He's out of our lives....

On my recent trip to London, en route to the 02, I was discussing the forthcoming Michael Jackson tour dates with the driver. Both of us were under the impression that there was no possible way that they were going to happen, after all the man had seemed so fragile during his infrequent appearances over the past ten years, how could he possibly manage to perform fifty tour dates at the venue?

Last night it became apparent he would never perform those dates, nor any other. The world had lost the 'King of Pop' to cardiac arrest, at the relatively young age of fifty. All of a sudden tributes from the great and the good started to flood in, people who as the Rev. Al Sharpton pointed out so wisely had little or nothing to do with Michael in recent years.

Michael Jackson, like Diana before him, was an icon for our age. We have grown up listening to his music, watching his amazing dancing and hearing lurid tales of his private exploits reported in the media. Obviously the tabloids will be full of stories now for months, even years to come. I'm sure all sorts of 'confidantes' will come flooding out of the woodwork now with their tales to tell. Michael Jackson was as much a best-selling brand as an entertainer and you could guarantee that when a story broke about him sales of magazines reporting such stories would sky-rocket, as I'm sure they are doing right now. In an age of media sleaze I wonder how long it will be before someone takes photos of his body and they are leaked to the press? Believe me, I hope that nothing so abhorrent happens, but in these celebrity driven times I have no doubt that someone will make an attempt to do just that.

If recent reports are to be believed Michael was in dire financial difficulties, hence the tour dates. Now that he has died and every radio station and TV network will be paying tribute to him the royalties will come flooding in; how ironic that these will probably ease the debts that he was alleged to have accumulated during his life.

Brace yourselves for a media onslaught of Michael, special commemorative magazine and newspaper editions, all sorts of statues and mass-produced tat that gets promoted at such times (Where's the Franklin Mint when you need them?) We'll be bombarded with books telling the story of the 'real' Michael Jackson. Leeches and parasites who want to cash-in will be touting their tales around all sorts of media corporations ( I'm sure that's already started too) and I will put money on someone purchasing Neverland and turning it into the Graceland for our age. It wouldn't surprise me if like Elvis, Micheal is laid to rest at his home...but that's just pure speculation on my part.

My own feelings about Michael? I think he was wiser and more media savvy than his appearance would suggest...he certainly knew how to play the game, and play it well. But his behaviour tended toward the eccentric which is of course putting it mildly, and let's not forget the many plastic surgeries and his chameleon-like ability to change his natural skin colour.

I was never an ardent fan of 'the man,the myth, the legend' but how could you not love his music? For me, 'Thriller' and 'Bad' were part of the soundtrack to my youth..he was a musical genius, a consummate entertainer, and it's such a shame that his talents were often over-looked in favour of salacious story-telling. Whatever you thought of him, he has left his mark upon popular culture and that will never fade away..his influence has permeated every music video and dance routine in recent years, and what's a wedding reception without some drunken uncle trying, and usually failing miserably, to perform a moonwalk across the dancefloor?

I'd like to think that in death Micheal will finally find the peace he could never achieve in real-life; but that would be a foolish assumption. He will always be an object of curiosity, even more so now that he has died. Get ready for conspiracy theories galore, some saying that he's not even dead and that it was all a ruse to get him out of the spotlight. Well, the spotlight has never shone so bright as it is shining now.

Let's not forget that Michael was father to three children, and it is their welfare that needs to be considered now. However you felt about him, his children have lost the centerpiece to their lives and will need time, privacy and media sympathy to rebuild them. Perhaps now they will be given the opportunity now to experience a 'real' childhood, not one that means wearing masks at every public outing. (Whatever the good intentions that lay behind that particular manoeuvre it's fair to say that most people would agree it was a parenting tactic too far)

I never thought that my prediction of his not performing at the 02 would come to pass in such an extreme way, and I'm sorry for his legion of fans and for his family who are evidently devastated, like anyone would be, by this loss. As I write this Sky News is in full reporting frenzy upon screen and I'm being lambasted by shots of the young Michael, Motown 25 Michael, Moonwalk Michael, and finally the ghost-like caricature that he became in recent years.

But the saddest shot of all is his slender body being loaded onto the helicopter to be taken for post-mortem; covered by a blanket and strapped tightly to the gurney....a body that was once so vibrant and full of life now ended.

I would finish this by saying RIP Michael, but I'm afraid that like in life, peace will sadly evade him....so with that thought in mind, I'll switch to remembering him in the way I like best...and in my minds eye I can see him now, singing 'Billie Jean' and 'Thriller' and blowing us all away by what he did best.

Oh bloody hell...

I last updated this blog in JANUARY! Eeps! In my defence though I have been very busy updating Kittywitchin, and working my socks off in RL. I'd like to say a lot of wonderful things have happened in the past few months but I'd be fibbing a tad..that said I'm not going to depress myself even further by divulging them here.

However, since my last update there's been a Killers gig (Awesome!) a new PSB's album ( V. good!) more new fierce music than I can shake a stick at ( La Roux! Lady Gaga! Little Boots! Florence! The Gossip!Ladyhawke!) AND.....

I'm seeing the PSB's at the 02 tomorrow night! OMG!!! I am SO excited, this is their biggest EVER gig in the UK and I'm going to be one of 16000 petheads screaming my chuffing lungs out in a very un-ladylike fashion:) I cannot wait!!

So, here's a bijou promisette..how about I promise to start updating regularly when I get back from London..how do you like them apples?

Reasons to be cheerful...

1. I'm going to see 'The Killers' in April!
2. I'm going to see 'Depeche Mode' at the O2 in May! In block 101 no less!?!
3. Pet Shop Boys have a new album out VERY soon, called 'Yes'. They'll be receiving an award at this years Brits and I hope to god they'll be touring..front row tickets or as near as dammit so I can pull faces at Chris please! ( No, seriously, the PSB's are my fave band of all time, and I always try and sit very near to the front...not just so I can pull faces at Chris ;P Sad fact- he was my first ever crush- I had such dreams about Mr Lowe. And then I realised the obvious...)Sad fact two- Neil squeezed my hand once...eeep!It was wonderful, he has lovely hands....

Poorly Pops and Lipgloss

I'm having a wonderfully lazy day today- by lazy I mean I'm trotting around doing various houseworky bits and drinking way too much Tetley Tea for my own good. I took Friday and today off so that I could have an extended weekend, and therefore a rest, and also catch up on doing lots of things that I don't normally have time to do. Of course, things never quite pan out that way do they? Last week my beloved Daddy had a pretty serious fall. Now, my Dad isn't a small chap-he's 6ft 2 for starters and fairly well built, but it's clear that over the past few years he hasn't been amazingly healthy. He's 65 on the 3rd of Feb and is a wonderfully grumpy, funny Glaswegian chap. of course, being Scottish he's more than partial to a dram of Whiskey, and why not? But he's also an exceptionally heavy smoker too, so the odds are stacked against him a tad where matters healthy are concerned. Combine that with my Uncle having a massive stroke a couple of years ago that took a wonderfully intelligent and affable chap from our lives, and also my Nana having had a fair few minor strokes before her passing and you can see where I'm heading can't you? Dad has a tendency to stay up until the wee hours watching the telly, and he didn't go up to bed until just short of 3am. Unfortunately when he ascended the stairs at the top step he fell really badly, grabbing the door handle on the way down. That wasn't the worst bit, on the way down he grabbed the toilet door, only for that to shut on his hand, cutting it quite badly. Next morning it transpired that this wasn't his only injury..his right side was significantly weaker than the night before, he couldn't tell if he was actually placing his foot on the floor ( sensation being all over the place) which meant he was having great difficulty walking, and to cap it all his writing was buggered. Dad is an avid crossword aficionado, and while he 'enjoys' his first smoke of the morning he always finishes both Daily Mail (Sigh, what can I say..yes he reads that garbage) crosswords before his first brew of the morning. He was utterly disgusted that his neat block capitals were practically illegible, and since he wasn't feeling so hot and Mum was nagging him to Olympic standards they hastily visited the Doctors.
Now, this bit I don't get- they've said that Dad hasn't had a stroke, but how could they know this without a CT scan? It's quite clear that something Neurologically unsound has occurred or else he wouldn't be so suddenly handicapped..and as you can imagine it's a huge cause for concern. My days off therefore have been filled with fretting and anxious phonecalls, trying to get it through to my Dad that he should go back to the GP's, because it's clear that he's not at all well. This isn't easy though-this is the bloke who had Appendicitis for a fortnight (No, I'm not making this up) before he *finally* agreed to go to the Docs, whereby an ambulance was called and he ended up in hospital for a fortnight. His appendix was so enlarged by this point that they couldn't take it out-he was on a drip and really very poorly, and his attending Doc was astonished he'd made it as far, because if he'd left it any longer they said he would have been dead within 24 hours! Stubborn is not the word....Apart from all this drama I've managed to fit in an Itunes session, subscribing to Podcasts galore. I never knew Stephen Fry was a regular Podcaster, but now I've downloaded them for my listening pleasure this afternoon. I would've downloaded Ricky Gervais' latest, but I've gone off him since he slagged off ME sufferer's in his 'Fame' DVD. I don't mind poking fun, but he took it too far..and speaking as someone who's been afflicted by that condition since the 1990's I found it quite irksome that he was taking the piss. I've found loads of Second Life related podcasts as well- lord only knows how they'll sound but I shall be listening to them in a bit. Last but not least, I've treated myself to some new make-up courtesy of 'Wet 'N' Wild's 99p per item sale. That is such a ridiculous name for a cosmetics company isn't it? It sounds like a chuffing Porno, BUT I have been a very happy customer of theirs before so can vouch for the quality of their product range. In fact,*everything* is included in the sale, so you can load up on lovelies such as mineral powder foundation, mascara, Kabuki and various other cosmetic brushes, bronzer, lipstick..the whole works. Not only that BUT postage is free if you spend over a tenner, so while it's still January I heartily suggest you get to it and treat yourself!
Right, I'm off to listen to Stephen Fry and partake of some seriously Tea drinking...I'll keep you posted on Pop's progress.

Getting back on my feet....

...slowly but surely. I've been horribly ill all week with a real bummer of a chest infection/flu and I've felt absolutely crappo, but I'm hoping I'm on the mend now. Unfortunately for me, getting something like this invariably causes a flare up of any dormant ME symptoms and also I'm doubly blessed with having Hydrocephalus as well- so I've had better weeks!
The worst part has been not sleeping- lying down sets off a coughing fit, and then I risk disturbing Phil. Last night I ended up getting up about thirty minutes after I'd gone to bed. I came downstairs and decided against turning on the TV, cos it's pants, and ended up reading blogs until 6am! In act, I'm addicted to this one, Siren Voices, which is all about the comings and goings of an EMT-Spence- and his writing is astonishing:) I seriously recommend you have a read...I'm sadly addicted to Celebrity Big Brother now....oh dear, what a saddo huh? I dunno who I'd like to win either. I really liked Tina at first, but I'm tiring of her 'Me, Me, Me' attitude somewhat. I don't think she realises that she's doing it in all honesty, but the houseperson with the most inflated ego should certainly have been her, and not Ulrika! Mutya Buena seems to be coming out of it really well-like most people I'd bought into the press image of her being a bitch, and so far she seems a really nice, down to earth lass. I'm suprised how much I like Tommy Sheridan as well- I thought I'd find him annoying but he actually comes across as quite a caring, intelligent individual. That said, I want Verne to win...when he was talking about Heath Ledger the other night in the house he came across as someone who genuinely cared for Heath and has been genuinely impacted by his loss. Of course he's an actor, but I don't think he's calculating at all...he just seems like a nice bloke:)
God listen to me!!

Indy & Moth......

Human sacrifice, dogs and cats living together... mass hysteria!

Feeling hot hot hot!

...and NOT in a good way. Why is it something as common as a cold can really knock the wind out of your sails? The cough alone is horrendous- I have no idea how people who smoke deal with chest infections (Have you noticed they usually continue smoking as well? Utter madness!)and I just ache....I eventually got out of bed at just after 2pm because I just couldn't lay flat anymore, jumped in the shower and now I'm snuggled up with my lappy for company. Oh, and Indiana..who is having GREAT fun bouncing and chasing after a rubber ball that my mum gave her on new years day. The ball belonged to my last dog-Spike, who passed away almost 10 years ago. I didn't even realise Mum had kept it-but I suppose for sentimental value she'd hung on to it. Indiana is great at destroying things so I was a tad reluctant to accept it at first, but she's here happily playing with it and as Mum categorically stated, it's pretty indestructible. Kinda cool that another doggy is getting some pleasure out of it too- although with it being solid rubber each time she bounces it down the stairs it sounds like the house is falling down, and makes my head throb. I think she's doing it deliberately because she knows I don't have a voice to shout at her with..sneaky mare...I'd like to say that Phil is doing a wonderful job of looking after me, but he's actually completely avoiding me. He's shut himself off into the Dining Room to play WoW I think..I wouldn't mind so much but it's not as if I've got the plague! I can understand his rationale though, he's back at work tomorrow too and the last thing he needs is this. I don't think I'll be venturing in if I haven't had a major turnaround before the end of the day..there's no way I could concentrate with my temperature being so high and coughing and spluttering everywhere..besides it isn't fair taking germs into the office. Disappointing though- not the start to the new working year that I had in mind:(

Note to the creative team behind ITV1's 'Demons'...

...it would have been MUCH better had you not decided to cast the masterful Phil Glenister as an AMERICAN?! Why couldn't you have used him as is? As much as I rate him as an actor, and I really do, his accent slipped more times than Ulrika's knickers! Seriously, that put a real dampener on the whole proceedings for me....(Well, I fell asleep watching it, obviously had me riveted)
Click HERE to take a peek and see what you think..it looked great but was a tad....'bleh'.

Not ANOTHER blog?

Well, yes actually:) Because so much of me is Kitty and she me (except she doesn't have an arse the size of a small island in the pacific) I realised that I was becoming tempted to post LOTS of real life things on her blog-which wouldn't be fair. It's important to retain the differences between a real life and a second one-despite them being inextricably linked.
Plus I really should make more of an attempt to keep a diary! I love writing and so much of my time is taken up doing that activity that it really does seem daft that I don't have any record of my daily life anywhere. I used to make attempts at keeping diaries as a teen, and would write diligently in them every night usually until March, when I would have lost interest. Bad habit that, I'm terrible at starting things and not finishing them....
Anyway, it's late Saturday night. I feel utterly dreadful-I've managed to come down with a rotten chest infection that is making my chest ache and my ribs swear in all sorts of languages. Phil is downstairs on World of Warcraft. I can hear him chatting away on teamspeak to his guild mates, so they're obviously raiding dungeons and twatting goblins galore. I'm not listening to any music-just the whirr of the heating as it clicks on and off, and the noise of my hard drive..You know how when you feel really poorly you can't be bothered to listen to anything? That's exactly how I feel. I made the fatal error of dozing on the sofa earlier and fell asleep for a few hours like a prat. It's too easy though when Indiana is beside me..she's so warm and cuddly and when she starts sleeping it just kind of triggers off an automatic response in me. Well, that's my excuse anyway and I'm sticking to it.
Ooh hang on, I've just heard a rustle behnd my monitor, which means Myrtle has crept down the back of my desk and is hiding there. She's an odd cat that one; incredibly loving but stupidly skittish..she LOATHES Indiana with a passion, which is ironic when you consider they're sleeping not two feet away from each other-Indy is besides me feet in her basket. Snoring.
I've just finished a cup of Lemsip hot lemon, with an added secret ingredient-Whisky! I'm an advocate of the hot toddy method of curing illnesses, purely because it does seem to work.
Helps you sleep and numbs the symptoms I guess:)
I really should go in-world and do Kitty stuff, but I just feel so 'Meh' that I really cannot be arsed...hope I'm fit for work on Monday. The last thing I need after a fortnight's break ( I know! It's gone so bloody quick!) is to be calling in sick....

Before I go, I see the eleventh Doctor Who has been selected, and he's a chap by the name of Matt Smith. At 26 Matt is going to be the youngest Doctor, and I must admit I was holding out for Paterson Joseph to nab the role, but alas-not to be. I have a lot of faith in Steven Moffat and all the Doctor Who crew, but I do wonder if some of the reasons (apart from his acting record) that he has been selected is because of his appeal to the tween audience, and also his passing resemblance to Robert Pattinson, star of 'Twilight'. We'll have to wait until 2010 to see if he's going to be any good, so plenty of time for him to swot up on the role. One thing is for sure, he's going to have to work bloody hard to match the huge impression that David Tennant has made in the role...fingers crossed and good luck Matt-you're going to need it!