Shopping, film sets and poetry

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This was destined to be a great success or a bit of a disappointment. Juliette had been rung up the night before by a friend whose husband is a cinematographer. Apparently there was an opportunity to go on set for the filming of the final scenes from "The Year One", starring Jack Black and Michael Cera (from "Juno"). WOW! It all got a bit confused on Tuesday morning, however, as the arrangements about where to meet up, and how to get to the film set, began to get complex. Eventually it was agreed to meet at a park where the filming was taking place. This was apparently Descanso Park in Pasedena (about 10 miles from Juliette's house). However, the sat nav wouldn't recognise Descanso Park, and then when we searched the internet, it turns out there are TWO Descanso Parks in LA....and the other one was in the south of the city.

Anyway, after several phone calls we confirmed it WAS the Pasedena Descanso, and we agreed to meet there at around 4pm. Liz, the girls and I then set off to the Beverly Centre and The Grove to do some shopping (well, the rest were shopping and I was planning on sitting in a cafe and reading the paper). We dropped Katie & Mel at the Beverly Centre (a giant indoor mall), and Liz, Olivia and I went to the Grove, which is a very pleasant reconstruction of a typical American shopping street, complete with tram car (although not operating when we were there) - you immediately know it's fake, but it still works. After an hour or so of browsing, we met up for lunch in the Farmers Market, then the girls did some more serious shopping in Abercrombie & Fitch.

Come 3pm, and it was time to head back to Los Feliz, and attempt to find the film set. We also had to fit in picking up Cameron, Lydia and Lara from school. The logistics of all this, with limitations on vehicles, time, and the fact that I had virtually run out of petrol, meant that Liz and the girls ended up going to the filming, with Lydia, whilst I took Cameron and Lara home. The girls had a fab time (no comeras were allowed, so no photos, unfortunately), which included having Jack Black and Michael Cera singing them a song in their private tent!

By the time they got back we had just enough time to grab some bread and cheese before Liz and I headed out to a small theatre about 20 minutes drive away to see some "slam" poetry. This was something that Cameron recommended - it's basically three hours of stand up poetry....there's an "open mic" policy, so anyone can go on stage and talk/recite for 3 minutes max. "Slam" poetry is a bit like rap, and hence it's 99 per cent a black thing, and 99 per cent for the younger generation! Liz and I were just about the only white people there, and the average age was probably mid to late twenties. However, it was incredibly welcoming, and we were made to feel really at home. All the performers were excellent, and there were some really moving poems.

So, all in all, a fantastic day!

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Photos

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Shopping at The Grove

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Katie at The Grove

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Katie at Abercrombie & Fitch!

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Outside the Greenway Court Theatre, waiting for the poetry!

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Slam Poetry in action

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We didn't go in, but apparently it's great