Checking the Doktor's appointments

I've managed to find some time today to sit down and jot down some ideas of things to cover in the Surgery. As well as a music and film review list, I've also made a couple of notes on some German cinema pieces I'd like to put together, starting with a couple of the usual suspects in the form of Werner Herzog and Rainer Werner Fassbinder. Instead of doing a general overview of their work, I'd like to look at a specific theme that recur or appear in key films, which I feel tells us (the audience) at least a bit of how their feelings and desires come to life on the big (or small) screen.

I'm also going to kick myself out of my book-reading slump, and finally get to grips with "A Long Hard Look At 'Psycho'", written by the late Raymond Durgnat. Raymond's deceptively eccentric demeanour hid a demon intelligence, and from what I've heard of him, he was certainly one never to suffer fools. This Hitchcock masterpiece was somewhat of an obsession for him, and I've no doubt that his final book will at least touch on some of his admiration for the film and it's director.

As well as classic and arthouse cinema, I have a real weakness for exploitation and trash movies. Expect in due course to find pieces on these, which may or may not include personal reminiscences of the days when James Ferman ruled the BBFC with a rod of iron, and my dealings with various interesting characters in getting hold of uncut celluloid filth.

On a more general note, I've recently been mulling over the issues of downloading tracks for free. This is a somewhat controversial subject, to say the least, and I intend to look as objectively as I can from both sides (consumer vs producer), and well as offering some personal insights of my own.

I've decided that I will be offering NO MP3 tracks for download. There are plenty of sites offering such services (such as the one in my Links column), and besides, being an avid consumer of literature on music and film, I would like to use this blog to provide to me what I sometimes find missing from other publications. I will however include relevant links to other sites in posts where I feel it useful or worthwhile to the reader.

Well, that's about it for now. A pleasant Sunday to you all.