...and what alice found there

Thursday, July 12, 2007

The Unaccountable McSweeney

I'm not sure just quite how it happened. All I know is that, I was sitting here in my room, reading Zadie Smith's On Beauty and taking breaks by reading Nick Hornby's Polysyllabic Spree (not the crazy band that cameo'd in Scrubs, but the book, which only makes me want to go on and read more things like On Beauty, so it was the perfect plan really). I was musing for a moment just how incestuous the modern english literary circle really is, almost like Victorian England only instead of walking around London and bumping into all the literary celebs of the day you are all connected by publishing houses, sending you scripts of friends who are really only friends because you belong to the same publishing houses. Dave Eggers' wife edits The Believer (which Hornby writes a column for, would you believe it?)

So all of a sudden, I find myself doing a triple subscription of McSweeney's, The Believer AND Wholphin, because what kind of a cinema studies student would I be to neglect the DVD short film version of the McSweeney empire. and all of a sudden i'm out USD$160.

So as you can see, I'm am all together committed to this trip to Hong Kong. I've met 70% of the people I'm supposed to meet, and have had enough. Because honestly, even if on the slightest chance that there was anything for me here at all (if i was thin enough, and spoke cantonese enough), I wouldn't want to be a cog in the asian entertainment wheel. It's one thing to admire the work ethics of all these utterly talentless pretty young things, but quite another to want to be one. So sure Mr. Shamelessdirectorguy, I'll go home and drop a few kilos, learn some canto, and send you my portfolio. Do you take homemade DVDs?

I'm half tempted to skip my afternoon appointments and stay in and read. but the promise of some seriously good grub would end up dragging me out the door, into the sweat tank, to put on the happy ambitious face they love so much and tell them "yes I'd LOVE to be just like Twins or Isabella!" has anyone heard these girls trying to sing live? or indeed do anything at all other than stand there looking like a young pretty thing.

But I guess that's the industry everywhere, and still, the industry I want to get into. It's just that there isn't anything else BUT that here. Quality work really isn't appreciated here at all, quite aside from the fact that I couldn't possibly live here, I mean there are no art house cinemas and the bookstores look like my primary school library. They do sell City Moleskines here though, so one up for them. Oh and while on the subject of 'skines, a minor celebrity of the 'skine world Patrick Ng does live here.

I'm just bitter. I know that. If only I had some friends here, I'm sure I'll be singing a different tune. I did have the best japanese food of my life last night, and was so full from it i felt positive i could give birth to live crayfish as some kind of fucked up divine retribution.

I have no photos. I feel too shit to take photos. Plus, everywhere I look the technology everywhere puts my little out of date 4 megapixel to shame. I'm pretty sure all their mobiles have about that much. Shit, I'd better find out how to get to the Academy of Performing Arts from here on the MTR.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Ouchies. Fat and no canto? All class that is...

But hey, at least you're out there. Now all we need to do is create awesome underground flicks, and you know, if you're a struggling actor for long enough you won't have the money to eat, so at least your extreme weight issues will take care of themselves.

Because you're so fat and all [jeez what do you have to do? You're one of the skinnier girls I know...]

Anonymous said...

Fuck them. The HK entertainment industry is huge and dominates Asia, but to me it seems completely insular at the same time, even if you're wildly successful within it, it doesn't seem relevant, or respectable enough to global industries. Imagining you breaking out of the HK industry to become...Jet Li's love interest in his next Hollywood feature is exciting yet...totally depressing. Also, I heard they work at this freaky breakneck speed, quantity over quality. Please don't let the 'fat' thing get you down, my relatives there always tell me I'm a fatso, how ludicrous is that, have you seen the number of before/after diet&lipo ads in their magazines? Ignore it. HK is filled with unhappy, suicidal overworked maniacs. (Yay for generalisations...)
But please cheer up anyway!!! You're in capitalist nirvana, buy heaps of crap and forget the party poopers Love Daphne

Anonymous said...

My friend just told me a funny story about the "Pang" brothers, two directors who must be Chinese [I suppose since my friend only knows Chinese directors.]

He was talking about how they were infamous for giving roles to people who slept with them. The funny part involves that not being entirely limited to the women vying for a film spot, but to the men as well.

Maybe if we tag team them WWF style, we both may be able to become instant Hollywood successes... BUT I seriously doubt it...

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