The Fourth Installment
I’ll set the scene. It’s Sunday evening, I’ve just ordered a curry - biryani, so I didn’t have to spend extra money on a separate curry/rice pairing. I’ve finished some of the work I have to do at the weekend, and will do more after supper. I’m watching the NBA - Steph Curry is in action against the Sacramento Kings. The light is fading, and the palm trees outside my window are almost silhouettes against the grey-blue sky. The commentary is punctuated by the not-uncommon harmony of sirens and helicopters. I’m writing another blog post: and hoping that if I write some indulgent journalist-y stuff that I might trigger my brain into thinking about what to say. I hope that the following nonsense makes it look like that was a successful exercise.
There was an extended purpose to that paragraph - we are doing a lot of sensory work on objects or scenarios in our classes. This is where one puts themselves into an almost meditative state of relaxation, and then…sort of…manifests an object or scenario to mind. They then explore that thing in every conceivable way (what does it feel like, what is it made of, what temperature is it, what holds it together etc…), the goal to be able to see it so clearly and vividly in your mind’s eye that you may react to it with as honest a reaction/interaction as possible. Yes, I know how that sounds. Look, your jobs have weird nuances too okay? Go write a quarterly report, ya big lame.
I’m enjoying doing some work in my free time - I am starting to see small improvements and things that feels like something tangible to feel good about, so I’ll press on with that. I’m also still really enjoying LA, although I really wish it would chill with it’s prices. It’s not that it’s more expensive than London; London needs to chill too, but it’s that here there is nothing that isn’t expensive. If it’s good quality, it’s expensive. If it’s kookie, it’s expensive. If it’s average-bad quality but is a landmark, it’s expensive. If it’s…etc… . A poppadom from a curry house is $2.95! If you tried to charge that in London you’d be laughed out of town. It might be the only time the whole city is united. If I see more than 50p for a poppadom, I retch. Having said that, there are plenty of things to do here that are expensive but because this is my first time, I’m gonst to do it - i.e. we’ve just got tickets for the Lakers vs Clippers NBA game at the Staples Centre in a week or two and I cannot wait. Lebron James, Russel Westbrook, Dwight Howard - some big names out on court. The last couple of days has been fun - the Lee Strasberg Institute (known henceforth as LSI) has a film festival called Picture’s Up which ran all weekend, and I went to pretty much every screening, and saw some wicked films. It felt all a little bit closer, watching them on a theatre over here. Maybe that’s a siren call rather than church bells, but I feel fairly well tied to the mast. It would be nice to start setting up a career here, although obviously not even halfway through the course yet, and a heavy heavy workload to get through before that can be thought about, but I’ve been emailing agents and managers, and at least trying to through my name around a bit more. I went to the film festival with a wad of my newly printed cards to give out and, I won’t lie, I blanked. How do you hand those things out? It never comes up naturally. It feels somehow like a massive inconvenience and a show-off move at the same time. Another extra-curricular lesson I am taking - don’t overthink business card transactions. Still got some Instagrams though, so don’t worry, ya boi came through with some decent networking.
I was largely unprepared for how cold it is over here, if I’m being brutally honest. It’s still warm during the day but instead of having balmy halcyon days, as soon as the sun goes down a bit, it becomes freezing. I think it might be time to go to some thrift stores and pick up some winter wear. I’m also making a trip to Wisconsin for Thanksgiving, and I feel that I should make an effort to prepare for snow. Ugh, I’m just so tropical, I don’t know if I can do snow anymore. That’s a lie, gimme some skis and machine guns so I can be James Bond. Which reminds me - I saw the new James Bond at the IMAX screen at the Chinese Theatre in Hollywood, and it was a very predictable disappointment. No spoilers here though. I came home and immediately watched The Spy Who Loved Me, which is much better. I am going to be watching Dune this week, and I can already guarantee that it’s going to be amazing. One doesn’t like to buy into the excruciating culture of remakes, nor suggest that we should start remaking films from David Lynch, BUT…surely Dune is a movie for which that treatment would really benefit it? I will also be watching The French Dispatch, the second of the two movies that I am wicked excited for, oh boy. Also, and I really really hate to say it, but the trailer for the new Top Gun came on at the cinema and it does look frustratingly good. No, not good - frustratingly cool. I think that’s basically the first one as well - frustratingly cool. Yes, we won’t have Maverick and Goose being awesome, and I doubt that Val Kilmer will stir the same emotions as he did in the last one. Also Kelly McGillis isn’t in it. But it is going to have planes and cool stuff going fast so does it really matter? We’ll all be hooked from the iconic ‘clang clang clang clangalangalangclang, clangalang clangalang clangalang’. There you go, perfect travel journalism to open the blog, perfect film critique to round it off.
This blog has been brought to you by Spotify, The Soundtrack of My Time in LA . If any of you haven’t listened to Watermelon in Easter Hay by Frank Zappa, then you are absolutely robbing yourself. It is absolutely ridiculous and I guarantee you’ll go on a journey. Do yourself a favour and listen to it.
I started listening to Frank Zappa last week.
Bye.