Rock ‘n Roll Forever

There’s a classic line from Penny Lane in Almost Famous that says “If you ever get lonely, just go to the record store and visit your friends.”

Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Lynard Skynard, classic Aerosmith… they’re all my BFFs today.

Dirty Dives

I’m not really sure what is says about me but dive bars are my thing. No pretension, cheap drinks, hooks under the bar, and, if you’re lucky, a dart board and free popcorn. Oh, and there’s usually a few odd drunks to provide glorious, intoxicated entertainment.

The Office
206 E Grand Ave
El Segundo, CA 90245
“Came by after work on a Thursday;  and a group of 20’s something were playing beer pong on the patio.  When I say patio, i mean a roped of part of the parking lot…of the strip mall the bar is in.” - review from a Yelper

Sports Harbour
13484 Washington Blvd
Marina Del Rey, CA 90292
(310) 823-0933
“I hang out with boys.  Boys like beer and sports and dive bars.  Sometimes, I can get my boys to go someplace somewhat classy, and that’s when we end up at The Otherroom.  Sometimes, I have to feed them and provide them with entertainment, and that’s when we end up at The Shack, as they wander about to the sounds of karaoke, with a meat on meat burger in one hand, and a pitcher of beer in the other.  And sometimes, they get so drunk that they refuse to go more than two miles from home.  And that’s when we go to Sports Harbor.” - review from a Yelper

Ercoles
1101 Manhattan Ave
Manhattan Beach, CA 90266
(310) 372-1997
“I can’t believe this place. First we got carded by this old, sloppy red-headed doorman in tight shorts and a knee brace whose English is almost completely unintelligible, but is a local legend for some reason. I went to the bar, and the bartender who was falling-down drunk himself made me a cocktail so strong that it was almost undrinkable. Then, when I pulled out my American Express card, everyone just started laughing at me. They were playing rock-and-roll music on a juke box, and there were some big, drunk Australian guys in rugby shirts bumping into me. Then some blonde came over and, without saying a word, jammed her tongue in my mouth while this other loud chubby girl who claimed to be from Uruguay would not leave my friends alone. Five stars.” - review from a Citysearcher

Frolic Room
6245 Hollywood Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90028
(323) 462-5890
“We walk in, and I wanna look classy, so I go up to the bartender and ask for a Pink Squirrel. Bartender looks at me like I’m fucking with him, after a few seconds realizes I’m not, and then says he doesn’t know how to make one. Somehow, for some reason, that made me love this place.” - review from a Yelper

Lost & Found
11700 National Blvd. #D
Los Angeles, CA 90064
(310)397-7772
“Not my usual type of place (no beers on tap) but it’s really hard to give a bar where you encounter a 54 year old woman that molests your date’s cleavage with her rabbit foot less than 5 stars. Oh and the drinks are cheap, they have TVs, pool table, erotic photohunt.” - review from a Yelper

Mo’s Place
203 Culver Blvd
Playa Del Rey, CA 90293
(310) 822-6422
“The last time I went some guy showed up in the 3rd quarter who looked like a smooth faced Freddy Krueger. He proceeded to yell at his girlfriend for about ten minutes (you could only hear him if you were nearby. Then the “bouncer” who was about five times skinnier than him asked him to leave. So he yelled into the window for a while, they closed that. he went to the next window, and on and on. It was quite the game of whack-a-drunk at the window. Good times.” - review from a Yelper

Power House
1714 N Highland Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90028
(323) 463-9438
“I fuckin’ love this place. Who knew this place existed right in the middle of Hollywood? PBR on tap. Nuff said. The first time I went there I saw a drunk black midget. No joke. Definitely, a place to check out” - review from a Yelper

The View at El Porto Around 8:30 a.m.

1) My run is over and 2) All the morning surfers are stripping off their wetsuits in the parking lot, calling it a day just in time to avoid feeding the meter at 9. Life is good.

Hagrid

I’ve been running in the morning at Manhattan Beach, Calif., for the past 1.5 years. I love how I feel after a two mile run and even more after making it the entire four miles stretch of strand. Most mornings, I come across a tall, big-boned, wildly hairy, sun-weathered homeless person who I’ve dubbed Hagrid, from the Harry Potter books. He’s usually wearing wornout flip-flops, a dirty grey t-shirt and shorts, and carrying a plastic white bag. He’s always either walking on the strand or sitting on a bench looking at the ocean. He seems very peaceful, harmless. He doesn’t seem too dirty, which is probably thanks to the showers at MB, and he doesn’t look starved. We’ve never had any contact, but nonetheless, I smile to myself when I see him. I’m happy, if not relieved, he’s still around although not happy for his circumstance. 

When I lived in Paris for six months, there was a homeless man I would see every day at the Cluny-La Sorbonne metro stop on my way to and from school. I think he was Asian. Shoulder-length hair. Dirty. Sometimes digging through the trash; other times just sitting there rambling in French. Again, never exchanged words. I may have given him centimes at one point. The first time I saw him, some young punks threw leftovers at him, which he went chasing after and devoured. I was somehow comforted by his daily presence. When I returned to Paris two years later and again four years after that, he wasn’t at the subway station anymore. I like to think he somehow made it off the streets or just settled down at a different Parisian metro stop… but my heart says he probably died.

Flying Over the 405 Freeway

Seeing the red and white lights on the 405 means the flight is 99 percent over and I’m about 20 minutes away from my bed…