Friday, December 16, 2011

RIP, Christopher Hitchens



Hitchens wrote with a pair of giant balls*, constantly swimming against the tide of conventional thinking. If you read enough of his work, you were certainly offended at some point, though you were undoubtedly enlightened at other times.

Professional writers will do a much better job over the next few days elucidating his impact, so I will endeavor instead to direct you all to some of his work so you can decide for yourself. So may I suggest you all go to this site, should you want to read some of his best work for Slate.

Cancer sucks. Hitchens' recent comments that he wanted to be awake when dying to make sure he fully participated in the full spectrum of the human life cycle show his determined spirit amid a grim prognosis.

*not meant literally, because that would be gross and less efficient. I'm pretty sure he wrote with fingers, using pens, pencils and modern technology.

24 comments:

Danimal said...

get to the gym this a.m. to find it unopened. peeved, i wait it out. the man responsible for opening it, brent, is usually there like air. brent too lost his life yesterday. crossing the street with his wife. hit by a truck. brent - you r.i.p. also my man. you will be missed.

Danimal said...

hitch looks very much like Lenny in that picture

rob said...

i admired hitchens' massive intellect and the fearlessness with which he wielded it. even, as tr says, when i found it completely infuriating. mostly because i couldn't figure out how to argue with his logic.

danimal - condolences. that's a shitty thing.

Danimal said...

appreciated but unnecessary...did not know him well but still weird. while waiting for the gym to open, people were talking about an accident that killed two people last night crossing the street last night at a nearby intersection. half jokingly we said we hoped it wasn't brent.
he too was a brit so am awaiting another death here soon. who will it be?

zman said...

Keith Richards has to be past his sell-by date, no?

rob said...

keith richards is brined. he'll last well longer than the lot of us.

Squeaky said...

What an uplifting post.

Maybe this is how Hitchens would have done the weather: http://goo.gl/aO8YV

J. Tweedy on Chicago TV: 28 seconds in.

rob said...

you want uplifting, go watch tebow. we deal in reality here. and boobies.

Squeaky said...

Tebow isn't very uplifting to me either.

Signed, the Grinch

Dave said...

good stuff by hichens on that "slate" page-- thanks. he just published a giant book of essays, and i picked it up and read a few at the library and then put it down-- too daunting. now that he's dead maybe i'll read it. it's sad the way that works.

Danimal said...

maybe when all of you guys die people will read GTB.

Clarence said...

The Wheelhouse became staggeringly popular after we eulogized it.

zman said...

When I die I will have total enlightenment because I read one of Dave's sentences earlier in the week and I have a kid.

Danimal said...

dear spotifiers,

why do some albums i play, play through the queue automatically while others do not?

signed,

green spotifier

rob said...

was offered a glass of wine with lunch at an industry function this afternoon. thought to myself, 'what would christopher hitchens' do'? i think you know the answer.

Danimal said...

you ordered a whiskey?

rob said...

and a cigarette

zman said...

And smoked it in the shower?

Dave said...

i've often wondered the same thing, danimal. no clue. i also wonder why sometimes my "friends" and their playlists appear and other times they do not.

Squeaky said...

Danimal, depends on how you add them to the cue or playlist. I tend to right click on them and select play.

Dave, if you block the facebook add-in then sometimes your friends will not show up or if they are offline.

Clarence said...

Where has our doofus overlord gone lately?

Danimal said...

do you mean baby teejus?

Mark said...

Company Christmas party, I believe.

Clarence said...

At the Dubliner in our nation's capital, one of my best old drinking cronies from my federal government days is currently boozing with one of my best friends and biggest drunks in all of Norfolk. THat would be trouble enough. The third party in this triumvirate? Our doofus overlord. An all-star lineup of Intoxicated idiots.

Wish I were there.