Michael Jackson - Will You Be There (Official Video)
The invitation says, "In the spirit of love and togetherness, Michael Jackson would like to invite his friends and supporters to his Neverland ranch. Please join us Friday, January 16, from 11 a.m. to 2," that would be Pacific Time. "Refreshments will be served. We'll see you there."
Michael Jackson - Will You Be There (Official Video)
If you drive three hours out of Los Angeles on the 101 freeway north towards San Francisco, you will find a town built to be by-passed. The undistinguished settlement of Santa Maria might have been more appropriately named Blandville, California. With justifiable shyness, it is tucked away on the edge of chardonnay-making country and, until recently, heralded its importance as a main producer of broccoli. Now a town you have probably never heard of is about to stand in judgement of a man you most certainly have. Can there be a more unlikely venue for what Judge Rodney S Melville, presiding over this case, has called "the trial of the ages"?
Even with pass in hand, or rather around neck, accessing the court room itself is severely restricted. Only seven reporters have been allocated seats. They are journalists with later deadlines who can obey Judge Melville's rule that no one can leave or enter the room while court is sitting. What use is that to Larry, (no, I think it was Brad) and me who have regular appointments to shout at our viewers? The second option is a media overflow room where a courtroom camera relays the proceedings on to a screen. Not the same as being in court. However, the selected few who will be able to say 'I was there' when Jackson was acquitted or convicted have a duty to those left out in the sun. At the end of play each day, they are obliged to stand before the cameras to describe in turn what Michael was doing, looking at or reacting to during the day's hearing. Journalists interviewing journalists to glean crumbs of information to feed the trial psychologists for further analysis. Madness - and you can't even blame the heat. 041b061a72