I just realized something that's very unique to LA and possibly NY that I don't think is true of many other places.
So, I've had the soundtrack to Bones sitting on my side table in my living room for about two weeks now, all wrapped like new in it's cellophane packaging as if I had just purchased it from the store. If that had been the case when I was living back in Massachusetts, anyone who would walk into my apartment would undoubtedly look at me and say "Bones, Molls? Really?". I mean, let's face it: It's a little bizarre for even a rap lover like me to have a shitty soundtrack to a shitty movie sitting around all brand new looking in the middle of my living room. BUT! In LA it's a totally different story because everyone who comes into my apartment most likely has a similar item in their house: a bottle of fancy, overpriced lotion, an sealed DVD copy of How to Lose a Guy In 10 Days, a mix CD of emerging local folk artists...
It's all SWAG bullshit. You go to a movie screening, a sponsored party, whatever and you get a bag of free crap. In other words, you wind up with a plethora of semi-valuable shit that completely doesn't apply to you in random stacks around your living space. The only thing I can compare this to from back home is perhaps radio station t-shirts and magnets with the phone number of your local pizza parlors.
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