So I went to the McSweeney's festival this weekend. I would waste valuable space on intense descriptive detail, but that would be boring, and that's not really tolerated on this list. so, speed descriptions: Zadie Smith: as young and as pretty as expected. adores Madonna, loves Radiohead, smokes like a fiend, is very patient. Does *not* like Will Self. Neal Pollack: funny, but very guarded. stingy with his *free* books. (there was a contest for most pretentious t-shirt, and I won, but never got the book he promised) somewhat alarmed by my questions. Dave Eggers: not the monster I thought he would be. Approached me in the bar and congratulated me on winning the t-shirt contest. Called me 'sport' and directed me to Neal Pollack, which was cool, but weird. He is insanely laid-back, so serene. I don't know how he deals with what he does (at the signing, people were telling him about how relatives of theirs had died, etc) but he is calm- an American Buddha, a california curly-haired Jesus. well- main content being that, when I was in line to get my book signed, he remembered me from the past night, and said "hey, the guy with the t-shirt, what are you wearing today?", "Belle and Sebastian t-shirt", I squeaked. "Cool," Dave said. Neal Pollack said "you know you can't win two days in a row", which I thought was unnecessary. (and I've never figured B&S to be that pretentious. maybe some of the fans..) when i finally got up to him, Dave asked me if I remembered the scene from Hi-Fidelity, and i said "of course, it's so funny". Dave said he liked the band, but that he was listening to mostly country now, old-time country with yodeling. He told me he could not get enough yodeling. I agreed, and thanked him for the book. there was a similar, more drunken exchange with Neal Pollack regarding music, but with no mention of Belle and Sebastian, and so has no business on this list. writer gossip. very tired, Kevin +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+ +---+ Brought to you by the 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 +-+ "sinsietr is a bit freaky" - stuart david, looper +-+ +-+ "legion of bedroom saddo devotees" "peculiarly deranged fanbase" +-+ +-+ "pasty-faced vegan geeks... and we LOST!" - NME April 2000 +-+ +-+ "frighteningly named Sinister List organisation" - NME May 2000 +-+ +-+ "sick posse of f**ked in the head psycho-fans" - NME June 2001 +-+ +-+ Nee, nee mun pish, chan pai dee kwa +-+ +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+