stand up, innumerable bars, restaurants and clubs and even some
culture. What's not to love?
We have been to LA before so this Top 5 doesn't include some of the
obvious stuff like the Hollywood sign, the Kodak theatre (Oscarland),
the Griffith Observatory etc. which are all brilliant too. Ask me for
details if you like.....
1. Shopping - a shopper's paradise! Especially if you like buying
stuff that is hard to get in Europe so you can be smug! And even with
the exchange rate it is still a reasonably priced place to shop. My
favourite shopping streets were Melrose and Robertson (great boutiques
- Kitson, Tokidoki, Bathing Ape etc). I even managed to track down the
Lady Gaga MAC lipstick which I have been seeking in cities all over
the world! It goes without saying that the Malls are great too -
brilliant end of Spring sales - especially Macy's. In summary LA is
still the best place to buy brand in the world!
2. Shows - there is always something to see in LA. We saw 3 shows and
1 film in 5 days (got very drunk with an ex-work colleague who was
passing through on the other day!)
- Stand Up at Meltdown (comic shop on Sunset): a spontaneous decision
to attend this stand up night while in the queue in the shop did not
let us down. A couple of recognisible faces but every spot pretty
funny (I particularly liked the opener who introduced us to Hulk
Hogan's mid-90s music album!) Comedy really is alive and kicking in LA.
- Infant Sorrow feat. Russell Brand at The Roxy on Sunset - having
been abandoned to my fate by Paul (who can't stand Russell Brand) I
was a bit nervous about this show, but ended up having a great time.
Russell was funny (of course!) and the music provided by the real
musicians behind the fake band Infant Sorrow was good. There were
guest appearances from Jonah Hill and Judd Apatow (in case you haven't
worked it out yet the evening was basically a big publicity stunt for
the new Apatow movie starring Brand and Hill called 'Get Him to the
Greek') and I easily made friends with some friendly Los Angelenos.
Even made it to the after party at Chateau Marmont and it all felt
very LA. Awesome!
- EvelynEvelyn feat. Amanda Palmer at The Coronet: after seeing AFP in
Sydney and having listened to her solo album 'Who killed Amanda
Palmer' (shameless plug) about a 100 times on this trip I was pretty
excited when Paul surprised me with another AFP gig. It didn't
disappoint. The EvelynEvelyn section of the evening was suitably
insane (Google it, it really defies explanation!) and the second half
saw some great solo stuff from AFP. Another great night out. Thanks,
Paul!
- 'The Father of my Children' at Westside Landmark Cinema: we took
this in after a rave review from my Dad, but unfortunately it didn't
do anything for either of us (sorry, Dad!). It kills off the most
charismatic character after 40mins and nothing else happens thereafter.
3. Universal Studios - part theme park part largest film and TV studio
in the world this is a top day out. The studio part of the day is
covered by a bus tour around the stages and sets. They try and pep
this up by having some live action and effects bits (eg. Jaws jumping
out at you or Norman Bates emerging from Bates motel with a knife) but
I was happy enough with the sets and stages themselves. I mean, who
wouldn't be excited about seeing Wisteria Lane from Desperate
Housewives? You also get to see the original Psycho house, the Little
Europe and Wild West sets that have been used for hundreds of movies
(it's amazing how many times they reuse the sets, some are nearly 50
years old, and I never did notice that Buffy lived in the same house
as the Munsters and one of the Desperate Housewives) and many more.
Very exciting for anyone who likes movies.
The rides are decent too especially The Simpsons one which is a funny
and exciting sim ride (Jurassic Park and The Mummy are ok too). The
best stuff there though is the 3D or live action experiences. I
enjoyed Shrek 4D, Terminator 2:3D and the laughable but entertaining
Waterworld show. My most lasting memory will be the House of Horrors
though. Universal have a long history of horror films from
Frankenstein to Dracula to Jason to Freddie Kruger (the new one) and
the basic premise is that these characters will intermittently jump
out at you in the dark. There is nothing new in that but I can't cope
with horror at the best of times and one particularly well timed jump
(I don't know by which character, I have blanked it out!) nearly made
me fall over. I also particularly hated the room where you had to push
your way through corpses strung up on meat hooks. What with that and
the T-Rex in the JP ride I may never be the same again! As you can see
though it was a unique and fun day out.
4. Huntingdon Library/Getty Center - 2 separate big budget culture
centers in LA. The Huntingdon has amazing gardens (Japanese, Chinese,
Rose) and a fabulous collection of Gainsborough's and Van Dyck's to
equal any I have seen in one place in the UK. It also has a world
class library and a permanent exhibition of some first editions (or at
least very old) world changing books such as the Gutenberg bible,
King James Bible, Leviathan, Vesalius' book on anatomy etc. Very much
worth a trip (especially since you can also drive there via a
diversion on the famous Mulholland Drive. We did this last time we
were in LA but it is worth a repeat.)
The Getty Center (not to confused with the Getty Villa which is in a
different location) has beautiful views from a lovely Richard Meier
building on a hill. The Renaissance is well represented and it has a
few good Impressionist pieces (a couple of lovely Degas). The setting
and architecture were my favourite parts though.
5. Museum of Tolerance - housed in The Simon Wiesenthal Center it is
disappointingly thin on the stories behind the 'Nazi Hunter's' most
famous catches. What it does have though is a very good high-concept
Holocaust exhibition. The basic concept is that you are guided through
the history of the holocaust via a voice over narrative which follows
you through the exhibit using video, stills and physical props to
illustrate the narrative. The narrative is simple to avoid information
overload and for that reason isn't going to tell you anything new but
would be perfectly suited to introducing surly GCSE history students.
Considering the emotive nature of the subject matter it also manages
to (mostly) avoid hysteria and cliche although as it is museum with an
educational agenda rather than a memorial it doesn't manage it
completely. It's most emotional moment is the point when you walk into
a replica gas chamber to listen to survivor stories. The stories are
always sad and often horrendous but being in the chamber is the most
unsettling bit. I couldn't wait to leave! Another interesting feature
of the museum is that they have brought Wiesenthal's office over piece
by piece as a memorial which is accompanied by an interesting film on
him (disapointing lack of a biography in the bookshop though). Overall
a very well done museum.
A quick mention for the Ray Harryhausen and Chuck Jones exhibitions
that we saw at the Academy (the admin office for the Oscars as opposed
to the Kodak which is where the ceremony is held) which were well
done, comprehensive and free!
In summary - I <3 LA!
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