THE VIEW FROM THE WEST - VOL. 4

The other day I was sitting here at my desk, listening to music, staring at my screen.  And the lampshade to my left started shaking.

I looked down at my dog and my dog did nothing.  We sat there for a moment and then the shaking went away.

One thing you might not know is that an earthquake can make you feel seasick.

 
 

In his 1999 book entitled The Ecology of Fear, Mike Davis points out that at least 138 novels and films dating back to 1909 have dealt with the destruction of Los Angeles.

Earthquake.  Fire.  Flood.  Nukes.  Alien or human invasion.

A storyline that never grows old.

“The entire world,” Davis argues, “seems to be rooting for LA to slide into the Pacific or be swallowed up by the San Andreas Fault.”….

 
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THE VIEW FROM THE WEST - VOL. 2

A few words about readings.

Authors and poets standing up in front of people and reading from their work.

I have it in my head that a good reading should take on the character of its town.  Meaning:  a New York reading should be different than a New Orleans reading.  A Seattle reading should be different than a Portland reading.  A Chicago reading should be different than an Austin reading.

And so on.

Here in LA, it seems like a reading has to be entertaining.  Meaning:  It can’t just be a reading; it also must be a show.  I don’t mean this in a bad way, either.  It’s a natural extension of LA culture.  The Entertainment Capital of the World.  “A reading with jazz hands,” I like to say.   People in Hollywood seem to expect jazz hands.  They want some pyrotechnics, some musical theater, some weirdness, some special effects.

Maybe even some fake blood.

Or, on a lucky night, some nudity.

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