Things have gone a bit quiet. I hope you weren't too put off by Honey's grrring. Rememeber, as long as you've listened to what he says, he likes lurkers to post. As the great big man Tim Hopkins once wrote before one of his Sinister sabbaticals:

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Can I take this opportunity to say that some, indeed most, of you have been lovely, and that there haven't been many days this year when this list has failed to interest or provoke me. This list is a mighty and special thing, but it is also a bit fragile. Take care of it.

The best way to take care is to try to make sure that *every time* you post, you put a bit of wit, or a bit of heart into your message. Then everything will be just dandy. I still can't think of a better place to give and receive friendly abuse, to get snarled up in pedantic arguments about pop ethics, to write to 600 strangers about your dreams, or to talk about the best pop group in the world. Whoever that might be today.

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*Sigh* Here are some things you might like to talk about: I don't think I would like Belle & Sebastian so much if they looked rubbish. Does anyone else agree? (NB. I am a very shallow person.) Isn't it funny that a band with such a low profile should have one of the strongest 'images' around? 'Very Belle & Sebastian' has become an adjective in some circles, applied to everything interior design schemes to traffic-calming initiatives. Someone brought up the trumpet solo in 'Dog on Wheels' again. Here's a list of things people have accused B&S of pinching. They even admit the last two. There are many more, I'm sure, of varying degrees of tenuousness - perhaps someone could remind me. Mayfly... 'Telstar' - The Tornados (the stylophone solo) Dog On Wheels... 'Alone again or' - Love (the trumpet solo) Seeing Other People... Peanuts Theme by Vince Guiraldi Lazy Line Painter Jane... 'I Can't Stand It' - The Velvet Underground (the intro) Slow Graffiti... 'The Laughing Gnome' - David Bowie ('so how about it...' / 'I was walking...') The Stars Of Track and Field... 'Shangri-La' - The Kinks The Boy With The Arab Strap... 'Spirit In The Sky' - Norman Greenbaum Le Pastie De La Bourgoisie... 'Theme from Emmerdale Farm' (the guitar riff that precedes each verse) Sleep The Clock Around... 'Another Girl, Another Planet' - The Only Ones (the intro when played live) And - Belle & Sebastian plagiarising themselves: 'The Boy Done Wrong Again' / 'Dirty Dream Number Two' ('what is it I must do to pay for...' / 'A choice is facing you, a healthy...') 'We Rule The School' / 'The Fox In The Snow' 'The Stars Of Track And Field' / 'It Could Have Been A Brilliant Career' 'This Is Just A Modern Rock Song' / 'Lord Anthony' I'm glad I set up my smut-box. Last night on Radio 5 they were talking about sex and violence in the media. One of the guests had a long rant about us! Well, she didn't mention Sinster by name but it was only a very thinly-veiled attack. "The problem with smut," she said "is that people who enjoy being smutty and laughing at words like 'bum' and 'tits' soon become incredibly boring. As smut infects their mind, their conversation becomes begins to revolve around smut and any meaningful content goes out ot the window. Soon smut takes over their whole life and they can't relate to anything but smut. It's just smut, smut and more smut." She really did say smut this many times. Nick xx +----------------------------------------------------------------------+ +---+ 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" +-+ +----------------------------------------------------------------------+