he is not MuchaMan. I’m sure I met him in person in one of my first scooter trips, years ago. He looked like a nice guy but he had something like er… how to say… a very good opinion of himself or something. Too aassertive perhaps. He was cycling somewhere around number 7, and he made me know who much loved to live here in Taiwan, which was pretty much to work some days of the week, and to cycle the rest. It actually sounds good.
As for the blog itself, I guess I can say the same than what I said about the person. Normally I like points of view that are slightly moderated, open to other postures and points of view, not just “I’m right 100%, others are wrong”.
End of an era indeed. My one anonymous interaction with him wasn’t great (in fact bad since he chose to wilfully ignore facts and learning something new ) but his content and posts were usually informative .
Now that being said, I really do think his blog evolved in later years. While it still had the predictable pro-green knee-jerk reactions from time to time, it became more independent, more insightful, and slightly less know-it-all. It will be missed by many. I read it regularly.
Blog writing can be exhausting, but am curious as to why he has decided to stop the Brady typing and shut it down.
I’ve never read his blog - which he seems to have had for 13 years now - but I don’t understand why he chose to cap it all, either. That’s a huge investment in time and life that is now kaput.
If it’s a matter of work-life balance, there are good ways of achieving same without shutting off the lights. Especially on a blog that is/was by all accounts well done and very valuable.
Sometimes when people close down a blog, it means they could be entering the public/government sphere, or got a full time gig writing.
Like when politicians say they are tired and want to spend more time with the family: , I often have suspicions something else is at play when such statements are made.
I had known the dude (face-to-face) personally for half a year. An arrogant, entitled bloke (with a high paying private gig at a private university, with no need need for a higher degree), an opinionated ranter on his blog, obvious apologist for the Green side (despite the fact he can’t even cast a vote) and a blogger who devolved into taking pictures of spiders on his mountain rides and mentioning his students and friends (to the interest of nobody). Bye-bye boring, patronising blog.
Perhaps taking you to literally, I believe that my true feelings are that his blog benefitted far fewer readers than he intended (well-intentioned, overall). Please re-read his final post to clearly observe the arrogance with which he held his blog in such high esteem. Most bloggers think the general public cares about their opinions to a degree much less than actual feedback would suggest.
I don’t despise Turton, despite his ongoing arrogance, but will be glad to be rid of his ill- informed and biased political commentary. I hope he enjoys his final years with his family.
I met him my first year in the island, and he was, as you said, arrogant. He’s got something appealing, and seemed to be knowledgeable and talkative, but he liked so much the sound of his own voice…
Now, AFAIK he does have a PhD or perhaps a masters on some heavy machinery or something like that. He told me he used to go to Hsinchuang because of that (there are lots of metal workshops in Hsinchuang, somehow related to his research).
Ah, the “arrogant” charge. That got my attention enough to post.
That word is used in two ways: an arrogant action and an arrogant personality. Nobody’s saying this guy did anything out of bounds, so I’ll guess it’s the latter.
What is an arrogant personality? Merely self confidence in someone with whose opinions you disagree.
If you think someone is arrogant in this sense, he almost certainly thinks the same of you… that is, unless you lack self confidence.
A person who talks and acts like if he or she knew everything, without ever considering he or she may be wrong, who likes to show off and brag all the time, and who thinks that they’re entitled to give lessons non stop to others. You can see it as self confidence, and that’s an ingredient to it, others see it as an idiot who’s sometimes wrong but too stubborn and stupid to realize it.
agree on his bike posts. used his blog for many references on cycling trips.
his bud Andrew K has a great bike trip blog, too, but rarely posts anymore.
anybody know AK’s reason for fewer and fewer postings? also tired?
I will say this – I found his last post to be rather pompous. Senators, presidents, prime ministers, senior bureaucrats etc. have written less self-aggrandizing farewells.
And the list? Knee-jerk left with one or two notable exceptions.
, I often have suspicions something else is at play when such statements are made.
