M4rk Cr4ig (aka Bimble) RIP

he had a pretty large support network of ILXors who cared about him and he knew that and (as far as I could tell) was appreciative of it - I don't think there's much anyone of us could have said or done to help him come to terms with whatever emotional troubles culminated in this. And of course more often than not he seemed very positive and delighted about things.

If only he couldve told someone what he was gonna do. i just hope that he wasnt on aim looking for someone and noone was there (im sure he wouldnt have as i know he wouldve emailed someone at least)

I just wish he had been on aim and spoke to someone.

I owed him an email too because I am always tardy at the whole communication thing. I always thought Mark was too full of life to ever let the downs beat out the ups. This is just so sad. He was just so full of everything.

RIP, Mister.

I knew he was up and down but I thought he was muddling through, like the rest of us were.

I can't say "I had no idea" because I had a bit of an idea about things he was finding tough. But I didn't know he was that close to suicide. Initially when he got SB'd he was miserable, but then he said he was finding stuff IRL to engage with, and other things to do. There were other situations in his life that he'd finally started to open up about, but... I wanted to sit down and do his email justice, rather than dash off a reply, going "I'm off to Disco 3000, you'd hate it, TTYL"

And I am kicking myself because I feel like I *do* know what to say - - if I'd known he was that bad. But I did not know how bad it was.

He told chatz last week that he didn't mind being banned for a month and he enjoyed the time off ilx. He did say he didnt know if he would come back straight away. Now sadly we will never know.
His personal problems had nothing to do with ilx. But his friends on ilx did help him in the past. He was always appreciative of that.

shocked and speechless

i'm totally shocked. i obv didn't know him nearly as well as anyone here. poor guy.
i hope everyone that was close to him here is doing ok.

Awful, awful news. Please rest in peace, Bimble, and my condolences go out to all the ILXors here who knew him and were his friend.

he loved music so much. i will listen to kate bush in his honor tonight.

Yeah, sorry, this...

His personal problems had nothing to do with ilx. But his friends on ilx did help him in the past.

I wasn't trying to imply that his SB was anything to do with it. It was more like, he did actually seem like he was getting some perspective on things without ILX squabbles as a distraction.

he will be thrilled to meet tony wilson and ian curtis at last. I hope they appreciate him.

This is really grim news. RIP, Bimble.

aw surm. that's a great tribute.

His last email to me was about Def Leppard's "Photograph." I never read it until now because I hardly ever check my gmail account :/

RIP.

(No worries Kate, I think we understood what you meant, or at least I did.)

yeah I knew what Kate meant too. I was just pointing out that bimble had got over being temp banned.

RIP

We last exchanged emails a couple of weeks ago; his were increasingly overwrought. I knew he was in the grips of something awful, but didn't know him well enough to intervene. I pegged him as a decent guy with a massive chip on his shoulder who needed good friends. I'm sorry about it now.

not sure that was ever really his favorite but tonight I'll play Cale's Caribbean Sunset - pretty much epitomized the way he could contagiously gush over certain songs

jesus christ, this is so fucking sad. he had such enthusiasm! to put it mildly. aw, this sucks.

I just realized that I bookmarked and occasionally perused his blog.

He always seemed v intense and troubled but I didn't know he was in such a bad way. I loved his crazy enthusiasm for every song that grabbed his attention at any hour of the day.

RIP Mark. Always more goth than us.

man, this is sad. RIP.

I never got around to listening to this band from Worcestershire he sent me, the Dancing Did.

I chatted to him on AIM about 2 weeks ago and he seemed better than he had been over the past couple of months. But I guess that's how it works sometimes with depression and suicide. I'm just in shock at the moment.

Yes, I never really interacted with Bimble on ILX, but I did peruse his blog and found his enthusiasm for music charming.

He sent me a couple of e-mails towards the end of July. Evidently he was banned from ILX at the time? His notes gave no indication of any bigger trouble. Still cannot get my head around it.

Bimble emailed me a few months ago about chatting on AIM, which I was/am unfortunately too much of a Luddite to take him up on. Always enjoyed his posts here and on his blog.

Shocked and stunned, really don't know what to say, I hope he's at peace now.

I chatted to him on AIM about 2 weeks ago and he seemed better than he had been over the past couple of months. But I guess that's how it works sometimes with depression and suicide.

I know I'm wayyyyyyy jumping to conclusions here, but I'm guessing he probably did this as an impulse decision, possibly under the influence of alcohol. But I don't know the details, and I think an investigation is still going on.

Busting out that copy of "Take No Prisoners" to play at some point, in tribute

Requiescat In Pacem. I never knew or corresponded with him, but reading these remarks it's obvious that he is already missed.

RIP Bimble. Don't know what else to say, but I found his enthusiasm really contagious and uplifting. So many of us are so jaded about the music we like & listen to, but he seemed like someone really caught up in music's ability to bring joy & excitement. This is awful.

shocking news.

this is so fucking sad.

I know I'm wayyyyyyy jumping to conclusions here, but I'm guessing he probably did this as an impulse decision, possibly under the influence of alcohol. But I don't know the details, and I think an investigation is still going on.

I know, I know. I'm trying not to be all armchair psychologist. I just don't know how else to try and deal with this at the moment.

Wow, this is shocking and sad. RIP Bimble.

RIP Bimble. We interacted directly very little but you helped make this place more fun and for that I'm grateful. You'll be missed.

Never got to know him as I tend to lurk ILM more than really interact but he was one of my favorite characters around those parts. RIP dude.

In many cases suicide is of the moment. Of course the person is suicidal to begin with.

Guys, I feel so sad for all of you who knew him. I only vaguely knew him. What a loss...

I spent a lot of long nights with Bimbs on AIM and did my very best to cheer him when he was capable of being cheered. He seemed to be having a perpetually rough time in the nearly 3 years we'd been IMing, so it was hard for me to tell if his most recent difficulties were any more intense than usual. I'm really saddened to hear that they were, and to hear that he chose this way out.

He overflowed with vigor and excitement even in his dark hours. I'll miss him. May he rest in peace.

bimble will always be more goth than you. RIP dude.

I'm stunned and a bit numb by this news. I'm so sorry to read this. RIP, Mark.

Holy fucking shit. :( WHY?
He called me a few nights ago, he had been feeling awful. I don't even know what to say.

Holy Shit. Fuck. Damn..

I know his posting style was at times a bit irksome, but he was a lot of fun to spar/talk smack with ILM, where you could always count on finding him in the deepest hours of the night/morning. We had a good rapport going during the 4AD polls & those are some of my favorite ILX experiences as a result.

RIP Bimble..

wtf, this is terribly sad news. I don't know much about Bimble but seeing him on chatz few times when we were both barred...
I told him how I loved him for being a genesis fan... I never said much to him I suppose

My paltry tribute. He will be missed:

http://vassifer.blogs.com/alexinnyc/2009/08/rest-in-peace-bimble.html

I never knew things were actually *that* bad with him. I thought he was just being melodramatic.

his last blog post was orbital belfast/wasted, now listening to that track i'm getting real fucked up!

it must be raining in heaven

RI was one of the ppl that he reached out to and had an idea that things were that bad however there is nothing that I could have or was in a place to do about it. I'm worried that some other ILXORs may feel unnecessarily guilty for not having done something more. Please don't do that guys. It wasn't your job or place to do so. RIP Mark. It is obvious from this thread that he will be missed by many.

uh - "I" not "RI" obv.

oh man this is so so so sad

we traded a few emails just as over the top as the ILM posts, and I remember that was when I think I clued in to these being the upswings of a lifelong manic. I've known a lot of people like that, almost too lonely for true friendship but their peaks so often come across as gifts to the rest of the world, even if very few of us have the courage or ability to stick around when the drop happens a few hours later.

he gave so many of his happiest moments to ILX

Wow, how shocking, and how horrible to read about this. I'll probably think about the guy whenever I hear New Order. RIP.

10 years.

shit

Oof

Miss this dude

Goin to a suicide funeral on sunday too :(

<3

If not seen then or forgotten since (as it was for me), it turns out Drew Daniels's People Who Died: Nine Deaths from an Unfinished Decade is still up at Pitchfork.

sill miss him

Same here. Love seeing his posts of wonder and enthusiasm pop up throughout this board though, on threads unassumingly revived.

his enthusiastic posts made me feel uncomfortable at the time, they were too much over the top. somehow he made me realise that there are more important things in life than music, that concentrating and loving music too much - as a listener - is not healthy. his death was a shock but not really a surprise.

i'm sure for him music was health, as it is for many of us

that is, at least, what i get from searching this board and finding either a bimble thread or a cluster of excited bimble posts, i never interacted with him directly

I used to stay up talking to Bimble til 8am sometimes, drunk out of my mind. I'd never met someone so excited to meet someone from Worcestershire but Bimble could always find something to be excited about and that was one of things I loved about him. I can be a cynical bastard and Bimble's enthusiasm would cut right through that. I miss you Mark

Man... he was hilarious.

Someone mentioned in a reply to Stephen Malkmus' in-retrospect somewhat-eerie tweet before he learned of David Berman's passing that we've been going through the Jewish days of sorrow/disasters (not the real name, but that's the general idea as I understand it). Anyway, I don't know how all that stuff works but man the last week or so definitely has felt like there is something very wrong and shitty going on, like the cosmic santa ana winds bringing yuck vibes all around. I guess it doesn't help that it's the 50th anniversary of the manson murders, then there were the shootings, David Berman, the jeffrey epstein weirdness, etc. Living in the northern hemisphere this time of year always feels sort of "off" to me anyway, like unless you are on vacation somewheres it starts to feel like the summer has worn out its welcome and everything is just overcooked or something. I couldn't remember exactly when Mark moved on but yeah, I guess it makes sense somehow...

And they say the long cold winter does a number on your mental health.

Pictures of you just came on the radio. Makes me think of bimble each time that happens.

I wish I had been more mentally coherent when I got this phone call. It’s all a bit fuzzy in my memory. I was 21 and likely stoned and/or drunk at the time and it was just so shocking and confusing. Maybe they called me because I was a recent contact in his phone’s history. In retrospect I am a bit surprised that they shared so many details with me when I called back.

RIP bimble. just thinking of you now, and how you pointed me toward a new way of listening to music that was just about enjoying the goddamn music

Hear, hear. Can't believe it's been 11 fucking years already. I enjoy seeing his posts and threads finding their way through the board like roots, or ivy. (was he also behind your Cocteau Twins discovery?)

Miss you dude

I didn't interact much with Bimble during our overlapping times here, but I often find myself looking through old threads of bands that I'm just now getting into but should have known about long ago and more often than not, there's Bimble, singing their praises to high heaven.

There is not a week that goes by that I don't come across some great post of his on the old threads. Really wish I knew him and appreciated him better when he was here.

― kkvgz, Saturday, August 13, 2011 5:34 PM (ten years ago) bookmarkflaglink

Apparently that has been my experience for a decade now.

14 years seems like no years at all.

I still think about him sometimes. He was often extremely inappropriate with me which was sometimes too weird but also flattering. I would stay up stupidly late in the morning talking to him though anyway

Sometimes I'll hear something new and immediately think "Bimble would totally like this" - perhaps he is somehow...