I did forget something I didn't write about before, that I did before I left. Got to visit the guitar shop where I used to work. Sweet. It had been about nine months since I was there so that was good. Nice to see a few of the guys, shame it took me that long to get over there being a mile from school and all. But thats school.
Today was sweet though. It was basically a Carl planned day, seeing what I wanted to see, which my dad was skeptical of I think but played along with anyway. He likes to say he doesn't have an opinion on things...and I like to say well, only until you have an opinion on something. But everything turned out well. The Disney Concert Hall was PHENOMENAL. Built by Frank Gehry I dunno how many years ago now, maybe 5-7, right in downtown LA- regardless of whether you think its ugly, bizarre, or just a huge waste of money, I challenge you not to be amazed walking through some of the spaces. Especially those where they filmed Ironman. Sweet. So we spent about an hour there, doing the self-guided tour, which since we were the last people in the building meant the usher-herded tour, as we got scolded for going to the third floor and then returning to the second, because that floor was already supposed to be "clear". Okay, SORRY. There was a new usher at every turn, inside and in the garden, directing us to the next destination, just YEARNING to get the hell off work for the day. We did get to see the concert hall itself inside which is rarely open to the public. The whole place was just an incredible experience to walk through and discover, moment to moment. New thing on list of life to-dos (which isn't really that long, but somewhat grandiose)- see a concert at this place. And hang out in the garden outside afterwards.
From there we went to meet up with my mom's cousin Joe Wack, of Simpsons character design fame. Look for his name in the credits. He lives with his wife Katy just outside of downtown up on a hill with a great view of the city. They're both multitalented people so we had a chance to talk about a great many things, including music and art mostly. I think we coaxed them into coming to SB for the 4th of July next year. Its always nice to connect up with people, especially family. Their yard was of particular interest, as in typical California fashion (to me, anyway) they had fruit tress growing there. Avocados and limes in the back, figs, pomegranates, persimmons (which I've never even had) aaaaaaand something else I'm forgetting, in the front along with Bird-of-Paradise flowers. Pretty cool.
We then made our way into Hollywood, saw Capitol Records (smaller than you'd think) and drove by THREE different buildings associated with the Church of Scientology- one was their Celebrity Center or something, which covered a whole city block and I'm pretty sure housed their compound-worker-children in the back, one place that was being protested at, and once place they were having some event at with people in suits handing out stuff. All within blocks of each other, right near Hollywood and Vine. From there our real destination was the Griffith Observatory, free (just like the usher-urged tours of Disney) and waaaaaay up these switchbacks we drove on until we had a clear(ish) view of the whole valley, including LA and two other outcroppings of buildings that were I assume Pasadena and something-something. We got to look out a huge telescope up in one of those domes with the slit in the side, and see a star in broad daylight that apparently was 2 million miles across. It was a cool building, WELL traversed by many language speaking peoples, and you could also see the Hollywood sign. Yay.
So then we came *home* to Newberry Park, got some wine, and found out they were shooting some new fall show "Opportunity Knocks" that was some game show being filmed in a cul-de-sac of the nearby neighborhood. Weird. California. Watched the most ridiculously world-fastest man EVER on the Olympics in addition to *yawn* Mr 8 gold medals Michael Phelps. And now it is time for bed. More great LA sights to be seen tomorrow. Yesssss.
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