Septemberfest and Glow

It was a busy weekend! After laying low the past weekend due to illness, I was back to adventuring this weekend.  First up was Septemberfest!  Hailed as America's answer to Oktoberfest this was over sixty different breweries coming together on the Sony Studios lot for unlimited beer samples! That's right, unlimited beer!  Tickets were regularly $50, but we scored ours through Groupon for $25 (if you don't know what Groupon is check them out...a new deal every day in a city near you, groupon.com)  And while it paled in comparison to the traditional German festival in both scope and culture, it was certainly a great time.  Anticipating our overindulgence, my friend Steve and I walked from his nearby apartment.  It was perfect weather outside.  

It was good. Trust me.

I had never been on the Sony lot, despite working in the industry.  So it was somewhat ironic that my first time was for a beer festival.  There was a huge line to get in when we got there and we were slightly worried we weren't going to get our mony's worth.  In hindsight, it was silly to worry.  The line moved quickly and our fears were put to rest.  We would get all the beer we could consume.  We were given our small tasting mug and hit the tasting tents 

We made our way quickly through the line of beer stands, tasting and critiquing each one.  Most were delicious, but a few just didn't make the cut and one or two were just bad.  The great thing about a beer tasting is that you don't have to finish anything that is bad.  Why waste time on a bad beer when you have 60 others waiting for you? 

Steve got tired of drinking out of his mug. Give me the bottle!

The beer tents snaked through the facades of the back lot.  I was kind of geeking out and trying to figure out what I could recognize from movies.    

We made our way down the main street which was jammed with people listening to a live band.  About an hour into the festival everyone was feeling pretty good.

I wish I could give you a list of beers that I really enjoyed, but there were just so many :)  Needless to say it was a great time.  Plus we got all kinds of free flair and swag...pins, hats, key chains, coasters.  If I can get a half off ticket next year I will definitely go back.  This is one of the last brews we tasted and it was as good as it was funny...so very.

Part 2..... GLOW

I had seen signs in Santa Monica for Glow, but had no idea what it was about and decided to check it out.  A quick perusal of the official website and I still didn't know what it was about.  All I knew was that it was a large festival down by the Santa Monica Pier that had something to do with Art and went on until 3 in the morning.  Sounds interesting right?

My friends Nathan, Rachel and Ryan picked me up from Steve's (who decided to call it a night at 8:00 PM...haha).  We parked at my work so we didn't have to mess with parking right downtown which would have been a nightmare.  We trekked down to the pier where mobs of people were gathered and spread all over the beach.  We still didn't know what was going on, but we made our way down to a food truck because everyone was hungry.

 

We stood in line for an hour!!!! For mediocre tacos. It was ridiculous.  But we sat down near the water and enjoyed them, and we were all still in pretty good spirits. 

Then we decided to check out the "Art".  Now I am usually one who appreciates/tolerates most contemporary art.  But this was pretty ridiculous.  Many of the "exhibits" featured random patterns projected on screens.  It would have been fine if you were on LSD, but for those who just say no, like I do, it was underwhelming.  My favorite piece was this lifeguard tower that was covered in foam bubbles, that had a foam machine generating more and more foam all the time (unfortunately I neglected to take a picture..my bad).  That's not the good part.  The funny part was the 60 year old strung out hippie who kept crossing under the rope attempting to touch the bubbles.  He was not successful.  Not even close.  Each time security would gang tackle him and escort him out of the roped off area.  We saw him do this four times before we got bored.  I think the guy thought they were marshmallows.     

The coolest light projection we saw....so you can imagine what the others were like

We checked out a couple more exhibits not even worth describing, and then we decided to head out.  Despite the attractions, it was fun to be out with friends and hordes of people walking the beach at night.  So all and all it was a great day.  Needless to say I slept well that night!



What just happened?



Manna - Korean BBQ

Recently it was my friend Laura's birthday so a group of us gathered and feasted at Manna, an all you can eat Korean BBQ restaurant in the heart of Korea Town.  For $16.99 each person shared in all the meat and side items that they could eat.

The whole place was an open air restaurant with rows of long tables.

We started off at one table, but the waiters realized that our part was too big so we were moved (along with all the side items we had already started munching on) to a bigger table.

Each section of the table comes with all the exotic side dishes seen above as well as a grill that the waiters light.  Then comes the meat.

Mmmmm...meat

And then it is up to you to cook it! Most of the meat is very thin so it doesn't take long.  I was more of an eater than a griller.  I left that task to Dianna and Steve who were cooking at my section.

Soon everyone was munching down on the delicious Korean feast. 

Steve enjoying a rather large Hite beer.

Now comes the good part of the story.  With our belly's full, we watched the table next to us as a woman celebrated her birthday.  Some funky birthday music started and the waiters came out with some cheap champagne, shook it up and let the cork hit the ceiling as champagne spilled out.  Fun, but nothing out of the ordinary right?  Well Steve slinked off and let the waiter know that it was also Laura's birthday.  The birthday music started and the waiters brought out the champagne.  Then the waiter said something to Laura that was apparently lost in translation.  Laura thought the waiter wanted to know if he should pour the champagne for everyone.  So Laura gave him the "yes" nod.  That was not what the waiter said.  Here is what happened.

So far so good.  Everyone is smiles.

And the shower begins...but at least the bottle is still upright!

Ok now he is just pouring champagne on Laura's head... and she is just taking it.

Utter disbelief, smiles, and Laura is a good sport.

Yes that's right, they do this to paying customers.  I've never seen such a thing.   The whole restaurant was laughing and cheering.  Unfortunately Steve's brother Jon failed to press record on his camera so the event was not caught on tape (he's a good guy though ;^).   I was kind of mourning the waste of champagne, but I guess it was worth it.  Ok, yeah it was worth it.  Poor Laura was soaked. But it's not everyday you get doused by champagne on your birthday in Korea town by an enthusiastic Korean waiter.  So if you go to Manna and ask for the birthday special, you know what you're getting into.  All in all it was a great night, good food and even better entertainment.  Oh and if it is your birthday you can also expect a lemon with a candle.  Because nothing says happy birthday like citrus on a plate. 
 

Laura wished for a real cake and a change of clothes

http://www.mannakoreanbbq.com/

Hair's The Place

There is something about me and LA and haircuts.  For the past 10 months that I have lived down here I have only had my hair cut once in LA.  No I haven't grown dreadlocks, I've gotten it cut up in NorCal the other times.  But I needed to get a cut pretty bad. I didn't want to look shaggy for Vegas (that post coming soon!).  Some of you might remember my last haircut in LA at the fancy salon.  Let's just say that experience was a tad bit embarrassing.  But I was ready to get back out there and I scoured the internet for another barber.  I stumbled upon Hair's The Place.  It had 33 reviews and every single one was 5 stars!  In internet land that is just ridiculous.  There is almost always some snarky, bitter guy willing to bash your business and give you a crap review because he had a bad day.  But Hair's the Place's reviews were flawless. And all of them raved about Pamela.  Who was this Pamela? I was intrigued. 

I had to get my cut during my lunch break and luckily the place was only a few blocks away.  I tried to open the door to the tiny shop and the door was locked.  Odd.  Soon Pamela was hugging her customer and ushering the man out the door and letting me in.  Pamela is hard to describe, she is just, wow.  See for yourself.

Pamela

A real woman barber.  She was extremely proud of her shop.  She gave me a tour of her place, showed me her beer fridge and offered me one.  Then she sat me down to talk about my hair.  She was thrilled when I told her how I wanted my hair cut.  She said I was glad that I wanted it "up".  Pamela said, "When I see a guy wearing his hair down it makes me think he is a little weasel, a push over."  She then told me I was about to get the best haircut of my life.  Literally, she said that.  You have to admire this woman's confidence.  After shampooing my hair she got to work cutting.  She told me at least five times how she got her master barber's license in Hawaii.  The conversation ranged from her dog's (complete with photos) to my nor cal origins.  When I told her I used to live in Sonoma County, she wanted to know if I grew pot.  Soon she was putting a large amount of gel in my hair and spraying me with some kind of cologne.  Next it was a strait razor shave on my neck and sideburns, which I have to admit I liked a lot.  All the while Pamela was telling me how good I looked and how I was going to look so hot for Vegas.  After dousing me in aftershave, Pamela finished the cut off by blow drying my hair.  All in all it was a pretty good experience.  Word's can't aptly describe the whole experience because Pamela's personality is just too big.  When I told her that I was going to blog about her she was ecstatic.  "I've never been on a blog!" she exclaimed.

I think everyone should go see Pamela at least once.  The experience is worth 5 stars for sure and she is pretty reasonable for the amount of attention she gives you.  Plus beer?  Pretty awesome.  But, the jury is still out on if I will go back.  There is a little more to the story that I can't post here, but if you are really curious ask me about it sometime (and no it's nothing like that, get your mind out of the gutter :^)

The cut immediately after

The cut after a little gel was taken out. Thoughts?

Laguna Beach near Montage Resort

It was a sand and sun filled weekend.  I biked down to Santa Monica beach on Saturday and soaked up some sun.  A little too much though, as I managed to miss a good portion of my back when applying sunscreen.  Needless to say my tan line looks ridiculous.

But Sunday was the real beach day.  I journeyed down to one of my absolute favorite SoCal beaches.  It is the beach directly below the Montage resort in Laguna Beach, which is right next to Aliso beach.  I came here several times when I was in school.  And I remember it being a lot less crowded.  But I was also not there on a perfect day in August.

The beautiful Montage resort.  I hear it used to be a trailer park.

It was awesome despite the crowds.  The beaches down in this part of Orange County seem more "real" if that makes sense.  With bluffs, cliffs, seaweed, and tidepools they are just a lot more fun to explore.  I met Steve and Laura there and we had a great time just lounging and enjoying the incredible scenery.

The waves were pretty strong and the water was surprisingly cold, but it felt really good to get in the ocean.  Laura spotted an abandoned frisbee that was riding the surf and of course Steve chased after it.

Steve is happy with his new frisbee.

We decided to check out the other side of the beach, which was a bit more crowded, but still lovely. And still no where near the crowd level of Santa Monica.  First we tried to get to the middle beach, but the journey seemed a little trecherous with high tide so we decided against it.  I climbed a big rock to get this 360 degree view.

Bad hair day after a swim in the ocean.  And yeah, I need a haircut

After some reading, tanning, and more relaxing it was time to head home.  But I had to get one more picture.  I would highly recommend this beach if you are willing to make the drive.  It is just beautiful.  And if you can afford to stay at the Montage, well than even better.  Some day I will :) 

Reflections at the beach

I think I wrote this about a year ago when I was sitting alone on a beach in Pales Verdes.  I thought I would share it now.  Happy Monday!

I love that soft light.  That light at the end of the day, when you are sitting alone on a beach.  A rugged beach, littered with seaweed.  A beach with smells, salty, sour, alive. Where sandpipers scurry from place to place looking for a tasty morsel in the hard wet sand.

It is a place like this where that soft light is so transfixing.  Where the sun is looming just above the jagged cliff, casting black shadows and threatening to go down.  And you are sitting on an old log, smooth from the countless waves that have swept over it.  You watch as silhouetted seagulls cross the sun.  The waves rumble, draw back, crest and crash.  The mist rises up into the air and tickles your nose.  You listen to the gentle hum of the wind interrupted by the thunderous crash of a wave, which dissipates into the docile lapping of retreating water over the sand's grooves and trenches.

A small fly buzzes at your ankles but you hardly notice.  You are enraptured by the soft light that glistens on the water and spreads itself delicately over the smooth beach rocks, the stranded kelp and the eroding hillside.  You savor every second.  You know it won't last much longer.

The symphony overwhelms you.  You breath deep.  Deeper than you have in a long time.  You see a pelican dive dramatically into the water.  As soon as it's under, it's back out again with it's prize.  The unfortunate of the school.  This gives you some perspective.  You watch the pelican fly over the horizon and you glimpse the last of the soft light, as the sun retires under the sea.  You stare moments longer trying to savor the image.

Water tingles your toes and just like that you are back to reality.  High tide has come.  It is time to go.  You take one more deep breath, one more far off gaze and you promise yourself that when things get rough tomorrow, when life returns to chaos, you will remember your beach and that soft light.

Ice House Canyon Hike

Another weekend, another great hike.  This time it was a bit more of a trek than usual.  Ice House canyon is in the Upper San Gabriel mountains, just north of Upland.  Steve, Laura and I left at 6:45 to get there! AM!  We picked up Laura's younger brother and headed into the canyon.  Usually it costs $5 to park but for some reason this weekend was free! Win!  The downside was that the parking lot was packed and we tacked on another half mile to our hike because we had to park down the road.  But I was just glad to see some trees! Pine trees nonetheless.  The air smelled incredible.  I think that's how air is supposed to smell. Fresh.  We started off at 5000 feet and started to climb over 3000 more.   

The weather was perfect and I was really happy to be in nature.  So I climbed a log.  And then I took this picture of Laura's brother.

I climbed this log too. So I could take this blown out picture.

There were a lot of cabin ruins along the first part of the trail.  This was one of the more substantial ones.  Most of the others were just chimneys.   

My future residence..could be a bit drafty in winter

A couple miles in we started to get to the switchbacks.  Let me just say I hate switchbacks.  Ok hate is a strong word. But sometimes you wish you could just go strait up.   

But I love these views. 

We finally made it to what a sign informed us was Ice House Saddle.  I'm not sure what that means, but it wasn't all that satisfying.  It wasn't at the top of the peak and we decided that we had to get to the top of the peak.  We took a break for lunch.  Not a bad view for lunch eh?

It was another mile to the very top and we charged it.  The air was getting thinner and the gravel was very loose, so it was not an easy ascent.  I have never seen this before, a pine cone with clear sap over it.  It looked like icicles were dripping down the cone. Pretty cool

I call it a Pinecicle

We were almost to the top.  I was ready to get there and I charged ahead. 

 I paused to catch my breath and found this cool wood formation.

Cool wood formation

Finally we made it!  There were no sign at the top so I decided to get out my sharpie and my pocket hatchet and make one real quick.

Ok, I kid.  The sign was already there.  But kind of ghetto right?  We hung out for a while and just admired the views.

After some group meditation we began our descent.  Going down was a lot quicker.  I was doing my patented "controlled fall" down the the mountain.  We were surprised at just how far we had gone.  When we neared the end of the hike we decided that it was time for some creek stompin'.  The water was crystal clear and so cold it was almost painful.

After some hesitation, I decided to just go for it and jump in.  I went all the way under and it took my breath away.  But it was so refreshing, especially after being sweaty and dusty.  Laura and her brother soon followed, but Steve wasn't feeling it.  We dried off and headed back to the car.  It was another successful hike.  I would highly recommend Ice House Canyon.  It is amazing how close it is to civilization and yet you never get the sense that you are anywhere near it.  We were lucky enough to go back to dinner waiting for us at Laura's house, and man did it taste good!