Sinister: three-oh!

[ian]

HAPPY 30TH BIRTHDAY JIM!

jim taylor is 30 today.

forgive the shout-out, its for a very special bloke.  someone without whom
i'd never have found you lot.  because you have jim taylor and ailsa ross to
blame for my presence around these parts.
 bowlie festival... all those years ago...
one of them endeared themselves to me by appearing from nowhere on a sand
dune in the middle of the night, mumbling incoherently about mailing lists
and sharing wine (i think it might have been someone else sharing wine, on
reflection, but i liked this person anyway).
that was ailsa..... jim was the fellow who was kind, and friendly, and
funny - who got my friend water when she was fainting at the front of the
b&s gig (saved us from having to go to the back) and who danced and had a
laugh with us after the gig was over.  i decided any list with these people
on it had to be worth joining.

later on, jim was one of the people who made me feel most welcome at the
first sinister picnic i attended, two friends (one the fainter, one the
boyf) in tow, and a shy shuffle at my feet.  thanks to him, i got to go to
the first tigermilking and to meet loads more of you.  and i doubt that i'd
have done a lot of the things i've done with you guys since without such a
good friend to make me feel braver about myself.

i've met loads more of you since, and you're all lovely - but here's to the
bloke who made it all possible.
this isn't just motivated by gratitude, its motivated by friendship, and an
admiration of someone who isn't prepared to be cynical or mean in the face
of an uncaring world - and who is prepared to stand up for what he believes
in (even though i don't always agree with him).

i'll stop here, in case it sounds like i'm after him...
(i'm not)
(although a boy could do far worse)


so.... you have jim and ailsa to blame, and i have them to thank.  cos i'm
still here, one of those problem middle kids, never quite old enough to be
supercool, far too old to be a novelty...

i think we need another bowlie, yknow.  something to bring us all together.
a period where there are lots of gigs happening in a short space of time,
and lots of sinister-types concentrated together in one area - when we can
plan lots of marvellous things to do.  if only belle and sebastian were
playing three dates in the same city on one weekend in the near future....

but that's another subject, for another mail.  i'll finish with a HAPPY
BIRTHDAY, and a promise that my next mail will be more for general
consumption.

hope it was good, jim

xx
ian

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