Tuesday, July 7, 2009

Celebrating the Life of the 'King of Pop'

Like a good majority of people this morning, I had the television on, watching the coverage of Michael Jackson's memorial service at The Staples Center today.

I tuned in just as the golden casket was being placed into the hearse that would transport the body of 'The King of Pop'.

As I sat there watching the continual coverage of the drive from the mortuary to the downtown entertainment center, I was amazed that they'd closed several of the Los Angeles freeways to accommodate the funeral procession. Miles and miles of freeway literally shut down to make this transport go more smoothly. Hundreds, perhaps even thousands, of peoples morning commutes affected because of the freeway closures.

I was amazed at the masses of people that stood on freeway overpasses just to get a glance of the hearse and all the cars that followed.

I am amazed at how much money the city of Los Angeles is putting out for this event. Thousands and thousands of dollars, maybe even more, being spent to have 1800 police officers on duty in and around the area, the money put out for the use of The Staples Center, the countless other expenses of the morning. There isn't any sign of a recession in Los Angeles today - hotels are without vacancy, L.A. restaurants are expected to be busy this afternoon and into the evening.

What I've seen so far of the Memorial Service has been nice. A great tribute to Michael's life, to his music, to his humanitarian works. Our era has truly lost a great musical icon. And I hope his heart was right with Jesus when he died...

3 comments:

Liz said...

You know, I realize he was an icon. But so was Farrah Fawcett. So was Ed McMahon. So were a thousand other people who've died in the past few years. As far as I know, no other city has spent millions to cover the funerals of those people. Why MJ's? It would be different if he was an ex-president or something, but we're talking about an entertainer who's been in huge amounts of debt, who had a questionable reputation where children are concerned. Why isn't his family footing the bill?

Stacey T. said...

I"m not sure about the police officers pay, but most of it was paid for by the company that was sponsoring the UK concerts, because they got a huge pay off from their Lloyds of London insurance policy that they had on Michael Jackson.

Darcy said...

Hi Stacey!! :) I didn't know about that! The news doesn't ever say anything about that! LOL.

Liz - good question on why the family didn't pay some of the costs.

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