Well, it’s been two years since my first entry in …
Well, it’s been two years since my first entry in this account. I know I said I’d do something special to celebrate, but I’ve been too busy lately to do much of anything. Perhaps I’ll get another News from the Renegade Province edition up for my 100,000th hit, which should be coming up soon as well.
What have I been busy with? you are no doubt asking. Mainly, the film. I would take some time off work if my financial situation weren’t so tight at the moment. We’ve got a month to make this movie, and the schedule is ambitious by any standards. In the meantime, we’re still quibbling over script details when we need to have it locked down. I need to be in several different places at once: I need to be out looking for actors as well as locations, while at the same time I need to be finding props and wardrobe items, and I also need to be creating the storyboards. And, of course, I need to be at work, eating, sleeping, etc.
I took time out this afternoon to give a radio interview about the damn book for a station in Tainan to be broadcast in the early morning hours on whichever day they didn’t have enough songs to play, and tonight I went to sword practice just to work out the kinks. When I was there a guy came up and started talking to us. Turned out he was Taiwanese-German. Born in Germany, just back in Taiwan to advocate Taiwanese independence, after which he plans to return ‘home’ to Germany. He’s not even an ROC citizen, but that’s pretty typical for many Taiwanese independence supporters. The most ardent TI advocates tend to be citizens of another country and don’t even live here. Why? The reason’s obvious: they don’t have to live with the effects of their efforts. They’re just here for their ’cause’, and fuck the people who actually have to deal with the results.
Anyway. I have a film to make. I talked with Da Shan a bit the other day; he says he can get me all kinds of actors, props, etc., but I haven’t heard from him since. Looks like I’ll need to do it myself in any case. Da Shan looks suitable for one of the roles, actually, as does his friend Xiao San, who is a cameraman. We had lunch together, and it turned out that Xiao San and I had quite a few mutual acquaintances in the industry. He even knew (and almost got into a fight with) “Assassin”, with whom I worked as a camera assistant back at TVBS.
Due to the Amazing Vanishing Typhoon in the vicinity, the weather’s been brilliant and hot. Reminds me of the weather when I first got here; could have been right after a typhoon I guess. Lovely, searing summer days. They’re welcome now, and will likely stay that way until I get my electric bill.
