You may have read we attended an unforgettable and unique concert of the shoe-gazing genre group, "My Bloody Valentine" in Santa Monica on October 1. We had barely enough time to check into our charming (but not cheap) hotel, The Venice Beach Suites, before going to the concert. The hotel was fabulous - right on the famous boardwalk. I imagine during the summer months it must be jumping with noise. We were there on a quiet Wednesday night in the Fall, so we didn't quite have the ambiance that I think P was looking for in order to take pictures - but more on that later.
We simultaneously 'ohh'd and 'awww'd upon entering our room with real brick walls, a cute archway leading to the tiny kitchenette and mini fridge, a free bottle of Chianti wine and a darling old-fashioned heater in the corner next to the bed.
Back from the concert (I already blogged about that) we both scrambled to get pictures of that heater especially hehehe. A swell room, and yes, upon checking out we did take the complimentary bottle with us :)
Patrick has invested in some serious equipment in the past 1.5 years. If you want a laundry list of the several cameras and lenses he has, again, I say go to his Flickr profile where he lists what he has - I guess that is what the pros do on Flickr photosite.
That said, with said equipment and having just finished a 2 month photo class at UCSD, he is even better than before. I know he was hoping to get some great subject material in the interesting people that inhabit the Boardwalk and beach, but it was so early and midweek we didn't quite get what we both wanted. It also was extremely bright - not great for lighting purposes. That said, P finally got to spend time in Venice with the liberals and likes of star Angelica Huston walking her dog right next to us (I had to point it out, of course - because he won't admit it, but he gets a little starstruck - I tease, P, well-kinda).
Afterwards we drove up to and walked around the 3rd Street Promenade in Santa Monica as well as the famous Pier. Back in my days of living in LA and pursuing acting, I used to love the Promenade - always full of life, great shopping, and people-watching, and then a sunset walk at the top of the cliffs overlooking the ocean and pier. Since this is a journal of my life, first and foremost I admit remembering that the Promenade was the location of my first date with my boyfriend of 10 years ago or so - Mark, the writer/publicist - where we shared an umbrella and dashed romantically through the rain to grab our first drink and dinner together. The Promenade was also the sight of a not-too-proud moment of mine where while overlooking the famous ocean view from the cliffs, I broke up with writer/director/producer/actor Rick N. - my Hollywood connection and the reason I learned that even sweet Elsa from Bonita, California could move up to hard LA and try a career in Hollywood. Sadly, I broke up with him when I finally DID move up there - he would have been an amazing contact and relationship for me to have career-wise had I been raised to use people hehehe. So many stories I have to tell of the few that meant something in my life... sigh - one day I will get it all down on here... Come to think of it I have 100s of pages typed and printed out meticuously about Mark and Rick - hahaha such is how I used to do it in the old days... :)
Click on my slideshow below and see my pics using P's expensive real camera, his Canon digital!! And then go on his site and see some real photography :P
 |
| Venice Beach and Santa Monica |
2 comments:
Good Lord, you've no IDEA what I've learned to cope with - :)
That said, thanks for the compliments and being a fan of foreign people and languages - I would love to learn Chinese, but then spam was left on my comments and a friend-in-the-know warned me against clicking to follow through... so I guess my 'inovation' will have to stay on my own blog - thank you for your support!
Post a Comment