"It is a certain kind of religion to retire from your subjects." ---Juan Fernández de Medrano Remember when it was a strapping young republic? Maybe even more like an anarcho-syndicalist movement, a doomed experiment in the way of pre-Franco Spain? The Israeli kibbutzim? Jeepster as that really sad, attractive woman in _The Salt of the Earth_? Oh, and Charlie Brown. Surely I'm misremembering, romanticizing... I've been away for a while, a lurker who doesn't even bother to lurk. To be honest (/me shudders), I haven't even pulled out the old B&S records much lately. So imagine my surprise when I returned to the homeland and gave the official Jeepster site a visit! So shiny and smooth! Dreamy, really. The roads and sidewalks have been polished. All sorts of new sections, cozy cushions to hide in, kiosk after kiosk of information about *everything*. Maps, lyrics, pictures, hygiene recommendations, a fortune in gold-plated mailing lists bearing the official imperial seal, message boards, picnics, gigs, new music...! <SIGH SIGH SIGH> But there I am, walking at a leisurely pace along the new aquaduct, and I arrive at the center of Jeepster City only to find a crater where the old Historical District of town used to be. The only sign of its glory...a rusty sign swinging in the wind, "Ye Olde Sinistre Lavatorie." I guess I can understand it. A burdgeoning world power sheds a bit of itself--maybe even a substantial bit of itself--in the name of "progress." I wonder what it feels like to treat one's roots as mere appendage, to demote one's strongest supporters to a less than "essential" status. I guess it just seems like kind of a shame. --- Damon +----------------------------------------------------------------------+ +---+ Brought to you by the reborn Sinister mailing list +---+ To send to the list mail "sinister@majordomo.net". To unsubscribe send "unsubscribe sinister" or "unsubscribe sinister-digest" to "majordomo@majordomo.net". WWW: http://www.majordomo.net/sinister +-+ "legion of bedroom saddo devotees" "tech-heads and students" +-+ +-+ "the cardie wearing biscuit nibbling belle & sebastian list" +-+ +-+ "nambling pambling rice pudding & crochet holiday camp +-+ +-+ gangwanking whimsy-thon" +-+ +----------------------------------------------------------------------+