February 2001 - Sinister

Sinister: b&s night in manchester this week
by Katrina House 15 Feb '01

15 Feb '01

*** public service announcement *** The first ELECTRIC HONEY - A Night of B & S is this Friday 16th February @ The Star & Garter Fairfield St Manchester. Admission is £3 or £2 to anyone with a B & S badge or t-shirt ! Starts at 10pm & finishes at 2am. A B & S track every three songs plus loads of related bands/music. It'll be fun ! *** ends *** that's all for now, katrina. banchory merchandising ltd. po box 25074 glasgow g2 6yl scotland email: shop(a)banchory.net http://www.banchory.net +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+ +---+ Brought to you by the Sinister mailing list +---+ To send to the list mail sinister(a)missprint.org. To unsubscribe send "unsubscribe sinister" or "unsubscribe sinister-digest" to majordomo(a)missprint.org. WWW: http://www.missprint.org/sinister +-+ "sinsietr is a bit freaky" - stuart david, looper +-+ +-+ "legion of bedroom saddo devotees" "peculiarly deranged fanbase" +-+ +-+ "pasty-faced vegan geeks... and we LOST!" - NME April 2000 +-+ +-+ "frighteningly named Sinister List organisation" - NME May 2000 +-+ +-+ Nee, nee mun pish, chan pai dee kwa +-+ +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+

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Sinister: Put your hands around me. I am the blackest,coldest pint you will ever drink
by Genevieve Wesley 15 Feb '01

15 Feb '01

http://www.missprint.org/sinister/sillustrations How talented those sinisterines are! Well, there are two that don't really belong in comparison, but oh well...I ADORE the upturned snout (or is it a muzzle?) of the Saucy Fox in no.6. Which post is the inspiration for no.1? Is it a depiction of a prelude to the One Hand or Two? bra-unhooking debate from recent Sinister posts? The boy looks kind of like Stuart David...well he has that same haircut, the one from that lovely black-and-white photo where Stuart is kneeling in front of a wrapped woman. How cruel is BigStu? The devil- my first list crush and he dumps me on Valentine's Day. Perhaps not as bad as my friend's crush who said he would not buy her chocolates as they are fattening. Did you see the Cool or Fool bit on the freakytrigger site? I should put my picture on there, if only to be described like this: "A Tori Amos fan no doubt. She draws faeries during class. She makes flower necklaces at lunchtime. She goes home and writing confessional poetry about how her English teacher is a fascist." underground parking lot. My english teacher's birthday is also Valentine's Day.(All of 27) How adorable is this, he handed out Neruda's 'Full Woman, Flesh-Apple, Hot Moon' poem and then told us he reads Neruda when his wife is away. The very same poem that Gunther wrote Honey! This is the stuff of Valentine's Day that I can't get enough of. All the perfumes and lotions, too. I always have that image of sitting with my beloved on a swinging bench in a veranda, on a farm, and it's dusk and the air is misty. Or maybe slow dancing at the soda shoppe in the 50's. The lovely Spinisterines will have me killed for being so silly. I do love observing on Valentine's Day though. Anyways, later on in class, I gave my teacher Paul Durcan's 'My Beloved Compares Herself to a Pint of Stout' as a Valentine's poem. Trousers first posted that poem long, long ago on here and it has never left my mind since the first read. When I was working at the cafe the other day, my friend pointed out the blue-eyed regular (who happens to be Scottish, with a very heavy accent) outside, so I went to give him a free hot chocolate, and ohhh to hear him speak, but then I had to go back inside and unromantically clean out the fridge, and I was all flustered. Love, Genevieve _________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com. +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+ +---+ Brought to you by the Sinister mailing list +---+ To send to the list mail sinister(a)missprint.org. To unsubscribe send "unsubscribe sinister" or "unsubscribe sinister-digest" to majordomo(a)missprint.org. WWW: http://www.missprint.org/sinister +-+ "sinsietr is a bit freaky" - stuart david, looper +-+ +-+ "legion of bedroom saddo devotees" "peculiarly deranged fanbase" +-+ +-+ "pasty-faced vegan geeks... and we LOST!" - NME April 2000 +-+ +-+ "frighteningly named Sinister List organisation" - NME May 2000 +-+ +-+ Nee, nee mun pish, chan pai dee kwa +-+ +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+

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Sinister: She's got the radio active and it makes me feel okay, I don't feel okay
by Rinaldo Thatchez 15 Feb '01

15 Feb '01

Okay, so some of you may see this as some kind of list abuse being that there is no mention of a certain band (although the patient among you will find the Gentle Waves a bit further on) but if we expand our definition of the list to be "a community of music lovers" - not too much of a stretch - then I think this is somewhat appropriate. Especially since this is a day for lovers to celebrate their love. And since I not only love music, but I also love each and every one of you - no, really - I wanted to share something with you on this day, which is already over for many of you, I know. It's the special Valentine's Day edition of my favorite morning radio program, John in the Morning on KCMU. John has hand picked and taken requests for everyone's favorite songs about Luurve and they are all lovingly laid out for you below. You may find some of your favorites. And if you feel like you want to get some of this hot lovin' again, you can even listen to it live on the web at www.kcmu.org. XO - Rinaldo, who got no flowers and only others' unwanted chocolates 6-7 AM The Cure "End" ( a song about not loving someone if they don't know who you are) Dandy Warhols "I Love you" (about loving others or yourself?) Rainer Maria "Atropine" (a song about Atropine) Spain "I'm Leaving You" (no seriously, get to the point) Brian Jonestown Massacre "Open Heart Surgery" -R (about ones heart being ripped from ones chest) Rodney Crowell "I Know Love is All I need" (that and a 6 pack) Magnetic Fields "Papa was a Rodeo"-R (From Pat to Robin) Radio Nationals "In Threes" (From Richard to Jared, true love) Stars "My Radio" (being in love with your radio, but only on KCMU) Erykah Badu "I'm in Love With You" -R (lucky bastard) Sugar "Explode and Make Up"-R (in that order) 7-8 AM Spoon "Everything Hits at Once" (Realizing your loved one is gone) Garageland "Love Song" ("a very sick love song, its just a love song") Replacements "Valentine/ Kiss me on the Bus" -R (Paul Westerberg = Love) Bare Jr "Kiss me (or I will cry)" (I've tried that line before, never works) Ladytron "Open Your Heart" (Nothing spells romance like the Human League) Saint Etienne "Kiss and Make Up" (right) Call and Response "I Know you want Me" (Knowing is the easy part.) Moby "What Love" (the love one has for a great steak. I'm kidding, it's a joke. I'm a vegetarian) John Spencer Blues Explosion "Lovin Machine" (My nickname in Junior Highactually it was dumbshit) Buzzcocks "Ever Fallen in love with someone you Shouldn've" (If I had nickel for every time I had, I'd have a buck fifty right now) The Briefs "Rotten Love" (gross) Bollywood Breaks "Tonight My Love" ( Music from Indian film Soundtracks. Very romantic) Air "All I need" -R (From a Morning Faithful in Idaho, what they think when they think love) Buellton "Single" (I remember wanting to destroy on this day) 8-9 AM Low "Sunflower" (Lovely) Afghan Whigs "Let me Lie to You" ("discover your lover between the legs of another") Souvenirs "Heart on a Chain" (At least its near your chest) Palace Brothers "You Will miss me when I Burn" (no definition needed) Sigur Ros "The Heart Pounds (Boom Boom Boom)" (At least something in Iceland is warm) My Bloody Valentine "Only Shallow" Love and Rockets "Haunted when the Minutes Drag" -R (Morning Faithful Cindy from N. California) Bande Original "Peep-Show Kebab" (give the gift of porn) Pigeonhed "We're Comin Together" (a sign of a healthy relationship) The Turn Ons "My Man" (local love) Joy Division "Love will tear us apart" -R King Missile "My Heart is a Flower" (ahhhh sarcastic love, the best kind) Vaselines "Rory Rides me Raw" (um.uh.wellum) 9-10 AM Le Tigre "Yr Critique" (not a love song, just a good song) The Pixies "Gigantic" (a big big love) Massive Attack "Protection" (pure love) Kid Loco "Love me Sweet" -The hot calendar Los Halos "My Heart is an Arrow" (love from PA) The Mountain Goats "There Will be no Divorce" (always a good sign, well almost always) The Gentle Waves "Solace for Pain" (Heartache) The Magic Magicians "I'm on your side" (More Heartache, John Atkins voice is pure heartache) Arab Strap "New Birds" (not only a messed up love song but a device used for studding horses!) Hope Sandoval "Around my Smile" (I'm not sure if this is about love, but with her voice who cares) Brad "Buttercub" (this song is just beautiful) Tim Easton "Get some Lonesome" (Yeah! Get some!) Iggy Pop "I wanna be your Dog" -R Happy V-Day "R": Request _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+ +---+ Brought to you by the Sinister mailing list +---+ To send to the list mail sinister(a)missprint.org. To unsubscribe send "unsubscribe sinister" or "unsubscribe sinister-digest" to majordomo(a)missprint.org. WWW: http://www.missprint.org/sinister +-+ "sinsietr is a bit freaky" - stuart david, looper +-+ +-+ "legion of bedroom saddo devotees" "peculiarly deranged fanbase" +-+ +-+ "pasty-faced vegan geeks... and we LOST!" - NME April 2000 +-+ +-+ "frighteningly named Sinister List organisation" - NME May 2000 +-+ +-+ Nee, nee mun pish, chan pai dee kwa +-+ +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+

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Sinister: Dreaming of loving on the graves of dead strangers
by Ruvi Simmons 15 Feb '01

15 Feb '01

Although I am far removed from being a pious man, I feel it my duty, my sacred obligation, if you will, to inform you all that this is not merely the Feast Day of St. Valentine, but also of St. Cyril and his brother Methodius. These two individuals were instrumental in the translation of Catholic liturgies from the traditional Latin into the Slavic vernacular, and thus more generally, in propogating the idea that Church services could be performed in the local language. Therefore, I propose, for all you disaffected, solitary lovers in exile, disenfranchised from a lover whom you may not have met, give praise, not to St. Valentine, but to St. Cyril. I am aware, of course, that it is probably not as interesting to praise the translation of liturgies as it is to present gifts to a lover in the hope of, later, receiving something in return, but one must make do with what one can have. Alternatively, I have contrived a different approach. The living are capable of resistance, evasion and response. Those who have passed on are not blessed with the same capacity. Therefore, select a corpse to make love to (figuratively speaking, that is). They can't reject, spurn or scorn your advances, they can only remain silent which, as every sweaty palmed lech knows, is as good as consent. In this spirit, I have poured over persons deceased to try and select someone to make My Valentine. The person who sprang immediately to mind was Sylvia Plath. I have been besotted with that particular dysfunctional poet for years now, since I read the Bell Jar and felt an enormous, alas frustrated, compulsion to seize her and spirit her away from the hack poets, the uninspired, and the listless. Take her away from and elevate her above the level of tawdry society. I see myself having my cheek bitten by her colonnades of opalescent teeth, not that of the dreadful, adulterous Ted Hughes, and I feel a stab of bitter ecstasy strike my heart. But no, she will not be my dead Valentine. ...So who shall it be? Mary Shelley? Poor, gentle Mary Shelley was, for all her talents as a writer, all her intellect, compassion and spirit, as ugly as sin. That is terrible, isn't it? I would give, not just my right arm, but all four limbs to receive the opportunity to converse with sincere, passionate minds and to commune with luminous spirits, yet I reject poor horse-faced Mary Shelley on the most trivial of reasons. But, regardless, it cannot be her. George Eliot? She looked like a Church of England schoolteacher. Bette Davis? An elegant smoker, peculiarly beautiful, yet, I suspect, as dim-witted and tedious as everyone else who has the patience and lack of inspiration to devote their lives to the pursuit of fame. Lady Agnew of Lochnaw springs to mind, but all I know about her is the Sargent painting, in which she reclines languidly, her muslin dress rustling about her shapely legs like the foam out of which Aphrodite was born, her lips smiling mysteriously as her large eyes hypnotise the viewer with their strong, sensual gaze. But that is all I know and, much as I would like it to be otherwise, it is not enough. I think the problem is that pretty girls do not make great thinkers. That is probably an even more deplorable statement than the one made about Mary Shelley. Yet I cannot help thinking it is true. Women in possession of physical beauty need not worry about their future, for it is assured; they need not struggle with their intellectual demons, because everywhere they turn they are told that the most important thing in life is aesthetic appearances. Thus they skim over the surface of life, tripping along with delicious gaits, sultry pouts, and empty heads. The ugly girls, on the other hand, the shunned, disaffected and lonely, they turn, perhaps first in dismay but later with sincere ardour, to intellectual expansion. They have no hope of meeting a dashing man, they who stand at a lower level in this obscene society of fleeting images which are gone before we see them rot, and thus they turn inwards in the hope of solace. It seems rather sad and pathetic that, even when trawling through history in search of some dead lover, I come up with nothing, doesn't it? Yet, I think I have found something, but like with most things in life, when one surmounts and impasse or finds a means of solving a problem, it is not merely one option that presents itself, but myriad. So, from nothing, I have a wealth of potential Valentine's on my hands. What is more, it is to Eastern Europe I turn, that once home of revolution, that land mass where many turned in hope of finding a solution to the problems of the world and where I, more humbly yet no less ardently, now turn in search of deceased lovers. Although those in hope of humanity's redemption may have been disappointed, I have not. I have found Anna Akhmatova, an elegant poetess, Wislawa Szymborska (who, I might add, is actually still alive, although for all her chances of seeing this she is as good as dead to me though thankfully not to herself) and, best of all, Marina Tsvetaeva. Beautifuly, demure yet passionate, a placid lake with a dizzying undertow. And so, in the spirit, not of St. Cyril, but St. Valentine, I give her own lines back to her in praise: Don't think that there's any grave here, Or that I'll come and throw you out ... I myself was too much given To laughing when one ought not. The blood hurtled to my complexion, My curls wound in flourishes ... I was, passer-by, I existed! Passer-by, stop here, please. And take, pluck a stem of wildness, The fruit that comes with its fall -- It's true that graveyard strawberries Are the biggest and sweetest of all. There was a lesson in all of this, of that I am quite sure. But, on the advise of my dear father, I will not tell. I will remain aloof from moralising and let whoever has borne with me to this point decide for themselves which is, after all, far more fun anyway. In the meantime, I realise I really ought to stem this tide for both my sake and whatever eyes have been so indulgent and patient with me. So, I wish you all, living and dead, a happy Valentine's Day. Ruvi. +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+ +---+ Brought to you by the Sinister mailing list +---+ To send to the list mail sinister(a)missprint.org. To unsubscribe send "unsubscribe sinister" or "unsubscribe sinister-digest" to majordomo(a)missprint.org. WWW: http://www.missprint.org/sinister +-+ "sinsietr is a bit freaky" - stuart david, looper +-+ +-+ "legion of bedroom saddo devotees" "peculiarly deranged fanbase" +-+ +-+ "pasty-faced vegan geeks... and we LOST!" - NME April 2000 +-+ +-+ "frighteningly named Sinister List organisation" - NME May 2000 +-+ +-+ Nee, nee mun pish, chan pai dee kwa +-+ +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+

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Sinister: loose change, lonely hearts and the rudeness of old folk...
by Desmond Torpey 15 Feb '01

15 Feb '01

hello... ..thank the good lord thats over with for another year...ah dammit..i promised i wouldnt whinge about the lack of squishy kind of love in my life...my willpower collapsed on the first line...tsk tsk...well i hoped the loved up ones on the list had a gorgeous day and i hope those lurking in singledom didnt have too awful a time...see? i'm all heart me...sigh...just nobody to share it with... ....as if valentines day wasnt enough i was also abused by several members of the public this morning...including two old men on the bus...pensioners on public transport seems to be a reccuring theme lately...as i stepped on the bus the conversation went thusly... old man 1 : look at 'im there old man 2 : what a woman old man 1 : suprised he didnt get his purse out old man 2 : (laughs heartily) old man 1 : hang on, is that actually a girl? old man 2 : nah, surely not old man 1 : ah yeah, no tits see ...pah!...they'e not all sweet old men with a talent for fishing and moaning...pensioners are eeeeeevil...maybe i should have used the previous story for inspiration....swept their legs from under them and watch them scrabble in the aisle for loose change and werthers originals...i was looking distinctly less girlie than usual today as well..in the wise words of one alan partridge: " i just dont like the general public " ...i consoled myself by going home and putting 'i know its over' on repeat for half an hour in typical lonely teenager fashion...trust mozzer to lighten the mood on valentines day....maybe i should have sent a card to laura llews mother..she sounds like a knowledgeable lady..thats probably really disturbed poor laura now....i really shouldnt have watched the graduate yesterday.... ...okay self pity over...er...spread the love and all that hippy nonsense... ta ta! __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Get personalized email addresses from Yahoo! Mail - only $35 a year! http://personal.mail.yahoo.com/ +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+ +---+ Brought to you by the Sinister mailing list +---+ To send to the list mail sinister(a)missprint.org. To unsubscribe send "unsubscribe sinister" or "unsubscribe sinister-digest" to majordomo(a)missprint.org. WWW: http://www.missprint.org/sinister +-+ "sinsietr is a bit freaky" - stuart david, looper +-+ +-+ "legion of bedroom saddo devotees" "peculiarly deranged fanbase" +-+ +-+ "pasty-faced vegan geeks... and we LOST!" - NME April 2000 +-+ +-+ "frighteningly named Sinister List organisation" - NME May 2000 +-+ +-+ Nee, nee mun pish, chan pai dee kwa +-+ +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+

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Re: Sinister: One day, I'm going to write a poem or a letter
by Jason McKinnon 14 Feb '01

14 Feb '01

Trilling was mentioned in Whit Stillman's movie, Metropolitan. The main character a young man of middle class values but above average intelligence lands in a upper crust Manhattan group of debutantes --- with sexy results. (Just Kidding!) This young man mentions that his favorite author is Trilling, and that he agrees with Trilling's review of Mansfield Park --- basically that it's ridiculous by modern standards. Later he admits to actually never reading books (i.e. Mansfield Park) but rather he prefers to read the criticism instead. He later reads Mansfield Park and likes it. Although, without reading much of Trilling myself, I would have to agree, PF. It would seem that Trilling is caught up in his own dichotomy. More reaction than action...although that is just replacing it with another duality. I happen to think that most good work is a result of action, but not all. And I definitely agree that when we look at ourselves and thereby our work by itself and it's own merits and not by comparison we become to creep up on true expression. PF, the world is just now beginning to realize that this mode of "if it's not black, then it must be a shade of white" thinking is holding us back as communicators, friends, and artists. Static abounds. The ability to believe yes, no and maybe of the same question will be the quantum jump in thinking that breaks the old mold. And will make for some interesting times...... Or is it, *in* a letter? Valentine's Day - which Billy Bragg once called 'The 14th of February'. Does anyone remember that song? It was definitely a high point, a very high point, on his disappointing LP William Bloke. I do indistinctly remember spending past Valentines Days walking around provincial squares in rainy dreams of impossible romance. Funnily enough I have not done that today. Are my Valentine days over? Did they ever begin? It may be a blessing not to receive valentines. In which case, curse the sender of that electronic valentine thing I got earlier. At least I was apparently able to read it. I have been reading and thinking about Lionel Trilling, who taught at his alma mater Columbia University from 1932 and died in 1975, aged 70. His widow Diana lived till 1996, and wrote copious, or voluminous, or both varieties of, book reviews till not so long before her own demise. You can find info on her on the 'internet'. re. Trilling, I have been wondering about two things: 1. Why does his writing appeal to me in an age when it is so 'dated' - so much a voice from the past? Of course, the beginning of the answer is: *because* it's a voice from history. I have made some notes on this phenomenon. I wonder if anyone has anything else to say about it. A subsidiary question here is: does non-fictional writing become 'historical' in a different way from, or at a different rate from, literary work? 2. Trilling's theory of culture. It is not that easy to summarize right now, but it seems crucially to involve the idea that in modernity, the individual self is, even should be, almost irredeemably antagonistic to the 'culture' which has formed her - and of which she is 'inextricably' a part, save that her antagonism to it seems to produce a certain action of 'extrication'. For Trilling, the bulk of great modern literature testifies to this necessary, honourable antagonism between self and society, malcontent subject and social world. Here is a reservation. The basis of the self's 'opposition' to culture, for Trilling, seems often to be something innate - something irreducibly biological (as in his 1955 essay 'Freud: Within and Beyond Culture'), or a relatively abstract faculty of reason (as in his 1962 essay on Dr Leavis and Sir Charles Snow). Such forces, for Trilling, are just about the only imaginable bulwarks against what we might now call a strong culturalism - a sense that culture goes 'all the way down' and cannot be appealed or battled against. Yet - this, simply, is my reservation - are these pure, acultural forces really that convincing as forces against culture? Can we still muster much faith in them now? Reason is a fine thing, but we're used by now to stressing its 'situatedness' in cultural settings (as in, I think, the essay by Habermas, from ten years back or so, which is actually called 'Situating Reason' or some such - it's at the start of a book whose title has escaped me for a while). I think we have to find a way of thinking beyond the opposition: constraints of determining culture vs abilities of unconditioned mind. We might start by seeking a less monistic conception of culture as such - for it strikes me that Trilling shares a somewhat monistic conception of culture and its power over the individual with (of all people!) Stanley Fish. What do you think? __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Get personalized email addresses from Yahoo! Mail - only $35 a year! http://personal.mail.yahoo.com/ +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+ +---+ Brought to you by the Sinister mailing list +---+ To send to the list mail sinister(a)missprint.org. To unsubscribe send "unsubscribe sinister" or "unsubscribe sinister-digest" to majordomo(a)missprint.org. WWW: http://www.missprint.org/sinister +-+ "sinsietr is a bit freaky" - stuart david, looper +-+ +-+ "legion of bedroom saddo devotees" "peculiarly deranged fanbase" +-+ +-+ "pasty-faced vegan geeks... and we LOST!" - NME April 2000 +-+ +-+ "frighteningly named Sinister List organisation" - NME May 2000 +-+ +-+ Nee, nee mun pish, chan pai dee kwa +-+ +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+ _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+ +---+ Brought to you by the Sinister mailing list +---+ To send to the list mail sinister(a)missprint.org. To unsubscribe send "unsubscribe sinister" or "unsubscribe sinister-digest" to majordomo(a)missprint.org. WWW: http://www.missprint.org/sinister +-+ "sinsietr is a bit freaky" - stuart david, looper +-+ +-+ "legion of bedroom saddo devotees" "peculiarly deranged fanbase" +-+ +-+ "pasty-faced vegan geeks... and we LOST!" - NME April 2000 +-+ +-+ "frighteningly named Sinister List organisation" - NME May 2000 +-+ +-+ Nee, nee mun pish, chan pai dee kwa +-+ +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+

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Sinister: One day, I'm going to write a poem or a letter
by P F 14 Feb '01

14 Feb '01

Or is it, *in* a letter? Valentine's Day - which Billy Bragg once called 'The 14th of February'. Does anyone remember that song? It was definitely a high point, a very high point, on his disappointing LP William Bloke. I do indistinctly remember spending past Valentines Days walking around provincial squares in rainy dreams of impossible romance. Funnily enough I have not done that today. Are my Valentine days over? Did they ever begin? It may be a blessing not to receive valentines. In which case, curse the sender of that electronic valentine thing I got earlier. At least I was apparently able to read it. I have been reading and thinking about Lionel Trilling, who taught at his alma mater Columbia University from 1932 and died in 1975, aged 70. His widow Diana lived till 1996, and wrote copious, or voluminous, or both varieties of, book reviews till not so long before her own demise. You can find info on her on the 'internet'. re. Trilling, I have been wondering about two things: 1. Why does his writing appeal to me in an age when it is so 'dated' - so much a voice from the past? Of course, the beginning of the answer is: *because* it's a voice from history. I have made some notes on this phenomenon. I wonder if anyone has anything else to say about it. A subsidiary question here is: does non-fictional writing become 'historical' in a different way from, or at a different rate from, literary work? 2. Trilling's theory of culture. It is not that easy to summarize right now, but it seems crucially to involve the idea that in modernity, the individual self is, even should be, almost irredeemably antagonistic to the 'culture' which has formed her - and of which she is 'inextricably' a part, save that her antagonism to it seems to produce a certain action of 'extrication'. For Trilling, the bulk of great modern literature testifies to this necessary, honourable antagonism between self and society, malcontent subject and social world. Here is a reservation. The basis of the self's 'opposition' to culture, for Trilling, seems often to be something innate - something irreducibly biological (as in his 1955 essay 'Freud: Within and Beyond Culture'), or a relatively abstract faculty of reason (as in his 1962 essay on Dr Leavis and Sir Charles Snow). Such forces, for Trilling, are just about the only imaginable bulwarks against what we might now call a strong culturalism - a sense that culture goes 'all the way down' and cannot be appealed or battled against. Yet - this, simply, is my reservation - are these pure, acultural forces really that convincing as forces against culture? Can we still muster much faith in them now? Reason is a fine thing, but we're used by now to stressing its 'situatedness' in cultural settings (as in, I think, the essay by Habermas, from ten years back or so, which is actually called 'Situating Reason' or some such - it's at the start of a book whose title has escaped me for a while). I think we have to find a way of thinking beyond the opposition: constraints of determining culture vs abilities of unconditioned mind. We might start by seeking a less monistic conception of culture as such - for it strikes me that Trilling shares a somewhat monistic conception of culture and its power over the individual with (of all people!) Stanley Fish. What do you think? __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Get personalized email addresses from Yahoo! Mail - only $35 a year! http://personal.mail.yahoo.com/ +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+ +---+ Brought to you by the Sinister mailing list +---+ To send to the list mail sinister(a)missprint.org. To unsubscribe send "unsubscribe sinister" or "unsubscribe sinister-digest" to majordomo(a)missprint.org. WWW: http://www.missprint.org/sinister +-+ "sinsietr is a bit freaky" - stuart david, looper +-+ +-+ "legion of bedroom saddo devotees" "peculiarly deranged fanbase" +-+ +-+ "pasty-faced vegan geeks... and we LOST!" - NME April 2000 +-+ +-+ "frighteningly named Sinister List organisation" - NME May 2000 +-+ +-+ Nee, nee mun pish, chan pai dee kwa +-+ +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+

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Sinister: Putting the eak! in Phreak
by Laura Llew 14 Feb '01

14 Feb '01

Two posts from me in one day? Now you can't say you didn't get lucky on Valentine's Day. Someone on this list said after reading Mr. Thorniley's hilarious post, they felt as if they should be trying to "get in my pants." James, I think we need to discuss the frequency of your posts. You're what - half my age? If you didn't speak English and only had three days left in the country before you had to leave to never return due to Visa problems, you would be exactly what I'm looking for in a guy. Yeah, I've given up on going weak in the knees for witty literary b&s and pixie loving boys. Oh wait - what is that I hear? Rush Limbaugh and Bill Clinton just sprouted wings and are taking flight?* /me sees Vel & Chrstiaan giving me disapproving looks with their arms crossed and one foot tapping. Um, I mean - Ewwwww boys. Guys are icky. I find it humorous that Archel would call me a heartthrob when I didn't get a DANG THING for Valentine's Day. Well, except for a super cute ecard from Vel & one from Ken - the latter of which he probably sent to all the girls in hopes they'd discover what a witty, charming, and irresistible boy he is. However, I made lots of Valentines as usual. A couple of years ago I even made some and gave them out at a nursing home. All my friends made fun of me and, of course, wouldn't come with me but it was still pretty fun. Somehow, I resisted the temptation to write on any of them, "I've fallen for you ... and I can't get up." However, there was one that was a train and said "I choo choo choose you as my Valentine." Since I don't have a love life I suppose I should talk about B&S. Or maybe I'll just talk about their love lives instead. I don't know why we keep 'beating around the bush. We all know why no one liked the new album as much as their prior releases. There's not one single masturbation reference at all!! I guess since Sebastian was getting it AWN with Belle, he was too good for himself. Mmm, this is mildly smutty. Should I continue? YES! The other day I couldn't figure out how to spell 'boudoir.' I kept getting the ou and oi confused. It was frustrating me and so I finally had to resort to typing in Alexander Borgia's name on the yahoo search page and TA-DA there it was. "A sensual boudoir for the romantic pleasures of women." Ahahaha. Alex, baby, if you're still on the list - I'm not laughing at you - I'm laughing far (far) away from you. If I remember correctly, he called me a tart. According to thespark.com, he is so wrong. Why I'm as pure as a Mountain Stream. Yup! "Basically, love flows from you like fresh, clean water from a Rocky mountain stream. Be careful, because some guy might combine you with only the choicest hops and turn you into a beer." I'm mistaken for beer quite a lot which might be why I like going to baseball games so much. ----------- Then I realized that I was just in my bra and a guy whose name I didn't even know was peppering my stomach with kisses. And wait - how did my hair turn blonde?** ----------- Lethally Loquacious Lusty Laura Llew Leisurely Lisped: >>In our next edition of Laura Llew's Ramblings -- # Sinister: Satan's >>Chatroom or The Land of Milk(maids) & Honey Ooh, that's the first time I've ever quoted myself before. I think I like it - I figure with all the new people toddling in I can start recycling my old posts in hopes I'll get more responses the second time around. Like my idea of a program to adopt poor struggling youngns like myself and help them on the right path by donating mix tapes or money to buy them cds. For the costs of filling your car up with gas, you can sponsor a girl so that she might have decent music to listen to. Poor impoverished Laura is stuck in a dank dim world filled with drab radio stations that only play backstreet boys and broccoli spears. Add light and enlightenment to her life by helping her so that her life might become a cornucopia of wonderful musical endeavors and happiness that will feel her very soul (yes, she even has a soul!). Every week you will receive a letter from your adoptee (me) telling of how your donation has enriched my life. I'll even send you doe eyed pictures of me snuggling up to my new treasures that will melt your heart (if you have one. which can only be proven if you participate in this program that is the highest echelon of charity). Well, that or I'll have Vu draw something for me to send. I know you are all tempted (to delete this letter. Go ahead. Shatter all my dreams...) I digress (which IS easy to do when one is as impoverished as I am.) # Sinister Saved My Life. AuntSadie is having Chris Lampien's Luv Child I've always felt like a content goldilocks in North Carolina. It's not too hot in the summer and never too cold in the winter. However, this winter things have gone awry and we've had lots of snow. I like snow - as long as I'm inside sipping on hot chocolate and looking out on it saying, "Oooh pretty." Actually, I even like being out in snow as long as I'm not in a vehicle, not on the curvy mountain road that I drive every day, and not having to dodge a large truck as it slides down sideways. So, I've found myself fretting about driving in the powdery white often this winter and one day I even got driving tips from Starfire Dave while in #sinister. For New Years, I went on a roadtrip to the deep south since rumor has it that Jack Frost never visits there. Remember children, rumors are usually lies! I got stuck driving in snow in Mississippi which was ok until I came across a pothole which I did not see until too late since it was covered by the white stuff. It sent my car sliding all over the road. Have I mentioned yet that the on the right side there was no shoulder but only a steep drop? My car starts spinning in circles and I'm about to go off the road when I suddenly thought, "Starfire said to steer into the slide." (Would you look at that? Crisis situation and my thoughts exemplify alliteration. That, my friends, is talent). I don't even know what that means but I did it. And my hokey - it worked! I have now have a new hero! Dave, if we ever meet I owe you a big hug and no - that's not exchangeable for money. I just hope that it stays dry at the end of this month when I wander up to north to NJ and NY. I hope we keep the talk about Twin Peaks, children's books, and midgets on ponies up on this list. I'm a fan of all three. Jer and Mike are now on my list of Sinisterines who I adore just for mentioning TP. Along with Julie who is at the top of the list because she thought of me while reading Virginia Woolf. I know she didn't mean it in that way but it's probably the best compliment I've ever gotten. Oh and Kittenmouse Andrea because she dressed up as the log lady for Halloween one year. That's ace. As far as Blake and The Giving Tree, how could anyone *not* cry upon reading that book. I have both Silverstein and a Little Prince prints up in my room and I usually spend each Saturday morning squirreled away in the children's section of the bookstore reading kiddy books. With Silverstein, Seuss, the Little Prince, the Selfish Giant, Cloudy with a chance of meatballs, Goodnight Moon, and Tuesdays -you can't go wrong! What???? There's been no talk of Midgets On Ponies?!?! Why do I even bother? Laura "meeting all of your Laura Llew needs since 1977" *sorry Big Stu - you made me do it ** http://www.missprint.org/sinister/sillustrations/ (No 1) -- Just helping you out, Vu Search This! AuntSadie's Luv child; masturbation; midgets on ponies; getting lucky ---- "Just go on the internet and you'll find plenty of guys there. Of course, they will all be as crazy as bedbugs." -- my mom _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+ +---+ Brought to you by the Sinister mailing list +---+ To send to the list mail sinister(a)missprint.org. To unsubscribe send "unsubscribe sinister" or "unsubscribe sinister-digest" to majordomo(a)missprint.org. WWW: http://www.missprint.org/sinister +-+ "sinsietr is a bit freaky" - stuart david, looper +-+ +-+ "legion of bedroom saddo devotees" "peculiarly deranged fanbase" +-+ +-+ "pasty-faced vegan geeks... and we LOST!" - NME April 2000 +-+ +-+ "frighteningly named Sinister List organisation" - NME May 2000 +-+ +-+ Nee, nee mun pish, chan pai dee kwa +-+ +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+

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Sinister: Thank you sinister for the best Valentine's ever
by Grainne Elizabeth Mary Lynch 14 Feb '01

14 Feb '01

Dear Sin'sters I'm not a total cynic who hates Valentine's Day, I like anything which results in a break to the routine, but it is hard not to feel a tiny bit depressed as you go through the day as a singleton. But today was fun, because of Sinister! With subject lines like 'VD and old men' and 'She was one in million, so five more in New South Wales alone' and Jon's story about grabbing the old man's leg on the tram, I'm sure it wasn't funny at the time, but it made me giggle! I also liked Velocity Girl's story of kidnapping Cupid. And, of course the mystery bluemountain card. How could I not have a lovely Valentine's Day. I wonder if Stuart M. and Isabel spent the day together??? I'm in class not learning anything. Anyone out there that can teach me how to use 3D studio max? Or even better, send me a little animation to hand up my tutor? I'd love you forever. That's all I have to say, I hope everyone else's day was as pleasant as mine, and big shing bubbles of love to you all. Grainne. Get your small business started at Lycos Small Business at http://www.lycos.com/business/mail.html +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+ +---+ Brought to you by the Sinister mailing list +---+ To send to the list mail sinister(a)missprint.org. To unsubscribe send "unsubscribe sinister" or "unsubscribe sinister-digest" to majordomo(a)missprint.org. WWW: http://www.missprint.org/sinister +-+ "sinsietr is a bit freaky" - stuart david, looper +-+ +-+ "legion of bedroom saddo devotees" "peculiarly deranged fanbase" +-+ +-+ "pasty-faced vegan geeks... and we LOST!" - NME April 2000 +-+ +-+ "frighteningly named Sinister List organisation" - NME May 2000 +-+ +-+ Nee, nee mun pish, chan pai dee kwa +-+ +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+

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Sinister: She was one in a million. So there's five more just in New South Wales...
by Gardiner, Stuart 14 Feb '01

14 Feb '01

Continuing my campaign to make you all love the mighty Whitlams... Well, who'd have thought it. My Valentine's Day has so far lived up to all my expectations. As in, the only thing that came through the letterbox this morning was my credit card bill. So I continue my unblemished record - 24 years without a single VD card, and counting... Archel said: >it's tiring being a sinister heart-throb. not that i'd know - men seldom make passes at girls who wear glasses And so I hereby nominate Archel as the official Sinister heart-throb for the day. Sorry Genevieve, I just feel it's time for me to move on, it's not you it's me, etc. (Is "it's not you, it's me" the most commonly used lie in the world? Come on, admit it, we've all said it at some point in our lives, when really what we mean is "what the hell made me even want to go out with you in the first place"...) Meanwhile, Vel and Llew brought a drop of sunshine into all our lives, and made us all wonder why two nice girls in their prime were still single, but then said: >It was none other than that feathery fatboy of love, cupid! He was donned in a trenchcoat to hide his wings and feathers. Not that that would have seemed odd since he was holding a vacuum cleaner. What the f***? Am I missing something here? On a slightly more understandable note, Mark Casarotter challenged: >p.s. wonder if Big Stu fancies facing me on the footie pitch in the near future ;-) Any time. Bring it on, big boy... Anyway, my plan was to give you all a lovely romantic poem for today, courtesy of the great Pablo Neruda (the best thing to come out of Chile since wine?), but I came across this one instead which I can identify with far more: Oh Earth, Wait For Me Return me, oh sun, to my wild destiny, rain of the ancient wood. Bring me back its aroma, and the swords that fall from the sky, the solitary peace of pasture and rock, the damp at the river-margins, the smell of the larch tree, the wind alive like a heart beating in the crowded restlessness of the towering araucaria. Earth, give me back your pure gifts, the towers of silence which rose from the solemnity of their roots. I want to go back to being what I have not been, and so learn to go back from such deeps that amongst all natural things I could live or not live, it does not matter to be one stone more, that dark stone, the pure stone which the river bears away. Big Stu +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+ +---+ Brought to you by the Sinister mailing list +---+ To send to the list mail sinister(a)missprint.org. To unsubscribe send "unsubscribe sinister" or "unsubscribe sinister-digest" to majordomo(a)missprint.org. WWW: http://www.missprint.org/sinister +-+ "sinsietr is a bit freaky" - stuart david, looper +-+ +-+ "legion of bedroom saddo devotees" "peculiarly deranged fanbase" +-+ +-+ "pasty-faced vegan geeks... and we LOST!" - NME April 2000 +-+ +-+ "frighteningly named Sinister List organisation" - NME May 2000 +-+ +-+ Nee, nee mun pish, chan pai dee kwa +-+ +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+

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