Funny how short trips can be just as tiring as long trips. I came back from Brussels last night and felt as though I had flown half way around the world. Slumping in front of the TV, all I could find was Jaws - I haven't watched that movie in something like ten years and it's still as great as it ever was, even after we've all seen the rubber shark. Aside from work stuff, I met up with my buddies Dirk and Jessica. Dirk has just put out a book of his (and a few of his friends) custom culture photography. It looks like this:

and I mention it here because a) he's my friend and b) the production values are just brilliant and whether you're into pimped up cars and tattooed people striking curious poses or not, it's a gorgeous book that took a long time to get right and it shows. You can find more info on it here... and now I have copied that link I remember that Jess took a photo of us which you can see there - and I have also remembered that I never said anything here about getting a hair cut last week. It was just time you know. I also got tired of trying to do the Fu Manchu thing (couple of posts back) so that got killed off too. Sometimes, you simply need to start from scratch.

Anyway - the book is a peach. Would make a killer Christmas gift for somebody y'know...

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I don't talk about food much here and that's probably because I don't eat out as often as I would like and when I do, it's never anything to write home about. This time though, a few of us found our way to what might be the best restaurant in the world - or certainly one of the best I have ever been to. It's a tiny place called In 't Spinnekopke and it looks like this:

Man, they cook the food to absolute perfection. I'm no culinary guru but when five well travelled people can all sit around a table and agree that it is indeed, one of the best restaurants they had ever been to, you won't be far from the truth. The fact that you don't have to remortgage your house to eat there is a bonus. If you're ever passing within striking distance, make the effort to stop by. You can find them here.

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One of the good things about going away is that time on a train/plane and in a hotel room by yourself means totally focussed writing time - and this trip I got through a good 15,000 words of a project. This made me very happy particularly as about half of it was under the steam of the calories taken in during the above meal. After Jaws, had finished I took a good hard look at all the things I've been working on and have definitely passed the 'point of no return'. Which is the real world is more sensibly translated as 'more than half way through all of it'.

COMMERCIAL BREAK:

One of the greatest movies of all time. Fact.

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I didn't see any bookshops at all while I was out there. If you're looking for travel advice though, the Brussels Midi station where the Eurostar arrives is weird. The insides of the station are pretty neat with a lot of cafe's to hang out at but the outside is nothing more than a destination for local crackheads and homeless drunk dudes to hang out. In the space of about three minutes I was approached by three guys for cigarettes, two guys for cash and one drunk guy (who was wearing a knuckle-duster) was certainly thinking about asking me for something but he was so out of it even my sister could have taken him out . Surely common sense would dictate to the authorities that when it comes to the rest of Europe landing on your door-step, the cops should clean up by the hour? It's like inviting people to your house for a meal and leaving a pack of hungry dogs out to welcome them. Interestingly, the smart homeless people had got themselves bags from somewhere and were able to hang out inside the station looking like they were going places with pretty well thought out sob stories to get by on. Survival of the fittest and all that huh...

To wrap up - not much of a video - rather an audio embed but worthy of your time all the same. The return of the mighty My Chemical Romance! Get cool stuff right here.