comment #1

hollfan says ...

Major bummer Jeff. Sorry to hear that.

comment #2

The InSneider says ...

Who doesn't take their iPhone with them to the bathroom? This isn't bumfuck, Kansas. You're in a major city. You should've at least asked someone sitting nearby who looked responsible to keep an eye on your stuff so you'd have someone to blame if you came back and it was gone. That sucks and I'm sorry Jeff but you practically asked for it. You of all people know common decency is all but extinct in today's world.

comment #3

MathewM says ...

Shit like this usually happens because you're not focused. Lay off the constant media headlines and politcal crap for awhile. Focus on some personal growth and try to lose the negative vibes. It's sucks when this kind of stuff happens but try to learn from it.

comment #4

George Prager says ...

Sorry, dude. If you want to take up a collection, I wouldn't have a problem with that.

comment #5

Joe B. says ...

I'm kinda baffled too... Not to "blame the victim" too badly, but you REALLY left two small & pricey items unattended AFTER already getting bad vibes from people sitting nearby?

Two small & pricey items that could have easily been taken with you? Wow. Though I'm sure you'll be 10x more cautious now. (PS- I hope you called AT&T to cancel everything.)

comment #6

frankbooth says ...

That sucks.

But like Joe B said, you noticed these guys, your hackles went up, and then you left your stuff unattended anyway?

Always trust your guts. It's a rule of urban living.

comment #7

drgogol says ...

To the commenters who have chastised Wells: Eat a dick.

comment #8

Zimmergirl says ...

Fucking hell. Yeah, not to rub it in but I'd have brought everything with me - computer, camera, phone, EVERYTHING. But shit. That really REALLY REALLY sucks. You might try to text them a nice message and see if they bring the shit back.

comment #9

Escher says ...

Did you call the Toronto police and report the theft? If you have renter's insurance on your place in Los Angeles, it ought to cover off-premises theft-- even if the deductible is $250-$300, you've lost about $1,000 of gear and it's worth filing the claim. But to file that claim, you're going to need a copy of the police report.

comment #10

plastiqueelephant says ...

Come on guys! Don't let the boards drift towards those hate filled invectives on the political sites. No-one need to eat a dick unless that floats their boat. Wells knows he had a brain fart and we all have brain farts, especially when we're down, going riding the choppy seas. And we kick ourselves even harder cause we made a mistake, blame ourselves for something which just happened... cause. He'll have a couple of rough days, then it'll slide into perspective cause he'll still have possession of the things which really matter (cats ect).

Good luck with it sir.

Everyone else, if you feel the need to get your repressed anger out go for a run or something.

comment #11

Joel says ...

That sucks. Sorry to hear that. I travel some for work and am paranoid about that kind of thing.

comment #12

Kristopher Tapley says ...

My ipod was yanked when I was in London. 80 gigs, like 9000 songs on it. Totally blows.

My fault though. I was wasted and left it at the bar. Ugh!

comment #13

Circumvrent says ...

Bummer Jeff. I hope you can get out of our godforsaken neighbor to the North in one piece.

comment #14

thatrader says ...

Rich people who take up collections for their stupidity make me sick. It's like when there was a fund for all the rich suburban kids who got caught downloading N Sync and were sued by the labels. Instead of giving money to the homeless, thousands were raised to help out the 12-year-old brats downloading Britney.

I still thought it was shameless when Jeff asked for donations on this site due to lack of advertising. It was shameless considering a lot of people can't afford food on their table, let alone an Iphone and ridiculously overpriced digital camera.

Where's YOUR goddamn humility Jeff?

comment #15

Aladdin Sane says ...

And that's why the rest of Canada hates Toronto. On behalf of the other pats of the country, many apologies.

comment #16

Aris P says ...

Aladdin -- here here.

comment #17

Joel says ...

Yikes. Last time I was in an internet cafe, I was so paranoid kept my camera inside my bag and just let the cable out to connect to the computer. Granted, I was in Morocco.

That really sucks.

comment #18

Devin Faraci says ...

Did you talk to the management? Did the kids use a credit card to buy internet time? Are there cameras in the cafe?

comment #19

Devin Faraci says ...

And start calling your phone. I wonder if the location can be triangulated or something.

comment #20

Monument says ...

I dig this site, have for years, I like Jeff's writing and I even occasionally enjoy the interaction with the other readers of this site. All of this is available free of charge. When Jeff asked for a little help, I was more than happy to donate a few bucks, I consider it my way of saying thanks. If there were a some sort of collection to show a little support, I'd be happy to contribute.

I will never understand these odious turds who insist on kicking dirt in his direction at every turn. What's the point? Trader, you could just as easily be outside buying sandwiches for homeless guys but instead you're reading content that you don't pay for and responding with venomous bullshit.

comment #21

huisache says ...

There is film festival in San Antonio this week. Come to Texas, get a concealed handgun permit and then blow the garbage away when they lift your stuff. The Grand Jury will give you coffee, doughnuts, a pat on the back and congratulations on a job well done.

comment #22

Griff says ...

If anyone is moved to contribute to the Gruver, you can do so at Paypal. It's under his email address, gruver1@earthlink.net

I know a lot of us bust Jeff's chops for his passion and occasional insanity (he is the new Commissar in town, after all), but the man drops the coin to host this little gathering of film lovers. So, drop a few bucks on him. It's like saying, "No, let me get this round, and can you believe how old Liv Ulman looks these days?"

comment #23

T. Holly says ...

I think Jeff needs a chaperone, to wit: gets sick at Sundane, forgets passport in LA on way to Cannes, has camera stolen in Cannes, falls off bike in LA, locks self out of room in Toronto and has camera and iPhone stolen.

comment #24

T. Holly says ...

Jeff Wells, are you ok with Griff's idea?, we'd like to help ypu cover your loss.

comment #25

romeoisbleeding says ...

Sorry Jeff. That truly sucks. I have only been to Toronto once and it did not make me want to go back. I recall paying a ton of money for a meal that looked and tasted like a stale appetizer. I hope you have some kind of insurance that would cover this? and ignore the negative people here. They are just sad angry people. Don't take it personally.

comment #26

Catman says ...

Truce on politics. Very sad to hear about your loss, but at least you come back unhurt and your cats will still love you and be as happy as anything that you're back. Hope the other posters are right about insurance and you don't lose the whole amount.

comment #27

MovieBob says ...

Geez, guys... compassion, much?

It's fairly clear from the post that he's less upset about the practical loss and more about the sense of personal violation. Theft does that to you, especially when you have a fairly precise sense of who did it and how you might've contributed indirectly. Have a heart.

comment #28

SandyMcTire says ...

When Bowling for Columbine, locals rolled their eyes at Michael Moore's depiction of Toronto as a crime free oasis.

It's not true now, it wasn't true in 2002, and it's never been true. Toronto is a normal, bg city. Our crime rate is much lower than most large American cities and - per capita - much lower than many Canadian cities, but it does have crime.

comment #29

D.Z. says ...

Hope this makes you feel better, Jeff. http://movies.yahoo.com/mv/news/va/20080907/122082249400.html

comment #30

Chapman Carruthers says ...

A site filled with supposed democrats and about 1/10th of the posts have even a modicum of compassion in them. Jeff, looks like you need to do anther purge.

comment #31

Joe Leydon says ...

Ed Harris put them up to it, Jeff. He heard you left Appaloosa 20 minutes early and... well, he can get harsh about things like that. Remind me to tell you sometime what he did to me when I told him hot his wife looked in Streets of Fire.

comment #32

Joe Leydon says ...

Er, that should read: "..how hot his wife looked in Streets of Fire."

comment #33

iamwhoiam says ...

That sucks. Sorry.

comment #34

diesel says ...

sorry for your loss wells. here's to cats being true friends.

two guys once stole my crappy old nokia, they said they needed help calling their mum. they looked alright and maybe I was naive but I let them borrow the phone. so what happened? they both ran like crazy and I just stood there, young fool.

but the iphone is terribly overrated anyway. so here's to that!

comment #35

nola says ...

sorry to hear about your things being stolen. I would be furious too.

I agree it's a good idea to see if those kids bought Internet time. I thought you have to show your passport or driver's lic, in order to get online.

comment #36

bfm says ...

Sorry to hear that. What a crappy thing to have happen.

comment #37

longrunner says ...

nola - No. All you have to do is pay for the time you use. No need for ID.

comment #38

JapAdapters says ...

Wait a minute, Wells leaves his phone and camera on a table AFTER being vibed out by some nearby "animals" and people are supposed to show "compassion" and make donations? IMO, the only way to tell this story is in a 'you wanna hear about what a dumbass I am?' manner, and expect it to be received the same way.

People steal shit, it happens. It's happened to everybody and, es, it sucks, but it's not like he got mugged. THAT sucks.

comment #39

DavidF says ...

This whole thread is so funny I'm sorry for coming to it late.

Toronto is a big city and even if I were in bumfuck, Idaho I wouldn't leave an iphone or camera unattended. That said, it sucks and I feel Wells pain.

I'm most amused by Aladdin's post, as if you can leave your iphone on a table in Vancouver and come back to find it still there along with a daisy and a bag of weed that some kind soul has left for you.

Or perhaps, he is speaking of Montreal where an English-speaking journalist would be treated with so much deference that such a thing could never, ever, possibly take place. A theft!? Mon dieu!

comment #40

arturobandini2 says ...

I haven't visited Toronto or Montreal in eons, but Vancouver has turned into one of the best big cities in the world. Strangers are incredibly friendly and, unlike L.A., the melting pot experiment seems to be working.

comment #41

Richardson says ...

I'm not going to make fun of Jeff, because he knows what he did was stupid, but anybody who is donating money to him is an idiot with too much money.

comment #42

Dave Polands Gut says ...

who leaves their stuff unattended to in a freaking internet cafe???

comment #43

Mongoose says ...

I think its a bad week for cameras. Janelle Riley over at Backstage West lost hers last week when it dropped into the ocean. Misery loves company?

comment #44

MickTravis says ...

For sale: Beautiful Canon camera (heavier than it looks); colour is black; memory card filled candid photos of women + hotel rooms. Make me an offer!

comment #45

Breedlove says ...

As a New Yorker, I'm dumbfounded at the idea of someone going to the bathroom in a crowded cafe and leaving their iphone and a $600 camera lying on the table unattended. Especially a fairly sophisticated international traveler like Jeff who lives in a big city. Sorry this happened Jeff but geez...

comment #46

gustav13 says ...

"Everything is fair when you're living in the city..."

comment #47

JapAdapters says ...

"Streets robbed me, wasn't educated properly, but fuck y'all I needed money for Atari."

comment #48

JapAdapters says ...

"There is hunger in the streets that is hard to defeat, some steal for sport, but more steal to eat."

comment #49

rr3333 says ...

Sorry to hear this Jeff ...

Then again, I wouldnt leave a bag of chips unattended, let alone a digital camera & iphone.

We had our cheap digital camera stolen on our vacation last year. Our thinking was, take the camera & leave the memory card, so that we could keep our 100 pix ....

Put an ad on Craigslist and see if you can get your memory card back.Major Longshot, but you never know!

BTW: Jeff ... you're not getting a dime of income for this blog from anybody? Say it aint so!

comment #50

Richardson says ...

"BTW: Jeff ... you're not getting a dime of income for this blog from anybody? Say it aint so!"

Considering how oft-intrusive the ads are, he'd better be.

comment #51

BruceShank says ...

I am completely paranoid about my stuff. I constantly am grabbing for my iPod, keys, wallet, cellphone, blackberry, etc. Feel lost unless I can touch 'em every couple of minutes. Probably OCD. But to leave them in a cafe alone and unwatched?? C'mon Jeff. Seriously it's not easy to have too much empathy. I mean, sorry and all but you should have known better and it sounds like you did. Hey we all have regretable brain farts. Get 'em next time dude!!

comment #52

Jay T. says ...

Wow, why not just leave your wallet out while you're at it?