At the premiere of Mamma Mia! at the Cirkus Theatre in Stockholm: “the first time in almost 20 years that Bjorn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson, Agnetha Faltskog and Anni-Frid Lyngstad have met publicly”.

A few of the responses to a recent Associated Press poll on Michael Jackson’s career disturb me, primarily an overly-generous and too-forgiving assessment by gospel singer Steven Curtis Chapman, one of a few who have dropped the phrase “musical genius” in regards to Mr Jackson. He isn’t. He may be P.T. Barnum, Saddam Hussein and Donald Trump combined, but his spectacles were always empty, and, past a certain age, the only one responsible for his arrested development was Jackson himself. He didn’t make a significant contribution as an adult. His accomplishments are largely down to payola, not genuine feeling, and brainwashing—as I said earlier, Charlie Manson never had this kind of sway.

“It is inevitable. A man must die a little every day.”—Illya Kuryakin

Have a look at the closing price on this eBay auction for a withdrawn John’s Children single which ended three days ago.

These are brief but notable happenings in the past week:

1. Puppy Bowl, an ingenious bit of counterprogramming from Animal Planet, whose schedule is otherwise populated mostly with shows on venomous snakes, spiders, platypuses and people;

2. Jeff Albertson;

3. Folding shirts.