Thirty Day LA

I hoped that by taking on Thirty Day LA, not only would I have some memorable experiences but I would also get some useful ideas for things to do that others might find useful. By request, here are my top ten free summertime activities in LA.

• Getty Museum Off the 405: free music, cash bar, great atmosphere. Get there early to pick out a table in front of the DJ stage
• Griffith Park Night hike: every Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday nights starting at 7PM sharp in the upper merry-go-round parking lot. Bring water and hiking shoes.
• Outdoor activities: Shakespeare by the Sea performances, Burbank’s Dancing in the Streets on Thursday nights, Dance Downtown on Friday nights
• Bike to work: Map out your trail with Google Maps or Google Earth, get some buddies to bikepool, and check out the bike-commuting website Roll With It
• Midnight Ridazz: Every second Friday of the month a gang of bikers in the hundreds take over the streets in a safe but thrilling 15 mile ride
• Hammer Museum: Modern art exhibits and music performances in the courtyard at night, free during the summer only
• Nike training runs: starting at 6:30PM every night of the week in different locations throughout LA, these 3 and 5 mile group runs are great for staying in shape, meeting people, and exploring LA by foot
• Karaoke dive bars: if you BYOFlask, you can have fun belting out tunes in your best drunken voice for free all night in any of these places: Backstage, Tattle Tale Room, Gas Lite, Liquid Kitty (Mondays), The Hideout (Tuesdays)
• Music Festivals: Sunset Junction now charges $15 admission, but there are other free music festivals: performances at The Grove, Central Avenue Jazz Festival, Santa Monica Pier Twilight Dance series, Grand Performances, Henry Mancini Institute concerts, Culver City Summer Sunset Music Festival
• Go to the beach: bike to Malibu, surf at Zuma Beach, hike in Santa Monica, get burnt at Paradise Cove, play volleyball/Frisbee/football in Manhattan Beach, run in Hermosa, catch the sunset at El Matador, have a bonfire at Dockweiler, do a midnight swim at Playa Del Rey.

Yes, there is some overlap with my other list Top Ten Things to Do By Yourself in LA, but there they are. I know summer is almost officially over, but the great thing about LA is that it feels like it never ends.

Posted by CaptainMelo at 11:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Since I have started to do things in LA on my own for all of three days, I now declare myself an expert on the subject. And to commemorate my ascent into expertdom concerning all matters of Lonely LA Living, here’s my list of top ten things to do in LA by yourself.

• go to any one of the countless coffee shops with wireless (Welcome Café, Unurban, Abbott’s Habit)
• kill time at the beach and swim in the sewage-infested waters
• attend a Shakespeare by the Sea production
• visit your local farmer’s market
• sing in front of a supportive, boisterous crowd at a karaoke dive bar (Backstage, Liquid Kitty, Gas Lite, Tattle Tale Room, The Hideout on Tuesdays)
• attend a free outdoor concert at Santa Monica Pier
• drink swamp juice and listen to blues and jazz at Harvelle's
• eat at the sushi bar at Sakura restaurant
• go on a night hike at Griffith Park or a day hike in the Santa Monica Mountains
• explore downtown LA with a camera
• watch a movie at the Arclight and buy music at Amoeba

Of course there's always stuff like working out or masturbating, but you don't have to be in LA for that. You can do that shit anywhere.

Feel free to contribute your own favorite LA-related alone-time activities. I bet they’re not as good as mine.

Posted by CaptainMelo at 4:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Thursday, August 17, 2006
What: Ercoles, Abbott’s Habit, Inti-Illimani.
Where: Manhattan Beach, Venice Beach, Santa Monica Pier
Cost: $36 for food, drinks, parking, and music CD
Rating: 4 out of 4 stars

I love tours. On Thursday I took a mini-tour along the coast, from Manhattan Beach to Venice to Santa Monica. This one was less extravagant than the hipster tour of Silver Lake.

I started off at Ercoles, a local dive bar in Manhattan Beach. I was at least half the age of all the people there. Regardless, it was interesting listening to all the regulars chat it up with the workers about baseball. The cook had a little window that opened up to the street through which he talked to his homies chilling outside. I ordered a Stella and a juicy, delicious 1” thick burger. It was dripping with mayo, ketchup and mustard, but the juiciness of that thick ass patty catapulted it to my top five list of best burgers ever.

• Howard’s Bacon and Avocado Burger
  
• Friend BerkCruzer’s made-from-scratch beef and onion burger
  
• Ercoles juicy burger
  
• The Counter burger with grilled onions, roasted peppers, avocado, Dijon balsamic dressing
  
• Original Tommy’s chili burger
  

Then I drove over to Santa Monica and like a true tourist, I went to the Pier. Every Thursday this summer they have a free concert on the Santa Monica Pier sponsored by Amoeba Music. The performing act for this Thursday was Inti-Illimani, a Chilean band. From the Washington Post taken from the Cal Performances website:

Inti-Illimani stands today as Chile's ambassador of human expression, its unique sound a mantra for peace in the world and within ourselves. Springing from traditional Chilean roots and playing on more than 30 wind, string, and percussion instruments, the group's combination of instrumentals and vocals captures the spirit of sacred places, people's carnivals, daily lives, loves, and pains—all combining to paint an extraordinary cultural mural. Enough to raise anyone's spirits—a program full of melodic energy, rhythmic vitality, and exotic timbres.

I heard them playing all the way from Ocean Avenue as I was walking over. There were 8 guys each playing different instruments, all of them at the top of their form. Some of their songs are instrumental, some have one singer, and some have all of them singing. I didn’t understand much, but the songs themselves alternated between upbeat and uplifting. There were about 400 people in the crowd all bobbing to the beat. There was a big truck with a videocamera on top and a giant spotlight, and bubbles were blown over the audience the entire time. I spotted a baby in his mother’s arms being bounced to the beat, and then he threw his arms in the air and bumped it to the beat as well. There was a lady standing next to me who was by herself too, and she translated for me some of what the bandleader Jorge Coulon said in between songs -- how the world is actually a small place and their music and culture tries to bring people together. I thought they succeeded in their efforts quite well. I bought their CD, Grandes Exitos, which the guy told me is the CD to get to know them. Driving home on the 10, windows open and music blasting, I thought about how even if I try I can never truly be alone in LA, especially when I get the opportunity to spend a balmy summer night outdoors surrounded by hundreds of people enjoying an amazing concert.

Posted by CaptainMelo at 3:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Discussing the gregarious ways of my coworker/boss Satan in my Six Step Self-Improvement Plan post made me realize that the tactics he uses in restaurants and bars deserve a post of its own.

• find out the server’s name and address them by name
• take your time when you order and order something unique
• talk loudly amongst your friends and take every opportunity to invite the server into the conversation
• make asshole comments like “this is the worst drink ever! I know you can do better than this!” and then follow up with “No, no, it’s actually quite good. I’m always getting a drink from you!”
• before you leave, ask your server/bartender for their work schedule so you can return when they are there
• return to the place at least once a week
• if you return when you know the server is not there, ask for him/her anyway and be dramatically upset that he/she’s not there
• when you return on a day the server is working, walk up to him/her, throw your hands in the air, smile broadly and yell their name like you’re best friends
• after your third time there, say things like “You know you love us!” and “You always know how to hook us up.”
• get hooked up.

Satan used the above method to charm our bartender Teresa into hooking us up for food and drinks forever at a Mexican restaurant/bar in El Segundo. Our typical bill for 10 drinks, including beer, rum and cokes, and stoli tonics runs around $25. We also get 10% off food, and this is all during non-happy hour times. Teresa loves Satan so much that she even has another bartender Johnny hooking us up when she's not there. When it's time for the bill, Johnny will tell the manager to go take care of some other customer, quickly ring up the bill, and throw it on our table before the manager returns. When we all leave, we make sure to tell Johnny how awesome he is.

If anyone tries this technique out, let me know how it works out. And then make sure to invite me to your newfound hooked-up establishment every time you go.

Posted by CaptainMelo at 5:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I read a lot of blogs at work, and my favorite kinds of blogs posts are self-improvement lists. I thought I’d try my hand at one.

6 step plan for self-improvement

1. Identify a problem area of your deficient personality.
2. Determine why and how much you want to fix it. If the reason is not true to yourself and if you don’t want to fix it too much, then your plan is already complete. Stop here.
3. Brainstorm different ways to overcome this problem area (ask others for ideas)
4. Create a daily, weekly, and monthly plan to solve your shortcomings.
5. At the end of each time period, review your progress and revise your plans.
6. Repeat steps 4-5 repeatedly.

In my case, I would be using the above plan to solve my problem of not being adventurous enough. This blog kind of follows along the steps I used in implementing the plan. Right now, I’m at step 2. I don’t need a pretentious self-help guru telling me how to do improve myself. I'll do it my own damn way.

Anyway, here’s a rundown of my activities this week so far in my quest for self-glorification, I mean, self-improvement:

• Monday: Nike Run Hit Wonder 3 mile training run starting at Westwood Brewing Company.
• Tuesday: Went by myself to The Other Room in Venice.
• Wednesday: Biked to work, stopped by Sakura Japanese Restaurant on the way home.

More details after the jump.

Continue reading "Six Step Plan for Self-Improvement" »

Posted by CaptainMelo at 8:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (1)