It was important on The Shipping News to have my house far enough away from each location so I had this time in the morning to think about my shots and still remain open to surprises once I got to the set.

To my knowledge the Department of Homeland Security has focused on detection devices that are large expensive use a large amount of energy and cannot easily be placed in or on a shipping container.

I can remember when I was National Security Adviser the intelligence community told us... they put out an intelligence report saying that Iran would never back off from attacks on shipping in the Gulf if we use force.

God is everywhere but He is most manifest in man. So serve man as God. That is as good as worshipping God.

If you asked an 18-year-old what they want to do with their life and the options are 'Transformers' or Lars von Trier he's probably shipping out for 'Transformers.' If you ask a 26-year-old what he wants to do 'Transformers' or Lars von Trier he'd probably pick Lars von Trier. So my sensibilities are changing as I change.

One already feels like an anachronism writing novels in the age of what-ever-this-is-the-age-of but touring to promote them feels doubly anachronistic. The marketplace is showing an increasing intolerance for the time-honored practice of printing information on paper and shipping it around the country.