Friday 15 June 2007

In Memory of the Tin Drummer July 2006- June 2007

Goodbyes are always sad. That's no less true when the farewell is to a pseudonym which you had come to know and like, not so much a friendly face, as a friendly avatar.

The Tin Drummer wrote his blog primarily for himself, I think. It was primarily an outlet for his own musings, which could be various. Sometimes it was cricket, sometimes Dr Who, sometimes the joys of a career in education.

But it was never dull and he had a loyal dedicated following who gained something from his thoughts. Here's an example;

'As regular readers of my blog will know, but perhaps not care greatly about, I am a sceptic who wishes he wasn't. I look for patterns and sense in the world, as well as for things to counter my limited view of reality - the strange, the unaccounted for, and so on. You might also remember that I've mentioned in the past my disappointment that these things have failed to turn up in my life. Technically I suppose it is unreasonable or irrational to want there to be other things than I can see, but there are three main elements (rather than reasons) behind my belief:
1. I cannot believe that the perception of such a limited creature as myself should bear any resemblance to the great truths of reality or existence;
2. I do not want our cultural arrogance to turn out in fact to be the case;
3. I would like there to be purpose to life, irrespective of whether we can or choose to give meaning to it.'

Or this;
'I'm currently listening to World in Motion by New Order and it reminds me of two things: one, how England throughout my life has been either washed up, failing, divided, and violent; or, it has been the subject of constant attacks by its own elites and rulers. No-one can take an innocent pleasure in England, it seems (except XTC, maybe), whereas even Germany has managed to resurrect a kind of unthreatening national pride. Perhaps it comes down to comprehensive defeat, and whether England needs that before it can rebuild its legitimacy (via the end of the union, maybe) - I don't know.
But the song, World in Motion provides exactly that sense of innocent pride, despite popularising the expression "Eng-er-land", partly through John Barnes's rap, and partly through the lovely samples: "a beauty scored by Bobby Charlton"; "we want goals" etc - even if it is hopelessly naive for New Order to tie football to love, especially in 1990.'

The Drummer was one of the first blogs I used to read in the day when posts on this blog were sporadic and unread (except for by me). I was a little perturbed to log in on day and see '1 comment' by my latest post (my fourth, I think).
It was the Tin Drummer.
Indeed for a while, he was my only commenter. That changed, but it was the Tin Drummer who got posts rolling here.
I can truly say that if anyone deserves credit for getting me started, it was my drumming friend.

Now he has hung up his drum for good, he says. He leaves us with tantalising hints about a possible return in a new guise. I think many of us await with interest.

I'll miss him.

Thanks for everything, Tin Drummer!

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

crushed,

like the phoenix, he shall rise again. shine on you crazy diamond, not even a year. sometimes, the good 'die' young. btw, congratulations on your awesome rankings dood!

Anonymous said...

Blogs and friends come and go like the wind. Hold some tight for when the gales blow.

Anonymous said...

CBI: Your words are touching and make the whole pointless enterprise seem worthwhile: hence I give the final outing of TD to you, here and now.

Cheers.

Anonymous said...

What a lovely tribute to the Tin Drummer. He'll be missed.

Anonymous said...

Aren't you nice Mr Ingsoc..

Anonymous said...

I like this post. It gives one a glimpse into your heart. It's a good tribute, too.

Anonymous said...

That sucks. I literally just found him.

Anonymous said...

Raffi- I like the Pink Floyd reference. Their best album in my opinion, and it was written about Syd Barrat.
Thanks for the congrat, but I couldn't have acheive those rankings without the support and daily voting of people like yourself.

David- That's very poetic. I like that.

TD- It saddens me that your drum beats no more, but I know that your heart had moved on.

It's nice that your avatar sits in this comment box with the other comments so my readers here can see the sort of guy you are and why your blog, and your comments on mine, were a vital part of my own journey here.

The Tin Drummer will never be forgotten, an inspiration to the sprit of blogging, it was a real pleasure knowing you.

Ruthie- He set certain standards in the quality of his writing. Ironically, I logged in to write this post, only to find his name had already gone from my blogroll!
Fortunately, I got the link right.

Mutley- I'm not really that nice, but I couldn't let the Drummer go without some sort of send off.

Eve- I have my sentimental side, I just try and keep it in it's place. Otherwise it gets devalued.

Phishez- He was on the blogroll- in fact he was on my first ever blogroll. I only removed the link, because he was also on the Blogpower blogroll, which I don't control. But I hope you get a feel for the blogger he was.

Anonymous said...

Yes a very good blogger. I especially liked his interest in cricket and his drunken tirades. His thoughtful posts were always well written and often dark and poetic. A very talented writer. Haste ye back in some guise Tin Drummer.

Anonymous said...

But more importantly UBERMOUTH is GONE!

Anonymous said...

Oh, I shall miss him - especially his rants!

Anonymous said...

Colin- How many people give us such quality blogging while drunk?
He actually gave me the confidence to blog whilst hammered. This now is an example :)

Freya- I promised Ubermouth a requiem, she will get one, I promise!!!

Welshcakes- I find that individuality is something that really comes across on the bloggosphere. TD had oodles.

James- Perhaps that says it all.

Anonymous said...

I didn't read TD but I've seen his comments and his url on alot of blogs.

It's always a shame when popular blogs close up but I can appreciate their reasons why.