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Thread: OT: RIP Michael Jackson

  1. #121
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    UK Bodyguard's Tribute to Michael Jackson

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/8120079.stm

    As the world mourns the death of Michael Jackson, his former UK bodyguard shares his personal memories of his friend, the "King of Pop".
    Matt Fiddes remembers dressing Michael Jackson in disguise to give him a taste of normal life, sneaking him out of hotels and, above all, his kindness.
    The martial arts expert, who runs a franchise of schools across the UK, met the singer in 1998 through his close friend Uri Gellar, and soon became trusted in his inner circle.
    He was to become his bodyguard - and personal friend - for the next five years whenever Michael visited.
    'Baffling'
    The 30-year-old, from Barnstaple in Devon, last saw him three months ago in London, and said although he had lost a bit of weight, was in great shape.
    "It was a quick visit, he was very upbeat and looking forward to his shows and seeing his fans. He was very positive and looked a bit trimmer, but Michael is a thin guy anyway," he said.
    "He was just getting in shape for his shows and trimming up. It's hard to believe what's happened, he's incredibly fit, and although he's 50, it's like he's in his thirties.
    "I'm in total and utter shock, it's like a dream. I cannot understand, Uri Geller has called me and he cannot understand.
    "I've made efforts to contact the States but they're all being hounded at the moment... it's absolutely baffling. I've called one of his brothers."
    He said he was looking forward to the opening night of the singer's tour next month, which he claimed "would have been the start of his huge comeback".
    "He's the most misunderstood man in the world. Everyone thought he was this weird freak, but when you're with him he's as normal as everyone else," he said.
    "I don't think he felt he was as famous as everyone else thought, he didn't know any different."
    Mr Fiddes said his friend would go out of his way to help the sick, and recalls seeing him send boxes of pizzas to homeless people in London after visiting them in secret.
    "The guy had a good heart and would do everything he can, but everyone looking in couldn't understand him," he said.
    "We used to dress him up and sneak him out of his hotel room and do normal things in shops. People wouldn't know who he was - we wanted to give him a taste of the real life."
    "It is the peculiar quality of a fool to perceive the faults of others and to forget his own." -Cicero

  2. #122
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    Quote Originally Posted by Lucas View Post
    lol.

    ive just been fuggin around on this thread really.

    you should see some of the rises ive gotten out of people in person !


    i actually will defer to everyone else on the specifics of jackson, cuz the truth is i dont really know anything about him.

    but he sure is a controversial subject, which is just LOADS of fun.


    wait...i've been having fun with this thread...not YOU!!!

    "George never did wake up. And, even all that talking didn't make death any easier...at least not for us. Maybe, in the end, all you can really hope for is that your last thought is a nice one...even if it's just about the taste of a nice cold beer."

    "If you find the right balance between desperation and fear you can make people believe anything"

    "Is enlightenment even possible? Or, did I drive by it like a missed exit?"

    It's simpler than you think.

    I could be completely wrong"

  3. #123
    So its Unanimous then!


  4. #124
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    Quote Originally Posted by Oso View Post
    wait...i've been having fun with this thread...not YOU!!!

    No fun for you! MINE!
    For whoso comes amongst many shall one day find that no one man is by so far the mightiest of all.

  5. #125
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    Quote Originally Posted by Yao Sing View Post

    On another note we're never going to get over racial problems when we continually keep everything separate according to race, like first black man this - first balck man that. You don't hear "the first freckled man to xxx" or "the first green eyed girl to xxx" so why make racial distinctions?
    True, but America is still torn by a racial divide both subtle and overt. I've always been as color blond as a person can get, but after hanging out for a while with my friends who had a tan - I saw a different view of the world I thought I lived in.

    None of this is a simple black and white issue. And the casual treatment of a green-eyed girl or freckled man is very different from the casual treatment of the average black man.

    It is sad, but true. Martin Luthers King dream is possible, but it will be a long road, because we are all just people.
    www.kungnation.com

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  6. #126
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    Yeah, America is very RACE DRIVEN!!! WATCH NASCAR!!! LOL

  7. #127
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mas Judt View Post
    True, but America is still torn by a racial divide both subtle and overt. I've always been as color blond as a person can get, but after hanging out for a while with my friends who had a tan - I saw a different view of the world I thought I lived in.

    None of this is a simple black and white issue. And the casual treatment of a green-eyed girl or freckled man is very different from the casual treatment of the average black man.

    It is sad, but true. Martin Luthers King dream is possible, but it will be a long road, because we are all just people.
    you've always seemd pretty smart sounding to me...
    "George never did wake up. And, even all that talking didn't make death any easier...at least not for us. Maybe, in the end, all you can really hope for is that your last thought is a nice one...even if it's just about the taste of a nice cold beer."

    "If you find the right balance between desperation and fear you can make people believe anything"

    "Is enlightenment even possible? Or, did I drive by it like a missed exit?"

    It's simpler than you think.

    I could be completely wrong"

  8. #128
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    Rockin Ponceman

    "George never did wake up. And, even all that talking didn't make death any easier...at least not for us. Maybe, in the end, all you can really hope for is that your last thought is a nice one...even if it's just about the taste of a nice cold beer."

    "If you find the right balance between desperation and fear you can make people believe anything"

    "Is enlightenment even possible? Or, did I drive by it like a missed exit?"

    It's simpler than you think.

    I could be completely wrong"

  9. #129
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    Jackie is a fan of Jacko

    Michael Jackson autographed LP sells for $48,000 to actor Jackie Chan
    November 14, 11:47 AMPop Media ExaminerKatrina-Kasey Wheeler

    Actor Jackie Chan is a big Michael Jackson fan, so much so that he won the winning bid for an autographed Michael Jackson LP which he purchased for $48,000 dollars. Angela Zang also wanted the LP, but she lost in the intense bid to Chan. The event was a charity auction which raised money for AIDS orphans.

    While a report by 88news.net, claimed that Jackie Chan paid over $330,000 RMB (approx $1.57 million USD) for the LP, the amount paid was actually in Taiwan dollars, NOT U.S. dollars. Chan only paid over $48,000.

    According to 88news.net, "At the function, JJ Lin was in charge of auctioning a limited edition autographed Jackson vinyl record at the opening bid of $100,000 RMB. Angela Zhang who has always seen Michael Jackson as her idol, immediately started to bid. Who knew that Jackie Chan would follow, shouting prices with a determined expression. The two of them consecutively bidded 4-5 times, competing fiercely; in the end Jackie Chan was the highest bidder as $330,000 RMB, making Angela feel a bit disappointed."

    After losing the bid Zhang performed her song, 'Invisible Wings' and asked Chan to join her on stage. It is wonderful to see celebrities of Jackie Chan's stature, doing such wonderful things to help with AIDS orphans.
    There's video.
    Gene Ching
    Publisher www.KungFuMagazine.com
    Author of Shaolin Trips
    Support our forum by getting your gear at MartialArtSmart

  10. #130
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    Just when you think this is OT and over...

    Martial arts touches everything. Even Jacko.
    Martial arts instructor speaks out over Michael Jackson controversy
    9:20am Wednesday 29th September 2010

    MICHAEL Jackson’s former bodyguard has sought sanctuary in his home town following claims that he could be the father of the singer’s youngest son.

    Former Greendown pupil Matt Fiddes has been the subject of a media circus following claims by Mark Lester, who played Oliver! in the film version of the musical, that the singer’s third child, Prince Michael Jackson II – nicknamed Blanket – is his son.

    Yesterday Matt, who was Michael’s UK bodyguard for 10 years, spoke out for the first time since going into hiding.

    “The Sun story horrified me,” he said. “It’s been devastating. I’ve been screwed over by somebody with very private information which should never be revealed just because it’s Michael Jackson.

    “I’ve got three young girls who I’ve got to explain to why daddy’s all over the TV. This issue has caused devastation to my family and my business.”

    The 31-year-old, who is at a location in West Swindon, has had to cancel a tour of Australia, where he was set to promote his martial arts schools. “I was due to fly to Australia last Saturday, I was booked on all the major television shows out there,” he said.

    “The press jumped to conclusions that I was going to talk about Michael. When I got to Heathrow I realised there was a media frenzy and that my family needed me. If I went to Australia after what had been in the papers I was only going to be asked one thing.”

    The martial arts expert, who had been living in Barnstaple, in Devon, said he’d returned to Swindon because it is a place where he feels safe and it is somewhere he loves.

    “I want the people of Swindon to know the truth,” he said. “I love the town and I feel like I’m home. People don’t go into my personal life.”

    Matt said Michael had once visited Swindon and had stayed at the De Vere hotel. “Michael was very fond of the area. We went to the cinema at Greenbridge to watch a film and he was amused by the Magic Roundabout.”

    The last time Matt saw Michael before he passed away was in March last year at the Lanesborough hotel, in London, when he recalled sitting on the hotel room floor eating fish and chips with him and Mark Lester.

    “It was the day he announced his concerts. He did look thin and he had doctors with him.

    “Michael was scared stiff about the concerts. He got concerned when the number was increased to 50. He said he was also scared stiff of being assassinated and asked us to look after his children if anything happened. We haven’t been able to do that but I think Michael’s family are doing a great job.”

    Matt hopes the media circus will now die down and he plans on doing a tour of schools in the town, talking about martial arts.

    MATT Fiddes says he has no idea who is the father of Michael Jackson’s son Blanket despite claims that his sperm was used to father the child.

    He said he donated sperm on the advice of a doctor, who was recommended by the singer, when he and his wife, Marcia, were having trouble conceiving.

    A year later Marcia gave birth to daughter Maddison and shortly after Matt said that Michael offered him £500,000 for a second sperm donation, which he declined.

    “I did it for medical reasons, I was desperate for a child and Michael thought I would be a great dad. Michael set it all up for me and I never went back for the results because I produced Maddison.

    “I declined to do it the second time because I had children of my own by then and it would only have complicated matters. I didn’t want any children who might be seen as half sisters to Michael Jackson’s siblings.”

    Matt, who has three children six-year-old Maddison, Lola, four and Savannah, three, said his youngest daughter is the spitting image of Blanket. “But it means nothing,” he said.

    “Michael never confirmed to me, and I have never asked him, if Blanket is mine. They are very much Michael’s children and it’s time to let them be children. They need to be left alone.”

    Matt says that claims of him wanting custody of Blanket are false.

    “I will only intercept if those children are in trouble. If anything does happen to Catherine Jackson, I would like Tito or Jermaine to look after Michael’s children.”

    THIS is not the first time Matt Fiddes has hit the headlines thanks to his with a colourful background in martial arts as well as his link to the most famous man in pop.

    Bullied throughout his time at school, Matt became a black belt martial artist when he was just 11 and by the time he was 17 he had opened his first martial arts school.

    Within six months Matt, who is a 6th Degree black belt master in Tae Kwon Do and holds a Black Belt in Kickboxing and Kung Fu, was the owner of the largest martial arts school in the UK. The Matt Fiddes Martial Arts brand is now based at 500 clubs.

    Matt was introduced to Michael Jackson by Uri Geller and the pair quickly formed a strong friendship with Matt acting as the singer’s bodyguard whenever he visited Europe.

    The former St Joseph’s Catholic College and Greendown student’s connections with the Jackson family also saw him organise visits to the town by Jermaine and brother Tito Jackson in 2008.

    Jermaine visited Matt’s martial arts school, in Station Road, to launch an anti-bullying campaign following the allegations of racism and bullying on Celebrity Big Brother, which he appeared on. In November 2008 Matt attempted to sue Channel 4 over the documentary, The Jacksons are Coming. He alleged the documentary, which followed members of Michael Jackson's family as they were planning to move to Devon, was “faked”.

    He later discontinued his High court libel action landing him with a bill of more than £1m.
    Gene Ching
    Publisher www.KungFuMagazine.com
    Author of Shaolin Trips
    Support our forum by getting your gear at MartialArtSmart

  11. #131
    the media sure can be the biggest scumbags... they have no respect... they hide behind an amendment that wasnt created for the things they are using it to do... and freedom of information is a complicated thing... when its private it should be allowed to stay private... this guy is gonna be dealing with this forever now... i know its not as bad as how some american papers litterally get people killed, but its still pretty bad... if i was famous i have no doubt that i would knock around a few paparazzi here and there... they just go too far, and hide behind the law... i wish a star would turn the tables and hire like 10 dudes to just follow and document of second of some paparazzis life... go thru their garbage... take crotch shots, hoping their dress slips up, its so pathetic...

    the only thing worse is that millions will buy the magazine to read about jackos son and his real daddy... housewives and gossip hounds... wastes of skin...

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