Welcome to Hollywood.

Welcome to Hollywood.

So the City of Angels isn't all that exciting when you live in a hostel and the people you meet rotate daily. On the other hand, my boredom has sort of forced me to drive around and discover the town. And watching movies? Forget about it. I've gone to four different theaters in the past three days alone. "How are things?" you might ask. Things are good. Things are stable, somewhat.

Due to financial circumstances and misunderstandings, Naomi and I are no longer living together. She's got a place in Echo Park where she's living now, and I'm moving into my place in the Westwood area on June 20. The phrase of the week is: c'est la vie.

Nonetheless, my place is clean, safe, and nice-looking. I get everything for $450 a month. Everything. That includes garage parking spot, power, cable TV, high-speed Internet. Not only that, it's a ten minute walk from my place of internment (in the best sense of the word).

At the moment, I have nothing to do but wait. I'm discovering the town. I'm listening to music. I'm reading. I'm reading. It's sick. I haven't read a book in a year. As a film scholar, it's not really my area of expertise. (Note: it's a very strange feeling to say film scholar rather than film major. Sign of the times, I suppose.)

So here's some of the things I like about LA at the moment:

car pool lane + passenger(s) = license to speed

as many indie and classic movie choices in the theaters as summer blockbusters

parking validation

people watching

the beaches

assertive drivers ("It's always an adventure on the Los Angeles freeway system!")

Indie 103.1 (Henry Rollins has a 7-9pm radio show on Mondays, and the first song I heard on it was The Pixies' "Bone Machine")

Some of the things I could do without?:

having a condom dropped on my bed from the top bunk the first night in the hostel

the uncanny way a crowd seems to follow me as soon as I find a quiet place to read

obstacle-ridden road construction

aggressive drivers (An experiment: see how fast a driver behind you stops honking after they see your reverse gear lights pop on and hear your engine rev

And what list about LA could be complete without a Celebrity Sightings list?:

That guy from Road Trip!

Shooter McGavin!

Adam Yauch of The Beastie Boys!

So anyway, I've just been giving myself tasks to do each day to keep my mind occupied. Yesterday I went to Los Angeles famous Miracle Mile where they keep all the museums so people can avoid them. I went and saw some lackluster exhibits at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), although they did have several original Picassos and Magrittes. It was definitely worth the free admission. Today's task is a strong follow-up; buy a soap dish. This is what happens when I don't check out the brocheres before I leave the hostel in the morning. I am going to see this fine film in a few hours though. It looks pretty hot. Check out the trailer here.

Here are some other movies I've seen recently (the past week and a half):

Life of Brian

Shrek 2 in The Arclight Dome

Harry Potter 3 in the Chinese theater

Super Size Me

The Day After Tomorrow

Coffee and Cigarettes

The Bourne Identity

Training Day

Books I've read (or am currently reading):

Junky, William S. Burroughs

Choke, Chuck Palahniuk

A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, James Joyce

Empire and Filmmakers magazines

I'll get some more details later. I've only got nine minutes to proof and post this, so I'll get back to you with more specific (and new) impressions of LA. Bla-dow. Also, I'll try to update my cell phone number on Todd's web directory so you guys can call me and give me something to do. Okay. Gotta go.

D