Bad news

Devastated.

Quote: the doc, Aug 2014

Awful news. I've had a close family member and one of my dearest mates do the same thing in the past ten years and it's an absolute horror show for everyone involved. Sincerest sympathies to those of you that knew him well - I only met him once or twice but he seemed like a proper stand-up guy.

We're not entirely sure that it was suicide at the moment - we're awaiting a coroner's report.

Quote: Maeby, Aug 2014

I love you Alice

Quote: Tobias Fünke , Aug 2014

Stu, I don't think we can be sure what happened to him at this point, it's far from conclusive.

Duly noted. Have deleted my original post. I'll reiterate the second part of the post though: awful news, and sincere condolences to those who knew him well. Like I said, I only met him once or twice but he seemed like a proper stand-up guy.

Cheers, Stu

After one night of drinking when I stayed over at Jamesdy's flat in Manchester I had fallen asleep on his couch while he was typing away at the computer. A few hours later I woke up and he was still typing away, now manically, while sipping a coffee. I asked him what was up and he said he was working on something for VR, but it was almost like he was in a trance and I was baffled as to what he could possibly be doing that didn't require the slightest ounce of sobriety. After the update went live I realised it was probably these:



Obviously he added more at a later date and even dumped them into a thread where we could submit our own, but a good chunk of them (a majority?) are still the direct manic thoughts that fell from his head on nights like that. I'm sat at work today just clicking through them... "How many bricks did it take to build Machester?" "Is everybody panicing properly yet?" "First, measure your dog". "Manly nose and chin". "Radioactive bukkake jam".

Although that night/morning he was a bit of a crazy man, I was nothing other than impressed. In my mind that night he was a guy who was able to get sh*t done, even (what I assumed at the time to be) complex coding of a website while he was intoxicated. He was someone I aspired to be more like and I'm not just saying that. His ability to get sh*t done, his charm and approachability with the ladies, his tactics and success rate at 'pulling', his commitment to perfect form in exercises, his high score on my Powerball that I was never able to beat, his chess skills. I was going to include his ability to quote Metal Gear Solid but I think we were on a par there. These are all things I loved about the guy though and it's upsetting now that my stupid reservedness meant that my last messages to him were all "hey dude" and "check out this cool thing" and "yeah man you should come visit" rather than a genuine heartfelt outpouring which might have meant a bit more to him. He will live on in all of us, not only in our memories but also in the ways we have changed as a direct result of knowing him.

Quote: Jewbacca, Aug 2014

Obviously he added more at a later date and even dumped them into a thread where we could submit our own, but a good chunk of them (a majority?) are still the direct manic thoughts that fell from his head on nights like that. I'm sat at work today just clicking through them... "How many bricks did it take to build Machester?" "Is everybody panicing properly yet?" "First, measure your dog". "Manly nose and chin". "Radioactive bukkake jam".

Would have nested this better, but I'm a phone.

A lot of these were what he'd call Dumb Dave quotes, he knew a guy at college that would come out with random crap, years later they ended up on the VR quotes thing. Just another sign of the guys amazing mind, that he could recall hundreds of these things years later, while drunk and in a coding frenzy.

When I lived with the guy I barely ever saw him, mostly because we'd get in from work at GBM then he'd head off to his room, the next day something would be different on VR. the one time I did actually see him spend time outside his bedroom was when we'd gone halfs on a PS3, mostly so he could play Metal Gear when it came out. At which point I couldn't get near the TV for about a month, maybe two so I'd head down to my room instead and futz about online, or doing work. He was a demon at that game. Used to slip back home over lunch to get another 30 minutes in.

Quote: Jewbacca, Aug 2014

These are all things I loved about the guy though and it's upsetting now that my stupid reservedness meant that my last messages to him were all "hey dude" and "check out this cool thing" and "yeah man you should come visit" rather than a genuine heartfelt outpouring which might have meant a bit more to him. He will live on in all of us, not only in our memories but also in the ways we have changed as a direct result of knowing him.

I'd not spoken to him in 5 years so I can't be 100% sure but I'd like to believe he knew you cared. You've moved to a different country and I think the messages would show that despite that, he was still in your thoughts, at least that's how I see it. I feel like you'd be there for me if I needed you and you know how daft our Facebook Messenger history is! Sometimes the action really is louder than the words.

More tests are being done, but I'll update you all when I can.

I've set the time in my phone and will have a moment of silence

If anybody is interested, the songs at the service yesterday were as follows:
Entrance: Ben Folds Five - Philosophy
Reflection: Eels - Wooden Nickels
Final: Bedouin Soundclash - When The Night Feels My Song

Quote: Maeby, Sept 2014

A big thank-you to everyone who came to the funeral.

It was bittersweet: incredibly sad and difficult saying goodbye to James, but lovely to see so many members of VR and therefore see just a fraction of the lives that he touched and changed for the better. We tried to impress this on to the minister, however he seemed to have a bit of trouble understanding the ol' interwebz, so that bit was a fail. But his family seem to be grasping how important VR was / is to so, so many people, so that's good.

We also RickRolled the pub, Hansoned Darren, played Life (seriously, the pub's jukebox had about 5 Des'ree songs and only 1 Mighty Mighty Bosstones track!) and sang loudly to StarTrekking - this was after the pub was reopened to the public. I think he'd have appreciated the absurdity of that situation. And hated us for playing Des'ree, but that's that


To sum up: thank-you all for showing that you cared

After Davus was cremated we had such a f*cking p*ss-up it turned into a party, people pogoing and singing to the Wildhearts.....We had Alice In Chains and Biffy playing in the crematorium as well. Surreal to the point of f*cking absurdity, like you said. I'm pleased there was a good turnout for this anyway, and sorry I couldn't have come. Waiting for the funeral is the hardest part. Once that's over and done with, you can start trying to deal with it.

Quote: Maeby, Sept 2014

We had Strawberry!

No longer part of the invisible VRers club (sorry that it took me a while to figure out what you'd said and who you were, Strawberry... I was a bit out of it!).


And thanks, Stu

Don't worry about it; it's understandable that you felt out of it.

Quote: Maeby, Aug 2015

One year.

Crazy to think it's been a year...

Hope all of ye who knew him are doing okay. Best wishes to you all.

7 years now.

Very soon he will have been dead for longer than I knew him alive.

I do wonder what he'd have made of the world today, and also about what he'd have thought about how people's lives have turned out.