Jun 21, 2016 24-hour tour of my hometown
Going on trips and trying to figuring out an itinerary is a blast. You scribble down interesting places to visit, stuff to eat, and people to see according to geography and then balance them out like a word problem. But what happens when an old friend comes to town and stays with you? My college pal and his family came to Los Angeles last weekend and spent one night… Oh crap!
Jeff wanted his family to see Griffith Observatory, one of the first places he visited when he moved to Los Angeles to attend UCLA, but since we are in the middle of a heatwave we decided the hike would have to wait. So during the sun’s peak hours we went to Little Tokyo for karaoke. I sang The Clash, he sang Judas Priest, our wives and kids were mortified, and then we had caffeinated beverages and donuts before going up the hill to see where James Dean, Natalie Wood, and poor Sal Mineo hid out from the cops. Old Hollywood meets Art Deco meets Steampunk–we arrived just in time to see the Tesla coil in action.
After driving past Danzig’s house, we grabbed some Indian food around the across the street from Elliott Smith wall and around the corner from the Dave Choe mural. I can’t believe I didn’t drive us past the Grease high school on the way home to drop off the children. So convenient that Jeff’s daughter is old enough to babysit.
We went to see Mike Watt & The Secondmen at the El Cid, a tapas bar that looks more like the inside of a cuckoo clock. Jeff and I used to go to a lot of punk shows in college and back at our house he had skimmed Under The Big Black Sun: A Personal History of Punk Rock, A Wailing of a Town: An Oral History of Early San Pedro Punk and More 1977-1985, and Save Music in Chinatown: The First Two Years, so the set of Minutemen songs was a perfect L.A. punk nightcap for our visitors from the land of Grunge.
We got up early and dropped by Hollywood Forever cemetery to pay our respects to Johnny and Dee Dee Ramone. What does it say about Los Angeles the two New York’s legends are buried here? (Then again, the most-loved Ramone is buried in Lyndhurst, NJ.) We also saw Faye Wray, Vampira, and Toto the dog. One of these days, I’ll locate Tomota Du Plenty, Rozz Williams, and George Harrison…
Of course, no house guest of mine visits without going to Chinatown. We had dim sum at Golden Dragon before walking over to the plaza where the old Hong Kong Cafe and Madame Wong’s were, as well as the Chow Yun-Fat hand prints and signature in the cement as well as the Bruce Lee statue. Punk rock and Chinese movies–my favorites!
Now what can we do when they return this week?
Grab some mix tapes, drive your crew around in a van, and follow Imprint on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook, too.