michael jackson died

I wanted to call this "End of an Era", or "Death of a Legend" or something equally dramatic as is befitting the death of Michael Jackson.

Dad came in and told me an hour ago that MJ was dead. I didn't believe it and on some level I still don't. Apparently his Peter Pan complex had me and the rest of the world believing that he would always exist. News currently reports that he died from a cardiac arrest; he was in a coma on arrival to the hospital and died soon afterwards.

TMZ had the story hours before other more reputable news outlets. A source I would usually dismiss. The internet is fabulous though, within minutes my facebook wall was full of shocked, disbelieving messages. Even my own messages follow a pattern of shock "is it true? MJ?", disbelief "someone needs to show me some proof", and finally acceptance "RIP MJ,".

The world has lost a great artist tonight. Unfortunately he was unable to stay relevent and change as the world around him changed, but it is a testiment to the quality of his early music that we are still fans.

I guess his legal troubles should be mentioned. A grown man sharing a bed (and whatever else occured) with young boys is wrong. And with all the people surrounding MJ, and the awareness of his slightly "off the wall" mental state, this should not have been allowed to happen TWICE. But I also believe that if I was a parent and Michael had alledgedly fiddled with my kids, no amount of money would shut me up - I would want him to be tried, jailed and then repeatedly troubled by a tattoed guy named Butch. I also wouldn't send my child to "sleepovers" at a grown man's house who has no kids! Someone's story didn't add up. I guess we'll never know whose. But as I sit here listening to Billie Jean I'm reminiscing through the rose tinted specs of hindsight that obliterate the negativity.

I just bought a couple things from Amazon, the Moonwalker DVD which I've been looking for for ages, and a Motown MJ 3 disc album. I want them before the mad memoribilia rush begins.

Also I'm feeling a little guilty. Because my second thought (after ...tragic death of a legend...) was, are my concert tickets going to be refunded? Cold? Possibly. But I especially feel for all the people who bough concert tickets at wildly elevated prices. I wonder if there is a refund procedure for that? Also feeling guilty for the fleeting thoughts wondering if this was a life insurance scam - news of his brokeness is commonplace. But I hope I'm not that cynical.

Watching the news now I'm seeing people crying and fainting on footage of past Michael Jackson concerts. I remember those days! When seeing Michael was an EVENT on a grand scale. I saw his Dangerous tour in the UK. I was blessed, lucky enough to see his talent live and unadulterated. I remember going into school the next day head held high; I'd seen Michael Jackson! For a couple days (which included a show and tell) my news was the hottest thing!

This self taught (people forget he was SELF TAUGHT) man, BLACK MAN (yeah we claim him in death) will never be bested. No one currently even comes close. All those pretenders to the throne, the omarian's, chris browns, neyos and ushers need to show respect to the origin of all of their styles.

RIP Michael, I hope you find the peace in death that you so desperately craved in life.


michael in all his crotch grabbing, moonwalking, crowd pleasing glory



**************edit: Is this one of those deaths for which we are all slightly to blame? Our obsession with celebrity has reached fever pitch.

What causes a physically active, non-smoking man suddenly present to hospital in full cardiac arrest? There are many theories, but I'm postulating stress.

50 show dates, that apparently he didn't agree to, he only knew about 10, a legal fight on his hands (again!), brokeness, and constant media intrusion into his life from the age of 5, just typing it sounds stressful. Still a lil shell shocked - there may be more updates forthcoming...******************