Heath Ledger dead

I got a bit of a shock today when I read the headlines that Heath Ledger was dead at age 28, from a possible drug overdose.

Obviously, one shouldn't jump to conclusions before one has all the facts - as we frequently learn - but for a 28 year old actor to die so abruptly, a drug overdose does seem to be a plausible reason.

And it's so frustrating. Here's a guy with everything. Looks, money, fans - and he can find nothing better to do with his time than to take drugs? Jeez...start skydiving or parasailing if you want a rush - get it naturally. That way, if you survive to old age, you'll probably be able to remember all the good times you had, whereas if you're stoned out of your mind for most of your life...you wont' be able to remember anything when you're old. Does the fate of Jan-Michael Vincent...not to mention River Phoenix...teach nobody anything????

Other than that, I must admit Heath Ledger is just a name to me. Never went to see Brokeback Mountain, although apparently he was very good in it... and had absolutely no intention of going to see his version of The Joker in the new Batman. There's something wrong with the creators of an iconic movie franchise like The Batman, that they'd give the posters over to glorifying a psychotic criminal such as the Joker.

There are plenty of photos of Ledger as the Joker on the internet...I'm not going to share one here.

For the man, RIP. Let's hope that those people among his legions of fans who do drugs, think to themselves..."gee...if it could happen to him, it could happen to me. I'd better give up drugs."