#3155: Saturday, December 11, 2023, in Chiang Mai, writing about Los Angeles

Post 3155

- 12 years and 345 days since I started this blog -

I'm at it again, at the Troubador, a new-to-me club in Chiang Mai, Thailand. It was opened by my friend Sebastian Nguyen a few months after I left last trip. It is a welcome addition to the music scene. This is my first time playing in Chiang Mai since last January. Pic taken December 10, two days after I arrived.

Journal
(written December 11, 2023)

Read this once (it won't change for the rest of the trip(s): I'll be linking this post to Facebook. If that's how you got here, here's some background: About 13 years ago I started this blog as a food journal. I had a medical situation and needed to lose weight. Initially, that's all I did here: Journal my food intake and my weight. It contributed to helping me lose 20+% of my body weight in 6 months, and continuing has kept me on track since then. I started adding commentary after a while, but lately it has become infrequent. 

While I'm traveling, I let go of the weight-tracking and food journaling (except for food shots when I've eaten something interesting or pretty. And that's where we find ourselves now.

I'm writing this a few days after I arrived in Chiang Mai, Thailand.

I began my Winter travels with a visit with my son, Alex, in LA. Thanks, to some American Airlines dickery, I was in LA for eight instead of nine-and-a-half days. The time passed quickly, but fairly uneventfully. Two exceptions were my first visit to a Comic Con - the LA Comic Con. Then, the night before I left, I got two chances to play some bass.

I haven't done the self-analysis to find out why I am not taking as many pictures as usual. Part of the reason is that I haven't been quite so active in LA, as Alex is working 'regular' hours - and sometimes a little late, and I have been disinclined to do much wandering in this downtime. 

That being said, here is the LA photo dump:

Alex does a very successful TikTok show called the F*cking News, and now here he is showing off his brand of coffee. I'm a bit of a coffee snob, and found it to be pretty damn good. It's comes from a small-batch roaster in Connecticut. PM or text me if you want a url to order. 

Walking towards the LA Comic Con, I encountered a human TV. Not even close to the strangest costumes I saw.

Here's Alex in front of the Coliseum. He co-wrote a feature film, The Legend of the White Dragon, and was scheduled to participate in a panel coinciding with the release of the trailer. The movie doesn't have a release date yet, but the producer (see below) is just dotting the i's and crossing the t's to make sure it goes out at the right time.

Inside Comic Con - I was almost instantly overwhelmed. The crowd, the size, the noise level: It crackled with energy! I'm a pretty low-key guy in this situation, and taking it all in, well, it got exhausting, quickly. So, I took a break after every excursion. 

Alex and I on the way to the panel.

A Reverend Ken sandwich with Star Wars' Emperor and Darth Maul

I don't know who, exactly, the natty Victorian gentleman is supposed to be, but I'd recognize Mr. Fox anywhere. Amazing costumes.

After Comic Con, we went to dinner with LOTWD's executives: The father-son Bat In the Sun production company that wrote, directed, scored, and acted in the film, Sean and Aaron, the producer Phil, co-writer (and son) Alex. The restaurant was just behind me where these pictures were taken, outside the LA Forum, where a Christmas-themed ice skating rink had been built. Very pretty. 

Post-LA Comic Con dinner with the Bat In the Sun Productions team: (L-R) Sean, Aaron, Phil, Alex and I at the Blue Dog, across from the LA Forum ice skating rink. Lots of laughs, good food. 

We caught a walk-through light show at the South Coast Botanical Gardens. We both agreed it was kind of meh, but still, quality time together!

Alex brought me to a wonderful, relaxing smoking garden behind a dispensary. This Buddhist-themed meditation garden is complete with koi pond and beautiful (but frequently noisy) parrots has joined my list of favorite places in Los Angeles. It made for a very pleasant afternoon, at a cost of $10 for a very uplifting pre-roll. Don't it make my brown eyes pink...

This was, like last year, a too-short visit to LA. It wasn't enough time for me to see everybody I wanted to, although I did manage to connect with a few of my friends. But I missed out on more. And I didn't come close to doing a lot that I usually do. 

The night before I left, I did get in some good playing time. First, with Bat In the Sun's Sean Schoenke, who is a multi-instrumentalist and does the music scores for all the productions. So much fun to jam with him, playing a mix of standards, just piano and bass (and, for a little bit, a drum machine). There's an ease to duets, just two muso's playing for each other. Great fun.

Then on to Ireland's 32 in Sherman Oaks for my pal Matt Lomeo's open jam, where I got to lead a set, and do some backup.

It's like a piece of home - a lot of fun.

Unfortunately, there are only some video clips, no pics to show - and video doesn't work for me on this blog, so, there you are.

Two years in a row, I have short-changed my time in LA, and it won't happen again. I may adjust my travels and put LA in the middle or maybe even at the end of the winter - the weather will be better, and I can possibly stay over two weekends, to maximize Alex's availability. He is, after all, the reason I come here.

Still, I don't have the words to express how much I enjoy any and all the time I spend with him. 

Food Comment

This sesame crusted tuna over mixed vegetables with creamy mushroom sauce, was just amazing. Courtesy, Kura Sushi. 

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