"OK look, I have only seen this film once and I will never watch it again. But the effect it had on me was so profound that it kind of shifted things creatively inside me. I went to the cinema one night in London with two very good friends when I was 24. It blew me away. It’s so raw and so poetic at the same time. Emily Watson was sublime. I came out of the theater in a daze and the three of us wandered around the streets of Soho for hours not quite knowing what to do with ourselves. I literally didn’t sleep all night. I just lay there in my hotel room reliving the story. Even now I can see the bleak color palette, the camera moves, and Emily’s naive face. Lars Von Trier is a genius. Every film he makes is so honest and powerful."

"Once the Seattle scene exploded and the band names became living-room buzzwords, Dinosaur Jr. got a modicum of recognition. They deserve a little more. If there is such a thing left as the avant-garde – as you know, all of the foreboding walls of the forbidden zone have been removed – it seems to me that Dinosaur Jr. have a bit of an edge. Nirvana was everywhere you went at that time. I was living in Laguna Beach. Some friends stopped in for a visit and we wound up on Balboa Island. To get to the other side there were two routes: the roundabout way, or a small five-car ferry that makes the short hop across. I remember waiting in line to board the ferry and some cute young barefooted hippie chick walked up to the car window and, out of the clear blue, gazed in with a smile and said, ""It smells like teen spirit in here."" I was going, wow. Okay.
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"In terms of pushing my playing and songwriting, and the re-acquaintance of David Ellefson and myself, and with Kiko being such an un-fucking-believable guitar player, I would have to pick Dystopia at this point. But now Dirk Verbeuren’s in the band, I’m really looking forward to what’s next. When we get into the rehearsal room, warming up for the shows, and we hear Dirk playing some blastbeats, I’m questioning what Megadeth is going to sound like when we make the next record and we have those skull-numbing beats going on, it’s gonna push my playing to otherworldly limits. I’m excited because I can do the fast metal stuff, but having the chops and musical depth that Kiko has and with Ellefson holding down the fort, I’m really looking forward to the next record. I started thinking about it the day we left the studio after making Dystopia. That’s just how I’m wired."

"Through a Window – the sequel to In the Shadow of Man – was written in Bournemouth, in my little attic room at the top of the house. One thing I remember vividly – I was using a laptop by this time. I had just finished the chapter on mothers and infants – all those so loved chimpanzees such as Flo, Olly, Melissa, Passion and so on. I was preparing to go and join my family who were sitting on the lawn on a beautiful summer evening. And I pressed the delete button by mistake! And I could not retrieve it. I felt like bursting into tears, or shouting and screaming. But I had spent the last few hours in a very good place. The ideas and words had come together. So I took a deep breath and started the chapter again. I spent two more hours writing really fast. Completed the whole chapter – and I think it was even better than before!"