M4rk Cr4ig (aka Bimble) RIP

I promise you I ain't going nowhere Abb I <3 youse all too much.

I never really interacted with Bimble much, if at all, but anyone who reads ILM was certainly aware of him and I, like so many of you, could only marvel at his enthusiasm. I'm trying to take all of this as a reminder to be more thankful that I am mentally healthy enough these days that it (mostly) doesn't get in the way of my living and enjoying my own life. I, well all of us, can only imagine how hard things must have been for Bimble, and I feel for that more than anything. I'm running off the my Thursday night DJ gig. I'll be playing as much stuff I have that I know Bimble loved. That's the best that I can do. Goth on, dude.

I'll always remember him for his gratifying appreciation of a forgotten Australian band, Deckchairs Overboard, and their song 'That's The Way'.

I won't clutter up this thread with my drunkenness but I just want to say that I really miss this guy and I'm listening to the 19 minute bootleg of Sister Ray for him and remembering the time we cued this up together and did ping pong commentary on AIM and I can't express how sad I am that we'll never do that again. Even if he was overzealous to the point of SB sometimes--and sometimes was perhaps too often--his enthusiasm was enviable and I got the impression that great songs saved his life more than once. He was utterly, utterly terrific. I'll think of him every time I play VU, Joy Division, John Cale, Lou Reed, Kate Bush, and even The Cure and The Smiths.

He may have burned too bright for us sometimes, but thank God that he burned.

he was the first person to say something nice to me on ILM. it often seemed like he wanted to express more than could be said on a message board. listening to Les Baines Douches and Kate tonight for him. i really hope everyone that knew him is okay. RIP.

wow, cloudbusting is a really great song I have never heard before

― CaptainLorax, Thursday, August 6, 2009 9:42 PM

me too. amazing. thanks, bimble.

It's so great, right?

incredible.

RIP bimble

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ux94HePVvbA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hxR-GSKvg2A

Y'know, I hope people can learn from this thread: before considering suicide, reach out to someone. But at the same time I hate this thread: it shouldn't exist, he should be here ranting about music.

Right now is about the time of night I'd usually encounter Bimble on here, starting a thread or reviving one from six years ago just to say how much he was flipping out over some song or band. The last thing I remember totally bonding on him with was his recent revelation about Cheap Trick, and how he wanted to hear everything... even the bad stuff.

For Bimble, I will now play 1986's The Doctor and marvel at its terribleness.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Zq5GX5g3o0

Yeah, this is about the hour I would encounter Bimble doing his thing too, except I would be sat at my desk, first thing in the morning, stone cold sober, and he would be out there somewhere in the night in ecstasies about BRUCE FUCKING HORNSBY MAN, and that would make me smile.

"Look Out Any Window" & "Every Little Kiss", they're holding my skeleton upright.

I get lost sometimes, and I feel afraid, but if I just go back to those two Bruce Hornsby songs then I'm okay again.

― Sleep Tundra (Bimble Is Still More Goth Than You), Saturday, 4 July 2009 20:05 (1 month ago)

Aww shit man.

KBP: Now Playing: The Durutti Column, "Silence" - in memory of Bimble. RIP.
KBP: Also, can someone let ILX know that not everyone has someone to reach out to?

(I am just teh messenger)

? Sending good vibes to KBP xxx

RIP
i didn't know him, but many, many times i'd see a thread about an artist i loved at the top of ILM, because bimble suddenly had something wildly enthusiastic to say.

i see some of myself in the way mark was. i cling to music, and to ilx, in a world that often confuses me. i think ilx is a sort of safety net for a lot of people, and it's really sad to see that it didn't end up being enough for him.

― I love rainbow cookies (surm), Friday, 7 August 2009 01:26 (7 hours ago) Bookmark

I feel like this. I think that was one of the very first emails he sent me, he said "the way that we post, it's the same" or something like that. And I just took that as the hugest compliment because he was so passionate. I didn't judge him for the mood swings, how on earth could I? He always made me feel like, deep down, we were made of the same stuff. That was a real gift he had.

And for someone as lonely and isolated and confused as I am, that was such a beautiful feeling. To know that someone felt in the same *way* the same manner that I did. He made me feel less alone. And I feel more alone, knowing that he didn't dodge that awful fate I've always felt waiting for me. That I think every bipolar feels waiting for them.

This is a selfish indulgent post. It's a kind of arrogance, thinking that you could save someone. You can't. But I just wish I could have been there for him, more than I was. I'm not sure how.

The last four tracks he listened to, according to http://www.last.fm/user/Bimble7895

Belfast/Wasted - Orbital, 1 Aug, 6:20 pm
Hanging On A Star - Nick Drake, 1 Aug, 6:45 pm
Voice From The Mountain - Nick Drake, 1 Aug, 6:48 pm
Threnody for the Victims of Hiroshima (1959-61) - Krzysztof Penderecki , 2 Aug, 3:56 am

While it's always dangerous to ascribe retrospective significance where none was intended, the lyrics of those two Nick Drake songs make for very painful reading, in the light of what we now know.

xpost

I don't think that's a selfish or indulgent post at all. I think it's an honest, heartfelt, important one. Everything you say makes perfect sense.

It sounds to me like you were there for him so much, and were such a good friend to him -- and that's what ultimately matters. Yes, I can absolutely understand why you might feel you wish you could have been there for him even more, but ultimately I don't think anyone could.

Don't suffer in silence, will you? No matter how bad you might feel, you're not alone.

There was an interesting exchange on Twitter last night between two ILXors who I won't name but I don't think will mind me saying this: one asking, perfectly understandably, how you deal with the death of someone you knew only online, and the other replying, beautifully, that you deal with it as you would the death of any other human being. I'd hate to think anyone felt that they couldn't talk about this -- about Bimble, his death, how they feel, how upset they are -- because he was an online friend as opposed to an IRL one.

My god... am just seeing this now. This is horrible... :(

We've mailed about a few times, quite some time ago, strictly music related. Bimble to me was like ILX's Neil Cassady, a crazy mad cat so vibrant with life and passionate about music... He simply would not be stopped... I loved him for this.

Rest in peace, Mark. You will be missed.

Holy shit what shocking and terrible news. He was a great ilxor. He had such enthusiasm for music.

This is just so sad and awful. RIP Bimble.

This still doesn't feel real. He had more personality than the lot of us combined. This is a massive blow to ILM, zero hyperbole.

ILM is worse off now for the loss of Bimble. You really noticed a difference in it while he was banned but now he wont be back. A big presence has been lost.

this is making me sick.. so so so sad. RIP mark

ILM is worse off now for the loss of Bimble. You really noticed a difference in it while he was banned but now he wont be back. A big presence has been lost.

This is how I feel, even though I didn't even know him. RIP.

aim chatz isnt the same knowing he wont be in anymore

I never really spoke to the guy so I can't say much but seeing Bimble on a thread generally meant it came with an immense sense of enthusiasm I love ILX for, so RIP.

my posting to ilx/ilm has been so sporadic over years i didn't have the chance to cross paths with bimble in any significant way. i didn't even know he'd been banned. only time i became aware of him was on the thread he got banned from. i loved the incongruity of him slamming up the husker du videos cos he was so excited by them AT THAT TIME.

such a horrible piece of news.

A lot of the songs you all mentioned here are going to end up on a mixtape or two I'm making for him over in ILM.

I didn't know Bimble much at all but I wanted to do this for him and all the ILXors that have come together and expressed how much his presence was felt here at ILX. This is a sad loss for everyone.

That's a great thing to do Captain!

I'm tempted to post the lyrics to Spoonfed Hybrid's "Pocketful of Dust" since Bimble found them so devastating. But they're a bit much for me, now. I never met or messaged him, but through months of lurking recognized him as a kindred soul in some ways (too many). I curse the illness, addiction, and immediate means that took him away.

RIP bimble.

RIP. Someone I can't remember ever disagreeing with on ILM.

"Dance, dance to the radio," wherever you are.

i didn't know bimble irl (i don't ever IM and rarely e-mail any ILXors, not just him). but i was always thrilled whenever i saw some old thread of mine on ILM suddenly revived, or a new thread of mine bumped up to the top of the pile over there, b/c bimble had taken an interest in whatever it was that prompted me to create the thread in the first place. on those occasions, bimble's enthusiasm reminded me of what brought me here to ILX in the first place -- a love of music and wanting to find others who shared that love. i hope that ILX brought him some joy and relief in his life, and i will miss his presence.

RIP.

Bimble dude I haven't known what to say, so I thought I'd wait until I was pretty drucnk on a Fri eve

You've made me put on the Cocteau Twins at least twice. Without you we could hardly say "xmal deutschland lol".

The rest of the history I had no idea about, before some invade-lurking i did on That Thread after the fact. Wish you all peace man. His friends: wish you all the best. Keep above water please. You all rule so hard I cry.

ha, just re-reading some of his stuff. great. his collected posts should be titled I FEEL IT SO MUCH!

yesssssss!!!

just listening to Threnody right now ... RIP

heheh (except for the Threnody, that's scary stuff!)

wanted to do this for a couple days, felt too lol college, but whatevs, should get over that, I've turned forty:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0d/Edna_St._Vincent_Millay.jpg/200px-Edna_St._Vincent_Millay.jpg

My candle burns at both ends
It will not last the night;
But ah, my foes, and oh, my friends --
It gives a lovely light.

I wish I could've been a proper friend to Mark, but I couldn't match his intensity very well. Very sad news. Going to listen to some Dif Juz, Diagram Bros, Industry, anything on LTM in his honor.

i really like that. xp

Never really interacted with the guy, and I can't say anything better than what's been said by about a hundred people here. He seemed to hear music in a way that I rarely am able to, and I envy him for that. RIP.

Lost & Found, don't give up on me yet. Just wait...

― which was a bit synth-cheese-tastic for my tastes (Bimble), Saturday, July 4, 2009 9:11 PM (1 month ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

Lost & Found, don't give up on me yet. Just wait...

I never give up on the good guys.

― Lostandfound, Sunday, July 5, 2009 12:10 AM (1 month ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

Last thing I said to Bimble, so glad I did.

I've lurked on ILE and ILM for a few years...Bimble was my spectator sport. I loved his posts. Sense, no sense...at his most passionate, his rants were kind of infectious for me, inspired me to love the music I loved even more. As sad as I feel not knowing him, I cannot imagine the sadness for those of you who did.

RIP Bimble. To lose someone that loves music is like losing a friend.