Ben

Read Ben's blog entry about books, and just wanted to say: Don't believe Olav about the ending of The Trial, he's wrong. It's not the same as the movie. And The Informers by Bret Easton Ellis is good, but is not the same class as American Psycho. I've also read Cocaine Nights, which is really good. Your review of Super-Cannes reminds me of Cocaine Nights. Ballad has the idea that crimes inspire community and art and when things are too safe and sterile, people become apathetic. All written with a kind of hyper reality that becomes more grotesque the deeper you delve.

Save me

Finished Sanctuary by William Faulkner over Christmas. It is detailed and layered, without being deep. The narrative is complicated, yet the story is simple. I read afterwards Faulkner only wrote it to make money, making it more controversial and sensational to get media attention to up book sales. I also read that he wrote The Sound and the Fury in 6 weeks whilst working at a power station, without changing a word. My hero.

Have stared reading No Direction Home by Robert Sheldon. It's a biography of Bob Dylan, and is currently out of print.

The Gant, the Bald and the Ugly

I've been wondering where all those western directors went after Hollywood kicked out the cowboy, and yesterday it occurred to me. They went into directing the darts! Before, darts was just the split screen, with the 5, 20 and 1 part of the board on the left, and the greasy mulleted head on the right. The board/head shot still exists, as do the bad fashions and "athletic bodies". But now we have close up's, board's eye view of the player, player's eye view of the board, long profile shots, swooping crowds shots, and best of all, slow motion of darts that don't go into the board, with a ear shattering clatter...