One of Houston's principal sources for news, reviews and gossip about the local music scene has gone dark. Visitors to the Skyline Network this morning - we'd normally link to it, but there's not much point now - were greeted with the above image and a message from Webmaster adr (aka Ryan Clark) that "After quite a bit of contemplation, I've decided to spend my time on other pursuits."

At first Rocks Off and a few friends were convinced this was a hoax. (Clark can be a bit of a card.) It's not, though. We pressed Clark for a few more details and he sent us the following email:

The Skyline was always a writing exercise, and, like the previous forms it took (awful war satirical reporting, dumb jokes Buck Rodgers-style future journal, etc), it gave me a topic and a place to get better at composition. The difference with this outing is that people actually read it and responded to what I was doing, which was immensely gratifying.

But, more than it ever had been, it was a massive time commitment, and one that I couldn't figure out how to pare down, so I decided to just stop so I could use my evenings and weekend on other projects, including longer format writing (aka trashy post-apocalyptic sci-fi), reading (trashy post-apocalyptic sci-fi), gardening (for sustenance after any potential apocalypse) and restoring this old motorbike I bought years ago (presumably a helpful form of transport, post apocalypse).

That and while there is still electricity, I'd like to work on making music rather than writing about it.

Rocks Off wishes Clark all the best in his pre- and post-apocalyptic endeavors. Buy him a beer or two the next time you see him at Big Star Bar... he's more than earned it.