On Michael Jackson.

There's a real duality to the passing of Michael Jackson. On one hand, there are people like my boss who view the man as a legend whose passing ranks up there with the losses of Sinatra & George Harrison. On the other, there are people born in the '90s who know him entirely as the weird guy with the reconstructed face who may or may not have had a propensity to touch kids. I - being born in 1983, but being a pop culture late bloomer - sort of sit the fence. Jackson's Jackson 5 work and his solo career through the early 1990s is simply unbelievable, but it's hard to mourn someone who was repeatedly accused of child molestation and made his kids wear masks in public long before swine flu made it cool. So my reaction to his passing yesterday has been to alternate between wistfully watching Youtubes of his greatest moments and chuckling to myself at the long list of Michael Jackson jokes making the rounds.

There're a lot of similarities between Jackson and Elvis. Revolutionary early careers, record breaking sales, and a steep decline caused by excess (plastic surgery and food, respectively) and poor decisions (child molestation and bad movies) capped off by a prescription drug fueled early end.

I guess all that's left to be said is to love the art, not the artist. The good thing about that? The sounds and joy that Michael Jackson's jams brought never did any wrong to anyone. Songs can't die.