Following my trip to the San Francisco Bay area a couple of weeks ago, it got me thinking about the differences between Northern and Southern Cali. Even though they both occupy the same West coast, the cities couldn't be any more different than each other.
There's some arguements perpetually raged (Mac vs. PC, Pepsi vs. Coke, New York vs. LA, Honda v. Toyota, iPhone compared to the Blackberry - Okay, you get it) and this is definitely one of the biggies for me personally.
THE BAYIt's worth noting that nobody tailgated me the entire weekend. People seemed generally cooler, and more genuine. We weren't all competing for the same "script/movie role/parking space" and the weather was a bit cooler.
Berkely was the first place I ever stayed in California. I met a cat at the Chicago Comic-con (now Wizard World) who invited me out with the plan to drive down to San Diego for the Comic-con (even back then). I can't believe my mother let her 17 year-old baby go, but she did. I ended up spending the next few weeks with Mike Ebert and the guys from
Animag Magazine. I discovered a whole new world in those days. From Telegraph Avenue to the campus town, Oakland, San Francisco, BART... it was all pretty overwhelming compared to a 3 hour drive or 20 minute plane ride to Chi-town.
I decided then to take filmmaking seriously as a career. I went back to the D and announced to anyone who'd listen that I wasn't going to college for Aerospace Engineering afterall. I was gonna be a writer/director/documentary-maker and maybe work in special effects. I sort of ended up doing all that and more these past near two decades.
So I owe L.A. a lot... but you never forget your first love. And I rediscovered my love affair with the Bay Area over the weekend.
LOS SCANDELOUSLet me prefice this by saying I've lived in LA for almost 20 years now. It's my adopted home away from home. I'll root for most of their sports teams (unless they're playing a team from Detroit) and like many of the people and the weather.
But there's some things that definitely rub me the wrong way. But above all I hate people who talk about how much they hate LA yet continue to dwell here being cranky and helping clog the 405 freeway.
But the people are mostly plastic (not L.A.'s fault since it attracts flakes from the other 50 and beyond), the driving is horrible, and it's expensive to live, work, and buy property. You can drop 400k in Compton! I became a man here, so it will always have a place in my outlook on life. But I can't help thinking it was probably a better place to live in the 60s-80's? Before the freeways got clogged, the streets dirty and the population exceeded 20 million. I miss the change in seasons and don't think I want to live here for the rest of my life. Byt if I could get a condo here I'd be happy... And I'll take it over long winter months in Detroit anyday!
WHAT DO YOU THINK?I'm interested in your view (all three people reading this LOL!) Native Californians and transplants alike.
Personally my goal is to be bi-coastal and live somewhere warm most of the year then spend the rest of my time either back home in Detroit or travelling. But alas that's an expensive lifestyle I can't finance yet.
I went to the Midnight show of "Indy" at the Arclight last night with my boy Jeff and his wife. It was a lot of fun with some people even dressed up "Indy-like." A good B+ outing. Much like the last two (or 'first two' depending on your age/fan perspective) Star Wars movies it didn't embarrass the franchise, but it hardly matched the originals.
