View allAll Photos Tagged beatit
Pseudo-compassionate break up line that fell into the wrong hands...(translation) of course it's YOU
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZxDV4urtREg
Wearing:
Nardcotix Rosie
.SHI Eirene
ZIBSKA Noir Pack
with the fabulous Mr. Root
What did the egg say to the whisk?
It beats me.
Quickly moving on here's My PoD for today and song title #39
Beat It was released by Michael Jackson back in 1982.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=oRdxUFDoQe0
For 100x the 2023 edition. Song Titles
Wait there's more....
Also for 109/123 Utensils: 123 pictures in 2023
Another fave from the Quilt Show I attended last weekend!
This was created by Nancy Messier.
"Just beat it, beat it, beat it, beat it
No one wants to be defeated
Showin' how funky strong is your fight
It doesn't matter who's wrong or right"
~ Michael Jackson ~
Cork Ireland
© Copyright - brendan ó - 2011 | All rights reserved.
Please do not use, copy or edit any of my materials without my written permission. If you want to use this or any other image, please contact me first.
NEW: I NOW CREATE MUSIC, JOIN ME ON SOUNDCLOUD!
SHOP: www.icanvas.com/canvas-art-prints/artist/ben-heine
This is a full digital painting. I somehow wanted to express what Michael gave us. His heart was a rose, he was the healer, he will never be forgotten.
Please, don't miss my other MJ portraits:
- M J - Eternal Hurt Child: www.flickr.com/photos/benheine/3728685685
- M J - Text Portrait: www.flickr.com/photos/benheine/3668777383
- M J - INVINCIBLE: www.flickr.com/photos/benheine/3699136453
_______________________________________________
For more information about my art: info@benheine.com
_______________________________________________
Heal The World
By Michael Jackson
There's A Place In
Your Heart
And I Know That It Is Love
And This Place Could Be Much
Brighter Than Tomorrow
And If You Really Try
You'll Find There's No Need
To Cry
In This Place You'll Feel
That There's No Hurt Or Sorrow
There Are Ways
To Get There
If You Care Enough
For The Living
Make A Little Space
Make A Better Place...
Heal The World
Make It A Better Place
For You And For Me
And The Entire Human Race
There Are People Dying
If You Care Enough
For The Living
Make A Better Place
For You And For Me
If You Want To Know Why
There's A Love That
Cannot Lie
Love Is Strong
It Only Cares For
Joyful Giving
If We Try
We Shall See
In This Bliss
We Cannot Feel
Fear Or Dread
We Stop Existing And
Start Living
Then It Feels That Always
Love's Enough For
Us Growing
Make A Better World
Make A Better World...
Heal The World
Make It A Better Place
For You And For Me
And The Entire Human Race
There Are People Dying
If You Care Enough
For The Living
Make A Better Place
For You And For Me
And The Dream We Were
Conceived In
Will Reveal A Joyful Face
And The World We
Once Believed In
Will Shine Again In Grace
Then Why Do We Keep
Strangling Life
Wound This Earth
Crucify Its Soul
Though It's Plain To See
This World Is Heavenly
Be God's Glow
We Could Fly So High
Let Our Spirits Never Die
In My Heart
I Feel You Are All
My Brothers
Create A World With
No Fear
Together We'll Cry
Happy Tears
See The Nations Turn
Their Swords
Into Plowshares
We Could Really Get There
If You Cared Enough
For The Living
Make A Little Space
To Make A Better Place...
Heal The World
Make It A Better Place
For You And For Me
And The Entire Human Race
There Are People Dying
If You Care Enough
For The Living
Make A Better Place
For You And For Me
Heal The World
Make It A Better Place
For You And For Me
And The Entire Human Race
There Are People Dying
If You Care Enough
For The Living
Make A Better Place
For You And For Me
Heal The World
Make It A Better Place
For You And For Me
And The Entire Human Race
There Are People Dying
If You Care Enough
For The Living
Make A Better Place
For You And For Me
There Are People Dying
If You Care Enough
For The Living
Make A Better Place
For You And For Me
There Are People Dying
If You Care Enough
For The Living
Make A Better Place
For You And For Me
You And For Me
Make it a better place
You And For Me
Make it a better place
You And For Me
Make it a better place
You And For Me
Heal the world we live in
You And For Me
Save it for our children
You And For Me
Heal the world we live in
You And For Me
Save it for our children
You And For Me
Heal the world we live in
You And For Me
Save it for our children
You And For Me
Heal the world we live in
You And For Me
Save it for our children
--> Watch the video clip on You Tube: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jpz5eD9L4dA
My Heart Is Always in My Way
By Peter S. Quinn
My heart is always in my way
Like a night that comes to shine
With every light of reddish ray
That clearly is of loves divine
In evening silence torching sky
Where horizon shine will glow
And we ask questions for what and why
Our love in touch and feelings flow
Like rustic meadows in the wild
Or the moon behind the cloud
Each loves thread is hard to defile
Like loneliness is in a crowd
The sands of life forever run
And gives its many strange decisions
Between the rainclouds and the sun
Of perfect ways and timeless precision
The garden of love's
Growing everywhere
In sweetness and trust
That around comes
It blossoms prettiest
In strongest affair
Of inner thoughts
In the wisest kingdoms
The gates of their dreams
Were not back shut
For the doors are
Opened up quite and wide
And with its pouring
They are still uncut
In their wholesome sweet
And each bona fide
To aspire there in
Each new going on round
Like the flowers grow
And become of green
You need to aim
In each way and profound
Like seedlings rise up
To be on earth seen
Each passion then be
Of love or its hate
Like opposite directions
In each debate
Our life is like a melting rock
Of its diamonds and pearls to give
That with our time and entire luck
We will find their ways to live
And rise among the dear and dry
That turns all luck into the going
For some will come as others fly
Without it we perfectly knowing
My heart is always in my way
Like a night that comes to shine
With every light of reddish ray
That clearly is of loves divine
Our life is like a melting rock
Of its diamonds and pearls to give
That with our time and entire luck
We will find their ways to live
My heart is always in my way
Like a night that comes to shine
My heart is always in my way
Like a night that comes to shine
--------------
The poem appeared on www.poemhunter.com/peter-s-quinn
This is a postcard addressed on the verso to "Mrs. D. P. Conklin, Highland Mills, N.J.," but otherwise there's no handwritten message, stamp, or postmark.
A lemon with a Christmas greeting might seem like a work of Dadaist art to us today, but this postcard actually had a specific meaning in the early twentieth century when it was created.
To "hand someone a lemon" meant—often with humorous or joking intentions—"scram," "beat it," or—in the terms of the fad it was associated with—"skidoo" or "23 skidoo."
In another postcard example, this connection between lemons and skidoo forms the basis of a message on a Valentine's Day card (see below): "To My Valentine / 'Tis a lemon that I hand you / And bid you now 'skidoo,' / Because I love another— / There is no chance for you!"
In a third instance, a postcard (below) depicts a hand reaching out to offer the viewer three lemons. You had to know, of course, that being handed a lemon signified "skidoo" in order to realize that the caption, "With my compliments," was meant sarcastically.
So how did lemons become associated with skidoo? A fourth postcard (below) may provide the answer. The postcard is printed in bright yellow and green colors, and lemons appear in the middle of the card and in each of its four corners. The puzzling message on the card begins,"Skidoo 23 is NOW 37," and then continues, "Turn around the card and I hand you a—."
Rotating the postcard so that the text is upside down reveals that the letters and numbers of "NOW 37" turn into the word "LEMON" (this trick is known as an ambigram, in case you were wondering). So, to put it all together, this postcard illustrated that being asked to skidoo—or more colloquially, telling someone "23 skidoo"—was the equivalent of being handed a lemon!
And, of course, the reverse was true—if you received a lemon, you'd better skidoo!
Originally posted on Ipernity: I'm Sending You a Lemon for a Merry Christmas.
A postcard addressed on the other side to "Iva Appleyard, Guilford, Me.," and postmarked, "Guilford, Me., Aug. 5, 1907."
"Skidoo 23 is NOW 37. Turn around the card and I hand you a--."
"I hand you a"—what?
Based on a fad that became popular around 1906 or 1907, "skidoo 23"—or more commonly "23 skidoo"—was a shorthand way of telling someone to "scram," "beat it," or "get lost," usually with a humorous or joking connotation.
If you "turn around the card" or rotate it so that the text is upside down (see below), you'll discover that the letters and numbers of "NOW 37" have turned into the word "LEMON" (this trick is known as an ambigram).
The sender of the card is telling its recipient that "skidoo 23" is "NOW 37." But "NOW 37" turns out to be a "LEMON" when the card is rotated. So the real message is, "I hand you a—LEMON" = "NOW 37" = "Skidoo 23."
In an amusingly convoluted way, then, this postcard illustrated that being handed a lemon was the equivalent of telling someone "23 skidoo."
Perhaps it was due to postcards like this one that "handing someone a lemon" became a way to say scram or get lost without an explicit reference to 23 skidoo. For an example of this, see With My Compliments.
In any case, if a lemon is handed to you, you now know what to do!
For an amazing compilation of information regarding the skidoo 23 fad, see the 23 Skidoo Postcards Web site, or go directly to the site's Lemons (Also NOW37) page.
Originally posted on Ipernity: Skidoo 23 Is Now 37.
NEW: I NOW CREATE MUSIC, JOIN ME ON SOUNDCLOUD!
SHOP: www.icanvas.com/canvas-art-prints/artist/ben-heine
Michael had an incredible talent, force and energy.
He was unique and incincible, he was the King of Pop.
Please, don't miss my other MJ portraits:
- M J - Eternal Hurt Child: www.flickr.com/photos/benheine/3728685685
- M J - Heal the world: www.flickr.com/photos/benheine/3677029800
- M J - Text Portrait: www.flickr.com/photos/benheine/3668777383
_______________________________________________
For more information about my art: info@benheine.com
_______________________________________________
We Had Him
By Maya Angelou (*)
Beloveds, now we know that we know nothing, now that our bright and shining star can slip away from our fingertips like a puff of summer wind.
Without notice, our dear love can escape our doting embrace. Sing our songs among the stars and walk our dances across the face of the moon.
In the instant that Michael is gone, we know nothing. No clocks can tell time. No oceans can rush our tides with the abrupt absence of our treasure.
Though we are many, each of us is achingly alone, piercingly alone.
Only when we confess our confusion can we remember that he was a gift to us and we did have him.
He came to us from the creator, trailing creativity in abundance.
Despite the anguish, his life was sheathed in mother love, family love, and survived and did more than that.
He thrived with passion and compassion, humor and style. We had him whether we know who he was or did not know, he was ours and we were his.
We had him, beautiful, delighting our eyes.
His hat, aslant over his brow, and took a pose on his toes for all of us.
And we laughed and stomped our feet for him.
We were enchanted with his passion because he held nothing. He gave us all he had been given.
Today in Tokyo, beneath the Eiffel Tower, in Ghana's Black Star Square.
In Johannesburg and Pittsburgh, in Birmingham, Alabama, and Birmingham, England
We are missing Michael.
But we do know we had him, and we are the world.
(*) Dr. Maya Angelou is an American poet born in 1928. She is known as one of the great voices of contemporary literature. As a poet, educator, historian, best-selling author, actress, playwright, civil-rights activist, producer and director, she continues to travel the world, spreading her wisdom. Within the rhythm of her poetry and elegance of her prose lies Angelou's power to help readers of every orientation span the lines of race.
The above poem was written by Maya Angelou for Michael Jackson's public memorial at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. It was read by Queen Latifah, one of the many celebrities that paid tribute to the King of Pop.
------------------
The poem appeared on www.mtv.com
NEW: I NOW CREATE MUSIC, JOIN ME ON SOUNDCLOUD!
SHOP: www.icanvas.com/canvas-art-prints/artist/ben-heine
This is a full digital painting. The sad teddy bear symbolizes Michael's difficult childhood. I also wanted to express how hesitating Michael was at the end of his amazing life.
Please, don't miss my other MJ portraits:
- M J - Heal the world: www.flickr.com/photos/benheine/3677029800
- M J - INVINCIBLE: www.flickr.com/photos/benheine/3699136453
- M J - Text Portrait: www.flickr.com/photos/benheine/3668777383
_______________________________________________
For more information about my art: info@benheine.com
_______________________________________________
Childhood
By Michael Jackson
Have you seen my childhood?
I’m searching for the world that I come from
’cause I’ve been looking around
In the lost and found of my heart...
No one understands me
They view it as such strange eccentricities...
’cause I keep kidding around
Like a child, but pardon me...
People say I’m not okay
’cause I love such elementary things...
It’s been my fate to compensate,
For the childhood
I’ve never known...
Have you seen my childhood?
I’m searching for that wonder in my youth
Like pirates in adventurous dreams,
Of conquest and kings on the throne...
Before you judge me, try hard to love me,
Look within your heart then ask,
Have you seen my childhood?
People say I’m strange that way
’cause I love such elementary things,
It’s been my fate to compensate,
For the childhood I’ve never known...
Have you seen my childhood?
I’m searching for that wonder in my youth
Like fantastical stories to share
The dreams I would dare, watch me fly...
Before you judge me, try hard to love me.
The painful youth I’ve had
Have you seen my childhood....
------------
ABC (3 Sonnets)
By Peter S. Quinn
- A - Every Man Is a Child
Every man is a child of his dreams
Searching through each his going and true coming
From the days that have given some their deems
With each their lost and found in their fathoming
Rivers never go dry with understanding
Those that are found in the deep of the heart
Strange weirdness is there constantly demanding
Adventurous thoughts of their counterpart
Lives central things make the world go around
Like a simple smile shining through tomorrow
Where childhood happiness is often found
Even those that once were buried in sorrow
Before you judge any man try to love him
With your compassion in times turmoil's brim
- B - The Inside of Everything
The inside of everything's still glowing
With wonderments you can never be without
In a go to go it’s always there showing
To give you its promises with any doubt
Light of its sweetness that never goes away
In from your true and beautiful that's you
Playing on moments that feelings only play
Something in its times that is here new
The deep secrets from your heart and its beat
Like the rose buds in the thorns of their touch
That in your way of lives each to treat
Giving hope of much or only some of such
Everything that's from inside of the deep
From love and its feelings - for always to keep
- C - Those Times
Those times that is changing from young to old
In searching the world and looking around
The days of the new that no moments can hold
And you in your feeling have some there found
Like understandings of views that come and go
Drip of the times the lost in its looking
Past flowers in moment’s memories heigh-ho
That through your roots onward is on hooking
Playing eccentricities to make you feel good
Keeping you as child in life without reason
Each of its compensate and true brotherhood
Changing in adventurous for each season
The strangeness of the ways that love and give
A childhood of conquest to reinvent and live
--------------
The poems appeared on www.poemhunter.com
For more information about this postcard, see Skidoo 23 Is Now 37.
Originally posted on Ipernity: Turn the Card Around and I Hand You a Lemon.
A memorial sign is placed at the corner of 23rd & Broadway Streets just 6 blocks away from Michael Jackson's boyhood home at 2300 Jackson Street in Gary, Indiana. This photo was taken just one day after a memorial service was held in Jackson's honor before thousands of fans at The Staples Center in Los Angeles, CA. Jackson passed away at age 50 on June 25th, 2009.
July 8th, 2009 Photo © Michael Brown 2009 - ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
This duck was fiercely protecting his harem and was letting me know in no uncertain terms that I needed to back off! It was kind of funny! During breeding seasons they can be very aggressive, and I've been chased by them before, with the males trying to bite me as they drove me off. With other males, they are much more ruthless.
I watched a fight to the death between some Muscovy Ducks a while back that was particularly upsetting, as the smaller male ended up with a broken foot, and probably didn't make it. I tried to actually break that one up, but it was too late, and the injured duck wouldn't let anyone help it. The "winner" was so pumped up that he continued to chase and assault the weaker male, and I have little doubt that it was killed. I captured the fight on the water and it's in my ducks album, but didn't really have the heart to post some of the worst pics of the injured animal.
Speaking of being wounded, my eye is healing, and feels better but is still a little irritated. I haven't had to use the anti itch drops today, which is a blessing. Still can't see as clearly as I'd like out of it. It's almost two weeks in, so I don't think this one is going to be much clearer than the last lens. I'm still hopeful that it will improve some before the next week is up.
Taken for the weekly theme of "Tools of the trade"....
Abstract macro shot of a multi-coloured whisk that my wife has bought to make some cakes later on in the week with my son.
Nerdy Part: Single strobe set high and camera left, 24mm and 1/8 power fired through a brolly. Background is a black fleece clipped to the fire place and then macro lens fitted in a locked position on a tripod, whisk moved and held in my right hand, remote trigger and release held in my left hand, twisted around until I got the angle I wanted then shot. Minimal processing in LR.
They're out to get you, better leave while you can
Don't wanna be a boy, you wanna be a man
You wanna stay alive, better do what you can
So beat it, just beat it!
Today’s soundtrack: Beat it – Michael Jackson
PS: this is NOT a bw. ;o)
"23 Skidoo 23."
This is a postcard addressed on the other side to Ruby Mills, Canastota, New York. It received an initial postmark in Syracuse, N.Y., on July 24, 1907, and a second one in Canastota on July 25. There's no message or signature.
For people in the know, "23 skidoo" was a humorous way to tell someone to "scram" or "beat it." The 23 skidoo fad became popular in 1906, and the expression appeared on postcards, sheet music, pinback buttons, and in newspapers and other media.
For more "23 skidoo" examples, see my 23 Skidoo and Lemons Too album.
For a similar red postcard from 1907, see Keep Cool.
The illustration on this postcard is based on a song, "The Bird on Nellie's Hat," that was popular when the card appeared in 1908, and the title of the book that Nellie is reading–Love's Young Dream–is a phrase that comes from the lyrics to the song.
The bird's snide utterance–"100 and 23 for yours"–to the guy who's lurking behind Nellie is a reference to the "23 skidoo" fad that started around 1906 or 1907. Telling someone "23 skidoo" or "23 for you" was a shorthand way of saying "scram," "beat it," or "get lost" (I'm not sure whether the addition of "100 and" to the more typical "23 for yours" phrase had any extra meaning). For more "23 skidoo" postcards, see my Skidoos and Lemons album.
Check out the sheet music for The Bird on Nellie's Hat (1906), which is part of the Lester S. Levy Collection of Sheet Music at Johns Hopkins University, or go to YouTube to see the lyrics and hear an Edison wax cylinder recording of Ada Jones singing "The Bird On Nellie's Hat" (1913).
Originally posted on Ipernity: The Saucy Little Bird on Nellie's Hat.
2009.06.25 - day 226
so i heard the news around 6ish eastern time. i was hoping cnn wouldn't confirm his death, but they eventually did. people always say deaths happen in threes. first, ed mcmahon, then farrah fawcett, and now michael jackson. all of the radio stations are playing his music. he's my generation's elvis. his music will live on.
i couldn't find my thiller album. hopefully, it's at my parents house. while i was digging through my vinyl, i also found a techno 12" that i bought in the early 90s titled "michael jackson is dead". now it's true and i'm not happy about it.
Like a comet
Blazing 'cross the evening sky
Gone too soon
Like a rainbow
Fading in the twinkling of an eye
Gone too soon
Shiny and sparkly
And splendidly bright
Here one day
Gone one night
Like the loss of sunlight
On a cloudy afternoon
Gone too soon
Like a castle
Built upon a sandy beach
Gone too soon
Like a perfect flower
That is just beyond your reach
Gone too soon
Born to amuse
To inspire to delight
Here one day
Gone one night
Like a sunset
Dying with the rising of the moon
Gone too soon
Gone too soon
182/365. Don't you ever come around here ~ Michael Jackson (Beat it)
You don't want to be a boy, you wanna be a man
Still on a MJ kick — This toy model suited this week's theme quite well (I just made up this theme, btw).
I'm really tired so I'll spare a story.
setup, camera, strobist info: see here
© Ben Heine || Facebook || Twitter || www.benheine.com
_______________________________________________
For more information about my art: info@theartistery.com
_______________________________________________
More than 100 artists have participated in this project.
The book is available at THIS LINK and you can preview it HERE
This book contains drawings, paintings, cartoons, digital art and poems admirers, artists and fans have made and dedicated to Michael Jackson, a man who inspired so many people all over the world to make a real difference. (One of my MJ portrait is on the cover and the 3 other ones I made are also in the book.)
This is a charity project, by buying this book, you will donate money to Mappa Mondo, a children’s hospice from the Red Cross in the Netherlands. Mappa Mondo is a house for children who suffer severe chronic diseases. The vision of Mappa Mondo is that children have the right to a safe environment, a home where they can play, learn, laugh and cry. Every child is unique and needs warmth, support, physical safety and homeliness.
------------
The whole project became a reality thanks to the efforts of Anne Peters, an artist from Eindhoven (The Netherlands), born in 1982. She is a photographer and digital painter, please visit her website for more information: www.conquista-online.com
A postcard sent from Lebanon, Pennsylvania, on September 3, 1907, and addressed to "Aline Gregory, 324 N. Main, Los Angeles, Cal."
Handwritten message: "Aline, The baby is sick and makes mother busy. Will write soon. Wal[ter?]."
"Twenty-three skidoo" -- meaning "scram" or "beat it" -- derives from a fad that started in 1906. Take a look at another early 23 Skidoo postcard, or see my 23 Skidoo and Lemons Too album for additional examples.
"With my compliments."
Why would someone be giving away lemons "with my compliments"?
It helps to know that handing someone a lemon in the early twentieth century when this postcard appeared was actually a way to say "scram," "beat it," or in the parlance of the day, "skidoo" or "23 skidoo."
For more information about "23 skidoo" and how it related to lemons, see Skidoo 23 Is Now 37.
♪♪ Little Pierce Music Studio ♪♪ (!! Little Pierce)さんのダンス
LPB106 Beat It (bento) v3.2
＊相変わらずの定点カメラ
＊相変わらずのブチ終わり
＊相変わらずのなんのヒネリもツナガリもなしシーン
＊25姫に寄りすぎてカブリ めんご
センター気持 T T T T T
影消してもおもいおもい
A lemony postcard from 1906 that was connected to the "23 skidoo" fad that was popular at the time (notice the "23" on the hat or whatever it is that's on top of the lemon's head).
To find out what lemons meant in the early twentieth century and how they were connected to 23 skidoo, see Skidoo 23 Is Now 37.
For more postcards, see my 23 Skidoo and Lemons Too album.
The Lemon
Oh, something that's yellow and egg-shape, not round!
You buy by the dozen, in crates they are found;
Oh, something that's handed out freely each day,
"For yours" this portrait now comes to say.
In the spirit of the music video (The way you make me feel) with Michael trying to meet the girl !
Shot with figures by Hot Toys and Takara Cy Girl
An early twentieth-century postcard.
My Hearts Wishes
Date ________ 190__
I Wish You Would
Check
__ Meet me to-night
__ Not worry too much
__ Send me some flowers
__ Take me to the Theatre
__ Kiss me at the gate
__ Take me out to dinner
__ Leave me alone
__ Be a sister to me
__ Marry me
__ Be a brother to me
__ Marry someone else
__ Flirt with me
__ Be an old maid
__ Beg my pardon
__ Grow a wart on your nose
__ Forgive me
__ Skiddoo - 23 for you
Check
__ Come back to me
__ Bring me a box of candy
__ Declare your love
__ Come real often
__ Pop the question
__ Get busy
__ Come every Sunday
__ Cut out your fooling
__ Quit the other girl
__ Try it again
__ Forget me
__ Grow a mustache
__ Kiss me
__ Loan me five
__ Quit talking about me
__ Behave yourself
__ Get arrested
What I Wish
Having been so bold as to convey to you a faint idea of the dearest wishes of my heart and hoping every one of them will in due time come true, I remain
Most sincerely yours,
____________
Street dancers - dancing to Michael Jackson " beat it " in Union Sq park , This is the fight scene - Photo BABAK
NEW: I NOW CREATE MUSIC, JOIN ME ON SOUNDCLOUD!
SHOP: www.icanvas.com/canvas-art-prints/artist/ben-heine
This is a text portrait with Michael's biography. It is made with words only. I made it because I loved Michael's soul. I'm going to miss the King of Pop very much, RIP.
Please, don't miss my other MJ portraits:
- M J - Eternal Hurt Child: www.flickr.com/photos/benheine/3728685685
- M J - Heal the world: www.flickr.com/photos/benheine/3677029800
- M J - INVINCIBLE: www.flickr.com/photos/benheine/3699136453
(And my other "text portrait" of Usain Bolt: www.flickr.com/photos/benheine/3895560188)
_______________________________________________
For more information about my art: info@benheine.com
_______________________________________________
Troubled Musical Genius: Michael Jackson
Michael Jackson's unique blend of soul, funk and rock made him the biggest pop act in the world.
Beyond this, his business acumen and intuitive understanding of the music market allowed him to showcase his remarkable talents.
Michael Jackson sold records by the million - and broke records too.
With the soulful vocal presence of Marvin Gaye and Stevie Wonder and the dance moves of James Brown, Jackson's appeal crossed both national and racial boundaries.
His first break came in 1968, when the Jackson Five signed to the Motown label, and he was just 11 when the group released its first single.
Hits like I Want You Back, ABC, The Love You Save, and I'll Be There, which all went to number one in the United States in 1970, made the Jackson Five the first group in pop history to have their first four singles top the charts.
Before long, the youngest member of the Jackson Five was beginning to outstrip his brothers.
A series of solo hits, including Got To Be There, Rockin' Robin and Ben - the maudlin, yet chart-topping, paean to a rat - had shown that the promise of early years had come to fruition.
By the mid-1970s, both Michael's, and his brothers', careers were beginning to stall. Motown has ended its interest in the group, which had re-signed - as the Jacksons - to the Epic label.
But it was while Michael was working on the film musical The Wiz, an all-black retelling of the Wizard of Oz - in which he played the Scarecrow to Diana Ross's Dorothy - that he met the man who would turn him into a superstar and transform the world of popular music.
Music producer, composer and arranger, Quincy Jones, who could already boast a formidable track record, having created hits for artists like Frank Sinatra, Aretha Franklin and George Benson, took Jackson's raw talent and moulded it into an awesome new sound.
Video extravaganza
Their first collaboration, Off The Wall, released in 1979, became the first album to provide four top ten US hits for an artist: the title track, Don't Stop Till You Get Enough, Rock With You and She's Out of My Life.
Four years later came Thriller, the album which would define his career. A heady mix of disco, R&B and funk, its nine tracks spawned seven hit singles and became the best-selling album of all time, with at least 55 million copies bought to date.
Having already experimented with video on Off The Wall, Jackson now took the new medium to new heights.
The John Landis-directed film, accompanying the album's title track, was a 16-minute big-budget extravaganza, featuring cutting-edge special effects and the voice of veteran horror actor, Vincent Price.
The Thriller video, and its companion, Beat It, also ended MTV's neglect of black artists, while making the mini-musical blockbuster de rigueur for any self-respecting pop star.
Besides his successful solo career, Jackson also recorded a series of hit duets with Paul McCartney, who had written the Off The Wall track, Girlfriend.
The two stars appeared on one another's albums with songs like The Girl Is Mine and the chart-topping Say Say Say.
Stripped-down sound
The relationship soured, though, in 1985, when Jackson outbid both McCartney and Yoko Ono to secure the ATV music-publishing catalogue, which included the rights to more than 250 Lennon/McCartney songs.
Not for the first time, Jackson's ruthless business streak had asserted itself.
The same year also saw the USA For Africa charity single, We Are The World, co-written by Jackson and Lionel Ritchie, reach number one in the US.
The Jackson phenomenon showed no sign of slowing down when, in 1987, he released the third, and final, Quincy Jones-produced album, Bad.
With five number one hits, including Man in the Mirror and Dirty Diana, the album also featured a 17-minute video, courtesy of Martin Scorsese, to promote the title track and a year-long world tour, at the time the largest-grossing in history.
Dangerous, Jackson's 1991 outing, featured a more stripped-down sound than its three predecessors.
But the magic remained, and tracks like Heal the World and Black and White soon became worldwide hits, despite the tabloid headlines and court cases which now threatened to damage the singer's reputation.
But his 1995 album, a compilation of old hits and new material entitled HIStory, failed to ignite the popular imagination.
Controversy
Despite the biggest-ever publicity campaign for an album, estimated at $30m, HIStory enjoyed a brief appearance in the charts.
Whether this was due to the star's increasingly erratic behaviour, continuing speculation about his private life or just the public turning increasingly to rap and hip-hop, is a matter for debate.
But one track, in particular - They Don't Care About Us, with the lyrics, "Jew me, sue me" - outraged many people including Jackson's long-time friend and supporter Steven Spielberg, who saw it as anti-Semitic.
And his appearance at the 1996 Brit Awards ceremony in London, surrounded by children and a rabbi, proved too much for some, most notably Pulp's Jarvis Cocker, who showed his displeasure by storming the stage and interrupting the performance.
Michael Jackson's final album, Invincible (2001) was released at a time when he looked anything but.
A swirl of controversy, including Jackson's repeated assertions that his record company, Sony, had asked for their money back - all $200m of it - and that the label's chairman, Tommy Mottola, held black artists back, effectively drowned out the music.
It seemed an underwhelming end to what had been one of the most spectacular of all musical careers.
In recent years, Jackson was plagued by money problems and shielded himself from public view.
Arrested in 2003 on charges of molesting a 14-year-old boy, he was cleared in June 2005 after a five-month trial.
As rumours of bankruptcy circled after the trial, Jackson moved for a period to the Middle East.
There he befriended the king of Bahrain's son, Sheikh Abdulla Bin Hamad Bin Isa Al-Khalifa, who helped fund Jackson's lavish lifestyle.
But the sheikh later sued Jackson for $7m (£4.7m), saying the star had reneged on a music contract that would have been used to pay back loans. The pair settled out of court last year.
Jackson was due to begin a series of sold-out comeback concerts, starting with an appearance in London next month.
Hundreds of fans queued at the O2 arena as tickets went on sale to the public and more than a quarter of a million people queued online.
In the end, around 750,000 tickets were sold for the 50-date residency - which Jackson had billed his "final curtain call".
Rehearsals for the show were under way when the star suffered a cardiac arrest at his home in Bel Air. He was later pronounced dead at the UCLA medical centre in Los Angeles.
Printed on the other side of this real photo postcard: "The Automatic Vaudeville Co., 9 Tremont Row, 634 Washington St., Boston, Mass."
The "23" on the one hat is a reference to the "23 skidoo" fad that became popular in the United States beginning around 1906 or 1907. Back then, telling someone "23 skidoo" meant "scram" or "beat it," and using "23" in an unexpected place like this was a way to let others in on the joke.
Notice how the fingers of the one fellow's hand are visible around the word "kind" at the bottom of the photo. These guys placed their chins at the top of the painted scene and then had to hold it in place from the bottom while the photographer took the picture.
For another example of "23" used in a photo for humorous effect, see Too Many Places to Go and Too Much to See.
A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of number(s) in a photo.
The forbidden fruit that Eve gave to Adam in the Garden of Eden was a lemon rather than an apple, according to the joking message on this postcard from 1908. To understand the humor, you need to know that handing someone a lemon in 1908 was a way to say "scram," "beat it," or in the slang of the day, "skidoo" or "23 skidoo." So how did lemons come to be associated with "23 skidoo"? For the story, see Skidoo 23 Is Now 37.
The other side of the postcard is an advertisement for the Banks Brothers department store in Middletown, Pennsylvania, and the "immense variety" of postcards that it offered at the store and at a stand at the Middletown Fair in 1908. See Send Post Cards to Your Friends.
Adam & Eve
This [an apple], my boy, is what they say she gave the old man but on the level she really handed him a [lemon].
Its been on the TV now for over three hours non stop, still trying get my head around he is dead.......... Lets hope the rumored new material is released as a tribute to the King of pop. This photo was taken just over 13 years before his death....
Also note its time to remember Farrah Fawcett who also passed away today, the news of Michael Jackson is so huge she is being forgotten.
Brooke and Michael Jackson together again! For more about Michael Jackson visit: www.michaeljackson.com/. Brooke Shields is a repainted and restyled doll by Cruz. MJ is a Hot Toys MJ that has not been repainted.
Photo/Graphic Layout & web sites www.ncruz.com & www.myfarrah.com by www.stevemckinnis.com.