Part one on L.A.. My impressions and ramblings about this metropolis and it’s denizens.

This is going to be part one of a two part L.A. write up. Even thought the States is the birthplace of the internet I am finding it incredibly difficult to use it cheaply for an extended period of time. I am currently in the Santa Monica library using 1 1/2 hours of internet for free (yes free) but that is my time limit per day. Interesting system, otherwise it is USD $5 an hour. Considering I spend about 2-4 hours writing and uploading photos $20 a pop is beyond a poor backpacker like me.

SO I AM IN LOS ANGELES!!!!

Melbourne kept reiterating how it was a great place to live - I think it suffers Sydney anxiety. L.A. doesn’t even know that other places exist. L.A. isn’t the centre of the universe, it IS the universe. Universal Studios is the “Entertainment capital of L.A.”. Today the cast of Oceans 13 are going to put there hand prints into concrete outside the Chinese Theatre in Hollywood. Christopher Hitchens is doing a talk and book signing (well I’m excited) at the Barnes & Noble in Santa Monica. Arnold Schwarzenegger is the Governator. Things just happen in this city because.

Downtown L.A view from Getty Museum L.A. makes every other place I have been seem insignificantly small, it goes for miles and miles and miles and miles and miles and miles and… you get the point. I am staying in Santa Monica on the West Coast one block from the beach. It is a good location for sites such as Downtown (yes the central city is called ‘Downtown’), Hollywood, Venice Beach (to see this afternoon) are all very close in L.A. terms. Distance here is insane. It takes 1 hour to travel on a bus from one end of Santa Monica Blvd to the other - and this is only two suburbs! I estimate that if you caught bus transport from the north of L.A. to the south it would take over 8 hours. The cities sprawl from end to end is larger than the distance from the southern suburbs to San Diego in the south.

To understand L.A. I would recommend the movie ‘Crash’ (not the Paul Verhoeven version). I think it gives quite an accurate description of the people and personalities that dwell here. The L.A.-ians I have met at first either bend over backwards to help or don’t want to know. If it is not their problem then they’re not going to help you. If you look lost at a bus stop three people will interrupt - they just start talking to you here - your mumbling and pointings to help you figure out what bus you need to be on. Everything is so loud that the people have to shout to get heard above the noise. On one bus ride a person tried to get on a bus, to which the driver said “no I am only dropping off, wait for the next one”. The driver shut the door on the person pushing them out of the bus. They then proceeded in a friendly manner to swing their crutch into the door as the driver took off at speed.

On another bus journey I was sat next to an African-American guy with his leg in plaster. I asked him how he broke his leg and he replied it was a gun shot wound. A young kid (he said 19) shot him with a 22 handgun as he was walking down Hollywood Boulevard. Luckily it was just his leg. I haven’t felt unsafe once here but I haven’t been to any of the really dodgy suburbs. I was told that if I want to catch a Greyhound bus I should only go to the bus station during the day - definitely not at night - and even then to not venture out of the building. The number of homeless is depressing - they are everywhere. I am glad for social security, I couldn’t bear to live in a society that lets so many of its members live like this.

Homeless right outside City Hall

Latinos make up around 40% of the population or so I am told - anyone who tries and tells you that New Zealand is multi-cultural is talking out of their ars*. Most signage here is bilingual and a lot of it is in Espanol. When I first landed I watched the England vs Brazil football game at the new Wembley stadium and the commentary and adverts were all in Espanol. Football in L.A. is predominantly a Latino affair. Downtown L.A. is predominantly latino, there is a street called Broadway which once was the equivalent to New York’s Broadway with theatres and shows. Now all of the theatres are converted into shops and stalls giving the street a market atmosphere. All in Espanol. I have heard that Latinos were the new ’slave’ race in the U.S. and I can see why. Most of the lowly jobs are done by Latinos.

Broadway

White people (and the middle class in general) drive in L.A.. In ‘Crash’ one of the characters won’t catch the bus because only Blacks and Latinos ride it. This is mostly true - we are often the only white people on a bus of one hundred people standing room only. And drive they do. I have seen on average four humvees a day, every car is the size of a tank and there is traffic on EVERY road. It isn’t quite gridlock, rather there are no empty streets in which to drive down. Of course I am writing hyperbole, but my impression is once peak oil hits this city is f*cked. The subway here is quick but there are only about five lines for a city of nearly 20 million people! And there is always a seat on the trains - barely anyone uses them.

Running out of time :( I will try and upload photos as soon as possible.

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Comments

  1. Lauren

    Heehee I can just picture you on the bus asking the guy about his leg, all smiles and friendly like a big labrador, and him all tough and jaded but talking to you anyway :) Yay for new posts, I have been checking like EVERY day…
    Hugs xx

    56:81 8:53, Jun 06 2007

  2. Margret

    Good to hear you are coping with LA and keeping safe - “broken leg” a good reminder!

    56:82 9:54, Jun 06 2007

  3. Marieke

    I confess I had to look up Christopher Hitchens. “The Lies of Michael Moore”, “The Stupidity of Ronald Reagan”, “A Long Short War. The Postponed Liberation of Iraq”. I see why he appeals.

    LA sounds vibrant, exciting, boggling. How’s your Spanglish? Just began reading David Strahan’s “The Last Oil Shock - a survival guide to imminent extinction of petroleum man”. Recommended reading.

    Oh, and give my love to George Clooney…

    56:83 11:49, Jun 07 2007

  4. Grant

    Great to hear everything is goind swimmingly. I can just picture you roller blading on the beach - doesn’t everyone do it in thongs? (not the jandal variety)

    BTW - 10 million people. Went for a ride with Jeremy and we spent some time discussing the size of Los Angeles and what we would both travel half way around the world to see.

    All the best…..

    56:84 22:54, Jun 10 2007

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