February 2005 Archives

I suppose I should really say something about the death of Hunter S Thompson. Many of the reports of his death have described him as a writer but, to me, he was a journalist. His self-invented style of gonzo journalism which pushed the hack himself into the story even as it pushed any attempt at objectivity out, defined feature writing for the next few generations. Every time you read a journalist like, say, Deborah Ross who pushes herself into many of her pieces, you're seeing a little piece of the dead man's influence.

As many obituaries and opinion pieces have commented, his recent work hasn't really had the impact of his 70s writing, but any journalist whose work is primarily based on shock value is unlikely to be able to sustain that for long - look at Julie Burchill. But he still changed the way people write, and for that, we should be grateful.

Further Reading:

Up The Creek - Warren Ellis, who write the superb Transmetropolitan (a series that re-ignites my passion for my trade every time I read it) makes some valid points about Thompson's death.

Population: One: Hunter S. Thompson: RIP - Bryant calls for an end to pale imitators of Thompson's style, which I completely endorse.

Devon Church, originally uploaded by Adam Tinworth.

Submitted to Photo Friday : Rural

One of the reasons for my silence - one of the many reasons is that One Woman and I are working on our escape plan from London. Yes, that's right, we intend to be out of the cpaital by the end of the year.

At the moment, reading about Dan's successful escape has been a real inspiration. Perhaps I should be documenting our escape, too.

Oh, yes, I have a blog, don't I?

I really should get around to posting something....

New Ikea, New danger:

BBC NEWS | England | London | Man stabbed in Ikea opening chaos:
One man was stabbed near Ikea's newest store and several people were hurt in the crush as thousands flocked to its midnight opening.

Nine ambulances went to the Edmonton store, north London, after reports that up to 20 people were suffering from heat exhaustion and minor injuries.

Amazing the effect that flat packed, semi-disposable Swedish furniture has on people, isn't it?

At work, I subscribe to the Microsoft Executive E-mails, which see yous getting occasional mail from Bill Gates or Steve Ballmer, telling you how wonderful they are.

My copy of Outlook automatically filed the latest missive from Mr Gates as Junk Mail. This amuses me no end.

I'm sat on the 9.25am train out of Cardiff Central to London Paddington. We're somewhere a little short of Bristol, and I'm looking out of the window, mainly because I should be writing.

There are lambs everywhere. Lambs? In February? Maybe the last 16 years in have put me further out of touch with the country than I though, but lambs this early in the year just seems wrong to me.

Oh, heck, I am become… a Londoner. I now like my rural world to exist in regular, defined patterns. I should know better.

Yes, hello, it's me, I'm back.