Drew and Hugh and You
It’s over! Did you guess the first thing I would eat after the holiday ended? If you guessed pizza or sushi or Krispy Kreme, you were close. I did crave each of those things at some point over the last eight days. But in the final moments, oh boy, I had to have them, a big-ass bowl of Cocoa Puffs. My God, that was good. I’d describe it for you a little more but my language would border on the pornographic and this is a family blog.
But onwards.
Today, on the way to synagogue, all up and down my block I saw this sign:
Click to enlarge, but f you can’t read the bitty print, it says they are shooting a movie on my block tomorrow. I’ve never heard of it but it’s called Music & Lyrics By… and apparently has Drew Barrymore and Hugh Grant in it. Judging by previous film shoots on my block, there will be no stars in sight and no chances for “These pretzels are making me thirsty” type extra roles. I once got up at 5am to watch them film a scene from Law & Order. Despite everyone having dutifully moved their cars and the sudden proliferation of those production trailers, there was no shooting to be found. Lesson learned.
Besides which, they don’t actually give off from work when movies or TV shows are filming in your neighborhood; they’re just insensitive like that. Not to mention, you’d rarely have anyone actually in the office were that the case. But what I love about this sign is that they helpfully tell you where exactly they will be dragging off your car to should you actually want to park on your own block. This is one of the 1,001 reasons I am pleased to not own a car.
(As a “You live like this, we live like that” aside, cars are a real liability here what with the lack of parking, strange parking rules, high-priced tickets, traffic, insurance that costs as much as the car, etc. Plus everything you could ever need is on your corner and if not, public transportation will take you anyplace you want to go faster than a car would. So most people don’t have cars.)
Anyway, I’ll see if there’s anything to photograph or film tomorrow, like if Drew & Hugh are snogging in front of my building or something, but don’t hold your breath.
By the way, another homeless man accosted me as I took the above picture. This one said, “Do you need some more light?” Well, what have you got, spotlight in your pocket? Giant lamp in the shopping bag along with a generator? No, I don’t need any light, thanks. But this got me thinking about yet another theory on why homeless people wait till I bring out the camera before approaching me. I’ve stopped! See, most people in this city are moving and moving very fast. It’s easier to shoot deer when they stop at the salt lick, you know? And no one here is standing still unless they’re smoking in front of their office building. But I only had enough money for the Cocoa Puffs. The downtrodden will just have to wait. Maybe Drew’ll be more generous.
