Thriller on YouTube: makes prison look like fun
Mercifully I have spent a very small proportion of my life in the world's prison cells. To be precise, I have enjoyed several mildly uncomfortable nights in West End Central and several more in the neighbouring police stations.
Once abroad I mostly had the good sense - and even on occasions the access to cash - to avoid what my friends would later describe as "an unusual way to end your vacation". So, my very brief sojourn in the penal colonies of south-east Asia proved to be something of a shock. Jesus, were those places tough. Good to know, then, that either by spontaneity or design, the whole vibe seems to have changed.
Here an exercise yard, thanks to voluminous loud-hailers and the wonders of Michael Jackson's Thriller, has been converted into a vast stage for a beautifully, wittily choreographed (and emphatically camp) pop-ballet. As Jackson's song plays, helpless armies of orange jump-suited prisoners dance about like the original video's zombies did. Meanwhile, a ladyboy mimes the lyrics to Michael's bits. Prison never looked like so much fun.
