What else this week-end. I finally saw Kieslowskis ‘double vie de veronique’, a story about connection/disconnection in society. And I staid for ‘Rouge’ after. Once again I thought it’s just remarkable how little details are put in these otherwise random stories to reveal some social values you will never see on the surface. These are most carefully, critically and clearly explored movies. I can’t think of anybody who has achieved this kind of precision.

Today a bicycle ride with Susan along the ocean beach, from Venice to manhattan beach. Manhattan beach I remembered from my first visit to LA. I met a friend of a friend of mine here, driving by car and thought that’s really far outside of everything. And I learned that this friend was working and living here and has otherwise nothing to do in LA. I think that’s where my phobia comes from, that you fool yourself if you spend on the way to work everyday hours in a car on traffic jammed freeways. Today Manhattan Beach was approached from the beach, actually not that far from Venice. You just have to pass Marina Del Rey (a huge detour around the harbor…) and LAX/El Segundo. Anyway, from the pier you are looking at a slope packed with single family houses. It’s like a glamorous favela situation. Everybody wants to catch a glimpse of view to the ocean, past the neighbor in front. Also here space on the ocean front is limited. When you’re passing the front your passing a row of houses: not one similar as the other. A random mix of different styles and models. Extremely individualistically self focused. Which ends up in a patchwork on urban scale. A pattern, irregular by the single objects, regular by the almost uniform size of properties and the zoning requirements (2 stories, 3 maybe).

On the way back in the evening a long section of the beach with bbq-camp-fires: fifty maybe stretching in a double row this section sending their lights in the night. Beachlive.

Right now, not for the first time, late night silence at home is interrupted by one of these searchlight police helicopters, cruising low above the area looking for someone, something. The house is vibrating, it’s annoyingly noise, should I close tight all doors or call them and complain I would like to sleep?