Giving reality a middle finger, Las Vegas still loves machine guns and Michael Jackson.

Michael Jackson slot machines are still available in the wake of LEAVING NEVERLAND, the Cirque du Soleil show still runs at the Mandalay Bay Hotel and the MGM Grand Hotel still believes “Don’t Stop Till You Get Enough” is an eternal banger that must not be pulled from its music PA playlist.

And the Mandalay Bay-based massacre of innocent country music festival fans means nothing.  You can shoot machine guns from the ground (one business is called Battlefield Vegas) or from a helicopter (which at least travels into the desert before allowing customers to fire away).

As the late David Brenner said (in a different context referring to performing in clubs, but relevant here): “You can do anything in Vegas.”

After viewing the entirety of LEAVING NEVERLAND

Here's the brief review I posted on the Letterboxd.com site:
Dan Reed’s meticulous—If overlong and stuffed with too many drone-shot location scene transitions—forum given to Wade Robson, James Safechuck and assorted family members to describe the vast distance between Michael Jackson the beloved all-around entertainer and Michael Jackson the sexual abuser/psychological destroyer of young children.  The horrors of Part One are echoed in Part Two by the Michael-requested perjuries (following other boys coming forward with their anecdotes of damage)  plus Robson and Safechuck’s efforts to cope with the psychological fallout from being repeatedly used/discarded by the self-coronated King of Pop.

Thoughts after viewing Part One of LEAVING NEVERLAND

Certainly the stories of Wade Robson, James Safechuck, their starstruck stage mothers and other family members are powerful and sad examples of victimization—the kind of behavior celebrities (not just pedophiles) can get away with since they know that any kind of acquiescence to gifts/vacations/backstage access/job opportunities provided by Stars will elicit disbelief from jurors  if the Star is tried for sexual assault/misconduct.

There will be people who will watch LEAVING NEVERLAND and continue to listen to Michael Jackson/Jackson 5/Jacksons recordings, compartmentalizing.  A few may pause for occasional reflection about how an abusive, powerful stage father did no favors for a son who imprinted his dubious/exploitative/deeply selfish notions regarding power, desire, misogyny, overriding parents/authority figures, etc. onto the psyches of his chosen “best friend” boys for years/decades afterward.

One question remains.  How many adults who may have been molested by Michael Jackson will speak publicly—by name—to corroborate Robson and Safechuck’s stories?

New poem: NEW YORK CITY SUBWAY SERENADE

Don't believe the stereotype.
The NY Underground was good to me.
Bought a Donna Summer live album
At the record store in the station
Below Times Square.
Experienced the a Capella quartet
While waiting for the Q train.
On the way to the Village,
There was the 12-year-old who
Moonwalked across our car
To the tune of Michael Jackson's
Black Or White.
And finally,
Going across the Manhattan Bridge,
There was the tall New Wave girl in black,
With blonde, pink-highlighted hair,
Who gently kissed her male teenage friend
On the top of his head.

Don't believe the preconceived notions.
Rays of light can be found everywhere.

Re Michael Jackson memorial service participants.

Just found this on http://www.entertainmentweekly.com/:
Today, the Jackson family released the names of performers, politicians and friends who will take part in the late singer's July 7th memorial service. The preliminary list includes Kobe Bryant, Mariah Carey, Berry Gordy, Jennifer Hudson, Shaheen Jafargholi, Magic Johnson, Martin Luther King III, Bernice A. King, John Mayer, Lionel Richie, Smokey Robinson, Rev. Al Sharpton, Brooke Shields, Usher and Stevie Wonder.

Surprised to see Diana Ross not listed above. And more surprised to see John Mayer's name rather than, say, Justin Timberlake.

[UPDATE: I stand corrected. According to KRTH-FM (thanks to Dana Snow for telling me), both Ms. Ross and Timberlake will be there.]

[UPDATE 7/8/09: Ms. Ross and Elizabeth Taylor were not there. And the media seemed disappointed that a cast-of-thousands-of-ordinary-people melee similar to the finale of THE DAY OF THE LOCUST didn't occur.]

And the Michael Jackson news continues.....

Here's a link to the TMZ coverage about the actual parents of Michael's first two children (apparently not him and Debbie Rowe), plus the announcement of the public viewing of the body on Friday at Neverland Ranch:
http://www.tmz.com/2009/06/30/jackson-rowe-not-te-biological-parents/?icid=mainhtmlws-maindl1link3http%3A%2F%2Fwww.tmz.com%2F2009%2F06%2F30%2Fjackson-rowe-not-te-biological-parents%2F

The celebrity deaths continue.

Comedian/impressionist Fred Travelena died at 66:
http://www.popeater.com/television/article/fred-travalena-dies/547966?icid=mainhtmlws-maindl2link3http%3A%2F%2Fwww.popeater.com%2Ftelevision%2Farticle%2Ffred-travalena-dies%2F547966

Actress/singer Gale Storm died at 87--almost completely unknown to today's generation but a popular sitcom star in the 50s (MY LITTLE MARGIE, THE GALE STORM SHOW)--and she recorded "I Hear You Knocking" a couple of decades before Dave Edmunds:
http://www.popeater.com/television/article/gale-storm-dies/547078?icid=mainhtmlws-maindl2link6http%3A%2F%2Fwww.popeater.com%2Ftelevision%2Farticle%2Fgale-storm-dies%2F547078

And another posthumous Michael Jackson note--some want Disneyland to revive CAPTAIN EO, the 3-D featurette starring Jackson and directed by Francis Ford Coppola:
http://blogs.ocweekly.com/navelgazing/a-clockwork-orange/eo/

More links re Michael Jackson.

About the autopsy:
http://www.radaronline.com/exclusives/2009/06/what-killed-michael-jackson-autopsy-be-performed-friday

The unreleased album, which will probably surface posthumously:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2009/jun/26/michael-jackson-unreleased-album

Final hours before his death:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2009/jun/26/michael-jackson-final-hours

ROLLING STONE compiles an Essential Playlist:
http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/28853262/michael_jackson_the_essential_playlist

Kimberly Krautter on Michael-as-public-relations-enigma:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kimberly-krautter/the-public-relations-enig_b_221258.html

Maureen Orth's articles on Michael--dealing largely with the child molestation accusations--for VANITY FAIR: http://www.vanityfair.com/online/politics/2009/06/michael-jackson-is-gone-but-the-sad-facts-remain.html

Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson RIP.

Here's a recently-updated article about the shocking passing of the King of Pop:
http://www.popeater.com/music/article/michael-jackson-dead-at-50/544453?icid=mainhtmlws-maindl1link3http%3A%2F%2Fwww.popeater.com%2Fmusic%2Farticle%2Fmichael-jackson-dead-at-50%2F544453

And an intelligently written obit of Farrah by Mary Elizabeth Williams of Salon.com:
http://www.salon.com/mwt/feature/2009/06/25/farrah_fawcett/

It's been a sad day.

LA TIMES on Michael Jackson bailout/career resurrection.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/music_blog/2009/05/deep-pockets-behind-michael-jackson.html

A friend of mine was wondering if Jackson can make it through the London O2 residency concerts. Hopefully, he can.

But I see the current tour as reminiscent of the latter career of Jackson's former deceased father-in-law Elvis Presley, with the O2 standing in for the Las Vegas Hilton and the subsequent dates as akin to the shows documented in ELVIS ON TOUR (which Martin Scorsese, who directed MJ's "Bad" video, worked on as an editor).