Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawcett pass away at same time

[Winston]

I heard that Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawcett passed away at around the same time. Isn't that odd?

What I don't though, is these celebrities and stars have so much money and access to the best doctors and health/nutrition consultants. So why weren't they in better health or given preventive treatment long ago? You'd think they'd be in the best care in the country wouldn't they? And why didn't Farrah treat her cancer earlier so it wouldn't come back?

Here's the intro scene to Charlie's Angels back in the 70's, where Farrah Fawcett starred in Season One. It brings back memories of when I was young and innocent. I love the nostalgia in that!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sOjJohZfYiM

The brunette played by Jaclyn Smith is so hot and I think the hottest of the three!

I like the music in the intro too. The music in TV shows back in the 70's and 80's had a lot more character and charm.

[momopi]

What I don't though, is these celebrities and stars have so much money and access to the best doctors and health/nutrition consultants. So why weren't they in better health or given preventive treatment long ago? You'd think they'd be in the best care in the country wouldn't they? And why didn't Farrah treat her cancer earlier so it wouldn't come back?

A lot of celebrities are pretty doped up, i.e. Dana Plato, Anna Nicole Smith, etc. Michael Jackson is rumored to be on Demerol along with antidepressants (not a good combo). Other celebrities like Rush Limbaugh are also guilty of abusing painkillers. Even I've been guilty with muscle relaxants in the past, started with 5 mg and forced myself to quit at 30 mg doses. The stuff is too easy to mail order as a quick fix to headaches.

Farrah Fawcett died of cancer, which we don't really have a cure for. My Japanese cousin in law died of cancer earlier this year, and I have a Viet lady friend who's currently receiving chemo for breast & lung cancer. It's not pretty. Her family is financially well off but money will not buy you a cure.

[Winston]

What I don't though, is these celebrities and stars have so much money and access to the best doctors and health/nutrition consultants. So why weren't they in better health or given preventive treatment long ago? You'd think they'd be in the best care in the country wouldn't they? And why didn't Farrah treat her cancer earlier so it wouldn't come back?

A lot of celebrities are pretty doped up, i.e. Dana Plato, Anna Nicole Smith, etc. Michael Jackson is rumored to be on Demerol along with antidepressants (not a good combo). Other celebrities like Rush Limbaugh are also guilty of abusing painkillers. Even I've been guilty with muscle relaxants in the past, started with 5 mg and forced myself to quit at 30 mg doses. The stuff is too easy to mail order as a quick fix to headaches.

Farrah Fawcett died of cancer, which we don't really have a cure for. My Japanese cousin in law died of cancer earlier this year, and I have a Viet lady friend who's currently receiving chemo for breast & lung cancer. It's not pretty. Her family is financially well off but money will not buy you a cure.

I know but what I mean is that being rich will give you access to the top nutritionists that help you live healthier lifestyles and eat healthier, which is the best preventive care, wouldn't you think?

Or maybe that tends to be true for athletes, who have their own fitness trainers and nutritionists and stuff.

A friend of mine told me yesterday that Michael Jackson was actually bankrupt. Is that true? He also said that Mike Tyson was too. They lost hundreds of millions of dollars and are in debt. I don't get how one could lose hundreds of millions of dollars so easily. It's incomprehensible to me. If I even had one million dollars, I would save it and be set for life. In fact, a bank high interest rate account would yield an interest of $5000 per month off of a one million dollar investment, which means I'd have a residual income of $5000 each month, which is more than enough to live, anywhere. A Bank of America loan officer explained all this to me once, laying it all out on paper, saying that "So you see, if you have a lot of money, it's a lot easier to make money".

So how can anyone lose $300 million or more? I don't get it. It doesn't make sense. People are so frickin stupid.

[momopi]

I think the key difference is "moderation" vs 'excess". People like Bill Gates and Warren Buffet probably take good care of their health. Hugh Hefner likes Southern Fried Chicken, which isn't the most healthy food in the world. But he only eats 1 serving.

Michael Jackson spent more than he earned, and died with some $300-$400 million debt. If he had lived a more frugal life, he'd have lived longer and died a wealthy man. But that wouldn't fit the Hollywood image. Many people who won the lotto want the millionarie lifestyle without consideration to how much money they actually have. Within few years they go bankrupt too.

Ultimately, money is something that you can't take with you when you die. Your choices are to spend it, give it away, or have the government take it.

[Winston]

Good point. I guess Bill Gates and William Buffet are smarter and more rational, so they know how to take care of their health better and make smarter wiser decisions. But on the other hand, Michael Jackson or Mike Tyson are not exactly brilliant types and prone to act by instinct and may even be delusional or have screws loose in their head. That makes sense.

Still I don't get how anyone can spend that much or why they would even need to. You can travel the world and stay in nice hotels everyday for many years without spending 300 million dollars.

[momopi]

Good point. I guess Bill Gates and William Buffet are smarter and more rational, so they know how to take care of their health better and make smarter wiser decisions. But on the other hand, Michael Jackson or Mike Tyson are not exactly brilliant types and prone to act by instinct and may even be delusional or have screws loose in their head. That makes sense.

Still I don't get how anyone can spend that much or why they would even need to. You can travel the world and stay in nice hotels everyday for many years without spending 300 million dollars.

Mike Tyson did OK when he had Cus D'Amato to restrain him. But after D'Amato died, he was left to himself and made a mess of it. Last I heard he's a cocaine user now.

[Winston]

Come to think of it, I've known many people, including close friends who had no control over their money at all. Whatever they get, they would splurge it without thinking about it, as if it were second nature and unstoppable to spend it all immediately, even on the stupidest thing.

As a frugal person who loves to save and get deals, I never understood those people.

One of my friends, a genius, went to Army boot camp, then quit (as I knew he would and warned him about, but these types never listen) by declaring himself insane, then was sent home on a Greyhound bus all the way across the USA and given a thousand dollars for his pay. Halfway on the long bus ride across America, he decided he couldn't tolerate it anymore, and got off the bus, went to the airport, and used about $500 of his salary, the only cash he had left, to buy a plane ticket back home so he could return home quicker and wallow in self misery.

Such stupid actions and frivolous wasteful spending tick me off and are my pet peeve. It's like he lost all that money just to save a few days of trouble on a bus. There are some people who are so impatient that they will waste a ton of money or cause themselves future trouble, to save a little time in the short run. Such people get on my nerves and my complaining gets on theirs too.

Many people are not as efficient with money as I am, it seems.

I constantly end up telling them "I told you so" over and over again. Why can't people f***ing listen to me?!