Captain's Log: 23:47 I'm not the man I used to be. Hee HEE! That's because I went to my first and, in all probability, last Belle and Sebastian concert ever. Now, I know that I never post, but I also know that you don't want to know why, so suffice to say that it has come to my attention in the past that I am rather uninteresting. So I will now continue, if ever briefly, my streak of boring writing. Anyway, due to some strange fluke, I ended up going to the Detroit show with my dear friend, but I won't bore you with needless detail, instead I'll bore you with necessary detail. So, here commences the tale of my journey "down south" rendered categorical. Clause A: Stuart Murdoch, Part-time Telepath So, Mr. Murdoch chooses to discuss in his onstange banter everything that my friend and I had discussed at length earlier in the day. FOr instance, why is Detroit's downtown deserted? I remember Detroit as a young lass, and let me tell you it was a very different Detroit. When did Ghostown USA Chic become popular? And then Mr. Murdoch also discussed the strange "PRay here for the TIgers" sign on the church (of which, by the way, I have a picture should it be required for the record books). So Stuart is clearly reading my mind, so now I know that my random observations on the city of Detroit were not singular. Clause B: Songs Songs and My Lack of Recollection I had every intention of writing down the setlist, but I was so caught up in my inane commentary that I forgot to do so. I was, however, reasonably impressed with the selection, and would have only been happier had either of the following occurred: a)Stevie and Stuart cover "Daddy Sang Bass" with Stevie as Daddy and Stuart as Mama, or, more realistically, b)They play the song "Belle and Sebastian." I know it's a simple song, but it's my favourite, and, after all, it IS their title track! Subsection B.i.: Neil and the News Yes, the version of "Baby Love" or whatever it's called to commemorate the birth of Mr. Neil's child was quite adorable. I hope I've never said anything bad about Neil in the past, because if I did I would be a terrible person. Way to go on the babymaking. Clause C: The State Theatre Oh la la! C'est vraiment B*Y*Z*A*N*C*E! Except when the lights turn on and you see the peeling paint. NO no, it was really a cute the-ay-tur. Subsection C.i.: What was the purpose of the wristband? Because if it was to designate minors it didn't seem to work. I had the same "band placement" as my very much older friends, and yet I am not, as the Casino security guards can attest, 21. Maybe the bouncery guy gave me the benefit of the 5 month doubt. Subsection C.ii.: To the adorable to the point of envy-making couple who sat in front of me, I'm really sorry I made you switch seats. I'm not usually so bastardy, but I was gripped with some irrational compulsion to have my line-of-sight perfect. Bad comments about Neil or not, perhaps I AM a terrible person. Clause D: Give the People the Bip Bop! Yes, Stevie's dancing is quite out of this world isn't it? It had a tendency to look like he was being attacked by something, but it was all very charming nonetheless. But why was no one in the crowd moving? I mean, God knows I hate dancing, but I expected something. Instead I had to be content with some odd hippity-hoppity-ing in my seat as I sang along. Subsection D.i.: It's actually quite hard to sing along to these songs when you can't get the song "It's my Life" by Talk Talk out of your head. Somewhat disappointing on my part. Clause E: The Great Crossing Yes, about this border security business, I thought the levels of awareness were supposed to have been ridiculously high. I was expecting to have to give blood at the border just to get in. Instead, we discovered that it was like the 1989 levels of security. They didn't ask us anything!!!! I felt so...cheated. I wanted to be interrogated. All we got was the bastardy guy on the way home ("Oh, you WATCHED a concert did you, you didn't GO to the concert?" Shut the fuck up, punk, you KNOW what we MEANT!!!!!!!) Furthermore, is the question "Do you have any firearms?" really valid? I mean, how many people do they expect will say, "Actually, sir, I have several sawed-off shotguns in my trunk. Is that some sort of problem for you?" Clause F: Busriding for a Hobby, but NOT by Choice Yes, even though I only live 3 hours from Detroit, I spent 6 hours on buses today, so that we could stop in every hick town in rural Ontario for NO ONE TO GET ON OR OFF!!!!!! Argh! After about the fourth hour this skid sitting next to me asked me what I was reading. After several more questions he became very agitated to discover that Evelyn Waugh is no lady. "WHat the hell kinda name is Evelyn for a boy??" I was half-tempted to inform said skid that Mr. Waugh's first wife's name was also Evelyn, but I didn't want to worry the poor man.....plus I never wanted to talk to him in the first place. So, such is my transmission. I really did enjoy the show, and I hope everyone who gets to their shows had just as fun a time as I did. Seeing my favourite band live completely restored my faith in my musical tastes. And to think I almost backed out of attending the concert..... Anyway, thanks for sticking with me, and take care, everyone. Yours, byzanciliciously, Marybeth +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+ +---+ Brought to you by the Sinister mailing list +---+ To send to the list mail sinister@missprint.org. To unsubscribe send "unsubscribe sinister" or "unsubscribe sinister-digest" to majordomo@missprint.org. 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