Two mixed race poets from Saskatchewan walk into a bar...

Actually, we walked into an organic cafe.

Yesterday, I interviewed Fred Wah for Ricepaper. He's quarter Chinese, like me. His father was half CHinese and Scots-Irish and his mom is Swedish. He grew up in Swift Current and Nelson, BC. As you can guess, we had a lot to talk about, ranging from Western Canadian, to poetry and poetry circles, to growing up mixed. It was a nice interview. After the interview, he let me play with his chocolate lab, which was awesome. He is going to help me with a writing project that I've been wanting to do for a while, which is amazing.

Overheard last night while waiting in line to get book signed by Neil Gaiman...

One person- "Dork mating season is remarkaly short."

Other person- "Why, yes, it's called a con."

The fabulous Neil...

Last night [Bad username or site: @ livejournal.com], [Bad username or site: @ livejournal.com] and I went to see Neil Gaiman read at Magee Secondary School. Since I was pressed for time, I ended up taking a cab ride there with a lovely cabbie who called me, "my friend" and played some nice tabla music as we drove through the rainy Vancouver streets.

The three of us were about an hour early for the event, which appeared to have sold out. Neil's fanbase seems to attract an equal gender balance. At one point, we looked around to see how many people were wearing black, and were surprised to note that only about half the audience was.

Neil appeared on stage wearing black jeans, a black leather jacket and a black t-shirt. I've always thought he was sort of goodlooking, but in person, he's got that kind of sexyish that Alan Rickman has. He's also a great reader. Douglas Coupland should take lessons from him.

He proceeded to read us a section of "Anansi boys" which refers to Vancouver. He then read us a section of the book and then did a Q and A. I still haven't read "Anansi Boys", but I'm waiting for my copy from the library.

Neil came across as rather charming, and was very witty and funny. He told us about playing with dead muppets at Jim Henson's old house, and about how he wanted to be a writer and would daydream that he wrote "The Fellowship of the Ring."

After this, we waited and then lined up for a LONG time to get Neil to sign our books. The wise [Bad username or site: @ livejournal.com] had brought some Nanaimo bars for Neil. He was pleased and proclaimed, "At this time of the night, everyone needs chocolate." So [Bad username or site: @ livejournal.com] cut up the Nanaimo bars with a Swiss Army knife while [Bad username or site: @ livejournal.com] asked Neil about the state of his cats, and he described how they were all doing in great detail, which was quite nice.

So with our books are signed by Neil, we caught the bus back home.

VIFF- Season of the horse

I haven't been enjoying the VIFF, as I've been very busy this week, as well as emotionally weighted down, which has prevented me from seeing heavy movies. However, I did promise myself that I would go see the Mongolian movies, no matter what.


***Disclaimer- I lived in Mongolia for 4 months in 2003 and conducted a research project about cooperatives and communities. While I resided in the capital, I did travelled around the country, interviewing members of agricultural cooperatives and government officials.

Today I saw "Season of the Horse", the directorial debut of Ning Cai, a Mongolian actor from China. Ning Cai plays the main character and his performance is stunning. The film is a fictional piece which depicts a true problem in Mongolia. In recent years, droughts and poor weather conditions have affected the traditional nomadic way of life, which is dependent on herding animals for survival. In the film, as in real life, people suffer immensely when their animals die, as they have no other way to make money. They are forced to abandon the traditional way of life, and move to the city, where they struggle against mass unemployment and problems caused by a lack of industry, access to resources, and a large societal problem with alcohol.

This movie really gave a true depiction of some of the problems of the Mongolian people, their tenacity, their sense of humour and their love for land and animals. It was an accurate depiction of some of the problems that I'd read about in my research, and had heard about in my interviews with villagers who had had to struggle to keep their animals alive.

Since the trip was such a powerful and emotional time for me, I have a huge kinship for the land and its people. Seeing those beautiful skies and open desert and hearing the sound of Mongolian language would have been worth the price of admission for me, if I had paid it.

However, I thought the actors were great, and that the story really captured the reality of the problem, in a way that would make it compelling for any audience. I was very moved by the picture, and was actually sobbing during parts of it. I wasn't sure if my reaction was simply because of my relation to the land, but I did hear people sniffing and blowing their noses as well. People also clapped at the end of the film, even though there were two technical glitches during the screening and I saw several people write positive comments on the comment cards after the show.

I realize that this film would seem slow to some, and that some people might not enjoy it, but it was a great experience for me, and reminded me of my love for Mongolia.