LA driving adventures

I finally got internet access although it's a totally unreliable wireless signal. I actually spent a good part of the last week driving around looking for free wi-fi, but it's a lot harder than I thought.

In my first week in LA, I've already gone through $60 of gas, from driving to the gym to work and back to just driving around getting lost. When people talk about how bad traffic is in LA, they're not kidding. It's pretty incredible that there are so many cars on the road at all hours of the day and night and all over this huge metropolitan sprawl. The good part of it that I've done some fun exploring (mostly along the beach) and seen some really cool stuff.

So to recap the last week:

The first day I was here, Kelly and I went to a polo game at Will Rogers State Historic Park. That's right, polo, with horses and everything. Will Rogers was a huge riding and roping fan and bought 186 acres for a ranch in the 1920s. After he and his wife died, the main house, some riding and roping areas, trails and a huge field were made into a state park. Back to the polo game... even though I don't know a thing about it (except what I've seen in "Pretty Woman") it was fun to watch. And yes, they even had the traditional divet stomp. This was the best people watching, especially because a very odd and overdressed couple (with an umbrella as a parasol) went out on the field. Then the guy, who was wearing dress shoes with no traction, was unable to walk up the slightest hill to get back to the sitting area. Every time he tried, he would just slide back down. It was certainly the highlight of my day.

I also visited the Santa Monica pier which is pretty awesome. It's apparently the "finish line" of Route 66 and includes restaurants, rides, and entertainment.

Nearby is the 3rd Street Promenade which is a pedestrian-only stretch of a few blocks filled with tons of stores, bars, eateries and street performers.

I've done a ton of driving around but because I don't know where I am most of the time, I haven't been able to take many pictures. I drove down Sunset Blvd. but there was so much traffic I couldn't get my camera out without possibly slamming into the back of a Lamborghini. I guess I shouldn't be surprised that I've seen so many of them since I've been here, but it does seem a little ridiculous.

I've even driven through Beverly Hills but it's mostly huge houses hidden behind really tall fences so there isn't a whole lot to see besides streets lines with palm trees.

I made it to LA!

Yesterday I headed to LA with my mom in a 1996 Jetta loaded with suitcases, snacks, and a 13" TV I salvaged from the "donate or trash" pile in the garage. With stops and traffic, the drive took about five hours. Interstate 5 is a long and desolate stretch of highway dotted with roadside fruit stands and the occasional dairy farm, so those five hours passed incredibly slowly.

We stayed in a hotel in Torrance just south of LAX, chosen by my mom because the area is inhabited by a large number of Japanese immigrants. We ate a delicious dinner of sushi and tempura we stumbled across in a nondescript strip mall. A few doors down from the restaurant was a windowless establishment called "Zebra Room" that claimed to sell cocktails. Upon closer inspection, I noticed a sign announcing that it opened at 6am daily. That's right - 6am. Cocktails. I didn't want to know why it had no windows.

After lunch today (more Japanese food), my mom and I headed to a casino outside San Diego. For some reason, my mom decided not to follow the driving directions she printed and instead chose a different route with the help of a very vague map of the area. Not surprisingly, we got lost. The good news is we had no schedule - we were just going to the casino for a couple days of sun, gambling and relaxing - so it didn't matter that the drive took a lot longer than expected. Our meandering took us along the ocean and led us past the San Diego Wild Animal Park (incidentally, I just heard on the news that a rare and critically endangered white rhinocerous died at the park today).

So for the next couple of days I'll be soaking up the sun and trying my luck at slots. This afternoon I ventured down to the gym but I'm not sure I'll go back. The gym is a strangely designed room with two walls of glass situated between the pool and one of the bars. All the cardio equipment faces the glass and I was the only one in the gym so I had an audience watching me the whole time I ran. Awkward...

Defenestration, San Francisco style

Before I started on my LA adventure, I visited my parents in San Jose. I believe San Jose is Spanish for "Sprawling city of boringness." However, I used to live in San Francisco which I'm pretty sure means "This city is so f-ing awesome. Take that San Jose."

Anyway, of course I jumped at the chance to drive my mom to San Francisco to pick up her passport (she isn't a U.S. citizen so she has to go to her embassy to get one). It was about a 1 1/2 hour drive and then I literally dropped my mom off while she went inside, circled around about 4 city blocks, picked her up and then we drove back home. Still, I had time to snap a pic of this building while I was stopped at a light and even decided to do research on it when I got home (I told you San Jose was boring... I did research when I got home).

So here it is:
"I create works which make the improbable appear plausible, while challenging expected notions of how we perceive and interact with the environment."
- Artist Brian Goggin

Defenestration is the act of throwing something or someone out of a window. This I learned after digging for information about the public art on display at the corner of 6th and Howard in San Francisco.

Although I'd seen the building numerous times, I only today bothered to investigate its origin. Maybe it's the creative environment of San Francisco that made me expect crazy art like this, but I scarcely looked twice at this very odd building before.

Installed by artist Brian Goggin in 1997, the work includes several pieces of furniture - from lamps to beds - hanging precariously onto the sides of the building.

It's a strange site to be sure but is still a distinguished gem amid the rapidly changing landscape of San Francisco. As familiar landmarks make way for new high-tech condos and office buildings, the Defenestration installation stands as a beacon to remind San Franciscans of their roots in creative expression.

I noticed today that the lot and building are for sale. With all the flashy new buildings being erected in the area, I wonder if the new owners will bother to recognize or preserve its quirky sensibility.

Find out more about artist Brian Goggin and his San Francisco installation here and here.