Monday, June 28, 2010

The Candy Tree

Caught up with some old friends at the Barn for some drinks this weekend. As is customary with any nighttime drinking outing at the Barn, the quest for food is a necessity upon departure. On this night we weren't so legless that the sketchy Tijuana-dog vendor posted up right outside the door seemed like a great idea, thus our course was immediately set upon the always reliable feeding frenzy that is Paisano's Pizza at 2am on a Saturday night.

Ryan (the guy o
n the left in the picture), with clarity only drunken hunger can provide, ordered two large pizzas. As we waited out front by the neighboring Greeko's, a man approached the tree we were standing by, reached up into the foliage and fished out a bag of peanuts. Ryan was fascinated by this and began to question the man about the strange hiding spot. The man responded by explaining to us that this was the "Candy Tree" (which we had mistakenly called the snack tree) and that whenever you wanted a snack you could find it here. Among the bag of peanuts in the tree, we discovered a pack of Stride gum and a huge bag of peanut M&M's.

So if you're ever feeling like a snack worthy of bums and vagrants check out the Candy Tree of Hermosa Beach.

Thursday, June 24, 2010

Native June @ The AquaLounge in Beverly Hills


Last weekend I went up to The AquaLounge in Beverly Hills to check out a friend's band, Native June. I'd been to The AquaLounge once before, and it was a weird experience, so I had little to no expectations for how the night would play out.

The band was set to go on at 10pm, which is exactly when I arrived. After going through the standard ID checkpoint I went down the stairs that lead to the club and entered. The scene in there was weird (big surprise, the place is a basement), it made me think of what a Hollywood club would look like if it was in an airport. There were random people everywhere, dressed in gaudy outfits, giving the place a real sleazy atmosphere. Normally I am perfectly comfortable in this kind of environment, but something was a little off.

Native June took the stage and played a fairly short set. They sounded pretty good and made an interesting performance out of the bizarre scene they'd been placed in. After their performance, we were all standing around trying to figure out what the plan was going to be for the rest of the evening when Gabe, the lead singer, explained to us that on this particular night, in this particular club, they were holding the DVD release party for Cheating Housewives 7. We were surrounded by porn stars, porn directors, and porn producers. The band didn't seem to mind this at all and were actually all for staying until a fight broke out. With glasses smashing and people being dragged around we decided to make our exit.

Everyone returned to a the bass player Tristan's house where the party continued into the early hours of the morning. I didn't end up making it home until 5am and spent the rest of the weekend trying to recuperate from it.

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

"Blowup" at Hollywood Forever Cemetery


Last week I was invited out to Hollywood Forever Cemetery (6000 Santa Monica Blvd) to catch the Cinespia cemetery Sunday night screening of "Blowup", a 1966 Michelangelo Antonioni film. At first I was a little hesitant to go because I thought it would be a huge production for a Sunday evening, but I couldn't pass on the opportunity to drink some wine, eat some hors d'œuvres, and watch a movie amongst tombstones and mausoleums.

We arrived at Hollywood Forever around 7:30pm and, after a short wait, entered the cemetery to park. After we'd ditched our ride we proceeded through the graveyard to find the viewing area, which was a nice open lawn leading up to the side of a large white mausoleum. People were pouring in from their respective parking spots and staking out their spots as
DJ Mahssa layed down a psychedelic soundtrack. We quickly plotted out our spot, settled in, and began to take in the scene.

Although the gates to the cemetery opened at 7:30pm, the film didn't start until 9:00pm, which left plenty of time to work up a nice wine buzz and soak up the environment. The audience mostly consisted of people in their mid twenties to mid thirties all drinking, dancing, and consorting. A few people started dancing off to our right in small groups and ended up merging into one large masquerading population shortly after. The weather was warm and gloomy which made for an apocalyptic-looking sunset, the graves only intensifying the backdrop. All-in-all a surreal environment that seemed very appropriate, given the attributes of the event.

When it was time for the film to start, the music was turned down so that the presenters could thank the DJ and give the film an introduction. Opening credits ran, the image projected onto the side of the large white mausoleum, as the audience settled down. "Blowup" was a little slow, a little weird, and a little quiet. At one point, a man who had been the centerpiece for the dancing that took place earlier in the night, stood up and yelled "Ok, enough!", gathered his things and left. The rest of the audience shared his sentiment and laughed at the outburst as the man exited smiling and waving. This exchange only added to the experience leaving me to believe that the film being shown wasn't as important as the aesthetic created.

~P.S.

Next week: The Native June gig at The AquaLounge......http://www.nativejune.com/site.html