- 9 things Americans are taught about France. Every American child is taught 9 things about France, and a few of them are …offensive. Unfortunately those 9 things were all I knew before my trip to Paris. We were in London because a film I was involved with was accepted into the Raindance Film Festival. We had 48 hours to kill before the festival so we […]
- Travel #9: Stonehenge. It’s all you ever dreamed. Two weeks before our visit to Stonehenge, President Obama visited Stonehenge, and couldn’t really be bothered to say too much about it, so allow me to fill in the gaps for him. Obama is normally fairly effusive about stuff, so when the only statements he made about Stonehenge were that it was “cool” and that […]
- Travel #8: Salisbury Part II – the second, longer, part about that lady who asked me to call her a dirty cunt. I’m from Los Angeles. While visiting Salisbury a lady asked me to call her a Dirty Cunt. This is the second half of that story. In case you started reading here, you could consider going back to the beginning. But if you’re pressed for time, or just don’t want to read all 8 essays cause you […]
- Travel #7: Salisbury Part 1 “Call me a dirty cunt,” the lady says to me, with her thick British accent. This is the second, but not the most, alarming thing she’s said to me and we’ve only just met. I’m in Salisbury, England. Earlier I told my friends that I wanted to find the “Gainesville, Florida” of England. I grew […]
- Travel #6: Customs Oh right, customs. Soooooo…. the customs agent isn’t fucking around. That much is clear because my usual smile and friendly banter does not engender the same. She asks why I’m here and I tell her that I’m here to attend a film festival. Not coincidentally, this is exactly what I wrote on the form. Is […]
- Travel #3: Rick Steves and I Okay, so about Rick Steves’ guides. I think they are being misused. This is an unpopular opinion (and maybe even an ill-informed one) . Everyone that I respect who travels (which at last count is every single person I know) swears by these guides. It’s not a question of accuracy or value. His opinion is steeped […]
- Travel #2: The Three Europes My friend, Lauren, has traveled. I know this because when I mentioned Rick Steves in passing to her (“Oh Rick Steves is great!”) she suggested I come over and borrow hers. She didn’t even ask which country. Warning Flag. I stopped by and she asked which books I needed. Still being in my “discovery phase” […]
- Travel #1: I’ve Never Traveled. Travel(v): to go to a place and especially one that is far away. A film I’d directed was accepted to a film festival in London, so I decided to use it as an excuse to Travel. I’ve traveled. I’ve never really Traveled. Sure. I’ve been places. Toronto twice, once for a film festival where I […]