Tuesday, July 22, 2008

'ems fightin' words...

John McCain's peeps are steamin' mad over the media's love affair with Barack and what else is there to do about it besides make a You Tube video about it. It's actually pretty amusing. I think the best part is Tucker Carlson describing his love as "9th grade...sealed with a kiss love."

McCain party...jealous much?



Of course there are some super comments on the You Tube page:


"Liberal media is a joke! Why not give Obama a rim job and get it over with than ask him some questions about his constant flip flopping on the issues."


"john mccain = the downfall of america"

and immediately following...

"Barack Hussein Obama = The Rise of Islam"

"Blame it on love and the media. Totally Mclame. "

"Restore the constitution. Down with old man McCain! "

"yeah, i was pissed how biased the media was against Hitler back in 41. It was ridiculous. Thank god for FOX. "

"McCain hates love. "

Thursday, July 17, 2008

Bollywood!

Saturday night we decided to head to Hollywood with our lovely LA tour guides Jen and Dennis. Since we were still staying in downtown LA, we had to hop on the train and take a short ride to the Hollywood. Fun Fact: Jen and Dennis live down the street from the Capitol Records building with their cat, who is very cordial as well.

One cannot say the same about all of Hollywood's inhabitants. It was a sad day for all young Jewish boys who wear slim fitting jeans and can't hear so good due to standing too close to speakers for so many years.

For this was the day that Sean would be called a "faggot" by a gutterpunk with a cigarette sticking out of his stretched out lip ring hole. It went a little something like this...

We were minding our own business, trying to find Jen and Dennis' apartment when we realized we were going the wrong way down the street. As Sean was straining to read the addresses up ahead, said gutterpunk--a young man himself--probably in his late 20's, approaches with his friend (who I must point out was probably in his late not punk at ALL and who was driving a jeep cherokee). He's bitching about "kids these days," muttering something about how they don't know anything about yadda yadda yadda. Sean is walking a foot or so ahead of me and I hear this guy ask him "Do you remember 1979?" and Sean doesn't answer him, then he says it again "Hey! Do you remeber 1979?" and Sean goes "No." Well, because he was born in 80, so how could he remember it? Gutterpunk does not like this answer very much and replies with a disgusted "Whatever, Faggot!" as he shakes his head (he may have spit, I don't remember. But, for this purpose we'll say that he did) and loads his "art" into his friend's Jeep. The guy seriously couldn't have been more than 30, so I doubt he even remembers 1979. Plus, do Sean and I look like snot nosed little pip squeak know it alls? Or homosexuals for that matter? I of course laughed out loud and shouted, "I always knew you were gay." Sean was oblivious, determined to get us to our destination--we were without our GPS afterall. Pratically naked out there! As soon as we crossed the street and were going the right direction I asked him if he heard the guy call him a faggot. He said he didn't even hear it...but why if he did...that guy would have paid for it! I tell you, his friend would have had to put both seats down in the Jeep and lay him out in the back! Probably not, but let's just pretend he would have.

I didn't get a picture of this villian, but let's just say he looked something like this, but a little taller...less exagerated liberty spikes, really tight leggings, and of course he didn't have this on his jacket, but it's hilarious none the less. (You can make your own right here)


I would say Hollywood is pretty crappy and in general it isn't very pleasing. Also, we saw a dude walking down the street with a full catheter bag taped to his leg which was accentuated even more so by his denim cutoffs but not to be out shined was his total aloofness about the fact that he had a bag full of piss...taped. to. his. leg.

Most of the stores cater to the stripper/exotic dancer/prostitute/skank population and the manequins look like this:


(source)

Besides that, there are suit shops. I'm sure this is all making sense now.

So, after taking in a little window shopping, we filled up on pasta and got ready to drink. Our destination was the Beauty Bar in Hollywood. Sean and I had been wanting to go there and even though Jen and co. had already been there, they were nice enough to go back again!


Cute, right? They have ladies doing manicures and apparently you can get a martini and a manicure for $10. I don't like martinis so I didn't partake in this little deal.

Everything was super retro and just really cute. The photo above is looking at the DJ Booth and the "dance floor." The only bad thing about the place was how crowded it was. Although every time I went out to smoke and there were people walking by, they couldn't believe how packed it was...so I guess it's never as crowded as it was when we were there. However, the people were pretty friendly and surprisingly the hipster factor was way less painful then I thought it would be.

A view of the bar. Funny story--when we first got to this place it was like three people deep at the bar. So, Jen and I hung back while Sean got us drinks. Dennis had to run back to the apartment, so he wasn't there yet. After we had our drinks in hand we were waiting for Sean and I guess it probably looked like we were on the prowl. You know, we must have been just WAITING for a dude to hit on us, because I mean, why else would we be standing there, right? Right. So...I heard the lamest pick up line ever. Not only was it lame, it was very toot your own horn-ish in my opinion. This guy turns to me and asked me if I'm shy. He has an accent and I can't fucking understand him. Jen thinks he says Bi. It's really loud, obviously. He asks again and I just stare at him, knowing this is like the worst trap ever. I decide to throw caution to the wind and I say "no, why do you ask?" And dude says "Well, we've been standing here next to each other for ten minutes and you haven't talked to me yet!" I was so amused, I didn't know what exactly to reply with. I politely explained that we were there with our boyfriends and he looked completely dumbfounded. Now. For the "What I should have said was..." moment. What I should have said was a) you're ugly--but he wasn't. b) I don't like foreigners--but he was British, that's not really foreign. c) I'm really nervous! You're so hot! but...that could have back fired. or d) Oh! I thought you asked if I liked guys! Sorry, I thought that would have been obvious by me NOT talking to you. If I did like guys, I would have been all over you in a second! Men...I tell ya.

I also wanted to tell him to NEVER use that again, but I had already done my charity by not being a total asshole to him, so I just walked away and enjoyed the rest of my night.

All the way past the bar, by the window is where we camped out. There was a plastic covered couch that by the end of the night was covered in drinks, stickiness, and oh yeah...a drunk Indian dude's puke. By the end of the night I also didn't give a crap about any of that because I was having so much fun! The DJ was so good. He played old Marvin Gay, Ol' Dirty, LCD Soundsystem, and like a 1,000 other good songs from rap to indie rock. Jen and I tried to make it out on the dance floor, but decided to retreat back and make our own instead.

When the lights came up, I did not want to leave.


Obviously we were having the best time ever


BIG thanks go out to our awesome hosts, Jen and Dennis, for showing us a great time!


Well, that's the end of day 2. Don't worry...there are only two more days left...I think.

Until then...

Wednesday, July 9, 2008

Life on Mars

Heeeeeeeeeeey....you still with me?

Ladies in Gents...without further ado. LA, day 2.

First of all, I apologize for not updating this. The first post was so exciting and then I totally just left you hanging...sort of like when your favorite T.V. show breaks for the summer and the cliff hanger is just terrible. You swear you won't go back to watching it in the Fall, but like clockwork, there you are all cozied up to the Hills on Monday night just DYING to see how Audrina gets her attitude on! Hrmmm...wait, that doesn't happen to you?

Pshhh whatever. Never the less, I got unmotivated, So You Think You Can Dance, Flipping Out, Tori and Dean, and like 1,000 other reality T.V. shows came back on, I had to travel for work, got sick, wished America happy birthday, thought I had meningitis (not really) and now I'm pretty sure I have vertigo...but only in my right ear.

As you can see, I'm stalling. I'm not gonna lie...memories have faded...things are way less vivid. My fondness for LA still lives on, yet I had to re-read my last post to remember where I left off...Thank Allah for digital photos.

We started day 2 by heading to Silver Lake.

If I ever moved to LA, this is where I would want to live. It has an actual neighborhood vibe to it. It's filled with adorable stores, little cafes, and cool houses. Very artsy...even the postman was hipper than me (not a huge feat, but still!).

A view from the hill where we parked out trusty Versa.





We had lunch at the Town and Country Cafe. It got mixed reviews on Yelp! but I thought it was really good.



They had "real" coke in a glass bottle...mmmmmm.





Although I look slightly "special" here...I was also very happy. And I don't even realize that things are about to get 100 percent better...see below.



If I ever went to prison, and say perhaps I had to be sentenced to death...I would probably consider this a good option for a last meal. It was the best grilled cheese I've ever had. Sometimes with cheddar cheese, it gets oily or the cheese gets too hard right away, this was not the case, gooey and good. The fries were perfect and I was actually depressed when I got full and could not finish the whole thing. I miss this sandwich, I do.

After lunch we walked around for a bit and ducked in quite a few of the shops in the area. There were some very cool/kitchy stores and record shops...the usual. I didn't buy anything, because most of it was too pricey. It was neat to see things that I see on the internet on design blogs and stuff in person though.

We took a short drive to find this place called The Circle. Our travel guide (yeah, we had a travel guide and it mostly came in handy for referencing addresses and places to eat--though some of the reviews weren't really spot on...including this one) touted it as " hidden jewel of a place where samples and overstock items including designer tops, pants, skirts and, on occasion, accessories can be found. " I really wouldn't go as far as calling it a "hidden jewel." Yeah, I guess this stuff was "on sale" but it was still like $45 bucks for a tank top that I could get from target for like 10. Call me cheap...I just couldn't get behind it.

So, oh well. We got the hell out of that place and headed to the Griffith Observatory. Well, first we actually stopped a the CVS to buy a gallon of water which lasted pretty much the whole trip and saved us probably like $20 bucks. So, if you don't feel like a loo carrying a gallon of water into your fancy hotel--I suggest stocking up.

Okay, back to the observatory. I think this was probably one of the most enjoyable things we did while we were there. It's free and the view is amazing. Not to mention the workout you get hauling your ass up the hill to get to the actual observatory. (click on the pictures to make them larger)


This was about half way up the hill. The view was already pretty cool.


Looking to the right, where we started was at the end of the long line of parked cars.


Getting closer, the HOLLYWOOD sign finally came into view.


I am outwardly thrilled. I promise that Sean was too, even if he isn't as obvious as I. Maybe it was all my jibber jabber about Paula Abdul's Rush Rush video being filmed here with thespian, Keanu Reeves channeling James Dean a la Rebel Without A Cause? Or maybe he was just tired. It was a long walk.


We made it! Pretty spectacular.


Look at the majestic view behind us. Glorious. Also, please note, I will be wearing that shirt again in the future. I was having some wardrobe issues on this trip, I don't know why I packed half the shit I did. I ended up re-wearing a lot of things because of it. I'm just saying, I'm not trying to get away with anything here.




Even though it was overcast, the clouds looked pretty surreal up this high. I would have liked to see the view at night.




Pictures obviously don't really do the place justice. It was the shit. And I have to again say that it was FREE! Unless you want to pay for some show where you look at stars, but I did that when I was in 5th grade and once was enough.

The only bummer was that the HUGE telescope was not running because of the cloudy sky.

But, if you ever needed incentive to go visit something, I think that getting to look though this monster would do. No?


Two thumbs up for this place.

Okay, I'm tired and I'm sure you need a break from all this recap excitement.

Next up, day 2-part 2: Hollywood, Sean being gay bashed, Beauty Bar, and the drunk Indian Guy puking inside of it.