I'm so behind! Went to my uncle Michael's house in West Hills two weekends ago. Scholesy got to hang out with her boyfriend Bullit. It's the cutest thing ever! He is the ONLY dog she ever plays with. And they go at it for hours. Really weird, because she does completely ignores every other dog she comes in contact with. They even cuddle with each other!
Anyway, had some fun in the LA area. Started out our Saturday by going to Venice Beach. Wow. Coolest place EVER. For those of you who don't know anything about Venice Beach, it's a huge boardwalk along the beach with hundreds of street performers/artists/freaks (i'll get to that...)
Side note, parking in a lot near the beach costs $25. If you ever go, don't pay!! Just park a few blocks away.
So, Shanw and I planned to go for a couple hours. This turned into about 6, haha. And I still would have stayed longer! Started by walking along the beach. The sand is beautiful and soft as flour. Then started our stroll down the boardwalk. First up, The Ladies Who Box!
http://youtu.be/ImbeIdmfe24
They actually had to stop the fight because one of the girls was gushing blood from her face. Of course, this all happened after I said to Shawn "Why are men so stupid?? Who willingly volunteers to get punched in the face?! Women would never do this. We are SO the superior gender." Thanks a lot ladies.
Next up, we watched this acrobatic type show that was AMAZING. The videos are really long, but it's worth the time to watch it. There are definitely some lulls, but overall, the guys were actually kinda funny, and they do cool things throughout...so if you have the time, watch the whole video!
http://youtu.be/ffoZiadT92U
http://youtu.be/rwVb3soTVAg
After this show, we just kept walking along the boardwalk. Some pretty amazing talents to see.
Here's a guy that does sand sculptures.
You probably can't see this very well, but I thought it was hilarious. These guys sell "bum signs" like the kind you see on the street...written in marker on cardboard. Pretty funny. you should see what people sell on this boardwalk! One guy will tell you a joke for $1. Another guy let you punch him for $1. Weird, interesting people...
This was AWESOME! This guy creates "paintings." He uses the sun through a magnifying glass, to "draw" (burn designs) on wood boards. It was so so so so cool!!!! You could actually see him doing it. And these were INTRICATE pieces of art. People are so cool.
Last stop was a freak show. Here's a two-headed turtle. We had to pay $5 each to go into this little house type thing, where they keep all these weird, disfigured animals, etc. We saw a dog with 5 legs. And all kinds of two-headed animals...
They also had a special visitor. He goes by the name "The Wolf Man" I guess he is in the Guiness Book of World Records. He was there taking pictures with people, but I felt weird doing that. I know it's how he makes money, but it just feels weird. "Hey, let me take a picture with you so I can show all my friends how freaky you look!" Just doesn't feel right.
After our tour through the "museum" I had to drag Shawn back in to watch the show. As you all can imagine, Shawn didn't do too well with this whole experience. I still can't talk about it to him, because it makes him nauseous haha.
Unfortunately, but not to anyone's surprise I'm sure, Shawn's phone was almost completely dead by this point, my phone had been dead all day and I forgot my camera. That's why I don't have as many pictures as I would like, but here are some things we saw in the show.
Here is a girl sitting on an electric chair. She said she'd been struck by lightning as a child and now can withstand large amounts of electricity going through her body. Don't know if the lighting thing is true, but she definitely got electrocuted in this chair. Eww. When he turned on the chair, her whole face contorted and her eye started twitching. While she was on it, her partner held out a gas-soaked torch in front of her. She stuck her finger out to touch it and you could see the electricity flowing from her finger to the torch. Then, when she touched it, it lit on fire. What is wrong with people?!!!!
Here she is swallowing fire.
She did a bunch of other stuff, including twisting her arm more 360 degrees and dislocating a bunch of body parts. It was kinda gross.
Here's the guy with a full length sword down his throat. After he pulled the sword out, he also pulled the 6-inch nail out of his nose that he had inserted in the beginning of the show. Then he licked it. Shawn loved that.
Last, but not least...Here is the HUGE fish hook that this guy is about to put through his nose, and pull out his mouth.
Tada!
Went bowling with Michael that evening...had so much fun, we went back the following evening!!! So no more sightseeing in LA. Bowling is FUN!
Right between Santa Barbara and Lake Cachuma, there's this great little bar/restaurant, nestled away in a little wooded area about a mile off the road. It used to be a Stagecoach stop, for the men to stop and rest/get a beer/feed their horses.
