It’s been less then 2 months since I’ve made it back to LA, and after working on some lack luster projects… I’m In need of a trip out of town. When I heard a friend of mine had free rooms for the weekend at the Hard Rock hotel in Las Vegas… how could I say no… and the icing on the cake is that we’re going to be judges in a Hard Rock model search! Enough said… Vegas here I come!
Living in Los Angeles is not all just traffic, fake people and earthquakes, being that this is also “Hollywood” the heart of show business, you sometimes find yourself at pretty cool parties/events. Last night I was invited to a party on Paramount studios back lot (the place where they film a lot of movies) for a show called “Paramount Rocks”. It was pretty much a concert where a bunch of bands played.
The band Camp Freddy was the headlining band. Camp Freddy is not really a band, they are more like a jam session. All kinds of famous rock stars hop on stage and play. Last nights list included Dave Navarro (Janes Addiction) Billy Morrison (The Cult) Matt Sorum (Guns N Roses/Velvet Revolver) Lenny (Motorhead) Billy Duffy (The Cult) Cypress Hill and that loser Mark McGrath from Sugar Ray.
When I first heard about the show, I was told it was open bar. Well that turned out not to be true, but after my rough Friday night I think its smart to take a night off. Although they were handing out free energy drinks, which I ended up drinking too many of, so I spent the night strung out like a crack head.
I found the night to be actually pretty odd, I mean here were these famous rock stars playing to a crowd of maybe 100 people max! I guess you could call it an intimate night, but it was still strange. The music was great, but the highlight of the night for me was meeting a beautiful girl named Natalia from Italy. Her English was not the best, so it was hard to understand her with the loud rock music in my other ear. So other then totally blowing it with Natalia (picture to the right) all is well for me here in Hollywood, only 81 days until I am back in India!
Growing up in Florida where the average temperature is 73 degrees Fahrenheit, one could say that you truly don’t know what summer really means. I mean how could you? For many, summer is a time of year where you can take off the winter coat and let your pasty white skin feel the warm rays of the sun. A time where people take up all sorts of outdoor activities, a time that makes even the oldest, grumpiest person, feel just a little bit younger. For most, summer is a time that comes and goes in the blink of an eye.
They spend 9 months waiting for those blissful 2 or 3 months of beautiful warm weather. In some cites I hear that if it’s a sunny day out, you can count on half the people calling in sick, and then hitting the beach or the local park. I am now starting to realize how lucky I was to grow up in such a tropical place. It has taken me 31 years to actually realize what the word “summer” really means. I never knew summer was more then a word, I didn’t know that it was something you could feel, something you could smell, and even touch. I guess that’s the one and only bad thing about growing up in a tropical place, “Seasons” don’t mean a whole lot. It took me spending 6 weeks in northern Ontario Canada to learn my first lesson in summer.
When I arrived in Canada it was early July, pretty much the start of summer. A time where people where opening up their summer homes, and getting things ready to enjoy summer. There was something in the air, a feeling of things coming alive. After traveling the world for nearly 5 years now, I must say I have been to some pretty sweet place, and seen some really amazing things, but my 6 weeks in “Cottage Country” has been by far one of the most amazing times in my life.
There are a few reason why I feel I enjoyed it soo much, #1 The fact I was able to spend some time with my family, which I have neglected for the last 12 years of my life. #2 the pure fact that I was truly living in the “moment”, there was no other place I “felt” I needed to be, no other place seemed better, the “now” was prefect. I think I am starting to get the hang of the whole idea of living life that way. It truly is amazing how it can affect your outcome. I only wish I would have known this 5 years ago when I started traveling. I have spent the last 5 years, totally screwing up my trips by being on a beautiful beach somewhere dreaming of being somewhere else, somewhere more “fun” or a place where friends were etc…. there was always somewhere else I wanted to be, the present moment was never good enough. Read more…
I just finished watching an interesting documentary called “Aftermath Population Zero”. It’s a CGI dramatization of what will happen when there are no humans left on earth. It’s pretty crazy to think it only took humans 10 thousand years to screw up the planet (most of it within the last 100 years), but once we are gone mother earth can fix things back to normal in a few hundred years. I guess it is true that mankind is pretty much like a virus that is attacking/polluting and killing the planet. I recommend watching this documentary, but it can be a little depressing… but I guess the good thing is… we will be long gone by then!
Another show I watched today is called “Locked up Abroad” one that I do NOT recommend. It seems that this show is produced by George W Bush himself, this is the prefect show for the government to keep it’s citizens at home safe and sound spending their hard earned cash. The show is about horror stories of people being kidnapped while traveling overseas. This show is overly dramatic and fictionalized for good TV ratings. So please do not watch this show unless you plan on never leaving the comfort and safety of your couch!
On a musical note, I am falling in love with the Icelandic band Sigur Ros. There is something peaceful about listening to music that is in a language you do not understand… there is no way to put thought or your own meaning on the words… you just listen to the music the way it was intended. Maybe that’s why I like traveling so much, it’s easy to find things interesting when you don’t understand them. Click the link bellow to listen to Sigur Ros in itunes.
On July 1st 2008, California passed a law making it illegal to talk on your cell phone while driving unless you have one of those Star Trek ear piece things in your ear (better known as Hands Free). I don’t think this is going to solve the problem because the bottom line is there are just stupid people out there and a “Hands Free device” is not going to make them smarter…. but i guess it’s a start. I found this video that pretty much tells the story… so take a look!
It’s been less then 2 months since I’ve made it back to LA, and after working on some lack luster projects… I’m In need of a trip out of town. When I heard a friend of mine had free rooms for the weekend at the Hard Rock hotel in Las Vegas… how could I say no… and the icing on the cake is that we’re going to be judges in a Hard Rock model search! Enough said… Vegas here I come!
I just finished watching an interesting documentary called “Aftermath Population Zero”. It’s a CGI dramatization of what will happen when there are no humans left on earth. It’s pretty crazy to think it only took humans 10 thousand years to screw up the planet (most of it within the last 100 years), but once we are gone mother earth can fix things back to normal in a few hundred years. I guess it is true that mankind is pretty much like a virus that is attacking/polluting and killing the planet. I recommend watching this documentary, but it can be a little depressing… but I guess the good thing is… we will be long gone by then!
