Train Blogging the Michael Jackson Story

I think this was the first time there's been a major breaking news story and I was unable to get to computer to write anything about it. Our train was just 10 minutes or so out of San Diego when the Snack Car attendant came on the train's intercom and made the announcement about Michael Jackson. He had made a couple of funny announcements earlier in the trip, so I was waiting for the punchline thinking it was a really bad joke. When it sunk in that news was real everybody was grabbing for their phones to check the internet.

I ended up posting several Twitter updates and blog posts from the phone, which is not the best way to do things given the hassle of the keyboard. I may have to break down one of these days and buy a phone with a full QWERTY keyboard.

I'm watching a weird scene in Hollywood where fans are gathered around the star of Michael Jackson. Unfortunately, that star was given to a local talk radio personality by that name, and not the dead pop star. It doesn't seem to matter.

I'm old enough to remember when Elvis died, and this will be the modern day version of that with just a different audience. Both stars were hugely popular, and both lived intensely weird personal lives. One person on Facebook summed it up this way:

Only in America can a poor handsome black boy grow up to be a wealthy ugly white woman!

Very true.

The coroner confirmed that Jackson's heart was 50, but his face ranged from 6 months to 20 years. He was survived by his nose which did not issue a statement and remains in seclusion in a jar in the mansion.

If you click on the "Michael Jackson" label at the bottom you'll see a number of other posts involving the pop star over the years.