Generally, notifications of intention to film are dull reading, even the ones that promise explosions and weapons. But the Levi's film notice caught my eye because of the primate.

Models against scenery sitting on bus bench. Stationary picture bus in curb lane. Camera and equipment on street and sidewalk. One orangutan with trainer.

"One orangutan with trainer." Was that just any orangutan with trainer? I wondered. I thought great, my daughter would love to see the orangutan on a bus bench in her neighborhood. But then today -- orangutan day -- she went to preschool, and it turned out to be me who wanted to see the creature.

(Recently, I had a very interesting conversation -- a real conversation -- with an orangutan at the Washington D.C. zoo, and so I thought I might have something to say to the Levi's primate, if he/she wasn't too preoccupied with their work.) The notice said filming was skedded for 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. At 10:30 I leashed Rosie the dog, and instead of walking in Elysian Park, we headed for the intersection of Douglas Fairbanks Place and Echo Park Avenue. They say the journey is the real destination, and when we got to Fairbanks and EP Ave. all we found was a young man sitting on a blue cooler, and a single white van. No orangutan. No sign even of any orangutan -- with or without trainer -- ever having graced the corner. Just clear skies, trash in the street, the young man. "Are you with Levi's?" I asked. Why, yes, he was. He told me that the orangutan had already done his work -- he had sat for the camera at the street bench right there at the corner. He said they were done at this location, and now the crew was roaming the neighborhood in a bus, looking for spot locations. I asked about the orangutan. On the bus, was the answer. Sigh. Orangutan is on the bus. On the way back home, Rosie and I passed some of the things that had been of interest (to me) on our way to the orangutan: a once domestic white dove trying to eat a tortilla in the street at Scott Ave., a new mural of hummingbirds (!) replacing the skull-themed garage-door mural (in the 1500 block of EP Ave.) that replaced the previous hummingbird. We saw fruit trees with their first blossoms of the year, and coffee society at Chango's outdoor tables. A dog I call Circles because he turns in fast, tight circles when we get close. The Lonely Surprise dog. We saw no for-sale signs on any of the properties. We saw a lot of things we've seen before, things we'll see again, too, without taking note.