The Final Curtain

My time in LA will be soon be at an end and so this will be the last entry on the East End to West Coast blog. Thanks for reading and coming with me on this journey of discovery. 

I've learned a tonne of stuff while I've been here, including where to do get the finest burgers in LA (The Den on Sunset). how to do longform improv (UCB on Franklin) and one of the nicest vantage points to survey the LA sprawl (Runyon Canyon at the top of Fuller). 

I hope you get to enjoy this crazy city too and if you want to read more of my work, my main blog over at andiosho.blogspot.com comes out every Sunday.

Happy travelling!

Andi x

Hiking

I managed to get up Runyon Canyon a little earlier this time (some days, if you go after 10, it's already too hot for any kind of vigorous exercise) and this is the view. The other day, I went up there and there was a guy at the top of the ridge holding a vigil for his friend, who's birthday it was. Five years ago, he'd thrown himself off the ridge and so every year, this guy spent the whole day up there in remembrance. That was sobering morning.

Fruit, ma'am?

This is a little something I like, on street corners, you get guys selling bags of chopped up fruit. As always, in America, the bag is massive and more fruit and than any human adult would need but at least it's not hotdogs. For $5, you get a large bag filled with pineapple, mango, melon, coconut, cucumber and errr, more melon I should imagine. 

Watching the guys prep the fruit is mesmerising. It's what they do, day in and day out. Yummy. :)

Grinder

There's not much to say about this place (down in San Pedro) other than I bet it's clientele is made up largely by replete if disappointed gay men.

Skateboarding

I had a gig down in Venice the other day and while I was waiting for the show to start, I thought I'd take a stroll to the beach.

Venice, is like Brighton, if Brighton got in with a bad crowd. The whole place stinks of weed and you could as easily bump into Willem Dafoe as get mugged (possibly by Willem Dafoe). It's a bizarre cocktail of bohemia and danger. Here's a few snaps from the skate park (I don't think I saw one kid on this thing).

Venice is the place to get your medical marijuana (apparently), the use of which is legal in California (All I'll say is, every Californian must have a very bad back). There are even 'doctors' on the beach front who assess you and give you a medical card entitling you to collect your prescription Mary Jane.

Californi-friggin-A.

Wine hotel

What the actual F? Is there no end to the insanity here? No is the answer to that question. You know what it's like, your wine needs a holiday, it's been working hard (it's not easy being a subtle mix of thyme, blueberry and happiness with a summer lightness)so where better to send it, than the wine hotel. Welcome to Hollywood, just don't get smashed... See what I did there? Comedy Genius in motion. Smashed. Oh nevermind.

She's got Hayfever

I thought Los Angelenos were ponses because everyone kept bleating on about their allergies. I even went to one workshop where the facilitator said that none of the participants were allowed to wear cologne or perfume. What the?

I'd been surprised at how paranoid they were about germs, bugs, flu etc to the point where many casting directors will not shake hands with auditioning actors for fear of picking up something.

The whole time I've been here, I've been thinking these people are too precious for their own good. That was until this week. I started to get flu-like symptoms a couple of weeks back, them my body started aching and the sneezing began. The flu never materialised and I realised, I've had this sensation several times before since I've been here.

It suddenly dawned on me, I think I've got hayfever. For the first time in my life, I'm experiencing... allergies.

I mentioned it to my friend who's a long-term LA dweller and she said that many people here suffer as a result of the appaulling polution.

She said that as you fly in, you can see this thin layer of fug that hangs over the city (both my flights have been at night so I've never noticed that). She also added for good measure that mortitians often report that the lungs of many LA folk are black from the filth in the air.

Bloody hell, I thought. Now what. I HATE taking pills for mild ailments and prefer to deal with these things either with herbal remedies or by changing my diet.

So now, follow a bit of research on-line, I'm currently on Echinachea, a nettle suppliment, grapefruit juice, cammomile tea and lots and lots of water. My friend also advised me to cut out dairy.

The worst thing is the fatigue. Hayfever is a brand new experience for me (and I'm acting like I'm the first person who's ever had it). When you want to get on with your day you can't because you feel like death warmed up. I'll see how the natural methods work but if there's no joy, it's off to Rite Aid for me!