From: fedora@fea.st
On Wed, 18 Feb 2026 12:25:30 -0800, Dude wrote:
>On 2/18/2026 10:45 AM, Noah Sombrero wrote:
>> 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
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* Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)
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