Gram "Parsons" LeBron said:

the whole time I was talking to them, their music, or even music in general, hardly came up. they are just regular people and they feel as awkward as you do when you start gushing all over them

Maybe I'm being too harsh, but I don't think that any of us really need this lecture. Even Ms. Lesley Miller, who was wearing a Isobel-tribute necklace obviously realized that Belle and Sebastian are regular people (wonderful story, by the way, Lesley). And by "regular", I'm assuming that you mean that, like all of us, they have the capacity to be annoying, angry, afraid, blah blah blah. We're all aware of that. But none of us are on this list because the members of Belle and Sebatian are really really nice. And I'm going to assume that neither Matador or Jeepster signed B&S because, hey, they're just like you and me. The thing is, they're NOT just like you and me. At least, they're not like me, and if they're anything like you, I'd love to hear your stuff sometime. 'Cause these are people who have it in them to create perfect music. That's not normal. Not for me, anyway. I guess the point I'm getting at is that anyone is welcome to just see Belle and Sebastian as just a bunch of regular folk who ended up in a band together. But I'll be the first to admit that they're much more to me than that. If any of you can write Slow Graffiti or write the horn part to Sleep the Clock Around or come up with the snare fills in The Boy With the Arab Strap, I'll gladly consider you idol-worthy, too. Believe it or not, I have the capacity to treat the members of Belle and Sebastian as normal people if I ever had the chance to talk to them (sticking my head out of a passing car's window doesn't count as "talking to"). But...I'm sorry, Stuart and co. are just going to have to live with the fact that they create incredible music and that makes some people a little gushy. I'm a gusher, I admit. Maybe it's a good thing that they're in Scotland and I'm in North Carolina.

maybe I'm being harsh, but can you imagine how many "how much your music means to me" speeches, they've heard by now?

Remember, this is Stuart Murdoch we're talking about, a man who once admitted that he traveled to London with the sole purpose of finding the guy from Felt so that he could, essentially, give him the "how much your music means to me" speech. If anyone's going to understand being profoundly moved by a band to the point where you just HAVE to tell them in person, it's Mr. Murdoch. Belive it or not, Gram, I do understand what you're saying. But if I had the chance to spend as much time with Stuart M. as you did, I wouldn't just say, "Hey, Stuart. Seen any good TV lately?" I'd want to tell him (calmly) something along the lines about how his songs came along when Ididn't think I could be *that* moved by music anymore, about how often I've teared up over how many of his songs, about how Seeing Other People is still as great as the first time I heard it. And honestly, selfishly, I really don't care if he's heard it a million times before. I just wish I could have let him *know*, regardless of whether he cares or not. You're welcome to feel sorry for me now if you want. I'm kind of enjoying it, though. Only slightly mental, Reid +----------------------------------------------------------------------+ +---+ Brought to you by the Sinister mailing list +---+ To send to the list please mail "sinister@majordomo.net". To unsubscribe send "unsubscribe sinister" or "unsubscribe sinister-digest" to "majordomo@majordomo.net". For list archives and searching, list rules, FAQ, poor jokes etc, see http://www.majordomo.net/sinister +---+ "legion of bedroom saddo devotees" +---+ +-+ "the cardie wearing biscuit nibbling belle & sebastian list" +-+ +----------------------------------------------------------------------+