Verily I say unto thee, hello. You thought I might stay silent forever, but you were wrong. I'm not about to do any such thing, especially in light of all the recent hullaballoo in these parts. First, I'd like to second (or, by this point, fourth or fifth) the sentiments put forth by Dimitra. For while I've not done the Sinister Tour o' Europe (or North America, for that matter), I have very well enjoyed my time here, and have gained at least one dear friend, and have learned heaps about many topics which, if nothing else, make me a much more interesting cocktail party guest.* (*This statement has not been verified by the FDA.) So, thanks. Thanks to all of you, even the Pinefox, whose posts leave me scratching my head and wondering whether I'll ever have the smarts to actually understand them. And even though he's mired in Argentina and won't read this unless I forward it to him, thanks to JDS for being a swell sini-pal. I'll stop all of this sappiness right after I note that Dimitra's post left me all sighing and wistful, which would be saying something if watching Shrek on a plane the other day hadn't had the same effect. I swear it was just Cale's (or would that be Cohen's?) 'Hallelujah,' which gets me every time, although it's possible that a computer-generated cartoon did indeed make me a little watery eyed. Let us never speak of this again. I hear Iceland's quite a nice place, although it hasn't many trees and can be a bit chilly at times. But really, people, it produced the delicious (and nutritious) Jonsy and his bunch, so there must be something to it. Also, my uncle recently went there on holiday and quite enjoyed himself. He's pro-Kyoto treaty, by the way. Swedish fish=fantastic. Ikea sells bags of them for mere cents. Make a note of it. I am unabashedly pleased to announce that I'll be attending the second SF show, will be sitting (or, I guess, standing) on the floor, and would be more than grateful to any cute, tall, skinny alternaboys who might like to boost my five-foot-two self up for a better view. That is to say, my view would be better; no promises to those around me. I would not be at all averse to some sort of meet-up beforehand, although the Warfield has the dubious distinction of being near pretty much nothing but the Crazy Horse, which is decidedly un-twee. Dunno--maybe forties in brown bags on the sidewalk would make us all feel more at home in the neighborhood. Discuss amongst yourselves. While I've never had the guts to attempt any Pynchon beyond Lot 49, I have been stubbornly making my way through Proust, and while I will admit that he can be a bit verbose now and again (fuck's sake, Marcel, SPIT IT OUT ALREADY), he is spot-on about many, many matters related to love and infatuation. I would detail them for you now, but really, it's time for coffee. But not before I note that Vancouver is hands-down my new favorite (or favourite) city for so many reasons, not least among them the fact that one can purchase decent Kit-Kats there. (Yeah, yeah--culture and restaurants and scenery, too.) However, British Columbians, please explain to me why the sole radio station one can tune to in the vicinity of Whistler insists on playing something Phil Collins-related every third song. This could be the downfall of what is otherwise a top-notch province, and that worries me. Anyway, I'm back to YVR for a short spell next weekend, so suggestions of things not to be missed would be lovely. In return, I can tell you anything you want to know about San Francisco. Deal? Ooh, and just one more thing. You'll thank me for this, you will, especially if you're as annoyed as I am by Bil Keane's insipid Family Circus cartoon. Check out the reviews of his books readers have posted to Amazon, and never look at Little Billy and Not Me the same way again: What Does This Say?: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0449148149/qid=998005074/sr=2-2/r ef=aps_sr_b_1_2/104-1363541-5188722 I Had a Frightmare: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0449146154/qid=998005139/sr=1-2/r ef=sc_b_2/104-1363541-5188722 Like I said, it's time for coffee. Yes, Emily p.s.--Greater-than-average (if that's humanly possible) love to Honey for dealing with my two-faced addresses. You really are the loveliest ever. +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+ +---+ 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 +-+ +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+