CHRONICLES archives the successive newsletters.
Or Mortar of Belief - Mix Thoroughly Before Use Building fantasy film architecture requires no diploma, no engineering skills, no degree. The construction is not done with quarried stone or adzed timbers, but with the materials of illusion : the 3 P’s – plywood,...
Or the Luminous Metallurgy of Despair This afternoon the lake is restless lead and the silver sky holds pewter clouds. The forest is copper and brass. The horizon is gold leaf burnished bright. Autumn’s heraldry is or and argent on a field of gules and verdigris. Days...
I’ll be in Zurich on Saturday December 3rd, at the 2nd annual film collector’s fair. That’s quite probably not the best translation for “filmbörse”, but I hope it’s clear enough. I’ll be there from 1 p.m. (assuming I don’t get mixed up with the trams and trains…...
Or the Entomology of Etymology How I wish I could remember more words. Period. I am particularly fond of etymology, which would be rather like chasing butterflies if words had wings. Not only are they as hard to catch, but pinning them down takes much of the life out...
Or Autumn on my Mind I have an autumn story for you. The last time I saw my mother, Alzheimer’s had more or less taken most of her memories. Her memories had fallen away one by one, like so many leaves, leaving behind only the bare branches. She would recognize me...
I’ll be signing on the Saturday afternoon at the Libreria Melisa, in Lugano. (Any chance to head south of the Alps is a chance well worth taking. Especially in November. Brrrr. More information here.
Or Are You REALLY Listening ? Dear Diary, I spend hours clipping, manicuring, trimming and generally lopping branches off the pine trees that form a hedge out back. It takes ages, and I end up all prickled and bothered and then have to haul cubic meters of branches,...
Or Life in the Fast Lane It’s always very humbling to visit my in-laws - they are all doctors, dentists and architects, when they aren’t researchers, engineers and university professors. They of course all speak several languages and have travelled to more countries...
Saturday, October 29 is the “Langenacht der Kurzen Geschichten” (the Long Night of Short Stories) at the English Bookshop in Zurich. Time: 19:00 - 22:00 The shop is at Bahnhofstrasse 70, not far from the main railway station. Their web site is here
ROLLING HARBOUR ELANDIR is a local Irish traditional music group, in fact they are practically neighbours. I got to know and subsequently appreciate their music thanks to our son, who caught the Irish music virus a few years ago. So, when asked to do the cover of...
Or Rain on Memory Lane Alas, I am definitely a creature of habit - in summer, I forget I’ll need overcoat and gloves in a few months; on vacation, I cannot imagine going back to work (my family will tell you it’s the opposite that is really true) and when I interrupt...
I’ll be signing books and all at the show in Carouge on September 4th, from 2pm until closing time (it’s like the warranties on cars… until closing time or until I get cramps, whichever comes first). Tickets with numbers will be distributed, so it will be quite...