Las Vegas and California Chronicles
My wife and I just returned from California and Las Vegas. We were visiting her parents and family who live in the Los Angeles region.
First Vegas...Vegas reminds me of a girl with low self-worth who attracts the attention from the boys by being easy, attention that she would not otherwise get. They use her, she uses them. Maybe the founders and growers of the town felt they had to go seemier and seedier than the rest of the country to put Las Vegas on the map.
We saw the show "O" which was a remarkable spectacle of acrobatics, athletics, and agility, but was oddly absent in terms of story and even bizarre. There were dudes dressed like old-time members of Parliament with red coats and powdered white wigs, water nymphs, a guy on fire reading the paper, muscleman, fire jugglers, a foursome of contortionist, and an unfunny clown--a real theatre of the absurd. So, I found the show a lot like Vegas itself...flashy but empty, and frustrating and profoundly unsatisfying.
After Vegas, we returned back to California where it was much warmer (Vegas was cold). I can see what makes California compelling to people from other places. Sunshine almost all of the time and warm weather. It is so nice that Santa probably has to wear a Speedo when making his deliveries in Southern California.
I paid a visit to my buddy Todd Klick, a screen writer and filmaker, just moved out to Santa Monica from Pa.
He took me to Venice Beach. There are vendors on the main drag walkway at Venice Beach selling unique items (see the live web cam by clicking "California Chronicles" title). Rasta and Afro-centric clothes, jewelry, music, etc. Needless to say, George W. Bush is not loved at this bastion of liberalism. I saw a tee-shirt of with a picture of he and his dad with the caption "Dumb and Dumber."
One black dude plays the electric guitar while on rollerblades--a mix of Hendrix and roller derby queen. He tried to sell me a t-shirt and his CD. He leaned on me pretty hard but I passed. He followed us a couple of blocks rollin' and rockin' before he made his sales pitch.
There were a couple of other guys who had a sign that said "Sh*tty Advice--1 Dollar." That was pretty funny.
Another dude had a sign that said "F*ck Y**" who was soliciting contributions. I thought he might need to work on his marketing plan.
Another guy had an imaginary sign and he and his buddies said they were trying to get money so they could score some weed. I gave him an imaginary dollar. At Venice Beach, the smell of ganja wafted though the air. Apparently, the local police have made pot smoking a low enforcement priority. Somewhere after pooper scooper.
After catching lunch, we went to a bookstore(Small World Books) and I purchased a dozen artsy-like cards with quotes on them that my wife is going to make a collage of sorts out of (that) I will hang in my guidance office.
One quote in particular moved me:
"The world is not respectable; it is mortal, tormented, confused, deluded forever; but is shot through with beauty, with love, with glints of courage and laughter, and in these, the spirit blooms" (George Santayana).
Todd also took me to Malibu Beach where I got to see Adam Sandler's house (in need of major repairs due to termites), and Suzanne Sommers' former house location which burned to the ground in the wildfires last January--leaving all the other beach houses unscathed. Made me think of the uncertainties of riches.
We then headed to the Pepperdine University campus and snapped the picture on the right (towards the top of the page). The photo doesn't do the scene justice...it was the most awe-inspiring sight I have even witnessed.
Afterwards, we caught a brew at the place that Mel Gibson got schnockered at and then got busted for DUI and into some Jew-bashing vitrol with the California patrolman. We drank the beer outside on a giant bed of sorts a we looked out into the sea. We managed to avoid a DUI and drunken debate on the Zionist conspiracy with CHIPS.
First Vegas...Vegas reminds me of a girl with low self-worth who attracts the attention from the boys by being easy, attention that she would not otherwise get. They use her, she uses them. Maybe the founders and growers of the town felt they had to go seemier and seedier than the rest of the country to put Las Vegas on the map.
We saw the show "O" which was a remarkable spectacle of acrobatics, athletics, and agility, but was oddly absent in terms of story and even bizarre. There were dudes dressed like old-time members of Parliament with red coats and powdered white wigs, water nymphs, a guy on fire reading the paper, muscleman, fire jugglers, a foursome of contortionist, and an unfunny clown--a real theatre of the absurd. So, I found the show a lot like Vegas itself...flashy but empty, and frustrating and profoundly unsatisfying.
After Vegas, we returned back to California where it was much warmer (Vegas was cold). I can see what makes California compelling to people from other places. Sunshine almost all of the time and warm weather. It is so nice that Santa probably has to wear a Speedo when making his deliveries in Southern California.
I paid a visit to my buddy Todd Klick, a screen writer and filmaker, just moved out to Santa Monica from Pa.
He took me to Venice Beach. There are vendors on the main drag walkway at Venice Beach selling unique items (see the live web cam by clicking "California Chronicles" title). Rasta and Afro-centric clothes, jewelry, music, etc. Needless to say, George W. Bush is not loved at this bastion of liberalism. I saw a tee-shirt of with a picture of he and his dad with the caption "Dumb and Dumber."
One black dude plays the electric guitar while on rollerblades--a mix of Hendrix and roller derby queen. He tried to sell me a t-shirt and his CD. He leaned on me pretty hard but I passed. He followed us a couple of blocks rollin' and rockin' before he made his sales pitch.
There were a couple of other guys who had a sign that said "Sh*tty Advice--1 Dollar." That was pretty funny.
Another dude had a sign that said "F*ck Y**" who was soliciting contributions. I thought he might need to work on his marketing plan.
Another guy had an imaginary sign and he and his buddies said they were trying to get money so they could score some weed. I gave him an imaginary dollar. At Venice Beach, the smell of ganja wafted though the air. Apparently, the local police have made pot smoking a low enforcement priority. Somewhere after pooper scooper.
After catching lunch, we went to a bookstore(Small World Books) and I purchased a dozen artsy-like cards with quotes on them that my wife is going to make a collage of sorts out of (that) I will hang in my guidance office.
One quote in particular moved me:
"The world is not respectable; it is mortal, tormented, confused, deluded forever; but is shot through with beauty, with love, with glints of courage and laughter, and in these, the spirit blooms" (George Santayana).
Todd also took me to Malibu Beach where I got to see Adam Sandler's house (in need of major repairs due to termites), and Suzanne Sommers' former house location which burned to the ground in the wildfires last January--leaving all the other beach houses unscathed. Made me think of the uncertainties of riches.
We then headed to the Pepperdine University campus and snapped the picture on the right (towards the top of the page). The photo doesn't do the scene justice...it was the most awe-inspiring sight I have even witnessed.
Afterwards, we caught a brew at the place that Mel Gibson got schnockered at and then got busted for DUI and into some Jew-bashing vitrol with the California patrolman. We drank the beer outside on a giant bed of sorts a we looked out into the sea. We managed to avoid a DUI and drunken debate on the Zionist conspiracy with CHIPS.
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P.S. I'm so glad you and Lina are blogging. They're so entertaining to read!