Gen X grows up

Yesterday, two of the iconic personalities of my youth died. First, Farah Fawcett, whose poster formed the image of the All-American girl for millions of fans in the 70's. Then late yesterday afternoon, Michael Jackson, the King of Pop. Admittedly, I wasn't a huge fan of Jackson, the man...Wacko Jacko, but his influence on his generation and on generations to come cannot be ignored or denied. His music is wonderful and fun, his dancing was incredible, the sadness of his strange life, unimaginable. And Farah's last few years fighting a terrible disease were inspiring.

I saw a quote yesterday on MSNBC, attributed to a fan whose name I cannot remember, "these people were on our lunchboxes." It's true. They were part of our everyday lives growing up. And I think their deaths, especially Michael's, will come as a shock to a lot of us. We won't live forever, not even our kings, but they will always live on...

R.I.P. Michael, and Farah.








In related news, the breaking news of Michael's death apparently crippled parts of the Internet...I hope the IT world is paying attention, what would happen in a real emergency?