Brussels woke up in a summer haze this morning. The smell of water particles in the air is a pleasant one. People go about their shopping, stroll along, show off their latest shoes and skirts, sit down for a long chat in one of the many cafes between Place Chatelain and Place Stephanie. Nothing lofty or spiritual - just a normal city offering its inhabitants the little pleasures of life. In the Libreria Roma, they dip into books and magazines. A woman discusses the latest Marc Levy novel with the owner. I ask whether they've got any books by Dantec on sale. I've never read anything by Dantec but my former flatmate Thibault who was a bit of a mad scientist had recommended him to me. Yesterday after enjoying the St.Gery open air party with a darkly moody PJM, I watched an interview with the scruffy, badly-shaven author (Dantec not PJM) and thought I'd delve into his world. But any book which is as thick as a Bible generally puts me off. So I postponed my close encounter with Maurice G. Talking of Holy Books, finally we might all start to see the light after Benedict XVI's big slip. Religion is very very dangerous territory - dialogue is necessarily limited to a minimum. And the distinction between 'moderates' and 'hotheads' in matters of faith can become terribly blurred when there's a perceived attack on 'fundamentals' from outside. If Allah or Jesus is the only way, dialogue becomes painfully difficult beyond the 'we are all sons of Abraham' mantra. For what is real faith if not absolutism, conversion, universalism. I'm curious to see how Ranier Fsadni will react to the latest earthquake. No doubt, he won't say anything too Fallaciesque. But what about Roamer? So instead of Dantec, I bought a copy of Jesus lave plus blanc which praises the Catholic Church for actually inventing marketing. It's by Bruno Ballardini. On the film front, I kept sleeping in front of the absurd and quintessentially Belgian road-movie Aaltra (which is excellent) and I had a pleasant solitary trip to the UGC on Toison d'Or to watch Les Particules Elementaires (which I thought worked well in German). Franka Potente and Moritz Bleibtreu who were both excellent in Run, Lola, Run star in this adaptation of MH's novel Atomised. On the music front, my collection needed some replenishment so I picked Primal Scream's latest album and Nouvelle Vague's Bande a Part. They'll accopmany me on my trip to Gent tonight. And by the way, who is JJ Zammit?