"come on home, but don't forget to leave" - franz ferdinand
As of Monday, I became an official resident of North Hollywood, California. I have an apartment with a friend of mine in a little arts district called NoHo. I can walk a block or two outside my apartment and I'm surrounded by play houses, recording studios, art galleries, restaurants, book stores, and even a subway terminal which, contrary to popular belief, does exist in Los Angeles. I spent last Friday signing my lease, getting a California bank account, and interviewing for a job at the Universal Hilton, which is only 2 miles from my apartment. They seemed like they wanted to hire me, and they already called my current employer for the background screening process, so that's a good sign. I even saw a play Friday night with my new roommate. I wanted to see what the little play houses around me were about, and I noticed one was doing a production of Waiting for Godot, which I love. It wasn't at all what I expected, though, Vladimir and Estragon were played by women dressed as hookers, and the sexual innuendo was laid so thick it took away from Beckett's humor, in my opinion. I don't like it when people sex stories up and call it risk-taking, we live in a society that's seen just about everything, sexual innuendo is not that risque. I have A LOT of respect for the actors, however, for taking a story like that and making it their own. That was very inspiring to me. And the actor who played Lucky was outstanding, he has the best facial expressions.
Anyway, I spent 9 days on the west coast, and I feel like I'm still there (I wish I was still there.) My first 2 nights were spent in San Francisco, where I had the pleasure to see Franz Ferdinand play at The Regency, and drove down Lombard Street. Yes, that was about all I did in San Francisco. To be honest, all I wanted to do was make the drive down the coast to Los Angeles, and I was feeling very anxious to get going, so sight-seeing in San Francisco was the last thing on my mind. The PCH from SF to LA is a great adventure. Not one I would take all the time, but definitely one to take at least once in your life. I saw a dead kangaroo on the side of the road. I saw several zebra grazing next to a herd of cattle. I even saw the huge fire that burned up thousands of acres in Santa Barbara and closed off 101 for a couple days. Thanks to that wonderful event I had to take a detour that was 100 miles out of my way. Well, I could have just taken the standard detour along with everyone being evacuated from the nearby towns, but then I would have sat in stop-and-wait traffic for the next 2-3 hours feeling very aggravated. No, I had my trusty map with me, so I found my own detour. Quite a bit out of the way, but much more interesting scenery, I'm sure. I love driving, but to be honest, after that drive, I feel like I've seen enough mountains and beautiful coast to last me a lifetime. Of course, now I have to make the cross-country drive this weekend from Florida to California.
Really, I'm tired, I just want to settle down now in my new home, I've been traveling a lot over the last year, and I'm excited to finally have found a place to call home that has so much self-contained adventure right in my back yard.
But, I'm not complaining. I have the feeling once I start driving I'll be back into the spirit of it again. Moving just makes me anxious. Especially moving so far away from...everything I've ever known.
Reagan died right about the same time I arrived in Los Angeles. His funeral procession was going on just a few miles away from me at the same time I was interviewing for my job and signing my lease. Interesting timing I was having this trip. Between Reagan, the kangaroo, and the fire, I was surrounded by death and destruction. I hope that's not a bad sign. (I have the feeling it's more a sign of renewal. The old is clearing itself away for the new.)
I saw Franz Ferdinand a 2nd time at the Wiltern in LA. I'm really glad I saw them at that venue, the Wiltern is such a great concert hall, everything from the sound to the lighting to just the comfort of being in the audience watching the show was phenomonal. You could feel the difference in the energy of the bands, too, from when I saw them in San Francisco, like they knew they sounded and looked so much better in LA than in SF. The Regency was a beautiful building, but as a concert hall it needed some work. The sound quality wasn't that good, and when you looked around you the lighting had a sort of cold, creepy effect - like you KNEW you were in a large, historic building. In the Wiltern you knew you were in a large, historic building, too, but with the lighting you also knew you were at a professional concert. It's hard for me to put the difference into better words.
Franz is an exciting band to watch. They have such a good-hearted nature to them, which I described to someone as the opposite of The Strokes. Now, don't get me wrong, I love The Strokes, but their schtick is to play the young punk rock stars. I enjoy that from them because that's who they are and what they represent, where Franz plays the energetic rockers who smile a lot and are greatful for their fans and show that appreciation. They even do a group bow at the end of their set. I saw them tonight on Conan and was sad that their sound quality wasn't as good as it should have been. I hope people don't get the wrong idea about their show from that performance, they looked a little nervous and I think Nick's guitar was acting up on him again like it was in LA. Haha, I hear myself say that and feel like a concerned parent. I love this band, they're like my child I'm watching graduate from college and move into the work force. They are blowing up, my friends, blowing up.
I got bored last Thursday night and decided I wanted to go to San Diego. It's only like 100 or so miles from LA, so why not, right? The Yeah Yeah Yeah's were playing at this club called Soma, along with Stellastarr* and The Killers. I left before the encore. The venue sucks, it's set up like an outdoor stage, but is inside of something like a large warehouse. The sound was up way too loud for that type of venue. I had to laugh at myself for thinking that, I must be getting old. Seriously, though, when the sound is so loud it hurts and you can't tell the music from the noise it's just not fun, I don't care how old you are. I endured it out of curiosity. Although from the first moment I walked in and saw the banner for 91 X Hometown Throwdown on the wall and heard Jimmie Eat World and Linkin Park blasting over the speakers I knew I was in the wrong place. I can't think of the last concert I went to that would even consider playing those bands in between sets. Yes, I'm a hypocrite saying that, there was a point in my life I liked bands like those. But, that was before I really learned what I like about music, and once I did that, I realized those bands weren't it. Now, I can't stomach hearing that kind of music interspersed with bands like The Strokes and The White Stripes, it makes me feel...violated, in a way. Like I just got felt up by that disgusting pervert who's a customer at work and I can't do anything about it because it happened before I realized what was happening and no one is going to say anything to him because he's a very good customer and they don't want to cause a scene. Ok, I'm not sure where I was going with that. But, my point is, I went to the concert out of boredom and curiosity, and then I left. And that's the end of that.
This is one of my favorite lines from a song: "Do something pretty while you can, don't fall asleep driving from California to New York." - belle & sebastian. It's such a sweet, youthful sentiment praising the beauty of the journey between two wonderful, diverse states.
I will do something pretty, Belle. I will. But I do have to sleep sometime. Like how about right now. Yes, yes, that sounds like a plan.