Caffeinated Clint
Update! 27/6/2009 : The day after the death of ‘The King of Pop’ and it seems to be sinking in that one of our greatest musicians and pop icons has indeed left the building. Fans have been not only gathering at UCLA, where the singer died, but at makeshift shrines around the world. Today, they’re saying that Jackson may have been killed by an injection to ease pain. It’s claimed that only minutes before he died, the star was given an injection of the painkiller Demerol which can cause cardiac arrest. Authorities are now wishing to speak to Jackson’s doctor. Jackson had been using Demerol as he battled to be fit for his first London show next month.
Still the coroner’s office says determining the cause of the top-selling artist’s death will require further neuropathology and pulmonary tests that will take four to six weeks. There were no signs of foul play or trauma to the body.
Meanwhile, a scene featuring LaToya Jackson in the new film “Bruno”, in which the blunt and flamboyant lead character asks about Ms Jackson’s brother, has been cut from the film’s release. It was originally thought that Universal had merely cut the scene for the premiere, but according to Aint it Cool News, ”Universal has announced that the La Toya Jackson scene has been cut from the worldwide theatrical release”.
26/6/2009
This morning : Rolled over. Turned on the Blackberry. Scrolled through my email – and stopped at the Los Angeles Times blast. As soon as I read the words ‘Michael Jackson’ I knew he’d gone…. knew he was DEAD.
And indeed, Jacko had slipped away just a coupe of hours earlier. Cardiac Arrest.
An earlier email blast from the L.A Times read ‘Jackson rushed to hospital’ – but I never saw that, been in a slumber and all. And even if I had’ve I would’ve probably thought nothing of it. I mean, when hasn’t Jackson been sick with… something!? The man has spent most of his life in ‘some kind’ of hospital. And that’s not an opportunity to make a gag – just the plain truth of it.
Stil…this is actually a lot sadder than it is – and not just because we’ve lost one of the music industry’s most talented artists. The past twenty-years or so of Jackson’s life must’ve been an absolute hell. Whether it was those child-abuse allegations, the media’s inability to not spend at least one night camped out on the musician’s lawn, or simply the world’s mockery of the top-selling artist – he’s had to put up with a lot. Brad from Bloody Disgusting and I were just talking about it, and realized Jackson’s probably the first real victim of the media. Sure, he was a wacky-looking guy, and maybe he was a little, well, different, but he never deserved to live like a budgie trapped in a journalist’s cage. It’s no wonder he got around in a mask and stayed indoors.
Hopefully, now that he’s gone, people can forget about all the..other stuff… and concentrate on how much the man gave us… how much joy he gave us as kids (I can still remember running back and forward to the jukebox popping in twenty-cents a time to play ‘Beat It’), listening to his records (I still have all his LPs; in primary school I was actually a singer in a band – and at one time we put on a Michael Jackson tribute concert, fun times!), and mimicking his groundbreaking dance moves. The man goes out with his crown still firmly fixed to his head as far as I’m concerned.
I had to break the news to my best friend Lisa this morning – as a huge Jackson fan (as a teenager, she wanted to marry him! I kid you not!), she’s absolutely crushed. Unable to speak. But all his fans will be. So to Jackson’s many, many fans, and of course, family, my deepest condolences.
You can read about Jackson’s incredible career at Variety…
A nice little tribute from reader ‘Michael’ just came in :
The unfortunate passing of pop superstar Michael Jackson has smashed me to my core. I remember the 80s Jackson craze all too well. However, I did not fully appreciate him until 84 when at five years old, I saw his 1983 visceral masterpiece, Thriller on MTV. This video shook me to my core. Jackson, trying to kill his girlfriend, then realizing it was all a dream was a new and somewhat fascinating premise to me. This video set off an alarm in my brain that would change a young boys life forever. It showed me how manipulating and surprising your audience could be a wonderful and remarkable thing. Shortly after seeing Thriller my love affair with cinema and all things out of the ordinary began. Thriller is one the reasons I work in film today. Since that day, I have admired Jackson. I just hope critics remember Michael for his incredible music and film career instead of his dicey personal life. Even 25 years later Jackson shatters my world yet again. So long Michael, you will be sorely missed, but not soon forgotten.
(You can mail me your tributes here)
