Why? Because I looooooooooooooooooooooooooove LA. Or more specifically, the people you meet just being in LA (when you’re not stuck in traffic).
There are a few cities in the world for which I feel this way…but LA is something something.
Now, before I spew my LA lovefest, I need to say…I hate the process of getting there.
That being said, I landed in LA on Friday the 7th around 4pm…I was supposed to land around noon….but the personable security agent at Pearson (Toronto’s main airport) pulled me and a half dozen other LA bound travellers aside for “random” 1.5 hour long searches which caused us to miss our flight. This was my 3rd trip in a row that this has happened (the 3rd search…this was the 1st missed flight). Despite the photo on my passport (they told me not to smile...I'm good at that), you’d think with my name, nebbish demeanour and tattoos that I wouldn’t be consistently flagged as a major security threat. Wrong. Yet out of spite, I admit to emailing from my iPhone, the word BOMB BOMB BOMB to my brother once I made it through and was seated comfortably in seat 27F…next stop…Washington for a 2 hour stopover….
I finally made it to the city of angels…and the overall sense of blah and pure exhaustion I had been feeling for a few weeks leading up to the trip was replaced with excitement..not sure why...but it happened (it didn’t help that I only booked the ticket 2 days prior….onnnn points…hallelujah…to be honest I think I would have had to start panhandling to cover the flight & back if I didn’t find the free flight down).
On my first real day in LA, and still a little foggy from the previous day’s adventures, I participated in a “Speed Pitching” session coordinated by DoSomething.org at the monstrous offices of CAA. What a day. It was kind of like speed dating between kids and adults (um, that didn’t sound right, even to me). The idea behind the event is that “kids” between the ages of 15 & 25 who initiated community or cause based programs would give a 2 minute pitch to “old people” such as myself, receive 2 minutes of feedback, get scored, and then move on to the next “old person”…repeat. The top 3 each received $1,000 grants to move their programs forward. I think that both sides of the table were somewhat inspired by the others’ passion and creativity. At least I know that I was. I couldn’t help but think, what if I had such direction and passion in life at such a young age…what if more of us did? What if we held these events in Toronto?
I also met some really great “old people” at the event, including the brains behind the day, the chief old person from Dosomething.org. I also stalked out Levi Alex from Causecast.org. Causecast.org is another organization that is working to make the world a better place for us all. I am a huge fan of their’s and hope you check them out. A big thanks to Levi for meeting with me later that week and for the advice…sooo appreciated. I also met Brett Ratner during the speed pitch (though I knew who he was based on his work on The Rushour & X-men movies, I only recognized him from an episode of Entourage when Johnny Drama stormed his house). On that note, if anyone from CAA is wondering who stuck a sticker on the back of the marble table in the waiting area…it was Bret (sorry for calling you out).
That was random…but then again, so was randomly meeting an associate founder of Twitter at the Standard (W Hollywood…free wi-fi and great views all day long). I looooove Twitter almost as much as I love LA. What are the chances of meeting ANYONE associated with Twitter on the streets of Toronto or anywhere for that matter? What are the chances that someone who is launching a social network of his own would bump into someone from the social network he most admires? Anyway, I now have her contact info. Score.
Before I go back to my LA lovefest…the main reason why I went to California was for a bit (just a bit) of R&R, and to attend Plug In America’s fundraiser at the Thomas Fogerty vineyard on August 9th. And I am glad I did. I met some great people at the event, including a Canadian now living in SF, a couple Teslas and other EVs I’d love to drive one day…cool beans…I also finally met the brains and hearts who are driving change at Plug In America. So, after 6 hours in a car (hybrid) each way that day…I was looking forward to just relaxing.
And that I did. I spent most of the week either by the pool at the standard…making use of their free wi-fi and nicely blended Arnold Palmers or at the Starbucks on Sunset (you know…the one below TMZ’s offices…the office where I walked in and said, “hi my name…” before being escorted out by the not-so-receptive receptionist…yes, that was me who put the “this ass gives a poop” sticker on the banister outside your office).
I also met some interesting characters that you aren’t likely to meet anywhere else, including a charming lady and her Wheeton-poodle mix. She mentioned that she had been seeing more lizard people walking around than normal. Wow, I thought I was the only one. Even the dogs in LA have more personality than normal…my favourite was the 90 lb bull terrier who when I stopped scratching her head…wrapped her paws around my neck and started bear hugging me…because that’s how you get more love right? (btw, I was sitting…I’m not that short).
Yes, LA has the pseudo-celebrities who habitually wrap their cars around lampposts while flashing booty to the paparazzi on Sunset, but you also have year round summer….beaches…the best tacos this side of Tijuana and a city full of people who ooze energy and passion. Yes, many are passionate only about themselves….but there are so many people in the city who have made lives or are in the process of making lives for themselves doing things that are important to them. Be it the waiters who are still looking for their big break on the big (or little) screen)….to the “normal” folk like you and me (probably should have used “I”) who kind of have an idea about the life they want to live and are going for it.
You have so many people who get what life is about...and so many people who get what I have been trying to launch. Now, I'm not saying that moving to LA to just hang around at coffee shops is the answer to move Jack forward…but the past couple times I have been in LA, I met so many people who are excited to get involved with Jack. They’re everywhere there. You’re bound to bump into one or someone who knows one…or perhaps you'll bump into a lizard person or someone who knows one along the way.
Last bit of rant...people of LA, you also don't have Toronto's humidity in the summer, and you don't have a mayor who spends half his day on twitter, while the rest of the people who work for him are denied access. @mayormiller ...if you’re going to be a twit, at least do me the solid and register a profile on the homegrown social network with a conscience, www.JackTheDonkey.com & perhaps have the flag on my passport removed…these searches are becoming a little tiresome.
Thanks,
Moi