LArgo

We were rushing to Los Angeles as we had a date with Mr. Jon Brion at the Largo’s and they have a strict policy about being late. Of course, we ran into several traffic jams and somehow the HOV lanes weren’t helpful at all.

When we arrived at Guestmob assigned hotel, the Millennium Biltmore, we checked in, cried a few tears about paying 40 USD per night for parking and went up to our room — only to be surprised by just one bed and the room not being made. I had given the double beds request when I booked for Guestmob and I had also phoned them the night before. And STILL they were not able to get stuff right. There was a tray with meals, almost untouched and lots of stuff laying around. After the beach in San Diego, we both wanted to take a shower, but we couldn’t before house keeping had tidied the room. And they took ages to come. After an hour of waiting, I gave up and went to the bathroom. In the meanwhile Andrea had a talk with the manager (after I tried to call him and only spoke onto his voice box).

Andrea and I made it to Largo’s at the Coronet in time, got our almost first row seats as we were pretty early and went our for some dinner at a German/American fusion kitchen. They had all sorts of chilis and dogs. They even used Weisswurscht in a bun and had some more perverted uses for this sausage. At least they would take the skin off. But the chili was very delicious.

Back at the Largo’s we had a few more minutes so we had a drink at the bar over there… when suddenly Ben Folds and his wife entered the room. I couldn’t believe it! I said Hi to him, told him that I was a big fan and shook his hand. He hasn’t been at the Largo’s for years he told me. What a pleasant coincident. Unfortunately, due to the strict policy regarding electronic devices, I left my camera, my phone and my iPod back in the car. Damn, no photo (later on, looking at all the other people playing with their phones I found out that a lot of people don’t give a shit about that policy).

As introduction Zach Galifianakis (the weird guy from The Hangover) appeared doing some stand-up comedy with is typically nervous style. Hilarious! And also a very pleasant surprise. Then Jon Brion started playing on one of his dozen guitars (no kidding) or on a heavily modified piano. He played whatever came into his mind or by taking requests from the audience. At some point, a guy with a violin joined him. He had a difficult job improvising because most of Jon Brion’s songs don’t use the bog standard harmonics and chords. In fact, it was again amazing what colourful chord progressions can come out of a piano, e.g. when he did a heavily improvised version of As Time goes By. But the violin guy (Richard?) did a great job.

And when the audience requested ABBA, we all made a version of Dancing Queen that would have made Elliott Smith proud — Jon said it was so sad, it could have been a Smith version. That was so funny. I can’t tell you how much I enjoyed seeing Jon Brion live and having such a great night in Los Angeles.

The next morning, we slept very long. We took a driving tour around Los Angeles, which was a bit difficult without navigation system and/or having the support of Andrea not being very good at navigation. We drove along Mulholland drive and then later down to Santa Monica. We spent some time at the beach and then along the pedestrian area where we watched the various artists and musicians. There were several cinemas and as our taste of movies would be similar divergent as our taste for music (no way to get her see The Candidate starring Zach Galifianakis and Will Ferrel), it took a while until we settled on Premium Rush, which was a surprisingly good action movie.

Our last day, I spent a lot in front of the computer, doing some more organizing stuff and that was okay with Andrea. I had hoped I could meet up with Raoul again, but somehow our method of communication failed (lagged delivery or battery empty). We ended up in Santa Monica again with me playing guitar at the beach while Andrea went for a something called Jolking(TM) (some kind of jogging with straps from legs to arms). As a last supper, we had Tapas in a Spanish restaurant (unfortunately not half as good as the ones in Washington).

And so ended the day and my visit in the United States of America. The two months were full of interesting encounters and packed with so many countless places. Never again. Next time, a few states instead of 25 is plenty. However, I have the feeling that the US is not on my top list to visit again.

Here’s a list of things I found remarkable about the US:

• Popcorn with butter sauce.
• Pancakes with extra butter.
• Lots of “roadworks” signs with no roadworks following.
• Warnings for loose gravel on a perfectly good road.
• Signs warning about road damage, dips and bumps that are ridiculous, while at the same time on some much worse roads those signs are completely absent.
• Road signs mayhem, especially at junctions.
• All the people are kind and friendly. And most of them DO insist on having guns. And buy them at Walmart.
• Native Americans have been deprived and only a shadow of what they once were. They have lost the spark in their eyes.
• You will not see any Afro-American or Hispanic-American tourists at most places.
• Many homeless people at least in California.
• Complete hyperbolism of many things (e.g. how dangerous or strenuous things are).
• Prices without tax make it a pain in the ass to find out how much you actually gonna pay.

Thanks to all the people I met, the people that supported me and those that shared my path for a while. Now it seems like I’m almost home. The United Kingdom (Scotland and Wales) and Ireland await me. Looking forward to it.