Hmmmm.....
I've never been tempted to do a daylog before, but today is.....different.
Having spent most of the morning attempting to write an article on The Breeders (in between attempting to write Java code and get our CVS system to work, after our idiot Greek Project Manager decided to delete random files to "save disk space"...), I decided to have a look at NME.com, and see what they had to say about the Breeders.
They had a "news just in" article linked from the front page.
Police have found a pair of feet, wearing a pair of size 8 Diadora trainers in the river Severn, in Gwent.
Just a pair of feet.
A bit gruesome, maybe, but not really big news.
Except that Manic Street Preachers guitarist Richey James Edwards disappeared seven years ago nearby. Hence it appeared in the NME.
Richey was one of my teenage idols, along with Kurt Cobain (R.I.P.), Ian Curtis (R.I.P.), Jim Morrison (R.I.P.)....see the pattern? Nobody really knows if Richey's still alive or not, but some confirmation would be nice. I'd imagine his friends and family would be relieved to know one way or another.
A month or so ago (Valentine's day, I think it was) was the official seventh anniversary of Richey's disappearance, the day he could be officially declared dead. But his parents refused to do it, without any proof.
It's weird to be thinking about him again after all this time... He was an icon during those years of depression, self-mutilation and binge drinking, but now... It's just a shame. He was a damned good lyricist, and the Manics just haven't looked half as good, or as daring, since.
Another thought just occured to me... the feet were wearing Diadora trainers, but (AFAIR) the last shoes Richey was seen wearing was a pair of navy Converse trainers, just like Kurt Cobain's corpse was wearing. As a further update (27th), Richey's sister, Rachel, has said that she doesn't think the trainers were his.
As a final update, the particular style of trainers that were found weren't manufactured until last year, so it's highly unlikely that they were Richey's feet.
As an aside, the NME also announces that
Chris Cornell and the remains of
Rage Against The Machine have split; that
Bono made an appearance at
Peter Buck's "
Air rage" trial; and, most bizarrely, their number one album is Silver Side Up by
Nickelback, and number two is The Essential
Barbra Streisand.
I really wish I'd stayed in bed today.