Move along, nothing to see here...

April 17, 2017

OK so this one's gonna be brief.

Headed out for a drive with BT and we stopped at this great point overlooking Lake Elsinore in the Inland Empire.

Real pretty, but move along .. there's nothing to see here.

#california #lakeelsinore #inlandempire #travel #solotravel #friends

Looking for LVC in the desert

April 17 2017

Finally talked BT into taking a trip into the desert to a shopping outlet mall called Cabazon.

I particularly wanted to go there because my favourite brand, Levi's Vintage Clothing, usually has a bunch of stuff hidden away in the Levi's store there.

Found a bunch of stuff, but not really my style.  A bunch of Bay Meadows 1930s reproduction tshirts, which look cool, but have way too wide a neck for my liking.  I've had them before, and usually end up trying to straighten up the neck hole which seems to veer right or left depending on the time of day. They're usually about $90 each so $30 seems like a good deal.  Only problem is I just don't like them, especially the green one with the pink triangle on it.  Is this from some pre WW2 concentration camp for gays, or what?

Of course, there was the item I'm kicking myself for not buying.  An ultra weathered 1950s leather jacket lined with sherpa.  It's $500 which is a bargain, they're usually about $1200.

Only problem is, it's brown.  I just am not a big fan of brown leather.  Black, sure.  Brown, not so much.

Other problem is, we're in the desert and it's hot as freaking hell, and I'm not sure how a 2 kilogram leather jacket is gonna fit in my luggage, especially seeing as it's now summer and I'll never get a chance to wear it until 5 months from now.

Found this cool silver teddy bear in the Gucci shop, though, so couldn't resist getting a happy snap with the bear.

Only just realised how awful my hair looks right now so I'm gonna have to sort out this situation.

I wish I'd adhered to the Russian school of shopping, which is basically, when you see something you really want, buy it.  I did really want it, kind of, and of course now I'm annoyed that I didn't buy it.

I can hear the voice in my head already:

"No Levi's Vintage Clothing for you!"

#california #cabazon #russianschoolofshopping #levisvintageclothing #lvc #gucci #bear #baymeadows #travel #solotravel

Bacon & Eggs - Aussie Style

 

April 15 2017

After cleaning out the garage we all woke up pretty hungry so I decided to ditch my regular fruit oatmeal and yoghurt breakfast for the day, and grill up a good old fashioned Bacon & Eggs, Aussie Style.

Huevos Rancheros, eat your heart out!

I cooked the bacon til it was super crispy, then cooked the eggs and onions in the leftover bacon fat.

Then dumped the lot on top of some toasted English muffins.  Served up on some cool vintage plates.

YUM!

Poor little Brutus thought his cute little walking on two legs number would mean that he was going to get a plate too.

Sorry little fella, not today.  Not today.

#california #inlandempire #hemet #baconandeggs #brekkie #breakfast #chihuahua #travel #solotravel #aussie #australiancuisine

Taking Out The Trash (and a dead cat)

April 14 2017

Not the most exciting way to spend a day, but it is definitely an awesome thing to help out a friend.

BT's house was pretty much filled to the brim with stuff.  The two car garage only had room for one car .. just.  Which was pretty funny seeing as there are actually four cars using this house.

So we totally bit the bullet and just cleaned the hell out of this garage.  There was actually a lot of really cool vintage stuff.

Like this retro nutcracker:

I really liked the artwork on this vintage enamel paint spraycan, too:

We separated out all the collectables that could be sold, (my Showtime workmates used to call me the Ebay King) and then piled every bit of nonsense and rubbish (including, sadly, a dead cat!), and filled up the entire back tray of a RAM pick up truck.

The top shot is the garage AFTER.  There was absolutely no way BT was going to let me take a picture of BEFORE...

Then we filled up that big space with cars.  Not all of them.  Just some of them.

But boy, it's a nice feeling to know that you helped pay your rent in some small, yet significant way.

#california #inlandempire #hemet #cleanup #garage #vintagefinds #retro #friendship #travel #solotravel #deadcat

Prepping The Christmas Bird ... In April

April 13 2017

BT's good friend E's mother had bought too mamy turkeys for christmas.

Apparently, that's a 'thing'.

So we were pretty chuffed when E showed up with said turkey in hand, wrapped in plastic.

I'm a pretty good cook, having spent most of my early days in Sydney exclusively hanging out with a bunch of chefs, so I volunteered to do the business.

Interestingly there are actually instructions included on how to prep the bird, which is good, because I'm not such an expert at bird-prepping.

Pull out the neck, check.  Pull out the plastic bag of giblets inside the cavity, check.  Phew, thank God I read the instructions.  Nothing makes one lose their appetite more than cooked giblets in melted plastic.

I salted the bird probably more than enough, but I wanted to make sure the skin came out nice and crispy.  Because yuck, who wants soggy goosebumpy bird skin?

Needless to say Brutus was at his usual position: underfoot.  I know he knows I like him the best so I threw him a few little bits of turkey meat (on the condition that he didn't tell the other dogs).  Oh who the hell am I kidding?  Am I turning into one of those people that thinks because they speak English to a dog, that the dog actually understands English?

And that bird?  It came out nice and moist.  No complaints from the peanut gallery.

This was one awesome bird.

#california #inlandempire #travel #solotravel #chicksman #neverenoughsalt #turkey #wrappedinplastic #crispyskin #dogsdontunderstandenglish

Precious' Forever Home or Face Lickin' Good

April 8 2017

Two firsts in 24 hours.  First, I slept with a dog.  Second, I helped BT find this cute little Beagle a forever home.

A forever home is when a dog that's not wanted is placed in a home that really wants it.

BT had inherited Precious (yes, named after the film) when he took over his family home.  It was one of many dogs that had been left there and somewhat neglected.  After a lot of TLC BT got this dog back up to speed and found a home from it in a nearby town in the Inland Empire.

I volunteered as car dogsitter so that little Precious wouldn't get too distressed.  Something about that sixth sense that animals have that just know something odd is about to happen to them.  Even if it's a good thing.

I managed this selfie of Precious trying to lick me on the face on the way to her new home.

Annoyingly, when we got to the house the new owner was nowhere to be found.  It was a bit ominous if you ask me.

We did a dramatic U-Turn and headed back home.  Thankfully, the owner showed up at our door later that afternoon, very apologetic and took Precious to her new home.

Her Forever Home.

#rescuedog #precious #california #inlandempire #hemet #beagle #facelick #uturn #animalsarepeopletoo

I Slept With A Dog ... And I Liked It

April 8 2017

I grew up on a farm.  It was what is called a 'hobby farm'.  We had cows, chickens, dogs, and cats.  I think we even had ducks at some point.  We also had snakes, but they just came and went as they pleased, they were in no way 'pets'.

As a kid I always wanted to know why the animals lived outside.

My parents were pretty clear about the rules:

"The humans live inside the house.  The animals live outside the house"

It seemed like a pretty good answer to a kid.  It's something I've pretty much stuck by and have never had animals living in the house as a man.

That changed when I spent a bit of time with BT in the Inland Empire.  He had nine dogs running through the house.  Yep.  Nine.

They were sequestered in packs, as some were neutered, some were not.  It was quite hysterical watching them getting moved from one part of the house to the other. 

But it was this little fellow Brutus that stole my heart.  He's a chihuahua daschund mix.  And he's how I like my dogs.  Little.  Why?  Because they molt little, they smell little, they eat little, and they crap little.  Let's face it: little stays cute. 

So after having been here a few days, relinquished to the fact that the animals were inside the house to stay, I did it.

I slept with Brutus.

He lay at my feet all night all curled up in a little chihuahua daschund ball.

I even woke up to him licking my feet and as weird as that felt it was actually pretty cool.

Now things probably won't change for me, this was the first time I had ever had a dog sleep in my bed, and it may be the last.  It was OK but I doubt that it's going to be a permanent fixture for me.  I'm just gonna count this as a notch on my 'first times' belt while travelling.

So yeah, I slept with a dog.  And I liked it.

p.s. get your mind out of the gutter.

#california #inlandempire #hemet #chihuahua #letsleepingdogslie #ifyousleepwithdogsyougetfleas
#travel #solotravel

No short-shorts / No shoplifting

April 7 2017

I didn't bring any 'USA-Appropriate' shorts with me on my travels.  All my shorts are, well, short.  As in, short-short.  If I wear them down the street I get so many crazy looks, which seem to say: That guy is exposing his knees, he may as well be walking down the street naked.

It's almost like I'm one of those Victorian ladies getting slut-shamed because they exposed <gasp> their ANKLE!

I was a teenager in the 80s.  Make that a teenager in a country town in the 80s.  As many teens of that era did, I expressed, even thrived, on my individuality.  I am totally used to getting weird looks from people and I couldn't care less what they think.

In fact I had old ladies shaking their cane at me in the street as a teenager, who were horrified that I'd dyed my hair.  I pointed out: hey, I'm using the same colour as you are.  What's your problem?!

Yet the looks I'm getting while walking around in my short shorts is starting to get my goat, so I venture to the local thrift store to find a pair of shorts that are less short than the rugby league shorts I usually like to get around in (when I'm not at work, of course).

Only slightly less short of course.  I just would feel like I was trying to assimilate too hard, if I were to wear shorts that came below my knee.  One, because that's just not even comfortable.  Two, because I'll end up with some kind of weird half leg tan.  Three, I would feel ridiculous wearing shorts that long.  And Four, because I don't like long shorts.  Back home, we call long shorts 'pants'.  Or 'jeans'.

So....

I'm at the Salvation Army thrift store in the men's aisle.  There's a woman there with a trolley.  She looks like one of those people at the supermarket who fill their trolley up with weird things as an excuse to eat a packet of cookies when nobody is looking.

She nearly  bumps into me with her trolley.  She apologises, I say, no problem.

Then I start getting annoyed as she always seems to be parking exactly where I want to go.  It's not complicated to shop in a thrift store.  You start at one end and work your way down to the other.  She just seems to keep getting in my way.  She's not a guy.  What's she even doing in this aisle?

Then she said something really weird.

Can I ask you a question?

Sure, I said.

"Well, I was thinking of jacking a few items today from here, but I'm just not feeling it.   Would you mind doing it for me?"

You can probably guess the two letter word I responded with.  Quite forcefully*.

Somebody just asked me to shoplift for them.  In a charity store.  That actually has a storewide discount of 40% on EVERYTHING!

Are people so desperate that they would steal from a charity store?  You do realise you're stealing from the poor and needy, right?  What is this world coming to??!!

If you're gonna steal clothes, go somewhere where the clothes are expensive.  I dunno, try Prada.  Or Hugo Boss.  Or Commes des Garcon. (Note: I don't advocate stealing, I'm trying to make a point).

Regardless of the craziness, I did find a cool pair of Ocean Pacific corduroy shorts.  Possibly from the 1990s.  I'm happy because now I have a pair of shorts that I can actually put stuff in the pockets without them falling out.  And I won't look like that slutty Victorian woman with the naked ankle.

Of all the dumb questions in the world.  Seriously.  Why do they ask me to do this nonsense?   Is there a hole in my aura that they can see right through?  Or am I just approachable and affable enough for people to feel comfortable around me.  So comfortable that they would ask me to shoplift for them.

Geez.  Get a grip, people.

* In case you couldn't work it out, the word was NO.

 #california #inlandempire #hemet #salvationarmy #thriftstore #vintage #shortshorts #corduroy #travel #solotravel #shoplift #shopliftingiswrong #ankleshaming

The Last Taxi

April 7 2017

OK so this doesn't seem like such a big deal.  Cute little yellow cab parked at a gas station, right?

What's weird is that I've been in California for three weeks and this is actually the first taxi I've seen since I've been here.

It's possible that I've seen one and just didn't notice, but it's not like most cities where you can just hail a cab and it's no big deal.  One will come (eventually).

It might just be that so many people in LA have cars, combined with the fact that people that can't afford cabs take the bus, and that hideous new creation, 'the democratisation of the internet'.  In other words, Uber and Lyft are pretty good at making sure cabs are getting harder and harder to find.

So here I am in the Inland Empire, trying to take cool pics of road signs while my buddy fills up his gas tank, and up pulls a cab.

I asked the driver if he would pose with his cab, but he probably thought it was some weird kind of scam, and he said no.  But I could take a picture of his cab (sorry, sometimes sentences just need to start with But).

So here it is, my first (and possibly last) sighting of a taxi in California.

#bigyellowtaxi #uber #lyft #democratisationoftheinternetisevil #cab #taxi #pussieswhowontbephotographed #california #inland empire #travel #solotravel #wherearethetaxis

One Is Silver, The Other's Gold

April 6 2017

I'm a solo traveller.  It's a selfish thing.  I just want my adventures to be my adventures, without being encumbered by other people's needs.

I'm not completely selfish, I just feel if you travel with one companion, you're going to end up giving up 50% of your adventure.  Even if you have similar tastes, sometimes you're hungry, they're not.  Sometimes you want to stay ... they want to go.  Sometimes you want to just completely change direction on a whim, and your travel buddy is just not feeling it.  Travel is a luxury, and too expensive to waste.

However ... I'm more than happy to meet up with old friends in new places.  That's just awesome.  I like things to have a start, a middle, and an end.  And that makes meeting up with old friends just too easy.

I met these guys in Spain years ago and we've stayed friends since.  We've caught up in Chicago, Sydney, and even Dublin!  I knew that DS and AS would be in Palm Springs, so of course I jumped at the chance to meet up.

It was brief, but sweet.  And it's as pleasurable to meet up with old friends as it is to make new ones.

As they say: make new friends, but keep the old.  One is silver, the other's gold!

#california #palmsprings #chicago #sitges #dublin #sydney #oldfriendsaregold #shortandsweet #travel #solotravel  #selfish #whim

Idle and Wild

April 5 2017

I'm not really a nature guy.  I grew up in a tropical paradise (Northern NSW, Australia), and while I can appreciate that people from cold, dark, wet cities fantasise about drinking cocktails on a beach, it's just not my thing.

I love the big cities.

However, there's something to be said about just heading away from the city, and hitting the eject button on the cassette recorder, as it were.

Not far outside of Hemet is this beautiful national park.  BT and his good friend E took me for a hike nearby, with beautiful views of the surrounding Inland Empire and Idyllwild.

BT was determined to find the right ingredients for a 'smudge stick'.   Kind of a bunch of herbs wrapped up and dried, to be later burned, or 'smudged', to remove bad spirits.

I'm not really a fan of any kind of spirits (alcohol included) so this seemed like a great idea.

And while I'm keen to get back into the city I'm going to make the most of my brief stint "being at one with nature".

#california #hemet #inlandempire #hike #bushwalk #smudgestick #friends #travel #solotravel #nature #spirits #beingatonewithnature #whatthehelldoesbeingatonewithnaturemean

Getting Green In The Desert

April 4 2017

Palm Springs .. what's not to love?

The same year the Mexican monarchy ended (1823), Mexican diarist José María Estudillo first mentioned 'Agua Caliente' .. Hot waters .. in Palm Springs.

I've been here before but never seen it so green before.  There'd been a bunch of rain in LA and California in general over the past few weeks, and it was the most verdant version of this area I'd ever seen.

Like much of what I like to call 'Old Mexico', people forget the history of this area, and that's fine, because what you really think of when you think of Palm Springs is this guy:

Or these cool, clean architectural lines:

Or .. how the hell did they build this place in the desert???

My understanding of why they built Palm Springs where they did, had more to do with the old Hollywood star system.

The performer contracts required that they live within a certain radius of L.A.   Especially, I guess, because if you had decided to go and live in Paris, it could take you months to get back home by boat.  As a lot of these performers worked between both Las Vegas and Los Angeles, it would make perfect sense for them to set up their home away from home in Palm Springs, as it's nearly halfway between both cities.

On the way out I wanted to stop and take some pictures with the windmills in the background, perhaps in deference to the idiotic ex-Treasurer of Australia, Joe Hockey, who claimed that wind turbines were 'utterly offensive' (while he and his mates were busy opening the utterly NOT offensive coal mines left right and centre).

When I stepped out of the car to take these pics, I'd forgotten how the mixture of sand, wind, and desert blowing in your face is not the most awesome thing a person can experience.

I don't really need any excuse to visit Palm Springs.

Because it's awesome.

#california #palmsprings #desert #windmills #joehockeyisaloser #sandinmyface #travel #solotravel #elvis #sinatra #midcenturymodernarchitecture

Overgrown and Overblown in the Inland Empire

April 3 2017

I'm in the Inland Empire hanging with old mate BT.

Everybody I've spoken to in LA, when I mention I'm going to Hemet for a few weeks, pretty much all ask the same thing...

"Hemet?  HEMET?  Why would you want to go there????"

So here's the thing.  Two years ago, I'd never heard of this 'thing'.  Yet this has happened to me, my good friend/colleague/blogger TF, and now, my friend BT.

It's probably the end result of funds being cut to mental health services, but this is basically the thing.

Older person lives in home.  Isn't particularly mentally stable.  Lets house go to rack and ruin.  Literally.  Younger, more responsible Generation X relative is lassoed into sorting out the mess that the Baby Boomer just couldn't deal with, (right or wrong).

I don't really want to go into depths on this topic right now, maybe later.  It's a very personal, painful thing to have to endure.  And while I would NEVER advocate blaming people with mental illness for their actions and the consequences of those actions (for themselves, and for others) I am TOTALLY OK with blaming the Baby Boomers for kind of ruining everything for everybody who followed them.

Cos you know, it's always good having somebody to blame .. hehe.

It's weird, this is a phenomenon I'd never heard of before.  In the past two years it not only happened to me, but to two other people I'm close to.  Go figure.  It's gone from "I've never heard of that" to "Oh yeah, that thing again".....

So what am I doing in Hemet?

I'm helping out a good friend with a situation that is overgrown, and overblown.

Also, enjoying this cool mid century playset.  Nice, huh?

#california #inlandempire #hemet #timecapsule #playset #midcenturymodern #babyboomersaretoblame #generationx #travel #solotravel

Candy Shaming the Junk Food Junkie

April 2 2017

I've been called a lot of things.  Mostly things I wouldn't repeat or print anywhere, no matter how accurate or unfair those things were.

There was one name that kind of stuck with me as kid though.

As an Italian Australian I grew up with a lot of good food.  Somehow my Mum managed to cook all of the great Calabrese dishes exactly the way my Dad's mother did.  Mum is/was an awesome cook.

Apparently Dad got a job in a small goods factory when we were young.  One of the things they made were hot dogs.

We were never allowed to eat hot dogs again after that.

Also no ketchup (or tomato sauce as we call it in Oz).  No Coca-Cola.  Definitely no McDonalds.

In the years before my parent's divorce our next door neighbours, avid Seventh Day Adventists, opened 'Tropical Fruit World', or as locals called it, 'The Big Avocado".

They sold a bunch of healthy stuff, naturally: the SDA thing.  They also sold a few chocolates and snacks.  I had developed a penchant fot Kit-Kats and used to go down there any time I had enough money to buy them.  It was next door.  It was very easy.

One day I walked in with my handful of change, and the neighbour says: "oh here he comes, the junk food junkie".

I was horrified, naturally, because being a teenager, that's what comes naturally.  They totally candy-shamed me.

Funny though, it always stuck with me.  Probably because it's true.  They totally nailed it.  Dammit.

So God help me here in the USA.  I really love American Candy, especially anything with peanut butter in it.  I know.  WRONG.  But GOOD.

So in the spirit of embracing a slur and owning it, rather than wearing it with shame, that's me.

I'm a junk food junkie.  And really, there's no shame in that.

#california #hemet #duranbah #thebigavocado #hobbyfarm #tropicalfruitworld #kitkat #reeces #hostess #fruitpies #junkfood #junkfoodjunkie #junkfoodshaming #peanutbutter #americancandy #sda #travel #solotravel #sticksandstoneswon'thurtme

Burgerama

April 1 2017

I'm not ashamed to admit that I hadn't even heard of In-n-Out burger until I saw Paris Hilton & Nicole Ritchie eat there on The Simple Life.

It was an old friend FS that first took me there, and although those fries are supposed to be real potato .. geez ... why do they taste so plasticky??

Still, those burgers are awesome.  Especially the double-double.  What's not to love about a menu with so few items on it?  Burger.  Fries.  Shake.  Then, there's the secret menu.  Otherwise known as the 'not so secret menu' on their website.  If you ask for ANIMAL STYLE they will cook your beef patty with mustard on it.  Pretty damned good secret/not secret.

It's my last day in LA for a few weeks and I'm heading out to the Inland Empire to hang with my good friend BT.  We stop at In-n-out burger, because, animal style.

#california #inlandempire #hemet #innnoutburger #doubledoubleburger #plasticfries #sogood #travel #solotravel #friends #animalstyle

Doing ... The Eagle Rock

March 30 2017

I met with my new friend LD today in Glendale to have lunch at his favourite cafe, Bon Vivant.  LD knew the proprietor so she even gave us a discount which was cool.  The food was very good, I ordered a morrocan lamb sandwich with mango, although I probably should've gone with the half sandwich as it was huge.  The owner was pretty happy I liked it because she was considering taking it off the menu.

Later we went back to his house in Eagle Rock.  It's a very nice 1950s house.  He knows that I'm more than a little obsessed with everything mid-century so we went back to his house for cocktails before going to dinner that night.  Naturally as I don't drink the only cocktail I had was coffee with milk. 

This happy snap is from outside his home, which has a great view, and is leafier than you'd expect for something this close to the city.  I'm probably smiling because I really, really, love coffee.

Later that night we ate at the famous Casito del Campo restaurant nearby.  This one has a great story.

The original owner, Rudy Del Campo, was a dancer.  He appeared in three major motion pictures.  A Star Is Born, Stars & Stripes Forever, and West Side Story.  In West Side Story he is a gangmember of The Sharks, a New York gang of Puerto Rican immigrants fighting for their turf.  Like a flash mob they break into dance,  except it's not to house music, it's to Leonard Bernstein's amazing minimal jazz soundtrack. Sadly, Rudy died in 2003, but his second wife Nina has been running the restaurant since 2012.

Overall a great day .. here I am trying to get an Uber home after eating way too much Mexican food.

And yes, it's the twelve millionth picture of me nearly closing my eyes whilst taking a pic.

#california #losangeles #LA #casitodelcampo #westsidestory #mexicanfood #uber #somanypicturesofmewithmyeyesclosed #photophobia #travel #solotravel #friends

Shochu've never been here before?

March 29 2017

Now I couldn't say this for all of my friends, but sometimes you make a connection with a friend that is so tight, you can say "any friend of yours is a friend of mine".

And so it is with my friend MR in NYC.  He used to work for many years in LA and he told me that he must hook me up with his good friend N who lives on the West Coast.

We catch up on the phone and as I'm staying quite close to KoreaTown, or K-Town as the locals like to call it, we set up a date.

She recommends DAN SUNG SA.  It's more of a tavern than a restaurant, but it serves Shochu alongside various bar 'snacks'.

What a great night!  The bar looks pretty unassuming from the outside, but step inside and it's all about the wood!  There's a central circular bar surrounded by wooden booths.  Inside the booth it's covered in graffiti.

I leave it up to N to order: she's been here before, and who am I to knock back local knowledge? 

I broke my no alcohol rule and had a shot of sochu with N.   The food was amazing but that small amount of booze was enough for me to forget what kind of dishes there were.  There were a lot.  And it was such a great night.  As my friend MR says, N is a 'hoot'.

Nothing beats being in a new city more than eating great food with a new friend.

I leave the carpark in my car, and start driving on the left hand side of the road... damn you Shochu!!!

#dansungsa #california #losangeles #LA #shochu #koreatown #ktown #newfriends #anyfriendofyoursisafriendofmine #barsnacks #drivingonthewrongsideoftheroad #travel #solotravel

Smoke On The Freeway

March 28, 2017

Growing up watching American films, TV, and news gives different people different impressions about what it's like driving on Los Angeles freeways.  Some of the things I've heard include:

Its a giant carpark!

or

You're going to get shot just driving down the freeway.

The former may be true for most people some of the time.  The latter is so ridiculous that you would have to be the unluckiest person on earth for that to happen.  It would be like if an earthquake hit and your luck was so terrible that you just happened to be the poor sap that was driving under a freeway overpass when it collapsed onto your car.

Personally, I think luck is just a question of timing and persistence.

Yet today the luckiest / funniest thing happened to me on the 101 freeway.

It was pretty hot, and so I took off my tshirt while I was driving.  I'm not really a huge fan of air conditioning and was happy to feel the breeze on my skin.

The freeway did its little 'carpark' thing, and traffic screeched (slowly) to a halt.

There's a passenger to my left in his car, laughing, and laughing, while pointing at me.  Usually I'd not engage but I felt this guy seemed to be pretty harmless, even if he did look like a much younger version of boxing promoter Don King.

"What are you laughing at?"  I asked him.

He didn't answer, and just kept laughing, then he offered me a little pharmaceutical container with what was presumably weed in it.

"You want some kush?" he replied.

"Uhh ... No ..., I'm good" I lied.  I just wasn't in the mood to explain that one away, in the event everything turned pear-shaped on me.

I don't think this happens often on the freeway, but yes, I just had some guy offer me some of his pot from his car window on the freeway.

Only in L.A.

#california #losangeles #la #freeway #onegiantcarpark #kush #pearshaped #laughter #smoke #ijustgotofferedweedonthefreeway #isaidno #donkingsson #shirtlessdriving #travel #solotravel

Makin' the Bacon

March 27 2017

In my search to eat at as many vintage diners in Los Angeles before they get taken down, I stumbled upon this gem, near Chinatown, but on the 'wrong' side of the tracks.

Nick's Cafe started in 1946 with two navy buddies, became kind of famous for its ham, and was known unofficially by locals as the House of Ham.

That would explain the large pink pig stationed outside with the words OPEN on it.

I did a stock standard bacon and eggs.  Being an Aussie in the USA, life is pretty similar to the way it is back home but sometimes you just want crunchy pork and runny eggs.  The food was great even if this crappy picture I took shows half of it is gone.  The waiter was super cool and her best friend had just moved back to the Australian Gold Coast so we had a nice chat.

Not sure if you can see by these pictures but there was a very cool collection of hand drawn pigs on napkins surrounding the area inside the bar.

Another one struck off the list, however, I have the feeling I'm coming back here.

#california #losangeles #la #thisonesforlana #vintagediners #retrodiners #nicks #lifewithoutporkisnotalife #baconandeggs #breaky #brekky #napkinart #thehouseofham #thewrongsideofthetracks #travel #solotravel

City of the Century

March 26, 2017

Made it to Century City for an informal coffee / meet and greet with a friend I'd met in New York a few years ago.  Felt very important with my pass as I made it seamlessly through the gates of the 20th Century Fox lot.

Loved this wall mural from the technicolor classic 'Some Like It Hot', so got a quick snap in before my meeting.

The meeting went great, went back to my car, changed back into my t-shirt (I'm not really comfortable in long sleeve shirts) and as I drove up the carpark ramp somehow managed to spill the coffee I hadn't finished all down my tshirt.

Such a GREAT look!

Not even 5 minutes later my friend calls me up to meet with another Creative Director for one of their sister channels, asking if I'd already left the lot and could come back for another meeting?

Sure, no problem.

I am so grateful I changed into that damned tshirt ... turning up to that second meeting with coffee spilt all over myself could have been ... ummm... endearing??

Regardless of where that meeting goes (and let's face it, I hope it turns out how I want it to) I was really happy to check out the backlot of the monumental studio, that nearly faced bankruptcy until Shirley Temple turned their fortunes around.

#california #losangeles #boulevardeofbrokendreams #studiolot #backlot #nousecryingoverspiltcoffee #twentiethcenturyfox #20thcenturyfox #21stcenturyfox #somelikeithot #shirleytemple #bankruptcy #endearing #travel #solotravel

A Star Is Worn

March 25, 2017

Managed to catch up with AW, a colleague I worked with for over 15 years this afternoon.

We caught up in a cute little cafe with wonky wooden tables on the pavement, and chatted about 'the biz' over coffee.

He works with the Australians In Film organisation, and although my 'biz' is TV, not film, he kindly invited me to one of their screenings at Raleigh Studios for the much anticipated premium series "The Handsmaid's Tale", starring Elisabeth Moss & up and coming Aussie actor Yvonne Strahovski.

It was kind of early so we went to the AIF office at Raleigh.  To my surprise they were actually holed up in Charlie Chaplin's bungalow!!  So cool, walking around The Little Hobo's office, probably the source of much misalignment and inspiration.  I just couldn't help but imagine him practising his famous hobble from one end of the bungalow to the other.

I would've taken a picture inside but didn't want to seem like some crazed selfie obsessed teenager.  Even if that would be a fair judgment from an outsider.  One soft drink later (I couldn't resist using Chaplin's restroom) we moseyed on down to the screening room.  I loved the advance screening, such a dark concept from acclaimed Canadian novelist Margaret Atwood, so beautifully shot.  The casting and acting were above superlatives. It was just the first episode so I'm definitely taking a mental note to see the rest.

They had Aussie style meat pies ... so GREAT!  I did my weird little thing where I tear the top off the pie, mix the meat with tomato sauce and put the lid back on.  I mean, what's the point of putting the sauce on top of the pastry and have it go all soggy, and not even mix with the meat??  Also, this is the only food I will ever put tomato sauce on (or ketchup for my American friends).   Well, except for hamburgers I guess...

Raleigh Studios is one of Hollywood's oldest studios.  It dates back to 1915, and for some strange reason never became a household name, unlike the Paramount studios across the road, built some ten years later.

Interestingly this was the studio that would produce "What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?", the tinseltown classic addressing the issues of what happens to Hollywood's female stars once the greasepaint just won't cover up those wrinkles anymore, and the main impetus in the recent hit for FX networks' Feud: Bette & Joan.

#california #losangeles #thewarneidentity #raleighstudios #charliechaplin #thehandmaidstale #noketchup #whateverhappenedtobabyjane #feudbetteandjoan #meatpies #aussiecuisine #australiansinfilm #yvonnestrahovski #paramountstudios

Searching for Old Mexico

March 24 2017

Some of my new LA friends invited me to a day party at their house.

It was very low key, twenty or so people.  It's in a really lovely house in Silver Lake.  I'd been warned that there's no street parking for non residents so I parked a few blocks away.  Had to laugh, a neighbour came out onto the street just as I was entering my friend's house and asked if I had parked in the street.  No, I didn't.  Yes, I'd already been warned.  No, there's no problem that you asked me.  If it was my street I'd probably ask a stranger the same thing.

The birthday party was a great mix of people.  Nobody got out of control (that I was aware of) and it was a really pleasant afternoon.  With an assortment of really delicious cakes.

I photographed this piece of art in the garden, which I particularly loved.   The United States and Mexico, on the same sphere, with a line through it.  Squint your eyes and both sides really look very much the same. 

Despite all the talk of walls, protectionism, racism etc. etc. yawn, yawn, there is one inescapable, and hard-to-forget fact about California.

It used to be Old Mexico.

#california #losangeles #silverlake #backyardparty #newfriends #cake #gardenart #itusedtobeoldmexico #travel #solotravel