Oooh, drove through Beverly Hills today. We didn't make it right over to the beach, but even so, you could smell the money. Huge houses, Maseratis and Rolls Royces, palm-lined streets, etc. Had a look in a great store called Whacko (maybe spelt differently) that had so much cool-looking stuff likes toys, books, paintings and miscellanea. Unfortunately we were a bit short on time and with SOO much stuff to look at I would never have made a decision on anything. Had a bite to eat at one of the better Mexican foodchain stores, did some shopping at Amoeba records, and am back here to finish packing and head to the airport. So really, this is my final post for the trip, wow. That's kinda freaky, but I've been ready to come home for a while, so it's not an unpleasant realisation. See you soon!

Staying with Dain is great! It's like staying in a hostel a bit, as there are so many people, but different to a hostel, they're all locals and cool. Though, most of them are actually from Texas (as is Dain). There's a great cat called Shamrock, too, that acts a bit like Krupnik but is twice the size. Anyway, something I've been meaning to write about but keep forgetting, is my weight... oh, fascinating, yes... but, my weight hasn't budged in years, yet in Tokyo, I started losing weight! By about the end of our stay there, I had lost 2.5 kilos, which as you're probably aware, is not something I need to do. After four weeks in Europe I finally had a chance to weigh myself again... and I had put 3.5 back on, haha. Yeah, anyway...
L.A. is weird... I'm not sure what I expected, but, it's not what I expected. I also didn't realise that it's only two hours drive from Mexico. So there's a lot of Hispanics around where Dain lives (Echo Park). I'm pretty sure that on the bus home tonight, I was the only Caucasian, odd. So yesterday went out with Dain's friend Jason, who has a penchant for very unfashionable clothing like wool-knit sweaters with patterns of reindeer or something. Had a look at a Frank Lloyd Wright house and a couple of others by other famous American architects. Bought some great CDs plus a couple of duds yesterday, going back to by more. :\ Hmmm... tired... going out to the club that Dain works at tonight. He keeps promising to take me to all the dodgiest food venues of L.A., and we hit one last night on the infamous Walk of Fame, a pizza joint of very dubious quality. My intestines lived through it, though. The Walk of Fame, yeah, blah! A bit seedy, as the prostitutes and crack dealers work at one end of it, so there's numerous `lingerie' shops along there. And whilst I remember, WHY can't Europeans engineer a simple, decent shower-head to save their life??? My god, the agonies I've gone through trying to take a shower with funky shower-heads that spray water in every direction, or have no wall mount, or, arghrgh! Dain has some cool musical equipment... a big ring oscillator unit, and this little box that I'm not really sure what to call but there's a mass of cables going between them and _really_ bizarre sounds come out when you twiddle the dials! Mmmm, twiddling. Had a funny thought in a cafe today... this couple sitting in front of me... the guy has his hand on her back, and he is stroking and patting her. And it struck me how similar it appeared to be the way one strokes and pats a dog. One of the guys that lives here, Don, said the other day, "Man, we gotta get some more chics to move in. I'm sick of doing the dishes." Oh, and we had a drink last night at a little bar in China Town called Hop Louie's.

Ok, I guess the "previous post" did work. Anyway... in Los Angeles now, staying with Dain in a house dominanted by sound engineer/musicians. There is an army of acoustic, electric and digital music equipment here, so although I am sharing the (huge) living room with a smelly pet mouse, I think I'm going to enjoy myself.
L.A. though, is a hole.

Bugger, my last post didn't work, though I thought I published it before the computer shut down. Anyway... heard Francisco Lopez last night as a support act to DAT Politics. His composition was based on clocks, and it was great! I spoke to him briefly during the intermission, and he said that the performance in Melbourne a couple of years ago was one of his most special! Even better news, he will be back in summer! In traditional Lopez style, his piece was performed in complete darkness and blindfolds were handed out. It really felt like the rhythmic ticking, churning and cycling of the clocks was in my head. And then the bass at the end... oooooh, the bass! heheh. DAT Politics were ok, kind of noisy pop.
Still in Amsterdam, but will be getting the high speed train tomorrow for Frankfurt, where I have to stay overnight to get my flight to L.A. in the morning. The train will travel at around 140km/h in Holland, then 200km/h in Germany, and finally 300km/h from Cologne to Frankfurt! I am looking forward to it. :) Maybe I'll pull the emergency brake at top speed...

Heard Francisco Lopez last night, and it was great! A piece composed entirely from the sound of clocks, but of course, there were many sounds that sounded nothing like clocks. Performed in his traditional complete darkness, the sounds really felt like they were inside my head. And _huge_ bass at the end. I spoke with him briefly, and he remarked that the Melbourne concert was one of the most special he has ever done! And that he will be back in summer, woohoo!
A very funny email that Sophie sent me a week or two ago said, that since she was missing me, she got Amelia to put one of my CDs on quite loud, so that she could scream "Turn that noise off!" Must book some Frankfurt accommodation, ciao.

Visited the Staalplaat shop on Staalkade yesterday, where of course they have a very nice range of stuff. Listened to a number of Muslimgauze albums and bought two of them, "In Search Of Ahmad Shah Masood" (reissue on Nexsound) and "Alms for Iraq", one of the most recent, and on which there are some crazy sounds! An ultra modern Muslimgauze. Didn't really do much else, I'm just sort of a bit aimless at the moment... saw a sex show in the evening, which was amusing. It's just like a regular theatre with a stage, except that it also features a dancing pole at each side, which is full of water and they can control the bubbles floating up it, and of course a circular rotating podium in the middle. First there were a couple of strip shows that were fairly ordinary, then a couple did a bondage-themed sex show, which, also was ordinary, though it was amusing to watch the couple as they occasionally said something to each other or grinned or chuckled. Then there was a really boring sex show couple, then a more entertaining strip show where the stripper got a few guys on stage to "dance sexy" with her, which they did with gusto. Then as she led them around the stage in a `locomotion' fashion, someone in an ape costume with an attached penis appears from off stage and joins on at the end, occasionally prodding the guy in front in the arse. heh, then at the end, the ape acts a bit ape like and pretends to masturbate, ejaculating something over the audience. The final stripper started off well, clad as the grim reaper on a descending podium, but became ordinary quickly, and finished off with her, ah, immitation of a candle-holder. :)
Amsterdam is beautiful, there are lots of lovely canals and alleys and such... I'm going straight back to a bar that specialises in Belgian beer and features a very slinky black cat that comes down the stairs and looks around furtively. When I was there yesterday it started to climb onto the shoulders of man who was stooped over just next to the stairs.
Oh right, did I mention when I return? 11th February, yeah. Cool, that's all, ciao.