My New Best Friend at LAX & Other Los Angeles Tales
Posted by Lynnster on July 5, 2007
Well, now that come to find out I’ve been shamed out of my self-imposed temporary blogging exile (laughing), I guess I gotta write something. There is just so much of nothing going on here right now and, no pun or blonde jokes intended, but my mind is pretty much a blank lately. So keep your expectations low and we’ll all be satisfied, I reckon.
There’ve been a couple of things on the back burner for a while now, including my last-minute-planned trip to L.A. in March, when the Hoodoo Gurus were doing their mini-tour through the US. Now that I think about it, there isn’t that much to tell about the trip, but here were a few of the more interesting things (besides the obvious, which was the concert and which was fantastic as I knew it would be):
- The Phoenix airport is very nice and very pretty, and there appear to be a lot of nice shops and restaurants in it. However, I would not really know because it is WAY too spread out with no quick way to get anywhere, and judging from the conversations around me on the flight to Memphis from Phoenix, apparently most connecting flights that land there are scheduled to give the passenger no more than 30 minutes and, in most cases, 20 or 10 to get to the gate for the connecting flight, and apparently hardly any connecting flights are scheduled with gates in the same terminal. I have never had to bust my ass so much in an airport (and coming through both ways) in my life – I had a limited window of time to get to L.A. that night, and not only was our flight late leaving Memphis, but my connecting flight’s gate could not have possibly been any further from the gate where I arrived, and the door was closing as I hit the gate and barely made it on. Not quite as bad, but almost the same situation, going back to Memphis the next morning. However, I think I was one of the lucky ones on the flight out – most of the people around me on the plane had ten minutes or less to make their connecting flight, so likely they didn’t make it.
- Got off the plane at LAX, start walking toward the front door of the terminal and who is walking right towards me, then past me, but actor Sean Penn. Someone later asked me did he look like he wanted to punch someone, but no – he just looked hurried and a bit stressed like most everyone else in the airport terminal – hope he wasn’t having to go to Phoenix! And this makes the second time in my life I have seen an Oscar winner at LAX (the first being actress Sissy Spacek on my trip out there way back in 1979).
- I can’t say enough good about the Super Shuttle from LAX. As stated, I had a VERY limited time window that trip and one major bout of delay with flight or shuttle service could have wrecked my entire trip. Instead, I actually made it to the restaurant where I was meeting friends for dinner before the show a half hour before they got there. Yay for the Super Shuttle.
- Also a big thumbs up for Canter’s Deli on Fairfax, which was where I met up with my old friend Jimm, who was still living in Australia when I last saw him about a decade ago, and his lovely wife Wendie, who I was meeting for the first time. We had a great dinner and a wonderful time visiting and my only regret is that I couldn’t try everything on the menu, which all looked fabulous, but the menu itself could take you more than an hour to read because there are SO many wonderful things on the menu. Hooray for the most excellent Philly sandwich there, though. Yum.
- A great big giant thumbs down for the security people at the El Rey Theatre. Their overzealousness was completely unnecessary, given the act involved, but I’ve since learned from some of the locals that the security there is well known for being asses for no real good reason. Thanks, security jerks, for a great big black mark on a trip I had flown thousands of miles for and to spend a whole 13.5 hours in your fair city. Except for the one female security person who was the one who checked my bag and ID and did indeed see I had come all the way from Memphis and was the only one not acting like a total shit after the show. Yep, I did indeed see and enjoy the show but their behavior post-show was despicable (even towards the band’s own crew!!!). Partially my fault for having made these trip plans at what was the very last minute, but the security behavior in general just left a lot to be desired. I know certain members of the band brought the behavior to their management’s attention and I intend to do the same. Anyway…
- I spent the night, basically, in LAX because there just wasn’t any point in getting a hotel room when I was going to be in L.A. so short of a time – the show was not over until around midnight and I was gonna have to be on a plane back to Memphis (and go thru security and all that) at 6:30 a.m. It was very much NOT comfortable and all and I nearly froze to death, but I survived it… other than the fact I would have liked to have smacked a certain smartass airport security person in the mouth that morning, but I didn’t want to go to jail, so I didn’t. Note to LAX management: Mark your airport security areas where you want people to line up and to go CLEARLY. Because next time, after I have slept five hours in your airport and am not quite awake, and I’m the second person to go thru security and therefore there are no lines with people lined up like cattle going in whatever direction or the other, and some smartass on your security staff decides to holler out, “What, have you never been in an airport before?” rather than pointing out the direction I need to go or something else possibly, oh, helpful? I’m smacking her in the mouth next time. Just sayin’.
So that’s pretty much the basics of that trip. It was fun and I’m glad I went, but I don’t think I’ll ever do something crazy like that, going all the way to L.A. and spending a whole 13.5 hours there before flying back, again. I was exhausted for two weeks or more after. Of course, I’d been in Chicago for barely two days just days before that, so that probably didn’t help.
Maybe tomorrow I’ll catch up on one of the 541 memes I’ve been tagged for, who knows. We’ll see. Hope everyone had a good 4th!
Gordon said
As a facist right-winger, I officially cannot say anything nice about this post.
In that spirit I have to criticize you for going to Canter’s and having Philly Cheesesteak! You should have had a pastrami on rye with hot mustard.
Thanks for posting, btw.
Klinde said
Yay! You are alive and well to the west…. Glad you posted something ’cause I’ve missed you.
It made me lacheln (smile). There, you got your own personalized German word of the day…
marsha loftis said
I was Blog surfing. I ran across your blog…How funny, cause I work at the Phoenix Airport in Terminal Three. :)
sara sue said
Good lord, woman! Glad you made it back in one piece, what a *trip*. If you had smacked the security person … you might have done time with Paris! Just think what fodder that would be for the blog, huh?? Welcome home, we missed you!
Churlita said
That was on crazy trip. the only Oscar winning actress I’ve met was Sally field. Her grandaughter went to school with my daughters when her son lived in Iowa.
squirrelqueen said
What a whirlwind trip.
I’m glad to finally get to read about it.
BTW, thanks for the Phoenix info. I’ll try to avoid routing through there the next time I fly West. (whenever that will be!)
Angelia said
Wow. That sounds exhausting. Glad you made it back without an “incident” in security.
sara sue said
Where you at, girlfriend??
Rachel said
Just checking in to see where you’ve been and how things are.