Summer's almost over. Does anyone know where it goes? Distressingly, I have failed to make it to a single picnic this summer. Which on past experience makes them more enjoyable for everyone else, but reduces the average drunkenness. This Sunday, I'll be thinking of all of you in your red knickers. Except Ken. Time to join the bandwagon with a few ink polaroids. (If anyone knows what the hell a bandwagon is, or how you would actually go about joining one, please tell us, I've often wondered. Well, not exactly often, but ocasionally. It's not really the biggest question that keep me awake at night. But once or twice, at least.) ** This one is from the first time I saw B&S live - Manchester, Christmas '97. In between the two gigs they played on the Sunday. I'm walking around Manchester town centre with the first sinisterines I'd ever met, who insist on reminding me every few minutes that I'm a bit taller than them. Especially Julia. We've just noticed a big Ferris Wheel down one of the streets leading away from the Town Hall. From the top you can see right across Manchester. What joy. News item of the week: the Queen telling Alan Titchmarsh "You've given a lot of women a lot of pleasure". Really. ** This one was taken on one of the several times I have missed the last train home after a Sinister get-together. We're on the roof of the Poetry Cafe in London in summer '98. Just behind me are Isobel and Wee Chris. Mick's off somewhere with an ebulient admirer who was on this list at the time. You can't really see much else, because it was 2am and it was dark. I am also indebted to the Independent on Sunday for providing the following list of genuine bird names: the Bare-Faced Go-Away Bird, the Invisible Rail, the Double-Eyed Fig-Parrot, the Blue-Knobbed Curassow, the Oleaginous Mountain Tanager, the Obscure Berrypicker, the Carbonated Sierra Finch, the Rosy-Faced Lovebird, and my favourite, the Agile Tit-Tyrant. Of course, this has absolutely nothing to do with Belle and Sebastian (apart from giving them potential new lyrics), they just sound good. ** This one was taken in a park in South-East London. Lying on the grass, next to the kiddies' playground. On the left you can see Stevie Trousers getting along well with an Irish lass. And trying to get on even better with her. It's a bit blurry, because I was ratarsed. As I have got older, I thought music had lost it's power to amaze me, to blow me away. Then, late last Friday night, I was watching an Elvis tribute program on BBC1, featuring the likes of Liberty X and Darren Hayes doing appalling covers of his songs. Suddenly, the Flaming Lips appear; and do a half-tempo, psychadelic cover of "Suspicious Minds". One of the most bizarre things I've heard in ages, and hence, one of the best. ** This one was taken outside the Spread Eagle in Camden, after a particularly beery afternoon on Primrose Hill. Actually, it's not quite outside the Spread Eagle, because we'd been kicked off the pavement for making too much noise. So it's on the pavement opposite instead. Rob has just pulled out his guitar, and we're all singing along to Modern Rock Song. Shortly after this was taken, a person walking past said "Hey, you're Belle and Sebastian" and asked for an autograph. Second news item of the week: the president of Turkmenistan, one week after renaming all the months of the year after himself and his family, has now issued an edict officially extending adolescence to the age of 25, and postponing old age until 85 (a mere 25 years after the average life-expectancy in his country). And you thought George Bush was insane. ** This one was taken on the beach in Scarborough last summer. Most of the people you can see are trying desperately to play it cool and pretend they're not bothered about the fact that they're talking to members of B&S. Meanwhile, I'm digging a hollow in the sand to stand in so that I can speak to Katrina without bending over too much. Still to come: ink polaroids from B&S playing a gig at The Globe Theatre in London (go on, you know you want to), and at next year's Glastonbury... Big Stu Current favourite song of the year: 'Royal In The Afternoon' from the new Whitlams album (you didn't think I'd let you forget them, did you?). The kind of song B&S should be writing and getting into the Top 10 with. Go download it now... +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+ +---+ Brought to you by the Sinister mailing list +---+ To send to the list mail sinister@missprint.org. To unsubscribe send "unsubscribe sinister" or "unsubscribe sinister-digest" to majordomo@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 +-+ +-+ "sick posse of f**ked in the head psycho-fans" - NME June 2001 +-+ +-+ Nee, nee mun pish, chan pai dee kwa +-+ +-+ Snipp snapp snut, sa var sagan slut! +-+ +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+