well hello there, oh lovely sinister. we've been a busy lot haven't we? everything's go, go go! new albums, old members, list-marriages, sporting competitions of varying interest, and the return of me! woohoo! i haven't posted in a long long time and i would like to start by saying a huge "hello" to all the sinister people i have met since i last posted, which is quite a lot. so, it's a hearty hello to: edinburgh picnic goers from way-back at the beggining of april, everyone i met at all tomorrow's parties, numerous national pop leagues and (so far) the singular winchester club, and anyone i've bumped into at some point along the way. special mentions go to the marvellous david moore who gave a strange little boy a tape of Ant in concert. this little boy thanks him from the bottom his heart. there are too many others to mention by name, but just so you know, yes 'you', you were my favourite sinisterine. also, apologies go to miss michelle ruiz of chicago. due to numerous factors (mostly centred around my incompetence and general shitness) i did not reply to her email to say i had received her sini-valentine pressies, which i did. i must say my task was made harder by hotmail deleting most of my emails a while back, but this is still no excuse for my excessive tardiness. the valentine present was lovely: ducks and a cat adorn my television, i now take notes in lectures on tiny pads with snails on the front, and i am the proud owner of a kick-ass mix cd. thank you michelle, and again, i apologise for my apalling manners. i hope you can forgive me. :o) if you send me your address again offlist, i shall lavish you with gifts to make up for it. i have many, many, wonderful things to say, but i am only got to say a few. you shall just have to wait for the rest. i've got months of posts building up in the back of my pretty, pretty head. they'll all come in time. but for now, here's a few comments on the current hot-topics. ------------ STORYTELLING ------------ justifiably bad, is how i would describe it. in the context of a soundtrack, it works very well, but in comparison with the other albums.... well, it doesnt really compare. the songs that are there are great. storytelling is a marvellous song. sarah's singing is great. my personal favourite section though is mick's trumpet. i think it is with this album that he has really made his mark. the trumpet is just sublime all the way through. the instrumentals are good, as far as instrumentals go. but i really don't think they can come close to the actual songs. however, b&s' mediocre still towers above most of the rest's best. -------------- ISOBEL LEAVING -------------- i will miss her. she write good songs, she shakes her egg-thing, she pouts, she looks pretty. i am sorry to see her go, but i would like to echo people's wishes of good fortune for her in the future. there hasn't really been much speculation on reasons for her leaving. it seems to be taken for granted that she just didnt want to be in the band anymore. but why? let's start the rumour mill going. working relationships within the band strained since her split from struan? she got upset with the use of too many guitars and not enough egg-shaking? i want YOUR most sensibel or absurd reasons for isobel's departure. chris was there to see her and bill wells support monica queen on friday, so i'm guessing it wasn't anything too serious. [like me, chris turned up too late to catch isobel on stage cos they arsed about with the timings. boo! i know people from here were there, but i didnt get a chance to post and say i would be there. if it helps, i was the boy sitting alone on the stairs on the righ-hand-side of the sound-mixy-desk-thing, making it difficult for people to get up the back. hope all who were there had a good time. monica was excellent.] ------- SHYNESS ------- "shyness is nice, and shyness can stop you from doing all the things in life you'd like to" - the smiths. i agreed with what sunny set said. "I wouldn't like people to like me just because I'm shy, but I am happy when they have taken the time and the trouble to see through this mask and know what lies underneath." "Try not to judge people too harshly simply because they don't get things right the first time you meet them. We are all human and we all make mistakes" i also feel that mr.ashbridge makes a valid point. "assertions of being "shy" are applied, willingly, with exactly the same sense of studied self-obsession that the nu-metal kids display when they make their own labels. Perhaps it's just me misjudging some of the younger listees, but it seems being "twee" is just another fashion-choice for kids." indeed. it is false to say that every 'twee fucker' is an nu-metaller inside, but it is true that some people will buy certain records, feign interest in certain bands, and wear certain clothes, which are deemed 'twee' in order to seem 'cool' or 'different' or 'alternative' in the same way that those rawk kids do. i think i probably am seen as twee, but not through any intention on my part. and that's the way it should be. i am seen as twee because of the things i like and do. i don't do and like things because they will make me seem twee. hope this hasn't been too long and boring a comeback post. i shall be moving into a new flat soon in edinburgh, and after i have done so, i may work up the courage to organise a sinister-flatwarming-picnic-thingy. i shall let people know more closer to the time. hopefully i will see people at breams glasgow farewell trip (15th. details anyone?) and at the moldy peaches (17th.) and at the winchester (21st.) that'll be me then, michael.xx _________________________________________________________________ Send and receive Hotmail on your mobile device: http://mobile.msn.com +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+ +---+ Brought to you by the Sinister mailing list +---+ To send to the list mail sinister@missprint.org. 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