Metro Journal: Oct 10 Forecast for No Raincoats

As I'd mentioned, the amazing Raincoats were finally on their way to California for the first time to perform in the Part Time Punks Festival on October 11. I got my ticket right away. I also put myself on the Part Time Punks mailing list so I could keep up with new information on the show. Well, turns out, they had scheduled an afternoon "party" on the roof of the Standard Hotel downtown for the day before, and saying that, among others, the Raincoats would be there to sign albums. I've never been one for fandom, as it requires too much energy for the net effect of looking like a total dork, but I really had nothing better to do, and it was free.

Of course, Saturday morning I woke up with a nasty headache. I took an Excedrin. A couple hours later, no real improvement. I figured maybe getting out and walking around in the, um, "fresh" air of downtown Los Angeles might help, so I went ahead with my plan. The trip, with about ½ mile walking at each end, just took two buses. Waiting for the second bus, the 90/91, on Glendale Blvd, I think I just missed the previous one by a few minutes, because I ended up having to wait almost half an hour, their frequency on Saturdays. When it came, even though there was a woman in a motorized wheelchair waiting at the stop, a rather barrel-chested middle-aged woman stood directly in front of the doors. Um, that's not the way it works. Everyone else stood back, because wheelchairs always go on first. The driver waited the better part of a minute for this woman to get the clue that she wasn't going to open the door until she moved, but that didn't happen. She opened the door, immediately started lowering the ramp, which beeps when it's on, and still the woman wasn't quite getting the clue until the driver told her to move. Geez. The bus was standing room only, but it cleared off several stops later and I settled down to read my book.

Downtown, I got off at Hill & 6th, and then had to walk a bit up to the Standard on Flower. I went in the lobby and took the elevator + stairs to the roof. I had never been there before, and I was struck by how Painfully Hip the place was trying so hard to be. The pretentiousness did not help my headache, with different lighting and colors around every corner. The room numbers were on fake "Hello My Name Is" stickers. As soon as I walked onto the roof, a security guard told me I needed a wristband to be on the roof at this hour (it was 3pm... WTF?) and I could get one at the valet parking area. So, I went down, found the valet parking entrance, and asked for a wristband for the roof. They didn't even ask for ID or anything, so I fail to see the point.

The roof is a pool/bar area. The Part Time Punks people had their DJ and sound system set up. I'm not going to go into design details of the roof, but again, Painfully Hip. I talked to a few groups of people, including three tourists from Greece who were hotel guests. We talked about how nice the weather had been the last few days, how it was impossible to enjoy the beaches around here after growing up with, for me, beaches on the East Coast, and for them, in Greece, where the water and sand are so much cleaner and the water warmer. They were on their way to going skydiving for the first time, so I wished them luck.

Still, I had the headache, and there was no sign of any Raincoats. I walked around a bit, checking out the view. I saw this beautiful mosaic pyramid that I'd seen a couple times before, but never remembered to figure out the building it was on. When I got home, I finally looked it up, and it's the main branch of the Los Angeles Public Library. Right behind it, to the left, is the tallest building in Los Angeles, now called the US Bank Tower, previously the First Interstate Bank building. However, to me, it will always be the First Intercourse Building, although probably not for the reason most people might think.

The sun had fallen behind the building and the air up on the roof was getting cool. Still no Raincoats. Still no real abatement of the headache. I decided to go home, avoiding the walk back to Hill, instead walking the 3 blocks to the closest Red Line station, where the clock said it was about 4:30, and taking that to Hill & 1st. I was kitty corner from the stop when I saw the 794 go by. Oh, well, I could take the 90/91 again. Crap, I saw it coming down the block. I still had to cross Hill when it got to the stop. The crossing light changed and it was still there! I sprinted across and the driver waited for me. Yay! Seriously, it's all courthouses and office buildings for a several-block radius, so I would have been bored (and chilled) having to wait another half hour.

And once I got home, I took more drugs and still with the headache.