hmmmmm, i try not to get involved in these sort of things as : 1. it is * never * a good idea, 2. im on digest so im usually about a day behind everyone else, but i dunno, i must be premenstrual today or something.... brandt said something to the effect of: "everyone except robert mctaggert was really rude about it...." personally, i think robert mctaggart was being a little less than polite, but hey, maybe thats just me and my swiss finishing school manners. ho ho. (that wasn't a personal attack on you, robert, by the way, i just dont agree with the way you went about it) now, while im not championing the sort of posts that consist of " this is what i wore to the youth club disco last week. amn't i desirable and cutting edge? please fancy me and vote for me on the list crush", if people *genuinely* have something to say, whether amusing or otherwise, they should be treated with a little more tolerance here than they have been lately. out of 1000-odd people, it would be a little unrealistic to expect everyone to have an "amusing" or " entertaining " life. hey, some people might even have (whisper it) "problems" in their life . does that mean they have less of a right to a voice than the "amusing" people? i think the pessimists on the list should revolt against the "amusing" and "entertaining" people. now that would make an interesting read all right: " yada yada yada, that last post by X was so fucking entertaining it made me want to swallow my own head, yada yada etc" i have to admit that *i* dont read every post from beginning to end, but thats up to me surely? the delete key is there for a reason guys, EXCERCISE YOUR RIGHT TO CHOOSE!!! em, yeah, right on. while no names have been mentioned in any of the "attacks" it is pretty bloody obvious who in being targeted in each case. when brandt wrote that; when his grandmother died, he would just take a few days off, rather than bother us with it, in case it wasnt "amusing", i felt kinda sad to be part of a collective that seems to be so selfish and intolerant all of a sudden. and, no, it wasn't *guilt*. for jaysus sake, whether we are all belleandsebastian fans or not, i would like to think that we are all still people, capable of some sort of feeling and compassion, yeah? i've always been a relatively private person when it comes to personal problems etc, but i've heard it can be liberating to "let it all out", as it were ;) different folks, different strokes an' all that, innit? some people dont *have* friends that they can talk to about personal stuff, you know. count yourself lucky if you do. jerry springers final thought: lets BAN people from the list who write boring posts *about* boring posts. and no, the irony of * this* post , therefore, is not lost on me ;) paula cullen booze explosion booooze!!!! yeeeaaahh!!! "getting beer poured over your head isn't necessarily a bad thing. it's cold, it's good for your hair, and it makes you smell like a champ." p.s. i apologise profusely for any parts of this mail which make me sound like a screaming hippy. im not, you know. peace. +----------------------------------------------------------------------+ +---+ 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" +-+ +----------------------------------------------------------------------+