Spectrum Computing

FlexibleHead wrote: ↑Mon Oct 15, 2018 7:04 pm

5MinuteRetro wrote: ↑Mon Oct 15, 2018 8:53 am But photos captioned 'Hannah Smith' don't make Hannah Smith a real person. Those could be photos of anyone --

So basically what you're saying is Hannah Smith was probably Priscilla Langridge...

Oh good lord. I'm not sure what the teenage me would've made of that!

5MinuteRetro wrote: ↑Mon Oct 15, 2018 8:53 am Okay, this isn't exactly a Moon-landings-level conspiracy theory but I remain unconvinced that HS was a real person.

While it's possible she wasn't real, I'm not sure why you are so sceptical. I may have misunderstood you, but the only reasons you gave are that there wasn't a fanfare when she left her job, and you are not aware of her online presence. Neither of those things seems to me unusual. Isn't it simpler and more likely that she existed, but went off to be a civil servant, have kids, or whatever, and so disappeared off Speccy fans' radars?

There's only one way to settle this....

viewtopic.php?f=24&t=1049

I'd also like to point out I have met Lloyd Mangram. Well, actually one of the people who played him. Crash editor Eddie McKendrick went on to work in the New Media department of Nickelodeon UK in the mid-1990s, over in... Rathbone Place. (Yes, the building that once housed Your Sinclair.) Very surreal for me to have a job interview in such a Spectrum-centric place, conducted by a key Spectrum figure. Alas, I did not get the job.

Rorthron wrote: ↑Mon Oct 15, 2018 7:57 pm

5MinuteRetro wrote: ↑Mon Oct 15, 2018 8:53 am Okay, this isn't exactly a Moon-landings-level conspiracy theory but I remain unconvinced that HS was a real person.

While it's possible she wasn't real, I'm not sure why you are so sceptical. I may have misunderstood you, but the only reasons you gave are that there wasn't a fanfare when she left her job, and you are not aware of her online presence. Neither of those things seems to me unusual. Isn't it simpler and more likely that she existed, but went off to be a civil servant, have kids, or whatever, and so disappeared off Speccy fans' radars?

Yep, that's entirely possible. I guess my doubt has always existed and has been cemented by Rignall contradicting Kean, or vice versa, and by the fact that she hasn't in any way resurfaced anywhere - which seems especially surprising given the particular retro interest in Crash over the past couple of years. Oh, and because made-up magazine staff are hardly unusual.

5MinuteRetro wrote: ↑Mon Oct 15, 2018 10:16 pm

Rorthron wrote: ↑Mon Oct 15, 2018 7:57 pm While it's possible she wasn't real, I'm not sure why you are so sceptical. I may have misunderstood you, but the only reasons you gave are that there wasn't a fanfare when she left her job, and you are not aware of her online presence. Neither of those things seems to me unusual. Isn't it simpler and more likely that she existed, but went off to be a civil servant, have kids, or whatever, and so disappeared off Speccy fans' radars?

Yep, that's entirely possible. I guess my doubt has always existed and has been cemented by Rignall contradicting Kean, or vice versa, and by the fact that she hasn't in any way resurfaced anywhere - which seems especially surprising given the particular retro interest in Crash over the past couple of years. Oh, and because made-up magazine staff are hardly unusual.

Hey you lot. Just going back over some old emails and I found one more bit of Minson info, if you're interested. As well as Crash, he also moonlighted for Sinclair User under the pseudonym "Jerry Muir", and for C&VG as "Ward R. Street" (haha). So if you've ever looked for those guys...

Now I've got a question – does anyone know where Sinclair User's Chris Bourne (AKA "Gremlin") is these days?

Cheers!

FlexibleHead wrote: ↑Fri Aug 30, 2019 12:34 pmNow I've got a question – does anyone know where Sinclair User's Chris Bourne (AKA "Gremlin") is these days?

Cheers!

I'm here!

Nah, I'm not really him. Just happen to share the same name.

Vampyre wrote: ↑Fri Aug 30, 2019 1:16 pm
I'm here!

Nah, I'm not really him. Just happen to share the same name.

That would've made you a Vampyre Gremlin...

FlexibleHead wrote: ↑Fri Aug 30, 2019 12:34 pm Hey you lot. Just going back over some old emails and I found one more bit of Minson info, if you're interested. As well as Crash, he also moonlighted for Sinclair User under the pseudonym "Jerry Muir", and for C&VG as "Ward R. Street" (haha). So if you've ever looked for those guys...

Teehee! I wasn't aware of either of those pseudonyms. FWIW, I was for a while a tech journalist, working literally around the corner from Wardour Street. This was at the height of the dotcom boom, and I worked for a number of sizeable titles and had a regular radio slot -- so for a short time I had some level of 'profile'. Even so, based on my real name I'm probably no more 'discoverable' now than is Jon Minson, so I guess I'm not terribly surprised that some guy from the 1980s has a minimal digital footprint! (And, as an aside, I also operated under a handful of pseudonyms that were known mainly only to me and the commish editor involved, so perhaps Minson has several more besides.)

Hello,

Signed up just now after discovering this thread.

I knew John in another guise... poker. Also, I knew of him since going to the ZX Micro Fair and getting a free copy of Issue 2 of Crash.

In the late 90s I was working in London for Reuters and spent nights at the Regency Casino, playing poker. One of the characters at the tables was John, who never drank anything stronger than lemonade. Yes, he was very knowledgable in the porn industry, a collector of porn memorabilia and a writer on the subject. I remember John having an interest in the larger lady, especially one of the casino waitresses.

Eventually, I ran a home game in my Barbican apartment. John was a regular. I was made redundant in 2002 and took my redundancy check to Ireland, to run a small-holding. John preferred that I funded a porn film or documentary (I forget which) but the small-holding was my dream. I kept in contact with John for a while but lost his email address when buying another pooter.

Very much a private person, John could well be reading this thread, as he did with threads about him on poker forums, but he'll either not join in or do so anonymously without giving the game away.

ManicMinor wrote: ↑Fri Dec 06, 2019 1:25 am I was made redundant in 2002 and took my redundancy check to Ireland, to run a small-holding. John preferred that I funded a porn film or documentary (I forget which) but the small-holding was my dream.

Heh, you had a circa 5-year window to make and profit from such a movie before Pornhub came along and ruined everything for almost all porn producers, but you missed your chance! Still, it indirectly reminds me that Jon Ronson -- another Minson-like gonzo hack -- did a deep-dive (no pun intended) into the porn industry, revealing his findings in this podcast:

https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/audibl ... e/59972665

ManicMinor wrote: ↑Fri Dec 06, 2019 1:25 am Very much a private person, John could well be reading this thread, as he did with threads about him on poker forums, but he'll either not join in or do so anonymously without giving the game away.

Okay, ManicMinson.

But seriously, I did find your account interesting. I guess we all of us here perhaps spend a bit too much time thinking about the past. Minson is just one of those industry characters that's always intrigued me (cf 'Hannah Smith'), so it's fun to know he might still be kicking around in the shadows.