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27 Jun 2009 21:25

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Culture: Jesse Jackson: Michael Jackson’s first autopsy wasn’t good enough

  • Jesse Jackson, speaking for the family, says they want another one. Jesse (no relation) has been in close contact with the family and visited them yesterday. “It’s abnormal,” he said. “We don’t know what happened. Was he injected and with what? All reasonable doubt should be addressed.” Michael, of course, was rumored to be addicted to prescription medications. His body has been released to the family, but there’s no word on whether a second autopsy has taken place yet. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

27 Jun 2009 18:39

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Music: Saturday Mixtape: Bizarre WTF covers of Michael Jackson songs

  • Michael Jackson is the most pervasive artist of our generation, and to prove it, we looked to see what sort of crazy covers of his songs we could find. And boy, we weren’t disappointed.

    1. Our first interpretation is “Beat It” by Inactive Messiah, a Greek melodic death metal band. The intro is very graceful, but our favorite part is when singer Xristos starts growling.

    2. It’s too easy for us to put Alien Ant Farm’s cover of “Smooth Criminal” here. So we put this loose electronica-by-way-of-jazz interpretation by J.Viewz (remixed by S.T.Louder) here instead.

    3. Willie Nelson has a history of bizarre cover choices, unrivaled by any country crooner except Johnny Cash. But did Cash ever cover Michael Jackson’s “She’s Out of My Life”? We think not. (Nelson’s version still makes us cry. :( )

    4. Only Michael Jackson could be covered sensibly in both death metal and Bossanova-leaning smooth jazz styles. The guy guilty of this “Man in the Mirror” cover is Brazilian crooner Paulinho Loureiro.

    5. We totally saved the best/worst for last. Five words: “Black or White,” polka-style. Blame Texingtal Musikanten. source

Posted by Ernie Smith • 3 Comments • Permalink

27 Jun 2009 10:55

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Culture: Michael Jackson’s autopsy: Inconclusive. Wait for toxicology.

  • Another 4-to-6 weeks (at least) of lack of clarity. The autopsy of Michael Jackson, who was reported to have been injected with narcotic painkillers shortly before his death, has proven inconclusive. That means, yes, weeks of speculation of 24-hour news channels await us until we possibly learn the truth about what happened. Unless, you know, the toxicology reports also come up inconclusive. In which case, we’re screwed. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

26 Jun 2009 17:55

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Culture: Lisa Marie Presley: Michael Jackson thought he’d end up like Elvis

  • At some point he paused, he stared at me very intensely and he stated with an almost calm certainty, ‘I am afraid that I am going to end up like him, the way he did.’
  • Lisa Marie Presley • On her MySpace blog, explaining a conversation between her and her former husband where he revealed his fear of ending up just like her famous dad. She tried to get him away from that thinking but he had accepted it as fact, something that hit her yesterday when an untimely death proved to be true. Presley went further in her post, saying that their marriage was in fact not a sham: “I do believe he loved me as much as he could love anyone and I loved him very much.” • source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

26 Jun 2009 15:39

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Culture: Thanks to a couple of dead icons, Generation X is now old.

  • These people were on our lunchboxes. This is the moment when Generation X realizes they’re grown up.
  • Gary Giovannetti • A manager at HBO who grew up with Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson, both of whom obviously died yesterday. Is it accurate? Well, think about this: Kurt Cobain burned out so long ago that the impact of his suicide is starting to fade away, Eddie Vedder, a man in his mid-40s, has long been fading away, nobody talks about “The Real World,” or, heck, MTV anymore, and most Gen-Xers probably have a defaulted mortgage. And now Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawcett died within a few hours of one another. We’d say that Gary’s right. • source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

26 Jun 2009 15:26

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Culture: A doctor was already in Michael Jackson’s house yesterday

  • A person of interest Apparently, Jackson had a doctor living with him who officials have not named. He is currently being held by the L.A.P.D., who want to spend more time questioning him before they let him go. The doctor’s car has also been seized as evidence. source
  • A person of interest Apparently, Jackson had a doctor living with him who officials have not named. He is currently being held by the L.A.P.D., who want to spend more time questioning him before they let him go. The doctor’s car has also been seized as evidence.
  • Jackson’s history with drugs Michael Jackson has long been associated with the use and overuse of prescription drugs. While a toxicology report is still forthcoming, Jackson was sued for $100,000 by a Beverly Hills pharmacy for prescription drugs he had not paid for. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

26 Jun 2009 03:54

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Culture, Tech: The Internet wasn’t ready for Michael Jackson’s death at all

  • Twitter’s traffic doubled in just a short period, and Jackson’s death nearly made Iran a forgotten memory on the site. Facebook had triple the traffic. source
  • The L.A. Times site, which was the first reputable source (sorry TMZ) to confirm his death, had over two million pageviews in just an hour. source
  • But most telling might be the long-running AOL Instant Messenger. They went down 40 minutes, and called the day “a seminal moment in Internet history.” source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 1 Comment • Permalink
 

25 Jun 2009 22:41

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Culture: Key quote on Michael Jackson’s death, from Quincy Jones

  • He was the consummate entertainer and his contributions and legacy will be felt upon the world forever.I’ve lost my little brother today, and part of my soul has gone with him.
  • Quincy Jones • The guy who produced “Thriller,” on the death of the superstar pop icon. Jackson, by the way, died of cardiac arrest and died as he lived: In the public eye with the focus completely on him. Dude had that nature about him. • source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

25 Jun 2009 20:59

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Culture: “Billie Jean” at Motown 25: Remember Michael Jackson this way

  • Before he got ruined by his fame, this is him earning his bread. This dance made his career. “Thriller” was big, but it became epic after this performance. Forget all the other stuff. This is where he should be frozen in amber.source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

25 Jun 2009 20:51

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Culture: The legacy that Michael Jackson left behind, good and bad

Posted by Ernie Smith • 3 Comments • Permalink
 
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