Catman

DTTB: I hope you were not seriously hurt and are doing ok. Check your e-mail for something from the cats.

Well, I still have my California Visa so no one was too offended by my L-A post.

OMNI for Newself: while you sleep, dream of that little microbrewery that you will be running when I win the lottery! (I think we'll ahve two branches, one by your Long Beach house... the other at the Kit Kat Casino.)

You run the microbreweries. AuH20 and Beckles run the bar at the KIt Kat.

Dream of seas of beer. I plan to (since it's a work week I can't drink



[This message has been edited by Catman (edited 11-16-1999).]

onefreeman

Catman -- putting our dear buddy auh20 in charge of the bar is like putting Clinton in charge of moral upbringing of the cheerleaders at VT...

West Coast Flyer

LA has great museums, and performing arts. And, of course, there is much creative talent down there. The climate is fantastic, except for the Santa Anas in the fall, and the mudslides that come with heavy rain. However, the smog (while better) is still a problem, especially to someone like me with chronic allergies (I really am allergic to LA!). Also, LA was recently said to have the worst traffic in the US. LA may seem expensive (but not to from my neck of the woods (Bay Area).

In short...I don't want to praise or denounce LA. It has its share of high and low points like any major city.

stimpy

Three points.

1. There is more to a city's culture than what is housed in theatres and museums.

2. Most of what is in LA's theatre's and museums come from other places. Very little is generated locally.

3. LA does have a lot of creative talented people, but their creativity is poured into the movie studios. Not into any kind of local culture.

Long Beach however has locally generated theatre and it has arguably one of the best Latin American art museums in the northern hemisphere.


[This message has been edited by stimpy (edited 11-16-1999).]

newself

We even have yards of beer!

Punki

Stimpy is touching on what I mean by culture.

Many cities, New York, New Orleans, Seattle, Chicago, San Francisco, Boston, Toronto, D.C., London, just have a culture, a feel--a life of their own, which is unique unto them. (Hopefully I'll find this true in my next favorite city, Montreal.) Even SanDiego, is uniquely SanDiego.

But LA (which incidentally is quite a separate place from Long Beach) just sprawls out with no positive identify. Maybe there were hints of a true LA feeling 50 years ago, but now it is just too much SoCal to really be anything, and it makes me very sad.

doc

And great windsurfing too!

RichG

Punki: I love all the cities you mentioned! (And not too many of the ones you didn't.)

kokonuts: Congratulations on the great season Virginia Tech is having.

Punki again: I've been at 3 Apple Cups, 2 in Pullman & 1 in Seattle. Most memorable was Bledsoe's game in the snow, of course. (And the drive back to Lewiston afterwards to the Ramada.)

Catman: We have to have a talk about college radio. It was the beginning of my corrupted life.

The best time I ever spent in L.A. was in 1984 during the Olympics when everybody else left except for us teevee yo-yo's!

West Coast Flyer

I never said anything about how cultured LA was, Stimpy. As the saying goes "there is more money than sense" (in the area). And, it seems that in some areas of LA there are neither. However, I don't want to knock the people of the basin as a whole. I think one of the problems with LA is that people have very high expectations, and certainly it is hard to for first time visitors to get that Hollywood image to stop flickering in their minds. The LA based parts of the media (not surprisingly) try to show that everything is bigger and grander down there. But the truth is that most communities in the LA area are not at all impressive, and often impoverished.

So, understand that this is a very big generalization.

[This message has been edited by West Coast Flyer (edited 11-17-1999).]

Jailer

I have to pile on with Stimpy. Our Long Beach town has gotten very cool, and keeps getting better. But, I sometimes venture north, and L.A. has some wonderful neighborhoods and museums (but don't miss Long Beach's Latin American Art Museum). Try the Norton Simon or Getty, but all in all LA may have more museums per capita than any other large American City. And restaurants, if there is a better variety of good food, fairly priced, I haven't found it.

Where else but So Cal can you ski one day and go to the beach the next? L.A. is fun with or without vast sums of money.

And thank God for the crime so I can make a living.

UK Stages

as a NY'er, my favorite LA story comes from my most recent visit there in october.

the lead story on the front page of the "living" section of the sunday LA Times on october 17 was titled "NY & LA: Trading Places." the sidebar explained: "the big apple used to be the city. but as it slides down the hip meter, LA keeps climbing."

the LA Times magazine cover story on the very same day was entitled: "checking into new york's hip hotels."


hmmmmm...

Punki

Jailer,

Here Seattle we can Sail (boat is 10 minutes from home) and Ski (Chairs are 45 minutes from home) on the same day. It is easy to get up on the weekend for a brisk morning sail and then hit the slopes in the afternoon/evening.

It is not at all uncommon for us to take off a little early and go sailing or skiing after work.

newself

Punki,

That is only on one of the 3 or 4 days of the year that it is not raining

kokonutz

As you both know (and I can attest) the truth about seattle is that IT DOES NOT RAIN THERE. The whole rain thing is just a LIE to keep others from coming and spoiling the wonders and beauty of the biggest small town in the world

Punki

Loose lips, sink ships Mr. Coconut Top!

[This message has been edited by Punki (edited 11-18-1999).]