mavenimagery is maventalk

I have just finished the book "Unmasked" about Michael Jackson by Ian Harperin or should I say Diane Diomond. Diane Diamond? I'll explain what I mean, if you bear with me.
By starting the book Unmasked, I had no anticipation of finding something that was any different from what I could find in America's most respected to the least respected trashy, imaginary, kind of like photoshoped gossipmonger's articles in daily trashy-tabloid in any local supermarket magazine and news rack. All praising Michael: the greatest entertainer ever lived; a misunderstood poor soul; he was a great human being, blaah blaah. Isn't that what we always say after someone's departure? A fact: No one appreciates "speaking ill-of the death. Any media who speaks ill-of the death will be automatically scorned even by the everlasting nemesis of the deceased. Plus, writing positive things will improve the sales. A headline with "Jacko Wacko, finally deserved what he got" will be even scorned by the allegedly molested Jordie Chandler himself or any vigilant media or the DA Tom Sneddon. Here, we all got the picture; no further explanation needed.
Harperin’s luck would change and he strikes a meeting with MJ and his three children at a Pizza parlor in Hollywood. Here, to understand what I mean and what Harperin means or interprets, you have to take your American hat off, your upbringing and more importantly, the San Franciscan mind aside. Thank you.
…at one point during our conversation at the pizza joint, J put his hand over mine. I wondered if the singer was hitting on me. After staring at me for over a minute in complete silence, he told me my blue eyes reminded him of Frank Sinatra…He made me extremely nervous. I had visions of M leaning over and kissing me on the lips. Thank God, he didn’t. It was the most intense moments I have ever experienced looking into another man’s eyes. I felt M’s sexual energy from the get-go. I left feeling most uncomfortable and spent the next few weeks trying to figure out whether he was actually hitting on me. To this day, I believe he was.
Before I get to the point, I must say this part confuses me a lot. Harper indicated an extreme turn of luck at the chance of meeting MJ, and having a mission in mind to shed some lights on his y[t]ears of fruitless investigation, yet, ditching an opportunity of life time as journalist, and since MJ was in the moment, mesmerized by the blue eyes, probably ready to spill any bean(s) in his system, Harperin, in a hypnotized state, just upped and left, thinking of the encounter as a come-on for weeks. Himm…

Back to my real point about this experience between MJ and Harper.
First, I call this experience, if it ever took place, that is, homophobic.
Did you know?
In some countries intimate touching, hugging and all physical contact between the same sexes considered normal, even well mannered and affectionate.
In Finland, in any public restaurant or a café, it is totally normal for a couple female friends to stare nowhere else but into each other’s eyes like lovers while conversing for hours that could easily look like Lesbians to someone not familiar with the culture, but actually does not have the slightest sexual vibe. This, however, is considered not only normal, but also respect to one another by making each of the parties feel that they’re being listening attentively and every uttered word is being absorbed and swallowed like a honey-coated morsel.
In Turkey, it’s normal and part of the culture, for two males to walk as their hands wrapped around one another’s shoulder in the streets without being labeled as faggots. And, as incredulous as it may look to other countries’ straight culture, it’s totally non-sexual behavior.

In Russia, when males greet one another they kiss on the mouth. During my stay in Russia, I hated it not because of sexual reasons but, being a hygienic-freak, I was afraid of catching some disease or infected by some virus. Finally, I had come up with a solution for male greeters (since I had no problem with females doing whatever greeting they exercised on me) which I called “the side-grip greeting”. When an enthusiastic male greeter made a lunch at me I would, with a speed a of flash, twist my side hip in front of me, my right arm clasping around his neck tightly, seizing him, then, accompanied by, slight faux-affectionate hey-my-friend heave toward me.

We’ll return to Harperin Conundrum after the following…what? The self claimed Authority On MJ, Harperin’s honest mistake or bogus fan and investigator? The Editor’s? Or simply rush-it-to the-press greed of the publisher? Whatever the reason(s) is just unforgivable. Wait, it gets even funnier…sadder, really. OK, those of you who have the book, please, go to page number, oh, darn! There is no page number. But it doesn’t take an investigator with a decade of information nor hard-core fan to find the page. Leaf through the photos; find the two images from Smooth Criminal, from the album Bad and actually a short clip from the short film Moonwalker. Now, read the captions below.

A film (a film?) that starts out with the “Man In the Mirror” video music, changes to montage of video clips from Michael’s career.

Another image from Smooth Criminal and the same stupid caption on the opposite page.

I’m speechless here. Would somebody please shoot me right in the temple? Please? Can anybody, anybody at all, tell me what’s wrong with this picture? A mistake with one picture, ok, cut a finger. But two mistakes with two pictures? Cut his head and throw him to the lions…I can hear Magic Johnson in the Do you remember the time? Video, saying, Man, that’s cold!

Anithache Okkee? Anithache Okkee? Aaa ya okkee Aanie?
These words may sound from Apachean language and it's understandably difficult to understand if you don't have an ear for music. But that's why the actual lyrics are published. And when it comes to Michael's way of uttering the words, the printed lyrics in hand won't help. That's right. Because, (OK this is an unknown fact to anyone but Michael himself on subconscious level...Uhhh, this getting wooodishly absurd. Maybe....noot! follow up and reward me...or reprove me! reprimand me! Everybody scold me) Michael sings in Breathy voice (also called murmured voice, soughing, or susurration) is a phonation in which the vocal cords vibrate. (Let's simplify this by avoiding the fancy Latin and linguistics term). As the vocal cords vibrates suddenly accompanied by creaky voice. The vocal muscle, which is primarily involved in producing speech, now the arytenoids cartilages (vocal cords are attached and which are situated at the upper back part of the larynx) in the larynx (set of elastic vocal cords that play a major role in sound production and speech—called also voice box) are drawn together; as a result, the vocal folds are compressed rather tightly, becoming relatively slack and compact...are you still with me? Good. These elastic vocal cords vibrate irregularly at 20–50 pulses per second (fast, ha?), about two octaves below the frequency of normal voicing, and the airflow through the glottis is very slow as in the example of the beginning of the song Smooth Criminal:
Breathy>Slow>>tight and compressed

Anithache Okkee? Anithache Okkee? S'Aaa ya okkee Aanie?
(Annie Are You Ok
So, Annie Are You Ok
Are You Ok, Annie
Annie Are You Ok

However, although creaky voice may occur with very low pitch, as at the end of a long intonation unit, it can occur with any pitch, high and low.
So, as the Breathy voice and creaky voice are drawn together (we're still talking about M's voice, not Bubble's), about two octaves below the frequency of normal voicing, and the breathy voice, making a moaning or sighing sound, low pitch.
As in the Man In the mirror:
Iihh, (glottal fry: the space between one of the true vocal cords) Gotta make change, iihh, once in my life, theeh! (glottal fry)
Than gradually raising to high pitch:

'Cause they got nowhere to go
That's why I want you to know

I'm starting with the man in the mirror

I'm asking him to change his ways
Many singers today tried the glottal fry voice (wooh, H'iihh, theeh) from Madonna to Neyo to Beyoncee...



To be continued...