(06/15/05) I'm in Hollywood...

Click Here to Watch Video Diary 1

I've been in Hollywood since last Sunday night. Click on the pic above for some stuff from my day walking along the main stretch of Hollywood Boulevard.
(Cheers Talia for helping me edit this one).

In Highland Park I spoke with loads of people - only most of the time they didn't want to be on camera. I bumped into a civil rights lawyer who was familiar with the case the panhandlers near Olivera Street downtown were making against the security guards in Olivera Plaza. The guy said that the security guards have their own stories too of what goes on down there. I never got to hear about it in full because he had to be somewhere. It was interesting though coz it's another case of one person's story building upon the next.

Also in Highland Park, I spent about an hour with a veteran from Iraq and Afghanistan - only a year or so older than me but with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. He came across as a bit psychotic and yet kind at the same time. He said that the best years of his life were in Iraq. All day, people had been talking to me about how dangerous they feel LA is and then this guy, the veteran, pipes up when we're talking, 'LA's not dangerous! IRAQ'S dangerous! AFGHANISTAN'S dangerous!!!' It was interesting to hear his point of view. Unfortuneately, my mic broke during the interview so I don't have any sound on tape. It took me 3 days to stop reeling from that one.

The group walk was fun. We walked from Mount Washington to Chinatown and back again. There are a couple of pics from that below.

I passed through Atwater Village and Silverlake to get into Hollywood.

Jay, who I stayed with in Atwater, showed me this most amazing stretch of the LA River around there. Unfortunately I was so distracted by it's awesomeness that I didn't think to take a picture. Just imagine a setting from Huckleberry Finn but with concrete, trash and grafitti.

I thought I'd put up a few pictures of signs I've been taking that have resonated with me in one way or another...

Chinatown

Chinatown

In a park near Mount Washington

Highland Park

Highland Park

Between Highland Park and Cypress Park. This one could be a subtitle for part of what I'm trying to do with this project...

On the group walk we explored inside an old prison for women near downtown. This was the recreation area on the roof. In that room you can see in the background, they filmed parts of Nightmare on Elm Street and did really crap fake Hollywood grafitti inside to make the place look 'spooky'.

This is from inside that room - some of the 'Elm Street' decorating.

This was the view from the roof looking down.

Comments

[Nerissa]

Hello Lisa!

Thanks for the newest video-- I loved it!
I enjoy seeing LA again and especially the parts I never visited or knew about while I was there. I can see that you take great care in backgrounds and it really adds "texture" to your visuals.

I hope your mic gets better soon. Maybe you could ask a video supply store for freebie in exchange for a nice plug of their logo on the tail of your vlogs and credit in your movie?

Best wishes,
Nerissa
The Video Queen

[Melissa]

This is the first of your WALK LA videos I've watched, but i'm now compelled to watch them all! I live in LA as well, at the moment, and find navigating thru the city quite difficult. Walking, cycling and the lot is so discouraged. It's nice to see these views of LA. I look forward to seeing more of your project.

Best,

Melissa