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Squirrels w/a Million Dollar View

I'm on my way out to Jakarta, Indonesia for a spur of the moment prsentation. We're looking for funding in this China project I'm working on and one of the partners has contacted someone he's done business with in the past who has the ability to bring in millions of dollars. He agreed to take a meeting and invite some other investors so I'm in L.A. on a long layover.




Got up at 4 AM, arrived in the city of angels around 9 and started the ritual I like to do with long layovers. Picked up a rental car and had breakfast at Dinah's off the 405 and Sepulveda. Then I dragged my friend Dave to the Sunset strip and we checked out all the guitar shops. Sam Ash, Carvin, Mesa Boogie, the collectors room at Guitar Center, on and on.

We had a great lunch with my friend Lauralee Farrer who's the editor of publications at Fuller in Pasadena and talked about movie projects she's working on. Shared sympathy for a 35mm film based feature she'll be paying off for the next year that's come to a dead end, the juicy documentary about free trade here and in Africa that she's editing, the state of the Scrapped and the stuff I've been shooting in China.




Shot down to Santa Monica for a visit with D.David Morin to have the stereotypical LA dinner at Musha off Wilshire and 4rth. Sushi, sake and then drinks and coffee on the promenade. Lots of fun to catch up with him, hear more about a suspenseful who-dun-it feature he's gearing up for and pretty much had a whole day of feeling like some kind of movie guy hanging out in LA. :0)

Two crazy things I saw were a great singer selling CD's in the street. Spectacular voice, no record deal but working on it. I forget what an entertainment industry mecca this place is and the caliber of talent hanging out in the street.




The other thing was the squirrels that I've never noticed living on the bluffs next to Santa Monica pier. They have some of the most expensive real estate of any squirrels on the planet. Sitting there watching the waves roll in I saw a mamma pop her head up, then slowly four more tiny replications creeped up and scratched around in the dirt.





Returned back to LAX late in the evening to catch our 1:40 AM flight to Tai Pei. Nobody at Malaysian Air seemed to be in a huge hurry so we sat in line for several hours checking in while our departure time came and went. Three hours of sleep then up at 4:00 AM, long day layover in LA ( that's what happens with a short notice flight and connecting two airlines ) then back on a plane and taking off about 23 hours later only to cram my big butt in a seat for 14 hours straight over the pacific, then another 6-7 hours worth of flying and brief layovers in Kuala Lampur then eventually Jakarta.



Long day of traveling. Three days of meetings and presentations with some people then back on the plane to do it all over again in reverse. Jakarta to Kuala Lampur to Tai Pei to Los Angeles to Dallas / Ft. Worth to Minneapolis.



That's life in the media biz of the global economy. Living on your charge card and booking the cheapest flights you can find, living the life of a rock star on the budget of a street performer until you get your big break.


PS> I you want to use some western style toilet paper in a Malaysian airport you better make sure you have some Malaysian change in your pocket or you're sh!t out of luck. ;0)

posted by wes @ 6:49 PM