WHERE NEXT?

Thursday, July 02, 2009

As Neverland Ranch was crossed off the list, the question remained: Where the heck will Michael Jackson's memorial be held?

Considering thousands of fans will want in on any public event, the Jackson family appears to be zeroing in on Los Angeles' Staples Center to hold some type of tribute to the King of Pop on Tuesday morning.

A spokesman for AEG Live, which owns the venue, tells E! News, "At this time, nothing is scheduled, nothing is planned" and a LAPD spokesman says they're still waiting to hear from the family as far as mobilizing officers for peace-keeping and motorcade purposes goes.

But sources say that July 7 at Staples—for an event that will not include a viewing of the body or a traditional funeral service—is the goal.

The news comes as Neverland Ranch was officially checked off the list, both as a spot for a public viewing and as a burial site. California law requires that humans be buried in established cemeteries and its up to local officials (and a gob of paperwork) to obtain permission to bury someone on private property.

Although a rep for the cemetery said it's impossible for them to comment on a family's burial plans, L.A.'s famed Forest Lawn is where Jackson's body is said to be now, awaiting interment.

MORE M J

The Michael Jackson case is going national.

The federal Drug Enforcement Administration's diversion division, which oversees prescription-drug issues, will be assisting the Los Angeles Police Department with its ongoing investigation into Jackson's death, ABC News reported Wednesday.

"We routinely offer assistance to any agency regarding the Federal Controlled Substance act, however at this time we have nothing further to comment about the death of Michael Jackson," read a statement issued by the DEA.

L.A. County coroner's officials confiscated a number of prescription drugs Monday from Jackson's rented Holmby Hills mansion and dual autopsies confirmed that the iconic pop artist had been on unspecified meds.

The LAPD is in the process of interviewing a number of doctors involved with writing prescriptions for Jackson, who died June 25 after going into cardiac arrest.

OFFICIAL CAUSE

It's still unclear what David Carradine was doing when he died, but a doctor knows what technically killed him.

Having already ruled out suicide by hanging, the private pathologist hired by Carradine's family to perform a second autopsy has determined that the 72-year-old actor died of asphyxiation.

How he came to asphyxiate is still anyone's guess.

A maid found Carradine hanging in the closet of his Bangkok hotel room on June 4, and it was soon confirmed by various officials that a rope was tied to his neck and genitals, prompting speculation that the former Kung Fu star had been engaged in autoerotic asphyxiation.

Judging by the way Carradine was bound with his hands above his head, Dr. Michael Baden concluded that the Kill Bill villain did not take his own life and requested security footage and pass-key data from Carradine's hotel to further probe whether or not someone was in the room with the actor when he died.

Stressing that these were still only preliminary findings, Baden said that his full report will not be ready for at least a week.

GOOD BYE TO A LEGEND

Karl Malden, the acting great who worked the Waterfront with Marlon Brando and patroled The Streets of San Francisco with Michael Douglas, died today at 97.

Malden passed away from natural causes at his home in the Brentwood section of Los Angeles, daughter Mila Doerner told the Los Angeles Times.

While Gen Xers may know Malden best as the guy who warning us not to leave home without an American Express card in a series of 1980s TV commercials, he was one of the most respective stars in Tinseltown.

Known for his tough-guy persona and crooked nose, Malden rose through the Hollywood ranks with fellow Method man Brando, winning a Supporting Actor Oscar as best buddy Mitch to the latter's Stanley Kowalski in 1951's A Streetcar Named Desire.

HEY, THAT'S MY MAGAZINE!

Since the announcement of the closing of Vibe magazine on Tuesday, which he dounded, Quincy Jones has been vying to save the hip-hop and R&B publication he started in 1993.

"I'm trying to buy my magazine back now. They just messed my magazine all up, but I’m gonna get it back," said Jones of Wicks Media Group, who purchased ownership rights in 2006.

Quincy plans to take the mag online, because it is more profitable than print.

"We gotta get into the 21st century you know," said the music mogul. "Print and all that stuff is over, we gotta remember that. They're over the same way as the record business. We have got to get into this century."

You tell 'em!!!!!