It’s called Pinoy Sunday and it’s in Filipino and about a different couch. It looks awesome, and from what of it I can understand, it does have a bit in common with that other Couch. It’s going on the must-see list. From the synopsis:
“PINOY SUNDAY tells the story of Manuel and Dado, two Filipino migrant workers who discover a discarded sofa. This transforms their normal Sunday into a tale of adventure, perseverance and self-discovery.“
…
“MANUEL and DADO carry the couch out of the city and into the industrial hinterland. The adventure never stops; they further encounter a near-suicide attempt and an old man who offers to ferry them and their couch—only to bring them farther from their destination. Once back on track, they decide that following the river is the shortest way to their dormitory.”
The trailer looks just great. Laura and I lived and worked in Taiwan for a year (where it takes place) and it’s really great to see the immigrant-worker life documented, especially in a couch-carrying way.
I haven’t done as well as I’d like keeping up on healthcare bills and the news and the progress of Obama’s presidency (when I have a new project going, a lot of other things — like keeping good track of the churning of the news — get dropped. Word count is 83,212 words, incidentally). I have certainly heard impressive amounts of criticism from all sides, and reserved optimism, too.
But from afar, here are two writer-related items that just makes me feel incredibly happy to have a president that is so radically different than our last.
#1 – Obama sent Yann Martel, author of Life of Pi, a fan-letter. (!)
Martel says:
“If there was a way of tattooing it on my back, I would. What amazes me is the gratuity of it. As you would know, there is a large measure of calculation in what public figures do. But here, what does he gain? I’m not a US citizen. In no way can I be of help to President Obama. Clearly he did it for personal reasons, as a reader and as a father. And in two lines, what an insightful analysis of Life of Pi.”
There is irony here, since Yann Martel has been on a multi-year campaign to send Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper a book a week, along with an inscribed letter from him, in order to raise arts awareness. This is all documented on the website http://www.whatisstephenharperreading.ca. In the most recent post (in which Stephen Harper receives a copy of King Leary by Paul Quarrington, guest author Steven Galloway gives a sort of nice tagline for the site:
“In a way, you’re in what must be the world’s most exclusive book club, albeit somewhat unwillingly. I bet Mr. Obama is jealous!”
#2 – Look at the edits that Obama put on this speech. Just look at them.
I’m sure to someone receiving an edit like this on the job (speech writer Jon Favreau) it must be frightening, but right now the only edits I see are mine. Pages like this are gold — it means that the text has been worked, and worked hard. That someone cares about what is said, and how it is said. The piece has been honed. Bravo.
All other things aside, I really love having a smart president.
It’s meaningless, I know, but my ego loves it when Couch is the best-selling Oregon state travel book on Amazon. I have no idea how Couch will help your exploration of Oregon, unless you use it as a sort of furniture how-to guide in rainy climates, but there you go.
Laura and I were invited to read at Read to Rebuild, a reading benefit for Haiti put on by Reading Local and Mercy Corps, and hosted by my friend Mel Favara.
Reading Local’s astute interviewer Karen Munro interviewed both Laura Moulton and myself here. They were great questions.
Tom Spanbauer, Ariel Gore, Kevin Sampsell and Margaret Malone will also be reading. Sponsors include Dark Horse Comics and Hawthorne books and it will be held at the Writer’s Dojo (March 16th @ 6:30pm). Needless to say, it’s going to be a rad night.
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