Last Saturday

So as I mentioned in my previous post, last week MJC and I woke up early and walked all around town - we are estimating 13 miles!

We'd planned on no plans for the weekend - a novel approach to social activities if you know me .

As Friday night approached, I got the clever idea to add a theme to our weekend - City of Angels.

On my way home from work, I missed this u-turn to go home. Typically, I exit the freeway, making a right turn and then veer across 4 lanes of traffic within less than a block to get into the far left lane and make a u-turn to go home. Also death-defying, this short cut shaves possibly 10 minutes from my commute - maybe more.

Anyway, last Friday, I missed it. I just could not get over. So instead I drove straight in a daze, mad at myself and trying to figure a clever way out of it. Then I spotted a hole in the wall video store, like you used to see all the time and only then did I remember that you used to see them all the time. I paused to marvel that they'd largely become extinct underneath my radar.

When I entered the video shack, I met Ben, the owner. He had a stain on his shirt and was very earnest (in the pejorative). 

The newest release was Rendition. I picked it up, not even wanting to see it all that much and then scoured the shelves for something to watch.

I ended up deciding on this LA theme and picked L.A. Confidential and Mulholland Drive. I temporarily forgot that I'd originally watched Mulholland 

with my parents and Dee. Fortunately, I don't remember much more of the experience than that because the thought of watching some fairly explicit masturbation and lesbian scenes with that group makes me  shiver in my spine. Yuck.

Anyway, when I got home MJC was already there and was very non-plussed with my adventuresome nature, my brand new laminated video card and my movie picks. 

Fortunately, he warmed to the idea.

We watched L.A. Confidential  first. In case you have not seen it, it's a film based on the James Ellroy book of the same title about the gritty L.A. streets of the 1950's and the corrupt police force patrolling them.

The movie was set in 1954, the year Dee moved here, which I find interesting. I must remember to ask her more questions about it - although  I always feel so Pollyanna-obnoxious when I ask her to tell me about what it was like way back when.The movie referenced Elysian Park, which I drive by every day on the way to work but was not entirely sure where it was. 

The next morning, MJC and I began our walk innocently enough. We went to Coffee Bean and got our usual Saturday indulgence  - the chocolate twist.

Let me digress for a moment to tell you that the chocolate twist is a reduced fat number, probably the equivalent of eating a brick or margarine rather than a brick of butter in terms of the "reduction" in fat, but it is so worth it.

I've been enjoying one of these pastries nearly every Saturday for 2 months now. They taste exactly like the Stracciatella (I think that was what it was called) that I first ordered from the window of a pastry shop in Venice, Italy, on my ill-fated Euro tour with that meat-head, Joe. But I am happy to remember that pastry.

After Coffee Bean, we decided to walk south and explore the streets instead of heading north into Griffith Park. 

Our walk led us down Sunset into seedy parts where, among other things, I greeted a whore and her pimp. Naturally, I did not know their profession when I smiled and wished them a good morning without breaking my speed-walking stride. The "gentleman" (in the loosest sense of the word) looked a little shocked and then said good morning back. 

After taking in the scene and letting the couple pass, I leaned into MJC, "That was a lady of the night and her pimp that I just cheerfully said good morning to, wasn't it?"

MJC whispered down, "Uh, huh. And she was stoned out of her mind."

Wow.

Another time when I was on one of my neighborhood friendly walks in Griffith Park, MJC and I approached a shirtless man wearing powder blue basketball shorts and a healthy dose of golden chains. 

"Good morning!", I sparkled like an ass.

"Good morning," the man replied in what I guess is a Brooklyn accent.  He flashed a grin and the sun glint off a gold tooth in the front of his mouth. Suddenly, just after he passed, just like this time, I put it together. I remembered the scene from home alone where the robber dresses as a cop and tells Kevin and his family to have a Merry Christmas. There is a close up of the actor's face as he smiles and the light catches the same gold tooth. I think the movie even added a "Ting!" sound effect so you'd get the full effect of the glimmer.

Sure enough, I'd just said good morning to Joe Pesci, without even knowing it. 

On another morning, I said hello to Flea from the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

Back to last Saturday, we wound our way to Echo Park (where the boating scene was shot in China Town) and then through Elysian Park, which has a collection of beautiful Victorian and Craftsman homes with a stunning backdrop of the skyscrapers downtown.

Then we walked back through Silverlake and got another coffee and a nice chambray button down shirt on tremendous sale. Finally, we were home.

What a fun adventure in our own town. The whole thing took 4 hours, but we were exploring and chatting the whole time, so we barley noticed.

At 80 degrees in January, it was a perfect way to spend a Saturday.