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p.s. Hey. Gradually improving, still not there yet, but better. ** David Ehrenstein, Ah, very interesting. Thank you. ** James, Hi. He was. I can't remember if I mentioned it in the post or not, but I published a book of poems by him while he was still alive with Little Caesar Press. Me too, thanks, it's lessening. Never have seen 'It Follows', not yet. Weird, inexplicable, but still not. ** Dóra Grőber, Hi! No, the escorts and slaves are real. Or, well, the profiles are real even if the guys who made them are faking it, which they sometimes are, leading to them sometimes stupidly representing themselves visually with photos of recognizable guys like that model you like. The texts are all their words. I just occasionally edit them for length. My back is bettering. I wish it would magically correct itself in a flash, but I'll take the progress. That name M. E. Thomas is familiar, or maybe it's one of those names that seems familiar. I'll investigate that book you're reading. My day was better than the days before, but I'm having to take it easy. I worked some, did some phoning, it was okay. I plan to get out and about again starting today. Have a superb Wednesday at the very least. ** _Black_Acrylic, Hi, Ben. Oh, man, yeah. Sometimes the internet in my pad will go out for a few hours, and I feel completely lost. You back yet? ** Schlix, Hi, Uli. Yeah, it helped. I just hope what he did will take me all the way to normalcy. Well, in fairness, I haven't watched 'Conversation Piece' in a long time, but, no, I didn't like it. Why? Hm, I think I remember thinking it was stiff and overly stagey and just kind of dull? But, honestly, I would need to watch it again to really have a cogent reason. ** Kyler, Hi, Kyler! Good to see you! Oh, so are you up early reading this? I hope not. Not that I don't like the idea of you reading this early in the morning, mind you. Agents do tend to take their very sweet time a lot of the time. Sorry. Hope that means absolutely nothing. The delays, I mean. Uh, I'm not good at keeping track of my royalties. My agent gets the dough and the reports and just wires the dough into my account, and usually she tells me they did that. I'm terrible with money. The whole idea of money makes me anxious. Thanks for the wishes on my back, pal. Good luck with sleeping and with everything else. ** Jonathan Bryant, Hello to you, Mr. Bryant! Oh, that's very interesting, thank you. I'm grateful that you're drawn to my work, and I certainly understand why 'enjoy' is not the right word. I was going to say that I don't enjoy writing them, but I do really enjoy the writing part itself. It's just that ... well, letting my imagination create and explore what I'm compelled to write about isn't enjoyable, although the counterbalance of loving to write makes up for that in some strange way. I'm glad you enjoy reading my blog, thank you. Needless to say, I would be happy to talk with you here whenever you feel like stopping in. Maybe I'll give you a reason by asking what you do and how you are, only if you feel like answering? Take care. ** Steevee, Hi. I'm, of course, very happy that you 'KoC' to the degree that you do. It sure is getting polarized reactions in the States, from what I've read so far. My only counter to your criticism would be that I don't think it's about the emptiness of Hollywood, no more than, say, 'The New World' is about the emptiness of early America. I think it's about what Malick's work is always about, and the context -- which I would say is So. Cal. more than it is Hollywood -- tunes the film's construction and adjusts Malick's emotional focus from the outside inward. Anyway, obviously, I'll be very, very interested to read your review! ** Misanthrope, No, I agree. It brings this refreshing vintage thing to the blog's rampaging currency. It's like turning off the mp3 for a day and slapping on some vinyl. Well, yeah, about why musical acts release early. The problem with film is that, because films generally spend a year or so doing the festival circuit, and because versions of the film end up in the festivals' curators hands, and because curators aren't saints per say, versions of a film can start floating around on the torrent sites even a year or more before the film is released. Sucks for us. ** Rewritedept, Oh, have fun in Denver! Have a super great birthday! ** Armando, Hi. Oh, ouch, about your back thing. I can seriously commiserate with you about that, for sure. Thanks a lot for your lists. Very interesting, and I totally get your choices. Thank you. 'Das Boot'? Gosh, I haven't thought about that film since I saw it when it came out. I remember thinking it was pretty good, but I hardly remember it. Why, are you particularly into it? Michael? I haven't seen him in a bit. I know he was away from Paris working on an opera commission. I'm sure I'll see him soon. I think he's fine, just super busy. Later, bud. ** Okay. Uh, what's up there today ... Oh, right. That. See you tomorrow.