Taking a different approach to the City of Angels

Not long before leaving for Los Angeles, news broke that the planet's population had hit the six billion mark. I'm sure most of them were in West Hollywood on October 31.
If the significance of that date is lost on you then you're in good company, for Halloween hardly makes a dent on the Australian cultural landscape.
But in America, it's a very good excuse for a huge street party, or at least it is along a few blocks of Wilshire Boulevard, reserved for a collection of promenading souls the likes of which should be seen to be believed.
The concept is simple: anyone can get dressed up Halloween style (or otherwise as the area's gay population are wont to) and promenade down Wilshire while live bands keep the carnival atmosphere alive.
And if you don't fancy yourself in fancy dress, well that's okay too, just join in the parade anyway or stand to one side and watch it all happen from about 7.30pm.
My favorite parader? Hard to say, really, but the ``Queen of the F..... Universe'' sure made a splash with the crowd.
Of course, Halloween only happens once a year, even in America, but you don't have to wait until the next night of the dead to see how assiduously the aging process is challenged in LA. In a city where the locals seem preoccupied with two pursuits -either getting a parking spot or getting noticed -Venice Beach continues to hold its own as one of the nation's great cultural curios.
Here is where the body sculptors at the Muscle Beach outdoor gym are proud to flex their muscles in public, where skaters (most of perfect body and dazzling dental plan) pursue a coastal pilgrimage on wheels to Santa Monica and points before and beyond. Where talented street performers hassle non-donating onlookers in half-serious haranguings. Where you can have your name carved on a grain of rice, buy a philosophical discussion, get a massage, play chess (as one of five against one), or just walk, observe and be entertained. You can even get ripped off.

Hard Rock Cafe, City Walk, Universal Studios

The "guitar guru" is just one of many of Venice Beach's fixtures.

The Venice "freak" show

Here you can be dumbfounded at the myriad ways in which the small-time American entrepeneur can part you from your hard earned dollar. And when you're finished rubbernecking at the largest collection of the most implausibly proportioned humans on earth (remember this is the plastic surgery capital of America), you can settle down to watch some perfectly good community sports.
Take time to enjoy the dance skating, which welds together a whole bunch of LA essentialisms: beautiful bodies, cool rap music, great dance talent, being seen to be seen, and an anything goes spirit.
Proof of that last was evident in a middle-aged dude in only shorts and cap getting down to the beat by himself amid all the skaters.
Did anyone mind? Of course not. Welcome to LA. If you're going to see the "freaks'' at Venice (as one expatriate journalist somewhat unkindly described them), do so on a Sunday when activity hits a weekly peak. You can do this for no more than the cost of transport from your hotel to Santa Monica Pier - recommended as a starting point for a return walk along the foreshore.
The pier has a Mexican bar at its zenith, offering a good place for pre and post-Venice beers (try a two-pint glass) or cocktails, while the Pier is an entertainment mecca in its own right with a small amusement park, buskers and a permanent Cirque du Soleil camp.
It even has its own police station.

You may notice that some ways along the coast from Venice Beach is an oil refinery and most likely an attendant oil tanker. The presence of these industrial icons goes some way to explaining the condition of the ocean (few people swim at Santa Monica beach) and I couldn't help but wonder how many oil tankers unload each week to keep LA's millions of vehicles running.
There are close to 12 million people in greater LA (including Orange County to the south) and it's said there is at least one car for every two people.
That's a lot of oil tankers.
While I pondered LA as a study in consumption (if it were a nation in its own right, greater LA's GDP would rate in the world's top 20), it struck me that a city of its size must have more than one personality.
Surely there's more than decadence and shameless self-promotion?

Detour from the standard

Of course there is, though you have to detour from the standard holiday package to find it.
If LA does offer a study in consumption, then its sweetest lesson can be found at the Flower Market.
This blooming cauldron of commerce serves all the floristry needs of the southern California region - an area with a population around that of Australia's eastern seaboard.
After breathing LA's exhaust fumes, the admission fee to the Flower Market is a small price to pay for a breath of fresh air.
But more than mere nasal relief, the Flower Market offers a dazzling array of flower varieties and colors, even after the traders have taken their cut and the public are allowed in to pick over the remains.
It's also a good place to begin a tour of Downtown LA.
Now if just the sound of Downtown LA sets your nerves jangling, let me tell you this: that I ventured there because I was told not to. Unsafe, ugly and unappealing I was told by fellow travellers. Well, they were wrong, of course, and not surprisingly for none of them had been downtown in over a decade.
As for ugly, well sure, there are grimy, gritty parts of Downtown but what do you expect? Personally, I'd be disappointed if it were otherwise. This is a big city, stupid!
That said, there are plenty of stunning aspects, too.
Unsafe? A couple of years ago, City Hall decided that Downtown's reputation was doing it no good so it decided to clean up. Roaming security patrols were introduced whose task it is to make Downtown a nicer place to be by moving on "panhandlers'' and other undesirable elements. Recognisable by their bright shirts, the `"purple people greeters'' can also help tourists in distress, so keep an eye out for them. Unappealling? Not by a longshot. With the DASH service at your disposal (mini-buses carving four useful routes through Downtown) and a measure of foot-slogging, there is much to be seen.
Drop into Le Pueblo de Los Angeles, the historical precinct of Downtown which includes the city's first building.
" Yes, despite what people think LA does have a history,'' says Bill Estrada, one of the precinct's administrators, and the city's birthplace is combined with a flea market, live entertainment and culturally relevant restaurants to offer a special LA flavor.
The precinct is across the road from Union Station, which should be visited, too, if only to play spot-the-movie-scene in what must be one of the world's more recognisable thoroughfares.
Also worth a look is Grand Central Market on Hill St, which is like Adelaide Central Market but with more neon lights (and also a good place to get lunch with its Hispanic influence); then cross the road to catch a 25 cent ride on a funicular railway, just about the last transport device you would expect to find.
This places you right in the middle of Bunker Hill, LA's financial district. Glass towers and swank hotels, classy outdoor eateries (it's "always spring'' in LA) and the LA Central Libray (another structure among many in the "hey, where have I seen that before?'' category) provide a stark counterpoint to the area surrounding the Flower Market you saw earlier in the day.
You know, like ... totally, dude!
Also make time for wandering aimlessly. Downtown has a healthy policy towards street art and some of the installations are astonishing.
But even more so is just being within a metropolis where scale takes on new definition.

Skaters (top) gather at Venice Beach for some get-togetherness while at nearby Santa Monica Pier, the kids exercise some traditional fun.

You can go here to find out more about LA

Return to the library