Arrived in tinsel town (well, LA) yesterday afternoon, carried over ocean and continent c/o United Airlines, an airline I have used before but not one that thrills me. Gone are the days of decent meals, menu's, free wine and Hartnell designed uniforms. It's more like flying with ASDA.
Staying in Silver Lake with Fr. Jim Newman and Mike Mullings. Silver Lake is northeast of downtown and east of Hollywood: a very pleasant, quiet suburb where the houses cling to the side of the hills. I am fortunate to have a small self-contained apartment beneath the main house: last night I managed to stay awake until 9.30pm (5am BST), long enough to meet Mike when he returned from his work as an attorney working for a law firm in the city. But having been up for over 24hours I fell into bed and slept until 2am (10am BST) when my body clearly remembered it was time to wake up.
This morning we went on the VIP Tour of Warner Bros. Studios and drove round Griffith's Park. The former was fascinating and latter showed scars of earlier fires. Warner Bros. was fascinating - I stood in some awe before the dresses of Joan Crawford and Bette Davis and could hear the singing and see the dancing in the Studio where 42nd Street was made. All the studios bear the names of the great productions that have been made in their walls - many dating back to when the Studios opened in the 1920'. I found it very moving to walk round Warner's and to stand where films have been made which have caused me to laugh and cry; whose songs I can still sing and whose names go down in history. To stand in front of the piano used in 'Casablanca' ...
Tonight we are meeting up with my old friend, Fr. Ed Sniecienski (Chaplain to the Bishop of Loss Angeles) and going out to watch a play called 'August, Osage County'.
Weather here is fine - cool mornings but heating up by the afternoon then becoming cool again in the evening.
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