archive for

# it's in the smmall things    02'12'29 13:37

Simple bliss can be in the small things. I put a new bag and filter in my Nilfisk and it hoovers with audible pleasure again.

# flattery    02'12'27 15:32    link

Hey, someone used one of my photographs for a design!
Hey, I'm not pissed of... I'm rather pleased actually. He had the decensy to add a link and my name, which most people wouldn't, plus isn't this the most sincere form of flattery?

# Coupland's compassion    02'12'27 15:09    link

Just finished Douglas Coupland's All Families are Psychotic at which I was pleasantly surprised. Yes, it's a rollercoaster-plot, hanging on unrealistic coincidences. Hell, it's a novel, not faction; and what really matters is, does he tell a story? He does, indeed, and masterfully.

But if it would've been just a story, I would have been very disappointed. This review from The Guardian comes pretty close, but misses the point, I think. It's not that the novel is a caricature despite the author sometimes displaying "some fondness for his less-caricatured creations" - quite the opposite. With the exception Howie, and maybe Florian, none of the major and minor characters are caricatures. They may seem so on introduction, or in the train of thought in others' thoughts. And hell, they struggle to get through their lives disappointments, and it helps to put a mask on. But the real strength of this novel, where it has the power to genuinely touch, is in the places where they break down, and face what's gnawing inside. Dropping the mask.
So what if the last fifty pages are a bit weak. Coupland has genuine compassion for his characters, using the form of the thriller to create the pretty extreme circumstances needed to crack them open, and especially the first twohundred pages, he's produced a genuine page-turner.

# a new 28mm issue    02'12'21 12:39    link

Been waiting for this: the second issue of 28mm.

# Polder 2    02'12'09 20:08    link

A sunday morning in a Dutch polder, #2.

# Polder 1    02'12'06 20:23    link

A sunday morning in a Dutch polder, #1.