Salut tout le monde, Here I am, back in Toronto after a nice long trip to see my Pumpkinny across the big drink. Coming home to 5 foot-high snowdrifts doesn't do much for my morale, let me tell you. What better way then to cheer myself up then to post an account of what we got up to? The first big event was a jaunt down to London to see Saint Etienne and attend the Sinister christmas social at the Po' Cafe. Saint Etienne were good, though I missed not having more actual beats to fill the songs up. And the backing singers should have realised they weren't performing with Celine Dion or Bruce Springsteen. Put it away missus! But Sarah was a vision in a sparkly gold top and the ever-present boa. Sightings: the fantastic Emmy-Kate from Kenickie! And Simon Price, who looked truly ridiculous in his late 80-s polka-dot shirt and a christmas button that flashed on and off. The Sinister social was really lovely. The Po' Cafe is the cutest place ever. It's tucked away on a tiny street in Covent Garden, away from the hustle and bustle of annoying tourists. I guess I'm technically a tourist, but I rule so it doesn't count. Anyhow, we arrived to find a big spread of veggie food and friendly faces. Our Trousers was the perfect host. He ran a tight ship, even ensuring that the secret santa presents were distributed in alphabetical order. And Papercuts' sleeve is done in a gorgeous silver paper, so you know he's got good taste. And that's enough, because Trousers shouldn't get too many compliments or it'll go to his head. Big hello to Pam, it was cool to see you again after all these years. And the late-night fish & chips were delicious! Hello also to lovely ms. Sezzie, who's made it over from Australia and is now a Harrods girl. Tim Hopkins had us all in stitches, chocolate consultant indeed! And thank you to whoever put the over-sized Rubix cube in the secret santa bag, it's very cool and has been an excellent ice-breaker at parties chez Attercliffe Road. The days leading up to the big 25 were delightful. Princess Racheeee showed me all the best shopping spots in central Manchester and how to flag down a big scary bus to Picadilly, usually driven by a grumpy driver who shouts at you if he has to go get a new ticket roll. Pumpkinny and I also DJ'd at Smile, though it was really 80-20% as I hadn't done it in years and was in a state of panic whenever it was my turn to mix in the next song. It was freezing, too. But I'm proud to say that I helped out at the third-from-last-ever Smile, at least at the Star and Garter. Let's hope it pops up again sometime soon. Warrender, John and the lovely Emma came round for a dinner party. We also had a special surprise visit from Madame Cholet and her pumpkoogy. The evening saw lots of gossip, a yummy dinner out on Beech Road and Gregory's Girl--failproof entertainment. You boys should all cover your nipples with your index fingers, it's top class! Next day, a quick breakfast at Cafe P!O!O! (cheese on toast, natch) before seeing them off on train to some small town I don't know. Christmas was fantastic. How enjoyable to eat nearly a whole box of Cadbury's Roses while watching the christmas Top of the Pops, admiring the antics of the Tamperer feat. Maya. Also the special xmas episode of that top quality soap, Emmerdale. I wonder if the poor shopkeeper survived. He seemed to have trouble reaching the last half-inch to press his security button, what a shame. If he dies, can I join his band with the Dingles? I play a mean jug. The antics of the New Year's party in Glasgow have already been covered extensively, but I'll add my 2 cents' worth. We sang for our supper at the Divine HQ folding tape sleeves. During the post-dinner EastEnders everyone looked at me in horror when I laughed at Tiff as Frank ran her over and finished her off. Chez Anne & Hush Puppy's we rang the new year in with assorted friends. Christophe seemed to have drank on behalf of me, and probably a few others. It made his funny David Bowie noises all the more hilarious. Keith called Honey to leave a message to say happy new year, and the phone was rude and called back! Strange Scottish telephones, I tell you. Though perhaps not as rude as I was some 4 hours later, when I told off a certain b&s member for wanting to collect her coat from the room we were (trying) to get some sleep in after being kept up all night by Scottish charades and a mysterious hand-clapping game. Lots of other nice things happened, but this is too long already. Oh, but one more thing: UK Latte Winner --------------- The search for places in the UK that make a decent coffee, or better yet, latte is an ongoing process. The winner hands-down this time is a cafe/restaurant in Manchester called Pimlico. It looks kind of trendy, but don't be put off. 1.30 (pounds) for a delicious latte in a charming glass. Best of all it's right next to Beatin' Rhythm (formerly known as Goldmine), so you can pop in for a drink after searching for your favourite girl group and northern soul records. (Tinderbox, a cafe on Byres Road just off of Great Western Road in Glasgow, comes in a close second. It also gets a special prize for being practically the only thing open in Glasgow on January 2nd. It appears that Scots take their new year's very seriously.) That is all for now. Back to writing a story for my community newspaper about the Ice-Clamations, East York's premier figure skating team. I'm not taking the piss, honest! To be honest, if any of you Sinisterines live in the East York region of Toronto and have any scoops on stories, let me know cos we're always looking for new stuff. love, elisabeth xx +----------------------------------------------------------------------+ +---+ 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" +-+ +----------------------------------------------------------------------+