Diana Revisited

Marc Bolan ironically said following the death of Elvis on 16th August 1977 "I'm glad I didn't die today" meaning that his death would be greatly overshadowed. Ironic because a month to the day after Elvis Presley died, Marc Bolan died too on 16th September 1977, two weeks before his 30th birthday. He was a passenger in a Mini 1275GT driven by Gloria Jones.

Who remembers that week, twenty years on, in September 1997, a week of outrageous mourning for Diana Princess of Wales, a woman who, if you believe the press, had had more cocks than Bernard Matthews! Working in retail at the time, the shop where I worked was forced by the press to close on the day of the funeral or made to feel uncaring. I remember a column in the local rag, The Birmingham Mail, where 'concerned' Brummies could whistle blow on shops that had said they would remain open on that Saturday Mourning.

Well who else remembers the other people who died on 31st August 1997? Henri Paul, the chauffeur and Dody Al Fayed, Diana's boyfriend of the moment. Searching the internet for other deaths on that day is quite difficult. One of interest (And purely because I love the film, Back To The Future) is an American character actor called Will Hare who played Old Man Peabody in that film. (Hare is picture here)

Fast forward nearly 12 years. The internet is more comprehensive, and the list of deaths in Wikipedia for yesterday is currently 8. The list is Don Coldsmith, 83, American author; Farrah Fawcett, 62, American actress, anal cancer; Michael Jackson, 50, American singer–songwriter, cardiac arrest; Shiv Charan Mathur, 83, Indian politician, Governor of Assam since 2008, Chief Minister of Rajasthan (1988–1989); Mian Tufail Mohammad, 95, Pakistani politician, cerebral hemorrhage; Sky Saxon, 63, American rock musician (The Seeds); Anil Wilson, 62, Indian academic, Principal of St. Stephen's College, Delhi (1991–2007), pancreatic cancer; Yasmine, 37, Belgian singer and television presenter, suicide.
As you know this may be subject to editing by the faceless c*nts at wikipedia (who removed my edit in 1960 births, announcing my birth, because I was neither famous nor infamous) as causes of death may alter in hindsight, and of course others may yet be added.

Of those 8, Sky Saxon, Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson are familiar to me. As a young teen, I enthusiastically watched Farrah Fawcett in Charlies Angels. Say no more.

Of those 8 only one will allow the public grief shown over Diana's death pale to insignificance. That's right, Michael Jackson. On the radio today as I chauffeured my daughter to work, she listened to a well known national radio station. I heard the same DJ who made derisory comments about MJ four years ago, singing his praises and shedding a few crocodile tears. You are a disgrace, you Fat Unshaven Hypocrite...

DTW 26/6/2009

PS. Of all the MJ jokes currently going around my favourite is this one:

Farrah Fawcett has passed away on the early hours of Thursday morning Pacific time. At the pearly gates St Peter and God said to her 'Now you have passed and led an exemplary life, I will grant you one wish. Ms Fawcett thought long and hard and then said "I wish that the world were a safe place for children" God paused for two seconds then he killed Michael Jackson...