(as in 'make it big' not 'make love' - normally)
'Damn! Cop car gone blocked that street; and that street; and that street; and that street. Something's going on. Somebody's gone got shot.' These were some of the first words I heard as I made my way by train from LAX airport to Hollywood. Baggy fading jeans, tight black vests, bandanas and chains were as common as famous gangster landmarks like Compton, signs for Rosa Parks and grafitti. In LA, to get to the glitz you can't avoid the grim. Not one to be swayed by these hiphop stereotypes, I simply took my homeboy self through to Hollywood Boulevard; where, immediately on seeing the 'Hollywood' sign I couldn't get Madonna out of my head. With no sleep in the last 34 hours, I rushed to the supermarket to buy a healthy American dinner of 2 Hershey's bars, 6 packs of instant noodles and a healthy 2 litre bottle of sprite. Having arrived in LA with just £35 to last me 4 days I needed to budget. I woke up to the realisation that American cereal has more sugar than an episode of The Apprentice. I also treated myself to some peanut butter jelly on toast, plus coffee so strong I feel like the Hulk. I was really beginning to R.O.C.K in the U.S.A. With a breakfast created Jerry Springer in my step I headed to Santa Monica for the day to grab some rays. I really wanted Raymond Blanc, but all I got was some sunshine (I'd add some cooking puns here, but my minds gone Blanc). I spent the evening couchsurfing with a group of filmakers working their way up through the industry. The next day, I began to feel pretty bemused as having been in Hollywood for one whole day I was still not a movie-star. I felt I must be doing something wrong. So I decided to head Downtown to get spotted. As a result 0f all the chocolate, all I got were spots. LA is a strange place. Not so much a city, but more like the world biggest suburb. Yet, it's far from just sparkling lights and healthy smoothies as the main food you're likely to see are tortillas and burritos. Most of central LA feels more like Mexico City than a city full of the rich and famous. But other oddities filter through the city; as I found in McDonalds when a man walked in dressed like Johnny Depp's Willy Wonka alongside Batman. There was no sign of Robin, apparently that happens in Compton. I spent my final night in LA attending an Arts Fair in Downtown with my couch-surfing host and some of his friends. The fair created before me a world of haunting cartoons, spiritual paintings and confusingly dressed arts folk. Finishing off with a locally brewed pint of banana beer, it was a great way to spend my final night in LA; in fact, my final night of a long trip - how I cherished it.
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Samuel FryTraveller Archives
June 2011
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