"Jim had something going. A little prjoect that involved making posters for concerts that would never happen, and record sleeves for records that never existed." A moment of inspiration, supplied by the delicate touch of a certain S. Troosers arrived in my head the other night. I wasn't in at the time, so the postman left it round the back. Most moments of inspiration happen to me in two parts so I'll tell you the first and then try to explain the second. I was in a dirty part of town, at the traffic lights opposite a shopping centre where people flock like geese waiting for the lights to move to amber. Out of the corner of my eye I saw a tall, furtive looking chap, a spanner in glasses, standing in the doorway of a shop. He had a little notebook held close to his face, about the same distance to his nose as the thickness of his glasses. And with a little black pencil he was scribbling away on it. He caught sight of me watching him and retreated into the doorway. Then I looked over where he had been looking and I saw a big green bus, and another one behind. I'd spotted a bus spotter. My dad used to spot birds when he was a lad and although he tried spotting buses once it was never really his thing. I've always had a strange sort of respect for this sort of person. The type who risks social exclusion for a love of numbers or double deckers. I have a friend who's into running, 800 metres mostly, and he's really committed, to the point where he doesn't really understand what's going on in the rest of the world. I don't have any real interest in running but I always enjoy him telling me about it because you can tell he really loves it, and it's something he lives for. So I've always had a funny type of respect for this sort of person. Maybe it's because I've got a part of that inside me. I am on this mailing list after all. So, during a quiet moment the second part of my inspiration came. Troosers had mentioned a while ago about the non-existence of niche markets and how they didn't have a chance to really exist. And I've become quite keen on a DIY ethic recently, after my stab at writing a sitcom and drawing public information leaflets during the summer. So I've decided to start a little magazine, and stick it on my website, which would be about things that really excite people. Like listening to a certain record or tasting a good cup of tea. Or Nouvelle Vague cinema perhaps. My tutor got quite excited about Cuba yesterday when I had a talk with him, so I might ask him about this. I'm quite keen on this idea, and I've told it to a few of my friends so that's why I'm telling you. One of these days I could even get round to doing it. It's nice to see we've recovered from our cabin fever. It was also nice to read that diary from Chris and Stuart. Sometimes it's just good to know what they're up to. Mark mentioned that one of the boys from Gregory's Girl looked like Struan. I think I know which one you mean. I also think this was the one Arantxa thought looked like Alasdair Cook. He did, you know. I tried to persuade her that it was because Alasdair has "a Scottish mouth", but I think I've made that up. Bye Robin xxx +----------------------------------------------------------------------+ +---+ Brought to you by the reborn Sinister mailing list +---+ To send to the list mail "sinister@majordomo.net". To unsubscribe send "unsubscribe sinister" or "unsubscribe sinister-digest" to "majordomo@majordomo.net". WWW: http://www.majordomo.net/sinister +-+ "legion of bedroom saddo devotees" "tech-heads and students" +-+ +-+ "the cardie wearing biscuit nibbling belle & sebastian list" +-+ +-+ "jelly-filled danishes" +-+ +----------------------------------------------------------------------+