Michael Jackson? Dead? I never thought he would go this quickly. Poor Farrah bumped off the front page with that news. I suggested that Jacko's death would be bigger than Princess Di. I think it's safe to say, in the US, the kid touching pretty much ruined him, but worldwide, I think the freakshow continued. I mean, this guy has been in the public eye for 40 years. His music carried him through the mid-'80s but his weirdness has dominated the news for such a long time, as well. Webster? Bubbles, anyone? Or how about buying the remains of The Elephant Man? Didn't really mind "Thriller" but had moved on by the time of the "Bad" era. I choose to remember him during the "Off The Wall" period. Probably the last little bit before he went batshit loony. Robert Hilburn remembers.

And will there be a rash of stories, like Elvis, about faking his own death?

Meal of Links

The men in my family took advantage of the warm weather and had dinner this evening at Das Schnitzel Haus. Had me some Lake Erie Perch. It was quite good. They have a covered outdoor beer garden there and we got to keep up with the latest Michael Jackson news via the TV. Since music was in the air, we got to talk about my Dad's never-ending hatred of The Kinks and somehow Leonard Cohen was brought up. So, we tried to think of singers who always wore hats. Well, we started with Dwight Yoakam, then eliminated all country singers because that was too easy. Sinatra made the list in a temporary fashion. Sammy Davis, Jr. in Bojangles mode, but that was more "hat as prop" than any true hat-wearing. We decided Maurice Chevalier counted. My brother suggested Paul Revere and the Raiders effectively ending any serious discussion. I thought of Tom Waits, but that was after the fact.

A look back at "I Heart Huckabees". You really gotta work to heart this movie. I think Hoffman and Tomlin are pretty good in this one.

Did you ever want to go home and make a Taco Bell Mexican Pizza? Do they even sell that anymore? Anyhow, it's Restaurant Clones.

America is saving again. Looks like we are hitting mediocre levels.

Exercise Yard

Once again, one of the favorite diaries of the year. The NBA Draft Diary of Bill Simmons.

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