During the “Golden Age” of postcards, c. 1901-1915, people mailed postcards to one another at almost any time, including the Fourth of July. July Fourth and Halloween postcards tended to be the most fanciful and striking of all post cards; these examples are no exception. They also offer commentary on contemporary social mores. For example, we see Uncle Sam smoking a cigar (Can you imagine the uproar that would ensue now, over that image?) and sitting in a folding chair, with bags of money guarded by a cannon behind him. An olive wreath, a traditional symbol of peace, seems almost tossed as an afterthought near Uncle Sam’s feet, while the Statue of Liberty is displayed against a backdrop of fireworks in this c. 1907 gilded and embossed image.

Here’s a c. 1907-1910 postcard which would be decried today as a symbol of American imperialism and insensitivity to the Native American community. A large war-like eagle almost dwarfs an Indian chief and two teepees; not surprisingly, the Indian doesn’t look terribly pleased.

The final image in this year’s Fourth of July offering is one which perhaps no one would find unsettling: A handsomely attired Uncle Sam, wearing the Stars and Stripes, greets Lady Liberty in this profusely gilded and embossed c. 1907 antique postcard. Wait a minute! We forgot! Today, there’s the crowd which views wearing the flag as practically sacrilegious. There’s no pleasing everyone.

Read more about Fourth of July postcards, or learn how Memorial Day began as a black holiday.

Copyright © 2009 pajamadeen.com.

As some of you know, my mother’s been in an nursing home assisted-living facility since last October. In a recent call to her to say Hello, she spoke as usual about her frustration at not being allowed to go home, to be cared for there. Although she can afford to be cared for at home, the nursing home assisted-living facility was more “convenient” for other family members. She spent Easter and Mother’s Day alone, despite the fact that one of the relatives who chose the nursing home assisted-living facility lives 10 minutes away. So my mother spends her remaining lucid days — before the Alzeheimer’s curtain falls — in the company of strangers, instead of in her home of 40 years. I find it sad, and disrespectful. It was easy for us. Was it easy for her?

She worsens by almost imperceptible degrees. In a recent conversation, she discussed going to a musical recital of some sort at the facility. When I said I was glad she could participate in activities at the nursing home, she said: “I’m not in a nursing home.” “Then where are you, Shangri-La?” I wondered. The Garden of Eden? Utopia? It’s hard to tell what’s going on in her mind. She recently lost the ability to tell time. One of her friends visited and spent quite awhile teaching my mother that the small hand was the hour hand and the big hand was the minute hand. Soon, my mother was telling me that the “big sticks” on the wall clock made it “too hard to learn to tell time.” Soon, time won’t matter at all. The last of her good days will be gone.

Learn more about Alzheimer’s disease.

Copyright © 2009 pajamadeen.com.

Rumors are swirling that pop star Michael Jackson will be buried on Wednesday at Neverland, his now-dilapidated ranch near Santa Barbara, California. Jackson, who died last Thursday, has not lived at the 2,800-acre ranch since before his 2005 acquittal on child molestation charges. Although the ranch was once his private Shangri-la — complete with an amusement park and zoo — Jackson no longer considered the ranch a home after it was searched by 70 police officers after sexual misconduct allegations. Jackson felt the magic of the ranch had been “violated.” Located at 5225 Figueroa Mountain Road, Neverland Ranch is about five miles north of the small town of Los Olivos, and about eight miles north of Santa Ynez.

As many as a million mourners are expected to travel to Los Angeles for Jackson’s funeral, making a memorial for him an even larger event than the death of Elvis Presley or the death of Princess Diana. Jackson’s family is reportedly considering a private burial, with a following public remembrance ceremony which would be televised globally later this week. While Michael Jackson’s father, Joe Jackson, denies that the pop icon will be buried at Neverland, at least two of the singer’s brothers have visited Neverland for several hours, accompanied by developer Thomas Barrack, who owns an estimated 50 percent interest in the property. Fans have been thronging to Neverland, leaving well wishes, flowers and other mementos. One high-ranking Los Angeles police officer said: “We are preparing for an event of historic proportions. We will be cooperating closely with the family once they have decided where to hold the funeral.”

Neverland-area residents, many of whom own vineyards and who like a slow pace of life, aren’t pleased with the idea of turning Neverland into a permanent memorial to Jackson. They cite lack of a burial permit, environmental concerns and zoning laws as issues. For example, they say, traffic nightmares would ensure as tourists attempted to reach Neverland via the narrow, two-lane roads to the property. Nevertheless, turning Neverland into a new Graceland would generate millions in income for Michael Jackson’s estate. Elvis Presley’s estate continues to make millions of dollars annually from tourists visiting Presley’s Memphis, Tennessee estate. Jackson bought Neverland Ranch for $17 million in 1987; it’s assessed at $96 million, which is thought to be a conservative estimate of its actual value.

The train tracks have been covered with dirt and the rusting rides and other amusement park trappings have been removed. They were due to be sold at auction earlier this year; however, Jackson changed his mind; the items are now in storage. The zoo is gone, and the ranch is decaying. The huge Alice in Wonderland-type clock in front of the house doesn’t tell time anymore, and some of its numbers are missing. Many items have sun damage.

Foreclosure proceedings against Neverland began in October 2007. In February 2008, Jackson was told by the trustee, Financial Title Company, that he would have to repay $24.5 million by March 19, or a public auction of the buildings, land, amusement park rides and trains would go forward. Londell McMillan, Jackson’s lawyer, announced on March 13, 2008 that a private agreement had been reached with Fortress Investment to save Jackson’s ownership of the ranch. Details of that loan weren’t revealed. In May 2008, a foreclosure auction for Neverland was canceled after the Colony Capital LLC investment company and its billionaire owner, real estate magnate Thomas Barrack, bought the $24.5 million loan, which Jackson was still in default on. Barrack is listed as number 701 on Forbes’ 2009 list of the world’s billionaires.

On November 11, 2008, Michael Jackson transferred title of Neverland Ranch to the Sycamore Valley Ranch Company LLC, in which Jackson held an unknown stake. Sycamore was a joint venture between Jackson and a Colony Capital (Barrack) affiliate. According to the Santa Barbara County Assessor’s Office, Jackson sold an unknown portion of his property rights for $35 million. Neverland may be worth as much as $120 million. In April 2009, Jackson planned to auction off more than 2,000 personal items, including Neverland’s gates and the famous white glove worn when he taped the Billie Jean video. Jackson changed his mind, however, and the auction didn’t occur.

Ironically, now that Michael Jackson’s well-documented spending sprees (up to $6 million in one notable department store foray) have ceased, he may well be worth more in death than in life. In between the possible development of Neverland, his interest — along with Sony — in a Beatles’ catalog and the continued sale of Jackson merchandise, it’s likely that the “King of Pop” has left his children a fortune of at least a billion dollars.

Celebrities expected to attend the King of Pop’s funeral include Madonna, Paul McCartney, Liza Minnelli, ex-wife Lisa Marie Presley, Brooke Shields, Britney Spears, Elizabeth Taylor and Justin Timberlake.

See the house that Michael Jackson rented near London, England, where he would have lived during the O2 concerts.

Photo credit: Lee Celano / AFP/Getty Images, Jonathan Haeber / Terrastories.com and SB John Wiley / Flickr

Copyright © 2009 pajamadeen.com.

The “King of Pop,” Michael Jackson, was due to move into Foxbury Manor, a mansion in Kent, by next Wednesday. The home is about 10 miles from London’s O2 arena where he was scheduled to perform through March 2010. According to the Daily Mail, Jackson personally selected this 32-bedroom manor house when he was in London in March to announce the kickoff of his ill-fated “This is It” comeback tour. He rented the house through next February at a cost of about $1.6 million. The three-story, 22,000-square-foot house has 11 massive bedroom suites, a movie theater,an indoor pool and a music room. The main bedroom is said to be 1,800 sq. ft — larger than many modern homes. David Brandon, Queen Victoria’s favorite architect, built the house in 1875. Woods and a lake are on the eight-acre property, which is one of the largest private properties in the greater London area.

Contractors spent last week renovating the house to suit Jackson’s tastes: an 8-foot security fence, fairground rides and a bowling alley were added. Interior designers decorated the bedrooms intended for him and his three children, with one source saying that a child’s bedroom had a Star Wars theme. The house rental and improvements may be another charge which concert promoter AEG may be liable for.

Foxbury Manor is owned by businessman Osman Ertosun; he and his wife and two children moved out of the mansion, valued at $24.7 million, more than a week ago and were planning to live elsewhere for a year. Ertosun, 42, is chairman of Excelcare, which owns 32 health care facilities and nursing homes in Southeast England. Ertosun paid $10.8 million for Foxbury in January 2004.

Bonus: The manor is located next to Chislehurst Caves, a 20-mile complex of underground passageways which is said to be haunted.

Read more Michael Jackson celebrity news.

Photo credit: Images International Ltd.

Copyright © 2009 pajamadeen.com.

The answer was…Yes. While Google, Twitter, AOL, TMZ, Perez Hilton and the Los Angeles Times were faltering on the afternoon and evening of Jackson’s death, Pajamadeen’s crash didn’t come until the next morning. Suddenly, my hosting company called and emailed. Michael Jackson could crash our server. It wasn’t a difficult fix — a change to the .htaccess file and fully enabling Donncha O Caoimh’s WordPress Super Cache plugin fixed the problem. But then Pamadeen isn’t mega-site; we’re small fry compared to the big boys who stumbled.

Google reported that 7 out of 10 searches were for the phrase ““Michael Jackson Dies.” In fact, Google got so many Michael Jackson searches that it thought it was under attack. In addition to time outs and 404 error pages, some users told the BBC that they received a message reading something like “your query looks similar to automated requests from a computer virus or spyware application.” We had difficulty logging into Twitter — since they were receiving 5,000 Michael Jackson messages a minute, this wasn’t totally surprising. Twitter co-founder Biz Stone reported that Tweets instantly doubled per second as soon as the death of the pop star broke, leading to a performance lag. Ultimately, Twitter received more than 100,000 tweets per hour about Jackson. The irony of it, as one Twitter user posted, was that protesters in Iran were unable to Twitter because of the Michael Jackson overload. Twitter temporarily disabled its saved searches, search results and trend topics to help decrease the load.

The Los Angeles Times, the first “legitimate’ website to report Jackson’s death, crashed several times from massive traffic spikes — and recorded 12 million page views. Facebook almost collapsed. Websites operated by ABC and NBC, the LA Times and AOL at some points turned away 90 percent of Internet users. AOL — sometimes referred to as AOHell by its subscribers — was down for about 40 minutes on Thursday, because they were doing a scheduled software upgrade to its popular AIM instant messaging service when the story broke.

Dan Berkowitz, a spokesman for Keynote Systems, Inc., a California-based company which measures Internet site traffic, told The Boston Globe: “We haven’t seen this kind of slowdown on our news index in quite some time.” “The Michael Jackson effect,” as the slowdown related to his death is now being called, reconfirmed the growing influence of social media — hundreds of fans got the news via TMZ and Twitter and rushed to the grounds of the UCLA Medical Center, where Jackson was being treated, seconds after the story broke and well before the print and television media reported the story.

Traditional newspapers and TV are confused (and nervous) about the emergence of the Internet, social media and “citizen journalism.” Tim Rutten, LA Times columnist, had an interesting take on events of the last few days. He wrote: “Whatever they say, many newspaper editors and TV news producers have begun to allow website hits and social media volume to function as a kind of sub rosa ratings system whose numbers dictate coverage and the play of news stories. What’s wrong with that? For one thing, it leads to the sort of irrational excess we’ve all been through since Thursday. No reasonable editor or producer should ignore the kind of public interest we’re seeing. But surrendering utterly to it ultimately undercuts what’s genuinely valuable about serious news media.

“A serious newspaper or broadcast news outlet must simultaneously be a mirror and a window to its audience — a look at themselves and an opening to the wider world.”

Want to read more about Michael Jackson’s death? You got it.

Photo credit: Kevin Mazur / Wirenews Image

Copyright © 2009 pajamadeen.com.

The night before Michael Jackson died, the “King of Pop” rehearsed at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California in preparation for his ironically named “This is It” comeback concerts in London next month. Staples is owned by concert promoter AEG (Anschutz Entertainment Group), which hoped to seal its role as the world’s preeminent concert promoter with Jackson’s sold-out concert series. Scheduled to open on July 13 in London, England, Jackson would have appeared in 50 concerts at AEG’s O2 Arena, through March 2010. It would have been the highest-grossing single concert engagement ever.

Billboard magazine estimated that Jackson’s London concerts would net AEG about $115 million once related merchandise sales were factored in, and a $450 million gross was anticipated from a three-year Michael Jackson global tour. Now, AEG has to refund $85 million worth of concert tickets…soon. The company also spent up to $30 million on concert production costs: The “This is It” shows were expected to be the most technologically advanced, expensive arena shows in history. The elaborate shows were to include almost two dozen sets, high-wire acts and light shows. And up to $10 million in advances is thought to have been paid to Jackson.

Ray Waddell of Billboard wrote that refunding the $85 million in ticket sales “will be messy, as well as expensive, and it will need to happen quickly by law.” Just to complicate matters, the tickets were bought by fans in many countries — from as far away as Botswana — and insurance reimbursement for AEG will depend on the singer’s cause of death and the level of insurance coverage bought by AEG.

Waddell said: “AEG’s yearly financial results may now depend on Jackson’s cause of death. One entertainment insurance industry insider says that if Jackson died from a drug overdose or a preexisting condition, the producer could be on the hook for any loss — which would include any money already sunk into the production, as well as the considerable cost of refunding consumers for the 750,000 tickets already purchased. If Jackson signed a contract saying he would return his advance in the event he didn’t perform, the company could end up in court with a long line of other Jackson creditors.”

AEG. the world’s second-largest concert promoter, is owned by Colorado billionaire Philip Anschutz. And maybe the fact that the owner is already a billionaire who can absorb the financial losses is the only good news in this complicated financial nightmare. Anschutz’ net worth is estimated at $7.8 billion, and he’s ranked by Forbes as the 31st richest person in the country.

Read more celebrity news about Michael Jackson’s death.

Photo credit: NBA and Reuters

Copyright © 2009 pajamadeen.com.

Michael Jackson has suddenly died. The music legend was found unresponsive this afternoon at his Holmby Hills home in Los Angeles, having suffered a cardiac arrest. According to CNN, Joe Jackson, Michael’s father, said that Jackson collapsed and 911 was called. Paramedics from the Los Angeles Fire Department arrived at the French chateau-style mansion in the 100 block of Carolwood Drive off Sunset Boulevard, which Jackson rented in May for $100,000 a month, but found no pulse nor did Jackson’s pulse return, despite “extreme” CPR efforts. The “King of Pop,” as he was known, was taken to the UCLA Medical Center but was unresponsive. His sister, singer La Toya Jackson, was seen running into the hospital, sobbing.

Jackson is survived by children Michael Joseph Jackson, Jr., Paris Michael Katherine Jackson and Prince “Blanket” Michael Jackson II. Ex-wife Debbie Rowe, mother of Paris and Michael Jr., was said to be inconsolable. Rowe had given up all parental rights to the children and isn’t legally in line to take custody.

As fans began to gather at the hospital, celebrities including Lindsay Lohan, Marlon Wayans, Pete Wentz and Kim Kardashian were Twittering their condolences and prayers. Jackson had been preparing for 50 sold-out shows at London’s O2 Arena, although he reportedly had difficulty completing physically strenuous dance routines. The O2 shows were intended as part of an overall career rebirth for Jackson, intended to wipe out his well-known debts. Under discussion were a new album, a three-year world tour, a Graceland-type museum, movies, musical revues in Macau and Las Vegas, and a “Thriller” casino.

Read more celebrity news, about Farrah Fawcett’s death earlier today.

Photo credit: Getty Images, Reuters and X17online.com

Copyright © 2009 pajamadeen.com.

Golden-maned actress Farrah Fawcett, seen here in a 1979 publicity photo, died at St. John’s Health Center in Santa Monica, California this morning. She had been hospitalized for the last two weeks and was in the intensive care unit, suffering from anal cancer first diagnosed in 2006. Longtime lover Ryan O’Neal told People magazine: “She’s gone. She now belongs to the ages…She’s now with her mother and sister and her God. I loved her with all my heart. I will miss her so very, very much. She was in and out of consciousness. I talked to her all through the night. I told her how very much I loved her. She’s in a better place now…She was with her [medical] team when she passed…Her eyes were open, but she didn’t say anything. But you could see in her eyes that she recognized us.”

A devout Catholic, the “Charlie’s Angels” star received last rites from a Catholic priest yesterday. Family and close friends including O’Neal, Mela Murphy (Fawcett’s hairdresser and friend of 18 years), and actress Alana Stewart, ex-wife of Rod Stewart and Fawcett’s friend for 30 years, gathered at her bedside on Wednesday evening. Stewart produced “Farrah’s Story,” a widely viewed documentary which aired in May on NBC and which chronicled Fawcett’s battle with cancer. Stewart was quoted in TMZ as saying: “She will always be there as that angel on the shoulder of everyone who loved her.”

Although actor O’Neal, 68, had hoped to marry her, Fawcett, 62, died before the marriage could take place. Ironically, an interview with O’Neal done by Barbara Walters was scheduled to air tonight on 20/20. “I’ve asked her to marry me again, and she’s agreed,” he told Walters. “Farrah is fighting for her life. But we will wed as soon as she can say yes. Maybe we can just nod her head.…I promise you, we will. Absolutely.” Fawcett and O’Neal began dating in 1979 and have one son, 24-year-old Redmond O’Neal, who was not present when the star died, as he’s incarcerated following several drug offenses.

In addition to being remembered for her role as private detective Jill Munroe on Charlie’s Angels, Fawcett was an iconic sex symbol in the 1970s, with a poster of her in a swimsuit, flashing a brilliant smile, selling millions of copies. She drove teen-aged boys wild and sent women flocking to hairdressers in an attempt to duplicate her famous tresses. She also notably appeared in a 1984 made-for-TV movie, The Burning Bed, about spouse abuse, which earned her an Emmy nomination. Her funeral service will be held at a Catholic cathedral in the Los Angeles area in the next few days.

Read more celebrity news about Farrah Fawcett.

Photo credit: Alberto E. Rodriguez / Getty Images

Copyright © 2009 pajamadeen.com.

South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford’s six-day disappearing act — which included abandoning his four children on Father’s Day and which was satirized on the Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert shows — came to an abrupt end today when Columbia, SC newspaper reporter Gina Smith located the missing governor at Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport. The self-proclaimed “man of faith” was returning from a visit to his lover, Maria, in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

In a maudlin press conference this afternoon, the 49-year-old governor finally admitted that he’d been unfaithful to his wife, Jenny. In a teary-eyed display, Sanford, who until today chaired the Republican Governors Association, said he’d betrayed his family, his staff, and the citizens of South Carolina. While he had led his staff to believe that his excellent adventure consisted of hiking the Appalachian Trail, there was a problem with that story. Aside from the fact that he wasn’t there, Sunday was National Nude Hiking Day, which might have been even more difficult for the self-proclaimed “family values” politician to explain.

At the airport, he told reporter Smith that he’d been alone for the entire Argentinian version of the excellent adventure, driving along the Argentinian coastline. But there was a problem with that version of the adventure as well: The only coastal road in Buenos Aires is the Avenida Costanera, and it extends less than two miles. If one tries to drive south to coastal resorts, the trip requires an almost four-hour drive on an inland highway, past endless cattle ranches. Coastal travel to the north can be accomplished only by boat. Oops.

Alerted yesterday by his staff that his absence had attracted national attention, Governor Sanford expressed surprise. At the airport, he said: “I don’t know how this thing got blown out of proportion.” Meanwhile, The State began publishing a series of email exchanges between Sanford and his lover. In a July 10, 2008 email to Maria written at 12:24 a.m., Sanford wrote in part: “You have a particular grace and calm that I adore. You have a level of sophistication that is so fitting with your beauty. I could digress and say that you have the ability to give magnificent gentle kisses, or that I love your tan lines or that I love the curve of your hips, the erotic beauty of you holding yourself (or two magnificent parts of yourself) in the faded glow of the night’s light — but hey, that would be going into sexual details…” Well, yes, it would.

Sanford seemed confused as to whether he and his wife were separated, saying: “I don’t know how you want to define that. I’m here and she’s there. I guess, in a formal sense, we are not.” Huh? His wife shed more light on the situation in a written statement which said that a “trial separation was agreed to with the goal of ultimately strengthening our marriage…When I found out about my husband’s infidelity, I worked immediately to first seek reconciliation through forgiveness, and then to work diligently to repair our marriage…We reached a point where I felt it was important to look my sons in the eyes and maintain my dignity, self-respect, and my basic sense of right and wrong. I therefore asked my husband to leave two weeks ago.”

The Governor also likely faces impeachment. Hasta la vista, baby.

Read more political news.

Photo credit: Gina Smith / The State and The South Carolina Governor’s Office

Copyright © 2009 pajamadeen.com.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Does Allah hear the cries in the dark, calling to him in Tehran as gunshots punctuate the night?

Saturday was a day of destiny for 27-year-old Neda Agha-Soltan. She and her father joined Iranian election protesters on Karekar Ave. in Tehran. Suddenly, Neda was shot through the heart by a rooftop sniper who was with the Basij militia. Neda, 27, fell to the ground. It was a perfect shot. Within two minutes, she was dead. Blood pulsed profusely from her mouth, nose and eyes. While Neda’s death went unreported by the state-controlled Iranian media, the video of her death has become a rallying cry for those protesting the Iranian election. Ironically, Neda’s name means “voice” or “calling” in Persian; she’s being called the “voice of Iran.” In death, she still speaks.

Read more world news.

Photo credit: DigitalJournal.com

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