….YOU CAN SEE, FROM THE MIXER’S CHAIR, that “the film studio today is actually the Palace of the 16th Century. One sees Shakespeare’s vision of the absolute power and ambition of the tyrant, his courtiers, flatterers, jesters and intriguers. There are beautiful women and incompetent favourites. Some men are just plain disgraceful. You will find the most outrageous excesses and surprising parsimony for a few pennies. It is filled with extravagant splendor, but it is a scam. There is also terrible squalor hidden behind all the scenery. There are many schemes that have been abandoned due to some caprice. There are secrets that everyone knows but no one talks about. Even two to three honest advisors are possible. These are court fools who can speak with the deepest wisdom through puns and should not be taken seriously. They grimace, tear their hair, and weep.” – All of them need Comteks. (From Prater Violet, with apologies for Christopher Isherwood).