Learning Lessons from MJ ... the "following his steps" thread; understanding my hero [Merged]

Re: Learning Lessons from MJ ... the "following his steps" thread; understanding my hero

I'm reading "They cage the animals at night" at the moment and I only can recommend it to everyone who hasn't read it yet. It's very touching.
 
Re: Learning Lessons from MJ ... the "following his steps" thread; understanding my hero

picked up some aaron copeland on friday ... first classical CD EVER purchased haha the things i do for MJ

keep the good info coming, guys. when i was in the record store, i referred back to this thread so it's very helpful.

anybody got anymore gems?

Haha, you're not the only one. I've also been giving classical music a listen; something I never thought I would do but it is really quite inspiring.

If I recall correctly; Michael's favourite painter was Vermeer and I have just finished reading "girl with a pearl earing" in some ways, Vermeer and his work ethic reminded me of Michael very much. Deffo give it a read before you watch the movie.
 
Re: Learning Lessons from MJ ... the "following his steps" thread; understanding my hero

Wow this is an amazing thread. Thank you so much. I have some saving to do.

We need this right now a way to connect with him more, it that's even possible.

Thank you again, I'm about at tears over this. :heart:
 
Re: Learning Lessons from MJ ... the "following his steps" thread; understanding my hero

I haven't been able to find an interview or anything yet to confirm, but I believe Michael liked Edgar Allen Poe. He supposedly wanted to portray Poe in a movie back in the early 2000's. Does anyone know anything more about this?

Also, tmz posted pictures from the raid of Neverland, and in one of the pictures of a bookshelf, you can clearly see a large blue book with "Poe" on the spine.

That is very true there is photos and interviews where he talks of and you can see Poe's poetry books in his home. You can clearly hear the influence of Poe in Michaels poetry too.
 
Re: Learning Lessons from MJ ... the "following his steps" thread; understanding my hero

Baryshnikov the Russian ballet dancer

Andy Warhol American Pop artist

Sci-Fi - Science Fiction
 
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Re: Learning Lessons from MJ ... the "following his steps" thread; understanding my hero

Look at the Amazon write up for Johnathon Livingston Seagull....this is soooo Michael:

Amazon.co.uk Review
"Most gulls don't bother to learn more than the simplest facts of flight--how to get from shore to food and back again," writes author Richard Bach, in this allegory about a unique bird named Jonathan Livingston Seagull. "For most gulls it is not flying that matters, but eating. For this gull, though, it was not eating that mattered, but flight." Flight is indeed the metaphor that makes the story soar. Ultimately this is a fable about the importance of seeking a higher purpose in life, even if your flock, tribe or neighbourhood finds your ambition threatening. (At one point our beloved gull is even banished from his flock.) By not compromising his higher vision, Jonathan gets the ultimate pay-off: transcendence. Ultimately, he learns the meaning of love and kindness. The dreamy seagull photographs by Russell Munson provide just the right illustrations--although the overall packaging does seem a bit dated (keep in mind that it was first published in 1970). Nonetheless, this is a spirituality classic and an especially engaging parable for adolescents. -

I think I might give this a read...
 
Re: Learning Lessons from MJ ... the "following his steps" thread; understanding my hero

Thank you for the thread!

I know one more book:

'Rip Van Winkle' by Washington Irving

I read about it in Disney Adventure's magazine '92 :)
 
Re: Learning Lessons from MJ ... the "following his steps" thread; understanding my hero

I was reading an interesting article about the Opus book and it said this:

“He was asking loads of questions about how we stitch the book, how we print it"
Jeff Wald, president of Opus Media Group North America, a former music producer who knew Michael, said that it was the attention to detail that the singer loved so much.

“The Opus is exactly what Michael wanted and he was impressed by the obsessive attention to detail. His kids need to have their father’s legacy preserved with integrity and this represents his wishes.”

I don't know about you, but I think Michael would have made an excellent lawyer some day. He was a perfectionist, and he had such a spirited style of rendering his ideas that he paid a great deal of attention to detail. You can see it in the way he wrote his songs. Love you Michael.
 
Re: Learning Lessons from MJ ... the "following his steps" thread; understanding my hero

I am sorry if this has been posted before, but in an interview I read that he loved reading short stories from Somerset Maughan, Whitman, Hemmingway and Twain.
 
Re: Learning Lessons from MJ ... the "following his steps" thread; understanding my hero

Bump :)
 
Re: Learning Lessons from MJ ... the "following his steps" thread; understanding my hero

He was "Peter Pan"....
even named his children starting with the letter "P"... : )

Love MJ,
Cindy
 
Re: Learning Lessons from MJ ... the "following his steps" thread; understanding my hero

Aaah! Just learned some stuff. Great!
Knowledge is power!

*listens to Grace Jones' Feel up*

I know you guys already spoke about THE NUTCRACKER SUITE,
I remember MJ speaking about this classic saying how "every song is killer".
 
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Re: Learning Lessons from MJ ... the "following his steps" thread; understanding my hero

I found from a youtube video a while back that one of his favorite songs was Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun by Debussy. It's a very beautiful and magical piece of classical music. Kinda Disney-like. I can see why he liked it. :)
 
Re: Learning Lessons from MJ ... the "following his steps" thread; understanding my hero

This thread is amazing! I love reading/watching/listening to something Michael connected with. Makes you kinda feel close to him. I'm gonna check out the things people said about in here, thanks for posting everyone.
 
Re: Learning Lessons from MJ ... the "following his steps" thread; understanding my hero

In Brett Ratner's interview with MJ (http://www.brettratner.com/shooterseries/bonus.html), he mentions loving these things:

-Marvin Gaye's "What's Goin' On"
-The Sound of Music
-The Bee Gees. He said he cried listening to their music ("How Can You Mend a Broken Heart")
-Sly & the Family Stone
-Stevie Wonder's "Talking Book", "Living for the City"
-Jackie Wilson
-Burt Bacharach
-The Beatles' "Eleanor Rigby" and "Yesterday"
-Peter Paul & Mary
-Mama's & the Papas
-The Drifters
-Sammy Davis Jr.

He also mentions admiring Thomas Edison, Henry Ford and Walt Disney.
 
Re: Learning Lessons from MJ ... the "following his steps" thread; understanding my hero

bump ^^
 
Re: Learning Lessons from MJ ... the "following his steps" thread; understanding my hero

Yay for bumping!!
Hopefully when I go home for thanksgiving I can go through all my stuff and interviews etc to see what I can add to this wonderful thread :yes:
 
Re: Learning Lessons from MJ ... the "following his steps" thread; understanding my hero

Yay for bumping!!
Hopefully when I go home for thanksgiving I can go through all my stuff and interviews etc to see what I can add to this wonderful thread :yes:

Thanks
:hug:
 
Re: Learning Lessons from MJ ... the "following his steps" thread; understanding my hero

Ok, I just watched the Oprah Interview for the thousand´ time and I am soo angry right now. Maybe you remember the part where she asked him about his skin disorder.So ok, it has to be said. Fine. But then Michael goes on and says, that he loves art (especially Michelangelo...) and that´s what he wanted to talk about. But nooo, Oprah goes on and asked him how many plastic surgeries he had. I mean damn! And that happend like..in every interview he has ever done. I feel deceived!!! Why did people care more about these superficial things instead of asking him what he is intrested in, what inspired him, what he would like to do artistically and so on...
It´s a shame, that this thread just has 6 pages...I mean, it´s not our fault. But it´s really sad. And I am angry as hell...

I really thank Brett Ratner for his little interview. Almost everything written in this thread has it´s information from this interview...


So and "bump" by the way...
 
Re: Learning Lessons from MJ ... the "following his steps" thread; understanding my hero

Yes- that is one thing that gets me all worked up too. The man had so mutch interesting things to say, so mutch knowledge and intelligence. I find it amazing how so many people were unable to actually ask him some good and interesting questions.
 
Re: Learning Lessons from MJ ... the "following his steps" thread; understanding my hero

MJ loved the Elephant man movie. if you listen to the interview he did with Jet he talked about the Elephant man film. The interview is on you tube.
 
Re: Learning Lessons from MJ ... the "following his steps" thread; understanding my hero

Ok, I just watched the Oprah Interview for the thousand´ time and I am soo angry right now. Maybe you remember the part where she asked him about his skin disorder.So ok, it has to be said. Fine. But then Michael goes on and says, that he loves art (especially Michelangelo...) and that´s what he wanted to talk about. But nooo, Oprah goes on and asked him how many plastic surgeries he had. I mean damn! And that happend like..in every interview he has ever done. I feel deceived!!! Why did people care more about these superficial things instead of asking him what he is intrested in, what inspired him, what he would like to do artistically and so on...
It´s a shame, that this thread just has 6 pages...I mean, it´s not our fault. But it´s really sad. And I am angry as hell...

I really thank Brett Ratner for his little interview. Almost everything written in this thread has it´s information from this interview...


So and "bump" by the way...

I couldnt agree more:yes:
 
Question about Michael's intellectuality

Hello everybody :),

Michael was intelligent and intellectual. My question is: what books did he build his intellectuality with ? What books gave him that much knowledge ?

If you guys have the time to do so plz tell me about it, whether it be by only giving me the titles of the books or the titles + your opinion about how good the book is or whatever plz do so.

Thx in advance :D.
 
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Re: Question about Michael's intellectuality

Off the top of my head Michael was just well read in pretty much most areas of philosophy and particular art history.

He liked Dickens and probably most classics. Also black history and Ralph waldo Emerson. He loved 'Jonathan livingston Seagull'

There was a thread on this a while ago can't remeber the whoel title but started out 'understanding my hero...literature michael liked' or something like that. try searching for it, it had lots of info there. :)
 
Re: Question about Michael's intellectuality

Michael had books on everything and encouraged his children to read. Travis mentions how Michael would let the kids watch a movie if they read a book first. I would have loved to have gone through Michael's library. He had everything. Somone has already mentioned that he loved black history books and Ralph Waldo Emerson. I also read that one of his favourite books is 'To Kill a Mockingbird.' He also had a lot of philsophy books.
 
Re: Question about Michael's intellectuality

He liked To Kill a Mockingbird?? That's one of my faves too! Where did you hear that?
 
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