Novelist Frank Chin is one of the early activists for Asian-American civil rights. He also knows a lot about Chinese folklore. We went to lunch and had a great discussion. For some reason he had a literary feud with Maxine Hong Kingston. Anyway, I saw a documentary about Frank Chin a decade later at the San Diego Asian Film Festival and introduced myself to the director.
I also had lunch with Danish actress Trine Dyrholm. The film “The Celebration” had just come out and she had a role in it. I remember her telling me that actors could get unemployment benefits in Denmark when they were between gigs. Sadly, I knew nothing about the Dogme 95 movement at the time. If I would have asked her about it, maybe I could have had a walk-on role in Lars Von Trier’s “Nymphomaniac.” Oh well!
One of life’s great pleasures: a good meal in the company of smart, interesting peeps! 🙂