Unexpected news this morning that Michael Jackson has died. I was never a huge fan of Jackson's but his talent was undeniable, initially as a child performer and then later as one of the true innovators of the "video clip" pop music age of the 1980s. From the peaks of those successes he became, I think, something of a tragic figure, and I've always seen his descent into the realms of the truly bizarre as an indictment of the strange, shallow, invasive and ultimately destructive so-called cult of celebrity that seems to define our times, and of which Jackson arguably was a victim. I wonder what will happen to his unfortunately named children?
