to my surprise the client obliged with two caveats: (1) I had to describe the characters that the kids were voicing – and – I happily did (inaccurately of course because I thought a competitor was in the other room stealing my idea! After all, this is Hollywood!); and (2) we would have to record in the smallest room, of which, the client had equipment and items stored, which we could not touch.
At the end of my rope, I agreed, and got to work. BUT… the room had a smell that we’ll just say, “had the funk of 40,000 years”. There were damp, sweaty, musty, funky, moldy T-shirts & clothes hidden behind a couch in the room. Piled high. Well – this was just too much! I carried on like a fool with the manager, who snickered with laughter. I went on & on about hygiene, “we’re a paying customer too” type stuff – and “you have the nerve to have a large client’s equipment stored in here with this nasty sh*t”.
GOD’S INTERVENTION: Bruce Swedien walks by. Then Michael Jackson walks by during my rant – of course I shut the heck up and showed respect because I was clearly enamored. We’d met previously and he recognized my face, gave me a huge flirtatious hug and mischievous smile. We exchanged a “where do I know you from” story and had a big laugh about something I can barely remember now.
SIDE NOTE: MJ had a way of making you feel like you knew him for 100 years, and eased your nerves about how HUGE he was.
He said, “so you’re the one recording the animation project?” I said yes and exchanged, “so you’re the big client keeping me out of this joint”. Again, we laughed. He was soooo curious about the animation project and voice over. With the ice broken, I called myself giving the King of Pop a heads up. I informed him that there were DISGUSTING, STANKY clothes in the room where he was storing equipment. He was shocked. He was embarrassed. He wanted to see it.Again, the management smiled a funny smirk and led us to the room. I was being over dramatic covering my nose, preparing for the stench, and of course still carrying on. MJ kept teasing me & laughing, “oh girl stop, it’s can’t be that bad”… and before I could show him where the clothes were hidden, he went right over to the pile!!! He pulled them out and instructed manager to take HIS clothes away! Apparently, Michael liked to dance his little skinny butt off in between recording, and be drenched with sweat. He’d change clothes, and go back to recording…this went on for days! There was no equipment stored in the room – just his clothing. After complete embarrassment and a million apologies from me, he burst out with this huge laugh and said, “my brothers and I used to say, if it don’t stink – it aint funky”. He gave me a big hug and whispered to me, just don’t tell my Mother. I think that album went on to be “Dangerous” – and it definitely was funky!
I wrote earlier about how your sweetheart nephew Taj asked fans, friends and family to use the hashtag #MessageToMJ on Twitter to express their feelings about you, Michael. It has been a wonderful tribute to your Birthday to see that over 14 months after you left Earth, you are still alive in so many hearts! Below is a screen shot taken of what ‘trended‘ on Twitter on your birthday. As you can see #MessageToMJ was right on top!
#MessageToMJ Trended all Day August 29th, 2010
Michael Jackson, I just hope that wherever you are, that you know (I think you do!) how very loved and missed you are here on Earth by your family, friends, and fan-mily every day.
Aug 28 2010
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Thumbs Up!
Once again, I glanced at blog stats and the number ‘77′ appears, this time in reference to my post about Taj Jackson’s request for his uncle Michael. Once again, I remind that these numbers change constantly as people visit the site, so my viewing these stats just at the moment these ’77’s appear is strangely “coincidental” (though I don’t really believe in coincidence – things happen for a reason).
Also appearing (and this happens sometimes too) is the number ‘111′, which some believe (not sure I do) is a number which signifies the gateway to the spiritual realm.
Approval?
Now, I don’t want to get all off into a bunch of really weird speculating here. I’m a spiritual person, not necessarily religious. I do believe there are higher forces at work in the Universe. Most people call that ‘God‘ and that’s OK with me. I’m not threatened by that. Too many things in my life have happened for me to disbelieve there is a ‘God‘, who or whatever anyone believes her/him to be. Thus, I do believe in ‘God‘. And, that Michael was an angel or agent of this entity. Of course it could be said that we all are – but I believe that Michael had special influence and significance and that this was intentional on ‘God’s‘ part. I believe like many do, that Michael was sent here for a reason, which he became aware of early on in his life. And we can see that he carried out his mission beautifully, in spite of those who endeavored to destroy him and his efforts.
It is said that the best ‘revenge‘ is living well. Michael didn’t believe in the concept of revenge. However, I assert that the best response (if you will) to those who endeavored to destroy Michael Jackson and all he lived and stood for is to continue his work as best we can – and by that I mean his humanitarian and environmental work.
His music, performance art, and incredible talent were the tools used to get our attention. Once he had it, he showed us how one can use their talents (whatever those may be) for good in the world. While brilliant and stunning, don’t just stop at listening to his music or watching his performances – or buying up everything with his name on it. If you stop there, you’re missing part of the message, part of what he lived for and died trying to do. And, you’re missing a chance to respond unequivocally to those who would destroy him and his legacy – which now must live with and be carried out by us.
We can’t reproduce his music and performance though some will try. We can buy it, which (just in my own opinion-to each his/her own) helps large corporate entities who need help the least and some of whom abused him horribly in life to get their hands on his assets (his music catalogs or his money ). They likely won’t use the profits to help anyone but themselves.
Michael said it himself: “Why you wanna trip on me?”
Personally, I believe that this was a message not only to the abusive press and media to get beyond the petty distractions of gossip and heresay about Michael’s life, appearance, etc. and to talk about more important issues — but I think it was also a message to the rest of us too – to get beyond the fascination with his appearance and fame and to help him work on the REALLY important stuff – bringing attention to it, doing something about it. It’s what he tried to do through his music.
Of course, you can’t separate Michael’s incredible music, performance and filmmaking from the issues he brought to light with them, or from the work, effort and money he put into dealing with those issues – money obtained from music sales. But you can think beyond his incredible performance art and fame and really endeavor to continue working on those issues: child abuse and neglect, poverty, environmental destruction, social injustice. That would be, I believe, one of the the best responses to those who sought to destroy Michael and all he lived for. Besides of course exposing the truth about those people and entities involved, which will happen in time. As Mom always told me: “It’ll all come out in the wash.”
Don’t let his dreams die. If Michael dreamed of fame and fortune, he only dreamed of it not for himself, but so that he could use it to teach, and to help others, to try to save the planet, and to heal the world. It’s a vision worth checking in with once in a while, to be sure we are reconciling ourselves with it.
Remember what he told Frank Dileo when visiting terminally ill children in an orphanage:
“You have to understand Frank, this is our job, not on the stage. Our job is to make somebody feel good.”
Consider the lyrics to Earth Song:
Hey, what about yesterday
What about the seas
The heavens are falling down
I can’t even breathe
What about apathy
I need you
What about nature’s worth
It’s our planet’s womb
What about animals
We’ve turned kingdoms to dust
What about elephants
Have we lost their trust
What about crying whales
We’re ravaging the seas
What about forest trails
Burnt despite our pleas
What about the holy land
Torn apart by greed
What about the common man
Can’t we set him free
What about children dying
Can’t you hear them cry
Where did we go wrong
Someone tell me why
What about baby boy
What about the days
What about all their joy
What about the man
What about the crying man
What about Abraham
What about death again
Do we give a damn . . .
Anyway, just sharing this “coincidence” again because I thought it was interesting. It isn’t a photoshop “trick” or a joke – it really happened. Again. Much love to all of you and of course to our beloved Michael and his family – and The Great Creator who gifted us (and who evidently continues to gift us) with his presence and spirit.
Aug 26 2010
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I was looking at blog stats today and saw this. Now, these stats change moment by moment. Is it coincidence that I just happened to be looking at this moment? Maybe so. But something similar happened a week or so ago as well. And, many times before that.
Maybe I’m crazy, but in response to that particular post, I’ll take it as a sign. He KNOWS. Also, myself and a few others posted some things yesterday on Facebook regarding Michael and the significance of the number ‘7′ for him.
Michael Responds?
Immediately after seeing this, someone had posted a comment under “Lost” that they also receive communications and signs from Michael that are simply too frequent to be coincidence. I receive them often as well, such as this one. And he is often in my dreams and there are many other things that let me know his spirit is near. I believe his brilliant spirit will go where it feels safe and loved, and that he feels our love for him and he knows.
I want YOU to know this too, if you believe in such things. Somehow I feel it important to share it just now because I want so strongly for you to know he knows. I have to believe that. These things just happen too often for me to believe otherwise. And they happen to others too, in the same ways.
I know that the circle of love between Michael and his fan-mily has always been very strong. And, I don’t believe that just because he’s physically gone from this Earth that this thread needs to be broken — and I don’t believe it is.
We love him. He loves us. His body ended. His love did not. We are One.
Michael Is LOVE
THIS hasn’t changed:
I love all of you So So Much. I’m very lonely without you, you are my life, always, please love me always. Burn all Tabloids.
-Love, Michael Jackson
Aug 08 2010
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SOURCE: http://www.thesilencedtruth.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=65&Itemid=59
Michael and little Angela
In 1987, Michael Jackson met 4-year old wounded Angela Darlington and her mother, Helen, in Melbourne Children’s Hospital.
The mother has this to say on the visit 21 years later:
My daughter, Angela, was in hospital with head injuries after being hit by a car. One day we were told by the nurses that Michael Jackson was coming to visit. We had to keep it a secret, so the hospital wasn’t overwhelmed with fans. There was a big flurry, as his assistants handed out T-shirts and signed copies of his Bad album to everyone on the ward. Then he just walked around and talked to the patients. […] I said hello. He said he was pleased to meet me. I was gobsmacked. He was very gentle and seemed shy. I got the sense he had a deep love for children, especially those who’d been hurt. Then he crouched down and said ‘Hello, Angela’. She couldn’t talk, because she’d just come out of a coma, but she started smiling. After that day, she started to get better. I think of him as an inspiration. We’d been having a terrible time – Angela was in hospital and I’d been ringing Lifeline to keep myself together, but he was a total inspiration for the whole ward. I thought: ‘Thank God for sending him’. He just had a presence about him – this great empathy with people who needed to get better. Now, Angela is 25, at university and full of life. There was another boy on the ward who was about 15 and was a huge fan. After Michael’s visit, he started getting better too. His mom thought it was a miracle. I believe many of the children got better after meeting him. I think people should know about this side of Michael. I’ve never believed he was anything but a good person.
-Helen Darlington, Angela’s mother.
Aug 04 2010
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Michael Saves Lives & Promotes Peace - Again
Michael loved that safety spiel that airline attendants do at the beginning of a flight. At the end of the ‘This Is It‘ shows, the plan was that Michael would board a huge jetliner and fly off over the audience (all done with holograms or other trickery of course). Awesome! But that never happened.
So what the heck am I talking about with this “30,000 feet” business? He sure wasn’t gonna get that kind of altitude flying over an audience in a hologram! Probably not. But, some years ago, Michael Jackson – humanitarian, peacemaker and lifesaver, averted what could have been a very nasty situation aboard a flight from LAX to Berlin en route to Cannes. It wasn’t MJAir, but MJ was a hero aboard that flight.
It seems Michael Jackson had saved quite a few lives during his own short one. From his humanitarian efforts to his peacemaking efforts, the man was a lifesaver more than once. Another story is that on July 31 1992, a man stood atop a building opposite the hotel MJ was staying in, and threatened to jump. But Michael talked him out of it. I don’t have more details of that particular story, maybe someone else does.
But I do have details of his heroism on that LAX –> Berlin flight. Don Barrett, publisher of LARadio.com tells the story (reprinted with kind permission from Mr. Barrett):
When I was laid off (fired) from MGM/UA in 1994, I opened my own movie marketing consultancy. I decided to concentrate on animated films. Over the years I was fortunate enough to work on wonderful animated projects like Steven Spielberg’s An American Tail, among many others. Before long my business was booming. I was making more money than I ever did with Columbia, Universal or most recently MGM/UA. And more importantly, I didn’t have that awful commute I did for years, plus no committee diluting some wonderful ideas that individuals conjured up.
I was exposed to the international marketplace (my movie career with the studios was confined to domestic) and found myself at the Cannes Film Festival numerous times exposing and selling some of the animated projects I was representing. Yes, Cannes is beautiful, sexy, sensual, alluring, intoxicating, exciting and downright the bomb, to use an old expression.
One year on my way to Cannes, I had to travel from LAX to Berlin and then make a connecting flight to Cannes. In first class there were five rows with two seats on each side of the plane. I was sitting in the aisle seat in row three on the left. In front of me was a single gentleman. The front two seats were occupied but they were already seated when I got comfortable for the 12 hour flight.
The man in front of me asked for a cocktail prior to take-off. Once airborne, he was the recipient of a steady stream of drinks. About a half-hour into our flight, the man on the aisle in the front seat stood and moved to the center of the cabin. His seatmate got up and stood behind him.
Another man who was in the front seat on the aisle on the right side of the plane got up and joined the two standing in the cabin and got behind the second man. In almost lock step they walked to the toilet. The cabin lights were dim for those who wanted to sleep on the long flight. As they walked by me it was clear that the center man in this abbreviated parade was Michael Jackson.
The flight progressed but the man in front of me never stopped with requesting more booze. Eventually the steward cut him off. I could only guess the perfect storm that was brewing. Frequently raising his voice in the quiet cabin, it was easy to hear his entitlement demands after paying so much for a first class ticket and that they had no right to stop serving him. The steward was firm.
The boozy man kept ringing the call-button and the steward reluctantly would come to his seat, only to be greeted by insults for refusing his right to service. After a third call-button ring, the boozy man apparently was waiting in wait for the steward. The steward repeated what he had told the man about no more service. The boozy man leapt like a gazelle onto the steward and they both crashed to the floor. They wrestled. You could hear another steward frantically summoning the pilot who quickly came down to see what the commotion was all about.
With no fanfare, no lights, no audience, a concerned Michael Jackson got up and separated the two sparring men. As soon as they realized that the King of Pop was acting as peacemaker, they sheepishly stopped like school kids busted by the principal or even their own mom. The captain (or co-captain) arrived on the scene to see that peace had been restored with no bloodshed.
Michael asked his bodyguard friend to sit in the boozy man’s seat and invited the inebriated man to sit with him. I couldn’t hear a word that was spoken by Michael nor his new seatmate but they were talking away for 20 minutes. Michael signaled to his bodyguard to help the boozy man back to his seat. Within minutes he had passed out and slept for the duration of the flight. Michael and his bodyguard were both back together to complete the remaining hours in relative silence.
It was a rare glimpse into Michael Jackson. Who knew he would be a peacemaker at 30,000 feet on what could have erupted into an ugly confrontation?
-Don Barrett
Jul 25 2010
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Missing - Michael
It’s been thirteen months since Michael left here. You’d think that after that much time, I’d stop feeling like something’s missing.
It’s like leaving the house to go on a trip, with the nagging feeling that you’ve somehow forgotten something. Except the feeling never goes away and the trip never ends. I’m still in a daze, wondering how my world manages to go on spinning without the piece that is missing – without having Michael in the world, somewhere, anywhere. I know it’ll never feel right again. And I know at some point, I’ll learn to just live with that. But it won’t be today.
And I know he’s an angel and I could call him by laughing, but right now, the ache and the sadness still remains.
I’m sorry Michael, for not supporting you enough when you were here, and for hurting too much and for too long, now that you’re gone.
© 25 June 2010, Seven
