UKBouldering.com
the shizzle => shootin' the shit => music, art and culture => Topic started by: JCorbot on July 08, 2019, 03:41:31 pm
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By way of explanation
Hi all,
Simon and I were PMing about this daft Corbot thing and he asked what I thought was a very valid question.
‘What is the point of all this and also what do I hope to gain’
He also pointed out that some had been annoyed by the Corbot ruse and that it was unfair to play these games. Which I thought was completely fair, and was working on the assumption the Corbot identity was clear. So I thought I’d post trying to answer Simon’s question and hopefully gain some ‘peace of mind in doing so’ as well as explore some interesting ideas.
Firstly the original intention of Corbot was to gently re-introduce the mag back to ukb to see if anyone was interested, but at the same time maintain the weird and slightly uncomfortable nature of the material which is open both to the positive and negative aspects of life and as a vehicle ‘climbing experiences’. I’ll admit maybe this wasn’t the best plan and as I realised people didn’t get it, I let on to various forum members like Will and Doylo who made it more clear. So sincere apologies for any upset on any level caused. If it helps even my wife thinks it (the mag) is offensive and I am a bit nuts.
The mag it’s self and the content operates on a variety of levels motivated by both internal and external factors. Climbing and its place in human experience can be thought of on some level as a masochistic and narcissistic pursuit. (I don’t mean narcissistic in a negative way but more of a fragile way in the sense that most of us desire to be liked and applauded). There is an abusive relationship with ‘the rock’ and in some senses nature itself. The rewards are often intense and very far apart, the suffering and sacrifices in-between are often great and sometimes at the expense of life, limb, health and relationships. We all trample, clean, drill, litter, poo and wee etc etc to be eventually gratified by conquering, regardless of what people say of alternative motivations. Will Hunt evoked a strong image to me describing arriving at Malham on a cool autumn day to see a climber hanging in his harness, wrapped on in a down jacket head and shoulder slumped like a body in a gibbet. Or alternatively Shark’s red wine soaked self loathing in Oak Based power club entries are regardless of actual experiences, evoke a sense of despair and suffering that has been chosen. I believe this is also represented in the pseudo positive nature of the climbing culture and associated commoditisation. Which results in for example timed training, nutritional restriction and obsessional mentality at the expense of interpersonal relationships.
Part of the mags purpose is to explore this in both a humorous and satirical way while also having a serious message. In a climate where positivity is valued above all else there seems no place to voice frustrations for fear of ‘the moral dissecting table’ a perfect example of the binds people are placed in by the ukc opinion pieces on issues such as Kinder ‘gate’ scandal. I’m pretty sure they won’t do a follow up on the Ste Mac ‘c@n5 gate’ scandal, and I don’t really blame them but it is curious why?
From a more internal motivation, well I’ve always been a highly neurotic individual who also likes doing creative things. The creative side has often been hijacked by an anxiety about wanting to be liked, well regarded, to perform and at some points crippling existential anxiety. As I’ve got older I wondered what it would be like to express myself free from these shackles. Initially this of course led to a polarised and probably quite negative ‘lashing out’ at all things that made me ‘feel bad’. But as times gone on the creative, fun and social exploration of all of this stuff is becoming more appealing. I’m actually in the process of writing a graphic novel serialised in the mag. I’ll include an excerpt below. For anyone who’d like a copy of the second issue free I have extra printing credits left over, please pm me and I’ll post it. For anyone I’ve upset in the Corbot gate affair and / or culled from the Instagram account in the buzzard build up. Please accept apologies. I will keep the insta account private but anyone can join over 18 without fear of getting shit.
Simon, thanks for prompting me to not be a twat. (Although that is brown nosing)
‘Isolation, Meaninglessness, Mortality and Freedom’
(Excerpt from graphic novel)
The modern world presents an ever evolving crisis, a crisis of identity, a crisis of physical form, a crisis of personal and cultural function. Commoditisation has diluted past symbolism, meaning has been lost and then formed into homogenous mass. A move towards sanitisation through a ‘cleansing’ of minds and bodies. Individuals operate in a ‘pretend’ mode where positivity and community is revered to the detriment of expression. This crisis presents an existential dilemma where the past self is being lost and one must find a new way. To transcend, to individuate, to gain insight to experience the givens’ of existence. Isolation, meaninglessness, mortality and freedom. Through consideration of the past and the development of the self in relation to the pursuit, to think about things of risk and fear, mood and value, meaning and the obsession with progress.
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Some great stuff there JC.
"Come to Mother" has to be up there as one of the best/most ironic names out there.
.. somehow similar to my thoughts about climbing (mildly) loose routes like Breakaway being (speculatively) related to fragmentation in early Mother/child relations. (I'd actually said breastfeeding!)
Anyway, it gave me a migraine.
Climbing about attachment.
Too obvious lol.
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Good stuff but JCorbot is a shit name, hth.
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I’m left wondering why these issues that have been outlined are really worth the considerate effort put into exploring them (and/or trying to make people explore them) when there’s far more important things in life and the world to get eviscerated about?
<shrugs>
Homelessness, wealth divide, climate change, inequality (in all its forms) etc.. etc.. take yer pick. These are the things that keep me awake at night and seem far more important.
<\shrugs>
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You shallow cunt TT. Does the dilution of the anarchic traditions of relatively affluent people who like to climb to the top (sometimes not even the top) of bits of rock mean nothing to you :o
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Haha yes you could say it’s a bit shallow in the same way psychoanalysis was / is considered a privilege of the middle class. Although the truth of the matter in the health service is this isn’t the case.
I believe it’s worth exploring as many of the central themes are applicable to most things in life. Obsessionality, despair, fear and anxiety, interpersonal and social dysfunction, underlying beliefs, attachments, personality style etc all of which are associated with the issues you mentioned TT. Homelessness, substance abuse, domestic abuse, psychological disorders e.g anorexia, depression, etc. Climbing in this way isn’t really a primary interest but a vehicle to understand ‘the human’.
The answer that immediately sprang to mind was if those things are keeping you or anyone awake at night. Why spend days and days at the crag rather than say working in homeless shelters or needle exchanges or for aid organisations? Maybe you do?
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You shallow cunt TT. Does the dilution of the anarchic traditions of relatively affluent people who like to climb to the top (sometimes not even the top) of bits of rock mean nothing to you :o
:D
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Haha yes you could say it’s a bit shallow in the same way psychoanalysis was / is considered a privilege of the middle class. Although the truth of the matter in the health service is this isn’t the case.
I believe it’s worth exploring as many of the central themes are applicable to most things in life. Obsessionality, despair, fear and anxiety, interpersonal and social dysfunction, underlying beliefs, attachments, personality style etc all of which are associated with the issues you mentioned TT. Homelessness, substance abuse, domestic abuse, psychological disorders e.g anorexia, depression, etc. Climbing in this way isn’t really a primary interest but a vehicle to understand ‘the human’.
The answer that immediately sprang to mind was if those things are keeping you or anyone awake at night. Why spend days and days at the crag rather than say working in homeless shelters or needle exchanges or for aid organisations? Maybe you do?
So why are you exploring these ideas via trolling responses using a series of alter ego’s?
That’s really weird Dan.
Enough from me. I don’t want to play your game.
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Ok TT, like I said it was a bit misguided assuming the identity of JCorbott was clear. So sorry for that. If there is a game then I’ve tried to make it as clear as possible in the post above.
I use different identities as a weird way of expressing opposing points of view that are often contradictory or deeply held. I mean parliamentary question time now that is really weird. Again no games, feel bad for clearly pissing you off and tried to give an honest answer to your question of ‘issues explored’ above.
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Also the definition of ‘Trolling’ seems quite a broad one. I’m not sure a couple of posts with actually relatively genuine questions e.g the origin of Egyptian or pointing out a toothbrush is useful for cleaning off chalk would account for the more extreme end of the current definition.
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On another note, many issues are explored in different and weird ways. Performance art, plays, paintings, film etc etc. Sometimes it’s not always clear to the audience. I read an interesting quote the other day about a famous philosopher who said on his death bed... ‘I will die having one student who has understood me, and he Misunderstood me’
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I'm surprised to see you resort to whataboutery, TT. Dan's efforts look like an elaborate piece of performance art to me, and is the kind of anti-establishment thought that UKB would once have welcomed. Maybe people can take it as such and, if it really offends (I can't see why it would be offensive) there is always the "hide poster" option.
I'm quite glad that there is someone with enough passion to produce this odd stuff, even if it is not widely appreciated.
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there is always the "hide poster" option.
Where?
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I'm surprised to see you resort to whataboutery, TT. Dan's efforts look like an elaborate piece of performance art to me, and is the kind of anti-establishment thought that UKB would once have welcomed. Maybe people can take it as such and, if it really offends (I can't see why it would be offensive) there is always the "hide poster" option.
I'm quite glad that there is someone with enough passion to produce this odd stuff, even if it is not widely appreciated.
To me it’s someone with a background in Psychology/Psychiatry talking bollocks.
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Admittedly that’s pretty close to the mark Webbo. Most of it is complete claptrap. Which is ok surely?
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Admittedly that’s pretty close to the mark Webbo. Most of it is complete claptrap. Which is ok surely?
Having spent 30 years doing the same. I can hardly criticise.
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Dan's efforts look like an elaborate piece of performance art to me, and is the kind of anti-establishment thought that UKB would once have welcomed.
I was going to say something similar. I don't know why everyone is getting their knickers in a twist. But also why does everyone have to explain themselves?
Why does everything have to make sense?
It says a lot when the best thread in recent memory is about someone shitting at the bottom of a route...At least Dans having a go.
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Well all this is completely lost on me. But perhaps I haven't been paying enough attention.
Were your powerclub posts just to mock people then JC?
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[/quote]
To me it’s someone with a background in Psychology/Psychiatry talking bollocks.
[/quote]
Thank god someone else said it.
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Well all this is completely lost on me. But perhaps I haven't been paying enough attention.
Were your powerclub posts just to mock people then JC?
That’s exactly how it came across to me.
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Well all this is completely lost on me. But perhaps I haven't been paying enough attention.
Were your powerclub posts just to mock people then JC?
Please don’t pay more attention 36chambers that might just add another wall for me to defend ;)
I never set out to mock ‘people’ and the power club posts were very representative of an average weeks climbing for me over a couple of years. I did set out to write that down and see how it felt in context, and also make a commentary on the goal / training / progress led culture which is quite overwhelming. So in a sense I was highlighting that in a weird way and can see how people doing that felt mocked. I tried to explain and apologise for that more negative lashing out at what for me was quite misery inducing. Again nothing related to any of you guys.
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For your next trick, you could try infiltrating Cocktalk. Perhaps as a 62-year-old divorcee who’s stuck at HVS and who wants some advice about tent pegs...
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I just find it all a but weird, but in a very uninteresting way. Guess that's why I'm not hugely into the more arty/intellectual/pseudo-intellectual end of the arts... I think all the things you're on about could probably make a bunch of interesting conversations, but for me the way you approach them is neither illuminating nor interesting... horses for courses maybe.
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Do you have a crystal ball Yossarian? I think I’ve just seen the future. I think It’s best to steer well clear of that as it would be a magnified version of this.
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I just find it all a but weird, but in a very uninteresting way. Guess that's why I'm not hugely into the more arty/intellectual/pseudo-intellectual end of the arts... I think all the things you're on about could probably make a bunch of interesting conversations, but for me the way you approach them is neither illuminating nor interesting... horses for courses maybe.
I did have quite a good chat with Stu about this at the tor a while ago. What he said was quite illuminating for me! I’m still waiting for my Maths based poem btw Stu ;)
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I did set out to write that down and see how it felt in context, and also make a commentary on the goal / training / progress led culture which is quite overwhelming.
The thing is Dan, that we all know how you feel about goals/training/progress led culture, and you adding snide posts to the the thread adds absolutely nothing of value as far as I can see. I and I'm sure many others find power club a really useful resource for keeping me motivated, as well as being really interesting/inspiring in terms of seeing what other people are up to. Whats in it for you? And perhaps a more pertinent question to consider, what does it add to the conversation?
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It depends on the conversation your having. A misguided and subversive / divisive way of questioning meaning to me and others, which has pissed a few people off. Sorry again Spider, not trying to spoil anyone’s fun.
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I did set out to write that down and see how it felt in context, and also make a commentary on the goal / training / progress led culture which is quite overwhelming. So in a sense I was highlighting that in a weird way and can see how people doing that felt mocked. I tried to explain and apologise for that more negative lashing out at what for me was quite misery inducing. Again nothing related to any of you guys.
Well kudos for trying something different.
:off: I don't suppose you've seen much of the goal / training / progress led culture on youtube? it's certainly something else
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KhtJVPxRxxo
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Cheers 36Chambers that video looks beyond what I could ever have expected. You can understand my hesitation to pass further comment ;)
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and also just to add to what will said, I was operating (to some degree) under the assumption that subverting the norm was considered ‘OK’ in ukb? Maybe I’m stuck in a time warp still yearning for the days of Houdini and Jasper
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Counterculture is welcome, but this is all so pretentious, self-referential and dull (and inaccessible to those not on instagram and/or taking an active interest in "the scene") that it becomes self-subversive and tedious. It was a joke funny at first that became laboured out of amusement and into annoying.
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Haha just deserts are a dish hard to swallow. Fair play.
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...that's just my opinion though, and if you like doing it then just carry on. It is important to have people poking fun at rampant commercialisation and the marginalisation of the soul climber. I'm just not interested in reading about it...
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Genius video :smart:
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So..... having dutifully eaten the shit sandwich. Just curious but has anyone taken anything worthwhile from all this? I know it’s self referential and self subversive but without digging into others or making assumptions (which I definitely don’t want to do) I had to get the material from somewhere.
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Genius video :smart:
Thanks man
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Nah boulderings a big wide church and Dan's one of the only ones balancing out the Power Club choir. Keep on. Maybe we need a Exploration Club for weekly exploration of the self and wider intro/outrospaction?
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and also just to add to what will said, I was operating (to some degree) under the assumption that subverting the norm was considered ‘OK’ in ukb? Maybe I’m stuck in a time warp still yearning for the days of Houdini and Jasper
As andy said, I think "subverting the norm" is good if it's funny or thought provoking. I just don't think you did it very well. Sorry.
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So..... having dutifully eaten the shit sandwich. Just curious but has anyone taken anything worthwhile from all this? I know it’s self referential and self subversive but without digging into others or making assumptions (which I definitely don’t want to do) I had to get the material from somewhere.
From my perspective, you seem to have used this account for a series of odd and insincere posts. You made posts about racialized language that seem to trivialise important issues, bogus entries on power club so you can feel smug about people 'trying too hard' or something, and don't seem to have actually subverted any important norms.
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Dan
Nah boulderings a big wide church and Dan's one of the only ones balancing out the Power Club choir. Keep on. Maybe we need a Exploration Club for weekly exploration of the self and wider intro/outrospaction?
I +1 tHiS.
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There's a piece in today's Guardian about how Patrick Marber came up with the idea for Closer...
"I wanted a sort of Shakespearean scene, with someone in disguise, so spent an hour in a cyber cafe and went into a lesbian chatroom pretending to be a gay woman. "
https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2019/jul/09/how-we-made-closer-patrick-marber-clive-owen
IIRC, Closer involves a character called Dan who pretends to be a girl called Anna, has cybersex with a guy called Larry, sets Larry up on a fake date with Anna, who then turns up unexpectedly. Larry ends up marrying her before cheating with Dan's girlfriend Alice. It's all rather convoluted, but it does provide a salutary lesson on what happens when people called Dan pretend to be other people on the internet.
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Where?
Who said that?
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Ah sigh, 😢. While I can see some people are keen the general vibe is saying don’t bring it hear. Thanks for all input while some of it has been a bit hard to swallow.
Just one last question for Barrows, if I were to ever become ‘funny’ how might I train to get there and do I need any rubber leg wear?
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This thread reminds me of two separate Steve Albini comments on his Reddit IAmA.
On why he doesn't like jazz.
'Because it sucks and I'm tired of hearing about it. Believe me I've tried. I just hate the parts I hate about it more than I like the little things there are to like. The batting average is just so low I can't bear the dead time between highlights being filled with all that noodling. It's vain music.'
But also
'The most destructive thing a musician can do is start worrying about whether or not other people will like the music. Fuck other people. They're not in the band. Just make music that stimulates you and don't second-guess yourself.'
:shrug:
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Just one last question for Barrows, if I were to ever become ‘funny’ how might I train to get there and do I need any rubber leg wear?
All I can say about this is that if Will Hunt thinks it's funny, it probably isn't that funny.
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That’s a good point Jamie, thanks. And Joel, that really wasn’t my intent so really sorry if you got that vibe. 36 it’s strangely comforting to know that I might share a sense of humour with Will, just goes to show friends are found in the most unlikely of places.
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So..... having dutifully eaten the shit sandwich. Just curious but has anyone taken anything worthwhile from all this? I know it’s self referential and self subversive but without digging into others or making assumptions (which I definitely don’t want to do) I had to get the material from somewhere.
I dunno.
I’d call myself an artist (lowercase a) and I draw, paint, write etc. Always have. Sometimes pretty straightforward, sometimes esoteric. Way more of the stuff that comes out of my head, gets screwed up and binned (literally and metaphorically) than makes it’s way into the lives of others
I pretty much stopped sharing my writing, because it really did wander off into la la land and since I’d made no attempt at anonymity, was catching up with me in negative ways.
I’m saying, I like weird shite.
But (and I said this earlier, elsewhere), Dan, it’s hit and miss. I can understand why some see it as mocking, to mildly insulting. I pointed that out to you elsewhere too.
I’m baffled by your motivation. On the one hand, you claim to seek to examine/ask others to examine, the “Goal oriented” culture of climbing; something you appear to disapprove of, to the point of mockery, and yet you provide no alternate definition of an activity which is nothing more than it’s goal (getting to the top of x,y,z) and serves no purpose beyond the individual and their goal.
You appear to harbour some desire to “liberate” people (possibly, just yourself) from this bondage of self imposed Sysyphean labour?
Do you not think it exists, in many cases, as salve to life’s vagaries and vicissitudes, a creation of order and self determination within the Entropy?
In fact, an activity, not fundamentally different from your art?
Some of it’s quite good though.
I think you might achieve a better connection, if you could engage your internal editor (‘ain’t I a fine one to talk?) or ask someone else to do it for you.
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:coffee: I have no idea what is really going on, which is something I have come to embrace on here, but speaking as someone on the outside all this feels less like a shrewd criticism at some carefully picked aspects of the current ukb climate and more like a cynical in-joke amongst a group of friends. The russians have a term for this kind of cynicism, 'styob'.
This is just my ten pence though, I have no strong feelings about this one way or the other. Ten pence has very little real world value any more.
Although I would note that I wadded you a while back cos I though you were a first time poster to PC, and given this place is not exactly short of corrosive cynicism as it is, I feel like new members need a little more nurturing and encouragement than elsewhere. I am left feeling a little foolish, but again, that is something I am used to!
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Just one last question for Barrows, if I were to ever become ‘funny’ how might I train to get there and do I need any rubber leg wear?
All I can say about this is that if Will Hunt thinks it's funny, it probably isn't that funny.
I laughed at this, you unfunny bastard :lol:
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Hi Matt, I think the answers are pretty similar to the original post.
1. Act out of comfort zone and express ideas and feelings that I’d otherwise keep to myself.
2. Actively try to encourage questioning of some things particularly a culture which places high value on ‘measurable progress’
3. Explore some of my own confused ideas about this culture and why it’s begun to feel so vacuous to me.
As it went on I have already admitted to making a few errors and lashing out at the culture in general, but that was part of my original plan which was to be free to express and see what happened. Of course this became representative of a very weird headspace that is me (for better or worse) and as various posters pushed back, questioned my sanity, etc etc I undoubtedly took it too far.
I have apologised for that lots of times, if anyone is still not hearing that erm, 😐 I’m sorry again.
On the flip side I posted this that has been quite exposing and open to say the least. Taking a snapshot of the criticism - pretentious, boring, no good, minimising important issues, insulting, unfunny, self serving etc etc like I said above I get the general vibe.
You’re right though it could have been communicated in a more helpful way, I tried doing that at the beginning. Strangely it’s not really an in joke between friends. The only people I communicate with about this have come about through this. E.g Doylo, Will, Fatneck, Falling Down, Fiend and a couple of others. Non of which I knew before hand
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Oh and I forgot to mention Mr. DT a truly solid guy and very thoughtful who in part inspired this by his very open and important podcast with Will Self. And whose climbing achievements are a personal source of inspiration which are representative of the rich tapestry of ‘only human’ motivations and the ambivalence contained within.
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Hi Matt, I think the answers are pretty similar to the original post.
1. Act out of comfort zone and express ideas and feelings that I’d otherwise keep to myself.
2. Actively try to encourage questioning of some things particularly a culture which places high value on ‘measurable progress’
3. Explore some of my own confused ideas about this culture and why it’s begun to feel so vacuous to me.
You may well have succeeded on 1 and 3, but if you want to do number 2 you're better off approaching it in a way more easily processed by most people. By which I mean writing things which make sense and aren't just brain dumps.
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I’m taking this as a ‘helping hand’ here, conscious or otherwise so thanks Alex. Yes the ‘brain dumping’. There is an idea that when trying to understand another persons ‘inner workings’ one can initially think ‘I get it’ but as time goes on the whole thing becomes more and more confusing so one might think ‘I don’t get them anymore’ that is the paradox in the feeling of confusion. In other words that’s what it feels or looks like for the person brain dumping, it doesn’t make sense.
I grew up in an environment where very little made sense, and feelings of security, stability and interpersonal consistency were mostly unavailable or transient. When these are the foundations of development as a child you’re left to your own devices to make sense of your emotions and thoughts in relation to others. To put it another way, there’s a tendency to flirt between unbalanced positions. All good or all bad, liked / loved or rejected abandoned. That thinking in part was what I let out in those posts. So no wonder people reacted with who is this tosser or ‘I feel this stuff’. So there’s a kind of sense in the nonsense.
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Oh and I forgot to mention Mr. DT a truly solid guy and very thoughtful who in part inspired this by his very open and important podcast with Will Self. And whose climbing achievements are a personal source of inspiration which are representative of the rich tapestry of ‘only human’ motivations and the ambivalence contained within.
Doh sorry podcast with Will Treasure. Must have disturbed intellectuals on the brain 😉
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I think Dave being interviewed by Will Self is an excellent idea. With commentary from Grimer and Joe Picalli on a bonus CD track please.
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I grew up in an environment where very little made sense, and feelings of security, stability and interpersonal consistency were mostly unavailable or transient. When these are the foundations of development as a child you’re left to your own devices to make sense of your emotions and thoughts in relation to others. To put it another way, there’s a tendency to flirt between unbalanced positions. All good or all bad, liked / loved or rejected.. a kind of sense in the nonsense.
So Dan, answering your own question (?) you want the nonsense we start from to feel like it has value (?).
That, for me, is exactly the place that some of the simplest climbing takes us to. It's not "valid because it's V7".
Another way to put it, is that we often grow up in environments where great pressure is put on us to try to be something that we're not, and I'd suggest that there's often a great deal of that in the goal oriented culture - the message is that we have to climb V7 to be valid.
But growth is also something that feels rewarding, and we can "measure" it in this context too. Change happens when we become what we already are.. and all that jazz. Entries in Power Club for instance can be made with a sense of where you've come from.
Sometimes we look for other people to give validity to that place (where we start from), but there can still be too much pressure to get on the "send bus" and not be left behind - giving up a more authentic way of being, in order to belong.
Thank you for the really kind words too. However, I don't have a solid font lever.. yet! ;D x
Interesting what Foucault said about eventually finding a dialogue with madness, and in Madness and Civilisation perhaps he echos your own views?
https://www.psychiatrictimes.com/schizophrenia/michel-foucaults-madness-and-civilization-history-insanity-age-reason
FWIW, I think this thread is quite impressive, given all the opinions expressed.
Thanks for sticking your neck out!
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Cheers Dave, I’ll check out that article. Madness dressed up as progress. I fear the omelette has become the scrambled eggs it was always destined to be.
When V0 x V0 will always equal V0
So before I dig any deeper it’s time to return to UFCK base camp 👍
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Cheers Dave, I’ll check out that article. Madness dressed up as progress. I fear the omelette has become the scrambled eggs it was always destined to be.
When V0 x V0 will always equal V0
So before I dig any deeper it’s time to return to UFCK base camp 👍
Omelette and Scrambled eggs are ultimately the same thing, and eventually turn into shit; however you chew it...
😱
(Sorry, awoken to 3 extra dogs (I have 3 already) rescued from a house fire, last night. Our Collie puppy is not impressed and WW3 has erupted and died several times before my coffee has settled (still drinking, almost cold) and the ten minutes before typing were spent clearing up dog shit from kitchen floor because rescued puppy (French Bulldog) let rip, big styleee! So much shit from such a tiny arse! Anyway, carry on, ignore me).
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I think Dave being interviewed by Will Self is an excellent idea
A friend of mine claims to have seen Self in 'Beris yesterday so who knows, anything is possible.
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Doh! Don’t bump the thread Andy, it had been making its way out of sight nicely. :(
Ps I was genuinely enlightened by your answer to my question that I shall refrain from repeating just in case.....
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I think Dave being interviewed by Will Self is an excellent idea
A friend of mine claims to have seen Self in 'Beris yesterday so who knows, anything is possible.
I once had a conversation with him about a short story he wrote (for the Idler or Granta, can't remember which) in which a chap becomes impaled on one of the pointy concrete outside sections of the Westway wall (are they still there?) I think it was his little homage to JG Ballard, who was also obsessed with the Westway - the road, rather than any climbing facilities. Anyway, I think someone should send WS a video of DT climbing Breakaway and then organise a get-together.
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Sorry to bump again Dan but Will Self just cycled past me in Holborn.
I thought about waving him down and asking him if he fancied Yoss’s suggestion but the moment passed and he was gone. Pedalling away into the distance in his shorts and cotton jacket.