farewell to the king

had tita mabe not emailed me today and told me how they are all turning crazy in the philippines thinking about michael jackson's death, i wouldn't have entertained the idea of actually trekking to the staples center and be witness to history as it unfolds.

tonight, after having thai bbq dinner (again! lol) i called several of my friends to ask them if they wanted to join me at the staples. only my friends xtn and malou were willing to brave the police blockade and the expected mile-long walk to the staples center (the police cordoned off the area and cars are not allowed to park within a certain distance from the staples).


we agreed to meet at 10. i thought i could leave the office at 930 but a late discussion with my boss extended beyond 930. i was only able to leave at 10. they were already waiting for me at the pico-hope intersection where there were two remaining free parking spaces.


don't tell highway patrol but i again violated speeding limits and it only took me about 20 minutes what would normally take me 35-40 minutes to drive to downtown.


when i reached pico and hope, guess what would welcome me? two huge tow trucks. hahaha, call it perfect timing! we were forced to move our cars another block farther from the staples center. we got no choice :(


we found parking along grand and walked more than amile to the staples center.

it was no longer a surprise to find hundreds of people gathered near where the huge memorial poster of michael jackson is located. we took pictures and joined the queue. at the LA live square, i met three lucky people who all received the "golden ticket".



mother-daughter shirley and ivy have a very interesting story how they got to LA today. they were informed that they won tickets to the public memorial yesterday afternoon. they are based in oakland and had no idea how to get to LA the soonest time they can to be able to get their tickets today. they had no money for airfare so one of shirley's daughters, who's a masseuse, posted an ad on craigslist offering free massages in exchange for plane tickets. a kind gentleman took the offer and, voila, ivy and shirley found themselves at the dodgers stadium today and received their tickets to the nokia theater.


another person i met was this filipino guy who got his for a cool $1000 bucks! no more details necessary. ebay and craigslist, someone's able to break through! lol... robert teng was a cool guy and he let me hold his ticket for a closer look. it was the "golden ticket" alright.

the staples center had a different aura tonight. structures surrounding the center were all lit up while a projector beams huge pictures of michael jackson on their walls. it was an amazing sight!


we wrote our messages on the memorial poster, took pictures and ran back to our cars worried that the police might have towed them already. luckily, our cars were still where we left it.

here are more pictures from our farewell visit to the king of pop...

republican congressman calls jacko pervert!

i had my hands full the entire weekend. saturday, i was at work most of the day and went to my friend sarah's house and had barbeque while waiting for my other set of friends to come back from santa barbara. they arrived at quarter to 9 and i didn't get to meet with them anymore. i watched the local fireworks display in cerritos while they went to the los angeles olympic memorial stadium where they spent a good hour watching the fireworks display billed as the biggest in california. my friends nearly injured their necks after they had to crane for seemingly an eternity. a couple of my friends vowed not to watch any fireworks show in the next ten years! hahaha.

it didn't help that they spent the previous twelve hours on the road. my friends drove to solvang for a little wine-tasting trip and took a side trip to california's latest tourist attraction never neverland. i think disneyland should be scared now. if this sprawling michael jackson estate north of santa barbara isn't the newest happiest place on earth then how do you explain the wide smiles that i see of people as their pictures are taken in front of the huge steel gate? lol.

michael jackson will be laid to rest tomorrow in an undisclosed location. many are saying that he would be interred at either of the glendale or the hollywood hills location of forest lawn, a nearly exclusive cemetery for the stars.

tomorrow, a public memorial will also be held at the staples center in downtown los angeles. hundreds of thousands of michael's fans are expected to flood the area.

but while the world seems so enamored of michael jackson, one person is not totally sold on the michael jackson hysteria as evidenced by the report from AP about this republican congressman from new york who called michael a low-life and a pervert. ouch.

here's the story:

Michael Jackson called "pervert" by New York congressman Peter King

NEW YORK (AP) - A New York congressman says in a YouTube video that Michael Jackson was a "pervert."

Rep. Peter King said society is "glorifying" a "low-life" while ignoring the efforts of teachers, police officers, firefighters, veterans and volunteers.

Jackson was acquitted of molesting a boy.

In the video, the congressman says the "day in and day out" coverage of Jackson's death is "too politically correct."

He conceded that Jackson "may have been a good singer" and "did some dancing."

King is among the possible Republican contenders for the seat held by Democratic Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand.

Jackson family spokesman Ken Sunshine says the family is preparing for Jackson's funeral and will not dignify King's statement with a comment.

michael jackson news ticker

Madonna pays tribute to Michael Jackson in concert

Madonna paid tribute to Michael Jackson on Saturday night in the same arena where he was to stage his comeback, dancing along with an impersonator doing Jackson's distinctive moves.
Jackson, who died last week, was to begin a series of 50 concerts at the 23,000-seat O2 starting July 13.

A picture of a young Michael Jackson appeared on stage while Madonna was performing "Holiday," then the impersonator came on, wearing a sequined jacket, white T-shirt, white glove and white socks in the Jackson manner.
The music then switched to Jackson's song, "Wanna Be Starting Something," and the impersonator worked through Jackson's moves, including the famous moonwalk. The impersonator didn't sing.

After the number, Madonna told the crowd, "Let's give it up for one of the greatest artists the world has ever known," and the crowd roared its approval.
read full story here:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090704/ap_on_en_mu/eu_britain_madonna_3

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Massive demand for Jackson memorial tickets

More than half a million fans from around the world applied for 17,500 free tickets to Michael Jackson's public memorial service next week, organizers said on Friday as a massive security operation got underway.The life and music of the self-proclaimed "king of pop," who died of sudden cardiac arrest last Thursday, will be celebrated on Tuesday at the Staples Center, a basketball arena in downtown Los Angeles.

Officials on Friday unveiled an ambitious online lottery that will allow fans to attend either the televised service at the arena or watch the proceedings on a big screen at the nearby Nokia Theater.

But within minutes, the staplescenter.com server crashed. Officials warned additional disruptions were likely as fans logged on ahead of the Saturday deadline at 6 p.m. PDT.

"You might want to consider watching this from the comfort of your own home," said Los Angeles City Councilwoman Jan Perry, who is doubling as the city's acting mayor.
The ceremony will also streamed online.

read full story here: http://new.music.yahoo.com/jermaine-jackson/news/massive-demand-for-jackson-memorial-tickets--61720652

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Networks to offer live Jackson memorial coverage

The memorial for Michael Jackson may be a tough ticket live, but it shouldn't be hard to find it on television.

ABC, CNN, MSNBC and E! Entertainment are among the networks that have already announced plans to offer live coverage of the Tuesday memorial, set for 10 a.m. PDT in Los Angeles' Staples Center.

ABC is sending anchor Charles Gibson to Los Angeles for the story, setting aside its typical daytime programming. CBS anchor Katie Couric will also be at the Staples Center, although the network has not yet said whether it was offering live coverage of the memorial.
NBC is not planning live coverage, but will wrap up highlights in a one-hour prime-time special Tuesday night.

CNN has seen its ratings soar with the Jackson story, and it will show the memorial on the main network and HLN (formerly Headline News). CNN International will air the ceremony to the rest of the world. Anderson Cooper, Larry King and Don Lemon are the anchors for CNN coverage. Robin Meade, A.J. Hammer and Jane Velez-Mitchell will anchor at HLN. CNN en Espanol will also cover it.

Chris Jansing will anchor live coverage of the memorial on MSNBC. Fox News Channel hasn't announced its plans.

E! Entertainment will cover the ceremony on its television network and its Web site.