Sweeties, I've just changed the way that Sinister sends out its mails by using something called a bulk mailer which bundles them up a bit more sensibly and sends them out in parallel - that's because people near the bottom of the list were getting Sinister mails two Tuesdays too late. Initial seems to suggest it's "faboo" - please let me know if it makes things worse or you see problems or your auntie spills her tea or something. What else? Did someone mention the FAQ? Let's keep the list clean of junk (and I don't mean "clean" or I'd have banned Chris Leonard months ago). The ghost of Cliff Richard is taking control of my hands and making me attach bits of the set of Frequently Asked Questions again for those who obviously can't digest the whole thing. I am going to feed it into your little birdy twittering mouths until it's firmly absorbed. For those nice birdies who have read it already, a pat on the back and a nice worm pie for supper. Dr HoneyP xxx *********************** Sir Cliff Richard says: 12. So what can we talk about on the list? Anything vaguely connected with the band or with life as a fan of Belle and Sebastian, is OK. The list is the place where you'll hear any real news about Belle and Sebastian first, but it is also a place where people will tell stories about what's happened to them, if they think they're funny or relevant. Try and remember this: it's a list for Belle and Sebastian but more importantly about the lives of People Who Listen To Belle And Sebastian. If you want a low-volume news-only list for the band then don't join. You will get a lot of mail that isn't about latest releases, gigs, appearances etc., but instead about ourselves. The list goes right when it's lively, funny, interesting, touching, and sometimes even useful. The list goes wrong when people post irrelevancies, not-so-funny "clever" quips, or long discussions take place which would be more suited to another list (like discussions of the relative merits of a band unrelated to B&S). I may step in if we get a long long conversation about something interesting to only a tiny minority of the list - some people pay handsomely for their email and would not be pleased to receive a thousand messages about an obscure band from Wigan who once sounded a bit like the intro to one of Belle and Sebastian's songs. If you do receive a mail from me which asks you to stop posting to the list on a particular subject, or in a particular way, please don't be offended - I am just trying to keep this list running ok - but please do something about it. I have seen too many lists die as a result of losing sight of what they are for and why people liked them in the first place, and don't want the same to happen here, if it can be avoided. Please try and be sensitive to the majority of listeners (over 500 at the time of writing) and do not continue long threads on an unrelated subject - if you wish to divert widely from the issues related specifically to the band, then go to a more general list or pop along to www.liszt.com and join another list as well! Pet theories about whether Elvis is a cat or indeed a brussel sprout are however tolerated for a long time because they amuse your list administrator. 15. He/she's really winding me up, I'm going to slag them off something rotten... DO NOT FLAME PEOPLE OR BE ABUSIVE! I take this very seriously and will act accordingly - too many mailing lists have been ruined by arrogance or a quick temper by people who consider themselves "real fans" - a rather pathetic term. This mailing list is setup for everyone, especially new enthusiastic listeners who do not need to be abused and belittled. Please be helpful and if you can't think of anything nice to say go and do a jigsaw. Anyone who is consistently a real pain will be permanently removed. I am a naive kitten and I don't like fights on my list and I'll stop them - there are plenty of angry lists to go to if you want. If anyone feels they are being unfairly mistreated or have any other problems with the list please mail me rather than the list. I will sort out any such problems offline. This of course doesn't mean you can't express strong feelings strongly - in fact it's mandatory. But don't attack people, attack things. 16. What else do I have to remember? Please read these and remember. If someone consistently ignores these you might get a bit of a growl and in extreme cases I'll stop people posting if the happiness of the majority on the list demands it. * Don't send warnings about viruses to the list! You might be being friendly but 99.9% of these "virus warnings" are hoaxes - the only "virus" is the fact that you are passing it on, and everyone who knows will groan. If you see one of these and aren't sure then mail me and I will check for you. * Don't send lots of replies to separate messages on the list one after another. This doesn't seem to go down well. Proper behaviour is to hold back, read a few messages and bundle up your replies to them all in one big message for the day. * If you are replying to someone, take the time to edit the bits you are quoting from their message carefully and just quote a few lines. If you can't be bothered editing the message you are replying to, don't bother sending - laziness on your own part equates to over 500 people having to page through stuff they've read before. If you are adding fewer lines than you are quoting it's probably not worth sending either. * Don't send number games/quizzes/jokes to the list if you can help it please. Put a bit of yourself into your posts. * If you really need some information on something that other people may not want to know, please make sure you remember to tell people not to mail back to the list, but to you personally. If you think others might be interested, say you will post a summary of the mails you received. And, erm, do it. * Don't use the list for private mail to 5 people you know. Please help my server stay unclogged so this list can survive. * People will talk about a book or film or song or sandwich filling they love or hate. That's fine - but please don't just say "it's great" or "it's crap". Say why. Just because a lot of people tell me they get fed up with these. * Please don't send messages with attachments to the list. This may not be junk to you but there's still lots of people out there who don't use mail programs that know how to deal with anything but standard text. And please remember some of us use Unix etc. as a principle platform and so attachments in proprietary formats (like Microsoft Word) will just be plain unreadable. If anyone wants to share material that isn't in standard text format, or that's of significant size, that's fine - just send it to me and I will post it up on the WWW site. That way people get to choose to download it... * Don't fling any old message to the list or treat it like email to a few friends - it just doesn't translate on a massive scale and people will get irritated. Think before you send. The drill is: compose your message - hover your hand over the send button for 10 seconds - think: "would Cliff Richard send this?" - send. 20. Who provides this list? Who says I can't do what I want on it? The resources to run this list are provided by my employer and it is not a guaranteed public service - I will do whatever is necessary to ensure its continued existence. If you want a completely unrestrained list where anyone can talk for weeks about anything, or a more constrained list that is moderated or band news only, then I'm afraid you'll have to go elsewhere. Hopefully (sorry) Belle and Sebastian won't become quite as popular as Take That so I will be able to keep it going on borrowed resources - but if it impacted too much I might have to withdraw it one day. To ensure it continues therefore it isn't a public resource in quite the same way a newsgroup is. So please be nice. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- . This message was brought to you by the Sinister mailing list. . To send to the list please mail "sinister@majordomo.net". . For subscribing, unsubscribing and other list information please see . http://www.majordomo.net/sinister . For questions about how the list works mail owner-sinister@majordomo.net . Listen, this is pish, I think I'll leave -----------------------------------------------------------------------