We came through Malibu in the afternoon, by way of Topanga Canyon. Didn't see Jackie Treehorn, which was just as well, since I hear he treats objects like women... man. No run-ins with the law either, and we were grateful; I hear the Malibu chief of police is a real reactionary anyway.
Not too much to say about LA itself. Lucas didn't get into town until 10 or so, but he was kind enough to let us relax and unwind for a bit until he arrived (back from Denver on business). We hung out and chatted in his apartment for a while, catching up. Then, he took us out on the town in West Hollywood, which for a Friday night, was pretty dead. He explained that last call in LA is at midnight, so the town really shuts down pretty early compared to cities elsewhere and on the east coast (NYC isn't until 4). Luckily, there was a funky, rock'n'roll themed Thai restaurant that was open late, so we were able to get some good quality Asian grub, which hit the spot. I got the duck.
As for site-seeing, we checked out Venice Beach, which was pretty much like the Jersey Shore, except with palm trees. After getting food in West Hollywood, we drove around and Lucas pointed out all the places where the big Hollywood things happen, like the red carpet and all that. The whole strip, as he openly acknowledged, is kind of a let-down. It's full of glitzy, glamorous hotels, restaurants, and clubs, all interspersed with Seven-Elevens and other cheap crap. Not all that impressive really; no ultra-famous celebrities; no Lindsay Lohan causing a drunken scene. Just a bunch of foreigners snapping photos of themselves with Michael Jackson's sidewalk star. Glad to see that after a full year of being dead, his comeback is still going strong.
Next morning, we went for a nice walk with Lucas and Katia to check out the neighborhood. They offered to take us to the Hollywood sign to get our pictures taken, but we kind of felt that after just having seen Half Dome, the Giant Sequoias, and Yosemite Falls, the Hollywood sign just didn't seem all that majestic. Instead, here are some random funny things we saw in our travels through SoCal.
Here are some elephant seals we saw just south of Big Sur:
Man, these things were ugly. They just lay there on the beach, their enormous, molting bodies flattened on the sand under their multiple tons of blubbery weight. And the males seemed to get agitated very easily, bellowing their displeasure at the slightest nudge from another seal. A couple of the bulls were sparring pretty violently, biting viciously at each other's neck. In this picture, however, they appear to be having a good laugh, as if the fight was just a silly misunderstanding:
This sign kind of sums up Hollywood:
One gas station in Malibu had some good educational literature that we found interesting, especially after putting close to 3,000 miles on our rental:
It was a good time to take stock of all the bugs we had splattered over the previous two weeks. A couple of them had been around with us since Seattle, so it was nice to finally be able to make a formal introduction. It was also a good time to squeegee their guts from our windshield.
Finally, my favorite picture from recent memory. I know we have some wacko squirrels on the east coast, and I've taken a special dislike to many of them (particularly the ones who knock slates off our roof so they can hang out in our attic). But I never realized how vicious the squirrels were out here on the California coast:
Yes, this squirrel here is actually feasting on the intestines of his own amigo, freshly smooshed and plastered to the pavement. No, the image is not doctored. The slight blur is because I snapped the photo with a telephoto from a distance and through the windshield. We tried to get closer for a better shot, but little Jeffrey Dahmer got skittish (or perhaps ashamed) and ran off into the ditch. We waited around for a while, but then felt like we probably had better things to do. So, off we went, leaving to the cannibal rodent to his own devices.
For a musical selection, though we didn't make as far down as Seal Beach, we did rock out to some Rx Bandits, and felt that a couple of their tunes would be appropriate. These acoustic tracks are taken from two different radio shows: the first three tracks are just Matt Embree and Steve Choi in a radio interview session for Alternative Press in August 2008; the fourth is a full-band acoustic version of the closer for Mandala. It was recorded for BBC1 in the fall of 2009.
Rx Bandits - To Our Unborn Daughters (acoustic).mp3
Rx Bandits - 1980 (acoustic).mp3
Rx Bandits - Only For The Night (acoustic).mp3
Rx Bandits - Bring Our Children Home Or Everything Is Nothing (acoustic).mp3
I can't believe it, but our trip is almost over! Stop back for the last couple of posts highlighting our shenanigans at Joshua Tree and at the Collins ranch in San Diego... plus, hopefully, some HDR photos from throughout the entire trip (as soon as we can figure out how to do them).
-Josh
No comments:
Post a Comment