Thoughts on HELL(A)

[Matt Molnar]

Shot from our hotel room. The sign is nearly 7 miles away as the crow flies.

I appreciated the fake boobs and short skirts everywhere, but downtown was deserted and disgusting despite being surrounded by large corporate skyscrapers, mostly banks. I guess people just drive to their underground parking garages, go straight up to their offices, and don't leave. God forbid anyone should walk anywhere. The subway system is beautifully decorated and spotlessly clean, probably because no one uses it. Outside of a few square blocks downtown almost every street is like driving through Corona or the Bronx...all the signs are in Spanish or the neighborhood is just grimy or both. Bums and piss smell everywhere. The only nice areas outside downtown were the places with boutiques and **** that I'd never buy. One store was filled with clothes that looked exactly like H&M, except the cheapest shirt was $102, and $5 Old Navy-style boxers were $36.

You can see everything in the city in under a day because there is nothing to see. The Hollywood sign is their Statue of Liberty, the Chinese Theater and Kodak Center are their Times Square, and they don't have an Empire State Building. We had a clear view of the sign from our room (above) so that took care of that.

We only had fun after leaving the city, we rented a car and went to Universal Studios yesterday morning which was pretty cool (especially since Lia got some free tix from a friend) and we hung out on Santa Monica Beach for an hour or two.

Then we headed to In-N-Out, where I got a double double animal style which was pretty amazing. And of course shot some planes. First one to buzz me was Shamu! I got a bit bored with the underbelly shots and wanted to get some side shots, so I crossed Sepulveda and started shooting from next to the LAX sign. I got some good stuff from there, but then an LAPD cruiser pulled up and told me about "federal regulations" and "national security" prohibiting that sort of thing. I told him I wasn't aware of any such regulations, but he said I was on airport property and it was a no go. I wasn't sure if I actually was on airport property, and I'm not sure if the airport has rules prohibiting that, so I didn't feel I was in much of a position to argue and risk a Rodney King beatdown. He was pretty nice about it, and gave me an alternate location where he said shooting was fine (which turned out to be Imperial Hill, which I was going to hit next anyway). He checked my ID and he told me how he's visiting NYC for the first time next week, asked me what he should see and stuff. I told him this was my first time in LA, etc, etc.

I actually liked Imperial Hill better anyway, and with the sun low in the sky there was really nice light for about an hour before it got too low for shooting. I'll start working on the pics tonight hopefully.

Also, I think Virgin is my new favorite airline. Can't wait 'til they add some routes that I actually want to use.

I will post my airliner shots this weekend.

[mirrodie]

The subway system is beautifully decorated and spotlessly clean, probably because no one uses it.

Its true, too many cars over yonder.

Bums and piss smell everywhere.

True though I can think of many streets in Manhattan that ring the same tune.

You can see everything in the city in under a day because there is nothing to see.

Sorry Matt, sounds like you aren't really enjoying downtown LA. I do agree you need a car to explore the place. YMMV but I feel you need to break from the true tourist magnets you mentioned.

Be sure to go to the La Brea Tar Pits. While my Anthropology roots really enjoyed seeing such an active link to our past, I find most people who've seen it find it impressive, expecially in the hustle of a city.

Also, IIRC you enjoy trains, so definitely take an afternoon ride over to UNION STATION. The architecture is very interesting and there was a park across the street when we went. Sort of a miniature Washington Square.

And a few blocks form Union Square is http://www.philippes.com/ Philippe's a great local venue for lunch and cheap eats.

Venture north a bit by car and spend a half day at the Getty Museum. It is truly an afternoon well spent and has some wonderful views of the surrounding as its poised upon a cliff. If you have no interest in anything else written, I'd say see the Getty museum. We loved it and can't wait to return.

We only had fun after leaving the city, we rented a car

Yep, you need a car. Oh, cruise north on PCH. Lots of lovely cafes along the way. We are more familiar with Pacific Palisades, as we friends who live there. We went up as far as Oxnard where I recall seeing some military aircraft.

IIRC, within an hour north of Oxnard, you can visit Solvang and Lompoc, for some wineries and venues you may have seen on SIDEWAYS.

Hope you enjoy the rest of the trip

[Matt Molnar]

I did see Union Station and I liked it a lot. It's too bad there's nothing to do there aside from catch a train. Lots of unused space in a beautiful building.

I've heard good things about the Getty Museum but didn't make it over there. We did visit the Museum of Contemporary Art...I liked the few photographic pieces I saw but the more abstract stuff just annoyed me. Stuffed animals hanging from a clothes line = ART?! :roll:

It's my understanding that cruising DOWN the PCH is better than up since you get a better view of the ocean. I'd like to do that some day, maybe a drive from San Fran down to San Diego.

Anyway, I'm home now.

[mirrodie]

Too bad we couldn't help sooner :( Moonshadows was the place on PCH I was talking about :)

Welcome back, looking forwrad to reading about the Virgin Trips.

[Iberia A340-600]

The two times that I've been to L.A. I have not really ventured much into the heart of the city but have instead spent my duration in the Santa Monica/Venice Beach area which really is the typical idea of a southern California city. I also drove out to Burbank to the studios and it was also my typical idea of a suburban California neighborhood.

I believe that in general when people hear about L.A. they picture what Santa Monica looks like whereas when people think of San Francisco they actually think of the city because it is so much more of a city then L.A.

[stuart schechter]

San Diego is also a great place to go. I went there when I was younger for my birthday to see one of the pandas that was born on my 8th birthday. Pretty cool

[SoPictureThis]

Mario -- you're knowledge of my city impresses me! Philippe's is my all-time favorite place for sandwiches (gotta have the classic French Dip, as that's where it was created). On a similar note, Solvang (though a bit touristy) is really neat; a Danish community on the opposite side of the world, and in the middle of nowhere! That marks the very begining of the Central Valley, where much of the produce that you buy here in NYC is from :D Again, as Mario mentions, some of the finest wineries are scattered about the area.

I always feel sorry for silly tourists who drive around in their rental cars, blinded by minor negativities they experience, which in turn, inhibits their ability to enjoy themselves in such an awesome city. :roll:

- jMay

[Matt Molnar]

I always feel sorry for silly tourists who drive around in their rental cars, blinded by minor negativities they experience, which in turn, inhibits their ability to enjoy themselves in such an awesome city. :roll:

- jMay

FYI I only had a rental car for one of the four days I was there, and that happened to be the only day that I saw anything that didn't suck. :)