RIP Billy Mays

[Jake]

I was listing what these famous people actually contributed to our world. Fame in and of itself is not a contribution. Besides, what is your source for MJ being the most famous man on the planet? Larry King?

I thought everybody knew that. If he was not the most famous person, then who would it be? Not George Washington, not President Obama, not Bin Laden, and most definitely not you, so please, tell me who it is if you know so much about it? Enlighten me please, mal.

 

[ianclick]

There is only one certainty in life and that is death. Its impact apon society depends largely on the cultural and philosophical beliefs of that society.

Whether the dead person is a celebrity or a random unknown member of the public pales in comparison to the greif or joy that the dead persons family experiences.

Whos the most famous person in the world? well that depends on what your world is. M.J. most famous person in America at the moment, maybe, neverless unheard of to the tribesman of Vanuatu or Papua New Guinea. Definately not very important to Mrs Thompson who lost her son in a horrendous car crash last night.

I find this topic to be a little tasteless and disrespectful. It saddens me that such high minds would involve themselves in a debate with such a petty moot point.

MJ is dead his family are hurting or not, Willy Mays is dead his family is hurting or not. Celebrity or not Death is a great leveler.

 

[malduroque]

Jake sez re:MJ being the most famous person in the world

>I thought everybody knew that.

Hmm, I asked you your source and that's what you reply? It's a given because you say so? Doing a little projecting are we?

> so please, tell me who it is if you know so much about it? Enlighten >me please, mal.

Never claimed to know so much about it. I simply challenged your assertion and it seems you weren't up to the task. In the interest of civil discourse I will take a stab at who in general might be the most famous. I don't know how much he travels now, but it was said that anywhere in the world he went, he would draw a huge, loving crowd. That would be Muhammad Ali. That's just a guess and unlike you, I'm willing to accept the possibility that I might be wrong.

Mal

PS It seems our discussion here has crossed over into the realm of absurdity and is off-topic of the original off-topic post. I'll let you decide on whether you wish to continue.

 

[Kaysie]

Mal, I think you failed to comprehend the tongue-in-cheek-ness of Jake's post, and instead took it all quite seriously. Mohammed Ali doesn't travel hardly at all any more, as he is too ill.

Changing the topic completely: Do you know the most world-wide known scientific name is T. rex?

 

[malduroque]

Kaysie,

If that's indeed the case then yes, I clearly failed to notice the location of the tongue vis-a-vis the cheek. In retrospect, maybe I should have, considering that someone couldn't get all that worked up about Billy Mays. The cult of celebrity is something I have railed against for a long time, so my button is easily pushed when that subject comes up.

Adding to your T. Rex fact: The most recognizable opening portion of a classical music piece had been for year Beethoven's 5th but was surpassed in the 70's and still holds true today I believe by the opening portion of Richard Strauss' Also Sprach Zarathustra which is commonly know as the '2001 theme".

Mal

 

[big a little a]

How about you go over to Afganistan and raise some terror if you miss the days when all you got to see on tv was the people suffering...did you think about that at all before you typed it? Are you that cold hearted? I'm sorry that Michael Jackson's death interrupted you from watching stories about children getting tortured, but you should have expected that.

If you don't mind what I post either way, then why did you have to chime in here and raise a stink about it? It's obvious to me that you DO care and can't mind your own business. I believe in post #1 of this thread I said something along the lines of "if you have nothing good to say, don't say anything at all". Perhaps you couldn't read or comprehend this message?

The Afganistan comment was an attempt at irony/sarcasm (about the prioritisation of topics by the news channels, not the issues in the country, before you post that) - I apologise if this has gone over your head and will try to be clearer in future.

I haven't intended to "chime in and kick up a stink", I actually had intended to be diplomatic - when you queried what John had posted, I was trying to explain my own interpretation of this - not to argue or disagree with anyone, but to explain a counter view, equally open for scrutiny and debate. Again, I apologise if this has been misinterpreted.

Furthermore, I'd like to point out that I have only ever been polite and non-confrontational in my messages - I don't really see the benefits of being stroppy with someone who is sat several hundred miles away on a PC.

Zoe x

 

[big a little a]

John

I have just PM'd you some info, in regards to your question (didn't want to get side-tracked on here).

X

 

[big a little a]

Apologies again, forgot we were changing the subject (I've not long been up!!!)...

My random trivia is that the reason that you have 7 years bad luck when you break a mirror, dates back to the days when mirrors would only be found is the homes of lords and the upper class. As a maid would be doing the cleaning, not the owner of the house, it would likely be they that broke any mirrors - if this happened, it would take the average worker 7 years wages to repay the debt.

This is very similar to me and the credit card I got when I turned 18

Zoe x

 

[Azhael]

Why is it that the most famous person in the world always has to be american????? xDDDD
In all fairness, the most famous person in the world is probably some chinese guy we know nothing about....
M.J? Very famous indeed....George Washington? Famous, but no one gives a damn except you american guys....Obama? It took me 4 days to know who the hell was the new USA president..(ok that was entirely my fault, i don´t watch tv and i couldn´t possibly care less about politics).
Not trying to disrespect anyone...just saying, there´s a lot more to this world than the US people....xDD

You want famous? Try "La Macarena" xDDDDD

 

[Lacey]

Michael Jackson was famous all over the world. He influenced many many people, and his music helped people through different stages of their life. Why would someone not want to post a RIP message about him, because you know that every single person here knew of him, so it's a large talking point. If someone was to come in here and write about Afghanastan or something, as bad as it sounds alot of people would'nt bother because they dont care about this. And obviously everyone knows people that die all the time, if i was to write about a family member or friend dying, no one would actually come in here and write RIP other than the fact, they are an extremely nice person, because quite frankly they dont give a **** and knew nothing about the person. But music is an EXTREMELY big thing in this world, everyone listens to it: ipod in on your way to work, a dance and a sing on a Friday night with a bottle of wine. We all listen to it, it cheers us up or sometimes makes us feel down, but its a very special thing to alot of people. Michael Jackson contributed so many good songs and videos to watch and was probably the biggest act in the business. I really don't know one person that could honestly say to me they dont enjoy doing the thriller dance!
So yes, Rest In Peace Michael Jackson. King of Pop!

 

[ianclick]

Why is it that the most famous person in the world always has to be american????? xDDDD
In all fairness, the most famous person in the world is probably some chinese guy we know nothing about....

Here here, world baseball series etc, etc.

"I am the most famous person, in my reality I am the King of all I see, I am the pauper in the poor house, I am the martyr with no cause. I will not give up my cross, not even when the wood has all run out." (Dale Terrence Scott)

Some other famous Americans: Richard Trenton Chase, Jeffrey Dahmer, Ted Bundy, Albert Fish, Dennis Rader, Oh my gosh (insert tongue in cheek here) thats the top 5 serial killers in the world what a strange coincidence.

Jesus, Mohamed, Buddha, Krishna, Ghandi, would all have to be contenders, with a sphere of influence far greater than Michael Jackson and no music industry or cult of celebrity to promote them.

So in the spirit of completely mindless drivel, Who is the most famous person in the world?

 

[malduroque]

azhael:
​

Ahh, American arrogance. It's abundant and inversely proportional to most Americans knowledge of world geography. If I were to say that Americans were the most arrogant people in the world, would that be a another sign of American arrogance? Be careful how you answer as you never know what country we might invade next.
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Lacey,
You are obviously a rabid, deovted MJ fan but I feel that you operate from a false premise. Not everyone is an MJ fan. There are many who are not. There are fans of classical and/or jazz who would never listen to any pop music MJ included. There are fans of other genres (country, metal, punk) who would never listen to MJ. Many of America's Christian right wing don't listen to him. The list goes on.

Also, despite that the fact that his unexpected demise has him on more minds and on more lips than say a month ago, one could posit that another person in music still living is more famous. This person has toured the world many times over, his and his band's music had arguably a greater musical and easily a greater social impact than Michael Jackson's ever had and touched as many lives, hearts and minds as probably anyone whoever wrote a song. That would be Paul McCartney.

You also said: "I really don't know one person that could honestly say to me they dont enjoy doing the thriller dance! "

Allow me to introduce myself.

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ianclick said:
>Jesus, Mohamed, Buddha, Krishna, Ghandi ....no music industry or cult of celebrity to promote them.

Oh, there's a cult of celebrity to promote them alright.

 

[Lacey]

malduroque,
"You are obviously a rabid, deovted MJ fan but I feel that you operate from a false premise." I'm sorry to say these feelings you have are incorrect. I feel that whenever anyone dies, the people left behind: family, friends, fans, will always have doubts - we could have spent more time with them, found out more about them, went to see more shows, bought more albums, etc - So it's not as if it's a completely different story with MJ. Anyway, he was spoke about a fair amount a month ago, due to rescheduling tours, not turning up to rehearsals, and then turning up 5 days before the shows were due to start.
"Many of America's Christian right wing don't listen to him" I can understand why they don't, but the issues they raise, are actually just beleived, evidence is not available. Christianity has things like: treat others as you wish to be treated" Nice job their doing. I respect you're opinions of Paul McCartney, I'm sure his songs have touched many people, but i would'nt say they have more so to Michael Jakcson. The Beetles though, would possibly be a different story. I really cant understand, why everyone is against people leaving a little RIP message, it's rather disturbing to be honest.

 

[big a little a]

I really cant understand, why everyone is against people leaving a little RIP message, it's rather disturbing to be honest.

Lacey

Whilst I can't speak for everyone else, I know myself certainly and likely others too are not "against" people leaving a eulogy; we are merely debating views and opinions - as an adult, I am more than happy to consider other people's beliefs and in fact, welcome the opportunity to do so - I would hope that others too can detach themselves from this and realise that what we are discussing is not really, in the grand scheme of things, massively important and certainly not worth getting agitated over.

As a side note, Paul McCartney did actually write a lot of the Beatles' songs and so really, if we're talking about the Beatles, I would have thought he would have been included...?

Zoe x

 

[Lacey]

All i simply wrote was my views on Michael Jackson, people hit back at me with things like Paul McCartney is more famous, i really do not care. Maybe as a member of the Beatles he was, but as a solo artist, i personally dont think so. Also, i got the "many people dont listen to him" I don't care about that either. The point is I did and I just wanted to share what i thought about him, as would many other people because he was a very talented man. I honestly was'nt trying to start any debates, but clearly i went the wrong way about it.