Well, so far there's been an awful lot of speculation as to what actually led to the death of Michael Jackson. And when I say 'speculation' I mean 'it was likely the prescription painkillers that he was taking for years that finally did him in, a la Elvis.'And all of that is pure extrapolation on my part, of course. (But I find it strange that a rumor such as "Jackson received an injection of Demerol before he stopped breathing" to be something that would be fabricated. That would be the thing that I would think you would want to steer clear of if it weren't true.)
Autopsy results came back today and of course they didn't show anything definitive so subsequent toxicology reports were ordered and we should have those results right about, oh, say...yeah, in about four to six weeks. Dear God.
Four to six WEEKS?! What in the hell is going to take so long?! Can't they put a rush on it or something? I'm not usually in favor of people using their social status or whatever their degree of fame may be (pop superstar, Skippy Peanut Butter commercial star, whatever) in order to get special privileges, but what say we just do it this one time in the instance of Michael Jackson's toxicology reports so that we don't have to be subjected to FOUR TO SIX WEEKS of endless blather on cable TV from the clueless (but hot) news chicks. It would definitely test our strength as a nation, that's for sure. (Seriously. I watched Larry King for the second night in a row. Tonight his guests were Miko Brando, Liza Minnelli and Usher (together in Europe for the first (and hopefully last) time!), Deepak Chopra and Mark Geragos. Talk about your celebrity salad!)
The general theme of the evening (other than that Larry King always seems like he isn't listening to any of the answers to the softball questions that he lobs at guests) attempted to center around whether or not Michael Jackson had an issue with painkillers. And by "an issue" I mean "was pretty much high 24/7 since his hair caught on fire in that Pepsi commercial fiasco back in 1984". Wait. What now? 1984? That was 25 YEARS ago? Huh. I would have thought I would have gotten more during that time. 25 years seems like plenty. What have I been doing anyway? Oh, sorry. I digress. Michael Jackson's dead!
Liza Minnelli started out by saying that when the toxicology reports come back that "all hell will break loose". Meaning that she has
known that he's been a walking pharmaceutical time bomb for years. (I'll go on record right now and surmise that those reports will show that there were no less than four different drugs that had been coursing through his veins right up until the unfortunate incident known as his death.) But by the end of the show she was practically berating Larry for talking about it at all. Usher uttered a similar sentiment, saying something to the effect of "It's unfortunate that on the eve of his death we're here talking about addictions." Why, yes! YES you are! Why do you think that is, Usher? Could it possibly be that (shakes Magic 8 Ball) "All signs point to YES" that his addiction to prescription drugs killed him? (Man, if everyone enabled him the way that comment from Usher enabled/justified/ignored a main aspect of this story, then it's no wonder that he was able to keep himself nice and high for 25 years.)
And I didn't expect TONS of new information to come out yesterday. It hadn't even been 48 hours. But I was kind of hoping that some of my general questions about his life could be answered through the various news outlets talking with...well...with anyone who had the ability to speak. They didn't seem to be all that discriminate about their interview subjects. But none of them told me stuff I kind of wanted to know. Things like:
What branch of the military did he actually serve in? Clearly from the uniforms he always wore, he was some sort of a really sparkly Admiral or something, but it's hard to tell. Upon further reflection of this topic, I'd also like to know if some of those jackets were borrowed from Captain Crunch. They seem to have a similar style to them.
And what is up with that Say Say Say video he did with Paul McCartney? I would really love it if some historian could explain 
why it was that when music videos were first being made it didn't matter what the video was about and artists could make up any little three or four minute skit about anything and act that out to their song and voila! They made absolutely no sense at all. You know how if you're watching a movie on TV at home and when the credits roll at the end they cut to a half screen and lower the volume of that credit music and start showing a commercial for something else? You can still hear the credit music and you're not paying attention to the credits (because who does when they're at home) and you're watching the commercial instead? That music doesn't match that Tide commercial! It's the same with 80s music videos. Only without the Tide. Usually.
When I saw that video yesterday, I found it odd that in a couple of the 'scenes' it appeared as if Michael Jackson was sort of trying out his Thriller look. He looks SO out of place and you wonder if someone spliced the film and just grabbed the wrong strand there or what. But it's very Thriller-esque. And SO odd. 
What'd I tell you?
Verrrrrrrrrrry similar.
As far as the theme for that particular video goes, I guess Paul McCartney and Michael Jackson were these two snake oil salesmen turned miscreant vaudevillian performers who ended up on the run and trying to escape from...people? WTH? Who was it they were running from again? Oh, that's right! Probably all of the creditors and one legged ex-wives right? I thought so! It's very strange.
And I'd really like to know what it is about what would seem to have been his fondness for much older "servants" and "artificial companionship". He had several full-sized, wax statues of people throughout his Neverland mansion. Some are very real looking and not creepy at all. Others would be the opposite of "not creepy at all." You decide. Behold!
See what I mean? Is that Agatha Christie? She looks very pleasant and all, but why is she there? I'm assuming just so he could feel like there were people around him. And really, if you're Michael Jackson, people made out of wax could end up being the best friends you could ever have or even worse, ever hope for. And why is his chauffeur giving him his glitter glove on a tray? Does he need the glitter glove to sit in the back of his limo? How come it's on one of those trays that they serve food on in cartoons? It's not a sparkly snack is it?
You can click on the photo below and it should make it larger. She seems like a kindly old white woman servant with a lovely tatted lace hair/hat piece there. I don't know why the auction folks put her next to a grand piano. Maybe she was there to dust the keys.
And I also really appreciate his sense of humor with this lady/fellow below. It kind of reminds me of the crazy aunt that snuck out of the attic to steal teabags from the kitchen. But the question that I really want to know the answer to is Who the heck is Greg?
It seems that over there at Julien's Auctions they're having a little 
auction consisting of 928 celebrity items, less than twenty of which were Michael Jackson's. Item Number 324 is described as "MICHAEL JACKSON HANDWRITTEN LETTER", the description of which reads "A single sheet of paper from the Pan Am in-flight duty free shop with a note written with black ink in the hand of Michael Jackson on verso, reading in full [sic]: 'Greg thanks for a magic moment in my life, I hope it was the same for you, please come to visit me at Neverland. Lets hope this is the beginning of a long friendship and never lose your boyish spirit its imortal. Love always M. Jackson.'
8 1/2 by 11 inches PROVENANCE The Collection of David Gest.
Behold!
Seriously. Greg who? Louganis? Brady? That's all I've got. Actually, on second thought, maybe I don't want to know. That whole "magic moment" sentiment there kind of oog-ed me out, you know what I mean? Perhaps it's better if I just forget about it and not wonder who Magic Moment Greg is. Perhaps somethings are better left unsaid or unknown? Sure. That's it.
Who am I kidding? WHO THE HECK IS GREG??
