Posts Tagged Essay
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April 28, 2022 by Simon Sweetman
Once I Was Such A Good Shot
When I was 13 I was in the school’s First XI hockey team, at that point the youngest and even the first ever junior to be in with the seniors. We were playing the best school in the league and in the final moments of the game the ball was dragged back in front of […]Archive
March 14, 2022 by Simon Sweetman
Short Essay About Ronnie O’Sullivan’s World-Record Fast-Break
Ronnie O’Sullivan might be the best player to ever chalk up a cue and pocket the balls in the right order. And that was certainly the case on a night in 1997 when he scored the maximum number of points (147) in the shortest amount of time. In just over five minutes he put every […]Archive
March 11, 2022 by Simon Sweetman
Not Much Of A Bookstore Job
One year, when I gave up on university before it gave up on me, I made a last ditch effort to climb the hill and instead of going to class I studied the wall at Student Job Search, saw a piece of paper with a listing for a bookstore job. I’d always wanted one of […]Archive
March 10, 2022 by Simon Sweetman
Could Parasitic Fandom Ever Mean Anything: When Eminem Wrote Stan
When Eminem sang a song called Stan, he imagined a world where a crazy fan was outraged by the star not recognising how much he cared, too busy to reply uninterested in acknowledging that it was the fans that helped make stars who they were, how they are and what they became. It’s a lurid […]Archive
January 2, 2022 by Simon Sweetman
R.I.P. Joan Didion
Just ahead of Christmas it was very sad to hear of the passing of Joan Didion. She lived a long and extraordinary life and wrote so beautifully, so dutifully also. She was a chronicler of times, putting art into journalism, putting her life down on the page alongside all she captured. She’s been one of […]Archive
December 13, 2021 by Simon Sweetman
Books That Blew My Mind # 9: “Holidays on Ice” by David Sedaris
Holidays On Ice by David Sedaris I’m not really one for Christmas books. But there’s one favourite, one must, every year I read (and now re-read) David Sedaris’ story, The Santaland Diaries. It’s special to me for a couple of reasons – first of all it was my introduction to the world of Sedaris. I […]Archive
November 26, 2021 by Simon Sweetman
Unfinished Intro To A Life-Long Essay Celebrating Drums
My favourite underrated drummer ever – having to name just one – would be Stevie Wonder. I say this because a lot of people probably still don’t know that Stevie Wonder played the drums on a lot of his great recordings. And would always get up and jam live. I went to a drum-clinic something like […]Archive
October 31, 2021 by Simon Sweetman
In Praise of Lana Del Rey
There’s a new Lana Del Rey album out. This is not a review. A preview at best. But the reason I’m mentioning this now – and in this way – is because this is the first Lana Del Rey record that has been released since I’ve been a fan. I’m often asked about times I […]Archive
June 23, 2021 by Simon Sweetman
My New EBook: Wrestling Is Fake. That’s What Makes It So Real – Selected Grapplings (2005-2015)
I’ve just published my new e-book, my third. This is the first one that’s not about music at all. This is a selection of my various writings about pro-wrestling. I’ve fallen in and out with the “sport” over the last three decades, but I can’t quite shake my fandom, certainly don’t want to ignore my early […]Archive
February 24, 2021 by Simon Sweetman
Sweetman Podcast # 247: Talia Marshall
Welcome to Sweetman Podcast. It’s 2021. But I started this year with conversations recorded at the very end of 2020. Now we’re into fresh conversations recorded in 2021. And this is episode 247 of Sweetman Podcast with support from our sponsors – T Leaf T and Yeastie Boys Now – as you probably know, as […]Archive
December 16, 2020 by Simon Sweetman