Ahoy there, shipmates ONE NIGHT IN BANGKOK Hold on to your hats, because I have some disturbing news. While it is delightful to bask in the rosy glow of victory, I fear there is something rotten in the State of POP. Our triumph may be forever tarnished. Pull up a chair and let me tell you the sorry details... Dedicated followers of football will have been shaken to the very core by the recent news that our national game is actually controlled by a shadowy far-eastern gambling cartel. For these inscrutable chancers, the premiership is a mere ball-bearing in a global roulette wheel of fortune, a trinket for their idle amusement. And now that they have been rumbled in their infernal match-fixing, they have turned their attention farther afield, and their cancer has spread deep into the heart of our culture. Belle and Sebastian’s odds of winning the best newcomer awards at the Brits this week were so great that as soon as the shortlist was announced, phonelines around the Pacific Rim went into meltdown. The entire Hong Kong stockmarket was wagered on the screwball chamber-indie octet coming up trumps. Brokers in Bagkok hoped to resurrect the Thai baht by banking on the winsome troubadors victory. They could not be allowed to fail. And so the BPI directors were treated to a slap-up meal at Wagamama, Steps were fobbed off with a year's free shopping at Muji, and 5ive were given their weight in Hello Kitty merchandise. The path had been cleared.... ....And who is the shadowy mastermind behind the greatest gambling coup of the twentieth century? Well, who do we know in the far east, who is au-fait with the latest happenings in indie-pop, and is feared throughout both hemispheres for her legendary poker skills? Yes, reliable sources inform me that it is none other than our old friend “Lucky” Yingluck...OOOOOOooooon herself! Rumour has it that she devised the entire scheme to pay for a luxury private jet, painted with Badtz Maru characters, to ferry her to the Camber Sands Bowliestock weekend. Who will end her malign reign??? LEONARD-SKEONARD Meanwhile, in domestic news, I am pleased to announce that Mr Christopher Leonard will be bringing the Sleekasounds roadshow to The Poetry Cafe Social in Covent Garden next Friday, 26 January, from 7.30pm. Rumour has it that he will be joined in his encore by none other than Mrs Murdoch herself, so make a note in your diaries. Fun and games and indie-schmindie hi-jinks for all the family. For more details, directions etc, email me (poetryplace2@easynet.co.uk). Still only £3! HE IS A ROCK HE IS AN ISLAND I was reading a book last night (it was The Dalkey Archive by Flann O’ rien – highly recommended) and I came across the following nugget: that the name “Peter” is derived from the Greek word “petros”, which actually means R!O!C!K!. Well I never. Rock Miller, I salute you. Stay pressed Stevie Trousers PS: To all the people I owe copies of Papercuts, I’ve just got a new batch printed, and I will despatch them forthwith. Sorry about the delay! +----------------------------------------------------------------------+ +---+ 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" +-+ +----------------------------------------------------------------------+