Well, by now we all are well aware of the unfortunate passing of Heath Ledger.

When the news first trickled into The Mercury hours after his body was discovered, I wasn't exactly sure how to react. Our own media-savvy Kim Toth darted out from her desk in ad services to tell everyone. As she said the words, some weird sadness washed over me, and I still can't explain why. I kind of slumped in my chair and thought to myself, "Man, we all just lost something."

I would certainly never compare his passing to the magnitude of watching the Twin Towers collapse on television years ago, but it was that same heavy feeling of WTF! It's that sort of thing that grounds you.

I don't know why this has hit me as it has. Maybe I'm just too stoked over his performance as the new Joker in The Dark Knight trailer. I haven't even seem more than 3 minutes of the film and am convinced he's given an incredible and convincing performance. Plus he ruled as Blood On The Tracks-era Bob Dylan in "I'm Not There."

And of course, "10 Things I Hate About You" was the last great teen movie of the 90's.

He's WAY more than just "that cowboy" from Brokeback Mountain. In fact, that's the last flick I think of when I think of Ledger.

But of all the stories and blogs that tinker with whether his passing was suicide, or accident, or etc, this one (from my hero, Josh Horowitz) is the only thing I've really read that reads like a deserving memorial, instead of a gossip or news piece.