I’m sitting outside the 1st street lofts as it gets dark downtown and I feel I’m getting to the end of the first episode of my as yet unwritten/unknown story.
People have compared what I’m doing with Forest Gump and with Falling Down and (if anything) maybe it’s a mixture of the two. But personally, when I was planning this project, the main movie reference that always came up for me was Samuel L Jackson in Pulp Fiction when he says to John Travolta that he’s ‘Just gonna walk’.
I also remember Harvey Keitel saying to Quentin Tarantino something along the lines of that he should move out of the styx (Inglewood).
Anyway, right now, writing this, I feel more like Doogie Howser than Michael Douglas. Like how he used to type on his computer at the end of every episode.
- Here is the lowdown on the run so far.
I got my first ‘pull’ on Friday when I arrived downtown and was walking along Broadway. Calvin, the man in this video, wanted to know what I was doing and when I told him he said he’d walk with me for a block or two. This video entry is in honour of him being the first taker, as it were.
Click Here to Watch Calvin on Broadway
Saturday was a pretty full day. I walked around downtown and with a family from Monrovia and also with two sisters who have taken a walk together near Chinatown for an hour or so, every night, since 1991.
Later that day I headed back to Selah Artistic Giving Center. They had an opening that night and there was also a street festival outside. Below is a video showing some of that.
Click Here to Watch Street Fest and Kerry
On Sunday, I walked past ‘Our Lady of Angels’ Catholic Church on Spring Street and met David. He approached me when he saw the camera and said he had a lot of stuff to say that he wanted people to know. We spoke for 40 minutes and his story is cavernous. I struggled to put together a short piece out of the huge amount that he communicated.
He’s going to trial right now with the security guards on Olivera Plaza because he says they beat him up for panhandling. He told me about a non English-speaking lawyer from Mexico who is homeless here in LA and who is currently lying in hospital after being beaten so badly by the security guards that he may not live. He said that people need to know why other people panhandle. That the truth is not simple. That if you look at the truth, you realise how impossible it is to point the finger at other people. And he said a lot more too. Some of it is here, in the video below.
Click Here to Watch David Outside 'Our Lady of Angels'
On Sunday night we had a BBQ and Felix told me about the dead body they found outside the lofts he lives in (and I’ve been staying in) early Sunday morning after the street festival.
Click Here to Watch Murder Story
On Monday, me and Marisa hung out and took it easy – it being Memorial Day, downtown was like a ghost town. We wandered around the deserted factories and warehouses where all you could hear were the cars on the freeway and the sparrows singing madly.
I’m heading out to Mt Washington and Highland Park tomorrow. In many ways downtown has been a great place to start, to see the rest of LA in juxtaposition to. I guess other than the beach areas, it's the place where most people walk in LA also.
More, later.
If you want to come on a group walk on Sunday (more details later) be sure to sign up for the mailing list. Just send me an email with 'subscribe' in the subject bar to lisa@walklawithme.com .
I really got what your walk was about as you walked/talked with Calvin. Congrats on your adventure -please also subscribe me to your mailing list... thanks.
Posted by: Madley | June 02, 2005 at 12:28 AM
Although sitting here in London, I'm walking vicariously with you in LA. Love it xx Keep going and take care.
Posted by: Keren | June 02, 2005 at 02:20 PM
Could you provide with more info on the street festival that occur in the opening of the "Selah Artistic Giving Center". I've live here for all my life and never heard of any street festival in downtown art district before your blog.
Again I thank you for doing this wonderful work. I will hope that my wife and I can also walk with you but we do live in Bell Gardens, 90201 where the 710 and Florence intersect. That is we're in LA county as oppose to the LA city.
Posted by: Marcelino | June 03, 2005 at 08:13 AM
That homeless guy was really interesting. I like how you are putting up people talking rather than just the sights you see. It gives your journey such a human approach. Good work.
Posted by: Nathan Peters | June 05, 2005 at 05:29 PM
Really enjoying the videos so far. I need to talk to the guys that make ANT about recognizing when there are multiple video links in a feed. I received "Calvin" in my ANT app, but only when I visited your site later did I see you had several videos up!
Keep up the great work. Come up and walk in Portland anytime.
Posted by: Ed S. | June 06, 2005 at 03:54 PM
these are awesome.
i now undersatnd why you built the camera carriage the way you did.
one thing....
put one video in each post.
this way aggregators like FireANT can get all the videos.
right now, only the first video is seen....
ask me and i can explain more.
Posted by: Jay Dedman | June 12, 2005 at 01:14 PM