Take 2: Tales From Tinsel Town

The King of the Hills


(Celebrity Encounter #1)


People drive in L.A. the way people walk in New York: with determination, and without mercy. But it’s easy to keep up if you have cojones.
Everyone warned me about the L.A. traffic, and while the break lights on my car are certainly getting a work-out, the 101 or 405 could easily be mistaken for rush hour on the 401 in Toronto. I don’t want to jinx it, but so far, my days of trekking to Mississauga Road for work seem a lot worse. Plus, there’s no threat here of black ice, snow, or freezing rain to throw drivers into fender bender frenzies. Apparently, locals freak out when it rains and the accidents accumulate at the same rate as water in the gutters.
This morning on the radio, Ryan Seacrest and the gang at KIIS were freaking out about how cold it was – a bitter 55 Fahrenheit, or 12.7 degrees Celsius (these units, I actually understand). It was pretty entertaining listening to people complain about the weather while my friends and family back in the land of ice were suffering through snow and negative temperatures. I feel for you guys…seriously ;)
I’m still feeling like I’ve been here before. I’m in a constant state of deja vu. The whole concept of L.A. is bizarre. Cultural theorists have postulated on this topic pretty much since the advent of the motion picture, but being here really confirms how truly hyperreal it is. Yesterday I was with a friend driving down Beverly Blvd and saw Brent Bolthouse’s SBE office. And just like that I said “Oh, that’s where Heidi works”, as if I know her. The experience would be like driving downtown seeing the Bank of Montreal building and saying “Oh, that’s where Uri works”, only I’ve known the kid my whole life, and have been driving those streets since I can remember. That was my very first time on that street and yet it was just so simply recognizable.
I haven’t arrived at any conclusions about how I feel about all of this, but it just makes me think about the enormous influence of the media, and how it can be so misleading. Hopefully at some point in my time here, I’ll come to some sort of answer.
Until then, I’ll be logging tapes of celebrities.