Episode 18: Los Angeles
Nick: Today I'm talking to my friend John about Los Angeles, which is the city that you live in. And you were telling me that you were born in Philadelphia, but you always had this idea of moving to California.
John: Yes, umm, for me and for a lot of Americans and people around the world, California has an allure. It has its special own appeal. It has sunshine and warmth, it has beaches, it has a lot of, uhh, outdoor life, umm, outdoor lifestyle and a lot of people of course associate it with the entertainment business. So there's a lot of people that move to California, visit California and live in California because they want to live a dream, whether that's, they're pursuing a dream, or they just like, as I do, feeling like you're living in a dream. You wake up every morning, it's warm, it's sunny. If you're not working, ‘Do I go to the pool, do I go to the beach, do I go to the mountains?' Nick: Sounds great.
John: Yeah.
Nick: So I guess, I mean most Americans still live on the east coast, right? But there is still this kind of wave of people, and it started, what, in the 50s?, when people started to move a lot to the west coast.
John: Yes, you know, there was a big, I guess you could say migration, umm, to the golden state because there was a lot of land and a lot of opportunity and obviously a lot of warmth, so a lot of families just moved there and, umm, my family was always east coast based, but as, literally as far back as I can remember, I was always California-bound, everything fascinated me about it. Seeing it on television, the music of California, umm, surf music and I was a swimmer. Everything about it was just counting down to like, I was old enough to like, move out on my own.
Nick: OK, so how old were you when you finally did it?
John: Well, I was out of university. But I wanted to have … I wanted to be practical too. I didn't just want to pack my stuff in my car and drive with no money in the bank and no job, although I did move to California with no apartment, no job, but I had a lot of, umm, ambition and a lot of practical planning prior to when I packed up my car. Everything's worked out just like a dream.
Nick: That's also part of it a little bit, like you were talking about this dream or this allure, you know, to go there with nothing but your dreams and to kind of try to find your way, especially if you're an actor or if you're trying to get into that field.
John: Yeah, yeah and it's, I mean it's true, I think. And also because it's the most - in my opinion - by far the most beautiful place in the United States: California. But it's also very expensive, so in a way the people that really want to make it, really want to make their life there, they are willing to start with nothing and just scramble and scrap and work hard, work more than one job, umm, economise and then, uhh, and then make it, and be able to achieve and then sustain a lifestyle that it's worth all the extra money you have to pay to live there, because you have the warmth and the sun and opportunities too. There's obviously also a lot of opportunities to make a living there.
Nick: And so you've got cities (in California) like, I mean there are other famous cities like San Francisco, like San Diego, perhaps to a lesser extent. But you said to me yesterday that you wouldn't want to live anywhere in the United States apart from Los Angeles.
John: Yeah, yeah because for example, in California, you know, San Francisco, it's a lot of people's favourite city. A lot of people in America and a lot of people around the world come to the United States saying that, but to me that's like, it's a compact city, it's like a big city in other countries and it's too cold. And San Diego is beautiful but it's a little bit too far, too relaxed. In Los Angeles you have a good pace of living. It's crazy because of traffic and what not, but, umm, to me there's more energy and more things to do, and more business opportunities as well, so…
Nick: And so when a lot of people who aren't from L.A. go there, one of the things that they're a little bit surprised by or one of the things they realise is this idea that there's no real downtown or no real centre, uhh, like a city like New York, for example, and so they get a bit confused or they don't know exactly where to go or how to plan a visit there. And so what would you suggest if someone was coming, what are the things they have to see and do in L.A. John: Well, I think a lot of people come to Califor … to Los Angeles, to see Hollywood. And that's when you mentioned it's a little confusing because if you say, ‘Drop me off on Hollywood Boulevard,' now, I mean, they've made a very obvious - it's almost built so that tourists know they're in Hollywood, whereas before people would be standing at the corner of Hollywood and Vine, saying, ‘Where are all the movie stars and where's all the show business stuff?' But it's pretty, umm, it's pretty, uhh, well-planned now and tourist-friendly, but I would say definitely if you're going to come to Los Angeles you have to visit the beach, Santa Monica Pier, which is where there's a big amusement park, but it's also kind of the hub. From there you've got stretches and stretches of beaches and, umm, just walking along the beach, cycling along the beach. Venice Beach is kind of a free-spirited, artsy, kind of Bohemiam, kind of weird place, umm, but, umm - and Hollywood itself is some … if you're going to Hollywood you don't need more than a day at the most, even a few hours, in Hollywood itself. Umm, but downtown Los Angeles, they've really done a good job in the last, I'd say, 10 years of making it a place for people to live. But I would say if you're coming to Los Angeles, don't centre yourself in downtown Los Angeles, ‘cause as you said, it's not like other cities where, ‘Oh if I'm in the centre of the city I can easily get to places.' When you're in downtown Los Angeles, other than the palm trees, you don't, my opinion is you don't really feel like, ‘I'm in California.' Nick: That's really interesting. I remember being in Hollywood once, years and years ago and I was quite young and I, you know, I just didn't really have that much of an idea, but I think one of the Star Wars prequel movies was coming out and I said, ‘Oh OK, I'll go and see that, I'm in L.A., see a movie, you know, that's something.' And I saw, ‘There's a movie theatre across the street.' I didn't realise that it was the - is it the Mann's Chinese theatre, it's a very famous one?
John: Yeah.
Nick: So when I went the next day, there was a huge line, there was all these people dressed up in Star Wars gear and everything like that. It was quite funny because I just thought I would go and slip in and see a movie but I had to wait in this big line. Umm, so OK we've got these tourist things that you were mentioning, but if you have a spare weekend for yourself in Los Angeles, what kind of things would you like to do.
John: Well actually, a lot of people that live in Los Angeles, for the weekend, they'll go to the mountains. See that's the great thing about, about Southern California is that you could theoretically, you could swim, you could go to the beach and go to the mountains on the same day. You could swim, in theory, in the Pacific Ocean, and ski the same day. Umm, so a lot of people on the weekend, they'll drive up to the mountains and ski. Or just drive up to the mountains, or drive to the wine country. There's, uhh, wine countries where you can go and you can enjoy wine, and vineyards, but there's wine country - that's an expression - there's wine country in San Diego county, and heading up north an hour or so. And even just driving, if you drive along the coast highway, umm, between Los Angeles and San Francisco, it's just a beautiful view, so, umm…
Nick: Yeah, that's one of the most famous roadways in America, isn't it? It's just … you're right on top of the cliffs, and right near the ocean and everything.
John: Yeah, and it's almost like its own tour. I mean, it really is almost, it is its own tour. Umm, and so a lot of people do these weekend getaways and that's the beauty of living where I live is that you can go on a Friday night or a Saturday morning, come back Sunday evening and you still feel that you've gotten away and seen a different part of the state, a different part of the world. Umm, and then one thing that you can always do when you visit California even if you can get like you mentioned going to a … seeing people dressed up at a movie, you can get tickets, usually free tickets, to watch a taping of a show, so you get to see behind the scenes, maybe see the stars, you know.
Nick: Alright, like yourself, thank you very much John.
John: I'm working on it!
