On February the 9th, 2002 I woke up in a bit of a panic because I was
supposed to be in Brighton for the Sinister meet-up that day, and I hadn't
even travelled from Blackpool to Bath the day before like I was supposed to.
So, I went a bit mad at my dad until he agreed to give me a lift to Bath, so
I could catch the train from there. He gave me a lift to the train station
after much cajoling. By the time I got there, the only train they had was
one of those old steam trains that looked like a rusty version of the one in
Harry Potter. I got on that and chugged off to Brighton. As it happened I
got there are little bit early, and in the park where we were meeting (which
looked oddly like Primrose Hill) there were only a couple of people and I
only recognised one, Asm, so I sat down with them for a while, then went to
check into the hotel I was staying at that night, which overlooked the park.
I did all my checking in stuff and sat looking out of the window for a while
watching the Sinister people talk and thinking and occasionally waving to
the people outside. Then, after a while the hotel owner came in through the
window. He said this was standard practice, and he was just checking that
the room was in order. I apologised because I hadn't had time to unpack
properly, he said that was ok, them gave me the keys and walked off. I began
looking through the window again, an I started feeling sad. I waved to the
people outside the window, and they laughed at me, and said I'd been waving
too much, and I should stop. That made me feel even sadder. I began looking
out of the window and thinking again when I noticed that three or four of
the people outside were crying, I asked them why and the said that Belle and
Sebastian fans were really emotional, and there didn't really need to be a
reason for them to cry. I waved at them again and they laughed at me again
for waving too much.
After I'd put all my stuff away in the hotel room I went outside and talked
to the Sinister people for a little while. I felt a little bit odd, like
everyone was waiting for me to do something wrong. After a while I noticed
it was 6:30 pm and I'd been in my room for hours. I asked someone if there
was still time to go to the pub, and they laughed at me and said there was
ages of time in a kind of 'how could you be so stupid' way. We all started
to get up to go to the pub when I noticed a couple of people at the upper
windows of the hotel I was staying at. One of them might have been Lucy
Alder. I waved at the one who might have been Lucy Alder, and she laughed at
me for waving too much. Then I noticed the other girl was wearing a Pink
Panther t-shirt, and I complemented her on her taste. She laughed at me,
because she said I'd already said that loads of time.
And then I woke up and it was all a dream. True story. I think a
psychiatrist would have a field day. I also had a dream a few days ago where
someone was trying to kill me, only they sent other people after me, and I
could never ever find out who it was. I just kept having to live in fear and
thwart each would-be-killer individually, which I didn't actually have much
problem doing. This probably also says something about my psyche too.
In other matter, did you know that Sabine from 'Griffin and Sabine' by Nick
Bantock is supposed to be evil? Well, there is nothing conclusive, but I saw
the following on Amazon.com, and it makes interesting reading, and seems to
explain a lot of the unexplained aspects of the book, even if it isn't too
well written.
"This is not a tale of love in any conventional sense. Rather, this is a
story of a predatory, perverted love, if about love at all. Indeed, I will
concede that the artwork is truly extraordinary. The suspense is palatable,
and the language is poetic. But they are mere distractions--window
dressing--to what is really going on. The beauty and suspense are meant to
throw the reader off, to make him want to read too quickly and not
carefully. The author has created something that not only works on many
levels, but can also appeal to many people on different levels. A very
difficult task, to say the least. But there is a genuine disrespect in the
way he tricks people into believing that this is a great 'love' story.
At first glance, the trilogy seems to raise more questions than it answers.
However, the answers are strewn amidst the prose of the postcards and
letters. Without revealing the plot, the trilogy is replete with references
to Yeats' "The Second Coming," even down to the reference to the sphinx.
Yeats sees the sphinx rising up to bring forth the end of the world. The
indignant "desert birds" (line 17, a.k.a. humans who foresee the Second
Coming) try to stop the sphinx from bringing about the end of the world, but
their task is impossible. In the end, Yeats reveals no hope for the
continued existence of humanity. This is relevant because the character
"Victor Frolatti" in G&S is the author's personification of a desert bird.
Furthermore, one of the postcards, with the very symbolic picture of a child
on it, has in the fine print at the bottom that says, "and what rough
beast...slouches...to be born." Straight from Yeats' "Second Coming." This
postcard is addressed to a new stranger no less, and it begins exactly as
did the first one she sent to Griffin: "It's good to get in touch with you
at last." Sabine signs her name "Sabine M. Strohem," not "Sabine
Strohem-Moss" or "Sabine Moss." Some may think, mistakenly, that since she
has included the 'M' she and griffin must be married and living happily
ever-after. I think not. She's added the 'M' almost as if it's a trophy. And
note that the stamp is the gold fish breaking out of the glass--the picture
on the first postcard presented in the first book. By the way, "The Second
Coming" is not about the resurrection of a kind, benevolent Christ, it's
about the resurrection of an omnipotent judge with an iron fist.
It's easy to be clouded by the muse of an apparent romantic love story to
even worry about the discontinuity here. In short, and at its core, "The
Griffin and Sabine Trilogy" is a study in deceit and evil. Griffin receives
a postcard in the mail from a stranger. The stranger knows things about him
that no one else knows via 'powers' that she somehow possesses. This
stranger uses her cunning to evoke feelings from Griffin that he has never
felt before. Griffin eventually surrenders himself to her, and in doing so,
ultimately seals his own fate. Sabine feeds her own thirst by destroying her
prey from the inside out; not metaphorically, but quite literally. She is
the true personification of evil. And when she has finished with Griffin,
she moves on to her next victim, ready to add him to her collection of
vanquished souls. This is the only logical conclusion that can be drawn
after examining all the evidence. She is a predator, and those she seeks out
are her prey. She uses her powers to reveal the most vulnerable aspects of
her
victims, and then attacks using 'love' and 'passion' as her camouflage. "The
Griffin and Sabine Trilogy" is not exceptional because it's a great love
story; rather, it's an extraordinary study and presentation of the
complexity of human nature disguised as a great love story."
Weird eh. Well, this e-mail is already way too long, so I'll just finish by
saying that I think the situation with David White's mp3s is appalling, and
I have e-mail BPI to that effect. I hope they withdraw their complaint.
www.fastcow.co.uk
www.eurosexuals.co.uk
Peter Carter
p.s. Can't wait to see everyone in Brighton, just don't laugh at me if I
wave too much. ;)
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