Me? Poet? Never - not in this lifetime.

Originally written by Liliana Boladz-Nekipelov on July 8, 2009 11:51 AM  it is just higher stage of real

Please... Yet you might well be right, I dunno... Everyone is entitled to ones idols, I suppose. That`s why I haven`t posted my opinion on MJ here. Still, I like Armstrong much better. It`s not just that I like his music, I respect him because he never tried to change his skin...

Originally written by Jacek K. on July 8, 2009 11:57 AM You mean it's not "entertainment" but music which what this thread is about?

I`m not really sure...

Originally written by Dodo Kaipdodo on July 8, 2009 8:25 PM I like Armstrong much better. It`s not just that I like his music, I respect him because he never tried to change his skin...

Same here. That's why I prefer to remember Wacko Jacko (http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Wacko%20Jacko) the way he was in the 1970s.

Which brings me to

Originally written by Liliana Boladz-Nekipelov on July 8, 2009 11:14 AM I personally think, the article in Gazeta Wyborcza does not mean anything, were it about the King of Pop or anybody else. I think the old tradition continues; writing things for the sake of writing, or rather for the sake of completing the plan or obligation to write an article about something in modern newspapers. Don't  worry some of the American newspapers drive me mad too, but not all of them all the time, thank God.

On to the British press, then. One of the topics touched upon by that Polish psychologist was MJ's Peter Pan side. I decided to explore that theme more.

Michael Jackson's Peter Pan obsession - Times Online

When the theatre director was asked to meet the king of pop, he suspected a hoax. But the singer was seeking help to become the boy he had always wanted to be

[excerpt] Michael told me how he yearned to be able to do something more spectacular, such as flying over the audience. “Oh, I know just how to do that, no problem,” I said banteringly. “I had people flying over the audience when I did Peter Pan.”

Something seismic had happened. He reacted as if an electric current had just passed through him. He sat up to the edge of his chair, clutching the arms with splayed hands, one of which was gloved. “You did Peter Pan?” he whispered.

“Yeah, in London,” I said.

He leapt up. “You directed Peter Pan?” The high-pitched voice went higher as he walked up and down in front of me, repeating: “Oh my God. Peter Pan! I don’t believe it.”

I described our production, in which all the children’s parts had been played by adult actors. He bounded across the room, his eyes full of tears, he knelt down in front of me, his hands on my knees, and he said: “Could I play Peter, is it too late? Will you let me play Peter? All I ever want to do is to play Peter Pan.”

From that point on I was his new best friend. White-clad figures hovered in doorways, worried that the yells, squawks and squeals of unbridled delight might be the sounds of their lord and master being beaten up by his unknown visitor. He knew every incident in the Peter Pan story, he recited lines from the text and he became immensely vulnerable and childlike as the delight transformed him to some earlier moment in his life.

The unexpectedness of this convulsion, in which I had suddenly become the possible enabler of his greatest yearning, prevented me from reflecting on what it meant or what condition it revealed; but I think I realised something about his life as a child star and his eccentric discomfort with being grown up was being shown and this revelation was very private and very rare. ...

I wasn’t the least surprised to hear that Michael Jackson had made a huge children’s playground at a ranch that he had called Neverland, the name of the home of his beloved Peter Pan. When the accusations of sexual molestation of children appeared, I believed then, as I believe now, that they were untrue. Call me naive, but I am convinced he was being Peter Pan.

Peter presides over a group of Lost Boys, children who look to his leadership but who he needs as much as they need him. The Lost Boys live in the same big room as Peter and they all sleep in the same big bed. Inviting boys to Neverland, staying in the same room, all sleeping in the same huge bed . . . these are the activities that were at the centre of the abuse allegations. But Peter is almost androgynous, he is sexless, he is adored by Wendy but has no concept of the love she wants from him.

J M Barrie, the creator of Peter Pan, was himself suspected of child abuse. Peter’s desperate yearning for permanent childhood, the fear of growing up and compromising with an adult world was, to a large extent, Barrie’s autobiographical experience, fascinated as he was with other people’s children while living in a seemingly unconsummated marriage

As for Jackson? He was, possibly, the Wacko Jacko of the tabloids, but what I witnessed of his obsession with Peter Pan was different, unfakeable and real. It was not really about a part he wanted to play. It was about the person he wanted to be.

* * *

From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puer_Aeternus:

Peter Pan syndrome is a pop-psychology term used to describe an adult who is socially immature. The term has been used informally by both laypeople and some psychology professionals in popular psychology since the 1983 publication of The Peter Pan Syndrome: Men Who Have Never Grown Up, by Dr. Dan Kiley. (Kiley also wrote a companion book, The Wendy Dilemma, published in 1984.)

Peter Pan syndrome is not listed in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, and is not recognized by the American Psychiatric Association as a mental disorder.

Musician Michael Jackson may have had Peter Pan Syndrome. ^[14][15][16] In a 2003 interview, Jackson told interviewer Martin Bashir, "I am Peter Pan". Bashir then said, "No, you're Michael Jackson". Jackson then stated, "I'm Peter Pan in my heart". Jackson named his former home "Neverland Ranch". Neverland is the fantasy island in the story of Peter Pan, where children never have to grow up.

* * *

Public health officials issued the death certificate on Tuesday. Apparently, anyone can walk into a Department of Health Services in California and buy anyone's death certificate like this one for $12 only. I wonder how many fans bought this piece of MJ's legend to immortalize it in their homes, regardless of MJ's persona they prefer...

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/michael-jackson/5775080/Michael-Jackson-death-certificate-released.html 

Michael Jackson had a skin disease that caused pigmentation loss.  This:

I respect him because he never tried to change his skin.....

does not apply. 

I saw a man who was trained thoroughly in his craft and worked hard at what he produced.  How was he as an artist?

Maxi

Originally written by Maxi Schwarz-Bastami on July 8, 2009 11:18 PM Michael Jackson had a skin disease that caused pigmentation loss.

Yup.

The most notable symptom of vitiligo is depigmentation of patches of skin that occurs on the extremities. Although patches are initially small in size, they can often start to enlarge and change shape. When skin lesions occur, they are most prominent on the face, hands and wrists. Depigmentation is particularly noticeable around body orifices, such as the mouth, eyes, nostrils, genitalia and umbilicus. Some lesions have a tendency to hyperpigment around the edges. In a more general sense, vitiligo is similar in appearance to leprosy, and as such (in countries where leprosy is prevalent), individuals with vitiligo can be stigmatized for the similarities in appearance. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vitiligo

But, I wonder, would MJ's cosmetic surgeries also relate to that condition?

I saw a man who was trained thoroughly in his craft and worked hard at what he produced.  How was he as an artist?

He was the King of Pop, they say.  I prefer queens, though, so I will indulge in off topic for a moment. In that Polish article dismissed as flat, the journalist asked whether we are not going to hear soon that MJ did not die at all and is still alive and immortal as he dreamed it.  I saw something like that mentioned in this piece: http://www.femalefirst.co.uk/celebrity/Michael+Jackson-5299.html

Michael Jackson is building an airport - for aliens.

The eccentric singer reportedly came up with the idea after dreaming he met little green men from outer space.Jackson wants to set up the extra terrestrial landing strip in the Nevada desert, according to new book 'Alien Rock: The Rock 'n' Roll ET Connection.'Author Michael C Luckman claims Jackson even wants to film the first landing at the alleged base.

The writer also claims the pop star - who is said to be a huge fan of sci-fi movies like 'ET' and 'Men in Black' - once believed he was an alien himself. He claimed: "Mr Eccentricity (Jackson) revealed in November 2001 that he felt he was from another planet. "Michael identified the planet as 'A Capricious Anomaly in the Sea of Space' and said it was located 'just beyond our solar system'." Earlier this month, Luckman claimed the troubled star .... had discussed having his remains cryogenically preserved so he could be brought back to life in the future.

He revealed : "Michael has gone to extreme lengths to achieve immortality."  

Originally written by Jacek K. on July 8, 2009 12:32 PM That article is not about the importance of pop or MJ's music, which I obviously also listened to in the 1970s among scores of others...

Comrade Jacek, are you suggesting that you spent your time in 70s Poland listening to Bob Dylan, Pink Floyd, MJ and James Brown on Krakow FM? You know as Michael was launching his cultural revolution in the 60s, another entertainer by the name of Jiang Qin was lauching her's across the Pacific. Now what Jiang Qin hated was revisionism, and that is how the quote above would probably have been interpreted by her.

She appears also to have been against basic revising, closing Chinese universities for over ten years. I imagine she used to live close to Peking university, and after a decade or so of witnessing able bodied people 'wasting' their time reclining on benches or trees reading 'useless' books before, later answering 'stupid' questions asked by 'idle loafers' by the name of lecturers, she just decided enough was enough.

She ensured that these 'loafers' and their idle students were gainfully employed, thereby turning China into a true banana republic. Like Michael she was unforgetable and died tragically-though she did get her 70 years. Both came into my life about the same time, sometime in the 70s.

As for Michael:

I remember the time that we first met

we were still doing our ABC

oh! What a thriller!

We can only blame it on the boogie

We did not stop till we had, had enough

Some of us would want him back

but that is just human nature

for he showed us that we are the world

that we can heal the world

That is how he made as feel

To us he is still there

Originally written by Liliana Boladz-Nekipelov on July 8, 2009 6:51 PM I think Madonna and Michal Jackson are somthing real, it is just higher stage of real, the real disquised sometimes as Kitch.

Higher stage of real? Yes: super real. Everything concerning Madonna and Michal Jackson had to be with the prefix 'super': super look, super career, super music... but I never wanted to put any of their records on my turntable as they are so super boring...

I don't really think Madonna has ever had super looks. Some of the stuff is boring, some is not. I don't personally have too many records of them, but they are really not like regular cheap pop: their pop is in a way a revolution against the pop, but people who do not watch or listen to pop at all do not see the difference. It is purposesely exaggerated pop to serve as a statement. I personally like Michael Jackson, especially for his dancing: he was a great performer. I also like him for the kind of person he was.

Laurent, that is the most unexpected version of Un canadien errant that I have ever heard!

Maxi