David Carradine... Ed McMahon... Farrah Fawcett... and Michael Jackson.

Isn't it odd... if I was only to work from current news, I'd only SEEM to know that...

David Carradine MIGHT have died in a bizarre solo sex-act in Bangkok.

...neglecting his amazing body of work and a truly interesting and odd character with an incredible family history.

Ed McMahon was in serious health and fiscal damage.

...but was probably one of the more genuinely witty and iconic figures of late night television as well as many other ventures... not the least of which was his unceasing work for charity. "Heeeeeeeeere's Johnny!" is in our lexicon because of this man.

Farrah Fawcett was a face to an insidious form of cancer... one that may be a thing of the past for future generations rather quickly.

...which isn't at all a bad way to be remembered... but she was a heck of an actress and legitimately a touch-stone of her time. (Not only that, but I do remember her early interviews and she had a wit and charm that was as impressive as her beauty.)

...then there's Michael Jackson.

I've been watching the twists and turns in the blogsphere and on FaceBook over Jackson... his fans and his detractors...

I'm in a "fortunate"(?) space as I was never a fan. In fact, in the early eighties, I was heartily sick of Michael Jackson after being subjected to his music night and day... and it wasn't really my kind of stuff.

...so I watched his odd life unfold with detachment.

I'm sorry to his fans, but I have very little personal doubt that Michael had a "thing" for children that, by any stretch of the imagination, was over the line of healthy. Whether you believe he was sexually attracted to young boys or was, as he said, "trying to regain a lost childhood", at what point do you, if you're a friend or family member, step in before what happened... well... happened?

This isn't to say that I set the blame SOLELY on Jackson... I do look at the parents of these kids... especially the ones AFTER the initial allegations surfaced... and I do not wonder at all if they weren't willing to sacrifice their children for a cheque... granted, they could state that all they knew were allegations... and that wasn't enough for them... but as a parent, albeit a step-parent, it would be more than enough for me to not allow "visitation" without strict supervision if at all.

...but I digress a touch.

When looking at the man as a whole, he may not have truly "entertained" me, but he did entertain many... the majority, to be honest... and I won't take that away from him.

He was enormously talented... and he did break down many barriers that some people don't even know existed in terms of black performers... especially on the burgeoning "music video" stage of his time.

His fans, however, have to realise that he was a deeply flawed human being... regardless of intent, the optics of his life were and are impossible to overlook and indeed, will always overshadow his accomplishments to many.

History will be weird with Michael Jackson... accusatory, wary, and at the same time, complimentary and genuinely heaping accolades on him.

In essence, watching the fall-out over the necessary summing up of his life and accomplishments, there's storms brewing... but they are, regardless, tempests in teapots. There are no dogs left in this fight.

He was accused of many ills... and that I personally couldn't overlook myself...

...but he was talented and ground breaking... and as iconic as any "super star" that's been on the stage.

You can choose to celebrate his life and the good things... or you can choose to concentrate on his questionable behaviour and issues... both are valid... neither side should dismiss the other.

He has now passed into history... and perhaps, it is up to time and the future to decide how he will be, in general, looked upon.

I will give one piece of credit, however... you can't ignore him... even in death.

Perhaps that is all it will come down to... he will be immortal... with people hopefully balancing the good and the bad... and although acknowledging his talent and contribution, they will also have to necessarily mollify that worship with thoughts about what might have happened and regardless, the optics thereof of someone in his (personally) chosen position.

Either way, a lot of icons have passed in a relatively short period of time... and if nothing else, it's good to see people thinking and indeed talking about them on any level as opposed to these folks being discarded into the rubbish bin of popular attention.