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CAN'T WE JUST ALL AGREE THAT L.A. SUCKS? (EXCEPT FOR YOU, HOLLYWOOD BOWL)

A A A Comments (4) By Michael Simmons Thursday, Jun 17 2010

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New Yorkers like myself, who've found themselves stranded in Los Angeles against our sanity, have many descriptions for the place. "Where the sun never stops shining and the idiots never stop talking." "Hollywood -- where anything can happen and nothing ever does." "A hundred suburbs in search of a city." And worse. When civic cheerleaders proudly proclaim that the world capital of the entertainment industry is perhaps the most influential town on the planet, we naysayers are reminded why civilization is on a steep decline. To be fair -- something I'm loathe to be when it comes to Hell-Lay -- Igor Stravinsky and Aldous Huxley are among the intellectuals who became residents, and William Faulkner and F. Scott Fitzgerald were lured here by screenplay cash (much to the consternation of their livers). Lots of smart people have tried to explain L.A., and the latest attempt is an excellent volume edited by Kevin McNamara, called The Cambridge Companion To The Literature of Los Angeles (Cambridge University Press). McNamara joins a half dozen other contributors tonight, including Bill Mohr, one of Southern California's finest poets, who'll read from their essays and cover subjects from nature in L.A., the Southland onscreen and local landmarks. It's an impressive collection, one that has forced me to rethink my attitudes toward L.A., if not change my mind.
Thu., June 24, 7:30 p.m., 2010

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LASUX 03/09/2011 1:19:00 AM

LA SUX GIANT DONKEy BALLS AND IM FROM THERE. I have never met so many tools in my entire life. I rather eat my own vomit than ever step foot in that whores vagina again. Yes Yes the weather is sunny and the beaches are great but the people are souless idiots who dont give a fuck about anything or anyone. Enjoy Hell on Earth sweetie!
Alexis 12/29/2010 9:40:00 PM

sweetie, calm down. He says he is "re-thinking his attitude" if you read the article and frankly, LA is a very hard town if you like a real Christmas and meeting people real people and are not FROM here with a producer for a parent. I have spent years trying to cultivate a sense of home and it's normal to get sick of always being in your car and not being able to walk anywhere. There are fun, wacky moments and you can can count on always being able to see a grandma in hot-pants on roller-skates at Gelson's but come on....... There is a romance to a walking city. There are few cultured, refined intelligent people here and you have to work hard to find them. The botox, the plastic surgury, the horrible papparazzi, maybe your a gal who loves all that and it brings real "value" to your life. The beach? I just laughed out loud. If you can get to it darling in the traffic and even then it's ten thousand people per square inch and filthy, hardly Capri......... Calling someone a cry-baby seems really rude. LA is a very lonely place with no theatre, no dancing, no night-life, it's all surface. The Kardashians and Paris Hilton!!!!! Wow!!!!!!!!!! Sign me up - talk about embarrasing! London is the greatest city in the world love and I am not British! You get the Getty and LACMA here. Whoopie. Fr thirty dollars with parking. WOW. We take nothing for granted which why we savor a place with a SOUL!!!!
JOhn Pramuka 07/17/2010 7:17:00 AM

NOWAYLA.COM Jaguars Belong to Jacksonville
DeeAnna Blette 06/26/2010 3:25:00 AM

BS! Michael Simmons. The New Yorker's that are not in denial, adapt quite well to Los Angeles, especially the weather and the beach. Even though I've to put on my sunglasses as to not be blinded by super whitey that's never seen the sun, kind of like the 'bubble heads' in the Navy (submarine crew) as I laugh at the black socks and wonder about athelete's foot. Bottom line, New Yorkers [in denial] cry a lot about how they miss home and they're stuck in the GREATEST CITY IN THE WORLD. New Yorker [in denial] aka unappreciative cry baby that takes everything for granted. Perhaps Mr. Simmons' LA sucks, but mine doesn't; keep your envy in check Mr. Simmons and embrace life, don't blame your morose BS on LA, take some fucking responsibility already, for fucksake. CryBaby!! DeeAnna Blette ps why doesn't readerswrite@laweekly.com work?