It had been quite a while since my family have been together in one place and then suddenly we found ourselves seeing each other twice in three weeks. After a long time apart it takes a while to remember what it is like to be a family. Sitting around the dining room table talking... about 4 different things. It is so easy to forget the basic rules of being a family. Each member of the family has his or her own obsession. The objective of the game is to try to convince every other member of the family that their obsession is the only one worth caring about. It’s a comprise between engaging others in conversations about your own obsessions whilst blocking attacks from other people. Once this has been achieved the game is over and the original owner of the obsession is crowned victorious and respected by all. Of course this has never happened. My dad is in the lead at the moment, having convinced my sister to support Carlisle United. They go to games together and make a very dangerous pair. Luckily it will take a while for them to convince either me or my mum that standing out in the cold drinking Bovril and watching a ball kicked around is a good idea, so the game is by no mean won. My mum on the other hand is playing a tactical game. She obsesses over multiple things (runrig, Donnie Munroe, Gaelic, stone circles, making food using brown flour) one minute you are feeling smug having successfully blocked a conversation about Gaelic and just as you are congratulating yourself you realise she is talking about Donnie Munroe and you are encountering angry glares from the other members of the family. My fight is going fairly well. My mum admits she likes Belle and Sebastian and even knows simple facts like: Isobel is the one who left the band recently, and that there used to be two people called Stuart but now one of them is called Stevie (ok she gets a bit confused sometimes). My dad has been known to play The Boy With The Arab Strap without prompting, but my sister still puts her hands of her ears and says “I’m not listening” whenever I bring the subject up (crude but effective weapon in the game) My first meeting with my family had gone abysmally. I was coming down with the flu and in no fit state to compete. My sister and dad on the other hand found many things to say about Carlisle, and even my mum had managed to slip runrig into a conversation. However the next meeting was on home territory. I had the upper hand! I stood my ground waiting for the perfect moment to attack... It came just at the end of the meal. I could see I was not the only one who had heard enough about the days match. My mum was looking decidedly bored. I launched my attack: “shall I put some music on” I asked her sweetly… “that’s a good idea” she replied. A fatal move on her part. I knew that is was unlikely that any member of my family had heard storytelling. And decided the instrumentals could be just what I need to secure a fan base within my family. I put the CD and then sat down, trying not to smirk. I let my dad and sister continue there discussion about the football and played with my remaining food. One and a half songs later my dad stopped talking and looked at me. I looked back innocently. Then he spoke: “this is a bit sophisticated for you isn’t it? Music without lyrics, I’m proud of you, its almost classical” I smiled and turned to my sister: “Do you like it?” “It ok” She was wary, she knew this could be a trick and didn’t want to commit herself one way or another. She moved uncomfortably in her seats trying to work out whether I had gone over to the other side and perhaps this was runrig, or whether the CD was something in the charts that she should probably know about. My dad cracked first: “So who is it?” I wondered whether to lie… but I was excited by the almost acceptance of my obsession that I could wait any longer to reveal their true identity. And as soon as I did the game was over… they put downs began, “this is a mavericks song, this is just like the beach boys, this is just like that other one they did” But I didn’t care. I had managed to get my family to listen to half a B&S CD without tying them down. I know they won’t be able to hold out much longer… one day we will sit down as a family and listen to a whole B&S CD without someone turning it off. Take Care Rachel ************* With the current crop of disposable jaw lines and manufactured inanity, it seems that we need our heroes now more than ever before. http://www.friendsoftheheroes.co.uk ***************** _________________________________________________________________ Broadband? Dial-up? 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