Sinister: in fact I already hate her boyfriend!

[sgazzetti]

O, Sinistri--
I should start by saying that I recently discovered
that ‘O’, which looks like a vocative, is
in Slovene, equivalent to ‘Hi’. So, Hi.
There were so many things in the last days’
mailings I wanted to address, but I won’t even
scratch the surface here, na zalost.

This is a posting of great joy, which may come as a
shock to any who regularly read my usual whinging
notes. I actually said out loud as I delved through my
inbox, really, no kidding, “I love the 
internet.” What I should say is, maudlin as it
may be, I love *you*. Okay. That utter crap, sincere
though it may've been, just lost half of my potential
readership.

In the interest of disclosure, I should also say that
a big part of why I love this place is the people
who’ve reached out to me, who’ve included
me in their worlds, in the music that makes them
whirr, and so forth. For this reason, the recent
thread of Hornsbyesque top ten discs has gripped me,
because in my shallowness of just two years ago when I
first became aware of B&S, my main motive for being On
The List was to try to cull musical recommendations.
Brain-picking. I wanted to know what ELSE I was
missing. Also, in my current music vacuum, I need
input. So clearly the recent postings from all of you
about Spiritualized and Souvlaki and Elliot Smith have
made me want to run out and buy CDs (if they were
available in TFY and they’re not), but in my
scant two years of listing I’ve also learnt that
everything you all like is not necessarily what I will
like. Still, many people who’ve guided me (and
some who’ve done much more than that) have put
me onto music that has changed my world. I think they
know who they are. But in the interest of disclosure,
I should say that a few subscribers will recognise
themselves as agents of goodness in my musical soul.

Blah blah blah. Everyone who sent me recordings of
Hefner, Cinerama, Ant, Low or Travis or even new B&S
while I was living in the CD-free zone of Argentina
RULZ. I guess that’s cutting to the chase. And
any of you who haven't sent such mailings to people in
remote parts: get busy. Mailing is cheap in the first
world, and there's yet a lot of joy to sow.

Other nice news: I learned tonight that I will be
travelling to “Spačekijada” on the
Dalmatian coast for my five-day May Day holiday. Just
in case one or two of you aren’t familiar with
the idea of “Spačekijada”, I will
explain. The Spaček is a make of Citroën
automobile, sort of like the Volkswagen Beetle only
boxier, and for a long time it was very cheap and
therefore literally “popular” everywhere
in Europe, even Yugoslavia. Spačekijada is a big
gathering, sort of a Woodstock of owners of these
ancient plywood-esque cars, and this year it is being
held in Istra, Croatia--at least the local version is;
keep your eyes peeled for your chance to attend one
closer to home. I am going not because I own one of
these crackerboxes, but because my old friend from
Sarajevo does, and that will bring him close to me. So
we will reunite at “Spačekijada”!
(Since I have this weird land-mine phobia).

Yet BIGGER news! I am GOING to Benicássim (sources,
even Spanish ones, disagree on the accent--grave or
acute?--discuss). But yes. I had intended maybe to go
in any case, but was feeling a bit wanchancy about it,
since driving all the way from Slovenia to Spain is a
lot of fuel and a lot of solitude even for me, but I
have just received word that a List Friend (the best
one, in fact) is, YES! free to visit during my August
break, and that wild horses or at least wild dormice
would be necessary to keep us from the Costa Brava or
Costa Daurada or Costa Blanca or whatever Costa
actually obtains in that exact area. I am very jazzed
about this idea, and hope to hear from others who will
be there. I have a lot of fish to fry in España
already, but I am greedy for aún más.

This brings me to a question broached by M. Henderson,
about (North) Americans’ willingness to drive
long distances.  Maybe I am still not sensitive to the
differences in fuel prices--gasoline here costs at
least twice what gli Statiunitensi are used to paying
for it, although Slovenija has some of the lowest gas
prices in Europe (and nothing I’ve experienced
yet compares to the prices Argentines pay), but it
seems to be true that distances are relative, and for
people used to driving from, for example, Montana to
Maine and back, jaunting up to Prague or over to
Barcelona doesn’t seem to be a big deal--even
though it costs. When I drove down to Rímini recently,
to me it was not A Big Deal. People I talked to here
acted as though I’d gone to St. Petersburg for
the weekend. It’s all about perspective, I
suppose, Matt, and growing up on such a gigantic
politically contiguous land mass inures us to
distance. I guess I need to tour the CIS or Jupiter.
And while doing so pull out “London
Calling” and “Sandinista!”
again--definitely seminal albums in my little life.
Thanks for mentioning them and reminding me.

Will keep this ‘short’ (at least in North
American highway distance terms) and send more vacant
thoughts later. Thanks to all who’ve brightened
my days with recent posts.

Nazdravje!
JDS
P.S.
Oh and this:
In response to Dean’s call for a healthy debate
re: the nature of jaffa cakes--
>>> ps - jaffa cakes.  are they cakes or are they
biscuits?  time for a healthy debate please>>>
I submit this, quoted in its entirety from my handy
desk reference book, “The Oxford Guide to
British and American Culture”:
“Jaffa cakeä / n a type of biscuit-shaped cake
containing orange jelly and covered on one side with
chocolate. Jaffa cakes are made by
*McVitie’s.”
The asterisk indicates that McVitie’s rates its
own entry in “The Oxford Guide to British and
American Culture”.
I think that “biscuit-shaped cake” is a
pretty clear indication that Jaffa cakes are *cakes*.


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