really. I wouldn't trust him with a camera. He isn't too sure about the technical stuff, how to set up the equipment, and then how to get the material through the computer and onto the Internet. It's a skill, obviously. He was the one who had the idea of getting calling cards inscribed with WEDDINGS AND BEHEADINGS. If the power's on, we meet in his flat to watch movies on video. When we part, he jokes, "Don't bury your head in the sand, my friend. Don't go losing your head now. Chin up!" A couple of weeks ago he messed up badly. The cameras are good quality, they're taken from foreign journalists, but a bulb blew in the one light he was using, and he couldn't replace it. By then they had brought the victim in. My friend tried to tell the men, "It's too dark, it's not going to come out and you can't do another take." But they were in a hurry; he couldn't persuade them to wait—they were already hacking through the neck—and he was in such a panic he fainted. Luckily the camera was running. It came out underlit, of course—what did they expect? I liked it—Lynchian, I called it; but they hit him around the head and never used him again. He was lucky. But I wonder if he's going mad. Secretly he kept copies of his beheadings, and now he plays around with them on his computer, cutting and recutting them, putting them to music, swing stuff, opera, jazz, comic songs. Perhaps it's the only freedom he has. It might surprise you, but we do get paid; they always give us something for the trouble. They even make jokes: "You'll get a prize for the next one. Don't you guys love prizes and statuettes and stuff?" It's all hellish, the long drive there with the camera and tripod on your lap, the smell of the sack, the guns, and you wonder if this time you might be the victim. Usually you're sick, and then you're in the building, in the room, setting up, and you hear things from other rooms that make you wonder if life on earth is a good idea. I know you don’t want too much detail, but it’s serious work taking off someone’s head if you’re not a butcher; and these guys aren’t qualified, they’re just enthusiastic—it’s what they like to do. To make the shot work, it helps to get a clear view of the victim’s eyes just before they’re covered. At the end the
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