Greetings from a very grey and blustery Arizona. Hard to believe people come here for a holiday in December, tis a bit gloomy to be honest. I’ve pulled some more loose ends together and found with the anniversary of Joe on Dec 22nd followed rapidly by the Christmas thing that bloggers have been feting The Clash to quite an extent. I think its only fair to make sure you see what people have to say (and there is some very nice stuff being said) so with it being a festive time of year I’ll provide you with some more links if that works for you?

On Beat Patrol, this might be a republication of an older piece but a wonderfully written piece by Vivien Goldman reflects on the life of Joe Strummer. Quoting many of those around Joe she does a nice job spinning out a canvas from the early days right through to the final show he played in London.

Good Rockin’ Tonight offer a sincere reminder of why they loved Joe and where The Clash stand now that the dust has settled. Nice writing….

Panic on the 4th of July wrote a piece about Joe that focused on how unfair it seemed as he was back to work and had a lot to say. Echoing my sentiments I must say I agree fully. Lots of video and photos to enjoy also.

Johnny Yen wrote one of the best Stummer memorials I’ve seen in a good while, very personal, very intense and terribly moving. Get over and read it!

Marc who runs The Western Front blog wrote an equally personal piece about Joe. I always think it wonderful that people who missed out on The Clash (maybe due to age/location) still felt very connected via the Mescaleros. Yet another reason to be thankful for Joe’s later output and touring.

From Manila, The Last Song Syndrome conjured up another tribute and a link to the Trash Radio Manila playlist which is worth your time also. (link is on their blog).

What happens when you combine something I love with something I detest? You’ll have to visit this Chelsea blog to read about The Clash. Decent article considering it was written by a chav. If you share my allergy to all things CHEL$EA you’ll lose interest halfway through but it starts out well and who am I to censor anyone.

Thanks to all those who keep The Clash front and centre in the minds of web crawlers worldwide. You do lovely work. Back soon….
Tim