Wednesday, December 15, 2004

my head is like a cathedral

How does that sound to you?

Actually, the sheer EMPTINESS is what is creating that cathedral like reverb inside my noggin. Nothing grand about it at all. Purely empty depression. Oh, not the kind that makes you wonder if the world is worth anything, if our country's going to hell in a hand basket, or will the sun ever come out again. Actually, I haven't wondered about that since I moved from PA.

No, the depression I'm currently undergoing is the type when you're doing nothing. I'm attempting to, but that damn cursor is just blinking blinking blinking...

Just watched a movie tonight called "Love Object". I guy I met, Robert Parigi, made it.
That was depressing. Depressing because it was a good movie, and dammit... I need to make good movies.

Lest I let you'all too deep into my head, I'll change the tune.

As I sit in front of the computer working on one of several screenplays (see paragraph above on blinking cursor), I doodle around on the internet. Way too much. I've taken to turning offf the wireless card on my laptop in order to force myself to work. Of course I turn it on again soon after. Today the router decided to help me out. My once wireless router is now refusing to show that it has any kind of way of transmitting a signal. So - one tech support call later haha, I have an RMA number. The packing slip also lists as needed, a copy of the proof of purchase. Uh - should'nt the registration I made with the company suffice? I don't have the receipt. Sorry.

We'll see how this goes.

I think what really annoyed me the most was that I started really early today with the intent of knocking out a couple great pages. Figuring out that the router was physically (not mentally) dead, blew half the day.
Of course, you see the circular patter here, don't you?

Traffic is beginning to lighten up in L.A. as we approach the holidays. Really makes you realize what a town of transplants it is. Everybody goes "home" for the holidays. Makes you wish there were more holidays.

Tomorrow. I promise not to procrastinate. I promise not to procrastinate.

Wednesday, December 01, 2004

Ho Ho Hollywood

Okay, I didn't die during Thanksgiving, but the dinner did go eleven hours. I was fooling myself that I'd write anything after the fact.

Good food, hope yours was too.

So, a few of us decided to go to the Hollywood Blvd Christmas parade. We'd emailed about it, I was thinking about skipping it - then thought - why the heck not?

I'm glad I did it. First, I got to experience the subway system of Los Angeles. Ha! I bet you didn't even know Los Angeles had a subway system. But we do. It's a real pretty one too. If you live in town and have never tried it, you should. Every stop has a different, really excessive theme to it. It's like a Universal Studios Park ride.
Too bad it doesn't really go anywhere useful. However, for the parade, we were able to drive about five minutes from our place, hop on (at Vermont and Beverly for those of you really curious) and get off at Hollywood and Vine. That stop, if you haven't guessed, is completely MOVIES MOVIES MOVIES related. It's done in an "Egyptian" type style, something that was quite popular for the old movie palaces of the twenties. But wait, there's more - the ceiling is completely covered -- in empty Film Reels; the old ones used for projection back before platter systems.
It's nuts.
I wasn't sure whether to be impressed or laugh at the sheer audacious, gaudiness. I finally decided to laugh with awe.

Also, I can't really figure out if you have to pay to ride the subway. We bought the 1.25 cent subway tickets to the parade, but as their weren't any turn styles, ticket takers, or anything else of identifiable nature, we didn't bother buying them to go home. We just - went to the station, got on the train, and rode. Far as I could tell, so did everybody else.
The subway cars themselves look just like the NYC subway. Probably designed that way to make faking a New York subway easier for movies. The stops however were nothing like NYC, so somewhere there must be a special stop that looks like Manhattan.

The Parade.

Going down Hollywood Blvd, there's all kinds of decoration stretching across the blvd. It's shiny, glittery and only comes up around this time of year, so far as I can tell, it's supposed to be Christmas decoration. However, there's nothing to indicate that, or any other holiday. It's more film reels, and film strips. It's the one religion everybody in this town can agree on, I suppose.

Please note: Saying Ho HO HO on Hollywood Blvd. can lead to unknown results.

So, the parade... it was the greatest cavalcade of B and C list actors, and people you never heard of. We made a game of trying to come up with the most irritating things to cheer at them as they passed. Examples: Marion Ross got a big "Mrs. Partridge!!!!". Eric Estrada got "Caged Fury Rules!!!" (check IMDB if you never heard of THAT)

Best was the absurd Papier Mache Godzilla. Seeing Japanese tourists yelling and pointing at Godzilla was priceless.

And then it was over... the hoses and the trucks came in and HO HO HOsed down the sidewalks.
The large Musco lights, and the wet streets made for a Hollywood style Hollywood Blvd.