21 May 2010

Coupland, Munsch, McDonald

Douglas Coupland basically cleaned out his basement and donated the contents to UBC. Apparently he’s got a touch o’ the hoarder and decided it would be healthier to give it way than to eventually die from some disease caused by the gaseous chemicals released when comic books decompose. He got a tax break for it, and I’m really curious to find out how they appraised all his stuff, and how much they deemed it worth. Some of the stuff would clearly be worth some money (handwritten first drafts, unpublished books(!!!)), but other stuff merely holds interest for the most obsessed of fans (grocery lists, post-it notes). I don't think the intention is to make a Coupland exhibit right away, but when they do I will totally do see it.

Robert Munsch is a manic-depressive, recovering alcoholic and cocaine addict?! I'm betting he wrote I'll Love You Forever during a depressive phase, because that is the saddest kids' book ever written. Unless someone's written a kids' book about puppies dying, this book is sadder. I can't read it to my niece without wanting to cry.

Have you seen the McDonald’s commercial with the little boy in the wheelchair and he’s in a car playing with a toy shark? The first time I saw that commercial, I saw the shark and I heard the little boy say, “Are we going to help them now, or after we eat?” and I was so surprised that McDonald’s was getting into shark conservation. They’ve never really made any sort of environmental overtures before, so the fact that they were starting off with shark conservation made me really happy. It’s a very important cause, and the awareness that McDonald’s could raise would be considerable. Then a few seconds later I realized the “they” the little boy was helping wasn’t sharks, but was, in fact, sick kids. That toy shark was very misleading. Or maybe my mind just works wrong.

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