Gimme Shelter

Tonight I went to see a new coming-of-age movie called "Shelter." It's a touching movie about love and acceptance.

But what I think I like best about it was it's set in between the world of the Palos Verdes "haves" and the San Pedro "have nots." I spent a happy year or two at the Tree Tops Nursery School in San Pedro.

And I enjoyed their use of the Vincent Thomas Bridge as a scenic backdrop. I always liked the Vincent Thomas Bridge. But when I was little there was a nearby rickety old drawbridge I liked even better. I used to beg my parents to drive over it whenever we were going between Long Beach and Wilmington. It always seemed like such a hard-worker to me, much more so than the beautifully soaring Vincent Thomas Bridge. But when you come down to it, I think I really liked the little drawbridge better because the road surface was a lot louder when you drove over it.

I took the photo above at the courtyard of the shopping center at 8000 Sunset Boulevard. Right after I took it a security guard snapped at me, "no photos!" When I asked why he said it was because of "security." How ridiculous. If you're going to take a formerly homely courtyard and make it pretty by hanging some lamps you've got to expect people to take photos. Especially when they don't have any other photos for their blog.