The weather continues to be absolutely beautiful. Today in the Valley it reached 90 degrees! I continue to be amazed just in general how good I feel living here. Not that I get caught up in Seasonal Affective Disorder but I definitely know I feel better when I’m able to get out and enjoy the weather. People are also very health conscious here, and it’s very easy to maintain an active and healthy lifestyle. I’m also continually amazed at the vast variety of restaurants available. I got some groceries from Trader Joe’s before heading out to enjoy the beach. For free parking and nicer beaches I headed to Malibu. I went to Zuma Beach which is where Baywatch was filmed (but didn’t see David Hasselhoff running through the waves, luckily!) It was absolutely perfect. I varied between laying out and walking through the waves (got up to my knees, but it was still pretty chilly!) The beaches are just smooth sand with the occasional stone so it’s very easy to walk barefoot. I was used to the Outer Banks lifeguards using ATVs, but the Malibu lifeguards have yellow Ford Escapes they drive back and forth. There were several surfers in wetsuits out getting some good rides on the waves. After 2 hours, I decided to head back in (around 2:30 P.M.) and thought I would miss traffic, but was wrong. It ended up taking an hour and a half (for what should have taken 30 minutes) to traverse back across the valley.
A friend had invited me to a big party down at USC, but there was talk already of it getting broken up (they were expecting 600+ people) and it’s not in the best area of town so decided to avoid adventures in South Central, especially on my first weekend in town! I looked to see what bands were playing. The Melvins were playing Spaceland in Silver Lake. I saw them for my birthday, and they were a lot of fun. They influenced many bands including Nirvana, and the lead singer is directly responsible for introducing Dave Grohl to Kurt Cobain. So I am very grateful to this band! I was excited to see them again, but learned the show was sold out. I went back to looking at shows and found Toad the Wet Sprocket playing the Key Club on Sunset Boulevard. They were never my absolute favorite band, but had some fun 90s alternative songs so I decided to check them out. I ventured down through Hollywood, passing the Critics Choice Film Awards. I found parking and went in. The first two openers were nothing special. The first band was fronted by a guy younger than me….I actually like his backing musicians more than him. The second band brought in a party bus of their fans and were Jimmy Buffet-ish although mid-set suddenly started getting really country. There were 9 musicians which I’m all for if they provide musical diversity…but it was definitely overkill. I’m also all for dressing alike if it’s classy and tasteful (i.e. Fitz and the Tantrums) but not having matching monogrammed Henley shirts.
Waiting for Toad the Wet Sprocket, another guy by himself came up and we started talking. He moved to town two months ago and hadn’t met many people to go to shows with. The show itself was a lot of fun.They have a bit more of a pop sound than I typically go for, but I was jus thappy to be out and seeing music. After the show, we went for coffee and walked around the strip. I saw landmarks I’ve heard of (Viper Room, Chateau Marmont, House of Blues). Also saw National Lampoon’s World Headquarters which I didn’t know existed! I found a nice shortcut back to where I live in Studio City through Laurel Canyon – site of many tales from 70s rock ‘n roll!
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