it's a book by Robert Bingham (Canongate 2001 Edinburgh; Doubleday NY 2000 or amazon: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/search-handle-form/102-6494795-1966511) It's one of those books that I'm on the final pages of and I don't want the man to go away but, unfortunately he did in 1999. Too much money. Too much heroin and Black Label. P.J. O'Rourke commented: "Terryfying action/pitiful land/pitiable characters/terrible situation- Aristotle couldn't have asked for a better mix of terror and pity." I suppose that's one field journalist to another; overdosed on American Republicanism and indulging in the fear of the wider world... Brits did it last Century and Alex some time before... right through the new territories.(East not West) Each in turn go forth in laughter and anger. It sometimes goes wrong and things as 'gang aft agley'... but this man as he writes his novel... I wish I'd been there for him... but then again I'm not much use either... life isn't everything, and people look to possibilities... look for love and hope for strength. No easy ways through this watery air but it will happen. This must be a non-violent willpower. I am reminded of Iran... it's colonial snoberry; the kindness and also fear... raised people up I suppose, like the circles became tighter... individuals in a group started looking out for one another. Can humans only function in these niches? I'm not so arrogant as to look for a strategy on that. Gordon I probably just need some air... as Kathleen Raine wrote: Never twice that river Though the still turning water In its dark pools Mirrors suspended green Of an unchanging scene. Frail bubbles revolve, Break in the rippling falls, The same, I could believe, Each with it's moment gone, I watched in former years Ever reforming maze Of evening midge's dance, Swifts that chase and scream Touching their low flight The picture on the stream Heart is deceived, Or knows what mind ignores: Nor the mirroring flux Nor mirrored scene remain Nor the rocky bed Of the river's course, But shadows intangible That fade and come again. Through their enduring forms The glassy river runs; All flows save the image Cast on that shimmering screen. _ I'm afraid this is all rather twice vicarious and not even slightly Belle and Seb except for the wee stories on the sleeves. Why search for relevance if you're searching for the intangibles of truth? "They were neither his friend nor his foe; that was what was so maddening" -Robert Bingham Hope stands taller than fear... I miss you. Maybe that's why we need to believe in heaven. +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+ +---+ 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 +-+ +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+