The Farrelly Brothers and Pelecanos

I was watching Shallow Hal a few weeks ago, because I was tired and I had no idea what else to watch. I have never been much into the Farrelly brothers, but I thought there are worse ways to spend a Saturday night when you are tired than watch a comedy. Then something struck me, that made me enjoy the movie a thousand times more: Hal in one scene was reading Down By the River Where the Dead Men Go by George Pelecanos. I understand they are admirers of his work. Good to know: I am too, and it makes me appreciate them more, not as movie makers, but as men of taste. I don't think there is a deeper meaning to the presence of the novel in the comedy than their admiration for Pelecanos. That said, the novel deals partially with Nick Stefanos, the main character, discovering something about his girlfriend he would rather not see, her alcoholism, which ties it nicely to the plot of Shallow Hal. I have no idea if the Farrelly brothers thought about it. But you never know: they are obviously men of literary taste.

Grilled cheese and mustard sandwich

This is an utterly trivial post. I am posting it because since Thursday I posted a string of serious or gloomy posts. Not bad one, but I thought I would lighten up a bit. I just had lunch. I made myself a grilled cheese and mustard sandwich. Cheddar bough at M&S, mustard is French's American mustard. I poured loads of mustard on the bread, then two slices of cheese, then grill it. The perfect comfort food. The funny thing is, however simple the recipe is, it is a new sort of sandwich for me. I have been making this particular sort of grileld cheese sandwich since two weeks ago. I discovered it in... Down by the River Where the Dead Men Go. Yes, I discovered reading Pelecanos a new sandwich. Sometimes one is influenced by the books he reads in the most unexpected ways. The grilled cheese and mustard sandwich is now my new comfort food for lunch. I recommend it. And I recommend the novel of Pelecanos too.

Daydreaming and inspiration

Last weekend, I finished reading Down by the River Where the Dead Men Go by George Pelecanos. At the end of the book, there is an interview with him (which you can find here), where he is asked how he builds his fictional world. That is his answer:

"This is going to sound like smoke, but it's really all there in my head. I've created this parallel, fictional world of Washington, D.C. that is alive to me all the time. I've always been a daydreamer. Even when I was a kid, delivering food for my dad in downtown D.C. I was making up movies in my head all day long while I walked the streets. And I'm still doing it today."

I strongly relate to this. I am a daydreamer since childhood. I guess all children are, but in my case I never grew up. When I was at school, when I was bored at home, when I couldn't sleep, and later on when I was bored commuting or bored at work. I still do it. I think the challenge is channelling it into a form, it is finding the discipline. But that the inspiration from a great crime writer comes from daydream, I find it encouraging.