Michael Jackson Mid-Day Gossip Round-Up: Sedatives, Memorial Service Info, Cancer, & More!

While most of the country is either on vacation or getting ready to enjoy the holiday weekend, the nation's gossip writers are being kept busy with the continuing onslaught of breaking Michael Jackson news. As long as there is news to share, we will be here relaying the messages. Instead of traveling from site to site searching for the latest Wacko Jacko news, we offer one-stop shopping here at the Cleveland Leader.

Sedative Diprivan Found at Jackson's Home

Sources told the press today that investigators found the powerful sedative Diprivan inside Michael Jackson's home. Diprivan is an intravenous drug used in hospital operating rooms to knock patients out, and would be highly unusual to have found in a private home. CNN said that sources told them that Jackson suffered from such a severe case of insomnia that he traveled with a private anesthesiologist during the 1990s.

Medical experts say that the drug can lead to cardiac arrest, especially if combined with other drugs. Perhaps not coincidentally, Jackson, 50, died suddenly on June 25 after going into cardiac arrest at his Bel Air estate.

Jackson Memorial Service Details Announced

The City of Los Angeles is saying over and over again in as many ways possible that the best way to honor Michael Jackson is to stay home and watch the memorial, and not to come down to the memorial if you don't have a ticket. That of course would probably not sit very well with the Jackson family, who are clearly intent on making the entire thing the circus of the millennium.

Here are all the details, in case you're amongst the brave and insane enough to venture down to the Staples Center in LA. And while you're there, don't forget to buy one of MJ's t-shirts for the London residency that's never to be (you can sell them for a lot more on eBay!):

• It will be held Tuesday, July 7, 2009 at 10am.
• There will NOT be a funeral procession
• 17,500 tickets will be available for MJ's adoring fans
• Of those tickets, 11,000 are for a seat at the actual memorial service at the Staples Center.
• The other 6,500 tickets are for a seat at a simulcast at the Nokia Theater across the street from the Staples Center.
• Tickets aren't being sold for the service, but you can register your name for a raffle on the Staples Center's website by 6pm Saturday night. Names drawn randomly will be awarded two tickets each.
• It has not been determind if media will be allowed inside the memorial. They're "still working on it." Who are we kidding - they're just trying to to cut down the list and determine who will give them the most coverage.

MJ Had Skin Cancer

According to Us Weekly, just days before his death, MJ had a cancerous lesion removed from his nose. Diane Dimond, a biographer, as well as an unnamed family source told the gossip rag on June 26:

"Last week, I had two real sources call me and say he's getting surgery right now for removal of skin cancer off his nose. This is not a man who suffers pain well. He likes painkillers. So he got some from here, he got some from there -- who knows how much."

He was working on two albums prior to his death.

Billboard is reporting that at the time of Jackson's death, he was not only preparing for his upcoming 50-show concert series in London, but he was also working on two albums.

One album was a pop album, while the other would be made up entirely of instrumental classical compositions. The pop album was supposedly a collaboration with songwriter Claude Kelly and Akon. A few months ago, MJ invited composer David Michael Frank to his home looking for help with orchestration.

Do I smell a posthumous album release coming on?

In case you missed it...

07.02.09 :

Michael Jackson Gossip Round-Up: His Aliases, Secret Girlfriend, & More!

Michael Jackson Evening Gossip Round-Up: Memorial Tickets, Custody Issues, & More