Well, I'm off to L.A. today

[tbdana]

I hope that the reports of widespread rioting and the city burning are exaggerated. Hope it's peaceful around Vibrato Grill.

[BGuttman]

The only demonstrations have been at ICE detention centers and at Home Depot where undocumented workers wait for job calls.

And if you have a very good suntan, wear a light foundation

[JohnL]

Most of the activity has been in the downtown area; I know they closed the Hollywood (US101) Freeway for a while on Sunday. We were up in Glendale for a concert and avoided that area driving home to OC Sunday evening.

I just checked; Vibrato Grill is north and west of downtown, so I don't think you'll have troubles. That said, keep an eye on Google Maps and sigalert.com, and maybe an ear on KNX (97.1 FM/1070 AM), from time to time.

[ghmerrill]

Be careful where you step. I say this because whenever I think of LA (and whenever I've been there) I'm reminded of a professor (renowned probability theorist) for whom I worked as a graduate assistant, and on whose Black Angus farm I also worked for four years to help make ends meet while a student. He once said to me "Whenever I'm in LA I always have the feeling that it's all run off a big extension cord that's plugged in somewhere. And if I'm not careful where I step, I may trip over that cord, and the entire city will stop running when it's pulled out of its socket." I've never actually seen that extension cord, but I'm always leery in LA (and in fact avoid it as much as possible).

[Finetales]

You will be fine.

It's literally just a couple of blocks around Grand Ave. in DTLA, which is far away from the Vibrato. I drove under it yesterday coming back from work. Anyone who believes that the whole city is burning is...well I won't get into that.

Regardless, nobody is going to protest in the mostly-residential hills south of Sherman Oaks.

Be careful where you step. [...] but I'm always leery in LA (and in fact avoid it as much as possible).

[ghmerrill]

Different strokes ... I avoid any city as much as possible.

[JohnL]

Looks like there are some streets and freeway off-ramps closed downtown; other than that, all I see is the usual traffic. That said, it's still early. I expect the activity level will increase as the day goes on, but I also expect it'll be much like yesterday - focused on the Federal Buildings in downtown LA and Santa Ana.

I know the news coverage looks pretty scary, but it's pretty much business is usual for most people.

Like I said, you should keep and eye and/or ear on traffic, but that's something one does here as a matter of course, whether there's something going on or not.

[Burgerbob]

Vibrato is a nice joint. Enjoy!

[harrisonreed]

Different strokes ... I avoid any city as much as possible.

I mean..., it's not Tokyo. So if that's the basis of comparison then you have a point.

[ghmerrill]

I mean..., it's not Tokyo. So if that's the basis of comparison then you have a point.

Hmmm ... Tokyo might be interesting. Never been there. But I don't think I'd "like" it. So far, and in terms of basis of comparison, the list of cities I can firmly say I like includes: Basel.

Actually, Quebec City isn't bad. Parts of Torino are okay, and the food is great. Same for Vienna. I kinda like Lugano. Verona is pretty neat (although the last time I was there, there were a lot of motor scooters in the river). But I like the statue of that priest in the church courtyard with the knife through his head. Maybe I like Verona, but not as much as Basel. Strasbourg seemed nice, although I was there for only part of a day -- in and out on the train from Basel. Geneva? Meh. I don't care for London at all -- or Paris (similarly NYC, although when I was a kid and in my teens I thought it was magical -- maybe it really was ... then). I certainly spent a lot of time in/around Chicago, and my kids were born there, but I never liked it (aside from the food opportunities and the Field Museum). I also don't like Seattle, which is where my son and his family are now (although Eastern Washington, over the mountains, is very interesting and cool in a kind of old wild west way).

But LA is definitely on my "Avoid" list, as all of CA has been for decades (except for some "necessary" visits to relatives in the past).

I'm just not a city guy, although I think most of us get enamored with them when we're young.

[harrisonreed]

Yeah, Tokyo just has one of the lowest crime rates of any city (especially of that size), the best public transportation, best restaurants, best museums, best historical sites, best consumer goods and niche interest goods (like chef knives or cameras), a whole city block of used instrument stores and instrument repair shops, best concert halls ...

It's not that great honestly

[jthomas105]

Different strokes ... I avoid any city as much as possible.

At least we get better service from our post office.

[ghmerrill]

Now you're tempting me -- at least for a visit. But it's a LONG way off.

Hmmm ... Raleigh to Toyko is listed as "16.5" hours on Delta. That's not too much further than interesting places in Europe. Or only 14 hours from Atlanta or 13.5 from Montreal. A stopover in Montreal would be the better way for us to go, I think. Also, my wife likes Montreal.

Something to think about.

[ghmerrill]

At least we get better service from our post office.

Maybe -- if you can get to it through the traffic and the various sorts of crowds.

[HawaiiTromboneGuy]

Yeah, Tokyo just has one of the lowest crime rates of any city (especially of that size), the best public transportation, best restaurants, best museums, best historical sites, best consumer goods and niche interest goods (like chef knives or cameras), a whole city block of used instrument stores and instrument repair shops, best concert halls ...

It's not that great honestly

Just went to Ochanomizu the other day

[harrisonreed]

Dang how often do you go to Japan?

[tbdana]

But LA is definitely on my "Avoid" list, as all of CA has been for decades (except for some "necessary" visits to relatives in the past).

My California home, with spouse and horse. Yeah, it's a hellhole! Definitely avoid at all costs!




I'm in L.A. now. Have seen no violence, no protesters, no freeway closures, no police activity. The only thing I saw was a caravan of military vehicles stopped alongside the freeway with soldiers milling about. That's it.

I suspect the media might be exaggerating this.

[BPBasso]

I suspect the media might be exaggerating this.

They would never....

That country side looks nice. I'm jealous

[HawaiiTromboneGuy]

Dang how often do you go to Japan?

Only once a year It’s a quick 8 hour flight from Hawaii.

[ghmerrill]

I'm in L.A. now. Have seen no violence, no protesters, no freeway closures, no police activity. The only thing I saw was a caravan of military vehicles stopped alongside the freeway with soldiers milling about. That's it.

I suspect the media might be exaggerating this.

I've been to NYC several different times when I didn't see any bridges, the Statue of Liberty, or a giant park with a zoo in it. I think the tourism people exaggerate all that. I've also been to St. Louis a few times when I didn't see that giant arch they show in pictures and videos. Pretty sure it's not there -- though it may have been at one time or another.

[JohnL]

I'm in L.A. now. Have seen no violence, no protesters, no freeway closures, no police activity. The only thing I saw was a caravan of military vehicles stopped alongside the freeway with soldiers milling about. That's it.

I suspect the media might be exaggerating this.

It's just like when there's a big fire in the area, it looks to people from out of the area that the entirety of Southern California is burning. It's the nature of such things - they're going to focus on the newsworthy event.

That said, there is a curfew in downtown LA tonight; it's a roughly one square mile area (FYI: the City of Los Angeles is 502 square miles and the County of Los Angeles is 4,751 square miles - we have big counties here in SoCal).

Dang how often do you go to Japan?

Only once a year It’s a quick 8 hour flight from Hawaii.

Given that getting anywhere from Hawaii involves a fairly long flight, 8 hours doesn't sound too bad. I think it's about 5½ hours to the the closest airport on the mainland.

[tim]

I’m in Lucerne, Switzerland right now. Lovely city and people.

[HawaiiTromboneGuy]

I'm in L.A. now. Have seen no violence, no protesters, no freeway closures, no police activity. The only thing I saw was a caravan of military vehicles stopped alongside the freeway with soldiers milling about. That's it.

I suspect the media might be exaggerating this.

It's just like when there's a big fire in the area, it looks to people from out of the area that the entirety of Southern California is burning. It's the nature of such things - they're going to focus on the newsworthy event.

That said, there is a curfew in downtown LA tonight; it's a roughly one square mile area (FYI: the City of Los Angeles is 502 square miles and the County of Los Angeles is 4,751 square miles - we have big counties here in SoCal).

Only once a year It’s a quick 8 hour flight from Hawaii.

Given that getting anywhere from Hawaii involves a fairly long flight, 8 hours doesn't sound too bad. I think it's about 5½ hours to the the closest airport on the mainland.

Exactly. It’s a little over 5 hours to the mainland, so might as well do the additional couple of hours and go to Japan instead