sent from: DeKalb, Illinois, USA. destination: Bakersfield, California, USA

It’s probably hard to understand why, when being driven down Olympic Boulevard in West LA and seeing the Fox building, all mirrored planes framed as a solitary fort on top of a hill, I felt such an intense thrill of excitement and recognition 16 years ago. Knowing that it is the setting for one of the best action films ever, Die Hard, might help explain it.
I have an idea for a story re-telling he events of Die Hard from the perspective of a terrorist, a hapless guy Hans brought along for the ride as a favour to his brother Simon, but he has no idea what he’s doing or why he’s there. He’s assigned to the basement, gets himself trapped in the elevators when Theo shuts them down. His radio fails, so he has to crawl through the same ducts that John McClane does, so you intersect the previous movie in random and surprising ways. He has no idea what’s going on outside with the cops or where the explosions are coming from. He’s the reason Karl gets out of the chains where John had left him hanging. At the end, he gets away with the money Hans was trying to steal. Oh I need to punch it up a little – what does he want, what’s his driving force? Then I can go out and pitch it.
Ahh LA it’s good to be back, I’ve missed you.