BootsnAll Travel Community

Hellou,

I know there are plenty of forums about LA here, but I'm looking for bit different things that r written there.

I live in center Europe, but I'm going to LA this week for three weeks [I will stay in Pasadena]

I dont care about classic sightseeing stuff/hollywood/amusing parks/.. I hate to be indoor and sit
..in most european and asian cities i've been I usually used metro to some station in area i was interested and went by walk for exploration of that area.. and I was walkin and walkin and usually I runned into some interesting things or met interesting people and then I spent some time with them..

1. Usualy I searched for alternative cultures/subcultures, squats, punks and stuff.. kinda underground..
Are in LA any punks ? [real ones;]

2. I really appreciate streetart and graffiti ? In which areas could I find this? [not legal banksy-like things please]

3. Where Can I listen to breakcore/raggacore/raggajungle/punk music?
Are there any freetekno parties ? [ not techno!!! http://www.network23.org ]

4. What about beaches?
I guess I will spend most time there, I dont like big crowds, stupid attracions for tourists and stuff.. I'm lookin for fine place where can I lay down, swimm in the sea, walk for a while, and if its possible.. to smoke a cigarette [fyi I have my own ashtrash so dont think i am a pig;]
I'll be alone and I'm bit worried about security of my stuff when I go to sea.. how r the people? R there many thieves and stuff? R people so kind that when I ask them to watch over my stuff while I'm gonna be in the sea so they will do it?
I don't plan to carry nothing special.. but loosing it wouldnt be very good
So, which beaches could u advice?

5. And how is it with smoking ? Is it ok to walk and smoke cigarette on the street? or on the beach?

So.. my goal is to see what's real LA about, how r the people, if there r any interesting subcultures.. where can i walk'n'see

here u can find more informations about me to understand better what am I searchin for http://www.myspace.com/binarka
Also if u think u have simmilar interests as me and u r interested to meet me and go somewhere or get drunk just mailme.. I don't know anyone there


Thank ya

i don't know anything about graffiti or the punk scene but venice beach makes for some entertaining people watching and i like the beach itself too. it will be packed tho. point dume (spelling?) is pretty and hasn't been crowded when i've been there. your stuff will probably be fine as long as you use common sense precautions, don't leave anything valuable in plain sight and keep an eye on it while you're in the water.

people definitely smoke (many different substances) on the streets and beaches there, you just can't smoke at indoor bars or restaurants.

have fun in lalaland

hi binary riot. lalaland huh? (i'm up here in norcal too) have you ever read charles bukowski? great underground los angeles poet and novelist, captured the underbelly of life, lots of drinking and smoking, and was and is a hero of punks all over the world, even germany when he came to read there. check out some of his stuff if you get a chance. there is even a tour company i guess that goes around to his old haunts: http://www.esotouric.com/buk
looks fun to me! good luck and have fun on the beach!

yeah i know bukowski pretty good
but, I guess many things changed in US since he wrote his book

glad to hear you are familiar with bukowski. drinking and smoking? kiddin' me? he's your man. sure lots of things have changed in the states and la, but the seedy, gritty underbelly remains the same. i guess, truly, i could never get behind a bus tour about the places he frequented, still - if you are searching for iconoclasts in los angeles, you could do worse that starting from de longpre.

You brought up a lot of issues. I'll just deal with public transportation, because no one else mentioned anything about it.

Pasadena is well connected by metro to downtown Los Angeles, Long Beach, and Studio City. There is a metro line that stops in El Segundo, which is sort of near the beach, but nothing to take you to Venice Beach, which is indeed a fun place to visit. You'll have to take the Gold Line to Pasadena and switch to a Santa Monica #10 to get to the beach. (There are also Metro buses, but they cost more and are twice as slow because they don't take the Freeway.)

If you want to base yourself in Santa Monica or Venice for part of your trip, you will be better able to take public transit to where you want to go. The Santa Monica buses are excellent and cheap (75 cents); there are a number of youth hostels in the area; and in general there's more to see here than in Pasadena. (No offense, Pasadena, but I am thinking of public transportation mainly.)

Jim Paris
Los Angeles

my website has a section devoted to Angeles. You can see it here

Los Angeles Link

There are some great tours mentioned like Esotouric's exploration of Charles Bukowski's Los Angeles and a Historic Rock and Roll tour.

There are fun sections of Los Angeles like Silverlake and Los Feliz that most tourists don't venture to and are worth a visit.

Hope this helps a bit.