So it's Friday March 9th, exactly 52 days til I arrive in Los Angeles, the home of my oldest pal, Christopher:
Here seen on his yacht in Hawaii because he's so
elite.
Christopher's last email to me was a forward about William Shatner appearing live and in person at the Pantages.
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/culturemonster/2012/01/william-shatner-bringing-one-man-show-to-pantages-in-march.html
Sadly, this event preceded my trip.
While in LA (little does Chris know), I hope to visit the Architecture and Design Museum:
which features interesting looking exhibits like this:
and this:
Which, from what I can gather, is some sort of "green" building. The caption reads: "Never has hot water been this cheap!" Unclear what exactly that means, but it
looks interesting ...
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Anyway, we may also visit the Hearst Castle:
And Venice Beach:
Um ...
Er ... here it is !
(No, I was not being cute. The first two Venice Beach photos above were amongst those that popped up in the google VB images search.)
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And visit old movie theaters that look like this:
And maybe this:
(I mean, seriously.
Could they not ask the owner of that ugly white SUV to move his flippin' vehicle (meant both ways) before taking the picture??? Sort of ruins the impact?)
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Pasadena is the home of many a Craftsman style bungalow home - maybe my favorite style of architecture, and I just learned now that the annual Bungalow Heaven Home Tour is taking place there the day I land:
http://www.bungalowheaven.org/annual-home-tour/general-information/
Which maybe sounds great, right? But I will have been flying for 6 hours, and while I land at around 10:30am local time, knowing how much I positively loathe and despise the nightmare that is flying, I'm guessing I'm going to be in no mood to go on a several hour walking tour, and driving god knows how long (in LA traffic) to get to Pasadena from LAX. Dagblammit. Dagblammit.
But anyway, at some point we will visit the town as I hear it's groovie.
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While in LA perhaps I will run into this fine man, otherwise known as lovely Scottish actor (and recent LA immigrant) Ewan McGregor ... looking stunningly rugged in full beard and Beemer ...
... nail bitingly scrumptious in a '65 Stang:
... or hangin' out dressed like Mad Men:
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On May 6th I leave LA and fly up to good ol'
San Francisco, where I reside til the 19th here:
http://www.vrbo.com/321496
On Eureka Street in the Castro neighborhood, 3 blocks from the Castro Theatre itself:
Now featuring Wizard of Oz singalongs:
http://www.castrotheatre.com/p-list.html#mar23
SPECIAL EVENT SING-ALONG THE WIZARD OF OZ Fri 23 7:00 only; all other dates 2:30 & 7:00
For those of you not yet converted, Sing-Along to The Wizard of Oz is a screening of the classic MGM musical in glorious Technicolor, complete with subtitles so that the whole audience can sing along! In addition to belting out the tunes, goody bags will be handed out to everyone and audience members can add to the fun by dressing up as a favorite character for the costume contest!
Gotta love them gayboys ...
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While in San Fran, where I have not been in eleven years, I intend to walk across the glorious Golden Gate Bridge:
And visit what is among my favorite spots in the whole wide world, Coit Tower:
Because of the flipping
views:
However this time, will refrain from taking the famous Filbert Steps:
Because walking down them back in 2001, when I was 11 whole years younger than my present tender age, nearly ruined my knees fer good. Wanna know why? Read the link. It turns out Filbert Street is the second steepest navigable street in the Western Hemisphere. Ya got me?
So while I'm not walking on the street itself, this does give you some idea that even by San Francisco standards, it's a way, way, WAY steep slope.
Hee. It says there is a parking meter located along the stairs. Hee.
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Coit Tower and the Filbert Steps are both located on Telegraph Hill, home to:
Which, when I last walked down these steps, some of whom flew by. Seriously. I looked up, and there were these huge colorful exotic birds suddenly. Only in San Fran.
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While in CA, I may visit two places north of San Fran, one being the lovely redwood-y town of Mill Valley, perhaps to visit this:
http://www.millvalleychickens.com/
Yes, it actually says
"chickens ... classes ... coops". They have educated chickens in Mill Valley.
I may also revisit the public library ...
... which is extraordinarily lovely and woody and actually has a huge back deck overlooking redwoods to the point where there's a hole cut into the deck in order to accommodate a redwood. We don't have these things in Boston.
Nor a whole lotta people who look like this:
Yes. This is an actual Mill Valley resident.
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If possible the other north-of-San Fran place I'd also like to revisit is San Rafael, because it's got a pretty neat little downtown and is/was the Grateful Dead's actual headquarters.
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On May 19th, I fly up to lovely Seattle, the home of grunge ...
and the glorious Space Needle (celebrating it's 50th year), where, when I last visited, I spent so much in the gift shop they literally gave me a free hat ...
Seattle also has the added bonus, totally unbeknownst to me until I first visited there, of being positively crammed full of Craftsman styles homes.
http://www.seattlepowersearch.com/classic-seattle-craftsman-house/
Turns out I am just missing (by two days) a tour of this place, put on by Historic Seattle:
https://www.historicseattle.org/events/eventdetail.aspx?id=518
Sniff ...
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In Seattle I'm staying here:
Yes, this is actually 'my' deck - reserved solely for and accessible only from the apartment I'm renting in this glorious mid century ugly-beauty:
Otherwise known as the Harrison Modern.
http://harrisonmodern.com/
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The apartment is located in the Capital Hill neighbhorhood, just .60 easily walkable miles from the landmark, truly fabulous Elliott Bay Bookstore.
http://www.elliottbaybook.com/
(Could it look any more Seattle ??)
Founded in 1973 and home to over 150,000 new and used books as well as a cafe downstairs:
http://elliottbaycafe.com/
Which is around the corner from the flagship Cupcake Royale:
Seattle's first cupcake bakery and cafe and featuring something intriguing.
The Chocolate Coconut Bunny:
All their cupcakes are made from scratch daily. To wit:
"Our flour comes from a handful of wheat farmers in Eastern Washington who mill it especially for our needs. Our dairy is local and growth hormone free. Our eggs are cage-free organic. Even our sweet pink boxes are printed locally with soy-based inks and are compostable."
Again, is that Seattle enough for ya?
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The rental apartment is located midway between Broadway and 12th Street, 4 blocks from this:
Not brewing - "sourcing, roasting and preparing the finest coffees" since 2000 in this "1920's auto row building". Which is basically next door to:
http://www.seattle-eats.com/coastalkitchen/aboutck/
Which is down the block from:
"Remedy Teas featuring more than 150 organic teas specializing in signature artisan blends. We love tea and love sharing it with you — we source, blend, sell and serve specialty teas from across the globe."
Nobody brews in Seattle. You source.
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Also in the neighborhood is the Landmark Egyptian theater, a single screen beauty built in 1915 and featuring a "wide array of independent film, foreign language cinema, documentaries and restored classics".
And the Harvard Exit Theatre, built in 1925, which plays indie and foreign films.
On the same Street as the Egyptian (E Pine), is Bauhaus Books & Coffee.
"Since bauhaus opened in 1993, it's been the spot to bring a book and tune out over a cup of coffee--and more recently, tune in over your wi-fi laptop. Big windows offer spectacular views of the Space Needle as well as the neighborhood foot traffic. Sip great espresso, coffee, tea and more, or nibble on scones, croissants, doughnuts or ding dongs."
No
sourcing here.
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Up one block on Melrose and E Olive is something called Faire Gallery Cafe Bar.
http://www.fairegallerycafe.com/
On it's desert menu, I kid you not, is:
Nutella Croissant, $3
Faire Mission Statement
Faire has regular art exhibits, music shows, performance art/drama, and poetry readings. Faire serves as a vessel for the arts to commence where the community is also involved with the artistic experience. It is vitally important for artists of different disciplines to use the same space. It not only creates artistic camaraderie, but inspires cross-disciplinary projects. The unique service Faire provides is that of being an artist gallery and lounge in one, just like Gertrude Stein provided a space for the dadaists to experiment with their ideas in Paris.
Faire is a french verb. It means “to make.” This verb is what Faire Gallery Café is about — making art, friends, and connections. Even though literally faire means “to make,” in french it is an everything verb.
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If Elliott Bay books isn't enough, 3 blocks west of Broaday is Half Price Books.
http://www.hpb.com/079.html
Which looks very Seattle-y indeed.
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Then there is always the matter of a tattoo ...
http://www.luckydeviltattooparlor.com/
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Heading north, still in Capital Hill, is historic 40 acre Volunteer Park. Named in honor of those who served in the Spanish-American war, featuring the Seattle Conservatory.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volunteer_Park_(Seattle)
And the Seattle Asian Art Museum
As well as this hideous mistake that someone decided was a good idea to stick in the middle of a lovely historic city park:
Isamu Noguchi's 1969 sculpture called "The Black Sun" (locally known as "The Donut"). Ya, okay, you can see the Space Needle through it. So what. You pretty much can't go anywhere in Seattle without seeing the Space Needle. I'm amazed to read just now that this dude worked with both George Nelson and Charles Eames "to produce a catalog containing what is often considered to be the most influential body of modern furniture ever produced, including the iconic Noguchi table":
Which ya, is pretty mid century mod and therefore cool (but what's with the glass top??) ... so why put this hideous oversized
black donut in the park instead of something mod and groovie? Dang.
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Just outside the park is the Volunteer Park Cafe & Marketplace.
http://www.alwaysfreshgoodness.com/
Which according to:
http://www.bringfido.com/restaurant/3336/
Yes, that's 'bringfido.com' - a website devoted to pet-friendly travel - "has a friendly, communal feel with
plenty of dogs and their owners lounging on the front patio with a tall cup a joe."
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Just north of Volunteer Park is Lakeview Cemetary.
http://www.lakeviewcemeteryassociation.com/
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Northwest of Capital Hill overlooking Lake Union
is Gasworks Park:
Which is such a fascinating and oddly beautiful structure and has such an interesting, only-in-Seattle history. Check out the 3 minute video here for the whole story:
http://vimeo.com/2168824
This location was an industrial site - a coal powered gas plant complete with belching smokestacks - til 1956 when it was abandoned and turned into a dump which was a huge eyesore for nearly 20 years until somebody decided to turn it into a public park (19 acres - plenty o' room for kite flyin' and dog walkin'). This was the first time in history that an industrial site was converted into a park without complete demolition of the original industrial structure. The day I last visited here it was sunset, exactly like in the picture, and the rays of sun on the rusting old structure were just so oddly lovely.
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Another place I shall revisit is glorious Easy Street Records.
http://easystreetonline.com/
Indie record store extraordinaire since 1988 with two locations:
The former of which has a 'cafe' ...
http://easystreetonline.com/cafe
... actually a full fledged, really good restaurant overlooking the town square and featuring a large, mostly glass garage door, and menu items such as:
The Salad Of John And Yoko — $7.25
Mixed greens with veggie bacon, avocado, red onions, olives, and tomatoes. Served with your choice of dressing and toast.
Bennie And The Jets — $7.95
Poached eggs and ham on a toasted English muffin covered in our house hollandaise sauce. Served with hash browns.
Hall And Oates — $4.75
A cup of oatmeal and side of fruit served with 2 strips of bacon and 1 slice of toast.
Green Day Salad — $7.25
A spinach salad tossed with kalamata olives, tomatoes, mushrooms, red onions and feta in our house vinaigrette. Served with toast.
Culture Club — $8.25
Our biggest sandwich by far! Turkey, ham, bacon, lettuce, tomatoes, cheddar, and Easysauce on 3 slices of wheat. Served with fresh cut fries.
Lou Reed Reuben — $8.25
Corned beef, sauerkraut, swiss cheese, and Easysauce on rye bread. Served with our fresh cut fries.
Snoop Dogg — $4.95
Kosher dog with chopped onions, sauerkraut, and relish or veggie dog w/ chips.
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West Seattle is the home of Alki Beach and walkways with the best views of Seattle.
As well as things like 135 acre Lincoln Park
Which overlooks Puget Sound itself.
West Seattle also contains one of the other Cupcake Royales:
Which for some reason has in it's neon sign the image of a
super 8 camera. I mean, how unbelievably cool is THAT??
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One of the coolest things about Seattle is that it's surrounded by water and has these lovely things called ferries.
which are an absolute blast and which take you to places like West Seattle, Bainbridge and Vashon Islands as well as Victoria and Vancouver islands.
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While in town, perhaps I will encounter Seattle resident and
Stranger editor Mr Dan Savage, who co-founded the It Gets Better project, and with whom lately I have become a teensy bit obssessed.
Not helping my obssession is that I recently found out he's done several radio pieces for NPR's This American Life, of which I am a giant fan. Below is a photo of Dan with TAL's uber-dork host and creator (and all around nice guy, and
straight guy), Ira Glass.
http://www.thisamericanlife.org/play_full.php?play=32&act=1
(If you have 18 little minutes to spare, click on the above, which is the brilliant and hilarious bit of gonzo journalism in which Dan actually "signs up as a Republican Party member and ends up a delegate to the Republican convention" where he continually attempts to introduce anti-homophobia into the platform.)
Or check out this TAL video clip. Fantastic stuff:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ADDo5PT_ToI
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SO ANYWAY ... THERE YOU HAVE IT. A little pre-trip blog. When Out West, I intend obviously to add photos and films I take to document stuff a bit, because when am I going to get the opportunity again to do something this patently nuts?
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