the corner office

Ronwen & I went to the hospital last night, to see Mo. I'm glad I saw him, although I'd be lying if I said he looks very good. But he is alive and recovering. The worry now is the extent of his head injuries, but we can only hope.

As if one tragedy this week wasn't enough, Clifford Swindells, aka Darklord Smegbreath, Wintermute, Clifford E Sheep passed away on Thursday. Cliff was fighting leukemia, and during his most recent bout of chemo, he contracted an infection which was too much for his body to take.

Cliff was quite a character in the local alternative scene and I don't think it was until he took ill that anybody realised just how wide and varied his circle of friends was, both in real life and online. Not bad going for a self-professed misanthrope. He was fiercely anti-establishment, anti-authority, anti-everything, but his sense of humour and sheer capacity for the surreal, the obscure and the irreverent was second to none. I met him early in '98, and I have many, many, many good memories since. I was even lucky enough to play in his and Chris Moon's band, Atmosphere Control Unit, for a while. A chunk of my CD collection is thanks to music he recommended. His music knowledge was obscure but encyclopaedic, and if told me to check something out, chances were good I'd like it.

I hadn't seen him much the past year or 2, apart from occasional banter on discussion boards, mailing lists and email. I only saw him once while he was in hospital, and we traded a few mails when he came out of chemo. I regret not visiting more often, or calling or even sending the SMS I planned. I just took it for granted I'd see him or drop him a mail when he came out of chemo again.

If anything, this week is teaching me not to take anything for granted.