VaBeachGuy

Uhhhhhhh........who?

From the report that I saw on Fox News it sounds like a head injury sustained on his flight the night before could be the cause here. I never bought any of the items that he advertised but his commercials didn't annoy me, the ones with that guy that advertises "Sham-Wow" gets turned off with the first instant of recognition.

As regards the children, I thought it was common knowledge his children were conceived in vitro. I feel sorry for the kids - the whole thing is messed up.

I too have rarely followed Michael Jackson, either his private (public) life or his music so I don't really know what was previously known or assumed but what this woman is claiming isn't that they were conceived in vitro. What she's claiming is that Jackson doesn't have any biological connection to the children whether it be in vitro or by sexual conception. At least that's what I understand she is claiming.

Ok, but is this the same mother who chose to separate herself from the children? I know one of the children's mothers made the effort to be out of their lives.

 

I'm sorry if it seems I'm more of a fan of Michael than I am. As a radio personality, I do feel a certain amount of serious loss for the industry I work in. But for me, what's galling me more is the lack of common courtesy to the bereaved and fundamental respect for the fact that a human life, which I believe all human life has intrinsic value, is gone. He wasn't the best human being ever, but something of value has been lost.

 

I just want to thank those on here who have been kind enough in respecting my wishes. I didn't have the right to ask for what I did, but I was just so frustrated by the vitriol I'd seen on this and other forums, I felt I had to say something about it. So, thank you.

I don't know any of the details of what happened in the past so I don't know if this is the same woman or not. What I do 'know' is what's being reported now and that's that she's the mother of the 2 older children, she hasn't been involved in their lives for quite some time and she was divorced from him after 2 years of being married (I think it was after 2 years). There was some talk that she had been fighting to some extent for a little while for some kind of parental rights (either visitation rights or custody... I'm not sure on that though).

I can't imagine how it would benefit her though to say that the kids weren't fathered by him other than to gain her custody, by saying he wasn't the biological father would seem (to me at least) to give the Jackson family the ability to limit or sever any financial support that might otherwise have been given to the children. I don't know that they would do that, but it would seem logical that they could if the kids weren't really his biologically and if there were no adoption papers. Of course if that's the fact, that he wasn't their real father and he didn't adopt them then that means that she (the mother) left her 2 children in the care and custody of a man that was not related and had been twice accused of child molestation. I don't see how that would help her gain custody either.

Whichever way this goes though I see the potential for a very ugly, very public display in the coming months and years. There's potentially hundreds of millions if not billions of dollars on the line here and the fight for that money hasn't even begun yet.

Looks like things might get ugly, I just saw a report that the mother of the children is now claiming that Michael Jackson didn't father them.

 

My goodness. Is there no one else out there who genuinely wishes for him to Rest In Peace, and to hopefully find peace and better friends in the next life than he found in this one? I mean, I know she's trying to get custody of the children, and that is very important, to see that the children are taken care of, but to go and say that... Y'know, true or not, it's really just pointless, and why the heck didn't she bring it up while he was alive? They could have done a paternity test.

They spoke more to the reporter that she spoke to and he said that she did claim it before he died as well as claiming it again yesterday. If she presses this issue then I could see a paternity test being ordered by the courts.

Looks like things might get ugly, I just saw a report that the mother of the children is now claiming that Michael Jackson didn't father them.

I've been watching the coverage on Fox news tonight and a lot of the people are talking about the "shock" of the news of his death. Honestly, I wasn't shocked. When my mother called me and told me that he had been rushed to the hospital and wasn't breathing I just wasn't shocked. Surprised a little because it had just been an hour or 2 that I had learned of Farrah's death so having another big star die on the same day is just a little unusual.

My first thought was "I wonder if it might be suicide because of all the child molestation charges and being financially stressed...", it just wasn't a shocking thing to me. Not expected, as with Farrah but not shocking either.

That said (about not liking chicken), I do eat a lot of Chicken McNuggets and McChickens. So I don't totally dislike chicken.

Since when do McNuggets have chicken in them? :)

Since about 1983

I've never been much for chicken, fried or grilled so I doubt I'll ever try it. When I do get chicken it's normally from Hardee's though and the piece that I like the most is the wing.

That said (about not liking chicken), I do eat a lot of Chicken McNuggets and McChickens. So I don't totally dislike chicken.

It's hard to set aside what children say when it comes to being abused, though it's always possible that the children were manipulated into saying the things that they said. I would like to believe that nothing happened but I can't say that I believe that nothing happened, nor can I say that I believe that something did happen. I just simply don't have any facts to go on.

It's one of those things that probably only the children and Jackson himself knew the truth. If it was true then I suppose that it's possible that some others within the house may have known as well, but it's not something I was involved in so I can only go on news reports. Like accusations of rape though I do believe that you have to come down on the side of the accuser until more information comes to light that might discredit him or her.

I'm not sure that I've even heard of it.

Comparing John Lennon and Elvis to Michael Jackson in terms of who was the bigger star isn't a fair comparrison. The music environment was completely different. Michael Jackson had the Jackson 5ive but his rise to superstardom had a lot to do with MTV and a changing news media environment. These are things Elvis and Lennon didn't have in their times.

 

Would Lennon or Elvis have been as big if we had MTV (or music videos in general) in the 1940s and 1960s? Would Michale Jackson have been as big if you could only see him by attending a concert or watching a movie he was in? Who knows. If they were in different times they might have been bigger stars or not stars at all.

 

I was never a fan of Jackson. 50, however, is a bit young to die of a heart attack.

I completely agree, it is unfair to make the comparison in terms of stardom or even record sales (though Elvis sold over 1 Billion worldwide). The best comparison might be in public reaction to the news of their deaths. I fully remember the day Elvis died and the reactions to it as well as Lennon and now Jackson. For me to make the comparison between the 3 events probably wouldn't be fair either though since I've been a big Elvis fan since my memory began and have never cared for either of the other 2 musically. That said though I was saddened by the news of both Lennon and Jackson. Both were very talented and gifted and altered music to one extent or another and you can't ignore their impact.

I would however point out that the dates that you mention don't really fit, Elvis was only 13 in 1949 so while he was singing in church he wasn't on the "music scene" quite yet. In one sense though Elvis was the pioneer of the "music video", he did 31 motion pictures that were basically 90 minute music videos and then 2 concert movies that were... well concert videos. Not quite "MTV" but you see what I'm saying.

Yes, 50 seems far too young for a heart attack though there are many people that age and younger that die of "heart attacks". The question seems to be coming up now as to whether or not polypharmacy might be a cause in this case.

Kirk did say to Scotty, in 'The Apple', as Vaal was quickly nearing the bringing down of the ship, ''Jettison the nacelles if you have to, and crack out of there with the main section....'' so it sounds like he may have been alluding to that....

It's been a long time since I've seen "The Apple", it was never a favorite episode of mine but I'll have to re-watch it soon.

Lennon was big for being in the biggest Rock band ever , just as Elvis is a legend for being the best solo artist. They were mainly saying that the last big legend that had died before Jackson was Lennon

Yeah, and had Lennon lived into the 90's or into current days then died it'd have been a much bigger story (not that it wasn't when it happened). The nature of the entertainment business today with MTV and the internet and so forth tend to make things like this a bigger story.

As you said though, like him (or his music) or now he was legendary and an icon in American music.

I actually don't think John Lennon was that 'big' for it to be a good comparison. I believe Michael Jackson was a much bigger star than Lennon, the comparison that I've been hearing on Fox is with Elvis. I was never really a fan of Michael Jackson, I did like some of the Jackson Fives music in the 70s though.

It's always sad to see someone so young die.

I'll always think of her through the eyes of a 9 or 10 year old boy in the late 70's. It's hard to think of her as being 62.

Now they're reporting that he's died.

Just heard on Fox News that he's in a coma.

http://www.usatoday.com/life/people/2009-0...it_N.htm?csp=34

 

Farrah Fawcett dies at 62

 

She was Hollywood's penultimate golden girl. And, now, Farrah Fawcett, who epitomized the all-American ideal of beauty, has died after a three-year battle with cancer. She was 62. Her spokesman, Paul Bloch, says Fawcett died Thursday morning in a Santa Monica hospital.

 

In September 2006, Fawcett learned she had anal cancer. The devastating news led to a reconciliation with her on-and-off boyfriend, Ryan O'Neal, 68, the father of their troubled son Redmond, 24. O'Neal was by her side as Fawcett went through chemotherapy and radiation treatments and the actress was declared cancer-free in February 2007. But later that spring, she learned the cancer had returned. After growing weary of ineffective treatments in the USA, Fawcett fled to Germany in September 2007 for alternative cancer therapies.

 

Fawcett's tumultuous personal life belied her scrubbed, wholesome good looks. Perhaps most heartbreaking for her, Redmond's ongoing battle with drug addiction, which led to two arrests. In September, the youngest O'Neal was arrested and charged with drug possession after methamphetamine was found in his father's Malibu residence. And on April 5, Redmond was arrested again for allegedly trying to sneak drugs into prison, where he'd been visiting an inmate. He was sentenced to drug court, an intensive rehab program, during which he was allowed to visit his ailing mother under police supervision.

 

Fawcett will long be remembered as the pistol-packing blond Jill Munroe on the '70s classic Charlie's Angels. But her legacy may be that she was never completely victorious in the decades-long battle she waged to overcome that enduring, indelible sex-symbol image. It is fitting that Fawcett — who launched to superstardom on the small screen — also said goodbye the same way. In May, NBC aired the documentary Farrah's Story, chronicling Fawcett's battle with cancer, attracting nearly 9 million viewers.

 

"I'm holding on to the hope that there is some reason I got cancer and that there is something, that may not be very clear to me right now, that I will do," Fawcett said in an interview filmed for the documentary, according to Access Hollywood.

 

It's hard to believe that it took just one season — and 12 million copies of an unforgettable poster — to launch a deep-seated phenomenon that would carry on for more than two decades. After only 22 episodes, Fawcett walked away from her hit show, saying it was preventing her from growing as an actress. Producer Aaron Spelling threatened to sue her for breach of contract, she agreed to guest appearances on the series and was ultimately replaced by model Cheryl Ladd.

 

Fawcett had no regrets about leaving. When she hit it big on Angels, Fawcett's life was "in great turmoil," she told LIFE magazine in 1987. "I was locked into a character who was never changing. The producers did not really want to change. They had a successful format. But on the other hand, if I hadn't had that show, I don't know if I'd be where I am today, even though I couldn't really appreciate that fact at the time. You're just never in sync."

 

It took years before Fawcett was able to gain the critical notices she yearned for as a serious actress. Yet, they still stung with an awe-inspiring tone of surprise that TV's air-headed sex symbol, indeed, had some genuine acting chops.

 

Critics offered praise for her first post-Angels return to television in the 1981 film Murder in Texas. Fawcett gained more critical raves and professional cachet with her 1983 leading role as rape victim in the off-Broadway play Extremities.

 

With the strongest role of her career — as an abused wife in the 1984 TV movie The Burning Bed— Fawcett earned an Emmy nomination and, at last, professional respect. But it would be more than a decade before she found a taste of critical acclaim in film. Fawcett seemed poised for a movie career after earning praise as Robert Duvall's spouse in 1997's The Apostle. But that never materialized. By the early 2000s, Fawcett was back on TV, and she earned another Emmy nomination with her work on CBS' The Guardian.

 

Behind that glossy grin, all-American good looks and acting stamina was a life both turbulent and troubled as Fawcett struggled to find personal happiness.

 

The daughter of James, a refinery pipe fitter, and Pauline, a homemaker, Fawcett — yes, it's her real name — was born in Corpus Christi, Texas, and attended the University of Texas at Austin, where she was voted one of the campus hotties. After switching her major from biology to art, Fawcett left school in her junior year and headed to Los Angeles.

 

The knockout with the flawless teeth and blinding smile landed an agent in her second week in Hollywood, and was soon starring in Ultra Brite toothpaste and Wella Balsam shampoo commercials. She found love, too, with the future Six Million Dollar Man, Lee Majors. The two married in 1973, and three years later, she was cast as one of Aaron Spelling's Angels. In 1979, Fawcett and Majors split up and that fall, she began living with O'Neal, marking the beginning of one of Hollywood's most memorable love stories.

 

O'Neal had been married twice and had three children. His reputation as a ladies' man preceded him, but Fawcett wasn't deterred.

 

"I didn't think about that. I just took it day by day. I was so overwhelmed by this mental and physical attraction for him that I didn't think about anything except what was happening right there," she told LIFE. "We just eased into it. To find someone who keeps you stimulated almost all day long — if you do happen to be with him all day long — is very rare."

 

The relationship was tumultuous, however, and was chronicled in his daughter Tatum O'Neal's tell-all A Paper Life. The two never married, but seemed unable to stay apart, and on Monday, O'Neal announced they planned to marry as soon as Fawcett felt strong enough.

 

Fawcett herself sometimes thwarted her attempts to maintain her momentum as a serious Hollywood actress. In the face of her lifelong quest for critical respect, Fawcett was 50 when she agreed to pose for Playboy magazine. She also released a Playboy video, All of Me, in which she paints using her much-admired body as a paint-brush. She made headlines for the wrong reasons with a dazed and confused June 6, 1997, appearance on The Late Show With David Letterman, and her January 1998 brawl with then-boyfriend, producer James Orr, which left her bruised. A 2005 TV Land reality show, Chasing Farrah, was short-lived and quickly forgotten.

 

Not even Fawcett could explain her own appeal. "But it's something I can't escape," she told Texas Monthly in its January 1997 issue. "I was in Houston recently visiting my parents, and we went to one of those chicken-fried-steak restaurants. Redmond and I had just been Rollerblading. I was wearing no makeup, and I hadn't done anything to my hair, and this one-hundred-and-seventy-five-pound woman came up to me and shouted, 'Farrah, how can you let yourself go like this? You are Farrah Fawcett!' Then she asked me to sign an autograph because Charlie's Angels had been her favorite show. I thought, 'Sometimes it isn't worth it. The fame is just not worth it.' "

 

She got sick of her own photos, telling LIFE that "there have been way too many" of them out there of her. Her looks became the curse that she could never escape, she told Entertainment Weekly in 1996.

 

"I see T-shirts everywhere, with my face, my poster," she said. "In Saudi Arabia they're using photographs of me — not only from Charlie's Angels but from when I did ads for Faberge shampoo — to advertise everything: clothes, food, vitamins. It's almost like I couldn't stop it even if I wanted to."

 

After years of friction and fighting her Angels notoriety, Fawcett finally embraced it in recent years and reunited with her fellow Angels at the 2006 Emmys, walking out on stage with Kate Jackson and Jaclyn Smith.

 

But Fawcett's longing to be taken seriously and escape her larger-than-life persona stayed with her to the end.

Something that I had forgotten about is that according to this book the saucer section of the 1701 was supposed to be able to detach (like the 1701-D). We of course never saw it happen and I can't recall any instance of them even mentioning it, but I wouldn't be at all surprised if it was part of the original concept for the Enterprise.

Yep, that was Joaqim, his second in command-played by the same actor who guested a few years later on TNG's ''Symbiosis''...

He (Judson Scott) also played Cmdr. Rekar (The Romulan commander on the Prometheus) in the Voyager episode "Message in a Bottle".

82 again here today.

I haven't really seen a lot of high temps yet, today it was in the very low 80's (I think 82 was the high).

*hides the egg*

 

i have no idea what your talking about.....lol

 

for me it'll have to be first contact. mostly because not only you'd get to see the defiant for the first time, but also see picard actually "snap" and become as almost as obsessed as Captain Ahab hunting for Moby Dick.

Defiant had actually been around for a while by the time of First Contact. It's first seen in the first episode of season 3 "The Search".

curious, would it be possible for someone to watch seven seasons in a week? That's a season a day for DS9

If I'm not mistaken there's 176 episodes of DS9, each episode is roughly 45 minutes on DVD I believe so that works out to about 132 hours. There's 168 hours in a full 7 day week, so it'd be possible but that would only leave about 5 hours per day to sleep or do anything else.