So there are some very nice things about LA and the LA lifestyle that I am coming to learn. One of the foremost is the utter cheapness of living here, and the selection of things to do on the cheap.
I went hiking last week. It was a mere ten minute drive from my place. Now, I am not comparing the hiking to being up in the Adirondacks in New York, which are bucolic and lovely. The trail was a little dry and dusty, and you’re never really that far from feeling like your in a city. But still, the occasional porn star down from the valley hiking there helps make up the difference.
COST: One buck parking fee. You can’t even get on the train in NY for that. Not even close.
I went to a jazz series opening at the Hollywood Bowl with some friends last Wednesday. And while there are certainly seats that are more expensive, the general admission seats for this concert, featuring Queen Latifah (who was excellent) and a ten piece Jazz ensemble, were very comfortable and allowed us, once we’d moved off center, to spread out and have a picnic with the wine and food we were permitted to bring into the place. So a nite out with music and a picnic.
COST: $12 bucks for the seat and seventy five cents? for a seat cushion. BYOB.
Similarly, last nite, much of the same crew from the concert went to the Hollywood Forever cemetery screening. Basically, you queue up outside on the grass for an hour or so, then they let everyone in to place, and you stake a claim with your blanket, food, booze, etc. on the grass opposite the white wall of a very conveniently placed mausoleum, which is right opposite Hitchcock’s tomb. (Incidentally, they began this series with Vertigo, which to me is a little weird, but Hitch probably would have dug it). They project the movie on the side of the mausoleum and voila. Between seven and when it gets dark, you basically sit there and listen to a DJ spin. Last week, when the movie was Fast Times at Ridgemont High, they spun eighties music, and Amy Heckerling was there for the show. (No word on Sean Penn). Since the movie was Milos Forman’s amazing One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, they spun mostly older seventies hippie tunes. And everyone gets a little loaded while waiting for it to get dark enough for the movie to start, which made it a little weird because while the movie is inspirational, it had the effect of making some Angelinos laugh an inappropriate moments.
Movie Aside: So many years later, Cuckoo’s Nest stands up. In the wake of the torture of prisoners in Cuba, the movie is extremely timely. It also doesn’t have a false note, pulls no punches, has a great score and incredible acting. Its basically perfect, and I have a suspicion that it would play pretty well if released theatrically now. If I can make one movie nearly that good in my career, well, that’s a career. Fucking amazing, and I’ve seen it half a dozen times or more.
Anyway, so we sat there, watched a great movie (and they have a good project and great sound system), and chilled. Of course, there is all the waiting but that can be fun. I ran into (well, she spotted me somehow in the crowd) Jen Getzinger, who was Darren Aronofsky’s script supervisor and then on Sex in the City for years, before attending AFI. She was with her producers, and we chatted a bit. It was nice seeing her unexpectedly like that.
COST: $10 (a suggested donation, but not really the vibe I got when we walked up – you gotta pay).
I drank a little too much and have a bit of a headache today. But it was another fun time, and far preferable to hanging in a stuffy bar.
Grumpster
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