From: fedora@fea.st
On Wed, 18 Feb 2026 10:22:52 -0800, Dude wrote:
>On 2/18/2026 10:00 AM, Noah Sombrero wrote:
>> On Wed, 18 Feb 2026 17:35:05 -0000 (UTC), Tara
>> wrote:
>>
>>> On Feb 18, 2026 at 12:00:59?PM EST, "Noah Sombrero" wrote:
>>>
>>>> On Wed, 18 Feb 2026 16:54:09 -0000 (UTC), Tara
>>>> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> On Feb 18, 2026 at 11:31:04?AM EST, "Noah Sombrero"
wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>> On Wed, 18 Feb 2026 11:15:57 -0500, Wilson
>>>>>> wrote:
>>>>>>
>>>>>>> On 2/18/2026 11:07 AM, Tara wrote:
>>>>>>>> On Feb 18, 2026 at 11:00:04?AM EST, "Wilson"
wrote:
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> On 2/18/2026 10:36 AM, Julian wrote:
>>>>>>>>>> On 18/02/2026 15:28, Wilson wrote:
>>>>>>>>>>> On 2/17/2026 6:20 PM, Tara wrote:
>>>>>>>>>>>> Tara wrote:
>>>>>>>>>>>>> On Feb 17, 2026 at 4:24:25?PM EST, "Julian"
>>>>>>>>>>>>> wrote:
>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> I?ve got a new thriller out this week, under my pen name of S.K.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Tremayne. I am pleased with the book, and I believe it?s
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> entertaining. I
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> am also aware that, in a tough and competitive market, that may
not be
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> enough for it to succeed. I am even more aware that readers
might
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> decide
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> the book is dreck. They might give me one star reviews, and no
sales.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Then the book will crater, my publishers will probably abandon
me, and
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> my nice career will drift to an end.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> And that, of course, is how it should be. No one in any career
is
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> entitled to a free ride. That especially applies to people who
get
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> to do
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> a desirable, creative job such as novel writing. Whether you?re
a
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> writer, actor, director, sculptor or musician ? if you want that
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> enviably fun creative profession, you live and die by public
approval;
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> and if you are bad, goodbye.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Unless, of course, you are an architect. I was reminded of this
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> peculiar
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> anomaly by last week?s furore over the latest architectural
wart to
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> attach itself to London?s battered face: the already notorious
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> ?Belgrove
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> House?, that now dominates a prime corner of Euston Road, where
it
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> sits
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> right next to King?s Cross and St Pancras.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> I presume it has been situated in London after the original
design was
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> rejected by a horrified Uzbek government, as being too ugly for
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Tashkent.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> If you have not seen it yet, the best way to get a sense is to
look at
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> photos like the one here.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> https://x.com/ianvisits/status/2020440287785443433
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Briefly. The second best way is for me to describe it, but that
is
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> actually quite hard. Because it?s difficult to verbally capture
this
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> weird, stupid and meaningless collision of styles, materials,
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> dimensions. The closest visual analogy, to my mind, is one of
those
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> plates piled high at a hotel buffet by an idiot: with a splodge
of
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> curry, some sauerkraut, five potatoes, some lemon pie, a lamb
cutlet,
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> smoked herring, and several cheesy crackers, and everything
banal and
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> tasteless even before you smush them together.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> In short, the building is appalling, and it?s not going to get
better
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> over time. It is a dud. A turkey. A calamitous flop. It is the
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Millennium Dome. It is Fyre Festival. It is Triangle, the BBC
soap
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> opera
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> set on a North Sea ferry route. It is Raise the Titanic. It is
Harry
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Hill?s I Can?t Sing. It is Keir Starmer?s prime ministerial
career,
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> rendered in concrete and plastic. It is my first novel, Absent
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Fathers,
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> which got a cheque for zero pounds zero pence, as a computer
could not
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> believe an author could sell so few copies, so sent a cheque
anyway.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Finally, it is the architectural equivalent of Via Galactica
(1972), a
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> space-themed musical with actors on trampolines, which lasted
seven
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> performances.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> But here?s the thing. For all the creative disasters listed
above,
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> someone responsible paid a price. Even the lavishly coddled
Millennium
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Dome project damaged careers. And yet, if you design and erect a
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> hideous
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> building, equivalent to these aesthetic catastrophes, you pay
no price
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> at all. And this despite the fact that, unlike a rubbish novel,
you
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> can?t chuck a bad building in a bin. No, the building squats
there,
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> for
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> decades, blighting the lives of everyone who must look at it.
And
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> given
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> that this particular building is situated in one of the most
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> conspicuous
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> sites in the capital, opposite two of its grandest railway
stations,
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> that is going to be a lot of people.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Worse, there?s a decent chance the architects of this carbuncle
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> will get
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> an award. Because that?s what they do in architecture world.
They have
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> hideous ideas, then they force them on the rest of us, and then
they
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> give each other prizes. Until, about 40 years down the line,
everyone
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> accepts the obvious truth, and the pile of ugliness is finally
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> demolished.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> If you need proof, just look at the lists. Salford?s laughable
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Centenary
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Building, Britain?s very first Stirling Prize winner (in 1996),
was
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> set
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> to be knocked down just 30 years later, to much applause. The
Tricorn
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Centre Portsmouth won the Civic Trust award in 1967 and yet was
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> demolished in 2004. Pimlico Comprehensive School collected a
RIBA
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> prize,
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> then it was flattened in despair. Gateshead?s Trinity Square
car park
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> was recognised as a ?most outstanding modernist building? by
the 20th
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> century society after it was blasted to hell. Add to this, our
own
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--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)
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