G'day all. FLUFFY Well, over the last however long it's been, I've said stupid and controversial things on this list, poured out personal details that you'd really rather not have known, revealed crushes that turned into travels and then into weddings, taken digs at people, places and things, and probably shitcanned your favourite band, football team and ice-cream flavour. But never have I received such an overwhelming response to a Sinister post as I did when I recently said something along the lines of 'I like dryer sheets'. As a result, I've managed to deduce two things: 1. They have dryer sheets pretty much everywhere but Australia, and have done for ages. 2. Dryer sheets are really, really good. Really. I'd suggest that we start up a brand new mailing list in order to discuss the merits of dryer sheets in greater depth, and share our mutual love and appreciation for them, if it wasn't such a dreadful (and not even particularly amusing) idea. Anyway - thanks for your support, team. Solidarity always. Our damp laundry need fear no rain, and our soft buttocks need fear no scratchy, line-dried towel. A slightly larger electricity bill is but a small price to pay: for as long as there's a dryer in our laundries, there's no cloud that can keep the sun from our hearts. GREAT SOUTHERN LAND I also said something about Australian national pride, and how many of us are only really comfortable with it when some bloke from Williamstown is in the finals at Wimbledon, or we're pantsing the Poms at cricket. Again. I was matter-of-factly presented with a laundry list of reasons as to why Australians should be ashamed, since our country and our government is so despicably awful. And yeah, they are. So I take it all back. We're an international embarrassment, and really can only hold our heads high in the sporting arena, which doesn't matter anyway. Fair enough. What our government gets up to behind closed doors, however, with the marginal support of quite cunningly manipulated voters looking mostly at what sort of tax break they'll get at the end of the financial year (as opposed to the erosion of health care, aged care and education, or the continued neglect of the indigenous population, and the horrendous mistreatment of refugees), isn't necessarily what happens in my place, though, or at the gig at the pub down the road, or in the park on a Sunday arvo. There's a culture that exists here, at least in some places, and at least some of the time, that's unique, and really pretty swell. I vote with my conscience, and always have done. As such, I've tried to get rid of the current mob several times already, and I'll try again. In the meanwhile, though, I try to live my life as best I can, do the right thing, be good, tolerant and kind to people, and I don't think that's something I need to be ashamed of. Most of my mates are decent sorts, too - I think you'd get along well. The fact remains that despite the current government, and a bumpy sort of a history, Australia is, for the most part, for most people, as good as most places in the world, and better than many. It's mostly tolerant, diverse, friendly, beautiful, safe and peaceful. It's also got a gangly, knock-kneed, pimply adolescent sort of cultural identity that needs a bit of encouragement. Maybe once our political balls drop and our voice breaks, we'll get out of this awkward phase and really start pulling the sheilas. Or something. That turned into a bit of a rant. Sorry about that. To sum up: Australia's a nice place, despite the fact that our government has done, and continues to do, some fairly unpleasant things. If you come here, I'm pretty sure you'll like it. Just bring your own dryer sheets. Oh, and the Poo choked in the tennis, apparently. Whoop-de-doo. Pass the lamingtons. BLOG IT UP, BLOGGO Christine Irene said: "so enough of that. where have the regulars gone? dirty vicar? ken chu? the rachels? mark? it is just eerily quiet round sinister. see, those blogs are bad for sinister. i know that lots of people find their necessary outlets via blog now, so there is nothing to say to sinister. hmm??" Which is probably a fair point. I, personally, still favour Sinister for my incoherent ramblings, though, and here's why: 1. Reading a blog at work is too bloody obvious. It looks like you're wasting time on the internet. Sinister just looks like email. If I ever get a proper blog up, I reckon I'll make it look like a spreadsheet or something. 2. If you write a blog, you've got to lure people to it. You give them the choice. Sinister, on the other hand, lets you ambush people in their inboxes. Sure, they're here to read wittier and more relevant things, but they've got to take the good with the bad. Fiendish, no? NEW MUSIC I might have said something recently about the state of new music. I did, however, recently fall in love with the new Grandaddy record, which proved to me that I still have it in me to like music, which in turn proved to me that it's music's fault, after all, that this doesn't happen very often anymore. I've since given this more thought, and there seem to be two separate, but related problems: 1. Bands that used to be good, aren't good any more. For the most part. 2. There probably are good new bands, but because I'm old, tired, cranky and out of the loop - I don't hear them. Given that, I find that the thought of a new Belle and Sebastian record is looming quite large. Perhaps controversially (at least amongst my circle of mates), I quite like their more recent offerings, and think they hold up pretty well against the older stuff (nostalgia notwithstanding). Can they save pop music from dying a death once again? Probably not. But it might not be completely unreasonable to hope that the new album's at least good enough to be played at the wake. Bring it on, I say. ENOUGH That's easily enough for one day, though I should mention that despite my chest-pounding 'I <3 Australia' routine, I still love all of you and your countries of residence as well. Come and visit sometime. Bulk love, -David. _________________________________________________________________ Hotmail is now available on Australian mobile phones. Go to http://ninemsn.com.au/mobilecentral/signup.asp +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+ +---+ 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! +-+ +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+