Sinister: Post-ruling, the official account

[petula]

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

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