Aaaah, Venice

It felt weird coming back to California again. This is my third visit to the Golden State since I came to the US back in March. San Francisco (the trip I failed miserably to blog on) left a huge impression on me and I was keen to make a return visit. But the main reason for coming this time was the opportunity to see my friend Thea in Santa Monica and knock LA off my list of places to go. Knowing that Justice were playing in San Francisco also meant a short (7 hour) bus ride north and I could do the things I didn't get to do before (Alcatraz) and see the lads I met at the Daft Punk gig who also effectively adopted me for remainder to my time in San Fran.

Course, the best laid schemes usually gang aft agley, and so it was that Thea found out one week before my arrival that she wasn't going to be LA at all. Hmmm, hence a lot of head scratching and pondering what to do. Luckily Chris Shea was able to put me in touch with a friend from college who was willing to put me up my first nights in town. From tonight I should be staying with Greg, who I met at the Daft Punk gig, in Santa Monica for a couple of nights. It's all a bit slap and dash now, but should be a lot of fun.









You need a car to be in Los Angeles so the proverbial warnings go and it is not a word to a lie. This place is huge and its vastness is only overpowered by the sheer number of cars that appear to be on the road. I, however, am a public transport kinda guy and have so far found the number 333 bus just grand at transporting me to and from Venice Beach, which is a mere 10 minutes down the road from my host Whitney's apartment. The climate in this part of California is incredible. LA enjoys something like 325 days of sunshine a year. The daytime is warm, often with a gentle breeze rolling in off the Pacific Ocean, while the evenings are cool. It's a far cry from the constant sweatiness of Texas.

Having immediately gone down to the famous after dropping my things off at Whitney's I totally forget my second thoughts about coming to LA and allow myself to wonder at the weirdness that I've found myself immersed once again. Ocean Front Walk is filled with the usual seafront tourist stalls you expect by any popular stretch of beach. But Venice has much more than this. As part of the area that makes up the infamous Dogtown, it is in many ways the spiritual home of skateboarding. The basketball courts (as featured in White Men Can't Jump) are one of the most famous streetball courts in the world. Then there's Muscle Beach, which is just downright odd.









Similarly to what I experienced in San Francisco at Golden Gate Park, Venice Beach is also odd in the blend of locals, tourists and homeless people. The locals themselves make up one of the oddest blend of people in themselves. Harry Perry is one such character, famous basically for roller-skating on the beach front in a turban whilst playing electric guitar. Another roller-blading oddity I saw yesterday was some muscle bound California dude with the tiniest and most well-groomed dog running alongside him. Ok, not so weird perhaps, until you see him swinging his dog around in the air before catching it perfectly standing in the palm of his hand all the while still weaving amongst the tourists on the boardwalk. Don't worry, the dog lead was a body one, not a neck one.

I feel like I'm digressing here. Let me give you a couple of my early impressions of this part of LA. Beach life clearly lends itself to the good life. I don't think I've ever seen so many super fit people in my life - between surfers, the bodybuilders, the joggers, the yogateers, the skaters and the all rest. My first day here I watched the sunset over the Pacific, it was gorgeous. But while I sat there watching with the hordes of sun-kissed spiritually inclined Californians, I wondered if the whole body image thing was actually in fact part of something a little deeper. Something closer to achieving physical atonement with the concept of healthy body healthy mind. I've only just got here so it's hard to say. What I can say is that I'm now desperately keen to learn how to surf and if I leave here without having ridden at least one wave I'll be extremely disappointed with myself.