Shanti’s Dispatches

Anna Banana brings back some memories.

See, kids? This is what happens when you move to Los Angeles.

Any friends in my life that have been following the “bizarre love octagon” situation that has been unfolding, there is finally a resolution. As the song ‘Let It Be’ by the Beatles goes, “… there will be an answer / let it be / let it be.”

You can’t win ‘em all I guess. If there are any older folks out there that have daughters in the Los Angeles area, ages 18-35 (I won’t discriminate), you better keep a short leash on them. Crazy wildman single Shant-dog is back on the scene. And he’s in freakin Los Angeles this time!

and now I leave you with the lyrics to Bloodhound Gang’s “Fire Water Burn (The Roof is)”:

The roof, the roof, the roof is on fire,
The roof, the roof, the roof is on fire,
The roof, the roof, the roof is on fire,
We don’t need no water let the motherfucker burn,
Burn motherfucker burn.

Hello my name is Jimmy Pop and I’m a dumb white guy,
I’m not old or new but middle school fifth grade like junior high,
I don’t know mofo if y’all peeps be buggin’ give props to my ho cause she all fly,
But I can take the heat cause I’m the other white meat known as ‘Kid Funky Fried’,
Yeah I’m hung like planet Pluto hard to see with the naked eye,
But if I crashed into Uranus I would stick it where the sun don’t shine,
Cause I’m kind of like Han Solo always stroking my own wookie,
I’m the root of all that’s evil yeah but you can call me cookie,
The roof, the roof, the roof is on fire,
The roof, the roof, the roof is on fire,
The roof, the roof, the roof is on fire,
We don’t need no water let the motherfucker burn,
Burn motherfucker burn.

Yo yo this hard - core ghetto gangster image takes a lot of practice,
I’m not black like Barry White no I am white like Frank Black is,
So if man is five and the devil is six than that must make me seven,
This honkey’s gone to heaven,
But if I go to hell then I hope I burn well,
I’ll spend my days with J. F. K. , Marvin Gaye, Martha Raye, and Lawrence Welk,
And Kurt Cobain, Kojak, Mark Twain and Jimi Hendrix’s poltergeist,
And Webster yeah Emmanuel Lewis cause he’s the anti - christ,
The roof, the roof, the roof is on fire,
The roof, the roof, the roof is on fire,
The roof, the roof, the roof is on fire,
We don’t need no water let the motherfucker burn,
Burn motherfucker burn.

Everybody here we go,
Ohh Ohh,
C’mon party people,
Ohh Ohh,
Throw your hands in the air,
Ohh Ohh,
C’mon party people,
Ohh Ohh,
Wave ‘em like you don’t care,
Ohh Ohh,
C’mon party people,
Ohh Ohh,
Everbody say ho,
Ohh Ohh,
C’mon party people,
Ohh Ohh,
Everybody here we go.

You heard it hear first, folks. The LA Club ‘Belly’ will be the next White Lotus.

Club promoter Dennis writes: “I’m also working with some up & coming clubs like Belly - mark my words, Belly will be the next White Lotus.”

There you go… When Belly blows up like you thought it would, the proof is right here on this webpage that I called it.

MadNights.com - Belly Los Angeles - Belly bar, Belly restaurant, and Belly nightclub

So I had way too much fun last weekend, even though there werenít any crazy trips to Hollywood or anything. On Saturday for brunch, Amber and I had bloody maryís and an egg white, goat cheese, spinach & tomato omelet at Breakwater in Redondo Beach. My cousin Sayward works there so she hooked us up. Then we went up to the bar where Dave (Saywardís friend who is way too crazy) was workingÖand of course he hooked us up as well. Ahh, rough life, eh? We met some nice 60+ year olds at the bar and talked about the legalization of marijuana and other semi-intellectual topics. It seems like you never meet anyone who actually, really thinks smoking pot should be a criminal offense. At least I never do. Maybe it shouldnít be legalized so that any old 15 year-old can buy it at the gas station, but at least people shouldnít be locked away for 30 years for growing & smoking a naturally occurring herb. Thatís my $.02, and seems to be the consensus of just about everyone I meet. Itíll never happen, of course (legalization, that is).

In California, theyíve passed several laws that make growing & prescribing marijuana legal for medicinal purposes. The problem is that Federal law still stipulates that this is illegal. There was a pretty widely publicized case a while back where a medical grower/supplier up in the Bay Area got convicted because the Feds came in and arrested him. At the trial, the defense wasnít allowed to tell the jury that under state law, what they were doing was perfectly legal. Ashcroft really has got to go.

So then we were supposed to go home and ride back up from Manhattan Beach all the way up to Culver City. If you know the area, thatís a pretty long trek (12+ miles), and we would go the round-about way (along the beach) so as to avoid driving on the streets all the way up there. But of course we just went home and crashed for a while. When I woke up later that day it felt like Sunday…. ahh, but no, it’s just 7:30pm on Saturday night.. still plenty of time to party the night away. My roommate and I went out to Trioís in Manhattan Beach. It was definitely rockiní, and the scenery was quality. Met a (shockingly) nice girlÖof course whenever I meet someone like this I assume they’re not from around here. Los Angeles chicks are pretty mean, or at least not “nice”, usually. But this girl was actually from LA so that was surprising.

The next night we went to Club Sushi right off the Pier in Hermosa Beach. This place rocks. Iíve been there probably more than any other restaurant out here now. I highly recommend the rainbow rolls, as well as the seared tuna. Yummy. Oh yeah and you canít forget the sake.

There is a fine art to sending over / buying drinks for girls. If you do it incorrectly, you totally waste your money / get taken advantage of and are made a total fool. If you do it correctly, you could just get a phone number, have a really awesome conversation, or maybe even get something more. There was a smokiní chick at the sushi bar eating by herself that night. It takes cahones for a woman to eat out at a restaurant by herself. Granted, the sushi bar is a little different, but still. So I sent her over an order of sake. A little while later she tries to get our attention and says thank youÖ I wait another little while until my cousin starts talking on her cell phone before I go over and introduce myself. Turns out she works at a major consulting firm, and is out here consulting for the same company as my roommate, and is from the same city as my roommate (Boston). Turns out she may want to move out to Los Angeles. Iím inÖ this is perfect. Weíve been playing phone tag the last few days but this could be a good one.