Real Talk!

I swore that I wasn’t going to blog about the passing of the King of Pop…

MICHAEL JACKSON

It's just that there seems to be much controversy surrounding the parentage of his 3 children... you can't escape it!

DEBBIE ROWE

Former child star, Mark Lester, claims he donated sperm to Debbie Rowe, who is alleged to be the mother of Paris and Jackson's son Prince Michael.

IVF specialist Dr Lila Schmidt involved in conception of “Blanket”,who is bound by confidentiality rules but can talk in general terms, says: "The surrogate is the carrier of the baby. The biological mom is the egg donor. The surrogate has no connection to the child. It's not their kid. On the birth certificate you can say whoever you want. That's why you hire an attorney. The birth certificate can say Donald Duck and Mickey Mouse but there might not be any genetic relationship to the child."

Claire Elisabeth Fields Cruise claims that she donated all 3 of the embryos to surrogates. She also claims the sperm came from 3 separate donors but identified Julian Bleecker as the father of Paris. Bleeker denies this.

Rumours and allegations abound in the media that the sperm donor whose issue impregnated Debbie Rowe was that of famed dermatologist, (Rowe’s former boss) Dr. Arnold Klein.

And how about the rumours that Michael Jackson is the biological father of Tom Cruise's adopted son Connor Cruise? And did you know that 25-year-old Norwegian rapper Omer Bhatti is in fact Michael Jackson’s secret son?

And/Or, the mother of Michael Jackson's youngest child Prince Michael II is a Norwegian dental hygienist he met on vacation in Tunisia? And… that Miko Brando, son of Marlon Brando- bodyguard and loyal friend of Michael Jackson is said to be the biological father of, at least, little Blanket?

Is it true that that one of MJ's sisters donated eggs for the children? Is LaToya Blanket's mother? Is MacCauly Culkin daddy to Paris? Diana Ross?

Did Michael Jackson get all of his eggs from the same basket?

Pretty well everyone agrees: Michael Jackson is not the biological father of his three children… well, except Jackson’s older brother, Tito… who said, “They are all Michael’s children. Prince looks just like my grandfather. There’s no question they are Michael’s. They are 100% his.”

The rumour mill has not stopped grinding.

And I haven’t even touched on autopsy findings, the famous proboscis or lack thereof.

Rumours… hmmm there are two things one can count on- rumours and change- and people have pretty wicked imaginations. Blanks get filled in.

"I Heard a Rumour" is a 1987 song recorded by English girl group Bananarama. American actress, Rumer Glenn Willis was born August 16th, 1988- she is the daughter of Demi Moore and Bruce Willis- who named her after the British novelist Rumer Godden.

There are several mentions of “rumour” in the bible, including: “Acts 2:6 But the rumour of this having spread, the multitude came together and were confounded, because each one heard them speaking in his own dialect.” “Jeremiah 49:14 I have heard a rumour from the LORD, and an ambassador is sent unto the heathen, saying, Gather ye together, and come against her, and rise up to the battle.” And “Ezekiel 7:26 Mischief shall come upon mischief, and rumour shall be upon rumour; then shall they seek a vision of the prophet; but the law shall perish from the priest, and counsel from the ancients.”

If you feel like you're missing out on good rumours, you can visit the Bizarre Rumour Generator at: http://unquietmind.com/insult.html

According to Mats Alvesson (Lund University) and Stanley Deetz (University of Colorado Boulder), “The use of metaphors in rhetoric of persuasion also contributes to image management and the legitimation of expertise.” They also advocate, “…being appropriately sceptical about what one hears and reads…”

I'm suddenly humming... I think it's a tribute to Marvin Gaye's fabulous rendition of Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong's "I heard it through the grapevine"... grapevine referring to an informal source of information.... hmmmm inform.

Rumour sounds so much more villainous than “grapevine”… grapevine being more reminiscent of the children’s games variously known as Chinese whispers, Telephone, Broken Telephone, Whisper Down the Lane, Gossip, Arab Phone (from the French Le téléphone arabe), and Stille Post (Silent Post).

I’m sure most of us have played it, at one time or other. A player whispers a sentence to the next player. Each player successively whispers the message to the next- the sentence reaches the last player is announced aloud. The result is often highly amusing, filled with errors that typically accumulate in miscommunication.

I suppose that the group of players in broken telephone COULD stand metaphorically for a mill.

I wonder if the expression “rumour mill” would originate from “grist mill”… taking one thing and making it into another? “Roomer mill” would make more sense to me… seeing that, in theory, people who live together would talk more.

I suppose that term “rumour mill” is some attempt to connect a recognized source for information… but a mill is also a place where something is manufactured… and being “put through the mill” is supposed to be a very unpleasant experience… although rumour has it that publicity agents often "leak" information or rumors to gossip columnists to publicize the celebrity or their projects.... but, apparently, that's only because people want to know....