Sinister: Fighting the good fight

[Reid Dossinger]

I resisted the Demon of Sinister Negativity for as long as I could, and
fought him when I need to.  And I had him pinned at one point.  And then
I ignored him, and even though he followed me around with oatmeal raisin
cookies and a glass of whole milk, trying to get me to give in to his
wily, self-defeating ways, I wouldn't do it.  "Noooo way", I said, when
I'd gotten tired of ignoring him.  "The Sinister list is for fun and
knowledge and love of a common band, not for little negative tykes who
think that negativity equals rebellious knowledge."

But those cookies looked good, and when I let my guard down, he got me
in a headlock, and now I'm gasping for air (still eating the cookies,
though).  I've joined the Dark Side of Sinister.  All I want to do is
write in telling listee after listee where they can cram it.  So I'm
gonna do that now.  I hate having to thumb my nose at Paul's rule of not
talking on the list on the list, but this is what it's come to.

First off, if this isn't a list where people can blather on about how
much they adore Belle and Sebastian, what good is it?!  The notion that
we shouldn't be obsessively in love with Belle and Sebastian ON THE
BELLE AND SEBASTIAN LIST is so ridiculous that I don't even know where
to start.  My dukes are put up and waving angrily in defense of Lesley
who rightly pointed out that just because there are those of us who are
star-struck by the unbelievable talent of this incredible,
"life-affirming" (David's very true words) band does NOT mean that we'll
be jetting to Glasgow on the weekend to rummage through Mick's trash.
Like Lesley said, don't take it so damn seriously.

Next up: News Of The World.  To put it mildly, I'm very, very upset
about recent world events, especially the impeachment hearings.  I walk
around muttering to myself in imagined arguments and feel rock-bottom
depressed every time the subjects come up.  But to suggest that we're
apathetic just because we aren't talking about the bombings ON THE BELLE
AND SEBASTIAN LIST is almost as ridiculous as (see above).  Very simply,
this isn't the place for it.  And if you feel inclined to say, "We
shouldn't feel like we can ONLY talk about Belle and Sebastian", then
you obviously haven't read Paul's FAQ.  Which is the next point of
order:

READ THE FAQ <http://www.majordomo.net/sinister/faq.html>.  I
know this is a very Honey-like thing to say, and maybe I'm stepping over
the boundries, but the importance of this was underlined when I had to
re-subscribe to the list, and when I got the welcome mail that had the
FAQ on it, I realized how many people obviously hadn't bothered looking
at it.  In my opinion (and a lot of others', too), Paul is a master at
clear, patient writing, and if you're still confused as to what is
acceptable on the list...<sigh> I don't know what to say.

The next "too ridiculous for words" point is the sudden rash of people
complaining about the acronyms.  It's very simple: TBWTAS is a lot
shorter than The Boy With The Arab Strap.  And then it became TWATTYBUS
and TIGGERJAMMIES because it's *funny*, something that this list used to
be.  I'm sure that it annoys people.  There've been time when the names
have become so bastartized that I can't even figure out what song is
being discussed.  But it's all in fun...just let it go, please.

And while I'm already on your bad side, let me just let something out:
There are those of us who are very proud of the places we live and the
places we're from (rare for most Americans), and we don't particularly
appreciate having our hometowns and states and countries dragged through
the mud.  Maybe you think this is an overly sensitive thing to ask, but
please...just keep in mind that people live in the places that you hate,
and some of them may be on this list.

In no particular order, other things that need to stop:

1) ragging on Jeepster.  These people have been nothing but gracious and
passionate and caring about the bands and their fans.  Why the sudden
need to align them with uncaring corporate labels?  It doesn't take more
than a passing interest in the music business to know that there's a
world of difference between majors and indies.  If you want more details
than that, let me know.  I'd be glad to tell you.

2) ragging on anyone on this list, especially the ones who have been
nothing but happy bunnies, like we're all *supposed* to be.

3) the rise-up of the "this B&S song is horrendous" camp.  Criticize as
much as you want.  Most of us (not me) have B&S songs that we don't
like.  BUT don't call it unlistenable, or whatever.  Either say "it
doesn't do much for me" or something as equally non-confrontational, OR
say WHY you don't like it.  Look, we all love Belle and Sebastian,
otherwise we wouldn't be here (in theory).  But it just seems that
lately, some of the posts seem to have taken on an AOL message
board-style "You suck!" tone.  Knock it off.

There.  Email primal screaming finished.  I know I've over-stepped my
bounds, but consider it temporary insanity.  I hereby pledge to be the
happiest bunny there is.  I won't be forced out of my rightful place in
the happy bunny lands.  I will stay here, and be an example of the kind
of lovey-dovey, B&S-obsessed, "send" button-pondering, wit and wisdom
listee that Honey always wanted us to be, forcing out the grumblers and
frowners.  Or some shit like that...

Not even Christmas,
   Reid

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