It was nice to see and hear Brooke Shields speak at the memorial for Michael Jackson. We all pretend to understand fame, as in, “Oh, yeah, I could be famous. It’s not that hard.” But even those people who think, wrongly, that fame is a picnic, have to admit that child fame is redonkulous. How can a child handle the pressures of fame and be normal. So it was nice to see another child star speak, because if you are old enough you know they were the bizarre little couple at one point. Brooke seems to have made it through to the other side. Michael did not.

Three celebrities died this week. First went Ed McMahon, whom I spent the day with in 1994 on his Star Search bus. Next was Farrah, who I never met but who was my first celebrity crush when I was 10. I had three of her posters hanging over my bed and I stared at them every night before going to bed. And then Michael Jackson, who I saw in concert in Indiana in 1988. It’s an odd thing when celebrities die because we don’t know them, so acting like a family member died doesn’t really make sense. But that’s what we do. I guess once someone moves you through art, it seems like they are your friend.

How come Michael Jackson’s movie Moonwalker wasn’t ever released in the U.S. on DVD? I own it on VHS and want to make the upgrade. If you’ve never seen it, anything you ever thought about Jackson will pale in comparison. It remains a sea of insanity. It’s like watching a propaganda movie of Hitler, if Hitler could dance.