I didn't know much about Jim except his rants on what he perceived of Americans, and his insistent reminders to us here in the US that there was more to the world than, well, US.

I talk occasionally with one of the publishing promoters, and she mentioned that an extra copy of a book that I had received by accident was supposed to go to Jim instead. That was two weeks ago.

How freaky are these intense connections that have no physical substance to them, only words and ideas that clash or combine in the night.

I hope it is a joke, the latest idiot idea to emerge on BlogCritics. Because otherwise, it means that Jim is gone.

Jim was a person of sharp intellect. It is regrettable when a person who has so much to offer exists and leaves us feeling deprived of their vitality.

I'm not sure when his death occurred, but this post on his site perhaps provides some insight. It appears that Hunter Thompson's death affected him lots.

HST Death

This link may work better:

Link

That is truly sad news. Jim drove me crazy, but he did make me laugh at times, and his musical taste was definitely in line with mine.

In looking over his site I found only this under 'Ramblings':

"Our 2005 resonation is to accept we've fucked up our lives, and need to go for a walk."

Ominous, I think.

My time on BC only overlapped with his for a matter of a couple of months and I'm pretty sure that we didn't agree on a single thing, but he had opinions and expressed them well, and despite his strange hatred for all things US, he kept his attacks generally mature and consistent, and that deserves some respect.

I also note from his blog that his posting frequency seemed to decline starting in January and culminating with HST's death. I think for some of us blogging out words is a way to expiate our sins and clear our minds. It's as if in the end, words failed him.

Dave

I was wondering what had happened to Jim
Carruthers.I'll go away for a few months
then come back and the blogscape will be
different. So many posters have come and
gone.Then came back again to vanish and
never be heard from. Do you have anyway
to confirm your suspicions Duke? I don't
want to express my honest opinion of him
because it does not matter either way.
I do hope he's better off whatever he is
doing or wherever he may have went to.

Duke - You've always impressed me with your ability to express yourself in a clear and honest and colorful way. So you shouldn't ever feel stupid, but proud only.

I feel as though one of the reasons people hang about in these virtual group blog type things such as BC is because we have a desire to form communities in an increasingly scattered and transient world. To find a "home," even if it's a virtual one, from home or at a hotel with Internet access in Capetown or wherever, is what people are looking for I think. To cheesily rely on Cheers, where everyone knows your name.

Anyway, I don't really know where I'm going with this, but it's always sad to lose a member of a community in which you've found something of a home.

Jim generally pissed me off during my brief time of interacting with him, but he was undoubtedly a Force of Nature teeming with ideas and opinions and piss and vinegar.

To see someone like that, or anyone really, voluntarily check out of the world -- and I can't help loving the Brit term "snuff it" here in its succinctness and allusions to light blowing out and its sort of stuffy charm all at once -- is sad, super sad, incomprehensibly wretched and sad.

>>I knew next to nothing about him, I never talked to him in words that weren't misspelled and hastily typed, I never laid eyes on him in my life.


Waxing well with this and the rest my friend.

sad. Jim Carruthers is one of those names that is irrevocably connected with blogcritics in my mind. he will definitely be missed.

very well said duke.

i'm very sad today.

hell, it's rainin' outside and it's cold & stuff...but hell, it's spring and (despite a new englander's penchant for bitching about the weather) the air's fresh and things are coming around.

just not jim.

at least for a while, all those pretty flower and crap will seem just a bit duller.

After Mark Saleski sent over the link from Jim's site yesterday, I felt sick. Twice I sat down and began a post and twice my Internet connection went out just as I was hitting "save" - very creepy.

Jim was with us on Blogcritics from the beginning, and, has been stated amply, he could be a snide pain in the ass, but he cared, likely too deeply, and his cynicism couldn't always hide this truth.

He was very sharp and knowledgeable, and he helped me behind the scenes on several aspects of the site, especially early on when I needed it most, and his "off-air" persona was eager to please and gentle.

I know he was lonely and bitter and principled - a very dangerous combination, that apparently played itself out for the worst over the last few months. Loneliness is a killer left untreated.

Jim will be remembered and he will be missed and I feel very sad and unmoored today.

I'm glad my two attempts at posting about Jim didn't go through yesterday because Duke's tribute is the way it should be.

hi folks. thanks for the kind words, and thanks more for sharin a thought or two on Mr Carruthers. I dunno that i wanna add anything, except that my thoughts are with his friends and family.

Eric O, you're spot-on about the "off-air" personality. Away from the public banter, there was most certainly a desire to help as best could. he suggested one time that i should amend the DVD listings column to have a bit where folks can send copies of the things i said i haven't seen. heh. obviously, the act of doing so would offend me no end, but Jim just thought it horrid that i hadn't seen some tv show or some such yet. so he sent illegal torrents. much appreciated.

and my posting this totally coincided with the MT problems last night.

i hope he's happy.

Breaks my heart. I loved Jim, although I never spoke w/him beyong the BC message boards. He was brilliant, hilarious, acerbic, and as someone else mentioned -- a constant reminder that the world beyond our shores might just perceive us (americans) a tiny bit differently than we perceive ourselves. We can use a little national humility thanks to the eyes (and words) of sensitive, articulate "foreigners."

Jim had more intellectual and incredibly obscure cultural references than anyone I've ever read; he was obviously a walking encyclopedia of culture, music, film, and literature.

There were often references he alluded to that I felt sure I was the ONLY possible person to 'get' -- ahahah -- and I know he caught many of my more obtuse little gems.

Sometimes, he was definitely Bill Hicks meets Hunter S. Thompson meets James Joyce.

I loved the guy, and I just loved knowing that there were people out there like him.

Ditto for the likes of the Duke, Saleski, Saxton, Alienboy, BigTimePatriot, HalPawluk, and many more that I can't remember at the moment.

Believe it or not, the world was a better place with Jim Carruthers around.

Jim had more intellectual and incredibly obscure cultural references than anyone I've ever read; he was obviously a walking encyclopedia of culture, music, film, and literature.

You hit the nail on the head. I often found myself googling something after reading one of Jim's comments.

Even though his comments sometimes revealed an unhappy guy, his off-site posts didn't have the same tone, and his e-mails to the Yahoo group usually ended with "Cheers, Jim."

bhw, you shoulda been on my 'the likes of' list. Sorry for the lapse.

xxoo
S

Go here to see the index of Jim's 458 articles and 2842 comments for Blogcritics.

http://blogcritics.org/author.php?author=Jim%20Carruthers

thanks triniman, i was tryin to find such a thing to put in the body of the post, but couldn't find it anyplace.

could someone put the link in the post, at the top or bottom?

Jim Carruthers' Blogcritics Oeuvre

First I want to thank Eric for the great chat we had yesterday. Appreciate it. I also appreciate the kind words all have posted.

Just a couple of words about Jim - he was my friend. He worked with me a couple of times, we went out a bunch and yakked quite a bit. I knew him well enough. I did not obviously know him well enough to step in and intervene in his suicide. I just did not know things were that bad. I will be sorry about that for a long, long time. He was a terribly private person and I respected his privacy for the 18 or so years I knew him. He in turn respected mine.

My point of writing is to add a small bit of detail to this name you guys know. Jim was a complex, brilliant and truly kind person. He was also abrupt, brusk, did not suffer fools easily . Just not a people person. But in all my dealings with him I never saw him hurt anyone. I never had to ask Jim twice for stuff. He was dilligent and prompt. Unfortunately he had demons - as do we all - that I guess won in the end.

In my years of being in this online world I have never met anyone who had a firmer grasp on the interactive concept. he was truly ahead of his time. Jim was a very knowledgeable person beyond the online world - extremely well educated and well read. And one of those guys that you would love to have on your side in a bar fight. He was a geek. Probably what you would call an Ubergeek. But that notwithstanding he was a caring, involved, evolved socially responsible person. Unfortunately his chosen lifestyle left him on the outside. Not in a bad way - he was not a drinker, not a druggie - he was an intellectual who was outside of the norm. No doubt a tough life.

I have never and will probably never meet anyone else in my life as unique and as pure as Jim. He was the type of person you could count on. He was the type of person you felt proud to call a friend.

I will miss Jim terribly.

PS - If I hear anymore details I will let ya know.

Cheers

Mose

Thank you Mose

RIP Jim, I wondered where you had gone to, the last few months. I will miss your wit, your passion for your causes and your humor.

mose, thank you for adding to this. i dunno whether to welcome the closure on the situation, or, y'know...

i had a dream last night that Jim commented on this! and i was scrambling round blogcritics seeing why no-one was shocked at his comments.

crazy times.

Damn. This is what I was most afraid of.

I've definitely missed Carruthers. I was hoping he'd done something really cool like get himself banned from the internet. Or offed somebody using the salmon mousse. Or at least just taken a vacation.

I seem to recall he once posted or linked to a picture of himself taken in NYC back in the eighties. Can't remember what thread that was on.

I'll think of him and be a little sad everytime Slapshot comes on the teevee.

thanks Mose, very much enjoyed our talk, too, although the circumstances are as bleak as it gets, of course.

I remember that pic too, JR, please let us know if anyone runs across it.

this hurts deeply

Didn't he do that after someone suggested that BC posts include a photo along with our byline? I can't remember if he created his own post for it or if he just put a link in the comments.

You could put together quite a bio from just looking around the Web.

Here's one mini-bio Jim Carruthers

Jim was a Senior Content Strategist in the Branding Practice at marchFIRST Toronto, Jim not only ensured that communications messages are meaningful to the user, he also rigorously tests interactive media for positive user experience. Prior to joining marchFIRST, Jim ran an internet consulting company, BrainGarage, and worked at PolyGram Records for several years in the national marketing department.

Jim has a BA in History from Concordia University, and is an inveterate Apple computer guru both at the office and in his spare time. You can reach Jim at jimc1@braingarage.on.ca. His Web site is braingarage.ca and can also be found at resonation.ca

Also at Jimspot.net from Aug. 2002 is a list of, if not the original members at Blogcritics. pretty close to it. Here. Tim Hall was one of them.

And there's a little more on the genesis of Blogcritics here, one of Eric's old sites.

Jim

thank you. man, that just seems perfectly right. how could he look like anything else.

my dream was pretty close.

Thanx Duke, for the tribute to Jim Carruthers.

I, too, will miss his sardonic wit. I think what I respected most about Carruthers was his grasp of military action. As a veteran, he didn't base his comments from listening to talk radio, or from what he'd seen on TV or read somewhere - he had actually "been there"...he lived it.

I appreciated Jim's spot-on detection of the hypocrisy of words without action, and his understanding of sacrifice over rhetoric.

RIP, Jim Carruthers.

I won't lie. I never did like Jim all that much. (Of course, all I knew of him was from his posts and comments here.) And his anti-American rants drove me crazy.

But he was definitely a talented writer, and damn funny at times, too. He will be missed.

RIP Jimmy C.

PS - Was Jim the infamous "Mike Hunt" from BlogCritics PBW?

he was everyone on PBW

No wonder he got so pissy when I stated
that I found & still find Porn boring.
Makes more sense now.

he was very fond of porn if he can be taken as his word about it - I would guess the impersonal aspect was appealing

what's blogcritics pbw?

Plain Brown Wrapper, our short-lived attempt at an adult-oriented offshoot site

Paper Bag Wanking something or other.

It wasn't that, but similar. It was a back of the video store type section of BC. And I never got the Mike Hunt joke until just now. Usually I'm much better at cathcing on. Usually.

No, wait, he was Chubby Pecker. I was Mike Hunt!

How the memories fade...

for some reason this is hittin rather sore around the gut tonight. i think the photo was the crux of it. this is as dark a night as theres been in a while.

who knows why?

because you are a liberal, Duke. You empathize with other people.

Like his life, his final moments were on his terms. He wouldn't have wanted it any other way, not Jim.

I think Mike Hunt got you going Duke.

I'd be feeling like shit now, too if say, you popped off. But you enjoy your outlets and seem like the type who, when he drinks, keels over before he can get alcohol poisoning.

And you've probably tried to beet those odds many times.

Write. Talk. E-mail. Break your guitar strings and let your fingers bleed. But then tell us about it tomorrow.

Cheers. Temple

"I was Mike Hunt!"

Now, that's a funny sentence!

steve and temple, thank you. words can make for a swell band-aid now an again.

heh, actually listenin to the next mondo podcast thin worked immensely. i overlooked my own own anti-depressant abilities. more specifically young ben kweller's anti depressent abilities.

lets just hope Jim's sorted wherever he went.

your right steve. he wouldn't have wanted anyone or anythin havin a say in his death, far as i can tell from his waxin.

Carruthers was an original and very funny. I too knew him only from here, and came to really appreciate his sharp, thought-out stuff.

Sucks.

Duke, your tribute is really, really fine and deeply felt. Thanks.

Thanks CHC. An i just noticed someone added the link to Jim's posts to the bottom of the article. go check them out, folks, if you haven't ever done so. And thanks to whomever is responsible for adding the link.

Has anyone links for pictures of JC, or something like an obit from the local paper?

See Comment #28 for a pic, Al.

I added in the pic, Duke, and no need to have an Amazon link on something like this.

Al, nothing in the paper yet - it's a rather grim and open-ended set of circumstances and family is very sketchy. He had distanced himself for some time.

not sure I buy the whole "on his own terms" notion, I don't want to glorify the decision, which brings us back to the HST discussion, and I fear the catalyst for this course of events, though I am purely guessing and have no particular inside info

eric, i dunno that i buy it either. but it makes things a tad more acceptable. just.

and thanks for adding in the pic. i wasn't sure what to do with the link thing.

not being part of the HST discussion, but being from a community where suicide is common, perhaps gives me a different perspective. Maybe it wasn't the best thing to say. It was said to make Duke feel better last night, and it seems it did. And to give Jim the benefit of the doubt. A comment like that, I perceive as not glorifying the act but glorifying the man, giving him the assumption that it was on his terms. Of course I know no more than anybody else here.

Duker, Your sensitivity is a big part of what makes you you, and why you are such an outstanding writer; but I think this is one of those circumstances where we can learn by painful example paths to NOT follow.

Steve S, it did, and i think i got where you were comin from man. no need to worry.

EO, thank you. and yeah, i imagine this is most certainly one of those situations. one of those messages folks carry without knowing it.

Jesus . . . I don't know how I missed this until today. I just caught a glimpse of the "Jim Carruthers, RIP" in the left hand column a moment ago. I can't say much that hasn't already been stated. As others have said, I tended to clash with him more often than agree, but that doesn't change the fact that his death comes as a complete and total shock, and I'm really sorry to hear of it. His presence on Blogcritics will most definitely be missed - he sure did keep things churning!

Damn.

Well, there goes one benefit of moving to Canada.

RIP Jim Carruthers...

How old was Jim?

"40s" is all I can gather

I can't say I'm sorry that he's gone. Not from life, but from the Blogosphere. I wouldn't wish death on anyone, other than Saddam Hussein. Speaking of Saddam, I suspect Jim is planning to party with him once he is finally executed by the now-free (or at least partly free) folks of Iraq. (Certainly a lot freer now, despite the terrorist insurgency, than they were under Saddam. But I digress ...)

I had contempt for him for hating Americans so much, and as for all the accolodes about him having sharp wit? How does not listening at all to any argument he got back in return to educate him about his outrageous prejudices equate to sharp wit? He had not reason, only arguments. He was a bigoted loudmouth, an emotionally crippled man with a huge chip on his shoulder. One highly suspects that he once got a good butt-kicking from some Americans, hence his hatred for the country to the south of him.

I'm sorry that he might be dead, but will not hesitate to admit that that I'm glad he's taken his leave of the web world.

"ogres are like onions"

he had not reason, only arguments

right.

'reason', the modern conservative's codeword for "agrees with me".

sadly, jim knew more about america and its place in history than more americans.

plus, jim didn't hate americans, he hated 'muricans...and he pointed out the difference many, many times. there was just too much froth and spittle going on for most 'patriots' to notice.

Mark S.: "plus, jim didn't hate americans ..."

No, Saleski, of course he didn't. He obviously had great respect for those Americans who wished they were Canadians, or wanted to become Canucks.

Those who maintained a love and faith in their country, no matter how "wrong," were 'Muricans.

Does that distinction make an impression on me? Can you say, "HELL, NO!"

seeing as how he's not here to defend himself, maybe we should assume we don't really know either way...

Jebus Criminy there Manning- cut the dead guy a bit of slack. He was obviously lonely and frustrated, so maybe you could take his ranting with just a little grain of salt. Jim didn't hate Americans anymore than Ralph Kramden hated Alice when he was threatening to send her to the moon.

I don't know that Carruthers had a lot of great insights into politics, but he was fairly witty, and he was a pretty nice guy. I miss sparring with him.

Oh, they have LAY-ers....

Mr. Manning, you are in my prayers.

Those who maintained a love and faith in their country, no matter how "wrong," were 'Muricans.

that's your typical reductionist 'logic'.

feel's safe, doesn't it?

besides, nobody gives a flying (pick your favorite witty noun here) if something makes an impression on you.

Jim was the Canadian that first called me an ugly american on here. Got me started in this addiction. He made me laugh. Half the time I wasn't even sure if he was serious!

So now we can all call Andy an Ugly American in Jim's honor and it's ok.

Dave

Talk about compassionate. Mr.Mark Edward
Manning gives an HONEST statement so you
jump all over his case because he does
not share your opinion of Jim.Very Nice.

Hey HW,

If there's ever a time to take to heart the wisdom "If you don't have something nice to say, don't say it."

It's at A FUCKING WAKE!

Bennett,For starters I'd be mighty hard
pressed to call this a "wake".Secondly,
seeing as how this is an open forum,I'd
have to say that anybody should be able
to say what they feel and speak their
minds w/o worrying about being on the
ass end of snide remarks and personal
affronts. You have your opinions of the
man and someone else has theirs. FWIW,I
personally don't have any horse in this
race. I just don't like to see people
get bashed for speaking up honestly and
not following the popular opinion of the
moment.I never have,I never will.

Call me callous for this but,if a person
was an asshole to me while alive they're
still an asshole to me after they pass.
I will let any resentment I had towards
that person go(as it's unhealthy to hold
grudges)but I won't be changing whatever
my opinion of them was because they have
died,moved on down the road or whatever.
That's just me, obviously you feel a bit
differently. Que Sera,Sera...

HW, it's alright if you or Manning want to come to this little memorial post and dump on our late colleague. Hey, you're just being honest. But then likewise, if someone else comes back and says that they think that YOU are a big jerk, well hey- they're just being honest too.

I could understand wanting to use such an occassion to take exception to the evil of some really bad person. Poor Jim, however, was just a lonesome lost soul who liked to argue, mostly with conservatives.

Why you even want to come be crappy about Jim? If you didn't like him, just be glad he's gone out of your hair and pick another post to read and comment on.

Al, this might be the one time I find I agree with you on something. Let's mark the calendars.

Hey all...

I must thank you for all of your comments. Yes, ALL comments. Jim I knew in real life. I knew him well. We had a whack in common, partied together, worked together and matter of fact met online in the 80's on a BBS. We both loved the online world and we both loved the idea of free speech.

Jim was who he was. Full stop. On and off line. Not some pencil-necked geek who lived in Mom's basement. He served his country on a submarine, played pretty damn fine guitar, drank like a sailor - fuck, hold on he was a sailor! LOL!!! He worked like ten men and in all the time we were friends never complained about hard work. A truer guy you never met.

Above, I mentioned All the comments ...

Jim would fight to the fucking death to protect freedom of speech and he and I have battled forever to fight censorship on every forum we were on. And Jesus did he love a great argument. I loved him for that. We argued a whack. Never saw eye-to-eye on a lot of things but that never diminished my love for him.

So ... Say what you will. Nice or not. Jim would not only encourage it - he would demand it. One small word of caution from a geezer like myself however is that until you get a true understanding of a person don't be too quick to judge. Opinions - cool. But judge? I think not.

Carry on ... and thanks again for the memories

Al, can the thinly veiled condescension,
that shit might play in the sticks but
it don't play with me.Be a man.You wanna
call me a jerk do it directly,OK? NOW:

You need to READ my comments with your
eyes OPEN man. As I've said repeatedly
(well in 2 of 3 comments)here,I have got
no real opinion of Jim C.,one way or the
other.If you fucking read 'em you would
not make the comments you just did.

Or perhaps you would. I did say he that
got pissy once when I responded to some
post(I wasn't even addressing him) and I
said I didn't like porn.I could've said
something negative to him then but I did
not chose to even though he had pulled a
MacDiva that day.So,as I didn't chose to
jump back at him then (though he fully
deserved it)I'm not slamming on the guy
now.I chose to let it slide as I choose
to do with many of the inane responses
I've seen around these parts.

This response not being inclusive.I did
defend Manning's right to say whatever
he wants about whoever he wants at any
time he feels like it though without the
bullshit of being ganged up on by some
little clique.

I defended his right to speak & not what
he said or thinks.A big difference don't
you think? Like I said, read BEFORE you
shoot off at the mouth.I'm really a bit
surprised,honestly,that you would go and
do something that stupid.

PS:Steve,please see the above as it is
applicable to you as well.

H.W. nobody was being censored or having their freedom of speech infringed upon. It's about respect for the deceased as well as character. There is a time and a place for things, not mandated by law but mandated by civility. Say for example if I have a problem with my boss, I go in the office and address it with her, I do not stand in the middle of the break room and shout it out, even though it is perfectly within my legal rights to do so. It's a matter of character, HW, not censorship, that's all we're saying.

I agree with Moses though, that Jim wouldn't care much about this. If this thread hadn't turned into bitching by now, I think his ghost would have shown up to do it.

I wonder what Jim would have thought about the fact that some right-wing dick was pissin' on his grave?

Too bad he can't respond.

I'll do it in his honor:

Manning, GO FUCK YOURSELF, SCUMBAG.

guys please, I don't think anyone would disagree that Jim was a pain in the ass, but he wasn't ONLY a pain in the ass, nor do I think it was his defining characteristic.

He wouldn't want this to be a hagiography, I am also certain, but I don't think he would mind a bit of realistic appreciation, which he did not receive nearly enough of in life, it would appear, though much of that was his own doing, it should also be noted.

Jim made a lot of comments on my posts, I don't think he ever made a nice one, but I still liked giving him shit. I honestly believe he enjoyed giving me shit too.

At the top of my blog it says, "Not sure if I am THE ugly American, but I must be AN ugly American, because some Canadian told me so!!!" Jim was THAT Canadian. I took it as a compliment. I'm sure he didn't mean it that way.

He could be extremely funny. Many times I read a comment of his and really did, laugh out loud.

I think I'll try to look back through all my old stuff and do a little compilation of some of JC's best rants. Of course, there were a few that may be gone forever...those comments made that were just a little to crude.

This had to be one of his best...can't say that I laughed out loud...but I did smile!

JC - "Hum, Andy, do you really have any idea how completely
ignorant, stupid, incestuously, retarded, backwards, blind, perverse ... damn
I've run out of terms short of "pig fucker" for a willfully ignorant
gleeful gap-toothed banjo player I can think of.

And you seem to celebrate being a dumb cracker. So be it. But that
doesn't win you respect. In fact, I hold you in contempt for being
somebody who not only celebrates eating shit, but wants to spread it around."

Another beauty!

JC - "I'd always thought that jaw-dropingly stupid postings from
'murricans were rare and on the fringe. But as andy proves, most of you
are just brain-dead slack-jawed yokels."

These were a couple of good ones too...

Andy, as that Canadian Dan Aykroyd put it while talking about
news, you ignorant slut.

Andy, AC?DC even wrote a song about attendance to my big
shiny balls.

I remember the AC/DC one, that was funny!

He was a character...he seemed to know an awful lot about 'murrican history. More than you would think someone who despised a country so much would...but like they say...know your enemy!

aw man, thanks Andy. that was a great selection right there.

Duke, I think Jim really liked me! Especially after re-reading these comments!

he loved you like an ugly American brother!

Good lord, I'm going to start blubbering now. I doubt Jim would appreciate that.

for being someone generally able to compartmentalize my life, and being that Jim was someone I never met or even spoke to on the phone, this has bothered me a lot more than I would have thought

eric, my thoughts exactly

"40s" is all I can gather

Seriously? I always thought he was in his early 20s...

he was very into music from the new wave era...so around 40 makes sense to me.

ditto to comment #90

Look, I pretty much hated Jim. He was a profane, rude, anti-American asshole.

But he's DEAD!

So let's all focus on the positive, okay?

- He was intelligent.

- He could be funny, if he wanted to be.

- He was intentionally provocative, and it got results!

After all is said and done, he was clearly a highly-distressed individual. You don't kill yourself unless you have some serious personal problems.

So let us not lament his various annoying attacks. Instead, let us praise his good points.

I know, if I were to turn up dead unexpectedly, I wouldn't want my idealogical opponents pissing on my tombstone.

RIP, JC...

Steve S., I'll agree with you in as far
as that MEM's timing was a little off &
some greater degree of civility could've
been exercised as regards his response.

On the same hand I feel that he should
be able to respond honestly without his
being ganged up on.As someone who will
always pull for the underdog (real life
& cartoon)I felt like it was unfair of
the group and felt for some reason that
I myself am still trying to fathom that
I should speak up.I'm not familiar with
Mark's political views but if what Shark
sez is true(& it usually is)I might not
have spoken up as quick as I did.This is
just a pet peeve of mine and something
that I do not like to see happen unless
the writer is 100% in need of it.Even if
that is the case,then ignoring them is
a better & more effective option. People
like that sick racist(I don't recall his
name but remember he claimed Amer-Indian
heritage)that was invited to contribute
his thoughts at BC some time back come
to mind.3

I was thinking of a specific deceased
person I knew personally when I said
that just because they were an a-hole in
the world of the living does not mean,
that I'd be forgiving of them because of
the fact that they died.I was not in any
way referencing Jim but the conversation
lent itself to bringing up the topic.If
I offended you, or anyone else for that
matter,please accept my deepest and most
sincere apology for this. In all reality
though,if those that responded had taken
the time to read what I had written,the
large part of this could've been easily
avoided.

I think MEM knew what he was getting himself into when the first 58 remarks were either complimentary, or spoke of Jim's good and bad side together. The ganging up on of MEM should be just as acceptable as his diss of JC.

Matt,You are likely correct.I'm not sure
EXACTLY why I chose to stand up for him.

But like I said I'll usually take up for
the underdog in most situations where it
seems as though they are being trounced
on.

Strangely,I think that Jim C. might have
gotten some kicks out of knowing he was
still stirring up the shit around here.

And like I said, I apologize to any and
all that I may have offended and I also
reiterate:Read BEFORE you respond.Later.

It's cool HW, I understand the motivation.

I have a funny quotes link on my blog and todays funny quote is from Jon Stewart. I think I might have been able to get Jim started with this one.

I've been to Canada, and I've always gotten the impression that I could take the country over in about two days.
Jon Stewart


RIP JC

To each his own.

I chose to remember Jim as the embittered person he portrayed himself to be.

Hopefully he has gone to a better place than toronto.

Hopefully he has gone to a better place than toronto.

What an epitaph that would make:

Matt: "I think MEM knew what he was getting himself into ..."

Bingo! Yes, I was fully aware. And I am past the point of caring about it. It's not the first time I've been blasted on BC and it sure won't be the last. I was also, of course, as HW Saxton would later point out, honestly speaking my mind. I wasn't going to say things about Jim that I certainly didn't mean. Again, at least I was being honest.

HW Saxton: "On the same hand I feel that he should be able to respond honestly without his being ganged up on."

HW, thanks for the defense, even if it grew reluctant later on. I appreciate it. You're perfectly correct, if I didn't like somebody when they were alive, I'm not going to like them dead either. He was a lonely man, you all say? I think I can see why.
I didn't wish death on Jim; but you won't find me crying in my beer over him either.

andy marsh: "Jim was THAT Canadian."

Andy, I knew the Jim must have been the inspiration behind the "a Canadian told me so!" Thanks for confirming it.

Shark: "Manning, GO FUCK YOURSELF, SCUMBAG."

Don't you have some complaining over the Afghanistan war to do, little Sharkie-poo?!

Maybe you'll understand my animosity toward Jim better if you read his warm welcome to me after my debut here in March 2004:

Uhm, jessus suffering fuck, you're taking advice on how to deal with terrorism from the Irish, the people who invented how to kick the living fuck out of anybody who pissed them off? You really just need a boot to the head you fuckwit.

After looking at Jim's picture a few times, I now have a definitive voice that comes across whenever I read his words.

Weird, eh? This happen with anyone else?

Just a short note from a stranger on this blog to say thanks for the comments about Jim Carruthers. It seems that you got to know him well.

I had the always intriguing and sometimes surreal pleasure of working with Jim in Toronto for just over a year and stayed in touch with him after that. A bunch of us from that company got laid off during the dot-com bomb but we reconvened a few times a year for beers and conversation about the Web, the state of the world, whatever was new and obnoxious in pop culture, etc.

I didn't know Jim nearly as well, or as long, as Mose did, and Mose has posted a better tribute than I ever could, but Jim was indeed a walking encyclopedia of info about music, history, books, movies, Mac technology, Web-based communications and a remarkable range of other stuff, except for pro sports, which he loathed with unsurpassed fervour. He was usually as passionate as he was knowledgeable -- something which has obviously come across on this site. In person, he had a sharp, incisive sense of humour that could make you laugh even while he was insulting the hell out of you, because it was always obvious that he never meant it personally and he could take it just as well as he could dish it out.

I saw Jim for the last time at a bar in Toronto before Christmas and although he didn't seem to be feeling great, I didn't think he was feeling as bad as he must have felt by the time he made his final choice. I now wish I had taken him aside from the rest of the group and asked if there was anything I could do to lend him a hand, but he was so independent-minded that I'm sure he wouldn't have opened up or asked for help anyway. That's just how he was.

Thanks again for all the thoughts -- good and otherwise -- about Jim. I think he felt more at home in cyberspace than in the bricks and mortar world, and he'd love the fact that people are arguing over him and his outlook on things.

Mr Manning- I hadn't seen that quote of JC's about the Irish you invoked in comment #104. That's so endearing. Good ol' Jim.

Al Barger: "That's so endearing. Good ol' Jim."

Meaning what, Al, if I may ask? "Endearing," in a "I've seen the light of Jim's true nature" way, or a "that's truly funny and I still like him" way?

Mark, ol' Jim was a pretty good fella. He liked a little scrappin', but that's great. He was not maliciously trying to hurt anyone. I took his badass talk as kind of a punk rock Archie Bunker thing.

And hey, Brother Jim unloaded on me once or twice. Still, I could feel the love through his surface bluster.

Also, if you really didn't like Jim, and wish to torment his ghost, do so by gushing on about him all sentimental like. I bet he'd HATE that.

Greetings, web-friends & sparring partners of Jim Carruthers. I'm not much of a net-head (blog virgin, in fact), but I did know Jim in person in the late '70s/early '80s. I'd just arrived in Canada/Quebec/Montreal from rural bits of england and scotland, and was enrolled at John Abbott college in Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue on the western tip of Montreal island. Jim lived in residence and I had a b&b arrangement with a dear elderly lady close to the campus, so if I didn't feel like being quiet & going to bed early I'd often drop in on Jim with a bottle of screwtop cider and some records. I'd emigrated with a box of punk rock '45s as one of my dearest possessions, so the culture shock of arriving in Suburban Classic Rock land was considerable, and Jim would put up with and even enjoy my short fast noisy records. He never smoked herb (or tobacco, for that matter), claiming that he couldn't as a navy cadet, but I did once cause him to try acid; I recall putting on the Ramones Rocket to Russia and suggesting he study the lyric sheet & cartoons to enhance the experience. After college (in 1980)I hit the Main Street (Boulevard St-Laurent, for those of you unfortunate enough not to have visited Montreal) to become a full-time artsy-fartsy layabout, and he joined the forces. I remember him coming back on leave & visiting a couple of times, then I lost track of him until a friend of my other half turned out to know him in Toronto, where he had some kind of music biz job for a while. I spoke to him on the 'phone a couple of years back briefly, but that's it for the last two decades until said mutual friend told me he'd been fished out of the fetid waters of Lake Ontario. The Hunter S. angle hadn't occurred to me 'til I saw a poster or two mention it, but it makes sense. Here's a tumbler of Jameson's to you, Jim; I'm sorry it didn't work out. You join the illustrious other half dozen or so friends and peers that I lost this year to various causes (two of whom were also suicides, but of the smack-desperation kind) in my thoughts, memories and song dedications.

Best to all, Patrick
(who's band's webshite is at www.swiftyears.com - play Niel Gow's Lament for his Second Wife for ideal wake accompaniment, though maybe a little too trad for Jim.)

It sucks when people die. But life goes on.

However, death as sad as it may seem, is a strange, yet fastinating thing. People are so scared to die. Why, is it because you are uncertain about the afterlife? Maybe it's because you feel like you're too "unclean" for "heaven".
Death is not a bad thing, it is good, for we are finally able to escape the perils of life and go to a better place. Death makes me happy. Maybe one day when you look into the sky for some sort of an answer to the confusion of mortality, you will see a celestial mural of your loved ones in the clouds.
This is the answer to life's problems. The afterlife.

I knew Jim ... guh - twennypfive years ago at Concordia U. if what all of you are saying is true, then that sad comment 'if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all' would have rankled the JC to hell. That is a philosophy first uttered by Thumper from the Walt Disney movie 'Bambi', so kudos on the deep thought for the day.

Here's something to peel yer caps back - he was a navy welder - which means he did underwater diving with a frikken blowtorch or something - one of the most dangerous jobs there is. He once told me that you could basically see no more than about six inches in front of your face when he was doing dry-suit work in the St. Lawrence fixing some boat or another - or maybe it was Halifax, come to think of it. So apart from all else the guy was as tough as nails.

I'm sad Jim took his life, but celebrate his existance in my memory and that of others, and stand by his wishes to get off the carosel before the end of the ride. The spinning makes some of the riders sick, and it's best not to barf on the person next to you.

THE MOST DEPRESSING, CYNICAL THING I'VE READ IN YEARS:

*"This is the answer to life's problems: The afterlife."




*attributed to "The Demigodd"

"This is the answer to life's problems: The afterlife."

I wouldn't be least bit surprised to see the Democraps use adopt that slogan in 2008!

"This is the answer to life's problems: The afterlife."

I wouldn't be least bit surprised to see the Democraps use adopt that slogan in 2008!

Hey, Duke, thanks for the great post. I didn't know anything about this until today because I guess I had my head up my ass, but you did an excellent job.

Jim's contributions to this site and presence will be greatly missed.

It is weird how you can feel something for someone you only ever talked to in the comments of a post.

Jim took his own life because he was severely depressed. In his time of need, none of his so called friends came to his aid. So it goes with one's cyber-buddies.

Have you ever given any thought to the notion that Jim had come to realization that most of his friends were bloggers and that after blogging for so many years and after so many blogs it just didn't amount to shit. Perhaps thats the real reason Jim decided to check out.

Don't be so presumptious to assume you know why ANYONE takes their own life.

Camus said something to the effect that it could be health, money, lonliness, fatigue... or just the wrong glance from an eye at the wrong moment.

PS: I do think Blogging can be dangerous to one's psyche, tho. The idea of typing away, hoping for some smidgen of communication, significance, and understanding -- and then being ignored on a gigantic, global scale is sorta depressing.

Party on, dudes!

Queen - I think it's inappropriate, to say the least, to use someone's suicide as an opportunity to make some kind of statement about blogging.

Particularly on this thread.

Wow, Queen - let's all off ourselves right now - let's form a club and set a date.

But seriously, if you're just blogging for attention then you've got a real problem. From what I've seen most bloggers aren't trying to communicate with others as much as they are trying to communicate with themselves.

Dave

Perhaps Jim surmized that after one jillion posts that none of it amount to shit. I mean it is kinda depressing once you start thinking about it. It's mostly a waste of one's time and Jim finally made the connection.

Queen of England, do me one small favor and shut the fuck up

Illegitimi non carborundum, folks

Dear Queen,

Someone has died. I think more respect is needed. You wouldn't like it if I bad-mouthed you after you've passed on.

Actually, digging up graves is more of a preference for me.

Death to Conformity.
Death to Society.

Like school in summertime...

I would laugh...

But I don't understand.

... No class.

you can thank Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids

Like school in summertime...

no class.

Or as an alternate, they could call you plastic cup.

Thank you for ruining my composure. I will now proceed to self-termination.

This post is discussing a long-time member of BlogCritics.org and someone who recently passed away. It is akin to a wake, so can everybody not talking about Jim with some modicum of decency and respect get out?

Thank you.

Robert Heinlein had one of the most sensible comments about suicide I've ever seen. I paraphrase here, but it was something like, "You cannot know the extent of another person's pain, nor how much power he has to deal with it."

The why of Jim's suicide isn't important, even if it was despair rising from his blogging. His pain, its extent, and his inability to cope with it were personal to Jim.

Wow. I just found this item and am quite saddened. I had the privilege of sparring with Jim on a handful of occasions, and while we did not agree on much, I enjoyed his writing very much. Jim made me sharper in general, and was the inspiration for the funniest post I ever submitted here (an US v. Canada insult-fest), because I had to at least try to top him. A real bummer and a loss.

EB - if people were only allowed to post on here when they had nice things to say, I'd bet BC would be a much quieter place. And you know what? We would never have met JC on here!

Just a thought!

The point isn't whether or not only positive things are said about Jim - there is nothing wrong at all with painting as complete a picture as possible, which would include negatives. The point is that this IS about a specific person, and is not the place for paranoid fantasies about homicidal blogs

People are allowed to do just about whatever they want Andy. I'm just saying on this particular post, it would be nice to keep the discussion to Jim, what people thought about him (good, bad, and ugly), and show some small level of respect for a human being who interacted with many of us, if only electronically, over a period of time.

I've already added my 2 cents on Jim.

I do find it amusing that I personally will miss his rants. I guess I'll always have to wonder if he really hated us 'murricans that much or if he was just playing devils advocate. I'd like to think it was the latter.

In Jim's honor, how about we create a monthly award on BC.org for the most blatantly anti-American post?

The only requirements would be that it is well-written, humorous on some level, and utilizes extreme hyperbole in deriding the United States.

I don't mean this as an insult to Jim in any way. In fact, I rather think he'd be proud of a monthly "Honorary Jim Carruthers Award" being given every 30 days on BC.org.

In that way, he could live on, in a sense...

I met Jim a few times. He was at my house for dinners & a couple of parties. And, I can't say that I knew him. I know he was a really bright guy, who came across a bit stand-off-ish.

What makes me really sad/mad is that none of us who "knew" him in the meat world bothered to get around the stay-away vibe and get to know something, anything about his life. Hell, no one even knows what exactly happened, are there any relatives? Did he have anyone at all to take care of stuff? I don't know. In my case, he was a friend of a friend - who ceased being a friend - so Jim went that-away.

& as a by the way: some of our (Canadian) anti-murican sentiments arise out of sheer exasperation with the state of things. No one disputes the Americans' right to protect themselves (or just get revenge), but holy fuck kids!, this hunt for "evil-doers" (which is not actually getting any, unless collateral civilians are inherently evil & there are no innocent by-standers) is just nuts.

Isn't there some ancient (probably Chinese) saying that goes like this: "You are what you hate." Ethical warfare is an oxymoron.

I'll miss Jim's posts, they always made me look stuff up, & that was a gift.

I have been a personal friend of Jim's since our days working at PolyGram together, which makes 15 years. I am not a blogger and though I know that Jim had a strong presence in the online communities, my interaction with him was entirely not on that level, but on a warm personal one.

I will miss Jim and am as shocked as I am sad at his passing. Perhaps he came across as snarky and bitter sometimes, but I knew him as a kind, gentle soul, someone who would be there for you in a second and was always up for a good laugh. I wish he had reached out, or perhaps I wish I had known better how to reach in.

Jim was a truly remarkable and unique individual, exceptionally talented and simply brilliant.

I will miss my friend dearly.

thanks imelda and Bonnie, much appreciated

I knew Jim since Universiy. He was a few years older than myself. He was like the brother I never had. When my Mum and I would travel, he would house-sit. When I lived overseas, he visited us. When my marriage broke up, he accompanied me back to that country to assist me in collecting my items. When I moved to this city 10 years ago, I slept on his sofa-bed for a few months, while looking for work and a place to live.
I am still surrounded by many memories of Jim - photos, CD's, books. I can recall many CARE packages that he sent me to keep me abreast of arts and music in North America.
Yes, almost 3 months have passed now since I received a phone call from the Police, informing me of his death. I was one of four people that were listed in the journal that he kept for the last month of his life. The other two individuals were his sister and mother and the other individual was Mose. I met his sister at Jim's loft a couple of days after his body was found. I won't even begin to speak of his sister. I trust her concern at being saddled with Jim's estate and specifically his debts wasn't too onerous for her (insert sarcasm here).
I found this Blog and was heartened to see that he had a community - albeit a cyber one - that cared and appreciated his intelligence and wit. Too bad that in reality, after informing some people of Jim's demise, not one goddamn single person attempted to organise a get-together in Jim's honour. I tried. I am shocked and sad that his so-called friends were too bloody busy with their own bourgeois lives to even bother scheduling a few hours to meet and raise a few glasses to Jim. I find this reprehensible and shabby.
I am sorry Jim. I loved you like family, my extended family misses you and enjoyed your company at Christmas. I think of you daily and my life is emptier without your presence. You were an inspiration and, apart from my family, the kindest and gentlest soul I have ever met. You gave to others,yourself forgetting.
Sincere thanks to those I contacted that posted to this tribute thread.
Rest in Peace, Jim.

Carolyne, thanks for the nice post about Jim. If you still check this blog on occasion, please rest assured that several of us who worked with him in Toronto got together and toasted him within a couple of days after we heard from Mose about what happened, and we toasted him again on a patio in Yorkville a couple of weeks ago. Jim is missed, and will continue to be missed.

Mose mentioned that he'd been in touch with you in the weeks afterward. I don't think he'd mind me saying that you can get back in touch with him anytime you want to toast Jim with a group of people who knew him and miss him, even if we didn't know him as long or as well as you and Mose did.

All the best.

Missing you a lot today, Jim.

I was thinking about Jim today too, Nat - he's kind of lodged in there in my brain

Funny ... I guess the 28th was a Jim-thinking day ... and now it's the 29th and I am still thinking about him ... Jim, I wish you would have known how much we'd miss you.

xoxo

Jim sounds like a fascinating, complex, witty, dark-humored guy. I think I might have liked him.

it's terribly terribly sad - that picture at the top of the page absolutely haunts me sometimes

Scott, i think you would've too.

Eric, you summed up a hell of a lot of my own feelins there - "that picture at the top of the page absoloutely haunts me sometimes". most times if there's a comment here i flick that page to the bottom the second the page refreshes, long before the photo has had time to load.

what's incredibly incredibly confusing an amazing an strange is that this incident still hangs about me, an i hardly KNEW the fella. i knew nothin about him that's of any real worth, most of what i knew about his actual life was picked up in these comments. al i knew was his opinions on stuff an what tv shows he liked an how funny he was, maybe that's enough. it must be, since regardless of the meagreness of the connection, i still think about this a hella lot. an what is terrifyin is that it's almost a year since his final post.

What's the story on the photo? Is that the one referenced in the comments that was taken much earlier?

Deaths of posters and births of their children often cause virtual communities to grow and mature and shift in surprising ways. I've seen it happen in places I've been at and it looks like it happened here as well.

Jim would probably sneer at that concept but it's true.

And Duke, there's no right amount of time to grieve or a right way to do it. It's especially elusive in a format like this particularly because some of the usual signals - facial expressions, gravestones, funerals - aren't physically seen.

I did like the idea mentioned of a Jim Carruthers award to someone with a dark wit like him.

I still miss Jim. I still think about him. I still come back from time to time to check on this blog. And I notice I'm not the only one still thinking of him. I wish I could give you a hug right now Jim and pretend you never left us.

You're right, Scott ... "there's no right amount of time to grieve or a right way to do it. It's especially elusive ..." I have the feeling that I will never find closure about my friend ... I never got to tell him how special, unique and talented I thought he was ...

Maybe not but you're witnessing him well this way

dammit. i still remember very clearly when i found out about jim on resonation...and then fired an email off to eric o.

i had that super-jolt of metallic tasting adrenaline going on and felt kind of sick.

crap.

I still get queasy thinking that he is gone. Of course, the more we keep talking about him and remembering him, the longer he lives, in some cosmic sense.

Nobody ever completely dies or is forgotten on the Internet.

Jim's b-day was at the end of March. I still think of him and am heartened that some of you still do also.

I have re-opened Resonation. Well, sort of?

http://www.whatswiththat.ca

You can read all about it there - and I found a picture of Jim I had from 2000.

In Jim's memory we continue.

I knew Jim online and offline in the 90's. First encountered him on a new music mailing list / community that we were both members of. We'd meet up in person sometimes, usually with the whole group, for beers, new music discussions, and cynical debates. At one point we even collaborated a bit on a few of his BrainGarage projects. Our little online community has drifted a bit over the last few years, and our meetings have became further and further apart. We now meet up maybe only once every couple of years, and it's been a couple since I last saw Jim.

Recently there's been a flurry of activity on our little list. We've been chatting about getting together again and everyone wondered whatever became of Jim. Unfortunately that question was answered when we found this blog.

:(

We are still going to get together for drinks, and yes, we'll raise a few rounds for Jim. As Jim said once in a greasy little place on College West, as he raised his glass, "Beer, it's not just for breakfast anymore."

I still miss you Jim and I still think of you ... we would have known each other for 17 years around this time ...

And I am still thinking of you, Jim ... Rest in peace ... xo