L.A., L.A.

I live and work in Los Angeles and have for about ten years.  Prior to that, I lived in various locations in the San Fernando Valley which is a sprawling part of L.A. County but it is not what I think of when I think “Los Angeles.”   Los Angeles, as I perceive it, is the 323 and 213 area codes, the urban, as oppose the suburban Valley.  Certainly there are locations in Los Angeles which are more urban than where I live, in Hollywood-Silverlake.

On the topic of urban life, how many cops does it take to arrest one man?

I came out of work one night a few months back, onto Sunset Blvd., on foot.  As I headed east toward Cahuenga Blvd., I noticed one or two police cars down the street and what looked like an arrest.  There were three cops wrestling with what looked like someone who did not want to be arrested.  In a matter of about twenty seconds, a dozen more cop cruisers screamed to the scene from every possible direction, cops a-popping out and toward the scuffle.  The man would not give in.  People filmed it with their phones from across the street at the club, which I heard someone say he’d been ejected from.

I had to roll my eyes at the ridiculous display of police “force”—like using a tank to kill a snail.  I don’t care who the perp was: if three or even four officers couldn’t bring him under control, then it seems they should have to forfeit the right to arrest him.

I know my blog is usually about more cheerful things but this has been on my mind.  This and the days when it seems the sirens come one after the next, minute to minute, like a terrible Top 40 countdown where all the song really do sound the same.

I am relieved and pleased to say that today I don’t recall hearing any.

And then you walk out the door and see something like this:

Virgil Ave. south of Santa Monica Blvd., January 29, 2011

And you (I) think to yourself (myself), “L.A.’s not so bad.”

When the sky in a L.A. is beautiful, it’s “Oscar class” beautiful, as my friend Richard would say.

Well, I haven’t written a song about it though I have been writing (and recording) quite a bit here is Los Angeles.

Here’s something new called “I Will Miss You, ” which I trust you will enjoy.

Thanks for reading,

Steve

www.stevennealwagner.com

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