On location in L.A.

A few days ago I arrived in Los Angeles to visit Aaron and Ben. The sun and the city have been wonderful. I came down from AK because I needed some sun but as Aaron says I also needed son(s).

Wednesday I spent most of the mid morning and early afternoon walking through the Brentwood area. Ben and Aaron were both working, so I had some free time. I strolled down Wilshire and then down alongside the Brentwood Country Club. The weather was beautiful and so were the people. A few years ago I might have felt out of place but not this time. I was very comfortable with who I am, an Alaskan visiting California. I had breakfast at Noah's Bagel shop which just happened to be across the street from where a movie was being filmed. I heard conversations all around me about agents, screen plays, and triple digit figures. Everyone was somehow connected to the "business" read: the entertainment industry.  

I still had a couple of hours to kill so I headed down towards the Country Club. Along the way I did some window shopping and sightseeing. The landscaping was meticulous, flowers bloomed and clean bright shiny cars whipped past me. Everything looked so perfect and pretty. It soon got hot and I noticed the dryness in some of the grass, maybe a little Sitka rain would serve this area well. On my way back towards the bagel shop several motorcycle cops passed by leading a caravan of film making vehicles. One very large flatbed truck had a cameraman and what I assume was the director perched in the back. Behind them was hooked a trailer that had a big black SUV vehicle sitting on it. The camera was aimed directly at the windshield of the SUV at the actors inside. There was a guy in the drivers seat and a women in the passenger seat and then someone in the backseat. I didn't recognize anyone but I'm not good at recognizing people anyway.

Thursday evening I went with Ben, and 5 of his actor friends to see the new Batman movie "the Dark Knight" at 12:20am.  The theater was packed (on a week night) and there was industry buzz all around me. We arrived at the theater almost an hour early so there was a lot of talk between Ben's buds about their current "projects" and latest auditions. We got home at 4:00am but I wasn't tired, instead I was quite awake, taking in all the events of the evening.

I'll post more about my visit to Church and a quick visit to LA Ink.