On Sundays in NC it was tradition to go out and eat or make a family meal. This past Sunday I wanted to keep the tradition alive so I treated myself to a dinner at a restaurant.

One thing that is prevalent here in L.A. is the concept of "receptacles". You may purchase a Snickers Bar at a mini-mart but you hand the money and the candy through a 2 inch thick Plexiglas wall that zags at a 90 degree angle.

That brings me to my Sunday dinner. So i order my chalupas at Taco Bell and pass the money under this clear wall. Then shuffle down the line to what can only be described as a food receptacle. A pass through system in which the door on the kitchen side and the door on the customer side cannot be opened at the same time. I was literally stunned, it was such a demeaning and inhuman contraption that I stood silently holding my food in front of this impersonal maw for an awkward enough amount of time that the lady behind the clear wall gave me a funny look and tapped on the glass. I felt like I was in prison, or a monkey in a zoo, or a human being taken captive my a super race of apes.

I sat down with weak knees and juggled the tasteless bits of tomato and mystery meat in my mouth, whilst sipping my Raspberry Tea. There is no sweet tea remember.

I think that sums up so well the operating procedure of Los Angeles. A director i know just left L.A. and his parting comment was that L.A. was "vulgarity itself".

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I had the opportunity to see Jason and Ivan Reitman the other night give an improptue interview of eachother in an intimate hundred person venue. Jason had a silly laugh as I expected but what I was not expecting was how congenial and likeable these two chaps were. Ivan is Jasons father. Ivan made some of the best comedies of the previous generation; Stripes, Animal House, Ghostbusters. Jason has done Thank You For Smoking and Juno. Ivan and Jason were both very gracious and laid back. Both had very clean language and were keen to point out there own faults and foibles. I took a fair amount of notes and while there was no huge revelation it was nice to hear Jason say some of the exact same things I've said about directing. One quote that rings true with me is when he described watching some lame movie tha was considered good at the time and he exclaimed "This Counts?!?" in disbelief. He thought if what he was watching counted as good cinema then surely he'll make it fine. I've thought the same thing.

I could not help but think about the whole nepetism part of the equation, but Jason explained how he hates nepetism and thinks its dumb and went out of his way to do directing on his own with out his fathers help. The whole speech was a breath of fresh air. Wonderful to hear and a boost to my spirits.

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Music of the day is Interpol. Special shout out to my peeps at Sov Grace Apex. Thanks for all the love.