i'm surprised to discover LA even HAS a metro/subway line. i heard it was pretty much all about cars.

i have an idea! okay, you move to LA, try to live there without a car, and make a documentary about it. oo! oo! that would be fun.

that's gotta be the weirdest looking street map i've ever seen! there's no beltway!

http://www.losangelesmap.net/los-angeles-map-small.jpg

it's like... a jalepeno shaped city.



i'm so glad i've had this little talk with myself. oh! i see i've brought myself along! how fabulous.

You're talking to yourself about L.A.
Great.

Now,  i'm a fabulously beautiful would-be movie star here and everytime I go out it's a crapshoot. I could stand out like the diamond I am, or be .5 in a million.

(btw, the new interior design of the Cargo Cafe is amazing...you must see. it's called "Haunted Grandma's House.  Tons of old looking portraits but no one in any of them have a head.  chandeliers and old wallpaper. great.)

some interesting mixed results from web surfing LA related items.

craigslist gives me hope. it's mostly earnest people looking for someone to help edit their screenplay or play guitar for their next-to-be-huge singer-songwriter act. the LA Weekly bulletin, though, is just... smutty. omg. :o

i guess new york is sorta the other LA, if you think about it. but i was mulling over these issues while i was in the UK, which is very sorta non-sprawl, and i realized... i sorta love sprawl.  :-[ the whole wide fusion of artificial and natural, it's really quite beautiful. it gets a bad rap. new york is so... compact. and basically all of the UK is designed similarly, either farmland or concentrated urbanism, no inbetween. LA is like... the city made of sprawl. sounds great to me. although i imagine it's hard to get around.

right now i'm watching an LA public access t.v. station on the web. you really wanna get a sense of a place, grok their public access.

I think nally lives there.

i knew he lived in california but i wasnt sure where. i'm jealous.

http://www.laist.com/attachments/la_zach/hollywoodshot.jpg

i knew he lived in california but i wasnt sure where. i'm jealous.




just wanna say that i have never had a good time in california, except in san louis obispo...and you know the only reason that Jeff still lives there..

you can check out anytime you like but you can never leave

just wanna say that i have never had a good time in california, except in san louis obispo...and you know the only reason that Jeff still lives there..

you can check out anytime you like but you can never leave

hotel california -- i feel that way about d.c. i moved to virginia to go to grad school, which i graduated from 10 years ago. since then it's been all inertia. i've only been to california once, to san diego and a cute little place called oceanside when i was a kid. LOVED it. LVOED IT LOVED IT LOVED it. at that point i hadn't traveled much.

of course, a lot of people who even LIVE in california say bad things about LA.

hotel california -- i feel that way about d.c. i moved to virginia to go to grad school, which i graduated from 10 years ago. since then it's been all inertia. i've only been to california once, to san diego and a cute little place called oceanside when i was a kid. LOVED it. LVOED IT LOVED IT LOVED it. at that point i hadn't traveled much.

of course, a lot of people who even LIVE in california say bad things about LA.


San Diego is FABULOUS.  So is San Francisco.  Los Angeles sucks.

San Diego is FABULOUS.  So is San Francisco.  Los Angeles sucks.

agreed.

but...

that's where they make the movies! :o

but...

that's where they make the movies! :o


no no. you have to move to some northern suburb and get a job as an editor.

California is okay...

It's expensive, though, and the people suck (like Rice Cube said)!

:P I've more friends in every other state than California.... Well... Okay. Just Pennsylvania, but still!

but...

that's where they make the movies! :o


They make tons of movies here - no joke.  You can come and live in our guest room if you want.

They make tons of movies here - no joke.  You can come and live in our guest room if you want.
salt lake city? really?

evidently they make a lot in canada. licensing for locations is a lot cheaper. that's been going on for a while.

this is good. i should research the independent studios, find out what they're doing. cuz honestly, anyway, i haven't liked much of what's come out of hollywood since, eh, the early 80s anyway.

salt lake city? really?

evidently they make a lot in canada. licensing for locations is a lot cheaper. that's been going on for a while.

this is good. i should research the independent studios, find out what they're doing. cuz honestly, anyway, i haven't liked much of what's come out of hollywood since, eh, the early 80s anyway.




Well, more in the mountains and in southern Utah, but yeah.  And the Sundance Film Festival is here every year, which is tres cool. 

I just moved to LA a few weeks ago.  On Christmas Day to be exact (XMas gift to myself).  It's been great so far.  Yeah it's pretty expensive out here, but bargings can be found.  There are also so many opportunities, especially in the entertainment industry.  Jobs galore, but it helps to know someone; you'll be okay if you don't.  I got a number of interviews the 3 days I was out here prior to moving and snagged up 2 jobs. Good jobs that actually involve what I'm interested in.  It was easy.  Finding a place was pretty difficult but like anywhere else, stuff can be found for cheap if you look hard enough or at the right place.  We currently have NO TV, but craigslist is our best friend.  Bless Craig and his dandy list!

LA is really like any other town.  And it's like it's own little world.  :)

You remember me talking about Iggy the Ukranian who played guitar in my brief-lived glam band?

He moved out to L.A, I still talk to him sometimes like e-mail style. He could never work out cell phones.  ???

Anywho - He loves L.A, but then again he grew up in like ex-soviet eastern europe so anything has to be better. From what he's said it takes a long time to get anywhere and it's really really really really expensive. But generally you'll earn more doing whatever job you're doing out there.

He also said it's soooooo insular. It's kind of isolated from the rest of the world in the way that DC, NY, Chicago etc are connected to the rest of the world.

hell, sounds good to me. that tears it! i'm goin'.

hell, sounds good to me. that tears it! i'm goin'.


I'll be more than happy to disgrace myself in L.A. I think I could show them a thing or two.

Californian jerks.

My brother-in-law lived in L.A. for several years.  He had that actor's bug.  Like 99.9% of young people who go out to L.A. with the actor's bug, he worked as a waiter in a cafe, then he came back east.  Actually, FIRST he got in a terrible motorcycle crash, escaped with minor injuries, but found out he had advanced testicular cancer, smelt the last 48-hours of life, miraculously pulled through, and then came back East!
:o

Anyway, he described L.A. as a cursed city.  The greatest factor in your personal worth is your car, the faster the better, but the highways are so clogged you can barely get past walking speed, so what's the point? 

Nah, Southern California never appealed to me.  I would love to live in San Fran, but it's so expensive it's a joke!
::)

The best thing about LA (in song quotes) is you can go ...

"Walking in LA"
"Drinking in LA"

or to quote Randy Newman, you can say "I Love LA"

I was born in LA, and lived there most of my life.  And yes, it is a great city.  As long as you:

Do not mind a 30 mile commute taking 90 minutes.
Do not mind spending $1,200 a month for a ghetto apartment that looks like it should have been condemned in the 1970's.
Do not mind making $25 an hour, and going broke.
Do not mind spending $250 a month for basic liability insurance for a 1970's vehicle.
Do not mind locking all your doors and windows at all time, to prevent break-ins.
Do not mind useing a car alarm, and drive with windows up and doors locked to keep from getting carjacked.
Do not mind walking through gangbangers every time you want to enter or leave a business.
Do not mind having to pay an average of $200+ for your annual vehicle registration.
Do not mind paying an average of $.75-1.50 more for a gallon of gas then everyplace else in the country.
Do not mind all the disruptions from the constant labor strikes, protest marches, and other "media circuis events".
Do not mind living in a city that is within 10-15 years of having yet another major earthquake.
Do not mind living in a city that erupts into violence on an average of every 10 years.
Do not mind that you have to be careful where you go and what you wear, because of various gangs.

Yea, LA is a great city.  That is why I was so glad when I was finally able to escape, and moved to Alabama in 2003.  I make half as much, and live twice as well.

salt lake city? really?


In Orem and Provo actually.

One of the lingering effects of the "Donny & Marie" show, was the movement of a lot of Hollywood infrastructure to Utah.  When the show stopped production, a lot of others moved there to take advantage of lower labor rates, lower land rates, and a more friendly local government (trying to get filming permits in California is both a frustrating political process, and very expensive).

If it wasn't for earthquakes I'd love to live in L.A.

Gah almost any large city in the U.S. really. I have to get out of here. :(

and the people suck


Thats how I feel about Texas. Its a nice PLACE, but the people suck big huge monkey balls.

Do not mind paying an average of $.75-1.50 more for a gallon of gas then everyplace else in the country.





Chicagoans have to pay a butt-load more money for gas than people elsewhere in the country because the city taxes gas 3 times.  A lot of the stuff on your list could relate to just about any urban area in the United States.  It's hardly indicative to just LA.

Chicagoans have to pay a butt-load more money for gas than people elsewhere in the country because the city taxes gas 3 times.  A lot of the stuff on your list could relate to just about any urban area in the United States.  It's hardly indicative to just LA.


Yeah yeah yeah.. just wait. Go to anywhere in europe (preferably Northern Europe where the socialists have a strangle-hold) and buy gasoline. Go on.. I Double Dog Dare You! Many has been the time it's cost easily in excess of $120 to fill my work van.

Yeah yeah yeah.. just wait. Go to anywhere in europe (preferably Northern Europe where the socialists have a strangle-hold) and buy gasoline. Go on.. I Double Dog Dare You! Many has been the time it's cost easily in excess of $120 to fill my work van.



I know, you've mentioned that to me before.  All I was saying was that LA is not the only city in the country where you pay more for gas than elsewhere.  My friends in Chicago are stunned at how cheaper gas is down here.

I know, you've mentioned that to me before.  All I was saying was that LA is not the only city in the country where you pay more for gas than elsewhere.  My friends in Chicago are stunned at how cheaper gas is down here.


I just wanted to get on my high horse. Give the stable boy some time.  :\'(

I just wanted to get on my high horse. Give the stable boy some time.  :\'(



Okay, okay.  I'll allow you to re-mount. 



.....that sounded vaguely dirty.

If it wasn't for earthquakes I'd love to live in L.A.


Earthquakes are really no big deal.  In any one area, they only get a major one once every 20-25 years.  And when they do have them, very few people actually die.  Mostly there is just a lot of structural damage.  And at least they do not get the storm damage that you see in the SE and NE areas of the country.

Myself, I think quakes are rather fun.  As we used to say, "they are an E-Ticket ride".  A minute or so of shaking, and then it's over.

And the shaking is not what most people think it is like.  Think of sitting on the side of the road in a mid-size car, and having a semi pass by at 55 mph.  That is about the amount of shaking in a 6.0 earthquake.  The only difference is that a 6.0 quake lasts about 2 minutes.  Most of the time, a 3.0 quake is about the same shaking, it just lasts from 10-20 seconds.

And LA even has an earthquake alarm system in place.  On a quiet night, you can listen to the car alarms going off in the distance, and hear them getting close as the shock wave moves in.  This tells you what direction the quake is comming in from.   :D  Although it only gives you about 10-30 seconds of warning.

Oh, and you smokers?  A pack of smokes starts at around $5.

Yeah yeah yeah.. just wait. Go to anywhere in europe (preferably Northern Europe where the socialists have a strangle-hold) and buy gasoline. Go on.. I Double Dog Dare You! Many has been the time it's cost easily in excess of $120 to fill my work van.

Oh yeah, the socialists totally screw you on gasoline...but the "capitalists" here in the States are doing their best to catch up!  The U.S. is the perfect candidate for a giant dipstick reaming from the oil barons.  Imagine $6.00 a gallon in a waaaay bigger country with waaaay bigger cars and waaaay less mass transit! 
Especially L.A., like Mushroom was saying, you may be going only 15 miles on the freeway, but you'll sit in an hour of bumper-to-bumper traffic from entrance to exit!  Boston's notorious too.  It's been a good long time since I've sat in rush hour traffic on Rte. 128, but it'll never be long enough!
http://www.inthe00s.com/smile/03/crying.gif

Yeah yeah yeah.. just wait. Go to anywhere in europe (preferably Northern Europe where the socialists have a strangle-hold) and buy gasoline. Go on.. I Double Dog Dare You! Many has been the time it's cost easily in excess of $120 to fill my work van.


Seems that if I remember correctly, back in 1981 the cost of a gallon of gas in Cornwall was around 2.50 -3 pounds sterling...

Yeah yeah yeah.. just wait. Go to anywhere in europe (preferably Northern Europe where the socialists have a strangle-hold) and buy gasoline. Go on.. I Double Dog Dare You! Many has been the time it's cost easily in excess of $120 to fill my work van.

Your "work van"?  I thought there was no incentive to work under "socialism."  Just kick back and collect the government dole!
;D

Oh yeah, the socialists totally screw you on gasoline...but the "capitalists" here in the States are doing their best to catch up!  The U.S. is the perfect candidate for a giant dipstick reaming from the oil barons.  Imagine $6.00 a gallon in a waaaay bigger country with waaaay bigger cars and waaaay less mass transit! 
Especially L.A., like Mushroom was saying, you may be going only 15 miles on the freeway, but you'll sit in an hour of bumper-to-bumper traffic from entrance to exit!  Boston's notorious too.  It's been a good long time since I've sat in rush hour traffic on Rte. 128, but it'll never be long enough!
http://www.inthe00s.com/smile/03/crying.gif


If it was $6 a gallon.. we could fight everyone!!!  ;D

I like visiting L.A. (not necessarily L.A. proper).  It's expensive to live there but a half day's drive and often cheap for me to fly from Phoenix to visit.  Hollywood is meh.  I prefer areas like the coast in Orange County.  Ventura/Santa Barbara's pretty nice too.  My cousin lived right along PCH in Laguna around 1997; he was paying an ungodly amount in rent for an apartment that was about 22' x 15'.  But hey, he could walk to the beach.  :D  And driving the 101 and/or PCH from LA to SF is a fun road trip. :)

L.A. is a fun and exciting place to visit, but I don't think I'd want to live there. In fact, I'm actually trying to get further away from California. Seattle is more of my kind of city.

[quote author=

Just wish LA's mass transit were like Chicago's.  I don't have a car so right now I'm relying on my roommates for transportation, and that really sucks.  Wish I could afford my own car.


LA (and most of California) suffers from a horrible case of NIMBY (Not In My Backyard).  They go around saying that they want Public Transit, but they fight tooth and nails whenever it tries to come to their area.

I remember in the early 1980's when they announced the Metro Rail.  The plans were truely awesome.  From Long Beach, Pasadena, Santa Monica, and Canoga Park to Downtown in under 20 minutes.  No more then 2-3 trains to get almost anywhere in the LA basin.  And if you had to go further, Metro Link rail to the outlying areas (Thousand Oaks, Orange County, Simi Valley, etc).

Then as time progressed, people started to complain.  First to die was the Wilshire Corridor.  Instead of following Wilshire all the way to Santa Monica, it stopped barely 15 miles from Downtown.  Next to die was the LAX extension.  Cab Drivers protested the potential loss of revenue so much, the line ends 3 miles from the airport.  You only solution is waiting 45 minutes for the "free bus", or taking a cab 5 miles.

The final route to die was the one to Canoga Park.  Instead of following the old Southern-Pacific right-of-way (which would have been within 5 miles of 90% of The Valley), it ended up dying in North Hollywood and was within 5 miles of only 10% of The Valley.  Then, one by one the extensions died, only leaving the trains going through Downtown, Long Beach, and Hollywood.

In the end, nobody seems to have wanted it.  People who bought homes next to railroad tracks that had been in place for 60 years complained because they did not want to see trains going down the tracks!  I have about as much pity for them as for those in Irvine, who bought houses near El Toro Marine Air Station, and who now complain that they do not want John Wayne Airport moved there (which is what the Marines gave it to them for in the first place).

And to make it worse, nobody wants to rely on the MTA (public transit agency).  As regular as clockwork, they go on strike at least 2 times every 3 years.  In 2002, they were out for almost a month for a drivers strike.  Then a year later in 2003 they were out for 3 weeks for a mechanics strike.  Public Transit can't be trusted, if they are shut down for almost a month a year.

Of course, this is also the state that had rolling blackouts a few years ago, and imports almost half of it's electricity from other states.  In the last 25 years, they have approved no new power generation facilities.  At least 3 have been refused since the 2000-2001 blackouts.

The gas is a different matter.  The gasoline sold in California is regulated by the state, and has to be of a specific blend.  That means that gas has to be refined special, and can't be sold in another state, or imported from another state if stocks are low.  There are special additives and oxygenation that are only used in California.  Add to that the insane taxes put on it by the state (which are the highest in the country).  In 2002, they tried to inrease it another $.75 a gallon, as a way to make poeple drive less (and line the state's pockets).


Oh yeah, the socialists totally screw you on gasoline...but the "capitalists" here in the States are doing their best to catch up!  The U.S. is the perfect candidate for a giant dipstick reaming from the oil barons.  Imagine $6.00 a gallon in a waaaay bigger country with waaaay bigger cars and waaaay less mass transit! 


Actually, the price is not set or controlled by the Oil Barons, but by the Oil Shieks.  International prices on oil are largely set by OPEC.  And the last time I checked, the US is not a member of OPEC.

If you want to complain about the price of oil, talk to Iran, Iraq, Suadi Arabia, UAE, and Venezuela.  And to a lesser degree, the International Commodities market also has a huge influence on the price.  Just like it is not your local jewelry store that sets the price of Gold and Diamonds, it is the commodoties market (Gold) and the DeBeers Cartel (Diamonds) that set the prices on those comodities.  They are stuck just like you when it comes to setting prices on thse items.

"Oil barons" for me is just a loose expression for those who control the oil industry...Saudi, Iranian, American, they're all scum.  Of course, they've got us "over a barrel."  Jimmy Carter was a wimp and a loser, right?  Another far-left whacko talking conservation and alternative energy sources.  Who the hell wants to listen to that?  We'd all rather he th masculine throbbing of a SUV engine...even if it costs us $75. to fill the som'itch up!

Such a sad story about L.A., but it's not much different from most of the country.  Once you've designed the civil infrastructure for the automobile, you're stuck with it.  That is, you're stuck with it until the private passenger car becomes a totally unmanageable mode of transportation....which might happen in the next few decades with or without hybrids and electrics.

where has mike been?

I went to L.A when I did my backpacking tour of America, it was ok. San Fransisco was definatly better.

where has mike been?


packing.

packing.


for what?

for what?


His big move to L.A. Duuh.

His big move to L.A. Duuh.


he's not really doing that. he can't be.

"Oil barons" for me is just a loose expression for those who control the oil industry...Saudi, Iranian, American, they're all scum.  Of course, they've got us "over a barrel."  Jimmy Carter was a wimp and a loser, right? 


Actually, President Carter got screwed by an "oil embargo", just like what happened in 1973.  When most of the oil exporters refuse to sell oil to a country (or a major exporter suddenly stops the shipments), it is only natural that the prices will go sky-high on what little domestic production the country does have.  This is akin to the problems the old Soviet Union had.  Of course, their problem was not an embargo, as much as not having enough hard currency to pay for all the petrolium they wanted.

I place no blame on President Carter for the 1979 Energy Crisis.  In 1979, you had Iran being taken over by Revolutionaries, and stopping exports to the US (at the time, Iran supplied almost 30% of US oil).  Then at the same time Saudi Arabia was catching up to increased exports to make up for that loss, Saddam Hussein invaded Iran, and turned the entire gulf into a free-fire zone.  This cut exports from everywhere to everywhere.  No matter who the president was at that time, he would have been screwed.

And one of the things that is xurrently making out oil more expensive is the "grey outs" of supply from Venezuela.  Whenever Hugo Chavez gets a wild hair up his ass, he cuts exports to the US by 10-40%.  He cut them 25% within a week of Hurricane Katrina.  Those imports account for 10-15 of our oil supply, so of course it has an effect on the price we have to pay.

he's not really doing that. he can't be.


Sure he is. That's where Kim lives.

My SIL used to live there and we went there frequently. I have to say that I hated it. Sure there's stuff to do-beaches (Venice Beach is way cool) and such, but I really hate the traffic, the smog, the earthquakes, the fires, mudslides, the crime, prices, etc. etc. Before we were married, Carlos thought about moving there (to be close to his sister). I knew if he did, I wouldn't follow because I would hate living there so much. I am really glad he decided not to.



Cat

Sure he is. That's where Kim lives.


oh......


no.


Wait! Maybe he got that interview!!!!!

oh......


no.


Wait! Maybe he got that interview!!!!!


Nah, the hostage situation would have been on CNN by now.

Nah, the hostage situation would have been on CNN by now.


good point.