So, if you can see what music is playing, its not just a cooincidence. Los Angeles, and the surrounding suburbs are nothing but ghetto. You would think that in a city so full of movie stars, and other centers of fame and fortune, there would be some kind of beautification, but I think the only people even trying are those who spray graffiti everywhere. And that's even debatable. D.C I think has better Graffiti.
So okay, I flew in on Tuesday, and instantly, I was amazed at the dingyness, even at the airport. It just felt dirty. Everywhere felt dirty. We took a supershuttle to the hotel, and we started driving, and again, I just continued to gape at the ghettoness. It looked so poor. The man driving said it was prettier up on the hillsides, where they've finished using the ground for all the oil its worth, and have started building villas there. I had my doubts, especially when we made it into downtown. It was so nasty. The whole city was covered in a wierd haze, even though you could see and feel the sun (albeit it was very cool there, only about 75 degrees.)
We arrived at the hotel, the Radisson at Wilshire. Unfortunately, they didn't have Courtney's reservation, nor did they have the credit card information needed to check us in. So we tried calling back to DC, but it was already 6, so the office here had closed down for the night. So we tried calling the Boss, who was in Southern California Fortunately, for once, he had his cell phone on, which was terrific because he could then talk to the attendee and fax over his credentials, so we could check in. After an hour of waiting in the lobby, we finally got our rooms, on the Plaza level. This meant that everytime we went up, we had to use our keys to get there. I thought in some ways this was cool, but in others it was kinda scary.. What if there was a fire? We'd be screwed!
Dinner that night consisted of Burger King, which was fine for me because I was starving anyway. Bossman arrived around 8, and we went to Sunset strip, to look around.
I was thoroughly dissapointed. It just wasn't all that. I just really wanted to go back to the room and sleep. Especially since the car we had was a small Ford Ranger, and I was stuck in the jump seat in the back.
The next morning we worked int he Torres Office. The people there were actually really nice and friendly. What sucked though was that their firewall was completely blocked on all levels, and we had to go through a proxy. So that meant I couldn't do live updates to their website, but I had to save it on my harddrive and then upload it later at the hotel. This was a little frustrating, because it meant that I couldn't set the linkbars right, and other server based things. But in some ways it was better because I didn't have to wait for it to upload and save before moving onto the next page. And it was a quicker accessibility.
For lunch that day we ate at a place called Mama Mia's, a really good italian bistro in the lower level of the building. It was really good, especially their garlic rolls. We must've gone through 3 baskets of the things. I had chicken parmesan, and a salad with no dressing.. What is it with california? You would think they would know better about salads, but they dont.. They're appetizers, and not part of the meal. Or if it is, its like steamed broccoli. No dressing. Eww.
That night, we decided to go to Universal Studios theme park. I was highly amused that as we drove into the parking deck, on the little tollbooth, there was a warning (try to imagine it being as if the tollbooth was one of hte older cigarette packs with the small surgeon general's warning)
"Warning! Chemicals used in this park have been known to cause many diseases, illnesses, and even death. Please take caution."
Wow! So if I go on a water ride, and happen to accidentaly digest some water, I'll die! Woohoo!!
We started our journey by going through Citywalk, an outdoor shopping mall section that leads to the Studio tours and theme park. Lots of neat stores, some cool designs, and a wall of Pez Dispensers and Bobble Head Dolls! That was really neat!
Around 7, we got up to the Amusement park section. It was going to be 45 dollars, and they closed at 9 pm. What was the point?! So instead, we decided to go have dinner in Little Mexico, a small strip near Chinatown of Mexican restaurants and little shops. The little shops didn't have much to offer me, and I'm not really a fan of Mexican cuisine either. I had a Corona and quesadillas.
Thursday we finished work, and then went to Chinatown. Not much really there, but I did finally get the Chinese food I had been craving all week. My body was thoroughly happy for the rice, my primary goal for chinese. Though it was really neat at this chinese place. Real looseleaf tea, and then for dessert, a drink similar to tapioca eyeball tea. I can't remember what they called it, but it was pretty good. I didn't like the beans in it though, but the little tapioca eyeballs were terrific.
We walked around Chinatown for a bit, going into the little markets, where everyone was trying to sell us something. Getting pulled this way and that, having courtney called 'my husband', all too freaky for me. So we walked back to the metro station, and headed for Hollywood Boulevard.
It was neat to see the Chinese Theater, but I guess I expected it to be a little cooler. I didn't even see Harry's footprints, or his star :( We walked all the way up and down that strip, then headed home again.
Friday I was on my own, so I decided to go to the Automotive Museum, and then to the taping of "Grounded For Life," which I had gotten a free ticket for. so I tried to sleep in, failed, did some work, took a shower, and headed out.
The automotive museum made me drool. Too many beautiful cars in one place! Though for 10 dollars, I had hoped to see more. But they did have a working replica of the Mach 5 (I found out there were 100 made, so instead of a pony, everyone can chip in and get me one of those :) ) Some of the million dollar cars were great too, but I think I still prefer Clive Cussler's Collection. Maybe someday I'll get lucky and get a tour of it. *crosses her fingers*
Since it was a small museum, I got done much earlier than expected, so I hopped back on the bus and went back to the hotel for a nap. Then off to CBS studios for the taping.
Tapings are rather strenuous, not just for the cast involved. You have to laugh at the same jokes, 3 times in a row, or more, depending on how the taping goes. And then you have a guy trying to push you on, and yet he is so partial to staying in one section of the audience, you get no attention from him. Our section was like the red headed stepchild. And we told hima bout it, but it still didn't fix things. He was a writer for the show, go figure. Ah well.. We got free popsicles and water at the 5 minute break, which made my throat happy. Very happy. I ended up losing my voice when we left the studio, herded out hella faster than getting in. That was really odd.. like they didnt want us to tell the actors thank you, just to get the hell out.
I walked back to the bus stop, and was waiting for the bus for an hour. It didn't show. Right when I was about to move, a truck pulled up with a Hispanic guy, and he asked me if I needed a ride home- and showed me a 50 dollar bill. I know my eyes had to grow like 3 times wider, as I said no thank you, and he pressed on, so again I said no. He finally drove off, and I hailed a taxi back to the metro station to get back to the hotel.*shudders* I wasn't even dressed like a prostitute!
that night I only got like 4 hours of sleep. I had to be downstairs and checked out by 6:30, and I didn't get into the hotel until after midnight. No food, no coffee, I went to LAX via supershuttle again. Thank God he was early picking me up, because I don't think I would have made my flight otherwise. The check in line was long, but the security line was 3 blocks long! It took me almost an hour to get through the line for security, and they weren't even extremely thorough. Just everyone pushing everyone. I kinda half wondered if this was what Ellis Island was like when many of our ancestors came through many many moons ago. So wierd.
But finally I made it home. Uncle John and cousin Mikey picked me up. It was so good to have someone waiting for me at the exit area, and to get a familiar hug. And they were good company to have in the mood I had found myself in on the plane.
The In-flight movie was "Life or something like it." I was definately supposed to see it. So wierd, things keep doing this to me, like hammering me on the head and such.
Last night, I was driving through D.C., and I was actually really happy to see the beauty of the city, and the mundaneness of our ghettos. I may not like our city much, but so far its been better than any other major city I've been in yet. I still have to see my Denver though.
The Next Adventure? Mea Jones and the Gala of destruction... or something like that. :P
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