Pure Stupor Tour 2004 (West Coast Edition)
Okay, while we're waiting for the days to pass before Sprouty and Aussie GD fan head off to Boston to strategically position themselves in front of E*** S****** car, here's my account of last Tuesday's excursion(s).
GD fan, Aussie GD fan, and Sprouty were to drive down from the high desert and meet up for an 11 a.m. reservation a the Hannah Carter (UCLA) Japanese Garden in Bel Air. I arrived a little after 11 after driving past the entrance. I was greeted by one of the docents who assured me that although I was parked smack dab in the middle of the 3 1/2 car driveway there would surely be enough room for GD fan's car and any other patrons who had an 11 am reservation. I let her know that I was expecting friends (who were driving almost 1 1/2 hours one way, I might add) and she said that she would "whistle" when they came and urged me to go in.
The entrance to the Garden is made of a special type of wood that was hewn in and shipped from Japan. Very soft to the touch and not in any way painted or sealed but instead allowed to "mellow with age" (this from the guidebook). I went up past a stone carved with the Buddha in 16 different meditation positions - 16 being the number associated with immortality - and sat in the 'moon-viewing' deck below the tiny Japanese bath. About this time, I got the message that the 'Beige Brigade' was delayed so I made a few calls and sat down to enjoy the serenity, albeit shadeless, of the deck. Being of a restless nature, that didn't last long, so I got out my camera and wandered around the garden taking pictures of the waterfalls, fountains, brooks, koi pond and nursery, garden house, and shrine. My phone rings and I hear Sprouty in the background when Aussie GD fan starts telling me about a golf course. Hoping that they are only a few blocks away (Bel Air C.C.) and not at the next closest country club (Riviera C.C.), I give directions and start back down the hill. Serendipitously, I walk outside the gate just in time to see them drive up ("just look for the party rental vans!"). Aussie GD fan announces that she wants to have lunch at the (private) Country Club.
Together again, we go up and down and sideways and diagonally all over the garden. Aussie GD fan and GD fan identified the flora, Sprouty avoided the fauna - or more precisely, the humongous potentially octogenarian koi - while adoring the (stone) "hares" and turtle, and I tried to mention the highlights of the garden (per the docent's directive). GD fan and I threw chinaberries at Sprouty and Aussie GD fan; Aussie GD fan, Sprouty, and I left shiny pennies at the shrine; and we all took turns taking pics of each other under some sort of picturesque tree with pretty flowers that Aussie GD fan told us the name of and I promptly forgot. After a while, we were all hungry and decided to head to Westwood Village for lunch.
Let me stop here to say, that I have an awful habit of giving too much information and options. That is to say that whenever I make a suggestion, I always offer at least two other alternatives. This usually doesn't cause much trouble when there's time to spare, but when people are, for example, *hungry* they probably prefer a bit more decisiveness, lol. Thanks for being such good sports everyone. ;)
We made it to Westwood Village and started walking towards the shops and cafes. After throwing out *numerous suggestions* (see above), we stopped into 'Habibi Cafe' for Persian/Egyptian style eats. We spotted comfy couches covered with leopard print (fake) fur and sat down to order our platters. Considering the way that GD fan took to the couch and later posed for pictures with the (very young) waiter, I think *she* should be playing Catwoman on the big screen, lol. By the time we got our babaghanoush, hummus, pitas, kabobs, dolmas, fruit smoothies, and fries (well, this is southern California), we were definitely ready to eat. Later, we posed with the waiter and a rather sexy looking peach-colored water pipe, before we started across the street to Diddy Reese (cheap fresh cookies, enough said) and off to a phone to make a trans-atlantic call to Leethana!
We almost made it.
Instead we were held up by these pesky people from Fox News who wanted to interview us about the lengths we would go to for romance. (Aussie GD fan and Sprouty later said that they first thought they meant what *geographic* lengths in which case they really would have had a story to tell, does Australia get Fox News?) Oh, so that's what those red carpets in front of the theater that said "Welcome to Mooseport" were all about ;). One problem, the only person with a decent story, let's just call her 'American GD fan', didn't want to be on camera. So 'American GD fan' dictated it to me, which I in turn told on camera. The poor interviewer and producer guy must have thought we were nuts. It was a good thing that we refrained from repeating Sprouty's aside from just minutes before that involved her hand and a part of someone else's anatomy. Only later after heading towards the Getty Museum did it occur to us that we could have probably gotten free tickets to that night's premiere if we had just asked. Curses! *smile*
We finally called Leethana (only 2 1/2 hours later than we planned) and woke up her mother who answered the phone with a very charming phrase in German that didn't sound anything like 'Guten Tag' so I immediately started babbling in English. Then GD fan got on and finally Sprouty. We took turns shouting into the phone (which was on a public street on a very windy day) and then said our goodbyes and headed out.
We made it to the Getty, onto the tram, and to the top of the hill with about 2 hours to see everything. In a nutshell, we wandered around alternately admiring and poking fun at the paintings, sculpture, illuminated manuscripts, and photography. At one point, we started talking about the 'Tableau Vivant Scene' from House of Mirth and mused about which period would be best to re-create with E.S. as the model of course. After purposefully avoiding the pavillion that housed the decorative arts, we visited the Family Room where we dressed up in period garb made famous by some of the paintings and had our pics taken. We didn't have enough time for the garden plus it was getting colder so we headed back to the gift shop to get some things for Aussie GD fan's mom. GD fan and I were fagged (oh, I've been waiting for a reason to use that word) and in need of more food. After a brief discussion over the merits of eating before or after their long drive back, we headed off for dinner and more conversation over Mexican-style food.
Hopefully, I've remembered most of the highlights, if not, I trust someone will make a more thorough account,lol.
ysabella
Wayne Brady Index Red Rock West/Sunset Strip