Hello! Those of you who read my blog (aw c'mon there must be at least two of you) will know that I had a spot of bother with the free pc I got from work before Christmas. Well, thankfully things seem to be sorted now so I'm at the stage of actually buying new stuff for it rather than just making sure what should be there is working properly. On Friday I learnt that the machine does contain a soundcard (contrary to what I thought previously) and so I just needed some speakers. So off I went to the other side of Oxford where apparently there was a rather good computer shop. I was quite looking forward to the journey as involved using one of my favourite Oxford bus routes which took me up Headington Hill. Those of you who know Oxford will know that it isn't exactly well-endowed in the hill department. However, Headington Hill is actually quite steep and it also has a lot of very nice ivy-clad trees on it to create one of those "ooh I'm in the country" sensations that are always welcome in cities. When boarding the bus I had to squeeze past the rather rotund driver who was TALKING VERY LOUDLY ON HIS MOBILE PHONE in the doorway, rather than occupying his accustomed place in the cab. It seemed rather odd for the bus driver to do this for he seemed to be making no attempt to take fares or check people's bus passes and although I did try to show him my bus pass, I can't help wondering whether he was so engrossed in his conversation that I could have had a piece of paper with "Hey you! I'm travelling for nothing!" and he would have been none the wiser. The shop was really tiny but it was packed out with people and the shelves were absolutely chock full with electronic goodies of all descriptions. There was a real sense that here was a place with a genuine expert ready to answer one's questions and be truly and properly helpful, unlike the planks who work at a slightly larger, more famous shop advertised on the telly. And it was at such an unlikely location, in a very ordinary looking row of shops, sandwiched between a newsagents and a hair salon on one of the busiest road junctions in Oxford. I was able to pick up a really decent pair of speakers for £11, which means that I can now watch the video and listen to Step into my Office at the same time, rather than separately as was the case previously. After making my purchase I had a wander around Headington Quarry. It's odd when cities expand and they engulf previously (semi) rural places in an amoebic fashion (well, that's not how it happens at all, but it is fun to imagine that it does and the grey blobs on maps do look like ickle protozoa extending their pseudopodia. Maybe). Apparently the quarry itself had always been a bit crap and there wasn't much stone to be found there and it was only suitable for making stuff like kerbstones that didn't need to last for hundreds of years, but it still left a whacking great hole and the best suburb name ever, so that's alright really. It's quiet and looks like it hasn't changed for centuries. As I was wandering around I saw three people in succession whom I thought I knew all of whom turned out to be strangers when they got closer. I thought this was very strange. It's not unusual for this to happen once in a day, but three times??? Fortunately, I realised each time before saying hello. Later on, I went to a couple of record stores and bought the Fans Only DVD and albums by Ballboy, Husker Du, Yo La Tengo, Julian Cope and Death Cab for Cutie (the last of whom are playing here v. soon). In one of the shops I finally met someone from work whom I really did know. I then met my ex's housemate who was really excited coz she'd just bought her *first ever* mobile phone. Are there are any of you out there who are yet to make this step? Finally, I met a girl whom I used to work with three years ago who didn't recognise me at first and said I'd changed a lot. I found this difficult to believe at first as I don't think my appearance has changed in the last SIX years...oh well. Anyway, it was like the earlier tripartite experience was merely a precursor of what was to come. I watched the Fans Only DVD in its entirety last night and I have a number of questions: The girl on the cover is reading a book which features a number of b&s song titles on the cover. The first is Lisa & Chelsea which of course isn't actually what the song is called, coz it's She's Losing It. Was the song originally called Lisa & Chelsea? Why is there no video to Waking Up to Us, seeing as it was a single? Was no video ever made, or was it just thought that the Later With Jools was better and more deserving of inclusion? Could someone help me find sinisterines featured? I spotted Big Stu of course and I think Lucy Alder is in the background at bowlie when Stevie's singing Rhinestone Cowboy through the loud hailer, maybe she can confirm or deny. I was going to keep watching the glasto bit over and over to see who I could spot in the crowd, but in the event went to bed instead, coz I was knackered. My only gripe is that it would be good to have seen the FISHYCLAP press launch in its entirety, but then I suppose if everyone thought like that kind of thing then we'd have a DVD which was ten hours long. The video to LLPJ is probably what I will end up watching most. I think I only saw a snippet of it when it came out seeing as it was on The Chart Show (which must have been close to its swansong) and they had to hurry on to Oasis or the Longpigs or someone. Does anyone here remember AR Kane? I've been listening to their "I" album a lot recently, probably as a result of hearing A Love From Outer Space at the Strange Fruit New Year's do. well, that'll do for now, Mark. http://grandpontgenie.blogspot.com ______________________________________________________________ For up-to-the-minute music news, reviews and specials visit http://www.nme.com Get free e-mail (anyname@nme.com) now at http://www.nmemail.com The sender of this e-mail is NOT an employee or associate of NME, nme.com or any other IPC magazine. +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+ +---+ 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. 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