This is Los Angelos - gang capitol of the nation

If you're flying to LA from NY I highly reccomend a nonstop flight cause getting layed over in Texas fucking sucks. Luckily I had a couple copies of the New Yorker with me which is like kryptonite to rednecks.

Anyway I got to LA last wednesday night around 11 and found Tripp waiting for me at the airport in his rental. We decided to skip the jungle party that night and just chill at his place. His apartment, for those who haven't seen it, is pretty dope. We poured some drinks (John thanks for the rum and coke) and hung out on the roof where there's a cool little patio type area with a pool. There's a nice view from up there and I could just barely make out the Hollywood sign at night.

It being LA we drove everywhere we went. Driving in LA is a famously frustrating ordeal , but it was kind of cool to experience from the passenger seat because it is a cool looking place if not exactly what I think of as a city. Even Richmond seems way more urban to me. LA is more like a giant suburb on steroids. But it has it's charms - the houses are dope. The best ones are tucked behind thick well trimmed hedges with clusters of flowers exploding out to add bits of color and accentuate the round lines of the Spanish architecture which is everywhere and dope as fuck. Palm trees always rule - especially the fucking huge ones that line the sides of the big roads in nicer areas.

The vibe I got off the town kind of reminded me of the first time we had a time share in Montauk. I'd get baked every day and zip around in my Eclipse which still had that new car charm (new to me anyway - I bought it used). I'd open the windows, role back the sunroof, blast the stereo and take it all in. Everything just seemed brighter and more vivid. Colors popped. It felt like I could pay attention to every groove on every blade of grass. It all looked good and I just wanted to drink it in.

I wasn't smoking in LA so the extra sensory glow was gone, but the basic vibe was the same. The only difference in LA is the smog which limits all that detail to the immediate foreground. It's as though generations of filmakers had shot so much in soft focus that everything in the real life background blurred into a fog as well.

Anyway I did all the tourist shit. All the tourist shit that can be expected of a bonafide record fiend anyway. We spent two afternoons diggin in the crates and I dropped about two and a half bills all told. The highlight was definitely Amoeba. Tripp dropped two gems in my lap while we dug. The first was the Aphrodite remix of "The Perfect Drug" by Nine Inch Nails. It was released as a promo only, in other words - it barely exists. The other was marked "Narramine" by Genaside 2. I'd been hunting for both tracks for years. The Genaside 2 was a bust - it was a remix. I also grabbed a pile of used DVDs.

So let's count - I've scored vinyl in the following cities going from West to East: LA, Chicago, Philadelphia, Richmond, New York, London, and Bath. Anybody up for a trip down DC?

We went to a game at Dodger stadium

Even the lowlights of the trip were dope: we went to a comedy night that was distinctly unfunny, but still managed to get some excellent laughs courtesy of a waiter that charged Tripp seven dollars for a whisky and one dollar for pouring it over the rocks. We also went to a karaoke night which was, well, it was karaoke, but we got wasted and loud and ridiculous and had an awesome time.

We ate well: Churo's - a mexican restaurant famous for their tamales (which are all that). Miyagi's - a sushi joint on Sunset which fucking ruled. Hot hostess, hot waitress (who was also a total sweetheart), a big fat bowl of etamami (surely misspelled), salmon sashimi, an islander roll with had spicy tuna, avacado, and maybe yellowtail? Dope dope dope. On our last day we went to Pink's which is great street food. It's a hot dog joint that's been open since 1939. I pigged out and had a polish sausage with guac and tomatoes plus a chili cheese dog. I would definitely reccomend it to anyone in LA. I definitely would not reccomend eating it the day before you take a flight across country. What was I thinking? It was a bad decision then and looks even dumber typed out on a page. I was starving though and had impaired judgment Why didn't Tripp or John stop me? Friends don't let friends overeat junk food.

Actually, John and Tripp were awesome hosts and John's girlfriend Christina was a total sweetheart. Booyaka. Thanks for an awesome time guys.