Mostly, I want to encourage people to not doomscroll this weekend. And, by people, I mean myself as well. I really need to stop doomscrolling. Whether or not you’re out protesting over the next few days, we’ll all need a break from the news. So, set aside some time to watch a movie, visit a park or museum, go to the gym or do something to chill for a bit.
On Monday afternoon, a bit after 3 p.m., I went for a walk through Chinatown. It was the fourth day of the protests against ICE raids in the city and helicopters had been hanging over the neighborhood like gnats all day. The first thing I noticed while walking down Broadway was that I’m not the only person annoyed by the incessant buzz of the helicopters. An older man stopped in his tracks and looked towards one of them. I almost walked into him. Another neighborhood senior sat on a bench, tilted his head upwards and shook a cigarette-wielding fist in the air. I almost busted up laughing while thinking of the “Old Man Yells at Cloud” headline from The Simpsons.
It was business as usual in Chinatown. The Broadway shops remained open with racks of merchandise set up outside the storefronts. The local produce vendors tried to coerce me into buying more avocados and peaches than I could eat in a couple days.
Satanic Puppeteer Orchestra live at The Mayan in downtown Los Angeles for Exotikon 3 (Pic: Liz O.)
Our glasses weren’t 3D. We were watching a live performance inside downtown L.A.’s Mayan Theatre and, like the robot on stage told the crowd on Sunday afternoon, that’s already 3D. These were decoder glasses. Some in the audience had blue lenses. Others, like me, had red ones. The color of the lenses determined what you would see on the screen behind Satanic Puppeteer Orchestra, the human-and-robot duo from San Diego who were playing as part of Exotikon.
