RIP Michael Jackson

[friarjohn]

What's MJ idea of heaven?









500 pre-teen boys without a parent in sight.

 

[conpewter]

I find myself mourning Michael Jackson, more than I would have thought. I don't know if he really was guilty of the things he was accused of. One could certainly argue that his accusers were motivated by more than the welfare of their children when they brought their charges against him. Was he a freak? Certainly. Was he a pedophile? I don't know. Did he make decisions that were unwise? Without a doubt. But whatever else he became in the end, he was once the greatest musician alive. This guy WAS the 80's, and almost every act that followed was a pale imitation of the original. He was the Elvis Presley of my generation, and I will miss him. You can think what you want of me, but that's my take on the whole awful mess and I will stand by it. I am the last person on Earth who would defend someone who would harm a child, but I just find it impossible to take the media's word for it in this case.

PS And for those of you griping about Michael sharing his name with a respected beer advocate: Get over it. It's not like "Michael Jackson" is an uncommon name. My high school football team had a running back by that name. Both Michael Jacksons were legends in their respective fields, and may they both rest in peace.

I do think the American public has issues today with the words like "alleged" and "accused" They actually mean... we're not sure if he did it! I abhor any harm to a child as well, but we really don't know if he did these these things. I've just seen this phenomenon in a lot of other situations as well. I wish we were still a country of "Innocent until proven guilty" but the media makes up their mind before a trial even starts.

Anyway he was a pretty screwed up guy, needed to get help and never did. I really hope that all the crap with kids was some sort of lost childhood thing and not pedophilia but we'll never know for sure.

 

[Buford]

Vitiligo is a real condition. I've had it since I was 9. Every year that white patch gets bigger and I dread the day it reaches a part of my body I can't cover with clothing.

Maybe I'm biased but I at least always believed the guy about that.

Doc Hammer (co-creator of The Venture Bros.) has that, and it affects part of his scalp leading to a permanent non-pigmented white streak in his hair. At least in his case, it looks kinda cool.

 

[MgMt_Home_Brew]

I was only born in '84 but I was a pretty big MJ fan when I was younger. I really liked his earliest work and then he started slipping. Like someone said before he has been "dead" to me for a while. The MJ in thriller was not the same MJ in my mind that was dangling a baby over a railing.