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Selam, and welcome to the InterNations expat community for those moving to and living in Addis Ababa! Whether you're already an Addis Ababa expat or you're set to move to the city, our members are here to help you settle in. As Ethiopia offers a pace of life very different to many western countries, it's likely you'll have a few questions for our members. These may include "is the healthcare reliable?" and "what is there to do in one's leisure time?". Our members will soon tell you where to find the best hospitals and how to prevent malaria, and they may even advise you on the local Merkato, which is among the biggest open-air markets in Africa and a must-visit for those seeking out low-cost goods and a chance to haggle.
With InterNations, you never stand alone. Whether you move to another city or go on a business trip somewhere — our communities are there to make you feel at home wherever you are in the world. Feel free to also check out our other vibrant InterNations Communities like the ones in Dubai or Singapore.
Attend our monthly events and activities for Addis Ababa expatriates to get to know like-minded expatriates in real life.
Get trustworthy advice and local insights from fellow members in our Addis Ababa expat forums.
Addis Ababa offers expats a blend of ancient-world architecture, bustling markets, and African living. While life in Ethiopia's capital city may be hard to adjust to for many, our InterNations members are here to make it easier. Nearby there are also various national parks where you can escape from the city's chaotic nature, including Simien Mountains National Park. When you begin to explore Addis Ababa, you'll soon find there are plenty of opportunities for expats to enjoy themselves. Abucci offers a huge variety of Italian dishes, Yod Abyssinia is an excellent restaurant for those seeking traditional Ethiopian food, and Vine is a must for those looking for a fine dining experience. Much like other African cities, the airport neighborhood is one of the safest available. Alternatives include Bole, which is an excellent choice for those with young children.
InterNations is the largest global network for expatriates, with communities in 420 cities across the globe. Get to know fellow internationals in your city, before you're moving, or when traveling somewhere and never feel like a stranger. InterNations makes it easy for you to stay in touch with your expat friends, both online and offline, so you can grow your network of friends and contacts from all over the world. Whether they live in Riyadh or Hong Kong, InterNations allows you to be close to them even if they are miles away.
At InterNations, we offer access to a community not only for expatriates in Addis Ababa, but across the globe. With the help of our knowledgeable members as well as dedicated articles on culture shock, working abroad, etc., you can make your transition easier. Whether you want to know more about visas, vaccinations, or finding domestic help, our Addis Ababa Community is more than happy to help. As they have experienced the process of moving to Ethiopia themselves, they can offer advice based on first-hand experience. Once you have the lay of the land on practical issues, you can look into attending the events organized through InterNations. As well as monthly get-togethers in Addis Ababa, our members organize their own activities, from hikes to Amharic lessons that will ensure you're versed in the local dialect.


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Weather has a great influence over our tresses as heat, rain, wind, air moisture can all have a negative effect over the hairstyle created, being able to bring one of those hair disaster days, which everyone wants to avoid. In order to maintain your tresses stylish looking on hot weather it is essential to choose one of the hot weather hairstyles ideas, as this type of hairstyle are meant to bring you style as well as comfort in the same time. Along time a variety of hair styles have been developed, hair styles which are meant to suit differ... Read More

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An Hour With: The Witcher
Something new I thought I'd try. Kind of inspired by ever-lovin' Kyle Orland's A Game For Lunch, basically, it's a first impressions based solely on the first hour of a game. One hour, no more. Clearly, this isn't a real review or anything, just a collection of initial impressions. And clearly this serves the dual purpose of creating a thread for people who have played the game further to add their own impressions. That said, a motif that occurs again and again when talking to the most successful developers is the paramount importance of the first hour of play. It may be cruel, but if a developer working in the mainstream can't get the first hour right, there's a large question mark over whether they can't get ANYTHING right. Bear that in mind.
Anyway, The Witcher. For those who haven't been paying attention, it's a Polish RPG based around a cult-pulp fantasy books from out there. Essentially, its "thing" is that it takes all the standard fantasy tropes, and drags them through the gutter. Racism is a big theme – smartly, as racism is something built into the foundations of most modern fantasy (i.e. Some races are lesser than others. You can kill orcs and take all their stuff as – hey! – they're orcs) – and you have things like the Elves being radical terrorists and so on. Sex, drugs, violence and an albino with a big sword (i.e. you). Adult, mature fantasy. Abstractly.
Here's what I made of the Witcher in its designated hour..
First thing that hits you is its production values. The opening, lengthy cutscene is the sort of thing which only Blizzard only really do anymore, in terms of length and amount of money thrown at the screen. In fact, all the maps have an impressive level of detail. Castles are huge. Rivers are deep. Mountains are High. (If I lost you would I cry. Oh how I love you baby, baby, baby, baby – Phil Spector Ed). Following forum threads, there's some rolling at the wooden acting in the animation department, but having come directly from Neverwinter Nights 2, it's not bad at all. In fact, off the top of my head, I can't think of any third-person RPG that's as pretty as The Witcher overall. So well done them.
The second thing that hits you is the lengthy cut-scenes. As in the length of them. To their credit, they don't resort to people just sitting and talking at each other endlessly, rather choosing to show don't tell in a cinematic fashion – but they're regular and if they continued, would probably get on my tits a little. The forums also had some people raising eyebrows with the loading pauses in cities, but since there were no cities in the opening, I have no problems to report.
The third thing is the writing, but we'll get back to that, as I don't want to be mean yet.
When you finally get to play, you're lobbed straight into a battle. Which is good, as I wanted to blow some steam and/or people's limbs off. You're given a variety of third-person perspectives to try, from far-view strategy modes to more direct over-the-shoulder control. What surprised me is that I gravitated directly towards the direct control. Yes. you control a single character which may mean a more direct method worked mentally, but I think it's much more to do with the combat mechanics.
Basically, you click on someone to attack. Then, if you attack again at the correct moment, you chain to form a combo, doing more damage, and allowing you to go for a third attack. Stun people and you can dispatch them in a bloody Mortal Kombat style. You can also switch between three sword stances (with another three stances later, for dealing with monsters). Oh, and spells and healing and all that usual stuff. But the relevant bit is that you're chaining the attacks, having the person you're fighting directly in front of you makes the clicking seem more relevant. From a distance, I found it immediately vague, unsure of whether I was clicking air near the guy or a different guy or the guy and… well, fuck it. Me, over the shoulder, sticking the sword in someone's face with a nimble click. The way to go.
In short, in the first burst, I kinda liked the combat. For an action RPG – though, due to the amount of talking, it's worth stressing this is not a Diablo-style action-RPG – this is actually a major plus.
I also got my first chance to play with some of the more RPG-esque mechanics. Leveling up allows you to unlock abilities on many development trees – though the trees aren't exactly that wide. So, better powers or stats or combos (I upped my strong-sword style combo, and got a lovely jump attack). Witchers also have a heavy hand in alchemy – the initial plot centres around this – so collecting ingredients and turning them into handy potions seemed done in a natural way. As someone who tends to avoid crafting generally – Conan doesn't make his sword, he takes it from the bloody corpses of his enemies, and their women too, etc – I fell into this fairly naturally. And by making a healing potion, I lead to another more-discussed element in the game. Yes, I got to shag someone.
Okay. Let's talk Mature and Adult, because they're not quite the same concept. Adult, basically, means violence or fucking – i.e. Adult Film Industry, for example. It basically means kids should stay away. But Adult content doesn't necessarily mean Mature (i.e. Sophisticated, Grown Up, whatever). In fact, Adult content can (and usually is) profoundly juvenile.
Talking fantasy, Gormenghast is Mature. Moorcock's best stuff is Mature. Jim wandering past says that Gene Wolfe is Mature, but I was gonna go for China Miéville. In games, the obvious one to reach for is Planescape. The Witcher, at least in its first hour, only manages Adult. The problem isn't so much the sex scene – of which I've seen far worse (Cross-ref: Fahrenheit's rhythm-action rhythm-method-action) but the display of a bawdy card of the woman in a soft-erotica pose afterwards is – obviously – i) Tacky as hell. ii) The girl doesn't even look anything at all like the character I've just had sex with. Point being, the bigger problem isn't the fact it's a sexist-pokemon-mechanic (which it is) – it's that it makes the game very hard to take as seriously as it wants you too.
The second issue is the writing. Now, it's not bad, bad. It's just sub-average and amateurishly converted. Characters use anachronisms unconvincingly – for example, the Sorceress being referred to as a "Babe" a lot by the boss Witcher . The problem isn't of course him using a diminutive (though there's a particularly funny bit where he tells another Witcher to treat her with a bit more respect, before going back to calling her babe) but… "Babe". Avoiding cod epic fantasy is one thing. This is another.
Of course, that's subjective as most things are about writing. If you want something which is pretty much a rule… well, let's look to exclamation marks. They're dangerous things anyway. Fitzgerald said that exclamation marks are like laughing at your own joke. One of my production editors managed it more pithily by a sign above his desk which read "Exclamation Marks are for wankers!". However, there is literally only one use of multiple exclamation marks. Irony. If you use it, you're using it to mock the idea of using multiple exclamation marks. Kitsch import games get away with them for that reason. The more serious the tone of your game, the more an appearance of a "NO!!!!" will begat a "NO!" from us. At least a couple of times in the first hour, a character Seemed Very Excited!!! which is just plain rubbish and makes you suspect they should have spent the money on the opening cutscene on a proper translator.
(It's made worse by the actual voice-acting not being anywhere near as excited as the !!! may imply. And !!! implies people on MySpace who really like MCR.)
But it's worth remembering there's a difference between writing and story. Most posturing writers will have probably read Robert McKee's STORY and remember a section where he describes working as a script reader, noting that he recommended rejecting many stories which were beautifully written but fundamentally dull but never, ever wrote a rejection review for a story which was emotionally brilliant but apparently written by a Neanderthal in his own faeces… because if he did, he'd have been sacked. The name on the door is story department.
And in the story department, The Witcher actually interested me. I liked the world. I wasn't so sure about the characters, but I wanted to know what happened to them. I was even interested in what the agreeably sado-mascohistically clad magicians were up to (especially because one of the bad guys was called The Professor, which ties into an RPS running joke we'll tell you about another time). I wanted to know what happened next. Which, for the first hour of an RPG, no matter what failings it has, has to be counted as something of a success.
So, would I play more of the Witcher? Abstractly I wouldn't object to it, but I suspect not. There's too many games lined up between now and Christmas. However, while I was slaughtered for noting it in a review recently, while it's been a great year for PC games generally, those who are specifically single-player RPG genre fans have had a poor time of it (MoTB and… that's it, unless you want to go for Hellgate or further into the MMO). In that climate, you make do. And the Witcher is definitely better than just making do, while falling short of the claims of certain forum members treating it like the second coming.
Or it could just improve massively. Any Witcher-veterans out there care to explain why they think it's 9/10?


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David Beckham may be playing his last game for the LA Galaxy on Dec. 1 in MLS Cup 2012 at The Home Depot Center against the Houston Dynamo, but AEG President and CEO Tim Leiweke is adamant that the only place for the club to move in the post-Beckham era is forward.
In the second and final part of his exclusive interview with LA Galaxy Insider on Tuesday evening, Leiweke discussed the Galaxy brand and what is next for the team after David Beckham. (Part one is here.)
One of the largest spots of growth has been on the brand side where LA have grown exponentially. Last November, the Galaxy signed a 10-year $55 million television contract with Time Warner Cable Sports, the most lucrative in MLS history and in March signed a 10-year $44 million dollar sponsorship extension with Herbalife—also the most lucrative in MLS history—to be the official presenting sponsor and jersey sponsor of the Galaxy.
"We created one of the top brands in soccer in the world and I think people know the Galaxy worldwide. I'm always traveling around the world to all of our different companies and assets and I see Galaxy jerseys in China, I see Galaxy jerseys in Europe and London, so I think it's unique that we've been able to take an MLS club in a country that people thought didn't care about soccer and make it one of the more recognizable soccer brands in the world."
"That is a credit to David and the fact that he not only put us on the map, but made a statement once we got there. That's not going to go away, everyone always underestimates Robbie Keane, but the man is to this day still one of the top 10 scorers in the history of the Premier League and we have arguably one of the best American players who has ever played the game," Leiweke added. "These are guys that are 31, 32 years old and they're not going anywhere, so as much as David put us on the map, we got a team, a coach and an organization that aren't going anywhere and we're going to continue to grow. So as sad as I am to see David leave because he is a friend and a tremendous influence on this organization, that said, this is the right time."
Although Beckham will depart the club next month, Leiweke reveals that conversations about the Galaxy's next step have been ongoing for months.
"Bruce, Chris Klein and I have spent a lot of time talking in the last three or four months about where we go next. You know, we're very fortunate to have Juninho and Sarvas. We're not lacking for good creative midfielders and they're young and hopefully this gives us resources to keep that nucleus intact," said Leiweke. "We're lucky we have Robbie Keane, he makes this a much easier transition, we're lucky we have Landon Donovan. Frankly, I think from a player standpoint, I don't think we miss a beat next year. I love David, but I think David would be the first to tell you that with Juninho and Sarvas, we got a pretty potent midfield, so I don't think you're going to see slippage here."
And of that designated player spot? Leiweke admits that the club is going to look for the right fit, not just the first player that comes along.
"Yes, it does give us a DP slot, but don't expect us to rush out and go fill it. We're going to fill it with the right guy and it's the right guy for this marketplace, the right guy for Bruce and the team that he and Chris want to build," said Leiweke. "Chris and I have spent a lot of time talking about where we go find that next guy. It's going to have to be the right guy not the first guy, which means maybe we're patient for a year or two until we get the right guy."


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Cub Scout Bicycling
From MeritBadgeDotOrg
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{{Sports Awards Links}}
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Revision as of 14:42, October 14, 2012
with cross-references for related Cub Scout Tiger, Wolf, Bear, and Webelos requirements.
|The Cub Scout Bicycling Belt Loop is an option for the Webelos Sportsman activity badge.
|The Cub Scout Bicycling belt loop and pin help prepare Cub Scouts and Webelos Scouts for the Boy Scout Cycling merit badge.
| Bicycling
Belt Loop and Pin
Bicycling Sports Belt Loop
Cub Scout Bicycling requirements
Belt Loop Requirements
Complete these three requirements:
Sports Pin Requirements
Earn the Bicycling belt loop, and complete requirement 1 below, and do four more of the following requirements:
View the change list (history) of these requirements. The text of these requirements may be locked. In that case, they can only be edited by an administrator.
Please note any errors found in the above requirements on this article's Talk Page.
Template:Cub Scout Academics and Sports notes
Requirement resources
Template:Cub Scout Academics and Sports Requirement resources
- Your handbook is your primary reference. See Cycling Skills for step-by-step instructions and lesson video links.
- See also: Cycling Merit Badge Pamphlet - Bike Safety - Equipment - Skills - Maintenance - Seat - Bike Rodeo
- Belt Loop Requirement Resources
1, 2, 3. Bike Safety
- Pin Requirement Resources
1. The Riding Chart you need is in the Cub Scout Bicycling Worksheet.
2. Bike Rodeo
3. Repair a flat tire on a bicycle.
4. Wikipedia: History of the Bicycle - Pedaling History - Bicycle History
5. Bike Safety
7. A "bicycle hike" is a bike ride of typically less than an hour for Cub Scouts.
8. Repairing: Bike Tires - Bike Chain - Bike Gears - Bike Handlebars - Bike Brakes - Bike Seat
10. Bike Rodeo
Related awards
- Tiger Cub Scout
- Tiger Cub Electives
- Tiger Elective 37. Take a Bike Hike (bike ride) for Cub Scout Bicycling Pin requirement #7.
- Tiger Elective 38. Visit a bicycle shop to learn how to fix a flat tire for Cub Scout Bicycling Pin requirement #3.
- Wolf Cub Scout
- 9e. Bike safety is the same as Cub Scout Bicycling Belt Loop requirement #1.
- 14a. Know the rules for bike safety...register - See Bicycling Belt Loop requirement #1 & Pin #6
- 14b. Learn to ride a bike... - See Bicycling Belt Loop requirement #3
- 14d. Change a tire on a bicycle... - See Bicycling Pin requirement #3
- 14f. Ride a bike for 1 mile... - See Bicycling Pin requirement #7
- 14g. Plan and take a family bike hike. - See Bicycling Pin requirement #7
- Sportsman Activity Badge requirement 3. (earn the Cub Scout Bicycling Belt Loop while a Webelos Scout)
|Sports-related awards
See also
This program was discontinued in May, 2015.
Art · Astronomy · Chess · Citizenship · Collecting · Communicating · Computers · Disability Awareness · Geography · Family Travel · Geology · Good Manners · Heritages · Language and Culture · Map and Compass · Mathematics · Music · Nutrition · Pet Care · Photography · Reading and Writing · Science · Video Games · Weather · Wildlife Conservation
Archery · Badminton · Baseball · Basketball · BB-Gun Shooting · Bicycling · Bowling · Fishing · Flag Football · Golf · Gymnastics · Hiking · Hockey · Horseback Riding · Ice Skating · Kickball · Marbles · Physical Fitness · Roller Skating · Skateboarding · Snow Ski and Board Sports · Soccer · Softball · Swimming · Table Tennis · Tennis · Ultimate · Volleyball
|Cub Scout Leader portal
|Webelos Den Leader portal


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- Current research says that occasional use of alcohol (1-2 drinks) does not appear to be harmful to the nursing baby.
- Per Hale (2017), "mothers who ingest alcohol in moderate amounts can generally return to breastfeeding as soon as they feel neurologically normal."
- The American Academy of Pediatrics Section on Breastfeeding notes: "ingestion of alcoholic beverages should be minimized and limited to an occasional intake but no more than 0.5 g alcohol per kg body weight, which for a 60 kg mother is approximately 2 oz liquor, 8 oz wine, or 2 beers. Nursing should take place 2 hours or longer after the alcohol intake to minimize its concentration in the ingested milk."
- Many experts recommend against drinking more than 1-2 drinks per week.
- There is no need to pump & dump milk after drinking alcohol, other than for mom's comfort — pumping & dumping does not speed the elimination of alcohol from the milk.
- Alcohol does not increase milk production, and has been shown to inhibit let-down and decrease milk production (see below).
- If you're away from your baby, try to pump as often as baby usually nurses (this is to maintain milk supply, not because of the alcohol). At the very least, pump or hand express whenever you feel uncomfortably full – this will help you to avoid plugged ducts and mastitis.
In general, if you are sober enough to drive, you are sober enough to breastfeed. Less than 2% of the alcohol consumed by the mother reaches her blood and milk. Alcohol peaks in mom's blood and milk approximately 1/2-1 hour after drinking (but there is considerable variation from person to person, depending upon how much food was eaten in the same time period, mom's body weight and percentage of body fat, etc.). Alcohol does not accumulate in breastmilk, but leaves the milk as it leaves the blood; so when your blood alcohol levels are back down, so are your milk alcohol levels.
Always keep in mind the baby's age when considering the effect of alcohol. A newborn has a very immature liver, so minute amounts of alcohol would be more of a burden. Up until around 3 months of age, infants detoxify alcohol at around half the rate of an adult. An older baby or toddler can metabolize the alcohol more quickly.
Effects of alcohol on breastfeeding and the breastfed baby
- Alcohol does not increase milk production. In fact, babies nurse more frequently but take in less milk in the 3-4 hours after mom has had a drink, and one study showed a 23% decrease in milk volume with one drink (Mennella & Beauchamp 1991, 1993; Mennella 1997, 1999).
- 2+ drinks may inhibit let-down (Coiro et al 1992; Cobo 1974).
- One study showed changes in the infant's sleep-wake patterning after short-term exposure to small amounts of alcohol in breastmilk — infants whose mothers were light drinkers slept less (Mennella & Gerrish 1998).
- Daily consumption of alcohol has been shown in the research to increase the risk for slow weight gain in the infant.
- Daily consumption of alcohol (1+ drinks daily) has been associated with a decrease in gross motor development (Little et al 1989).
Additional information
LLL on Alcohol & Breastfeeding
Alcohol and breastfeeding, from The Breastfeeding Network, by Wendy Jones PhD, MRPharmS
Beer as a Galactagogue – A Brief History by Hilary Jacobson
Malt as a Galactagogue – A Brief History by Hilary Jacobson
Alcohol and Motherhood by Carol Huotari, from Leaven, Vol. 33 No. 2, April-May 1997, pp. 30-1
Social Drugs and Breastfeeding: Handling an issue that isn't black and white by Denise Fisher, BN, RN, RM, IBCLC. Discusses nicotine, alcohol, caffeine, marijuana, heroin, and methadone.
[most recent references listed first]
Hale, Thomas. Medications and Mothers' Milk, 2017 edition. Springer Publishing, 2017: 348-350.
AAP Section on Breastfeeding. Policy Statement: Breastfeeding and the Use of Human Milk. PEDIATRICS Vol. 129 No. 3 March 2012, pp. e827 -e841.
Health Council of the Netherlands. Risks of alcohol consumption related to conception, pregnancy and breastfeeding. The Hague: Health Council of the Netherlands, 2005; publication no. 2004/22. (Paper is in Dutch but the executive summary is also in English.)
Koren G. Drinking alcohol while breastfeeding: Will it harm my baby? Canadian Family Physician 2002;48:39-41.
Little RE, Northstone K, Golding J; ALSPAC Study Team. Alcohol, breastfeeding, and development at 18 months. Pediatrics. 2002 May;109(5):E72-2.
AAP Committee on Drugs. Policy Statement: The Transfer of Drugs and Other Chemicals Into Human Milk. PEDIATRICS Vol. 108 No. 3 September 2001, pp. 776-789.
Mennella JA. Alcohol's Effect on Lactation. Alcohol Research & Health 2001; 25(3):230-234.
Mennella JA, Garcia-Gomez PL. Sleep disturbances after acute exposure to alcohol in mothers' milk. Alcohol. 2001 Nov;25(3):153-8.
Mennella JA. The transfer of alcohol to human milk: Sensory implications and effects on mother-infant interaction. In: Hannigan JH, Spear N, Spear L and Goodlett CR, eds. Alcohol and Alcoholism: Brain and Development . New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc., 1999. pp. 177-198.
Mennella JA, Gerrish CJ. Effects of exposure to alcohol in mother's milk on infant sleep. Pediatrics. 1998 May;101(5):E2.
Mennella JA. The human infant's suckling responses to the flavor of alcohol in mother's milk. Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research 1997;21:581-585.
Coiro V, et al. Inhibition by ethanol of the oxytocin response to breast stimulation in normal women and the role of endogenous opioids. Acta Endocrinol (Copenh) 1992 Mar;126(3):213-6.
Mennella JA, Gerrish CJ. Effects of Exposure to Alcohol in Mother's Milk on Infant Sleep. Pediatrics 1998 (May);101(5): e2.
Mennella JA, Beauchamp GK. Beer, breast feeding and folklore. Developmental Psychobiology 1993;26: 459-466.
Mennella JA, Beauchamp GK. The transfer of alcohol to human milk: Effects on flavor and the infant's behavior. New England Journal of Medicine 1991;325: 981-985.
Little RE, Lambert MD, Worthington-Roberts B. Drinking and smoking at 3 months postpartum by lactation history. Paediatr Perinat Epidemiol. 1990 Jul;4(3):290-302.
Cobo E. Effect of different doses of ethanol on the milk-ejecting reflex in lactating women. Am J Obstet Gynecol. 1973 Mar 15;115(6):817-21.


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Stream and download new song "Yung Bino – Leave Me Alone (Feat. Jamie Ray)" below.
Yung Bino – Leave Me Alone (Feat. Jamie Ray)
Mike Hawk
I'm a writer and connoisseur of all types of music. I've been doing this for over 10 years now. Some of my favorite artists include Drake, J. Cole, Jay-Z, Travis Scott and Migos. [email protected]


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[Cross-posted from the Google Enterprise Blog]
Editor's note: Over 3 million businesses have adopted Google Apps. Today we'll hear from David Bullock, CFO of YETI Coolers based in Austin, Texas. To learn more about other organizations that have gone Google and share your story, visit our community map or test drive life in the cloud with the Go Google cloud calculator.
YETI Coolers, co-founded in 2005 by brothers Roy and Ryan Seiders, offers durable, super-insulated ice chests for serious outdoor enthusiasts. Roy first recognized the potential of a premium cooler during an early entrepreneurial endeavor and decided to design his own. He recruited his brother to help and the two settled on YETI for the company name – a new brand that consumers could easily associate with frigid toughness. Today, YETI coolers are "certified grizzly-proof" and distributed through over 500 dealers across the country.
When Roy and Ryan started the company, they recognized the value of Google's free email service, Gmail, and started with one email address – email@example.com. However, fast forward three years and the company had grown to 10 employees. We hit a tipping point where we needed to expand and create a more professional look with @yeticoolers.com email addresses. The question was how to retain three years of information and still offer the entire office the same easy-to-use interface and access to remotely-stored email history. The solution was Google Apps.
Soon after implementing Google Apps, we hired our first National Sales Director who resides in North Carolina. Despite the geographical barrier, Google Docs has allowed us to collaborate with him and other remote employees in real time, and has became a critical component of our sales process.
Our goal is to increase the number of dealers that sell YETI coolers but for a long time, our volume of dealer inquiries was unmanageable and we missed out on sales opportunities. This is where a Google spreadsheet saved us. We created a "Potential Dealer Tracker" to track, prioritize, and, most importantly follow up with potential YETI dealers. By capitalizing on dealer inquiries in an organized, methodical way, we've been able to convert 30% more leads just this year. The profit from the new accounts nearly pays our National Sales Director's salary!
We also use Google Calendar to track internal and external meetings and even non-work events like Red Raider and Longhorn football games. More recently, we started using Google Sites and launched our company's first intranet. We look forward to adding even richer content to the site as the company continues to expand.
Given the rapid growth we've experienced over the last few years, it has been extremely difficult to stay on top of all areas of the business. Google Apps has changed this, providing the tools we need to succeed. It's low cost, secure and easy to use – from our standpoint, Google Apps is the perfect solution for any small business.


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[WIP] AniDB.net Anime Video Scraper - Printable Version
Kodi Community Forum (https://forum.kodi.tv)
+-- Forum: Support (https://forum.kodi.tv/forumdisplay.php?fid=33)
+--- Forum: Add-on Support (https://forum.kodi.tv/forumdisplay.php?fid=27)
+---- Forum: Metadata scrapers (https://forum.kodi.tv/forumdisplay.php?fid=147)
---- Thread: [WIP] AniDB.net Anime Video Scraper (/showthread.php?tid=64587)
- spiff - 2010-01-14
you're telling me this xml api doesn't even have a search?
the uhrm, for lack of another non-offensive term, choices of the anidb guys (slight offense only ommina) truely amazes me.
- eldon - 2010-01-14
well as far as i could tell the http api only provides access to limited per anime data, provided you already know the anidb ID.
As for the search they provide a daily copy of the anime titles in their database (around 2.2MB in the current state), and leave the client side deal with it.
I understand by your answer that google will be the best choice for this scrapper to identify the anime. Using the database could be left as an option and/or further identification could be done by cross referencing the id found on google and the title present in the database matching that id.
i'll try to see if parsing the database is fast enough when you have the anime id and then maybe use it to double check google's result.
Besides that the scrapper looks fine, anidb api data is used and missing media or episode info are fetched from thetvdb api.
I still have to see how i can access the animes separately from the other tv shows in xbmc, i guess there are some shortcuts you can use.
I'll post the srapper over the weekend, thx again for your answer.
- spiff - 2010-01-14
while running through 2.2mb shouldn't really take a minute with a tight expression, it still won't be nice. atleast the scraper will operate nice for those it can find with google, else there is always the url nfo's.
- Der Idiot - 2010-01-15
you can't be serious... regexp to parse xml... and all that using python?! *facepalm* every time i see people abusing regexp for everything and their dog i die a little bit innerly...
there are various very fast xml frameworks for py. so why oh why don't you use one of them?!
cheap example:
from lxml import etree
that's not even an attempt at being efficient or fast, but takes only a few ms for the 2mb file.
also the point is to grab the xml file and process it completely locally (and then reget it every odd blue moon). which has speed advantages and doesn't cause additional load on anidb's server. aside of that you yourself can decide on how you want to search.
considering anidb is run completely free of cost, ads or money donations and is not backed by a multimio corporation it should be quite obvious that we have restricted facilities. so don't expect us to provide supreme additional services which the majority of our users will never ever use.
- spiff - 2010-01-15
uhm. i don't want/intended to pick a fight. but who gave you the idea python is involved? it is not. we use a custom scraper framework based on regexps+xml.
i agree that using regexp to parse xml is stupid in general, but i made the choice since it allows handling html/xml/whatever text format in one unified framework, and .py's were just too slow for the job on the xbox.
from my point of view you would save bandwith by offering a search. i have to do a helluvalot of searches to download 2mb from your site. this is obviously not valid if cpu is your concern.
of course i do not expect anything from a free service based on volunteery work. i just find the choice of offering data, yet making no search available, hence forcing every client to reimplement the wheel, peculiar. to be a bit cheeky, i would like to point out that both tmdb and thetvdb falls into exactly the same category (free, voluntary) and both survive just fine having a search in their api
in either case, your services are inadequate/unfit for use by our system, which is unfortunate for those of our users that care (i am not included). they will have to live with the not-always-functioning google search.
- eldon - 2010-01-15
well no matter how the client side handles things, anidb provides it with 95% of the data required to get something out of it and i guess that's good enough.
If google fails, the xml titles database can be used as a failsafe, moreover you can tweak google search by using "manual" inputs in xbmc.
If it can be of any help i'm not sure some of the data present in the current http api is really necessary, such as full tags and categories descriptions when the anime cast is missing.
Anyways i'll make sure the scrapper can handle both google and the local database.
Anidb is a truly great website and i can only encourage the devs and admins keep up the good work.
- Xeijin - 2010-01-20
How is this going? Any more progress yet or has the lack of features with the API put a stop to this one? TVDB seems unable to scrape my Anime (episodes) so I'd definitely be interested in this.
- eldon - 2010-01-21
hi sorry for the late update, i couldn't find the time to make more tests with the anime database so i'm still only using google at the moment.
If i can't find time to update it with additional anidb database processing, i'll post it in its current state this weekend. It's working without the db but relying only on google can't be considered to be safe on the long term.
- mashles - 2010-01-21
Have you found any way of separating Anime from regular TV Shows?
I tried Anime in my library using thetvdb scraper, it wasnt too bad but I will be sure to give your scraper a try. It did get a bit annoying though, having them so mixed, so I just switched to using library for TV and Movies and file view for Anime.
- Xeijin - 2010-01-21
mashles Wrote:Have you found any way of separating Anime from regular TV Shows?
I was also looking for a way to do this as I too find it annoying when the two are mixed. Currently I use the "genre" filter in the Aeon skin (you can get to it by hitting the Down directional key on your remote while TV Shows is highlighted) to show just tv-shows tagged with "Anime" or "Animation". I think a "proper" solution would maybe require some change of code at xbmc's level in order to create a new category for anime (i.e. Movies, TV Shows, Anime) which would have its own associated scrapers? (Or I may just be talking out of my arse).
Edit: Just noticed your reply eldon, looking forward to it, I can understand that the google search method is not ideal but frankly TVDB is failing so severely at recognising any episodes of my Anime that I'm willing to take the risk.
- volforto - 2010-02-01
Searching anidb.net from Google seems to always return exactly one match (and sometimes the wrong match, like for "Initial D" or "Honey and Clover II"). Google seems to be much better at searching Anime News Network though (I think maybe because Anime News Network itself use Google for its search?). Maybe that would be a better choice?
- eldon - 2010-02-03
as i won't have much time perfecting it, i'm posting my current revision of the anidb scrapper.
Features :
- uses anidb and thetvdb http api, no scrapping of web pages.
- can use google to search for an anime instead of anidb database file.
- can fetch posters and fan art from thetvdb.com
- can fetch episode data from thetvdb.com
Option :
- Use Google Search (default yes) : overrides the animetitles.xml database search.
- Fetch Fan Art from thetvdb.com (default yes)
- Fetch episode info from thetvdb.com (default no)
- due to anidb http api restrictions it is recommended to use google search if you don't have a very recent (01/2010) svn build (cache with time to live aka "<scraper .. cachePersistence="hh:mm".."), otherwise you could get banned from the anidb api.
- some data is passed from a scrapper section to another using the actual download urls. It's not very clean but i couldn't find another way to do it and some data (title, id) is required for parsing url results and accessing cached files.
- i managed to build a fancy regex to browse animetitles.xml database quicly, so it should be very fast now and will work quite well. Once the cache time to live is present in the stable release the search should be defaulted to the database file instead of google.
- the scrapper uses an api ident i created on anidb, if you want to use one from the xbmc team you should replace "client=xbmcscrap" with your id from various urls.
Todo : although anidb is in english, thetvdb episode info has various languages so you could choose to override the default english language to fetch episodes data in your desired language.
here's the clean version :
here's a version with additional parsed data examples, not really a commented version but you can see what's done with what :
(on pastebin, don't copy/paste, use the "download" link above the code displayed)
let me know if it works for you or if you have spotted some bugs, i may have a few moments to correct them but i can't make any promises.
The anidb scrapper icon i made should still be present in a previous post in this thread.
- bambi73 - 2010-04-06
Looks like eldon really have no time to update his scraper so i started to make some small tweaks by myself. There is result, it's bit more tweaked than i expected at start
First i must appologize for wall of text i produced and my english, hope it's somehow understandable.
Because this scraper is based on eldon's version, you should read his post above first, almost all informations apply there too and i will describe (almost) only changed behaviour.
1/ Searching for anime
- Google search - almost same like in eldon's version and i don't intent to tweak it more because i don't use it
- Anidb.xml search - my personal favorite, because i use AniDB utilities to rename and add anime to MyList i have almost 100% hit percentage (using main anime name as directory), it only miss when i mess directory naming.
-- commented out original download of anidb.xml because it never worked for me (downloaded only ~0.5MB of 2.3MB file - don't know if it's some curl setting or anidb.net limitation), so i only use cached file which i download manualy from anidb.net (included current version at the end of post). Personally i set file timestamp of anidb.xml 2 month forward so it doesn't expire so soon in cache and when it finally expires, it warns me by XBMC scraper error message that i should update.
-- added some name filtering because <cleanstrings> from advancedsettings.xml doesn't work correctly
2/ Processing anime details
- added overtaking of temporary rating in case permanent isn't present (in case series isn't finished)
- added filtering out some generic (Asia, Japan, Game, Novel) or annoing (Sudden Girlfriend Appearance, Boing) anime genres
- added filtering of plot summary (unfortunatelly there is no pattern how plot summaries are written on anidb.net, so it will never be 100% :-S)
-- removing '*' from start
-- removing empty lines (no need to have them in cramped space for plot summary in XBMC) - sometimes doens't work for some reason (TODO)
-- removing duplicate white characters (spaces, tabs, etc)
-- removing http links to another anidb.net articles (e.g. http://anidb.net/ch4051 [Chika] --> Chika)
-- removing source of summary informations (like [Source: ANN] or (taken from Animenfo))
- added filtering out (possible to turn it off in setting) only single studio. I'm using skin (Alaska) which shows studio logos as part of media flags, so i need only one studio in database to make it working. Additionally this feature prefer studios for which i have logo (posted my anime studios logos collection here)
3/ How Fanarts&Poster are looked up (generally thetvdb.com lookup, it's used for episode extra details later too)
- first thetvdb.com is searched for following names (in particular order):
-- anime main name
-- anime x-jat synonym name
-- anime english official name
-- anime english synonym name
- if no match is found scraper tries find anime prequel, primary by "Prequel" link, secondary (if no prequel link exist) by "Parent Story" link (there is possibility to change this link type in setting)
- if prequel is found scraper returns to first step of this cycle (searching thetvdb.com for prequel names)
- it ends when match is found on thetvdb.com or there is no other prequel (at the series "root" anime)
Why this complicated recursive algoritm? It's because different approach of anidb.net and thetvdb.com to anime series, generally animes are not grouped to series, if there is sequel for some anime it has different name (like Hayate no Gotoku! and Hayate no Gotoku!! ). Anidb.net follows this style and has for each anime unique entry, on the other hand thetvdb.com follows more western style of tv series with seasons and so they add sequels as new seasons to first anime in row. Result is scraper basically needs to find that first anime in row because it contains fanarts, thumbs and banners for all seasons. Indeed you will get same pictures for all sequels/seasons but it is how thetvdb.com works, you can choose right one from XBMC because you will get list of all of them.
Off course sometimes this process fails horribly and i have some ideas how to improve it (means rewrite it completely), but right now results are satisfying and i have no much time to spare....
4/ Processing anime episodes details (from anidb.net)
- added filling runtime from anime details - anidb.net has no runtime specific for every episode, but most episodes of one anime has same runtime
- added filling director from anime details - right now it fills in first director what scraper find, filling episode specific director is in TODO
- rest is same like in eldon's original scraper
5/ Processing anime episodes extra details (from thetvdb.com)
- because anidb.net doesn't contains plot summary for every episode eldon added thetvdb.com episode lookup to his scraper to fill plot summary and episode thumb. I only tweaked search for specific episode because it sometimes missfired on multi-season animes.
-- what is new there is way how anime is searched on thetvdb.com, it uses exactly same recursive algorithm as in section 3/ -> advantage is that scraper will end up searching same thetvdb.com entry as for fanarts, disadvantage is that it can be pretty slow, because whole recursive lookup is done again for each episode , luckily all results from fanart lookup are cached so everything will be done "locally".
-- unfortunatelly unlike fanarts lookup where scraper doesn't need to care about season (because pictures aren't divided by seasons) for episodes scraper must find right season. Basically scraper counts +1 for each prequel lookup, e.g if anime is found on thetvdb.com, then it's considered season 1, if anime prequel is found, it's considered season 2, if prequel of prequel is found, it's considered season 3 ..... Sometimes it works fine, sometimes not (mostly in cases when relations graph is too complicated or some OVA/OAVs are mixed in), live with it.
-- as stated above OVA/OAVs are real PITA because they aren't treated consistently on thetvdb.com, sometimes they are entered as regular season, sometimes as specials. So there is setting where extra details can be turned off for OVA/OAVs.
-- added preset for season and episode offset for episodes extra details lookup (see setting). This is workaround for issues above (mismatched seasons and OVA/OAVs mapped to specials). When season preset is used scraper will use this "hardcoded" value instead of computed one. Additionally for specials there is possibility to set episode offset in case more than one OVA/OAVs are listed in specials.
-- unfortunately i'm still not able to learn regular expressions and scraper engine how to foretell , so it requires some checking for extra detail matches and/or manual work with presets setting. If you won't be bothered by some manual work simply turn extra details off in setting, you will lost episode plot summary (if filled on thetvdb.com at all) but at least for me it's not big deal because i check it only rarely. Thumbs will be generated from your video files by XBMC. (if enabled).
- Use Google Search ... disabled by default, allow use Google as search engine instead of seaching in anidb.xml
- Enable anidb.net prequel lookup ... enabled by default, self-explanatory, see section 3/
- Alternative anidb.net prequel link type ... "Parent Story" as default, allow select alternative prequel link type from "Parent Story", "Alternative Setting" and "Side Story"
- Enable only single Animation studio return ... enabled by default, self-explanatory, see section 2/
- Enable thetvdb.org fanart/posters ... enabled by default, self-explanatory
- Enable thetvdb.org banners ... disabled by default, banners are wide posters and i added this setting because i don't use them in XBMC
- Enable thetvdb.org extra episode details ... enabled by default, self-explanatory, see section 5/
- Enable thetvdb.org extra episode details for OVA/OAVs ... disabled by default, tells scraper if it should lookup extra details on thetvdb.com for OVA/OAVs episodes, see section 5/
- Enable presets for thetvdb.org extra episode details ... disabled by default, enables following two settings
- Preset season number ... 1 as default, see description in section 5/
- Preset episode number offset ... +0 as default, see description in section 5/, enabled only when Preset season number is set to 0 (specials on thetvdb.com)
- cleanup ... i started by modifying eldon's original scraper so i'm still using passing function parameters over actual download urls, which isn't clean. I should use clearbuffers="no" instead.
- some tweaks in plot summary cleaning
- some tweaks to multiple directors handling
- add possibility to lookup thetvdb.com episode by name, current solution based on episode number lookup doesn't work correctly with single (long running) anime divided to multiple seasons on thetvdb.com (e.g. One Piece)
Scraper (use Download link in upper right corner):
Current anidb.xml (Created: Tue Apr 6 02:00:18 2010 (5773 anime, 31702 titles)):
Let me know if you find some bugs.
- GrEn - 2010-04-08
Great update bambi73, I have tested it a little bit and it works amazing for me with the tests that I have done using the google matching. I tried to get the Anidb.xml search working but it keeps deleting my anidb.xml file whenever I go to search.
I am using a Linux install and from what I can tell it needs to go into the .xbmc\temp\scrapers directory in the home folder. That is where the uncommented one downloaded it (only got .5MB also) when I tested that out. I am not sure if its a Linux thing or one of my settings but it seems to clear out the temp scraper folder on every search. Setting the timestamp on the anidb.xml 2 months ahead didn't seem to help.
I also wanted to ask what you are using in you advancedsettings to match to your renamed files. Right now I am renaming my files (using AniDBs AOM) with s01e in front of the episode number because <regexp>[/\._ \-]([0-9]+)</regexp> was giving me wrong matches or to many of them.
Thank you for the updated scraper and any help.
- bambi73 - 2010-04-08
GrEn Wrote:Great update bambi73, I have tested it a little bit and it works amazing for me with the tests that I have done using the google matching. I tried to get the Anidb.xml search working but it keeps deleting my anidb.xml file whenever I go to search.Thanks
GrEn Wrote:I am using a Linux install and from what I can tell it needs to go into the .xbmc\temp\scrapers directory in the home folder. That is where the uncommented one downloaded it (only got .5MB also) when I tested that out. I am not sure if its a Linux thing or one of my settings but it seems to clear out the temp scraper folder on every search. Setting the timestamp on the anidb.xml 2 months ahead didn't seem to help.What version/revision are you using? It's important because cachePersistence parameter was added in relatively recent builds (01/2010 by info in eldons post above), if you have older build your scraper cache dir will be deleted before each scrape attempt (don't try to enable anidb.xml download in this case because you will easily get banned from anidb).
GrEn Wrote:I also wanted to ask what you are using in you advancedsettings to match to your renamed files. Right now I am renaming my files (using AniDBs AOM) with s01e in front of the episode number because <regexp>[/\._ \-]([0-9]+)</regexp> was giving me wrong matches or to many of them.I'm using naming pattern %ann E%enr - %epn in WebAOE (result is for example Angel Beats E01 - Departure.mkv) and <regexp>(?i)[/\\].*? E(\d{2,3})(never happened)?([^/\\]*)</regexp> regexp in XBMC which forces season 1 for every match.


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mjlyricsonly.com/?p=2406&nggpage=10 (copy and paste site)Date of birth: August 29, 1958 at 7:33 P.M. (CST). It was a Friday.Place of birth: Gary, Indiana.Birth name: Michael Joe Jackson. His driver license and his passport both indicate this name. He signed his name as Michael Joe Jackson to various important contracts and so stated in numerous depositions. Still, most often he is referred to as "Michael Joseph Jackson."Other names considered for him at birth were "Ronald" or "Roy."HATED to be called "Jacko." He voiced his strong dislike against this moniker countless times in interviews, but the tabloid insisted on taunting him and referred to him by that name — and still does even to this day.Height (at age 50): 69 inches (1.75 meters)Weight (at age 50) 136 lbs (61.7 kilogram)Eyes color: brownBlood type: BShoe size: 8.5 (US). Michael loved to wear the same type of black penny loafers simply because these were the shoes he could dance in. The exact brands he wore are unconfirmed (e.g., Bass Larson, Bass Weejun or Cole Haan).Mother is Katherine Esther Scruse (Screws). Father is Joseph Walter Jackson. Maternal grandparents were Martha Upshaw and Prince Albert Screws. Paternal grandparents were Crystal Lee King and Samuel Jackson.Michael had some Native American Indian ancestry; Choctaw on Joe's side, Cherokee on Katherine's side.Had three sisters, Maureen Reillette ("Rebbie"), LaToya Yvonne and Janet Damita Jo.Had 5 living brothers, Sigmund Esco ("Jackie"), Toriano Adaryll ("Tito"), Jermaine La Jaune, Marlon David and Steven Randall ("Randy").Lost a brother, Brandon (Marlon's twin), at birth.Had one half-sister, Joh'Vonnie Jackson, a daughter of Joe Jackson from another relationship.Had three children, Prince Michael Jackson (date of birth February 13, 1997), Paris Katherine-Michael Jackson (date of birth April 3, 1998) and Prince Michael Jackson, II (date of birth February 22, 2002). "Blanket" is a nickname Michael gave to his youngest son.Has married and divorced twice. His first wife was Lisa-Marie Presley. His second wife was Debbie Rowe (also the natural mother of Michael's first two children).For more details on family, friends and foes of Michael click hereBoth Tito and Jermaine recall that Michael had long fingers at birth. Tito recalls Michael was sucking his fingers for a long time. Jermaine recalls that Michael was a very active baby and always tried to slip away when he tried to change his diaper.His mother recalled catching 2-year old Michael with his baby bottle in hand dancing to the sound of a broken noisy washing machine. Katherine Jackson also stated that by her recollection Michael has never made an uncoordinated move even when he was a tiny baby.Jermaine recalls 4-year old Michael watching them practice songs in the living room and then he would fashion bongos from cereal boxes to play along.Michael's first public appearance was at age 5, at his elementary school at Gary, Indiana. He sang "Climb Every Mountain" from The Sound of Music.His fondest childhood memory of his father was when he took him to a carnival and lifted him up putting him on a pony. (Joe Jackson admittedly did not recall this incident.)Was right-handed.Had fairly large hands. Taped his index and ring fingers and pinkies on both hands to draw attention to his hand movements while he was performing (and not to cover up his skin condition).Was baptized.Was ticklish.Did not celebrate Christmas and birthdays when he was growing up due to his mother's religious beliefs. He celebrated his first Christmas in Neverland organized by Elizabeth Taylor in 1992. He was so guilt-ridden about celebrating Christmas that he spent the majority of his time in the bathroom crying.Michael never was allowed to call his father "Dad" or such. All Jackson siblings were told to always address their father as "Joseph" or "Joe."Joe was a strong disciplinarian. Michael first publicly spoke about Joe's heavy-handed approach to child discipline in the Oprah Winfrey interview (February 1993) and then later in another interview with Martin Bashir (February 2003). Joe used harsh corporal punishment not only for disobedience from his children but oftentimes for mistakes made during daily musical rehearsals. Joe never publicly addressed this issue until Michael's death but he defended his actions for being strict for the sake of ensuring that all of his children could advance in life and the music business.Due to Joe's harshness Michael feared his father so much he would become so uncomfortable that he would often black out or get sick in the stomach when they had to be in the same room. Still, Michael gave his father full credit for his entertainment success and always hoped for a reconciliation with him. Rabbi Schmuley wrote in his book about occasions he observed when Michael and Joe did have some reconciliatory conversations in the early 2000's.Never had professional training in dancing or singing (although he did work with a voice coach during concert tours).His vocal range was nearly four octaves from two E's below middle C, to two B's above middle C, or 44 notes. Seth Riggs, his vocal coach described him as a high tenor, but he could drop down to a baritone, if needed. He had perfect pitch.He always sang scales to warm up.Before singing he would drink piping hot drink with cough drops to relax his vocal chords.He didn't learn how to read or write music and never learned to play instruments proficiently.He dictated all of his songs on various recording machines (even on telephone voicemails). He would transcribe every instrument and sound (complete with stops and fills) onto tape as he would hear it in his head. He said music was "tapestry" with different layers.He was a talented beat-boxer.When he wrote a song, he first always started on the melody. He often said that music normally just came to him from God. The entire composition would get into his head and then he would put it down on tape. He brought lyrics into it later, but stated that certain words came directly with the melody.His motto was "Let the song create itself."Main themes of Michael's songs: 1) songs about seduction and deception (e.g., Billie Jean, Dirty Diana), 2) Gothic/horror themes (e.g., Thriller, Is It Scary), 3) Media and social injustice (e.g., Leave Me Alone, They Don't Care About Us), 4) Classic love songs (e.g., The Way You Make Me Feel, Remember the Time), 5) Loneliness, isolation (e.g., Stranger in Moscow, Childhood) and 6) Anthems (e.g., Man in The Mirror, Earth Song)He often recorded songs with the lights off or dimmed in the studio not to feel self-conscious. As he sang, he also always danced, stomped or snapped his fingers. When he recorded something special, he called it the "Bible version," which represented the highest quality.Whenever he was told "I love you", he always replied "I love you more". He learned the phrase "I love you more" in several different languages which he used during his world-wide concert performances to address his fans.If you are still reading this, THANK YOU, and click here to hear some words of encouragement from Michael. Every town he went during concert tours, he never missed visiting hospitals and orphanages. He brought tons of toys with him and loved watching children opening them. He aided several children to get necessary treatment and medication to save their lives.Everyone who ever worked with Michael would describe him as down-to-earth, professional, humble, very polite, having a good sense of humor and an infectious captivating laugh.Rarely used curse words and only when he was upset or in the context of a joke. Michael was never profane in public.The first song that he composed, recorded and was released was "Blues Away". By his own recollection, he has been writing songs since the age of 9.He wrote one autobiography entitled "Moonwalk" in 1988.In his autobiography, he wrote that he wanted to have a big family, 10 children. He said he probably would adopt children because he "didn't need to bring his own into the world." He wanted to adopt children from all races.He released a second book "Dancing The Dream" in 1992, which is a book of his poems and reflections. "Planet Earth" was released in this book.The most comprehensive biography written about Michael is authored by a childhood acquaintance, J. Randy Tarraborrelli entitled "Michael Jackson: The Magic and the Madness," a book that was originally released in 1991 and updated several times in later years, including in 2009, after Michael's death.12-year old Michael received a $7 per week allowance from the group earnings of the Jackson 5. He did chores at home like any regular kids. When asked what he wanted to do when he grew up he said he wanted to keep on singing and do art (paint and draw).As a child, he and his siblings would clean the house and sing. Loved to vacuum.Loved to swim. He made a wish every time he plunged into a pool of water.Could play chess.His favorite films were "To Kill A Mockingbird", "Captains Courageous" and "300 Candles".He cited Debussy, Prokofiev and Tchaikovsky as his favorite composers. He also loved showtunes written by Irving Berlin, Rodgers and Hammerstein and Holland-Dozier-Holland.He regarded James Brown as his biggest musical inspiration. Another performer who had great influence on Michael was Jackie Wilson.LaToya claims Michael liked to watch the show "Dancing With The Stars".Was an avid reader and had over 20,000 books in his own library. He read any subjects, including biographies, poetry, philosophy, psychology, history, religion and spirituality. Had a custom to kiss all four corners of a new book in hopes to gain new knowledge from it.Read the entire Bible many times over. He often used lines or phrases from the Bible in his lyrics.Read Norman Vincent Peale's "The Power of Positive Thinking" and was a believer of creative visualization. He often marked up furniture and mirrors in his home and at hotels with motivational thoughts for himself.Listened to motivational tapes normally at bedtime.Was quite knowledgeable and read a lot about World War II.Appeared at the Academy Awards in 1973, was introduced by Charlton Heston and he performed the song, "Ben."Was tutored by Rose Fine during the Jackson 5 years. Janet and Michael were especially close to Ms. Rose and financially aided her to her dying days.Was quite knowledgeable about mythology and loved medieval stories and themes.Even though the Jackson 5 was not discovered by her, Diana Ross had a huge impact on Michael's life. She introduced Michael to arts when he lived with her for a month after Joe moved the boys to California and started recording for Motown. Michael idolized her all his life and admittedly had a crush on Diana. He found her such a warm, loving person and respected her parenting skills so much that in his 2002 Last Will and Testament, Michael named Diana Ross as secondary guardian in case his mother could not raise his own children.Shared an art studio with Australian artist, Brett-Livingstone Strong, at a hangar in Santa Monica airport. Other modern-day artists whom Michael befriended and admired were Nate Giorgio and Dave Nordahl. Giorgio and Nordahl made several large personalized paintings commissioned by Michael.In between recording sessions, he liked to doodle on random pieces of paper or play with his animals. On August 8, 2011, his children gifted 10 original art pieces created by Michael to the newly remodeled Los Angeles Children's Hospital.Had e-mail accounts with AOL and Google's Gmail.Was banking with Bank of America.Often ordered packages from Amazon.com.LOVED to shop. He liked to browse for merchandise in the Salvation Army. He was an excellent negotiator for bargains and discounts no matter what the asking price was (he said "Celebrities like bargains, too").Very rarely got a chance to go and shop uninterrupted in any stores. In fact, he often had to commit himself to special shopping sprees — mainly late at night — where they would close a store down (e.g., Toys R Us) and he would have the entire store to himself and his friends. Naturally, the stores expected him to spend handsomely, which Michael always did.Had an extra rib.Had vitiligo. Vitiligo is a skin disorder that causes white patchy skin due to loss of pigmentation. Michael first revealed this medical condition publicly in a live interview conducted by Oprah Winfrey from the Neverland Ranch in February, 1993. Despite his very own candid disclosure of his private medical ailment (and many subsequent confirming statements made by family members, friends, colleagues, and various close acquaintances in the future) the public and the press mercilessly continued to ridicule him on his lighter skin tone until the end of his life. The report of his autopsy conducted on June 26, 2009, positively confirmed that Michael did have vitiligo on his chest, stomach, face, legs and arms.Had lupus.Had appendectomy.Was allergic to giraffes and horses. Had to take allergy medicine if he wanted to touch them.Was burnt on the scalp during at commercial shoot for Pepsi on January 27, 1984. He suffered second-degree burns and a permanent scar on his scalp. The footage of the accident was released to the public in 2009.Had numerous unsuccessful surgeries trying to correct his burnt scalp and re-grow hair.Donated all money received after his Pepsi accident ($1.5 million) to the Brotman Medical Center (later known as "Michael Jackson Burn Center" in Los Angeles).In his Pepsi commercials he is never seen holding a Pepsi can. In fact, he did not like Pepsi. He preferred Coca Cola.Had pleurisy while visiting at Jermaine's Malibu house and was rushed to the hospital by Jermaine.Prince (aka. Roger Nelson) – Madonna - Michael connection - They were the three biggest superstars in the 1980's. All three were born in the summer of 1958. Prince was born on June 7, Madonna was born on August 16 and Michael was born on August 29.Michael regarded Prince as his biggest "competition" in his musical professional life. Their "rivalry" was often played up by the press (reporting that Prince called Michael a "wimp" and Michael called Prince "gross"). There were no bitter feuds between them but they certainly did not care much for each other. Prince regularly "snubbed" Michael by refusing to appear or collaborate with him. Prince was invited but never showed up for the taping and recording of "We Are The World." Another time, Michael reached out to Prince to make a duet (the original version of "Bad") but Prince declined. However, after Michael's death, Prince paid tribute to him in his 2011 concert tour by playing his own rendition of "Don't Stop Til You Get Enough".Prince had his own sense of humor when it came to Michael. Once he sent a present in a small box to Michael. It contained some colorful metal charms and feathers. Michael opened the box in the presence of Quincy Jones and as soon as he has seen the contents quickly closed it. He was absolutely horrified and truly believed that Prince was sending him voodoo to put a hex on him.Both Prince and Michael went out on dates with Madonna. Michael later recalled his dates and interactions with Madonna in the Rabbi Schmuley tapes. He felt that Madonna was sincerely in love with him and was definitely intent on seducing him (including making obscene phone calls to him and showing him "spanky books"). Back then, Michael found Madonna too aggressive, vulgar and basically "not a nice person." Although Michael did say in the Schmuley tapes that motherhood definitely did justice to Madonna as she seemed to be a very devoted and loving mother to her children.Driver license no: N8685798. Learned to drive only at the insistence of his mother.Didn't like to drive on the freeways. He once said he could never get on them and then he couldn't get off of them.Had trouble with parallel parking. Once he drove to visit a friend just to find out that there were no parking spaces to which he could get into. He kept driving around the complex and a crowd gathered. He attracted attention not only because he was driving a new expensive Bentley but because he was unmistakably recognized. Eventually, he asked one of the spectators if he could help him park the car. Needless to say the guy happily obliged and was eager to drive around in Michael's car and finally parallel park it."Speed Demon" was written after Michael got a speeding or similar traffic violation ticket on his way to a studio working with Quincy Jones.Called 9-1-1 once when he had a flat tire. 9-1-1 operator hung up on him when he stated his name was Michael Jackson. Because Michael called back asking for further assistance, the operator told him that he would be cited for "misuse of emergency hotline" and "for impersonating a famous person."People often hung up on him once he announced his name. Even though he was making legitimate phone calls most people thought it was a prank.After the release and the overwhelming world-wide success of "Thriller," Michael faced an unprecedented onslaught of media attention. Although he was a child star who grew up in the public eye, very few people knew what was going on with this shy enigmatic young man who seemed to have no bad vice; had no girlfriends; never got into any negative publicity, and still lived at home with his parents. Since there was nothing of substance to report, the tabloids started up speculations about Michael possibly being gay (romantically tying him to song writer Clifton Davis and then to the singer Boy George); taking hormones to keep his voice artificially high; his isolation and disconnect from everyday people; his affinity for childish fantasies (Disneyland and keeping mannequins for company); his love for exotic animals (e.g., having a pet chimp, a boa constrictor and a private zoo at home), and never-ending rumors about altering his appearance to be made look like Diana Ross.Michael, the forever prankster, first thought it would be fun to see just how far the tabloid can be led on and he himself came up with elaborate hoax and pranks. He posed for a picture laying in a hyperbaric chamber and his manager, Frank Dileo fed false rumors to the tabloid media — which he and Michael thought up — that Michael actually slept in a hyperbaric chamber in the hopes of prolonging his life. Another false rumor circulated by Dileo was that Michael wanted to buy the bones of the Elephant Man. The tabloid naturally ate up all such news and eventually started coming up with its own false rumors which became more salacious and mean-spirited in nature to the point that Michael realized that his innocent prank turned into a monster. Thanks to the tabloid media portrayal, the public was fed a completely false image of Michael who became a weird, wacky cartoon character and the butt of all media jokes on an international scale.Many attempts were made on his part to refute media misrepresentations up until the end of his life. In 1984, Michael issued a two-page "open letter" statement to the press (which Frank Dileo read at a news conference) in which Michael reacted to each and every false allegations of the media against his character. All this was to no avail. Ultimately, the situation has gotten worse. The media never stopped portraying Michael in a bad light. Michael also became the target of an extortion brought on by the Chandler family accusing him of child molestation and his reputation and public image never fully recovered from false allegations.Often times he kept in touch with friends by phone calling them late at night or at odd hours sometimes miscalculating time zones. After Lady Diana's death it was revealed that several phone calls were made between Buckingham Palace and Neverland when Michael and Lady Diana had candid telephone conversations.Many recorded private conversations were posted on YouTube after Michael's death. Most notably a fairly lengthy series of telephone calls — referred to as the "Glenda" tapes — between an unidentified woman and Michael, which were apparently recorded by the woman's jealous husband, who became suspicious of the long, late night telephone conversations his wife was having with another man. It is not know whether the husband knew it was Michael Jackson on the other line. The recordings were made at around 1992 when Michael was on his Dangerous Tour.Liked to make prank calls to various friends and acquaintances. Russell Crowe recalled such prank calls he received from Michael. Many times he made prank calls (or answering his phone) using foreign accents and disguising his voice.Released a fragrance with hologram on the bottle in the early 1990's. It was called Mystique.Michael wore the perfume Black Orchid designed by Tom Ford. He also reportedly liked Bal A Versailles by Jean Desprez. According to Jermaine, Michael also liked to use a Dolce & Gabbana cologne with the red top.Michael used the perfume Obsession by Calvin Klein for Bubbles the monkey. Bubbles also had impeccable designer clothing attire. Jermaine claims he sometimes ended up "borrowing" some of Bubbles clothes for his own kids.Gave a lecture/speech at Oxford University, London, UK, in 2001 to promote his "Heal The Kids" campaign.Patent no. 5255452, filed in 1992, is a special "gravity defying" pair of shoes registered to Michael Jackson. He designed the shoes in order to perform the choreography for a special lean requiring a 45-degree angle especially for the song "Smooth Criminal".Wore reading glasses that he normally purchased at Rite Aid, Walgreens or other convenience stores. Dr. Murray claimed Michael had such poor eyesight that he should have been declared "legally blind."Was a non-smoker, but empty cigarette packets were found in his personal belongings at the Carolwood residence. Dr. Murray claimed Michael might have been a "closet smoker" and covered up the smell of cigarette smoke by using perfume excessively.Always packed his own bags and suitcases.His clothes were custom-made by Michael Bush and Dennis Tompkins.Michael brought in an array of singular trademarks such as a single sequined glove, fedora hat, Jheri curl, aviator sunglasses, red leather jacket with zippers, simple white T-shirt, and glittery white socks with short-hemmed black pants.In 1989, Michael participated in an endorsement campaign for LA Gear footwear called "Unstoppable." Here is the official commercial .Wore armband to bring attention to and as a reminder of all the children suffering over the world.Wore shorter hemmed pants and glittery white socks to bring people's attention to his footwork while he was performing.Had a messy personal bedroom where no one was allowed, mainly because too much stuff was taken from him by staff in the past. He had a separate bedroom where he actually ended up sleeping.Often slept on the floor on a mattress. During sleepovers with children he slept on the floor in front of a fireplace or in sleeping bags. Although he was accused of inappropriate behavior with children, through his life, Michael was emphatic that he never slept with children in the same bed.Had state-of-the-art speakers installed throughout his house including the bathrooms. He often listened to unfinished works or demos while dressing up.Slept with lights on and classical music playing.Never wore a bathing suit after being diagnosed with vitiligo. He wore pajama pants and t-shirt in the pool.Dreaded to go on tours, claimed he "would go through hell during touring." He often suffered from dehydration after performing.He battled insomnia since the 1980's.Became dependent on strong painkillers after he had an accident in Munich (falling with the "cherry picker" during a performance).He has rarely or almost never seen the entry and the lobbies of any hotels he stayed at during his tours. He was always ushered through back entries, freight elevators or kitchens.He often used sheets, pillow cases and other items which he signed for fans and then threw them from his hotel suite.Was scared of dogs, especially small "yappers."Was able to overcome his fear of dogs and got a chocolate Labrador, "Kenya," for his children. He also gifted a small dog, "Marshmallow", to Rabbi Schmuley and his family.Had a sweet tooth. His eldest son, Prince recalled beach walks they had in Bahrain in 2005, when they ate Snicker bars and drank Coca Cola.When he was a child, Michael always bought candies from his daily allowance and gave them away to neighboring kids in Gary, Indiana. At his Neverland theatre, he had a full service concierge with variety of candy bars, donuts and sweets served for free for the audience.Liked to chew gums. His favorite gums were Bazookas.During the Jackson 5 era, he often played basketball with his brothers and family tournaments with other Motown groups like The Temptations. His long-time friend, Frank Cascio, claims that Michael was "shockingly bad" at any sports and by his observation, Michael couldn't even dribble the basketball.After a minor fire incident, he had his own fire department on premises at Neverland Ranch.Had a zoo of exotic animals at Neverland Ranch including tigers, giraffes, alpacas, llamas, elephants, peacocks and snakes. Michael's menagerie included: Bubbles (chimpanzee), Graveyard (orangutan), Muscles (python), Louie and Lola (llamas), Mr. Tibbs (ram), Gypsy (elephant), Thriller and Sabu (tigers), Black Girl, Spanky, Shadow and Sasha (dogs), Jabbar, Rambo, Princess and Annie Sue (giraffes), MJ (alligator).He liked to feed his animals with candies. The apes loved to eat Jujubes and Nerds. His baby bear loved Skittles. His elephants drank sodas and ate Starbursts.Since it was such a rural area, he had roads built and fortified in order to get to Neverland Ranch. He often entertained and invited over sick and underprivileged children normally by the bus loads to his ranch.Liked white wine. He often drank it out of soda cans when children were around so they would not see him consume alcohol.Called wine "Jesus juice."Was raised and practiced as a Jehovah's Witness until 1987. Five days per week, Michael and his mother often went "pioneering" door-to-door in the neighborhood of Encino spreading the word of Jehovah.The original song title for "Thriller" was "Starlight Sign." Michael started recording the song as "Starlight Sign," but as the recording sessions developed, the lyrics were changed and ultimately the song's title, too.Asked his attorney, John Branca, to destroy the video "Thriller" before it was released, because he was criticized by the Jehovah's Witness church elders for its contents. Branca told him a (possibly untrue) story about Bela Lugosi, a devout Catholic who played "Dracula" (whom Michael liked), who had disclaimers on his movies saying that his films were not endorsing vampirism. Michael instructed a similar disclaimer be put on "Thriller" and thus it was ultimately released."Carousel" was to be released on "Thriller." The last minute, it was replaced with the song "Human Nature." Almost 600 different demos for songs were considered for the "Thriller" album by Quincy Jones."Rock With You" was the most often-used song for outside/beach roller skating in the early 1980′s."Scared of the Moon" was written by Michael after hearing a story about a relative of Brooke Shields' lifelong fear of the moon. The concept was so foreign to Michael that it inspired him to write a song about this phenomena. Michael himself admired the earth and the planets, he loved to make wishes upon stars, never missed to say a prayer every time he witnessed a beautiful sunset or sunrise and loved to go outside at night just to gaze at stars and admire the moon in its forever changing phases.The lines "ma ma se, ma ma sa, ma ma ku sa" in "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'" are Michael's spin on a Swahili type chant. It is a nonsensical catchy phrase and it does not really mean anything. The original line — which goes "ma ma ko, ma ma sa, ma ko ma ko sa" — is from a Cameroonean artist, Manu Dibango's "Soul Makossa" which was released in 1973. The Dibango line does not have a coherent translation either although "makossa" is believed to refer to the twisting and shaking movements of a dancer."I Just Can't Stop Loving You" was to be a duet with Whitney Houston, but Arista, Houston's recording company did not give permission for Whitney to record the song with Michael. They never got to collaborate on any songs.He liked the drink Red Bull.Was often regarded as a vegetarian, but he was not. According to Dr. Murray he "ate poorly, always chicken and rice". According to Kai Chase, his chef, Michael liked spinach salads and granola with almond milk.He loved traditional turkey dinner with mashed potatoes, stuffing, yams and — his personal favorite — cranberry sauce.His favorite junk food place was KFC. He would take the skin off the chicken and then jokingly comment "now I made it organic."Michael loved to take his kids to drive-through fast food restaurants and he placed the orders himself.Made the "world's best french toasts" for breakfast, according to his daughter, Paris.In his 30′s, he kept a strict schedule of fasting on Sundays. He spent most of his Sundays practicing dance moves in his home studio.During practicing, he often listened to Janet's music (such as "The Knowledge," "Pleasure Principle," and "Rhythm Nation") because he loved the beat of her songs.Had a minor fear of flying. Despite his discomfort of flying, Frank Cascio, a close personal friend, reported this very statement made by Michael himself. "Listen, when you're flying with me, you don't have to worry about the plane going down. I'm not going to die in a plane crash. No, that's not going to happen. I'm going to die from a shot." [Cascio, Frank (2011-11-15). My Friend Michael: An Ordinary Friendship with an Extraordinary Man (p. 123). Harper Collins, Inc.. Kindle Edition]. Ironically, Michael did die from a "shot," but not a gunshot as he probably meant it.Michael loved trains and often opted to travel by train instead of airplanes in order to see the countryside and relax. He often chartered private railcars on Amtrak and also traveled with trains in Europe during his various concert tours.Michael owned a large Neoplan luxury touring bus, which he used many times to take trips to different parts of the country, including Arizona, San Francisco and the East Coast.Was a great admirer of Charlie Chaplin. He made several drawings and sketches of Chaplin and he visited Chaplin's widow in Switzerland during his tour. The song "Smile" was originally written by Charlie Chaplin.Was a great admirer of Walt Disney. Both Disney and Michael had their own mini trains. Michael's was in perfect working condition at Neverland.Was a great admirer of Fred Astaire. Astaire called him after his television performance debuting "Moonwalk" and called Michael a "hell of a dancer."Was a great admirer of Houdini and magic in general.Was friends with the late Doug Henning, David Blaine and Uri Geller.Was a fan of the Bee Gees. He often visited Barry Gibbs at his home and they collaborated on numerous songs together.Was a big fan of "The Three Stoogies" and admittedly watched their movies over and over again.Was a huge "Star Wars" fan. Befriended Carrie Fisher (who played Princess Leia) through Elizabeth Taylor.Loved comic books and superheroes. His favorite character was "Morph" from X-Men. He reportedly wanted to audition to play the role "Professor Xavier" in the X-Men movie.Wanted to play in Steven Spielberg's movie "Hook," but withdrew from the project after he learned that Spielberg's take on the Peter Pan story was different from what Michael envisioned.Michael had a movie production company called Lost Boys Productions. Lost Boys Production was the production company that Evan Chandler (father of Jordan Chandler who accused Michael of inappropriate conduct in 1993) hoped to get in on. Evan Chandler tried to extort money from Michael once he found out he would not be a part of Lost Boys Production. Later, Chandler did have one of his screenplays materialized as a movie directed by Mel Brooks called "Robin Hood: Men in Tights". Evan Chandler died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound in an apparent suicide on November 5, 2009.Michael and his family (including young Janet, Randy and oldest sister, Rebbie) did many television skits/variety shows in the late 1970′s. Even though Michael was not too enthusiastic about them — as he later recalled in his biography "Moonwalk" – all episodes showcase an amazing dancing repertoire of Michael: "I Shot The Sheriff" (1974); "The World is a Mess" (funny choir skit with the brothers); Tap Dancing Competition.Played the Scarecrow in the musical "The Wiz," in 1978. Quincy Jones recalled that Michael was always "super-prepared" for any scenes on the set of "The Wiz." His Scarecrow makeup took hours to put on (which Michael endured with amazing patience and enthusiasm). Michael knew every dance step, every word of dialogue and all the lyrics to every song by everyone in the entire production.He appeared in a full feature-length movie called "Moonwalker" which was released in 1988.He appeared in a 3-D science fiction movie called "Captain Eo" that was released in 1986 in Disneyland and Disneyworld. Following a more than ten-year hiatus, Disney re-released "Captain Eo" after Michael's death in 2009.After working on "The Wiz," with Quincy Jones, they collaborated on Michael's first adult solo album "Off The Wall."Had a cameo appearance in The Simpsons in the episode entitled "Stark Raving Dad." He loaned his speaking voice but contractually he could not sing on the show nor could he use his own name in the credits. He wrote the song "Lisa It's Your Birthday" but did not sing the version as it appeared in the episode.Wrote a song called "Do the Bartman" which was performed by Nancy Cartwright, the voice of Bart Simpson.Had cameo appearance in "Men in Black" as "Agent M."Appeared in a 2004 comedy, "Miss Castaway and the Island Girls" as "Agent MJ".Michael referred to his music videos as "short films." Despite his huge success and history as a child performer, marketing his short films to the public was not easy. MTV, the only music television channel at the time (established in 1981), did not air/play black artists' songs. After the huge success of his Thriller album in 1983, Michael made the first breakthrough after which MTV started playing not only Michael's music videos but other black artists' as well."Billie Jean" was not one specific person but rather a personification of women who often claimed in history that famous people fathered their children. By his recollection, Michael laid down the entire basis for the song "Billie Jean" in 3 minutes while he was riding in a car.The tune of "Strangers in Moscow" appears as background music for a Sega game."She's Out of My Life" was a song hard to record because Michael broke down crying at the end of every take. Quincy Jones ultimately decided to go with the very first take of the song because it was obvious that Michael couldn't have otherwise recorded this song. Tatum O'Neal later claimed that Michael probably recorded this song with her in his mind. Michael and Tatum briefly dated in 1978.Proposed marriage to Brooke Shields, but she did not accept his proposal.Kept Post-It notes in his bedroom and bathrooms or wrote reminders/notes on bathroom mirrors with markers. Mostly they were positive motivational thoughts for him to look at. He surrounded himself with photos of children.Always had a picture of Shirley Temple (as a child) and Elizabeth Taylor in his dressing room.After the release of "Thriller" as his fame rose, his isolation was such that he had life-size mannequins in his bedroom to keep him company. He sometimes would go out late at night desperately looking for someone to talk to in the Encino neighborhood.Has numerous entries in the Guinness Book of World Records. "This Is It" the 50-concert tour was to be another one of Michael's greatest achievements and to be recognized in the Guinness Book of World Records. Michael would have taken the title over from Prince (the singer).Won countless awards in his lifetime which are listed in 81 different categories on Wikipedia.Bought the ATV Music catalog in 1984 (which contains the majority of The Beatles compositions) for $47.5 million. This music catalog currently is estimated to be worth as much as $1.5 billion.Loved using symbols especially the number "7". There are numerous websites listing ever-growing examples on how the number "7" was dominant in Michael's life."Little Susie" was written after Michael saw the picture of Gottfried Helmmwein called "Beautiful Victim."According to Jermaine Jackson, Michael's real inspiration for "Smooth Criminal" were notorious serial killer "The Night Stalker" Richard Ramirez and San Ysidro McDonald's mass murderer James Huberty (who also sent threatening letters and stalked The Jacksons during their Victory tour).Accounts vary on the real inspiration behind "Remember the Time." Some say, Michael wrote this song for Diana Ross. Others claim, Michael wrote the song for Debbie Rowe (his second wife).Loved to dress in uniforms and be photographed with police and military personnel.Did not wear jewelry only for photo ops or for special/publicity events. He said jewelry got in the way of dancing.Michael liked to wear disguise in public just to get a bit of privacy. This way he could visit Disneyland and spend uninterrupted time to relax. He wore fat suits, false mustache or beard, baggy clothes, fake glasses and face masks. He used to say he could fool everyone with his disguises, except for the women. The women would recognize his walk; they had it all down. Another thing that would give him away were his beloved penny loafer shoes.Met the following U.S. presidents: Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton, George H. W. Bush and George W. Bush.His favorite U.S. president was Abraham Lincoln. Michael did a lot of sketches and paintings of several U.S. presidents while he worked in an art studio with Brett Livingstone Strong.Had subluxation of his right hip (hip would slip out of joints when bending to 90 degrees or greater).Had tooth implants on tooth #18 and #19 and a root canal on tooth #13.Had surgery for carpal tunnel syndrome on both hands.Admitted to two major surgeries on his nose and having a cleft added to his chin. His very first nose operation occurred after he fell at his Encino home during dance practice and broke his nose.Had permanent tattoos for eyebrows and lip color due to loss of pigmentation on his face caused by vitiligo.Had numerous surgeries on right knee.Michael's nickname for Jermaine was "Earms".Michael's nickname for Janet was "Donk" (short for donkey).Quincy Jones had a nickname for Michael called "Smelly" because Michael always could smell a good deal. Michael's other nickname was "Caspar" given to him by Suzanne DePasse in the 1970′s. Bill Bray, his long-time personal manager used to call him "Joker." Frank DiLeo regularly called him "Kid."Loved professional digital cameras and was quite knowledgeable about them. His favorite camera was the Epic RED camera which also was used at filming of the rehearsals of "This is It."Last song performed by Michael was "Earth Song" on the evening of June 24, 2009, at Staples Center during rehearsals for the "This Is It" 50-concert tour.Last meal of Michael was some orange juice (an unfinished bottle was found at his bedside). Kai Chase, Michael's chef, testified at trial that she prepared white bean soup for Michael, but he never consumed it.Last words spoken by Michael – according to testimony from Dr. Conrad Murray given to the police on June 27, 2009 – "Dr. Conrad, please … I need to sleep. Just make me sleep. Doesn't matter what time I get up. I can't function if I don't sleep. They will have to cancel [the tour] … and I don't want them to cancel it."Medications taken close to time of death: Clonazepam, Trazodone, Diazepam, Lorazepam, Flomax and Propofol (Diprivan).Referred to Propofol (Diprivan) as "milk".Date of death: June 25, 2009 at 14:26 PST. It was a Thursday.Place of death: Ronald Reagan/UCLA Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA (possibly 100 North Carolwood Drive, Los Angeles, CA 90077)Cause of death: Acute Propofol intoxication administered by Dr. Conrad Murray who was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter on November 7, 2011.Met Dr. Murray in 2006 in Las Vegas. Both Michael and his children had flu-like symptoms and one of his bodyguards referred them to Dr. Murray.The news of Michael death on June 25, 2009, temporary crashed prominent websites like Wikipedia, Google and AOL.Michael's memorial which was held at Staples Center in Los Angeles on July 7, 2009, was watched on TV and online by a combined one billion people.Michael was laid to rest on September 3, 2009, at Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Glendale, California at the Great Mausoleum's Holly Terrace. His private funeral took place after sunset with a Jehovah's Witness service.Michael's grave is closed to the public, only visitors pre-approved by the family are allowed to pay their personal respect at his gravesite. Flowers to Michael's interment site can be arranged to be delivered through the flower shop at Forest Lawn, Glendale.Michael was buried inside a golden/bronze Promethean casket (the same kind James Brown was buried in whose funeral Michael attended in December 2006).LaToya described that Michael was dressed in a suit with pearl beads and wore a large golden belt. His hair and makeup was done by long-time friend and makeup artist, Karen Faye. He did not wear his signature one glove, but one was placed inside his casket along with a pair of sunglasses and a necklace that Paris, his daughter, gave to Michael.The Internet has an estimated 15 billion Michael Jackson-related sites (as of December 2011).MJ Radio From The Jackson 5 to Michael Jackson era. - MjTunes is an on-line radio station dedicated to stream Michael's music exclusively.Michael Jackson Tribute Portrait is a website dedicated to creating a "living" art to salute Michael. The artist David Ilan is preparing a drawing using only hand-drawn dots (pointillism). Each dot represents one person. One million dots are needed for the drawing to be completed. Getting a dot is free.In December 2009, Kraken Opus, a British publishing company produced its premium, oversized edition of the Michael Jackson Opus, which contains 404 pages, over 300 rare photographs, various artworks, exclusive interviews with Michael's personal friends and business collaborators on 13 x 18 inch pages each, weighing a massive 26.5 lbs. (12 kg). Michael actually had a chance to review the final draft of the Opus in June 2009 shortly before his death.Jermaine wrote a book about Michael entitled "You Are Not Alone – Michael: Through a Brother's Eyes" which was released in 2011.LaToya wrote a book about Michael entitled "Starting Over" which was released in 2011.Michael's mother wrote a book about Michael entitled "Never Can Say Goodbye: The Katherine Jackson Story" which was released in 2010.In June 1984, Michael set his hand and footprints in cement for part of the Las Vegas Walk of Fame Project – which was later canceled. The full-size 30″ x 30″ slab – weighing 500 lbs cement slab was up for sale at an auction recently.On January 26, 2012, Michael's three children impressed Michael's hand and footprints (using Michael's glove and shoes to make the impression) at Grauman's Chinese Theater in Hollywood, California. Justin Bieber paid tribute to Michael at this ceremony and sang a little bit of "Rockin' Robin."Michael was inducted to the Walk of Fame on November 20, 1984. His star is located directly in front of Grauman's Chinese Theater in Hollywood, California.There are 14 different wax figures all over the world modeled after Michael. The most recent ones were unveiled in 2009, at Madame Tussauds in Hollywood, California and on June 18, 2012 at Madame Tussauds, Hong Kong.THRILL THE WORLD is an annual international dance event – originally started in 2006 – in which participants (from pre-teens to the elderly) simultaneously re-enact the famous zombie dance seen in Michael's short film "Thriller." The dancers perform the same set choreography as seen in "Thriller" in unison at locations throughout the world with the intent of breaking world record for the Guinness World Record for Largest Thriller Dance in one location. The next upcoming Thrill The World event is to take place on Saturday, October 27, 2012 at 7 p.m. GMTMichael's brothers announced that a new concert series, entitled The Unity Tour is set to kick off in June 2012. The brothers plan to have Michael also be part of the concerts using his image either by hologram or video screens.For the 25th anniversary of the release of "Bad," Michael's estate will not only re-release this album but will also add several unfinished and previously unreleased songs by Michael (considering as much as 20 of them). The targetted release date is September 18, 2012. All newly released songs will have been recorded around 1987, the "Bad" era. One of the songs was identified as "Don't Be Messin' Around."
i thoroughly enjoyed reading that. thank you.


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Oscar Autotune Movie Montage Featuring Eclipse, Harry Potter, and The Social Network
Video: Harry Potter, Twilight, and More Get Auto-Tuned at the Oscars!
As host Anne Hathaway said, this year's Academy Awards kind of were the "young and hip" Oscars. They made the effort, anyway, from the choice of hosts to skits like the auto-tuned movie montage. Making a joke about how musicals were big this year, Franco introduced the parody, which features 2010 movies like Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part I, The Social Network, and Eclipse. Watch as Justin Timberlake's "billion dollars" speech and Taylor Lautner's abs become fodder for hilarious lyrics!


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Michael Irvin, Hall of Fame wide receiver, wants to make one thing clear: Seattle Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman is great, but New York Jets corner Darrelle Revis is greater.
Putting aside the short-lived Twitter scrap between the two cornerbacks, Irvin says one of Sherman's greatest attributes is what puts him in the headlines for all the wrong reasons: His mouth.
He's a new kind of cornerback, Irvin says, crafted in the mold of Rams trash talker Cortland Finnegan -- only better. Irvin doesn't remember playing anyone like him during his 12 seasons with the Dallas Cowboys.
TV TIFF: Sherman blasts Bayless
"The great corners I went up against did not talk," he tells USA TODAY Sports. "They were so focused on the task at hand. I like Richard Sherman. I like the bravado. I like the confidence. Anybody that says what he's planning on doing and then goes out and accomplishes it; it messes with your head. It really does.
"You think, that is a man who has the ability to impose his will on you, and that's what Sherman is. And he's confident about it. I like that about him."
Trash-talking on the football field, as Sherman did tactfully during games and not so tactfully after games this season, is a true talent, Irvin says. And a true advantage. Well before Sherman prompts Washington Redskins lineman Trent Williams to, say, mush him in the face during midfield handshakes, he's rattled his opponents.
BELL: Sherman gets A for classwork, but F for class
"It takes energy. With Sherm, once you master it, where you're talking and still playing, it's a huge advantage," Irvin says. "Because you're trying to get the guy off his game. You're putting pressure on his head. I used to say to a corner at Texas Stadium, "Man, it's hot in here. It's 115 degrees out here." Then after that second or third quarter, he comes to line up before a play and he says, 'man, you're right Mike, it's hot out here.'
"So you just let me know this has been lingering in your mind for two quarters."
But, Irvin says, Sherman's physical and vocal jabs would've been useless on him.
"I don't know if he would have been talking to me. His game is very physical. That's his greatest asset. That happened to be my greatest asset. Sherm, knowing that he's physical and most receivers aren't, he can talk. I would've welcomed it."