Sinister: Post-crap post

[Wise, Terri]

I spent some time in England, and I'll say that pubs ARE a wonderful
thing... but I must also say that the folks you see on Ricki Lake and the
like are probably about .0000000001 percent of the US population.  The
producers of those shows seek out the most outrageous, pathetic individuals
they can find.  I've seen British TV and tabloids... I wouldn't say they're
much less guilty of that sort of thing.  Obviously, in neither case (Britain
nor America, TV nor tabloids) do those individuals in any real way represent
the population at large.

As for what Americans do besides going to the pub... well, it depends.
America is a very diverse country.  Trying to stereotype Americans is a bit
silly because there are so many of us.  I think it also depends very much on
how old one is... I'm 23 and I go out to dinner, go to shows, have friends
over to my place for drinks, etc... For example - on Friday night I had a
party at my place with friends aged 21 - 35 ish.  On Saturday I went to a
friend's for drinks.  Yesterday I relaxed at home and then went out to
dinner... then returned home to read.  Lots of people frequent bars or
clubs.  Clubs can be fun (though good ones are hard to come by), but I tend
to find a lot of those places too noisy... in that way, I prefer pubs.  But
there are a lot of other options.

I very much appreciated Tag's response to all the Americans vs. Brits
blabber.  Tag wrote:

"If I were you, dear Americans, I wouldn't blame Ricki, Jerry, Ophra er all,
I'd blame Kenny.  My favourite programme is "Eurotrash", where we spend half
an hour every week being treated to hilarious exposes of Italian porn stars,
Germans who dress as babies for sexual kicks, and Swedes who make jewellry
out of moose poo.  At no point has it seemed to me that this is normal
behaviour across the channel.  That's because I am smart enough to know the
difference between television and real life.  There's been a lot of crap
talked here recently about Americans, and while I have certain reservations
about American government policy (I have certain reservations about British
government policy too), I'd suggest that those responsible for this
patronising "I don't like the rest of your people, but you're OK" attitude
grow up, or shut the fuck up."

Thanks for speaking intelligently.  As for those who claim it was all a joke
- let's face it, it's hard to tell on a post if someone's joking or not.
And I'm not sure I really believe that anyway... Has anyone noticed that
most of the people who say it was a joke are not Americans?  Perhaps when
you're the butt of the joke it isn't all that funny? This list is supposed
to be about Belle & Sebastian, more or less, right?  

Thanks also to Michele for reminding us that pre-judging individuals based
on their weight (or any other physical attribute) should NOT be an
"acceptable prejudice."  Given the statistics, I'd like to remind you all
that there are likely at least fifty (quite possibly more) people on this
list who have, at one time or another, had an eating disorder.  The sort of
comments a lot of people have been making are rather careless.

And what's up with the popularity contests on the list?  (Guess I'm not
winning any with this post... ohhh wellll)  NO wonder we have so many
"quiet" members!

ANYWAY, many thanks to the many very generous people who have offered to
tape things for me and for other needy list members!  It's nice to know
you're out there!  I'm slowly becoming more enamoured with Arab Strap... but
my faves are still on Sinister, must say.  

Speaking of covers:  has the band had anything to say about the obvious
similarities with Smiths album covers?  I like them very much, don't get me
wrong - I'm curious, though, if the band or jeepster has acknowledged the
connection.

If you've gotten to this part of the message, congratulations!  :-)

Now off to some work... 

Terri Wise
Editorial Assistant
McGraw-Hill College

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