Nothing is forever
Going away from the political topics a while, it is time for some more nostalgia. I was looking through some pictures of Michael Jackson’s famed Neverland Ranch, and despite the endless array of very expensive gadgets and furniture, it is pretty surreal to see it as a shadow of its former glory. When the guy left the property in 2005 after being acquitted of very serious criminal charges, the property started to rot. Overgrown grounds, rides falling apart, animals gone, and the list goes on and on. I do not want to know what it cost to restore the place. Even if I knew the number, I would not begin to fathom it, because that kind of money is beyond my wildest dreams anyway. I am sure just a few trinkets on the property is worth much more than all the money I made in my lifetime.
Yet at the same time, there are richer people out there, and I cannot imagine what somebody, say, like Bill Gates does with his billions and billions of dollars. I guess he found a few ways. In fact, I sat down and tried to imagine what I would do with a billion dollars. I made that list, and found it is pretty easy to piss away a billion dollars. Maybe some crappy investment like Madoff.
Report after report discussed the state of Jackson’s financial affairs. Few said his finances were stable, and after seeing some video of the guy spending a few bucks on endless crap very few will ever look at, I could easily see how somebody so rich could go broke. Was he really broke? It is hard to say, because I never saw his balance sheet. Maybe somebody else knows. Towards the end of his life, the ranch would see foreclosure proceedings. Apparently, the guy did not really care one way or another, because from what I understand, did not want to go back. Whatever the reasons, the property was refinanced in some odd deal I could not really understand, but it does not really matter if I understood it or not. The guy is dead, and his complex estate is in the hands of lawyers, creditors, and an army of people trying to grab a piece of the pie. Yes, the squabbles continue, and will most likely see squabbles for years to come. I have nothing to do with it, so it should make little difference.
Putting all the complex money and legal issues I will never understand aside, looking at the place is interesting yet kind of sad. Reading about his life, it is filled with the smoke of PR from many camps. One thing was clear, and everybody seems to agree the property reflected the lifestyle of a man shut from the outside world. Inside this golden cage must of been very lonely. I could not imagine not being able to drive off the lot to buy something like chewing gum without having cameras in my colon. I guess there is a price for everything, even freedom. The little freedom he did have was close to being stripped away for decades (if he were convicted) when the police came knocking on the door a few times for charges of molestation. Good thing he had the best defense lawyers in the country to defend the charges. However, that was not free. I would have hated to see the bill for somebody like Thomas Mesereau. According to reports, Jackson spent untold tens of millions of dollars not only for the defense of his 2005 trial, but settling the other case (what was it, like $20 million or something?). If there were others, I am not sure, but that is not the point. The point is, the man tried to make his compound a secure little world away from the prying eyes of an adoring and critical crowds. One of the most famous faces in the world would become a paradox; he grew very secluded.
When the auction for his famous items were available to look at on the Internet, I could not help but to look at these items in awe and peculiarity. From statues to trinkets, big ticket items like Rolls Royces and paintings. Items so expensive it made me fall off my chair. It was still interesting to see the items I could only own in my dreams. I thought to myself what it would be like to live such a life Jackson led, and I came to the conclusion such a life would not be for me. I hate people prying in my life, and such fame would be an absolute nightmare for me. Was it the same for Jackson? The property seemed to reflect that. Everything a town would have was all locked in a large compound, from a zoo, carnival, snack carts, and an endless array of helpers. All of this stuff costs serious money to keep up, and again, would have hated to see the bills.
Now that he is dead, it is an end of an era. All the items are out of the property. The animals are somewhere else. The rides have been torn down sold and used somewhere else. I wonder if people know the ride they are on was once owned by one of the most controversial, yet famous people on the planet? Probably not. The house sits empty, and I have no idea what it will be used for. Somebody out there will buy items he did own, and such items will be worth a mint as time goes on.
Does it matter anymore? No, not really. I have my life to lead, and life goes on with or without Michael Jackson. Eventually, I will die too, but the difference is, I will probably not have a fancy casket or throngs of people talking about what I did or did not do. That is how I would like it.
Jackson was a good talent, and his music will endure. The property and his world? Well, not so much. Why? Nothing lasts forever.
