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Liveblogging: We are currently all quarantined in one of the 18th floor of the Burbank center, waiting for any possible aftershock of our very first earthquake since we moved to the US, 18 months ago.
- 5.8 Earthquake in Los Angeles
This was at least the first one we felt! And at 5.8 on the Richter scale, it would have been hard to miss it!!!
So the status so far: big shake (spooky). Few tremors before and after. Sarah is fine at home, while obviously shocked.
It had to happen at some point!
Oh, and being in the US, we can follow it live on TV
Updated 2:05PM: Just received a note from our Disney Emmergency group: “Please note that, according to the National Earthquake Center, aftershocks of varying intensity are likely within the next 72 hours”. I am feeling so much better now!
Don’t bail; the best gold is at the bottom of barrels of crap
Randy Pausch’s (1960-2008) - Lecture on Achieving Your Childhood Dreams
After a year of hesitation, my “little bro” Jef finally came to LA a couple of month ago and stayed with us for a couple of weeks (catching up on blog posts). I offered him to finance his flight (thanks to my remaining air miles) as a birthday present, removing the burden of having to choose between changing his boiler in his London apartment and visiting us.
After a difficult start seeing his inbound flight delayed then canceled, Jef finally made it to LAX, only delayed by a couple of hours, visiting on his way here the SFO airport. No need to say that Thia was ecstatic to see him (he his her Godfather as well as her silly “uncle”) and the first night of his stay was punctuated with laughter and a little one going to bed way passed her bed time!
It would take too long to describe in great details all the things that we did during his stay with us, but for the both of us, one of the highlight of his visit was some impromptu gig witnessed on the streets of LA.
For those who know Jef, you are aware that one of his passion is music, which is one of the reason we clicked so well as soon as he moved in with me in our London house several years ago. So, young Jef, always eager to find another chance to enjoy some privileged gig (he is the king of ending up backstage with acts) found out that Ben Harper, one of his favorite singer, was playing a couple of songs at the recording of the Late Night Show at NBC, only 2 streets away from where we live. Jef then conviced Sarah to join him and while I was working my socks off at the office, the 2 enjoyed a semi private gig on a TV set!
The story would be boring if it ended there but during the taping of the show, Jef heard that the band was playing that night an almost secret gig at a place called the Hotel Cafe, somewhere in Hollywood. So straight after the first gig, I picked Jef up and off we went to the cafe/club/bar. Once on site, we realized that the main act wasn’t Ben Harper but (even better) Tom Morello playing one of his nightwatchman gigs. Our sole problem at that point: The queue! The gig was meant to start at 8:00PM and here we were, at 8:10, still queuing on the street, doubting we would ever make it in. After almost an hour of queuing, we thought that all hope was definitely lost, despite being within the first 10 people not making it in, when the door dude kindly explained to us that the place was full, no one else would get in but “Tom almost always come outside and plays for the people who didn’t make it”… To good to be true! And so after a little while, Tom Morello appears in front of us and starts to play in the backstreet an acoustic gig for 20 to 30 privileged and overjoyed fans!
This sadly didn’t last long and after a couple of songs, Mr. Morello explained that he had to get back in and play on the main stage but that we shouldn’t leave as would make sure that we wouls always have some act coming out and do a little something. So we stayed and waited a little bit more. The wait was more than worth it and acts started coming out to perform in this back alley shortly after, including some Nine Inch Nails member (we were told and I am still dubious about this one), singer Perry Farrell, Incubus’ guitarist Mike Einziger and last but not least, Ben Harper and band! And so it went for over 2 hours, one act, one jam, one slice of fun after the other!
Tom Morello obviously came out every now and then, either between acts or jamming with them until finally his gig, inside the Hotel Cafe ended and everybody decided to go home or carry on partying somewhere else… We went home…
And so was one of the highlight of Jef’s stay in Los Angeles… More pictures available in the Pics section
As previously said, there would be too many good things to write about, Jef’s birthday, my birthday (for once not celebrated in Las Vegas during NAB), Thia’s morning visits to a sleepy Jef and tons of smiles and laughters, our evenings at our local pub (Timmy Nolans), Jef’s visit to Tijuana in a brand new rental sports car, without any insurance, rented under my name (we freaked) and simply having Jef here, with us, the same way it used to be in London.
Sadly, every good thing has to end at some point and Jef returned to London, leaving a very sad Thia behind and a very empty house where none of us really wanted to acknowledge that he was gone for a couple of days…
See you soon little bro, you know the door is always open for you!
