I'm here

Visionary director Spike Jonze has created a thirty minute short film that will premiere at this year's Sundance Festival. The film, that was funded by Absolut Vodka, is an unusual robot love story. Yes, you heard me.

The movie is set in contemporary LA, where robots live among the general population. A lonely male robot librarian lives a life devoid of creativity, joy and passion until he meets an adventurous and free spirited female robot.

I'm here is an unique and very touching tale about love and alienation in our present day society but with an uncanny technological twist making it a quintessential Jonzian work of art.

The Gruffalo

Working at Standaard Boekhandel wasn't a total loss. Sure, I complained 24/7 and it shattered some of my illussions about the potential joy of bookselling but it also got me interested in children's literature.

With the exception of my beloved Winnie the Pooh it had been years, decades even since I encountered the wonderful worlds of Roald Dahl, Beatrix Potter, Narnia,... to name but a few. As we grow older, we often forget our first fictional friends and only find them again when we have children of our own but being exposed to these quirky characters, colorful covers and sweet stories for six months had me yearning for more.

Having no idea where to begin, I bought 1001 Children's Books you must read before you grow up and started my quest for memorable and magical moments for kids of all ages.

One of the books that immediately caught my eye was The Gruffalo about a tiny mouse that takes a walk through the deep dark woods and encounters all kinds of peril. Whenever it is about to be eaten, it makes up a story about a dangerous and ghastly being called a Gruffalo, scaring off potential predators. Yet little does it know, that there is such a thing as a Gruffalo.

Although it is immensely popular in the UK, a modern classic even, Belgians will probably look at you funny when you utter this creature's name despite the fact that The Gruffalo celebrated it's tenth birthday in 2009 and has already won several prestigeous awards.

Julia Donaldson brought this crazy title character to life and has since become a very popular children's writer. Together with celebrated German illustrater Axel Scheffler, they have created many gems like Stick Man, Tabby McTat and the magical sequel The Gruffalo's Child.

Besides a glossy gold anniversary edition, 2009 also gave us a gloriously good BBC adaptation of this beloved classic which aired on Christmas day. Helena Bonham Carter, John Hurt, Tom Wilkinson,... voiced this amazing animated adventure.

Silicon heaven

These wonderful Winnie the Pooh baking goodies would make baking addicts or Pooh lovers very happy this holiday season. Just image the effect they'd have if you were both...

Recommended Christmas reading

The past few weeks I have been getting ready for the holiday season by reading a lot of Christmas stories. Some were manditory like Charles Dickens' classic A Christmas Carol


others caught my eye because of their original take on the theme like Lemony Snicket's The Latke who Couldn't Stop Screaming


and then there was the unconventional yet incredibly beautiful Auggie Wren's Christmas Story by Paul Auster


Other festive favorites include Twas the Night Before Christmas by Clement C. Moore


and of course Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas!


If you prefer a more novel approach to the classic Christmas story, be sure to check out

The Christmas Box by Richard Paul Evans

Skipping Christmas by John Grisham


The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding by Agatha Christie


Letters from Father Christmas by J.R.R. Tolkien


Happy reading!

Twitterature

Imagine that you are feeling too damn lazy to read one of the classics: Joyce, Woolf, Shakespeare, even JK Rowling, why bother? Now imagine that you are too lazy to even Google a summary. Now what?

Inspired by one of today's all consuming social networks, Twitter, two American students decided to boil some of the best books ever written down to 20 tweets or less. In less than two pages per novel, consisting out of a maximum of 20 sentences each 140 characters tops, Twitterature brings you literature for the contemporary computer age. A daring venture if I do say so myself.

Written in highly realistic (aka cryptic) Twitter-style, it will make literature lovers giggle (who will probably spend more time reading to glossary to see what f*** these people are on about) while at the same time submerging Twitter lovers in the wonderful world of literature minus the lovely phrases that is.

Kafka's Soup

What do you get when you combine literary history with culinary delights? The answer: Kafka's Soup, A Complete History of Literature in 17 Recipes by Mark Crick aka the perfect present for food and literature lovers aka me.

It is an original, clever and very funny little book that combines literature's greats with some scrumptious recipes, that actually work. Whether you're in the mood for tarragon eggs à la Jane Austen, rich chocolate cake à la Irvin Welsh or clafoutis grandmère à la Virginia Woolf, it's all in there. Trust me, never before has a cookbook been so entertaining, useful and intellectually stimulating.

The ingenuity of this book however, is that photographer Mike Crick describes the preparation of each dish in the style of a famous writer resulting in passages such as "Feeling the blade in my hand I sliced an onion, and before I knew what I was doing a carrot lay in pieces on the slab. None of them moved... They had it coming to them." If you were wondering, this will result in Raymond Chandler's lamb with dille sauce.

Pastiche is also combined with pretty pictures which include works by Hogarth, Warhol and De Chirico to name but a few. The ensemble creates an unparalled tantalizing treat for your mind as well as your mouth.

Kafka's Soup is a glorious cookbook and a true literary treat due to its stylistic tricks and multiple tongue in cheek references. Crick has done an excellent job in capturing not only the essence of the author but also in capturing some sublime and simple flavors.

Meme time

The past few weeks have been pretty hectic, hence my prolonged absence. I've delved into the hidden realms of the Belgian comic book scene, had a chat with Guy Cassiers about what makes Het Toneelhuis such a revolutionary theater company in Belgium and beyond and finally I had an unexpected assignment for none other than Jan Fabre, all of which resulted in several articles and a trembling left hand.

This week won't be better as I've got a very challenging and potentially life altering task ahead of me: get an interview with one of Belgium's most popular and recluse authors... On top of that I decided to read his entire oeuvre which has been a tad time consuming as well. And this is why I'll partake in another meme which has been going round, since I don't have anything original to say right now.

1. What author do you own the most books by?

Joyce Carol Oates, told you this would be uninspired.

2. What book do you own the most copies of?

Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier seeing as I was named after it.

3. Did it bother you that both those questions ended with prepositions?

I hadn't really noticed.

4. What fictional character are you seriously in love with?

It pains me to say this but if I'd had to choose I'd say Edward Cullen...

5. What book have you read the most times in your life?

Winnie the Pooh: complete collection of stories and poems by A.A. Milne.

6. Favorite book as a ten year old?

The Twits by Roald Dahl.

7. What is the worst book you’ve read in the past year?

It's a tie between Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert and Firmin by Fred Savage.

8. What is the best book you’ve read in the past year?

Blankets by Craig Thompson.

9. If you could force everyone you know to read one book, what would it be?

Anything by Truman Capote seeing as he's a brilliant but sadly frequently forgotten author.

10. What book would you like to see made into a movie?

Something by Haruki Murakami, Kafka on the Shore? I'd really like to see how they transform his peculiar stories with their surreal atmosphere to the screen.

11. What is the most difficult book you’ve ever read?

It's a tie between Ulysses and The Satanic Verses.

12. What is your favorite book?

The Catcher in the Rye.

13. What is your favorite play?

Suddenly Last Summer, basically all of Tennessee Williams' plays.

14. Poem?

Anything by Dorothy Parker seeing as they are the only poems I've read voluntarily.

15. Essay?

I don't do essays.

16. Who is the most overrated writer alive today?

Ian McEwan.

17. What is your favorite desert island book?

Blonde by Joyce Carol Oates: big, beautiful and bombastic.

18. And… what are you reading right now?

I started reading The Strain by Guillermo Del Toro and Chuck Hogan which is really freaky and very good but sadly I had to put it aside for Godverdomse Dagen op een Godverdomse Bol to name only one of the intruders.