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contours provocations
journal - 2002-0325 - mon 2000 Drudgery; Hard Drive; Another WWII Kick; Brassai One of those days fraught with quasi-boredom. Too many things felt like drudgery. Distractions abounded. Last week, I received a call from Compaq telling me I needed to return the damaged hard drive. When the new hard drive arrived, I'd not bothered to read the box label very carefully. But on looking at it more closely, I realized what I needed to do. This was after I salvaged the box from the garbage can. Since I'd never returned anything via one of the package carriers, I was not sure what to do. But then I noticed I could call and have it picked up. Then I remembered I'd seen a pick-up center at Office Depot, so at lunch I dropped it off. In mid-afternoon, I wondered if I should have gotten a receipt. Later I called Compaq and told them it was on the way. Or at least, I hope it is. I did very little this weekend. My one major indulgence was sleeping late. Something I felt I needed. But I can't say I actually felt any more rested. Saturday afternoon, I stopped by Barnes and Noble, as usual, and grabbed a copy of "Attitude," an Eric Ambler spy novel, and a book called "Seizing the Enigma." Brit gay mags, such as "Attitude," always seem to have more pages than their American counterparts. Maybe it's all those pages devoted to adult ads. Something that "The Advocate," "Out," "Genre," "Empire," etc., shy away from. I really think my favorite may be the "Gay and Lesbian Review." Possibly because it's more thoughtful and substantive. There another one similiar to it that I'd like to subscribe to. But I can't remember the name. About a week ago, I started on another kick of reading about WWII. So I seized "Seizing the Enigma" when I saw it. The second part of the title reads "The race to break the German U-boat codes 1939 - 1942." I'll be interested to see if it sheds any new light on the subject. In reading the promo pages at the beginning of the Alan Furst novel, "The World at Night," I bought last week, I noted several comparisons between Furst and Eric Ambler. The only work of Ambler I can remember reading was "Coffin for Dimitrios," but I don't recall the plot or characters. So while I was at B&N, I also snatched up Ambler's "Epitaph for a Spy." Two of the Furst paperbacks have great photo covers by Brassai. One if of a Paris kiosk emerging only slightly from fog and mist. Save for the top corner, it is all in shadow. The second is of two gendarmes standing at a poorly lit street corner. One of the men leans against a greenish-gray plastered stone wall. Around the corner is a shop sign that reads, "Secours Medicaux de Nuir." Brassai was renown for nocturnal, insular views of Paris in fog and mist. A world of eerie strangeness and compelling stark beauty. Brassai also made many shots of a hidden Paris - gay bars, backstage at the dance halls. One of his most famous is the one of the two men at a bar with one wearing the only the coat of a suit; the other wearing only the trousers. PAX!
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