dear sister-nines, i know how often our blighty bretheren (and sisteren--not "cistern" which could be misinterpreted as either a "well" or, at a far remove, "reservior") have talked about chance sightings of stray badges and outer-underwear to make contact with others of our ilk (hmmm, not exactly happy with "ilk", but we'll let it go this time) but in nyc, at least for those of us beyond the precincts of major universities (i.e.: nyu, columbia, sarah lawrence, etc.) it isn't too common. so imagine my surprise at finding myself staring at the fabled "study at stowe" in faded cerulean blue! i was meeting my gay pal sam to go off to a birthday party on the hudson that a sculptor friend of his was throwing (BTB, smashing picture postcard sunset, that) for herself. and it seems the bright lass in the b&s tee was staying at my his apartment while he was out of town (on a recommedation from his niece at yale, where both fems attended). my first reaction was, of course, "are you sinister?" and, of course, she wondered what the deuce i was talking about. after my explanation, hers was that she'd "borrowed" it from her suitemate (interesting about that word; homophonically, the same as "sweetmate," implying something altogether different in relationships) and was hoping she'd never remember to ask for it back. however, as we were late for the river and the gal was already wheeling her mountain bike towards the door and so there's little else to say about her tastes. nice shirt though. lesson? beware of sheep (aka: the "eli" or "yalie" is nicknamed after their school song "we're poor little lambs who have lost our way"--honest! i'm not making this up!) in bowlie clothing! yes. well, stretching points is much more fun than sticking on them. part two. in re: the above confusion of there/here. noting a thread on the strangeness of the isles speech and the richness of the slang therein, it should be mentioned that there's no reason why we should pretend towards, nay!--or even champion, exclusiveness in our word choice. winston churchill said it best: "america and england are one people separated by a common language." over here, we've been absorbing your lingo since shakespeare, with a healthy dose of dickens and by the time of "the british invasion" of the '60s, we were more than ready to take on more. and perhaps that's why even abba had to sing in anglomerican (or "midlantic" if you prefer... first heard that one in "absolute beginners." was that just concocted for the film or is it real?) in order to make it huge. fact is, the world of pop is ours specifically from that consequence. try as they might, no other country can really make anything that resonates with the immediacy to affect teens, toffs, toughs, 'tweeners and turf-surfers en masse. it is the bastard child of a thousand fathers that takes a little from french, german, spanish, italian, scandanavian--whatever comes along. several years back, i was doing a review of the love box set (no, not house of love--the west coast psychedelic era band fronted by arthur lee) and it occured to me how incredibly varied this material was. and then i thought about the context that it came out of: top 40 AM radio. that was the time you could have the rolling stones "satisfaction" and the kinks "lola" on the same list as frank sinatra, peggy lee, "the man of la mancha" broadway cast album, dave brubeck's "take five" jazz, wilson pickett, novelty hits like a jugband number called "the eggplant that ate chicago" or "winchester cathedral" as it harked back to rudy vallee... i mean, a complete hodgepodge, true, but one that could never be called dull, or offer sameness in the manner of today's programmed MOR. so old arthur lee could have honky tonk next to a movie soundtrack cover next to big swing next to interpersonal ballads next to all-out freak-outs, and THAT would be consistency, not conformity. that's why b&s can stand alongside giants like brian wilson as he exchanges bows with the beatles and burt bacharach can join with elvis costello and all can look back to where tin pan alley, folk city and the brill building shared space with the venerable music hall and street buskers. therefore, if we pepper our palates with "suss" (re: Who) or "fag" (countless cigarette refs in movies) or "loo" (cf. previous) there should be no need for any sanction. (actually recall a book called "the loo sanction"...nevermind) so, the best of both worlds. and best to all concerned carle +----------------------------------------------------------------------+ +---+ 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. WWW: http://www.missprint.org/sinister +-+ "legion of bedroom saddo devotees" "tech-heads and students" +-+ +-+ "the cardie wearing biscuit nibbling belle & sebastian list" +-+ +-+ "sinsietr is a bit freaky" - stuart david, looper +-+ +-+ "pasty-faced vegan geeks... and we LOST!" - NME April 2000 +-+ +-+ "peculiarly deranged fanbase" "frighteningly named +-+ +-+ Sinister List organisation" - NME May 2000 +-+ +----------------------------------------------------------------------+