The Ultimate Michael Jackson Tribute

It’s been three months since the world lost Michael Jackson and tributes have been flowing in many magazine pages, Web pages, music, lyrics and dance. Janet Jackson was able to perform with her late older brother one last time at the MTV VMA’s, and it indeed was a performance to remember.

After a heartfelt introduction to the fallen King of Pop by Madonna, the performance started off with a brief replay of MTV’s launch and the announcement of the premiere of the Thriller video with a young, bright-eyed, handsome Jackson in his signature red jacket. The stage was then flooded by dancers flaunting various outfits Jackson wore in his past performances and videos, such as the gangster suit from “Smooth Criminal” and the black-and-white ensemble from “Black and White.” The video mash-up on the big screen consisted of “Thriller,” “Bad” and “Smooth Criminal.” With each video transition, the dancers gave their all to put on one serious performance because everyone knows that Michael constantly did the same for his fans.

The icing on the cake was the “Scream” duet that Janet did with Michael from his 1995 album, HIStory. The audience screamed while clips of the video were being shown and as soon as Michael’s verse ended, the glass broke and there appeared the Disciplined diva with her futuristic dance outfit. Singing her verse, dancing with Michael and pulling her ultimate Jackson swag, Janet gave an unbelievable performance that shook Radio City Music Hall. The Jackson brothers were so proud of their sister and the rest of the dancers and they know that Michael would have been, too.

Check out the original posting at http://www.in-color.net/index.php/article/the_ultimate_michael_jackson_tribute/.

Photo courtesy of last.fm.

Senator Dems Working with Gov. Paterson

This assignment was by far the hardest story that I did for my public affairs reporting class [oh em gee]. But thank goodness, my group was assisted by my professor and we finished:

Senate Dems are 'committed' to working with governor

Wednesday Oct 7 10:34 AM

By Casey Quinlan, Regina Rivers, Dana Morris, Michael McDonald and Terra Thompson, contributors to The Legislative Gazette

Senate Democrats say they are committed to working with the governor and other lawmakers in the coming weeks as leaders try to remedy the state’s estimated $3 billion budget deficit.

Austin Shafran, spokesman for the Senate Majority Conference, released a statement Tuesday following Gov. David A. Paterson’s announcement that he will try to cut $500 million from the current budget.

"We support the governor’s efforts to get spending under control. The Senate majority is committed to working with the executive and other leaders to protect New Yorkers from further tax and fee increases and to preserve vital services," Shafran said. "With real transparency and real accountability we will find the real savings we need to make New York more affordable for middle income families and small businesses."

Two weeks ago Assembly Minority Leader Brian Kolb, R-Canandaigua, proposed during a September 23 leaders meeting that the new lieutenant governor chair a meeting of the budget staffs of legislative leaders and the governor’s office to begin talks about budget reduction. The governor agreed to the plan.

In a statement released yesterday, Paterson said, “I look forward to working cooperatively with the Legislature to enact additional savings and close our current-year budget deficit.”

In recent days Kolb spoke with Paterson and Lt. Gov. Richard Ravitch about the budget after complaining that both of the men had failed to return his phone calls, according to Gannett News Service. Kolb said he is uncertain whether the Democratic majority in both houses wanted to make the cuts.

To see the original posting of the article, check out http://www.legislativegazette.com/day_item.php?item=1146.

In light of me spelling out AIM instant message lingo, my next posting will be an essay of Amusing Ourselves to Death by Neil Postman and how media saturated we are as a culture; pending on the grade I receive in my Press in America course.