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Touring LA with a Physicist
Santa Barbara -> Los Angeles, 14th November 2001.
As this was our last day in beautiful Santa Barbara, we planned to
rise early to make the most of it. Just after 10am we managed to
step out of our motel. Oh well, we're on holiday!
We were able to leave our bags at the train station, which meant we
were free to enjoy the town until our train came later in the
afternoon.
We took a wander along a vintage looking wooden pier, dotted with
people enjoying the strong sun that had come out to join us this
morning. The pier was lined with at least 2 dozen fish & chip shops,
all offering 'the best fish 'n' chips'. Unfortunately none were open
at this time of morning so we couldn't try them out on our cultured
British palettes.
I spent the morning lying on the end of the pier, soaking up the
golden rays. I leant up against a huge wooden pole and looked out
onto the sparkling blue waves. Signs of live were sparsely dotted
over the blue field. In the distance I could just make out the misty
apparition of an oil rig. Silent but hard at work. A lone speed boat
made it's way across the waves, leaving a white snail trail behind
it. The boat drew my eyes closer to the shore and I noticed that
although bright blue at a distance, the closer water was a much more
murky green. Not as tempting for a dip.
The sun was obviously too much for the others, it was too soon since
the grey skies of England, so they took a wander around town.
We met up an hour or so before our train was due to leave and
boarded without problem. As we took our seats the ticket collector
strutted up to us to check our passes. Hmmm. With his spiked up
hair, his oversized sunglasses and his unbuttoned shirt he was
obviously trying his best to be 'cool'. Hmmm. We didn't tell him
that he'd failed miserably, and just watched as he strutted off to
the next group of passengers.
The train was very quiet as we passed along another stretch of
Californian coast line. The only problem was the guy in the seat
behind Nat who appeared to be suffering from chronic convulsions and
kept kicking Nat in the back at 4 minute intervals. Luckily, just
before Nat turned round to remove his head, the train pulled up at
Union Station in LA.
We took a slow stroll through the impressive architecture of the
station. Last time we were here, we were sprinting through and
didn't have a chance to take it in.
Of course, now that we were back in LA, there was only place we
could stay, the fabulous LA Adventurer! We gave them a ring and were
excited to hear that they'd send a free taxi to meet us! Woot! We're
glad they paid for it, because it's a long way from the station, and
the meter kept rising and rising and rising, by the time we reached
the LA Adventure, the meter read over $40. Gulp! We half expected
the driver to demand some money, but after we gave him a small tip,
he followed us into the hotel, obviously for them to pay him.
We're met by a huge, muscular coloured guy and a wiry, hairy Mexican
guy at the hotel desk. The guys who work here are real characters,
but very friendly. After we throw our bits into our room, I hurry
down to the phone to ring Anton.
Back in England, I'm quite fond of, and good at, science. In fact,
I'm doing Physics for my degree. Anyway, there's a great internet
site called PhysLink (www.physlink.com) with loads of useful science
bits, Q&As and recent news. (It's very handy for anyone doing
science and it can be interesting even for those not inclined that
way!) There is one section called 'Ask The Experts' where people can
post science questions, and then anyone can (attempt to) answer
them. If the answer is good enough (and correct) then your answer
will get posted on the site. I'd answered quite a few of the
questions and had about 10 of them posted. If you get more than 3
answers posted, then you enter their Hall Of Fame, and the owner of
the site, Anton, will send you a little thank you gift in the post.
I e-mailed him a bit of information about myself to be put in the
hall of fame and he noticed that I was coming to LA, where he lives.
After sending a few e-mails he suggested meeting up and showing my
friends and me around this famous city. Yeay!
30 minutes after phoning him, we stood expectedly outside, not
actually knowing quite what to expect. A few minutes later, a dark
green car pulled up and a man, who looked slightly like the photo of
Anton on PhysLink.com stepped out of the car. Anton has dark hair,
contrasted with his strong blue eyes. He shook us all by the end,
then we all jumped aboard and we were whisked off on our mini-tour
of LA.
Pretty much right from the start We got on well, and as time passed
we were soon chatting about anything and everything.
Before we took our drive around LA, Anton took us out for dinner
(yes, he paid for all of us, thanks very much Anton!). The place was
called 'The Cheesecake Factory', and the name drew up mixed images.
On one hand, I love cheesecake and so with a name like that it
couldn't fail to impress. But on the other hand, a name like 'The
Cheesecake Factory' creates images of plastic, tacky fast food
places...how wrong I was! Despite the name, the restaurant turned
out to be really classy and expensive looking! More like The Ritz
than The Factory!
Over dinner the conversation continued, mainly on the subjects of
Physics and Physlink.com.
Anton had invested a lot of time in this web project, and it seems
to be paying off really well. It's a great site and it's really
ingrained in the web with links and arms all over the place. It was
interesting to learn that he initially wanted Physics.com but a
strange religious group called Creationists, who believe that
science is wrong, had already bought up all the big science domain
names (Physics.com, Maths.com, Chemistry.com etc). Unfortunately,
the way the web works, there is little anyone can do about it.
After a delicious dinner followed by a even more delicious dessert
(toughest choice of my gap year so far...which cheesecake to have!
There's so many and they all look soooooo nice!) we hit the road
again.
Anton then took us along Sunset Boulevard showing us all the famous
clubs & pubs and telling us loads about them. Lots of expensive
places for lots of rich people! Talking of rich people, we then
entered Beverly Hills, THE place to live in LA. All the houses have
mile long winding drives so you can't see the houses or the stars
inside. The whole area is just dripping with class and exuberance.
It's also a really safe area to live. It's got its own police force
who are VERY vigilant.
Anton had hoped to take us to the big observatory in the main park,
which is completely free to use. However, by the time we got there
it was too late in the evening and the whole place was locked up. We
tried to tempt Anton to ram the barriers, but he didn't see,
convinced, and we just continued touring around.
We soon passed a bright yellow sign, and Anton hissed under his
breath. We read the sign and it said 'Church of Scientology'. He
explained that it's a strange religion that says all conventional
science is wrong and only Religion is right. It's lead by the famous
Science Fiction writer, L Ron Hubbard...Wait a minute! That was the
new exhibit we were invited to in Hollywood but decided to turn
down! Hmm, it would have been interesting to see, but as the bane of
all conventional science we're glad we didn't patronize it. Anton
explained that they wield a lot of power in Hollywood with many big
stars supporting and funding it, including John Travolta and Tom
Cruise.
We ended the tour by taking a drive out to the famous Santa Monica
beach and after a quick look around, we drove back in the direction
of our hotel. On the way we discussed possible ways to brighten the
image of Science & Physics. It's such an important subject that's
changed our lives immeasurably, but it has a dull & boring image. We
need a way to change it...
Anyhow, we soon got back, and after we'd thanked Anton again & again
for all that he'd done for us, he then passed me one last a gift. A
famous Popular Science book: 'The Elegant Universe' by Brian Greene.
Wow! Thanks! This will make interesting ready...no, it really will!
I meant to buy this earlier!
Back in our comfortable room, we watched a bit of TV before drifting
off to sleep...
Next diary entry >>
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To know the road ahead, ask those coming back
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