There is a rather nifty idea in the pipeline to create a special portrait of Michael Jackson in recognition of his life. This is the official blurb :

We need your help. If enough people participate, there will be an amazing interactive portrait of Michael Jackson created by celebrity artist David Ilan. It is free and very cool. Please vote “yes” and spread the word. Please click here.

If you are so inclined to help this project off the ground then please click the above link and get involved.

I’ve been thinking about Michael Jackson’s lasting legacy, his music, and which songs will live on best personally for me.

He was not the most prolific of artists - some like to release an album every couple of years but Jacko was never like that. His usual release schedule even in his early solo career was more like one album every four or five years.

Of course this means that there’s less of a back catalogue to draw on - although despite his recent spate of greatest hits collections, no doubt more will be appearing from now on.

I don’t really know what to say. I am a fan who loved his music but I didn’t know the man, I doubt many really did, despite all the talking heads appearing non-stop on the news channels over the last 24 hours.

Where were these people when he really needed them?

Rewind a few years and it would have done him and his reputation the world of good to have his fellow musicians and celebrities saying a few good words about him, but when the mud was flying about they kept their heads down - no wonder worried more about some of it sticking to them for being associated with him.

August 1992, over sixteen years ago, I attended my first concert.

Geographically speaking I grew up in a place which saw no bands come anywhere near which would perhaps explain why I was 15 before I saw anyone play live.

Music wasn’t a huge thing in my life early on so that probably had something to do with it as well - I was a Shakin’ Stevens fan for heavens sake!

I like sleep, always have and probably always will.

But since getting our kitten, Daisy, I haven’t been getting as much as I used to due to her insistence that someone gets up to feed and play with her whenever she wakes up - which is usually a good hour or two before I’d ideally be liking to waken.

However, it’s not all bad - in fact being up and about an hour earlier hasn’t affected me as much as I thought it might.  In the past, a lack of sleep has always made me grumpy with a longing all day for an early night so I can catch up straight away but that all seems to have left me now.