Salutations, I foresee this being a very, very long e-mail, as I was going to post anyway, and the events of the yesterday have given me both real content and reason to make the post even longer. I'll try to keep relevant bits at the top, and you can all delete it as you get bored, in a sort of marathon-like post reading. Went to the Yo La Tengo / Go-Betweens show last night. Fantastic show, in fact the best I've seen since a bunch of Glaswegians hit our shores. The Go-Betweens were....well not as good as the time I saw McLennan/Forster but still quite excellent. I want to see them doing a set without acoustic guitars though, so I think I'll have to go see them again when they come back with some Modern Lovers. Anyway, seeing them is still fantastic. And heaven is the soft curve of a cheek in profile, turned just so, illuminated by pink stagelight. Preferably from behind, turned you can see a little dip where the eye socket begins, at about eighty feet, then seventy, a little closer each song. Meanwhile, I finally found Miss Mai in the crowd around the end of the Go-Bs set, and learned some interesting news. It seems while in line to enter the club she saw Stevie and Struan behind her, and starstruck, said hello to them. Then came back and reported to me that they were there. So we weaved our way into the crowd to get closer, and Mai (who I swear must have Struan Radar or something!) noticed we were right next to Struan, looking dapper in a coat and leather gloves. We broke the ice and chatted with him awhile. I feel I ought not to reveal the reason they were in New York, as it sounded rather uncomfirmed, and it would betray some sort of pact. However, the reason they were at the club was to see the Go-Betweens. It sounded (and I couldn't be sure) that they may not ever release Loneliness of the Middle Distance Runner. Sadness. And after a fellow Scotsman talked to him a bit he said they were aiming to try and tour in the Springtime. Surprisingly, not that many people seemed to realize he was in our midst. Either that or they were paralyzed with fear. But I am not one to let that stop me, and I think I only slightly made an ass out of myself. He was certainly very nice and approachable though. But left when Yo La Tengo came onstage to look for Stevie. But Yo La Tengo were fantastic. They glided just off the ground of darkened country roads. They bent slabs of white noise around my heart and sent me to giddy euphoric heights. They made the girl with the illuminated cheek sway in the most delightful manner. At the highest points of epiphanic intensity I felt as though I had never really lived until that moment. That my life up to that point had been a thousand empty shells interspersed with empty days and nights, all building up to this moment. And that if I expired the next morning I would have achieved all that was necessary. So, uh, yes they were good. I suppose that's all the music-related content that will be in this post, so if you'd like, press the delete button now. Some of you still there? Ah, good. Well my life has been rather interesting lately, and I think one could draw parallels between their own and mine, so it might be worth sharing a bit to you all. You see, I recently moved from the hills of Appalachia to the Big City. A rash move, most definately, but I'm at an age when rash moves are expected of me. I spent a lot of time alone in a small room wondering what I was going to do, but eventually I got it all sorted out. Now I feel as if it was the best decision I have ever made. I cannot imagine feeling more justified. If my life were an 80's teen romance in film, this would be the part in which a montage of happy scenes segue from one to the other. Sitting on park benches, late at night, talking and laughing, stars gleaming, eyes averted. Chance run-ins on subway platforms. Suspiciously subsequent chance run-ins on subway platforms. Ought to throw some scenes from last night's show in there as well I'm certain. Above all, lots of talking, lots of furtive glances, and plenty of beer. My troubles slide away with phantom grasps too weak to take hold. My mind so rarely lingers on the past and so seldom worries about the future, firmly planted in the present. It's enough to make the confidance creep back out from behind my eyes and sit itself comfortably back in my life. Which is probably obvious to the reader, else what would possess me to yammer on and on about it? Well, I ought to stop here before I get even more dull. -- Brian Pennington, aka Mick McMick | cellophanesky@mac.com | ICQ# 39021436 Sandcastle Records: <http://www.indiepages.com/sandcastle/> the Cellophane Sky:<http://home.earthlink.net/~cellophanesky/the/index.html> "Better a tear of truth than smiling lies." - Duncan Browne +----------------------------------------------------------------------+ +---+ Brought to you by the undead 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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