In the 60s, Los Angeles was a mecca for alternative religions and new age thinking. Spiritual teachers like Ram Dass and Maharishi Mahesh Yogi (the Beatles’ guru) attracted large crowds while Hindu guru Paramahansa Yogananda likened L.A. to Benares, India’s holiest city. …
Billy Wilder once said, “There’s not much difference in making a good movie or a bad movie. You still have to wake at 5:00 am.” That’s how I felt in August of 1987 working on the film Act of Piracy on the Greek island of Skiathos.
For nine straight days…
You reach for your iPhone to summon a ride. Two minutes later, a van arrives, without a driver. The side panel opens automatically and you step inside. You’re greeted by a friendly female voice. “Good afternoon, this driverless car is yours. Your destination is 1400 Larimer Street in downtown Denver…
In 1994, I traveled with several friends to Maui. Midway through the trip, we drove fours hours to Hana on the back side of the island. We visited the Seven Sacred Pools, a series of ponds and waterfalls stretching from the mountain to the sea. …
I was rummaging through the stacks of City Lights Bookstore in North Beach when I noticed an attractive young woman in the Russian Literature section. She was reading The Overcoat by Nikolai Gogol, one of my favorite authors. …
“We cannot assert that after death there is nothing. Something can never become nothing.” Thich Nhat Hanh
The night before my mom died, she visited me in a dream. She showed me a drawing she’d made in an art class. It was a labyrinthian pattern with multiple twists and turns…
When I was six years old, my mom gave me an important lesson. She was on carpool duty when she dropped off Lawrence Fishman at his home. He didn’t say thank you. She became furious. She told me, “I don’t want you to be friends with that boy. …
The NBA Playoffs are upon us and the stars have dropped like flies. Wounded warriors include LeBron James, Anthony Davis, Kawhi Leonard, James Harden, Kyrie Irving, Joel Embid, Luka Doncic, Donovan Mitchell, Jamal Murray, Jaylen Brown and Trae Young.
The Lakers were favorites to repeat as champions until Lebron injured…
In August 2012, I received a call from my father. We spoke about the Dodgers and the coming election and the Los Angeles heat wave when he casually said, “I’m going to Ghana tomorrow.”
“Uh, what?”
“I’m meeting with an investor for our movie. …
We called ourselves the Vidiots. We were not paparazzi since we had little interest in videotaping celebrities. Nor were we nightcrawlers, those gothic ambulance chasers who taped police shootings to sell to the evening news. We saw ourselves as documentarians wanting to capture the essence of our beloved Los Angeles.
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