A Question of Self-Worth - Michael Jackson

l

I'm very sad to think Michael Jackson could not have ever been free enough to be himself.

Michael, age 18

This is a great risk any person takes when it comes to celebrity. It would be easy to become trapped in a public role, or expectation in being a public figure, where you are not treated as anything more than a commodity. I feel this is what the value system of the Jackson family is all about; it's "normal". It's important to pay attention to what people DO, not what they say! The Jackson family has always been about "doing it" for the money. Michael never really knew or understood how to get around it. He was pressured all of his life to be it.

Michael, age 49

He was searching for himself in things... (Including seeing women and children as "things" to be objectified. If he really cared, he would have tried harder to be healthy and keep living... But he was noted to be dismissive of kids once they became a certain age; and of women, if they needed him to act like a man.)

Michael was into quick-fixes like purchases, surgeries, and altering his facial features and skin as a way to act-out against his father. His preoccupation with kids was derived from having his own sexuality being stifled by his mother's religious beliefs.

Was he a victim? Yes, I think so.

He was trapped in a role... Therefore, he was a master of what he was able to do on stage, but the moment he got off stage, he was infantile. He was able to get away with that, and no one ever dared called him on it, or they would be cut-off.

He was in charge of his art form, but he was not in control of himself. And I think this is the crux of what lead to his "dangerous" existence: sadly, he was more "dangerous" to himself than anyone else.

I'm also very sad because I think Michael could have gotten some help. He was a smart guy, ingenious in many ways... But given the constraints of his beliefs and his values, he got away with all kinds things by just paying people off. So it was inevitable he became surrounded by the wrong kinds of people. He stopped paying attention... When people do not share your values and beliefs, they can trick you into a relationship you might not want. Michael was just used to buying people, you know?

Let me just repeat, it was inevitable he became surrounded by the wrong kinds of people. I think he knew what was happening, intuitively. He tells his story in the lyrics to his songs and videos. He just didn't know how to help himself. He wasn't able to trust anyone. He did not even trust himself.

During the most stressful times of his life, when he should have been held accountable for his actions, he turned to doctors. I've seen this happen to many people who were not in control of their lives; they either turned to recreational drug and alcohol abuse (as Michael did, allegedly), or surrender all their power over to pain meds and doctors.

Doctors are trained to coach their patients into accepting that they are the ones in control.

Stir a drug dependency into the mix, and it's very easy for a patient to lose his or her willpower.

I think Michael began to feel powerless in his relationships with people. He was able to control them with his money and prestige, but only up to a point. In fact, kids would get bored with him. So I believe his next course of action was to take his personal fixations with his looks and surgery and turn it all into a sort of hypochondria and illness.

Michael never knew what it was to be loved unconditionally. I have mentioned this earlier in my blog here; but I want to be specific in pointing out how, being sick is a way to put gravity into a situation, and get love and affection. Even if you have to pay a doctor for that attention.

Michael never had it in himself to uphold his own self-worth. Like everything else, he saw himself as a thing... A human doing, not a human-being.

l

Did Hyochondria Get the Worst of Michael Jackson?

It's no secret Michael Jackson was ill. I just wonder if hypochondria got the worst of him? I believe he gave his doctors WAY too much power-over his life.

Today I perused the web just to track down some records of what was speculated about his condition, starting with the list of medications he was using:

Jackson: Death ruled a Homicide.
By Lorena Blas, USA TODAY
August 31, 2009
Fans and family marked Michael Jackson's 51st birthday Saturday as the inquiry into the singer's death officially became a homicide investigation.

On Friday, the Los Angeles County coroner's office announced that Jackson's death June 25 was a homicide. The specific cause of death was "acute propofol intoxication."

The Associated Press had reported last Monday that the death was a homicide. The coroner's report, parts of which were released Friday, said other sedatives contributed to the death, including lorazepam, sold under the brand name Ativan. Other drugs detected in the singer's body were midazolam, diazepam, lidocaine and ephedrine. The coroner's office said the full report was not released at the request of the Los Angeles Police Department, which is still investigating the case.

l

Virtually bald, face a mass of plastic surgery scars; bridge to nose had vanished and right side caved in. Several ribs broken, four injection sites aimed at the heart; stomach only filled with partially-dissolved pills; severely emaciated.

Recent skin cancer surgery, unexplained bruising on knees and shins; bruises and mild cuts to his back, and injection marks over much of the body.

l

Hollywood Grind Michael Jackson May be Seriously Ill Again Posted on February 12, 2009 at 11:19 am(PST)

There have been a lot of rumors floating around for years that Michael Jackson is seriously ill, and it’s not hard to believe since he is always look frail with his surgical masks, and frequent visits to the doctor. In the photo above Michael was visiting another doctor, who probably gave him surgical mask and hair net to leave with.

Concern has been raised by the look of Michael’s hands. They look really scary. Like some fake Halloween hand, but it’s his real hand.

Now we are hearing rumors that Michael has a very serious Staphylococcus aureus bacterial infection, often referred to as "staph." Human skin has staph on it all the time, but a cut can get infected with staph if not cared for properly, and an immuno compromised person is more likely to get such an infection. Staph can also infect the lungs with Staph pneumonia, but rumors say Michael may have a skin infection, and not a standard Staph infection, but rather a sometimes deadly MRSA infection. MRSA stands for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. We are hearing Michael is getting powerful antibiotics intravenously, which would mean it’s very serious.

Get well soon Michael, if you’re really sick.

l

IF you're really sick? What happened to this guy...? From what I can tell, the intensive bleaching of his skin was what may have compromised Michael's immune system. And who knows when that began? More on this below...

l

Report: Michael Jackson Suffering From Potentially Fatal Health Issues Sunday, December 21, 2008 |
FoxNews.com
Michael Jackson is reportedly in desperate need of an emergency transplant operation to save his life from a rare lung condition, according to the author of a new biography of the singer.

Best-selling author Ian Halperin has completed a book about Jackson’s life, which claims that the pop icon, 50, suffers from Alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency, a potentially fatal genetic illness, as well as emphysema and gastrointestinal bleeding.

“He’s had it for years, but it’s gotten worse,” Halperin told In Touch magazine.

“He needs a lung transplant but may be too weak to go through with it … [But] it’s the [gastrointestinal] bleeding that is the most problematic part. It could kill him.” Halperin also claims that the “Thriller” and “Bad” singer can barely speak and is 95-percent blind in his left eye.

Earlier this year, Jackson was photographed in a wheelchair. A few weeks ago, he was spotted receiving help walking, while wearing a Zorro style mask.

Jackson’s rep was not available for comment.

l

It is evident Michael's immune system was compromised. If he was indeed going blind in his left eye, this might have been a signal of a heart condition (the left eye being above his heart, and being affected by blocked bloodflow from the heart). The left side of his body might have begun the process of shutting down as evidently early as last December, 2008. Essentially, with the sorts of drugs being prescribed for Michael, his nervous system was being systematically shut down. As I may have mentioned earlier in this blog, he could have ended up completely brain-dead and in a coma.

l

Jacko's Nanny in Hiding
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
FoxNews.com
By Roger Friedman

Michael Jackson isn’t the only one from his camp trying to avoid testifying in England.

His kids’ nanny, Grace Rwamba, has skipped the US to tour India, friends in Los Angeles say. Grace, to paraphrase John Cusack, is gone.

And I as I reported first here yesterday, Jackson refuses to come to England because he’s claiming sickness. In fact, Jackson has told his lawyer to tell the British court that he has a skin disease that’s preventing him from traveling.

But of course Jackson has always said he has the skin disease Vitiligo, causing him to lose melanin from his pigmentation. He’s always said that’s the reason he’s turned white over the years. It was, however, revealed here a couple of years ago that Jackson uses a whitening cream made with acids and created by the Mickey Fine Pharmacy in Beverly Hills. That came out when he failed to pay his bill there. Jackson’s "skin disease" hasn’t stopped him in the past two years from traveling all over the middle East, to Japan, to Las Vegas, and Ireland. The notion that Jackson is too sick to travel is absolutely laughable at this point.

l

I have a hard time believing this is vitiligo... It is absolutely absurd, and what's even more odd is how Michael seemed to be the only person in his family affected by this condition. If the skin bleaching creams contained acid, and if indeed he was using these skin creams several times a day for several years - just imagine what those acids were doing to his internal organs!

From his photo you can see how Michael's fingers were NOT bleached, lending to a dead-like look in his hands. Walking around with a stomach full of pills, and no real nutritional sustenance in his body left it an open catalyst for a staph infection. Numerous surgeries to his nose may have created lent to a breathing or lung disorder and further disease.

When I first started reading up on Michael's condition last March, I found reports where surgeries were being done earlier this year to graft skin from his ear onto his nose...

l

Well - as an added interest - I found this to be an ironic and funny header - - even Jackson's lawyer becomes sick! Interesting to see how this conundrum of illnesses hit big-time, all during the second child molestation trial in 2005.

Now Jackson Lawyer Sick
March 24, 2005 - 11:08AM

Brian Oxman, one of Michael Jackson's lawyers, is wheeled from the courtroom on a stretcher.


One of US pop singer Michael Jackson's lawyers was in hospital today after being taken ill in court in California at the singer's child sex trial.

Lawyer Brian Oxman became ill just after today's hearing, during which the court was shown pornographic magazines seized from Jackson's home, came to an end.

The lawyer had to be helped from the courtroom before being carried on a stretcher to a waiting ambulance.

The drama came just two days after Oxman's famous client starred in his own courtroom medical emergency when he turned up looking pained and accompanied by a doctor in hospital scrubs.

Jackson's publicist said later he was suffering "excruciating" back pain after a fall less than two weeks ago and was under medical treatment.

Earlier the judge denied a bid by prosecutors to show jurors evidence - including teen porn - seized from Neverland Valley Ranch.

Prosecutors said the four hard drives from the 14 computers police seized from a November 2003 raid on Jackson's estate showed the pop star was a practised web surfer who looked at teen-themed porn sites as well as sites related to Walt Disney, toys and photographs of adoptable children.

Jackson's accuser, now 15, has told jurors in the trial that the 46-year-old pop star showed him and his brother pornographic Websites during their first visit to Neverland.

Santa Barbara County Deputy District Attorney Gordon Auchincloss called the computer evidence "powerful corroboration" of that testimony by Jackson's accuser.

"This is important evidence that this defendant views teen erotic materials in his bedroom," Auchincloss said.

But in a setback for prosecutors, Santa Barbara County Superior Court Judge Rodney Melville said he would not let the material be introduced at trial.

Defence lawyers had argued that much of the material was not from February and March of 2003, the period during which Jackson is accused of sexually molesting the then-13-year-old boy and plying him with alcohol.

They also said the pornographic material in question was heterosexual, featuring girls or women, and that much of it had been automatically cached by the computers, meaning it was not clear that Jackson had retrieved it or seen it.

"The court will grant the defense motion not to allow," the material, Melville said. "It does appear to be cached material.

There's no way of knowing if anyone looked at it or not."

Prosecutors unsuccessfully argued that evidence linked Jackson to the computers, including recovered aliases for instant messaging services - BigMike and King777Tut - that they suggested the pop star had used online.

l

There are No Ghosts at Neverland

Michael Jackson wax doll, Madame Tussauds, Hollywood 8/2009

There are No Ghosts at Neverland

I saw the bit from the Larry King show posted on youtube... I thought it was really in poor taste. But a lot of people are gettng a kick outta it - an additional scene of an ugly "dead" looking MJ pops up in the last bit of footage? and shrieks like a banshee... Horrible.

It may be cameras captured some phenomena at Neverland, but I don't feel Michael had any intention of hanging around here. If anything, he would want to be born again as a child. It is very difficult (and not recommended) to entertain the paranormal, especially without first looking deeply into a person.

The problem is, with the kinds of drug use and addiction Michael had, such activity rips holes in the aura (energy field) of a person. (See my Jesus Heart Blog for more information on this.) It is possible to see this with a lot of people who are on drugs or are heavy users of alcohol. It looks as if some part of their body is graying - like a shadow. That shadow can go on to reverberate in a distant place, stuck in time and space.

With Michael Jackson there was an energy block happening between his eyes, above his nose, and at the back of his head; he was going brain-dead. There was something going on around his heart and his back, too. (I could see this in photos that were taken after the second lawsuit in 2003 - the pictures of Michael standing on top of his limo, with sunglasses, and long straight hair. He just looked lifeless. The expression in his face looked like no one was "home".)

Michael Jackson, 5/2009

(note the prayer beads around his neck)

So what happens with drug use is, bits of the soul are scattered about, even blown-out by force.

Native American Indians have ceremonies for people with scattered souls, which are called "soul retrievals". For instance, if someone is raped or attacked, the experience can push the soul out of the body, so a soul retrieval ceremony is done.

Psychotherapy is a modern form of soul retrieval.

There was a part of Michael that NEVER left Neverland (the guilt part). You see, of course, he was never gonna admit that, but he had to live with it. Emotions like guilt and shame can fragment the soul. It only seems supernatural in discussion, because we cannot see it - but we can sense it and feel it happening in ourselves and others. We can learn to deal with it more successfully by being compassionate and caring. In fact, the soul is very child-like. It's not limited to time, but it only has the understanding of about a 4 or 5 year old.

This is why prayer is useful... Prayer helps the soul to understand and stay connected with our Higher Power. The soul, the Higher Power and the body are conjunctively what animate spirit, keep us breathing and alive.

It's not a ghost, it's an energy there, that is just hanging around, waiting for resolution. By now, with his death and with all the prayers that have gone out for Michael Jackson, it may even be gone.

Actually, the idea of a "ghost" is rather superstitious. A ghost does not have three-dimensional substance or free will! A ghost is more of an energy-imprint which is stuck in ramification... Bouncing around repetitively in a place where the energy is being held or blocked.

There may be parts of Michael's energy hanging around his kids, but I doubt it. I think there have been enough prayers that have gone out for him.

Soon he'll be buried.

People should not try to hold his spirit down by looking for his "ghost". Instead, it would be in a kinder gesture to pray for Michael and direct him to the Light.

I think those closest to him know that and want it, and pray for his peace. That's what really matters!

My Michael Jackson Laugh for the Day!

Ha ha hee!
I needed a good laugh today! More comments below...

n

Michael Jackson Doc Conrad Murray Never Got Paid Prior to Singer's Death
Doctor at Jackson's Deathbed, Who's Likely to Be Indicted, Didn't Have Deal on Singer's Care
By RUSSELL GOLDMAN
Aug. 25, 2009





Conrad Murray, the doctor at the center of the Michael Jackson death investigation, claims he never received any payment during the time he served as the singer's personal physician, according to a source familiar with the arrangement.

Dr. Conrad Murray admits giving the singer several drugs before he died.

Murray, who dispensed a cocktail of potent sedatives, including the anesthetic propofol, to Jackson early the morning of the day he died, was hand-selected by Jackson to serve as his doctor and was to accompany the singer to London for a series of scheduled concerts.

Though Murray and concert promoter AEG were in talks over his salary, negotiations were not completed prior to Jackson's death on June 25, said a spokesman for the company.

"Conrad Murray was Michael Jackson's personal physician for three years," said the AEG spokesman. "Michael Jackson requested Murray be put on as part of the show. Murray, however, had yet to be hired. Discussions were along the way for a completed contract. Murray had signed the contract, however, neither Michael Jackson nor AEG had signed the contract."

"Murray was never hired and never paid by AEG," he said.


Jackson had a reputation for not paying his sometimes extravagant debts. He had on several occasions been sued for failure to pay people the money he owed them or for reneging on contracts.

In 2008, he settled with a Bahraini prince for $7 million after breaching a signed contract to produce a record.

Analyses of Jackson's finances show the singer was in debt and cash poor.

Meanwhile, law enforcement officials said today they expect to soon make public Jackson's complete autopsy and toxicology reports.

Details of Jackson's death outlined in a unsealed search warrant make it seem almost certain that Murray, will be charged in the pop icon's death, according to a noted defense attorney who has been following the case.

"I have no doubt he's going to be indicted," attorney Roy Black told "Good Morning America" today. Black pointed to the two months of intense investigation -- the search warrants, the interviews, the raids in two states -- as evidence investigators will look to Murray as causing Jackson's June 25 death from a drug overdose.

"Just the amount of work tells us that," Black said.

Documents released Monday show that Murray administered a continuous cocktail of sedatives the morning Jackson died in an effort to put the singer to sleep. It was the propofol, a powerful anesthetic typically used in operating rooms, that caused him to stop breathing, according to the report.

n

I'm a little surprised at the casual attitudes I see posted around the internet regarding Michael Jackson as an "addict". It almost seems as if the word "addict" is the equivalent of "garbage".

Michael's addiction was recently compared to that of Anna Nicole Smith; is addiction that simple? In my mind, each person is a unique individual with a personal destiny and a set of experiences which are going to define or challenge their fate. (In the spiritual community, we refer to that as "The Journey".) I am sad Michael Jackson's journey was so toxic and twisted; certainly one of isolation and irony in the public eye.

Personally, I am fascinated by him. I always liked him up until the point where he began to lose touch with reality, around the age of 30. By that time he was SO changed, from the sweet little guy many of us grew up with. He left us all feeling like, "what the f---?" Now 20 years later I tend to believe his every action was a form of rebellion against his parents. And that sucks. (Why give your parents so much power and authority over your life when you can get counseling?)

I've written twice to the White House and given President Obama my thoughts on addiction, psychological therapy and the health care system. It seems Michael Jackson did all he had to do - in many ways he was the epitome of all which goes on here in America. And that includes stuff like not being able to pay your doctor! ; - )

It's entertaining to think a doctor can be a sycophant... Just as much of a butt-kisser as a Joe-Schmoe fan! It totally cracks me up! The one detail Dr. Conrad Murray overlooked was his payment!!! Or was it just one detail? You too can be ignorant and have a doctorate! hee hee hee! What a screwed-up situation! He's lucky Michael Jackson didn't end up completely brain-dead and in a coma. And wouldn't that have been a real hell?

I hope the LAPD tracks down the other doctors involved in the history of Michael Jackson's "care". And let the world learn from it!

I also hope for those of you reading this: encourage the addicts in your life to reach out for therapy. Who knows? There may be some virtue in that person, there, which could redeem them. He or she might be worthy of a better life. Michael Jackson could have had that... So can you.

Michael Jackson Death Viewed as Homicide

The pertinent issue with Michael Jackson's death is, why was a drug like propofol being made available to him outside a hospital setting? Is Dr. Conrad Murray licensed to practice in the United States? Did he understand the U.S. has rules and regulations - I.E. LAWS, in regard to the use of propofol outside a clinical setting? - O.M.

n

Michael Jackson Death Viewed as Homicide



Michael Jackson Death Viewed as Homicide
By Greg Flakus Houston
25 August 2009
The death of pop-singer Michael Jackson has become the focus of a murder investigation, although no charges have been filed against the main suspect, the entertainer's personal physician, Houston-based Dr. Conrad Murray. Investigators say Dr. Murray administered a lethal combination of drugs to Jackson in an attempt to overcome the performer's chronic insomnia.

A search warrant affidavit unsealed in Houston shows the mix of sedatives in Michael Jackson's body at the time of his death was a lethal dose. According to a Los Angeles coroner's investigation, none of the drugs alone would have caused death in the amounts administered, but the combination did.

Since these drugs were administered to the 50-year-old pop singer by his physician, Dr. Conrad Murray, he could be charged with involuntary manslaughter. The Los Angeles Coroner's office has not issued an official report yet, and the document containing the information about the investigation was released by error Monday in Houston.

Although he has not commented on the report, Dr. Murray has professed his innocence since he first came under suspicion. In a message posted on YouTube last week, he told friends not to worry about him.

"I have done all I could do," he said. "I told the truth and I have faith the truth will prevail."

Agents of the federal Drug Enforcement Administration raided Dr. Murray's Houston clinic and storage facility last month looking for evidence, but no charges have been filed against him.

His Houston attorney, Ed Chertoff, says some of the information in the search warrant affidavit is misleading. While he says much of the information is factual, he called other parts "police theory."

Anesthesiologists say most of the drugs and doses Dr. Murray administered to Michael Jackson over the several hour period leading up to his death were not dangerous alone, but may have been in combination. Jackson was suffering from insomnia and was begging the doctor to give him something to make him sleep.

Among the drugs Dr. Murray gave the pop star were Valium and Ativan and Versed. But Jackson remained awake and pleaded for a dose of what he called his "milk", a drug called propofol, which is often used in hospitals to induce unconsciousness.

Experts say the propofol dose reportedly given by the doctor would be considered very low, but they say it may have been too much on top of the mix of other drugs already in his system. Anesthesiologists say it is unusual to use this drug to treat insomnia.

According to the report, Dr. Murray said he had been treating Jackson with propofol on a nightly basis for some time and then stopped out of fear that the pop star was becoming addicted. He then started using the other drugs to wean Jackson off propofol and they worked well for at least two nights.

In the hours before Jackson died, Dr. Murray says he administered five separate doses of sedatives over a six-hour period and finally gave Jackson the small dose of propofol, which succeeded in putting him to sleep.

He says he monitored his patient closely for 10 minutes and all was normal when he left to go to the bathroom. When he returned he found that Jackson was no longer breathing. He says he tried unsuccessfully to revive him before paramedics arrived and took Jackson to UCLA Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead on the morning of June 25.

Prince of Pop, King of Pop

Yowza!
In the 1980's? "Pop" artist Andy Warhol was dubbed
The Prince of Pop

To experiment with make-up, wigs and cross-dressing
was considered not only an art-form in progress,
it was "kinky"."I love Los Angeles. I love Hollywood. They're so beautiful.
Everything's plastic, but I love plastic. I want to be plastic." - Andy Warhol

n

Then Came
The King of Pop...

A work of "art" in progress?
"I never had my cheekbones done, never had my eyes done,
never had my lips done... But, I'm never pleased with anything.
I try not to look in the mirror." - Michael Jackson, 1993

Michael Jackson: There's Anger in Dangerous

A review of Michael Jackson's Dangerous, the Short Films, 1993
by Orandon Marie

Illustration by Mark Rydon

At first watch, this DVD is a little confusing. Packed with more of Jackson's shameless self-promotion, it made me wonder why that was needed? Because in this set of songs, Jackson is talking about being a victim, and showing victims of prejudice. Now I think Jackson took so much crap from the public and media during his career, he had to learn how to promote his own work and efforts to overcome it and continue to be the success he was, and is. (His own campaigning reminds me a little of President Obama's campaign efforts, if the truth be known.)

The flip-side of this DVD is that it shows how the videos were made, some behind the scenes fun. Some of this is self-promotion again; some of it is MJ giving you a glimpse into his world.

I was a little thrown-off by the carnivalesque imagery with Dangerous; however there is some great symbolism here, much of it corresponding to ancient Egypt... Interested?


There is a hand of stone (from the taped-up fingers we can see it belongs to MJ, however, the fingers of mummies in Egypt were taped in the same manner). The hand is paralyzed, and holding a young girl in it's palm. This represents the inner child as female, paralyzed; she is holding the skull of a crocodile. The Egyptian Crocodile God represents death.

She is standing at the gates of death and rebirth, where you see the un-evolved animal spirit entering the tunnel of the astral planes, and coming out the other side, reborn.

I had to sit with the images on the album cover for awhile before I could appreciate the imagery in the DVD. In the DVD you will see some bits that seem to be much like Alice Through the Looking Glass, only this time it's Michael Jackson chasing after the Red Queen, singing, "Why You Wanna Trip On Me?"

The Eye of Horus, rich and green, appears occasionally inside a pyramid; the Eye of Horus was used for protection and as a symbol of medicine in ancient Egyptian times.

Some of the imagery is also corresponding to the innate wisdom of being young. One has to keep in mind that even at an early age, Michael Jackson was world-traveled and someone who witnessed a lot of what was going on with our planet and us, as human beings.

Black or White opens the set. At the beginning it shows, perhaps, rebellion is a healthy way to get free of some things that keep us down... Even inviting us to look at the rebellious spirit of children, in order to understand our own pain and hopelessness (thus the dark dancing sequence of Michael's at the end). Why was this video so controversial for the media? Reporters were concerned about it's sexual and angry impact on young children.

Are we a little higher in our intelligence than animals? That might be a question to ask when watching the morphing sequences of human faces. At the end of the video, MJ states "prejudice is ignorance". What is the difference between stupidity (like a kooky Simpson's cartoon) and ignorance?

Stupidity does not have access to information and tools - like music, languages, the arts. Stupidity is like living in the dark because one doesn't know how to use a light-switch. Ignorance refuses to gain access to those tools; in it's stubbornness and need to be "right", ignorance becomes a form of prejudice. I think MJ is also asking, how much of our ignorance is projected on us by the media?

Super-Bowl Heal the World - I thought these pieces were very emotional, colorful and powerful, especially with the participation of the children (many who are in their 30's by now). Love it!

Remember the Time - just a fun song and dance number with Egyptian themes and fantasy, like a magical dream or reminiscing about the possibilities of past lives.

Will You Be There - another very powerful performance, with more footage from the Super Bowl gathering. A prayerful song for the spirit of the child, Jackson is saying many go to war and act-out with righteousness because they were wounded as children. He would be one to know!

In The Closet - erotic and frustrating; MJ comes across a sort of dancing Pinocchio when it comes to actualizing his desires in real life. Better to have a super-model do that for him?

Gone Too Soon - with an intro and montages featuring a young boy talking about discrimination, someone who died from AIDS, this one is dedicated to sick and orphaned children, and children with AIDS.

Jam - Jam is basically saying life is very confusing, like a game; we've got to learn how to take advantage of every day of our lives, because life is short. Featuring artists of the time - Kris-Kross and Heavy D, I love the beat with the jingling bells, interspersed with more kids dancing, playing and jumping rope (as if it is the children that keep life going here).

Heal The World - seeing this performed live brings tears to my eyes. It was important to Jackson to make videos, he said, because these would outlast the actual concert performances, leaving images behind which would stay with people's minds. Once you see this video, you will want to learn the song and sing it to a few people you care about (and even some you dislike).

Give In To Me - interesting rock performance piece. Jackson was multi-talented, and did some scat-singing in this video which reminded me a lot of George Benson's approach to rockin'. Give In To Me, and not to the ignorance out there; give in to the testimony of my life and what I have lived through, and learn from it. Let my life be a tool, a source of information that will help and prevent others from living in stupidity, and by their hard experiences.

Michael Jackson... His inner "world" is in turmoil, turned upside-down.

Sets are interspersed in here with a video montage of Jackson sitting at the piano, playing and singing to himself "I'll Be There", with footage of himself from childhood, harmonizing. Just lovely!

Who Is It - another romantic piece about loss and betrayal; slick filming; seems more personal and autobiographical.

Dangerous & Why You Wanna Trip On Me? - The energy of the two pieces as they blend into to one another seem to say, instead of looking for what's good and what's right, why do we tend to look for trouble?

Our natural curiosity as children are lost in hopelessness and cynicism. That's the real danger, is it not?