Californication

     I think the reason the West Coast is considered so hip, and such a fertile ground for making Hollywood movies is because while New York had its own sense of hip brewing, so did Los Angeles. I think it all began during the Gold Rush when James Marshall discovered gold on the American River. Many people came from all over, rushing to San Francisco/ Sacramento to try their luck by striking it rich. This allowed people to leave behind their past and assume a whole 'nother role while in doing so. Before the gold rush, California had no where near the fame that it has today. The gold rush had already attracted a profound amount of people to this end of America, and many of them left everything behind, so what I am saying is they were basically stuck out here. That and also those leaving the mid west because of the harsh growing conditions and the uncooperative soil, all ended up migrating here. They all had something to contribute and that is what turned California into what it is today, a large melting pot of "hip".

     Why does everyone want to be like "California"? I don't get it. What is it about that place that no other place has? Well I will tell you. It is like another planet, in a way you wouldn't understand unless you are from there. You can give me flak all you want for being from California and saying how loony and weird I am for being from such a crazy place. But to be honest, you could say the exact same thing about any other state, or any other country for that matter. So isn't that along the lines of discrimination? Didn't we as a nation come to the consensus to kill such an act many decades ago? So what does that make you? If there is one problem I have with people from Idaho, it is that most people here hate super hard on people who move here from California. I am 19 years old. You think I wanted to move here? We came here when I was 13 and I miss my friends and family back home more than anything, not the mention the things that California has to offer than frankly, puts Idaho to shame.

     California has just about everything a film maker could ask for. The Sierra Nevadas provide an outstanding back drop for films, as does the Mojave desert and death valley for western films. The ocean can serve as a backdrop for, well, you name it. I think with the west coast being light years ahead of Idaho, hip takes on a substantially more transmogrified shape. Not to say that hip is not ever changing, but it is more evident down there, than it is up here. New styles seem to come and go, as do people's roles. In the morning you can chill in China town, by the afternoon go to the beach, when the evening roles around, build a fire from drift wood and roast potatoes and smores. The next day? hike the Sierra Nevadas, the list goes on and on and on. Not to say that you can't do various things in other places, but California has made haters hate, and has lured millions of people to it's "promise land" all for something right?