Awesome book covers

'Coz it recreates what's in the book.


'Coz it recreates the Burroughs mystique.

'Coz of the Bosch

'Coz it does what it says in the title.

'Coz it recreates the images Borges conjures up...


This isn't an accurate representation of the book - it only picks on a small moment in the book... but it is still fascinating to look at.

'Coz it's just as surreal as the book.

Q & A

Who do you write for?

I don't have a specific designated audience in my mind. I write for myself, but I think that it is also a tentative step to share my discoveries regardless of the reaction. I think it is somewhat elitist to narrow down an artform/object to one particular type of person. All perceptions are accessible to everyone. I also find it terribly boring when an artist sits down and writes specifically for the audience - it dilutes meaning, and it lacks substance.

What books do you read?

In English I read modern classics: Dostoyevsky, Kafka, Nabokov, Huxley etc. etc. In Spanish I read Latin-American literature: Cortázar, Borges, Rulfo, Onetti and many more. I also have an interest in cult authors who don't fit into any style and avoid categorisation. These authors range from Paul Auster to J. G. Ballard to Thomas Pynchon etc. etc. etc.

What is your fiction about?

My fiction either tends to be centred around dream-like vignettes or deliberately provocative and satirical. To provoke I write about the most gruesome sex you can think of... I also write quite straighforward narratives about solitary characters who encounter difficulties with peculiar situations.

Where are you from?

I was born in Chile... I grew up in a city called Concepción. I moved to England when I was 11 years old. My father is Chilean but of British descent, and my mother is English. I still keep up with my Spanish by reading in this language, and my patriotism is generally geared towards Chilean traditions than British traditions.

Why do you think anyone would be interested in your blog?

I don't care whether anyone is interested in my blog - it's open to everyone, and anyone can read it. There are people who like to read things which aren't generic, and it's good to have a space on the net which isn't generic and doesn't churn out the same boring shite most people seem to be interested in.

What are your addictions?

My addictions are sour sweets, lesbian porn, Coca-cola, Mark E. Smith, oddball music and literary fiction of many sorts.

What are your views on reality?

That it isn't credible... There is far more to things than how you see them at first glance, there is so much beneath the surface. The human body is a complete mystery to us, so we know very little about ourselves. There was so much within me that it exploded, and I had a psychotic episode... Reality doesn't necessarily have to be distorted, but it needs to be questioned.

Why are you so angry?

I'm not as angry as I used to before my episode... The reason for this anger was a grief against the world for going against me, and a fury against the complacency everyone seemed to opt for... I seemed to be the only one right while the rest of the other cunts were wrong... and 'flawed'.

Why are you reclusive?

I love spending time alone... I can pass a vast amount of time on my own without human contact of any sort. Even when I'm with someone who's similar to me, I feel out of place... It is also possible to get a lot done when you're on your own. Parties and vast congregations of people make me feel nauseous. The only solace left are my books... and my walks to the woods. Mind you, it is pretty difficult to be completely reclusive as I go to college, but I look forward to returning to this completely in my year off... which is next year.

Who are your favourite directors?

Jean-Luc Godard, Werner Herzog, David Lynch, David Cronenberg, Coen Brothers, Robert Bresson, Luis Bunuel, Stanley Kubrick, Akira Kurosawa, Orson Welles.

Favourite painters?

Hieronymus Bosch, Willem De Kooning, Monet, Edvard Much, Mark Rhotko.

Review #7

On The Corner - Miles Davis

Every watershed moment and turning point in Miles Davis' career has been acknowledged. The Birth of the Cool signalled the departure from be-bop, Kind of Blue saw the birth of modal jazz and Bitches Brew was one of the first fusion records. I'd say that the logical progression onto a new territory after Bitches Brew was On The Corner in 1972, but it's only now been rightly recognised as this. Regarded as a huge misstep at the time by critics, On The Corner is now being rightfully assessed as a masterpiece.

This record is incredibly prescient. Its use use of phasing and looping is what was later used in hip-hop music. Miles could see this new music developing in the street, and he brought out this record just at the right time. Whereas the minimalist phasing is superimposed with vocals in rap music, here you get jazz solos spliced along with the rock rhythms and structures Miles was already pursuing with his fusion music.

Despite all the experimentalist, this music is way funkier than Bitches Brew and far more danceable. It's fun and entertaining as well as being experimental and boundary-pushing. It's a rhythm track repeating incessantly like a loop, which has now been acknowledged as being 'minimalist' or 'trance'.

Additionally, Miles culled ideas from Karlheinz Stockhausen with tape manipulation as well as drawing from free jazz visionary Ornette Coleman. The record is a melange of styles spliced together in a fun, approachable way.

One has to admire Miles for constantly reinventing himself, or adapting jazz to the prevailing fashion of the time. He could have settled for renditions of 'So What' again and again, but he chose to find new ways of redefining what jazz can be. At the same time, he doesn't indulge himself in pointless dissonance nor did he welcome the excess of free jazz. He pursued his vision regardless of the controversy.

The remote edges #8

My state of mind #8

At the beginning of the month I was disappointed as the Germany-Chile match was cancelled because the fucking German goalkeeper committed suicide... You deserve to be dead, you cunt. Both my dad and I had tickets for the match, and I was eagerly anticipating to see the Bielsa team play - arguably the greatest Chilean team of all time. The good thing thing about the trip, though, was the game was going to held in Cologne, a city renowned for its art galleries... Another disappointment was that the Arditti Quartet, one of the most prominent string quartets known for playing the modern repertoire, were playing the day we left! I missed two monumental events! Nevertheless, the trip to Cologne was splendid and made up for these two huge disappointments.

When were waiting for the plane at the terminal we met a Chilean person, and we wandered around Cologne with him to look for our hotels around 12 PM. The next day, we wandered around Cologne and drank coffee. We went to the Wallraf-Richartz Museum as I had read that they have a painting by Bosch, but the people there could hardly speak English and they were really vague ("I think we may have Bosch in safe at the cellar"). Despite not having Bosch painting, this museum was truly spectacular, especially the early renaissance section. These paintings, like Bosch, depict the depths of 'hell' in a somewhat surrealist manner. A painting I think was called 'A wager between God and the devil' was particularly eyecatching. Going up the stairs, I saw their 20th century selection which was mainly impressionist stuff. I liked the Monet and Van Gogh, but the painting which impressed me the most was by Max Burch, and I bought a small print of it to put on my wall. Then at about 3 went to the cathedral were all the Chilean fans congregated to celebrate, waving flags and dancing and shouting ("CHILE VA AL MUNDIAL! CHILE VA AL MUNDIAL!"). I felt a bit out of place with them, and wandered around them nervously while drinking water - mimicking Bielsa himself without any conscious self-awareness. Afterwards I went to the Ludwig museum on my own, which has a selection of modern art... It's truly flabbergasting the selection they have: Ernst, shitloads of Picasso, a truly remarkable painting by Dali, Miro, Pollock... Incredible. I was quite captivated by the discovery of Max Beckenmann, an artist I was truly impressed by. After spending about an hour of wandering around the museum and intently looking at the paintings, I went down to the cafe to keep reading Roberto Bolano's Los Detectives Salvajes, drink a latte and wait for my dad. Around 6 we went back to our hotel where I kept reading my book... It was around this time that the fucking football match would have taken place...

Max Beckmann

There are some changes to some of my coursework titles... For the English language research I'll studying "How does William Faulkner re-create the characteristics of Southern USA dialect in The Sound and the Fury. My film studies research has now been made more specific and is entitled 'The film aesthetic of Jean-Luc Godard's auteurial signature during the French New Wave period'. For English Literature I will be comparing Ken Kesey's One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest with William Burroughs' Naked Lunch as well as applying critical ideas of aesthetics to T. S. Eliot's The Waste Land for another essay.

This college work is becoming really fucking daunting... I spend every night getting myself geared up to do it, but end up procrastinating... I'm not making life easy for myself with these over-complex coursework titles, either... Presently, I should be working on a presentation script for my Jean-Luc Godard project, but have ended up going on the fucking laptop to wank and write this fucking state of mind post.

Reality, as has always been the case recently, is not credible... I find myself incapable of engaging with 'real life'.

Fucking Lovefilm is wrecking my film year. They were extremely reliable last year, but this year they refuse to send me the Tarkovsky film I want to watch. I had to wait 2 weeks for Solaris and have now been waiting a whole month for Stalker. I've had to watch six films I haven't wanted to watch... I've had to watch Lynch when I'm not in the mood for it as well as Woody Allen and Cronenberg... The worst thing is that I wanted to save these films for later.

At the beginning of November I finished One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest which, as mentioned before, I will compare with Naked Lunch. I've had so much off-the-wall stuff before that Cuckoo's Nest wasn't as shocking as it was to the other students. Plus, I've been in a psychiatric ward. Finishing Cuckoo permitted me to finish the wonderful existential novel Zama Antonio Di Benedetto. Now I am well into Roberto Bolano's Los Detectives Salvajes, and I can see why it has been acclaimed as one of the greatest Latin-American novels of all time. I try to read this novel as much as I can, which isn't unfortunately that often. I am at around page 200, and I'm really glad that I've got 400 left to go - I hope to make the most out of them.

While I read my books at break time (which is 2 hours + a half long), a person my age sits next to me to read his book... There are many possible friendships like these, but nothing will happen unless I take the initiative.

I am no longer in love with that girl who catches my bus. About 2 weeks ago, she sat next to the most stupid, irritating student in the whole college and talked about "VODKA AND CHOCOLAT LOL AND DVDS"... She is, it seems, a cunt.... like the rest. The fact that she has turned out to be a cunt makes me feel even lonelier... I'm still full of this obsessive love, and I'm trapped with and I'm anxious to find a woman I can apply it to...

I'm not very good at articulating myself orally... I keep fucking up whenever I talk to others... I never get any practise, so I fuck whenever I do talk. When writing fiction, there's a chance to create my own sense of 'coherence' no matter how disjointed it is...

I look forward for my year of unmitigated freedom... I aim to make the most out of it... In my year off I'm hoping to indulge myself in solitude, commence my novels... and my extensive Chile trip.

I'm really fucking anxious for this year to end. It's already been 3 months... Yet, at the same time, I want this year to end but I've got to put a lot of fucking effort to obtain the grades in.... I can't wait for it to be over for my year of 'unmitigated freedom'.

So what do I look like, anyway?

After years of clinging to the belief that I want the words speak to themselves, I am now rather inevitably going to post a photograph of myself on my blog...

I am not self-conscious of my image... I am just as surprised as you are when you see this photograph... This is the only photograph I have of myself.

I don't have some sort of fetish for the colour yellow... The room I moved into happened to be yellow and I happen to be wearing yellow in this photograph... I usually wear black.

Words to describe myself

- Introverted

- Distant

- Holographic

- Impenetrable

- Shy

- Reserved

- Contradictory

- Silent