JARVIS Hmm.. I'm not that impressed with the new Pulp album. The song aren't bad, it's just that Jarvis has done it all before and better. Weeds is a just Misshapes with leaves; Wickerman is Sheffield: Sex City without the sex. I'll probably like it eventually, though, it's just the at the moment I'd rather hear the Mull Historical Society, and to think that a Pulp album came out last week and I'm not listening to it all the time is a bit depressing. JAYS Mind you, Jarvis still gives a terrific interview: "What is your favourite bird? Jarvis Cocker: Would you like to see it? I'll draw it for you (draws)...Long tail feathers...it's a Jay. For a bird you can find in the British Isles, you can't beat a Jay. It's mainly a dusty pink colour with little bits of blue and black colouring on it. The first time I saw it was in Norfolk when I was walking in a field. I thought it was some exotic bird that got lost but apparently Jays are quite common in this country. You can generally see them in open countryside, so look out for the Jay. " JOBS Archel asked:
maybe you can give me some hints about acquiring a proper job
..and then went out and got one. Well, Archel, I wouldn't have been much help anyway because I don't have a *proper* job - I'm a civil servant. That basically means I sit about a lot pretending to be working and not really doing any. It also means I have an endless and multicoloured supply of pens. JUNE I'd never worked in an office before and the only stuff I knew about how offices work was what I'd seen on telly, in particular The Office*, which I'd always assumed was a sitcom and not a documentary. A little worryingly, telly's proved to be a pretty accurate guide... The other day the office "reclaimed" all of the teapots in the tea rooms after they'd been there for 20 years, because they were "government property". The staff were all busy sharpening their pencils ready for war, and fiercely guarding their spoons in case they went next, but luckily the office backed down and replaced them. The staff were so happy, you'd have thought Jesus had arrived with a big box of sweets. And a girl in a room near me has fallen out with the person she sits opposite and built a wall out of cardboard between them so she doesn't have to see him. She'd only been working here for two weeks. Really, it's worryingly like a sitcom. Any day soon our manager will be replaced by June Whitfield**. The only sane ones around here are me and my plant, Millicent. Isn't that right, Millie? Well at least the pay's good, and if I'm ever short of cash I can always go and sell some of these pens. JIHAD Anthrax, eh? Apparently the "suspicious white powder" that was found in a sorting office in Bradford last week turned out to be a crushed packet of Love Hearts. Not only did the post office crush some poor child's sweets, but someone actually *tasted* the powder to see what it was and decided that it wasn't sherbert, but was probably anthrax. Gawd 'elp us if some actually does turn up. JEEPERS! The cover of the new single is the most terrifying thing I've ever seen. Those wet noses and cute little faces... arrrgh! Right then, I'm off to sell some pens. Robin x * and ** After trying to explain to an American what Guy Fawkes night was ("Well, you see we make an effigy of a Catholic and stick it on a bonfire"), it occurred to me how English I am and how often I refer to things that half of you folks haven't got a hope of understanding. So, from this day on, I offer to provide Robin's British Information Service, where if you're from another country and you email me with a question about British culture you don't understand, I'll answer it the best I can. Like: "If English automobiles don't have trunks, how can I carry my cookies?" That sort of thing. _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+ +---+ 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 +-+ +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+