I shouldn't have to worry about this

I don't remember a moment growing up when I didn't feel safe. I grew up in a typical suburban neighborhood. There were actual white picket fences around some of the homes on my block. Kids ran through yards and no one was afraid to walk around at night alone. My dad is a cop. I'm sure that had something to do with it. I always knew he'd be there to protect us, but honestly I don't think I ever stopped to really think about that.

Then I moved to Los Angeles. Living in a city is a completely different beast. Safety is something I've thought a lot about since moving here. When I first got to LA, a guy was sneaking over the walls of homes in my neighborhood and beheading people. Sounds crazy right? He did it twice. He snuck into an old man's home and beheaded him while he was on the phone changing a flight reservation. He eventually wandered onto a lot carrying a samurai sword where he was held by security. My neighborhood is also where they eventually arrested an arsonist that was setting fires all around the Hollywood area. He would set car fires in car parks in the middle of the night. I moved out of my first apartment here because my neighbor was a meth head and I no longer felt safe living next to him. I moved into a building where apparently the FBI arrested one of my neighbors in the middle of the night for human trafficking.  Not that long ago someone tried to crow bar open the metal front door of the apartment I used to live in in broad daylight. And this is a building that I actually feel pretty safe in.

I always hold my purse tight, stay aware of my surroundings and don't pull my phone out in the subways. Even though safety is something I often think about, right now it's hitting closer than I would like.

There is a manhunt in LA for a former cop who is targeting cops and their families and there are cops' kids at my daughter's daycare. That is a very scary thing. There are cops sitting outside the school. Last week at one point there were cops in the classrooms. As a parent I had to make the decision - does she stay there or do I pull her out. On Thursday, when all this madness began, I was home sick from work. As soon as I heard I picked her up. Today was her first day back. It wasn't an easy decision to make. There is no direct target at the school. The cops watching over it are precautionary. It's hard to say whether it's better to have them there or not, seeing as they could be a target themselves.

I hate that we live in a country where this is actually something we have to think about. I hate that when I mention my situation on Facebook someone I know says they are dealing with the same thing. We should never have to worry about whether our children are safe from bad people with assault rifles. This may be a unique situation - since this person is a former police officer. But even he says he has guns normal citizens shouldn't have access to.

This is scary and it's real and it's hitting way too close to home. It's all a little bit too much to process.

Show Me the Money?

At the crossroads of Art and Commerce there needs to be a guy selling Prozac. 

I know a few people that work in internet marketing. Google ad words and the such. Internet marketing is not like other forms of advertising. It's easily traceable. It's probably one of the few forms of promotion that can actually prove results. Click on a link and it's easy to know whether that click turned into a sale. The film industry is not quite so predictable. Who's to say what a profitable idea really is? I read film proposals every day and I never read one that said "this film is a risky investment." Didn't matter if it was an action film with a proven star attached or a brother/sister incest drama - everyone thinks their film is the next big thing. You have to. 

But even though I play the game, I must admit it can be depressing to look at film as a number. To read a crappy script and still be considering it because there is a potentially promising profit margin. Or to read an awesome script and know the film will probably never be made because it will never make its money back. 

Art and commerce have to go hand in hand because film is a business not a museum exhibit. And despite the promising sales coming out of Sundance this year, more days than not it feels like independent film is on the verge of extinction because the model is not sustainable. I want to believe that's not true. I want to swallow a few pills and keep pushing forward - and I will push forward. But when I read a cheesy script full of illogical plot points and cookie cutter characters and I am told to entertain the idea of it...Prozac would come in handy. 

The Road Less Traveled

Remember that scene in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade when Indy busts through the floor in the library and sneaks into the catacombs? I love that scene. I love the idea that something so amazing could be right in front of us and yet we never see it. With all the hustle and bustle of life we often miss the beauty around us. Nowadays so many of us have our noses buried in our iPhones. It's so easy to miss the world and all the magnificent pieces of history buried right in front of us.

A great example of this is The Tabernacle of Prayer Church in Queens, NY. A movie theater turned house of worship. The architecture is amazing. It reminds us that going to the movies used to be an event from the moment we walked in the door. They just don't build them like they used to. It's the kind of place that would be so easy to miss. Unless maybe you were a location scout like Scout NY with a great eye for historic gems. Abandoned movie theaters are often so sad and hauntingly beautiful. But this theater is so amazing because it's grandeur remains intact - just serving a different purpose.

Charles Pheonix does this great exploration of Los Angeles through his own unique kitschy lens on his Disneyland Tour of Downtown LA. I took it once with a friend and had a blast. It's a whole new way at looking at Downtown Los Angeles. Starting at Union Station you take the "monorail" to Chinatown and make your way through historic landmarks like the Angel's Flight all the while traveling on a yellow school bus and ultimately ending on a puppet show at Bob Baker's Marionette Theater. It's pretty awesome. I highly recommend checking it out.

Of course, not every gem is as easy to access as that. Sometimes one must dig a little deeper and breaking a few laws. Like, Steve Duncan, who calls himself an urban historian. He explores parts of cities most of us will never see. The photos on his website are beautiful and this video of NYC's underground is pretty amazing as well.


UNDERCITY from Andrew Wonder on Vimeo.

I may not have the guts (or the insanity) to climb the Williamsburg Bridge like he does, but I certainly appreciate the view and I'm glad he shared.