Hello! This is Click Opera.: imomus

Hello! This is Click Opera.

1. What's this? This is the last entry in the blog called Click Opera, which means that, in the funny through-the-looking-glass world of blogs, it's the first page future internauts and web adventurers will come to. So think of this not so much as an ending as an entrance. What you've reached is the door to "probably the best-written blog on the Anglophone web", according to Warren Ellis. "It doesn't get any better than Click Opera," said novelist Dennis Cooper.

2. Who's behind Click Opera? The best introduction to who I am is this article in The Guardian Review. I'm a Scot, a musician, a writer, and -- according to this page, gulp! -- the 4697th most significant contemporary visual artist working today. My Wikipedia page is here. You can download six of my early albums free here. Books I've written are here and here. I want to write more books, so if you're a publisher email me! That goes for people wanting to reproduce bits of this blog in print, too.

3. Where can we find out what you're up to, post-blog? From my "personal digital assistant" Maria Wolonski, who announces my engagements in the charming, ringing tones of a talking clock. From the Momus concerts page on LastFM. From my Flickr page and my two YouTube accounts, momasu and bookofjokes. I may even revive my old website (1995-2003), imomus.com.

4. What do you plan to do now? I want to write books and articles. Maybe teach at an art school. Deliver lectures in many lands. Make some more records. Play concerts. Walk around the world. Learn to speak Japanese and live in Japan. Write my own regular newspaper column of cultural commentary (I've written for people like Wired, The New York Times, Frieze, Spike, The Wire, 032c). Hold some more art shows. If you can help me realise these dreams, email me, please!

5. If I want to stage a Momus concert, what do I need to do? Tell your friendly local promoter (or it could be an art gallerist, store owner, festival director) that all I require is travel expenses (from Berlin), accommodation, plus a fee of around €1000 for a regular Momus show (festivals tend to pay more). If that works for the promoters, get them to drop me a line and we'll take it from there. I also do art performances -- live storytelling and unreliable tours.

6. Will you keep the Click Opera archive up indefinitely? Yes, I will. If you feel like helping with the modest LiveJournal and PhotoBucket hosting costs -- or compensating me directly for some illegal mp3s of my songs you've downloaded -- you can make a donation via PayPal here.

7. What's the best way to search the Click Opera archive? Simply type the word imomus plus your search term into a search engine, then follow the links headed "Click Opera".

8. Will you keep reading and responding to comments left under this entry? Yes, I will. Leave your email address if you want a personal response.

9. Why did you stop updating Click Opera? Not because anything went wrong or it got unpleasant. Quite the reverse, in fact. Click Opera was just too damned good: too compelling, too time-consuming, too satisfying. It took over my life. It became my job, the main topic of my conversation, the hub of my self-mediated fame: "Aren't you that guy from the internet?" (Read the piece called Clickswansong if you want to know more about why this blog came to a "happy ending". Or listen to this radio interview with KCSB's Colin Marshall.)

10. Can I step through the door now? Please do! There's a lot to read! You can browse backwards from here, or start at the beginning (Thursday January 15th 2004) and work forwards. The calendar is your friend, or you may prefer to read through the titles displayed in the month view.

Thanks to everyone who's contributed to Click Opera, this big vineyard! You've given me years of pleasure! Happiness, as T.E. Lawrence said, "is a by-product of absorption", and blogging -- the best hobby I ever had -- has been absorbing indeed.

Anonymous

February 10 2010, 14:40:22 UTC 10 years ago

New comment

Happy birthday, Nick. It was a good end to a fine thing.

Godspeed, my young viking

jared_is_leader

February 10 2010, 14:49:55 UTC 10 years ago

'Twas a pleasure, and I hope to keep up with you via other sites.

Re: Godspeed, my young viking

February 10 2010, 14:50:29 UTC 10 years ago

Also: HAPPY BIRTHDAY! Eat some cake or something.

February 10 2010, 15:04:53 UTC 10 years ago

First of all, Happy B-day momus! You're as old as my father and I don't feel the generation gap, so that just makes you even more cool!

I was expecting a grand finale, but this way totally makes sense,
Click opera was a really a nutritious mind-juice, that sometimes turned a 5-10 minute reading into a 1.5-2 hours prospecting event, trawling the web until my head was numb.
What will I'll talk about in dinner parties now?

It was great. Thank you Momus, and best of luck.

KICK OUT THE JAMS MOTHERFUCKER!!!

February 10 2010, 15:05:50 UTC 10 years ago

otsukare sama deshita.
tanoshikatta desu.

Bye Bye

February 10 2010, 15:24:11 UTC 10 years ago

You will be missed...

:(

But Good Luck in your future projects and thank-you for your blog!!

:)

xob.

Roland Junior Electric

Adeus e boa sorte

February 10 2010, 15:27:47 UTC 10 years ago

Ate a proxima Nick. Espero que continues a divertir(te) com outros meios de comunicacao (para quando um novo cd?).

Foi bom enquanto durou.

João

Re: Adeus e boa sorte

February 10 2010, 15:35:49 UTC 10 years ago

Joao Miguel???

Mesmo que não sejas, LOL.

Boa sorte Momus (Good luck Momus)

February 10 2010, 15:31:33 UTC 10 years ago

Otsukare sama!
tanoshi katta desu.

Finnegan's Wake

February 10 2010, 15:39:08 UTC 10 years ago

I became aware of you as an artist through your early essay "Shibuya-kei is Dead", way back in 98. However, it was only after a conversation with a friend at an Enoshima beach party a few years later that I (re)discovered your music and click Opera.

I've been happily lurking ever since...

Anyway, I just wanted to add my voice to the chorus and thank you for all your thought provoking posts, which have been creative, provocative and inspiring.

ありがとうございます and Penblwydd Hapus!

green_pencil

February 10 2010, 16:05:46 UTC 10 years ago

Momus, thank you for introducing me to so many wonderful things.
Where will I go now to get my music film art recommendations?
hmm.

Thanks for the lovely

February 10 2010, 16:23:51 UTC 10 years ago

and inspiring blog Momus! You always chose the best pictures too.

Take care and enjoy your new free time... Robyn

About (7)

February 10 2010, 17:01:40 UTC 10 years ago

7. What's the best way to search the Click Opera archive? Simply type the word imomus plus your search term into a search engine, then follow the links headed "Click Opera".

A much better way to search via Google, which will search only Click Opera, is to enter

site:imomus.livejournal.com

followed by search terms.

Happy birthday! And I'm really sorry to see you go!

February 10 2010, 17:32:58 UTC 10 years ago

Oh, wow. Well, thanks. And Happy Birthday!

der.

imomus

February 10 2010, 17:50:03 UTC 10 years ago

Der!

February 10 2010, 17:33:12 UTC 10 years ago

This blog has made me think about arts and culture more than everything. Thank you very much for each word you wrote some of them that inspired for future thoughts, some that calls to instant reaction.
My introduction to the Momus world was made by your partnership with Kahimi Karie, and the first record I bought was "Circus Maximus", amazingly it was bought in a huge supermarket here in Brasil. It was really a new world for me, how could someone turn the Bible in something that deserves reading? was what I thought back then. It was my initiation to Mike Alway's world too, the great El Records, and what a pleasure to find an old David Hamilton's Book liying in a dusty used books store. Then was Jacques Brel, Gainsbourg (indirectly), Juana Molina, O.Lamm, Pirandello just to name a few...
Sure Imomus is not my only resource on music and Arts, but it opened many doors to me, I'll really miss it.
Anyway good luck with your new projects. See you.

February 10 2010, 17:35:27 UTC 10 years ago

Thanks Nick - been great reading your thoughts. Funny that you switched over - well, sort of - to Twitter on the same day that Google's Buzz was released ... ha, ha. Well, yes, not that funny.

The End

February 10 2010, 17:38:12 UTC 10 years ago

ありがとう, momus.

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