Goodbye To Reality

Hello there,

Another week has gone and as I write this I only have another three work days to go. From 6pm on Tuesday March 17 I will no longer be at Fox Reality Channel. I have had a fantastic time and to be honest I’m very sad to be leaving. The people that work here are flippin’ brilliant and the job is great too. People work a lot harder in the states (as I think I’ve said before) and everyone puts in really long hours and takes little holiday. The average American has no more than ten days vacation a year fact fans. And when you work in the media this is magnified as it’s such a competitive industry. Nobody wants to take time off for the fear that they will come back to someone else doing their job better than them!

I really haven’t minded this if truth be told. There have been a few times I’ve come in at weekends, and I’ve often gone home at 7pm and carried on working away. It’s what you do here though and the job has been good enough for this not to matter. What I’ve really loved is people’s passion. Everyone here seems to really care about television, so everyone watches the shows, has an opinion on them and does the best they can. You’ll be amazed how many people I met in the UK who work in TV that said “I don’t watch much telly”. I used to get really cross and wonder why they weren’t doing something more worthy of their time.

For those of you who don’t know I have a new job when I get back to the UK. I am heading up the marketing and pr for the quite fantastic FX channel. It really does have some totally corking shows, and it is of course the UK home to the best TV series ever (?), The Wire. This will soften the blow of leaving LA somewhat.

I probably won’t have time to do another posting for a bit. I will do a little quickie just before we go to Chicago and New York in just over a week. I can tell you all about little Jon Ollington’s visit to LA. I will then write all about our trip when we return, and I’ll perhaps do a video diary too. And after that the Oracle will be no more. I may take all the years entries, edit them slightly and release it as a book. It will be a sure fire best seller. For anyone relocating to another country it will not only be hugely entertaining but it will also be a valuable resource.

Anyway the other week Emma wrote about what she would miss about LA so here are my top 10 things to go along with hers. Please forgive any repetition.

The Top 10 Things Marc Will Miss Most About LA

1. Urban Outfitters on 3rd Street – The greatest clothes shop ever. I don’t know what I will do without it. I also love shopping in LA - period.

2. The Movie Theatres – Especially the ones that have stadium seating (which means you get bags of room and the seats recline). Emma and I have been to watch loads of films as it’s such a joy. And your bottom doesn’t get half as sore.

3. The fifteen minute drive to work - This is pure bliss compared to the smelly old London trains. LA traffic is bad but I only live four miles away from work so the drive is a dream.

4. The Weather - This should be number one really. I was never a fan of the sun as it made me feel uncomfortable and I would get all sweaty and bothered. LA is built for the sun though. Everywhere has great air-con and you can always cool off. Walking out the house every morning to see the sun shining in the sky really does lighten your heart.

5. The People - Actually this should be top of the list. English people like to put Americans down (as it makes them feel better about themselves I suppose). They come up with stuff like “they’re all fat”, “they don’t get irony” and “they are too loud”. I, dear reader, was as guilty as this as the rest. It’s a load of old rubbish though. I know I can only speak for LA (and I know the Midwest would be very different for example) but people are kind, warm, intelligent and friendly. I don’t find the sincereness of people fake as you are meant too. I think people here just have very good manners. It’s a joy to do your shopping and to not be faced with some moody cow on the till.

6. Charissa Chu - Actually Charissa should be at number one. Charissa works with me and from the first day I started at Fox Reality she made the transition to life here so very easy. She was so supportive and massively helpful it’s untrue. She also became a fantastic friend to both Emma and I and we enjoyed some lovely nights having dinner around her house, as well as nights out seeing bands, going out to eat and what not. Her husband Steve is also a fantastic bloke and it was great getting to know him.

I should interrupt this list now as it’s reading like a Gwyneth Paltrow acceptance speech and I may start crying. Actually that isn’t true as I don’t cry. But even so I am blithering on. Back to the list and I’ll try not to gush too much more.

7. Jamba Juice - I love the delicious smoothies with the wonderful vitamin supplement.

8. The Food - It’s a lot cheaper to eat out here. And the food is all skill. The only thing I have missed is curry as you don’t get much decent Indian food. Just before we left England we went for a curry with some friends. I think we should go there upon our return to make it nice and cyclical. Mark and Becky – if you are reading this please can you arrange. Thank you very much.

9. Sunday afternoons on the beach – We have probably done this less in real life than we have in my head. Even so it’s so great being less than a mile away from such a lovely beach. What can be better than eating a picnic made by Em while reading a good book? I don’t even mind when I get real sand in my sandwiches. I plan to take little Jon Ollington body boarding when he visits next week. I need to do it one last time!

10. Emma - Being in LA has meant that Emma and I have spent less time doing our own thing and instead have had a lot more time together. It’s been the perfect start to married life really. As I said before we have promised each other to keep the LA spirit alive when we get back home and to do lots more things together. This actually should be number one in my chart as the wife should always come first. But always save the best to last eh?

And that is my list. Having said all of this I will be happy to come home too. I do love London and if I’m not in LA then it’s not a bad place to be. And lets face it, I adore a good old moan. So the weather and bad public transport will probably give me secret joy. And Mum if you are reading this I can’t wait to pop around on Sunday for lunch again.

It’s been a brilliant adventure, but now it’s time for the next one.

Marc x

p.s. Emma has updated our flickr page with some more pics of our adventures this year. If you click on the slideshow to the right you can see the pics in full size.