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!