TINSELTOWN

Flying in from great airports like Japan’s Narita, or Seoul’s Incheon, Tom Bradley International Airport in Los Angeles is a huge let down when you think of modern America. Throughout an eight year period of  crisscrossing the Pacific ocean, TBIA or the airport sexier symbol “LAX,”  seems to always have an area cordoned off for renovations with endless repairs, looking decidedly shabby and generally an overall disappointment when LA is your first port of call into America.  

Navigating around Los Angeles is mind bogglingly chaotic.  It becomes intimidating  seen from this vantage point.  Make a wrong turn and woe-is-me.  So always go with Garmin Nav units  that spouts out directions, in an English accent, Australian one, or the local SoCal accent.  I prefer the SoCal accent, befits the surroundings, as Jeeves, the posh English one deserves directing me in Knightsbridge.

First impressions matter.  First impressions stay.   But before we put down and categorize the country on its front porch, a little foray into the 3000sq miles of area, every nook and cranny should be explored.

Traversing the length and breadth of Los Angeles along its eight lane freeways enough times, lost enough times, you learn not to be afraid of the NO-GO zones like Compton, East LA.     You also learn that Beverley Hills, the swank area covers only a few blocks, and living on Wiltshire Boulevard doesn’t necessary mean you are in the high spots.

Marina Del Rey where I found myself residing generally termed by the locals as FOB territory – those  (fresh of the boat).   Real Los Angelitos apparently live further up the hills.    Marina Del Rey harbors pricey boats, catamarans, fancy speedboats, expensive yachts with helicopter pads, alongside cheap house boats, weekend sails and small fishing boats.  It draws the very rich debonair to the exotic style of living.

This is where I met Richard on my walks through the Marinas.   He was lounging on the deck of his yacht, sipping from a red mug of steaming coffee.  Moored to the east side the yacht will get the sun in the afternoon.  As this was early morning, it was shaded and chilly.  Yelling as I walked passed his yacht  “Dandeana”   “would you like some coffee?”   A little flirty I thought, but turned around anyway, and was surprised at this  Robert Redford lookalike, oops this is LA, lala land as they call it, it could very well be Robert Redford.   As the retina focused a bit more clearly, it was an even better looking RR and less wrinkly.

Do I stop or do I go?  

Tempting but the RR lookalike needs to wait a bit.  If he remains on deck on my way back from Venice beach then I might take up the offer. 

A short cut on Via Marina through Dell Avenue, Washington Blvd brings me straight to Venice Beach.      Cow’s End, a juice bar serving the best grapefruit and orange juice just before you enter Venice Whaler beach is a must stop.  

If you remember the Cantina scene in the 1977 Star Wars film where all sorts of creatures imbibing concoctions of smoky liquid, well Venice boardwalk is not unlike that scene.   




Time warped, I could have been transported into the 1960’s hippie love & peace mood but its actually 2014 – the shorts, the tattoes, the skate board, but most of all the perverse sweet smell of marijuana wafting through as you walk along ingesting the sites and sounds.   

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Bearded men, clowns, bag lady, hunky Baywatch life guards, hippies selling cheap bracelets, psychics, and many more walk alongside me basking in the sweet smelling weed drew me into the pharmacy with the sign saying “Doctor In house.”   Life on Venice requires a puff to be in tune with the ambience, so I must  learn to be part of the scene.

A twenty minute turn around and everything was visually enhancing, the weird people didn't look too weird,  the grapefruit juice was just amazing,  my hearing heightened, my legs didn't feel like legs, so I could have walked the 14 miles all the way to Malibu beach, or so I thought….

Venice broadwalk in the sunset

The afternoon floated into evening and  it seemed sensible to walk home before the sun sets.   Hungrier than I thought, the waft of garlic and tomatoes emanating opposite Cows End was C & O Trattoria made me cross the street, checked my wallet for credit card and walked in.    The restaurant was rocking and luckily there was a free table. This place is every pasta addicts dream.   

C & O Trattoria on Washington

Its carb, upon carb, upon carb….overhearing some loud American diner speak,  “My answer is I will run 10 miles and do ab-ripper 90 reps  afterwards if it means getting to eat an unlimited amount of juicy, delicious, garlic knots and eat a huge variety of pasta,”  justifying the large instake with his friend.

Familiar tone of voice, I turned around and it was my RR lookalike sitting with a younger hunk – he remembered, “hey its you from this morning – join us please.”  

C & O Trattoria - Venice

I did.  Traded in coffee for a couple of glasses of Merlot. Somewhere in this picture is me with a plate of pasta.

You can’t have been to LA if you haven’t surfed the beaches of the “Bu”  or partied in one of the beautiful homes in Malibu.   


The affluent beach city of Los Angeles, is a 21 mile strip of prime Pacific coastline, famous for it is home to many Hollywood movie stars and those in the entertainment world.

A Malibu hideaway  along the Pacific Coast Highway, belonging to a Director held a  lunch party for a small gathering.  BBQ and buckets of Champagne filled with interesting people and their anecdotes. This feeling can only be described as  “pinch myself – I am here amongst the  Hollywood set.”   

There were lawyers, directors, producers plus a bunch of newly formed Cali friends. The conversation was heated on Obamacare and Scorsese's latest movie. 

The prunes with bacon, the olive tapanard, the artichoke dip, was divine with iced cold bucket of Moet's finest.  I did not want to be anywhere else in the world.  

Episode two of this adventure will continue despite sipping such alarming amounts of  fizzy golden nectar.  

Under the haze of Venice's weed and Malibu's Moet, 

LA so far has fulfilled a much different picture than when 

   I first landed.      

Until the next "City of Angels" chapter.

SUPERIOR PLACES ON THE GLOBE - PART 2

AURORA  BOREALIS SEEN IN NORWAY

AURORA BOREALIS or the Northern Lights is an affect of the Solar Flares the Sun emits.   We are currently over five years of the eleven-year cycle and now entering the 24^th  Cycle.  This peaks in 2013 and 2014. Solar Flares sends electromagnetic fields that are disruptive to our planet, the possibility of the ability to  wipe out a lot of our electronic civilization.

Some scientists say there is actually a correlation between the rise and fall of solar activity and the human consciousness. There has also been concern in what way our Suns' abnormal behavior can influence human health. The Sun's activity as it interacts with the Earths magnetic field, effects extensive changes in human beings perspectives, moods, emotions and behavioral patterns.

Alexander Chizhevsky, the Russian biophysicist who founded  Heliobiology (study of the sun’s effect on biology) proposed that human history is influenced by the eleven-year peaks in sunspot activity, triggering humans en masse to act upon existing grievances and complaints through revolts, revolutions, civil wars and wars between nations.

Chizhevsky  analyzed sunspot records comparing them to riots, revolutions, battles and war in Russia and seventy-one other countries for the period 500 BCE to 1922 CE. This is known as historiometry. He findings was  influenced by the eleven-year peaks in sunspot activity, triggering humans en masse to act upon existing grievances and complaints through revolts, revolutions, civil wars and wars between nations.

Professor Raymond Wheeler, from the University of Kansas, expanded on Chishevsky's work by studying violence during 1913; measuring the time between battles and severity. These findings were compared with the suns 11 year sunspot cycle.

The results showed that as the sun cycle peaked, there was a rise in human unrest, uprisings, rebellions, revolutions, and wars between nations. As the magnetic fields intensified, the reaction within the human brain was a mixture of deadly emotional tantrums and unadulterated killing sprees.

Chronology of recent times  of the sun’s intensification follows the pattern:

2001 the solar cycle 22  at the sun’s maximum there was 9/11, Iraq invading Kuwait and the US entering the first battle against Saddam Hussein.

2011 -  2012, the flares are expected to endure toward their maximum. As this incredible activity is being witnessed, we are assured that more wars, toppling countries and populations will be displaced

Entering the 24^th cycle , we will experiencing more unrest. NASA and other space agencies worldwide have warned about it. The cycle is predicted to be extreme, violent, unpredictable, and may even affect Earth’s technology.

 Solar Cycle 24 has begun.

Expected to surge as much as 50 times more than the record-breaking solar cycle 23—that saw X-flares produced stronger than ever recorded. Monster cycle 24 will reach maximum intensity from 2011 and peaks in 2014.

It’s the worst possible solar cycle at the worst possible time.

So while it is smooth activity before the intensity begins again, lets go to where these sun flares manage to enter the earth’s atmosphere show casing the most spectacular sky. The effect of seeing the Aurora Borealis takes your breath away.   It is seen in Norway, Finland, mainly in the Northern skies. 

So before world chaos becomes too difficult to circumnavigate to the Northern Skies, I decided that before I died seeing the Auroras can make my life complete.  Last weekend was my jaunt into flowing multi-colored auroras helping to  illuminate a busy sky above Tromsø, Norway. Although Auroras might first appear to be moonlit clouds, they only add light to the sky and do not block background stars from view. Called the Northern Lights in the northern hemisphere, Auroras are caused by collisions between charged particles from the magnetosphere and air molecules high in the Earth's atmosphere. If viewed from space, auroras can be seen to glow in X-ray and ultraviolet light as well.  Predictable auroras might occur a few days after a powerful powerful magnetic event has been seen on the Sun 

Wilcox Solar Observatory at Stanford University, predicted that by December 2013 there should be what is termed a “solar flip” – a “complete field reversal” of the sun’s polar magnetic fields. The predictions were backed up this week by fellow observers at the Wilcox Observatory who have recorded “an increase in cosmic rays, sunspots and solar flares… an increase in solar activity that has resulted in those at high latitudes on Earth seeing more of the beautiful auroras, or northern lights.” 

I went on a cruise around the island of Tromsø in the evening.  Magical can only be described in the dead of the night amongst the safe and calm waters with beautiful views of the city, mountains, fjords.  The Northern Lights almost God like in its presence changed my skeptical belief in the supreme being. The different locations we visited on this cruise provide different views of the sky .  Seeing the northern lights sky together with 24 other strangers on this boat, sipping hot glug (spiced wine) wrapped up in fleece jackets, I felt as if I was transported nearer to the Creator.   The bond that joined the 24 souls together on an unimaginable trip to heaven can only be captured once, magically.