All I wanted to do was check my email... I was in Hollywood near Sunset and La Brea waiting on the bus. If I could catch the bus on Sunset, I'd ride it down to Vine then walk to the Hollywood and Vine Metro Red Line station. The station I would prefer to use [at Highland] being closed due to hightened security for the Academy Awards.

From the bus stop, looking east I see more cops than I remember seeing when the president comes to town--a lot of cops (the L.A. Times said that at it's peak the protest/academy awards required 800 LAPD and 200 CHP.)

Traffic control guys on the corner told me:

"this mess here is a war protest, your best bet is to walk along Sunset on the north side cause the protest is happening in front of the Burger King"

I walk along the north side of the street until I hear a guy saying the street is blocked on the north side. The only way through is by bus. I hike back to catch the bus thinking that at least I'll get a good--if somewhat slow--view of the protest, but when I get on the bus it's detoured around down to Santa Monica then back north again at Vine. Bah.

I don't understand the point of protesting the war while it's going on already. But I guess it's got to be more fun carrying those signs around than sitting at home watching "war as entertainment" coverage. More fun until you get arrested I guess. But jesus, that war coverage--how boring can you get? Can't they just boil it down into a few "spectacular" shots of bombs and fire? Do we have to see those stupid blocky videophone shots of tanks rolling across the desert?

The other day I saw a newspaper with a one word headline over a shot of some military action in iraqi desert: "AWESOME". Hey, you know what? People are dying. It's not a thrill ride at magic mountain.

Saturday I had an encounter with protesters as well. The station at Highland was open, and I used it to gain access to the train to go downtown. At the Vine station the train filled with protesters. I could tell they were protesters cause they were carrying signs, wearing Birkenstocks and smelling pretty musty. Guess there's a certain level of exertion that goes along with protesting. Probably goes up if arrested.

The cute-est sign I saw was one which read: "Frodo Failed!" above a picture of Bush which had an inset picture of Bush's wedding ring.

According to a stargazer interviewed in the Times the anti-war protest at the Academy Awards was good for something:

"The protesters have really helped because a lot of the people going to the show have been rolling down their windows to give the peace sign, so we can see who's in the car".