A girl I knew from my hometown came up to Glasgow rather spontaneously on Monday. Yesterday I took her out to the Necropolis. I hadn't been there in some years, as I don't tend to frequent the East End of the City Centre very often (there's a big hill!). I only tend to go there if I'm out of ideas on how to show a visitor a good time. You can't really appreciate what the city has to offer in a few days of sightseeing, so its always off to the obvious places. Anyway, I'm glad I don't go there very often, because they're something quite wonderful about it, and I reckon it wouldn't be quite as interesting if I went up there all the time. Perhaps its the mournful majesty of a bygone era of merchants and industrialists, philanthropists and Lord Provosts, and a host of infants who barely lasted a month. The beautiful/eerie nature owes a lot to the view, of course, but also to the knocked over gravestones (obelisks, beheaded and smashed cherubs covered in graffiti by Celtic fans) and that bloody statue of John Knox, looking with his ever disparaging eyes over the city. The view, of course, is wonderful, even if it is basically the Tennents brewery, endless tower blocks, and disused land with hills in the distance. I remember my first time there, thinking, "hey! I recognize this...its from the Modern Rock Song video!" I always think it strange that its not used more often in videos. Also, its strange to see people picnicking between the rows...essentially they're a few feet above some decayed corpse. Oddly morbid if you think about it, but nobody ever does. I don't think the dead will mind, either. Speaking of the Modern Rock Song video, a friend of mine called me up the other day. "So someone has traded in the Fans Only DVD. Is it good? Is it worth it?" "yeah, its really good. Of course, I'm a fan, so I can't tell how much you might enjoy it, buts its wonderfully edited." "so are the videos of the band or a bunch of indie tw**s that'll make me want to punch the screen?" "uh....its a mix." It put me in the mood to listen to the Belles, as I've recently been obsessed with tracks like Tocadisco's Sunday at Space Mix of the Pet Shop Boys' "Minimal". I pulled out the Life Pursuit, readying myself to do the washing up. Its really the only time I ever use CD's anymore, as technology and convenience has made them virtually useless once I load them onto my computer and iPod. I think, "oh great, this'll get some play." Of course, it skips within 1 minute. I just bought this damn thing a few months ago! I'm failed by the old world. I'm failed by the new world as well. My iPod, after just over three years of dutiful service, has glitched itself to that great gig in the sky. If there ever is to be a Glasgow Sinister picnic, I propose we fashion a wooden boat on which to lay my beloved mp3 player so it can drift from the Clyde out to Avalon to await its eventual return with Arthur. I would suggest we shoot a flaming arrow onto it to burn it as it floats away, but I wouldn't want to disturb the otters. -Matt +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+ +---+ 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! +-+ +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+