The Driving Thread

Songbird, you keep dragging me down Memory Lane. The rundown townhouse my wife and I bought in 1986 was at 3627 Keystone, which is just a couple of blocks west of Vinton. I lived in Palms twice, on Glendon, which is a bit farther west, a block from Overland and walking distance from the original Chippendales. Then the townhouse. Most of the apartments in that area are forgettable, which could explain why your dad couldn't remember.
It was a five-unit townhouse. We owned No. 3. For a while, the owner of No. 1 was Dan Castellanetta, who is the voice of Homer Simpson. He was in Tracy Ullman's show when he was a neighbor. They hosted the wrap party one season and Ullman's Rolls Royce was parked in front of our place for 3 days. He liked the location because it is about halfway between the studios (MGM, Sony) in Culver City and those in WLA (2oth Century Fox, Paramount) -- 10 minutes in either direction. But his wife was more earthy and wanted to live in Topanga Canyon.

 

Tracey Ullman, huh?

I watched her show every week and loved it.

I also liked her 1-hit wonder song They Don't Know.

Watched the video a lot as an original child of MTV.

Well, it was '80s new wave music day on one of the gym TV's.

This was the first song, with video, that played as I started cardio on the bike.



And I thought of your post above.

So I kept going with the flow and let life dictate where I would drive today ...

... and I ended up in a part of L.A. called Cudahy eating a bacon-cheeseburger, fries and washing it down with a chocolate vanilla shake.

It's the shake that really put everything into motion.

But nothing would've been put into motion without your reference to Tracey Ullman and then hearing Tracey Ullman sing 20 minutes later.

In a million years I never would've willingly decided to drive to Cudahy to enjoy a milkshake.

And yet there I was doing exactly that.

I'll update this later.

 

So, @ChrisLong, the next song after Tracey Ullman was Shake It Up by The Cars.

Couldn't ask for a better way to get the heart rate going.



Now, this is stupid, I know, but I've been craving a shake for the last week and started to think about getting one for lunch.

Why not? Shake It Up? Shake for lunch? This is how life talks to us. Shit, just said the quiet part out loud.

I looked over at another TV and one of the news station was reporting a 3.3 quake this morning near Cudahy.

The temblor struck about 9:26 a.m. and was centered in the Cudahy area, less than 10 miles southwest of downtown L.A., the U.S. Geological Survey reported. With a depth of about 8.7 miles, the quake was “quite deep,” seismologist Lucy Jones tweeted. She added that the tremor was “probably felt around much of LA basin.”​

https://ktla.com/news/local-news/preliminary-magnitude-3-3-earthquake-strikes-cudahy-area/

Cars shake ... Cudahy shakes ... at that point I decided to drive to Cudahy to have a shake for lunch, probably with a burger and fries.

That's how it fucking works sometimes, yo. Let the energy and the spirits guide you. What's the worst that can happen?

But what kind of shake? The answer to that came in the next video ...



... I was going to drive to Cudahy to have a chocolate and vanilla shake.

Vanilla for Vanilli and I assume Milli means chocolate in French.

I came close to changing my mind a few songs later ...



... maybe I should drive to the Sunset Strip again and drink a shake near Slash's star on the Walk of Fame.

He practically grew up on on the Strip.

The Sunset Strip holds a special place in the heart of one Saul Hudson, better known as the guitarist Slash.

“In the 1970s, my family moved from England to the Laurel Canyon area, and my parents were very much dialed in to the whole Sunset Strip scene,” said the rocker. “They were both in the music business, and the whole reason we lived where we did was because of the recording industry. So I have very vivid memories of the Rainbow and the Roxy, and the Whisky was a huge point of interest at that time. And we practically lived at Tower Records. It was all so great; that’s where I brought my band up. It was a such a scene.”​

But my heart wasn't so much into that idea though Sweet Child O' Mine did help get me through the rest of the bike ride.

Axl is a true American poet.

She's got eyes of the bluest skies
As if they thought of rain
I'd hate to look into those eyes and see an ounce of pain
Her hair reminds me of a warm safe place
Where as a child I'd hide
And pray for the thunder and the rain to quietly pass me by​

It's just fucking immaculate. Maybe GnR is the best American band ever. Or third behind The Doors and Stone Temple Pilots. Hard to know.

After the cardio and in the car ... I started to waffle again, started to get indecisive.

Do I really wanna fucking drive to Cudahy? Isn't Cudahy a dirty dangerous town? Racist!

At a red light on Crenshaw I looked over and saw this housing complex, click ...



... and remembered it's the first day of Black History Month.

Few moments later at another red light I looked back and saw banners for the California African American Museum ...



For those interested in Sanford Biggers and/or CAAM: https://caamuseum.org/

Drove through a few sketchy areas and probably raised eyebrows by stopping so much to snap photos of street signs and/or blight.

After making a right onto Salt Lake Avenue, which runs next to 2 sets of rail tracks, I rolled upon Cudahy ...



... there's a first time for everything. This was such a bizarre moment.

Because when I woke up this morning, driving to Cudahy for a fucking milkshake was the last thing I could have possibly thought of. And the only reason I landed there is because of a cuckoo bird set of circumstances based on a song I loved 35 years ago as a latchkey child of MTV.

I only trespassed for a few minutes to take 23 photos, or maybe 37.



Google pulled up 3 places to get a shake in Cudahy. I'm sure there are more than 3 but only 3 were listed.

I thought about getting a shake at 3 different places because of the 3.3 quake but that seemed silly.

I decided to go to the first place on the list, Jim's Burgers.



I walked up to the counter and ordered a bacon-cheeseburger, fries, and chocolate-vanilla shake.

The girl looked at me with sad eyes and said, I'm sorry but we don't have any ice cream until tomorrow.

I didn't know what to say. It deflated the zing and pep in my step.

Did I really drive to Cudahy to have the burger girl tell me they're out of ice cream therefore she can't make me a shake? Some 30 years ago on the way to Vegas with a friend, we stopped at KFC in Taft. It was 4 in the afternoon. A teenage boy interrupted my order by saying, Sorry, Sir, but we're out of chicken.

30 years later the burger girl is telling me there's not a scoop of ice cream to make me a shake.

I cancelled the burger and fries and headed to the next place on the list: Chris's Hamburgers about 30 seconds away on Atlantic Avenue.

They DID have ice cream and said they could make me a Milli Vanilli milkshake to go with my bacon-cheeseburger and fries. I was happy ...

... until the card reader kept saying my card was disabled. And now I was getting fucking pissed.

The funny part is that I actually may have had to GO to 3 places just to GET a shake.

But I gave him another card and it went through and all was good.



Excellent burger. Abundance of excellent fries.

And pretty decent shake, a little wetter than I prefer, but still very good -- and made with real ice cream.

I loved the vibe of the joint. Journey came on the radio and ESPN's NFL Live chatterboxes were eating Jimmy G's guts ...



... and then I was jarred by the graphic in the bottom right corner of the screen: Alabama at 1 Auburn.

1 Auburn?

Auburn basketball is No. 1?

Auburn University is No. 1? In men's basketball? That's nuts.

Anyway, on the drive back I stopped at Salt Lake Park in Huntington Park to photograph a well-kept baseball field.

Took a shit-ton of photos along Florence Boulevard and beyond: https://photos.app.goo.gl/ei41sV4PAqvrNAPa7

I was in a zone, full of good food, and happy with my Milli Vanilla milkshake.

Here's the thing: I had negative preconceived notions about Cudahy and Huntington Park but think they're both a charming little part of L.A.

Yesterday I had super positive preconceived vibes about Van Nuys but drove home thinking how it's one of the worst shitholes I've been to in a long time.

You just never fucking know.

Back on Robertson Boulevard, close to home, this song came on the radio.

It's called On My Knees by Rufus Du Sol. Never heard of band or song till this moment.

Right away I got lost in the beats and the rhythms.

Turned the volume all the way up.

Felt like Level 42 meets Depeche Mode for a new generation who missed out the first time.

Fell in love with the song on the spot. Deep abiding love.

I've hit replay on YouTube about 25 times in the last hour.

 

All I got is a guy I've known since kindergarten fronts a Cars cover band called Candy-O. He's been involved in music his whole life. I think he likes milk shakes, but I couldn't be certain.

 

It was either Cudahy or just listen to Kelis.

 

@Songbird, maybe you’ve explained it, but how is it you can drive around LA every day? Did you win the lottery (not the Shirley Jackson kind), inherit a bunch of money or short GameStop stocks? I love your posts and photos, but I’m just curious.

 

Taking a short-term sabbatical to decide if I want to stay in Cali or hit the road.

The last few weeks were a lot of fun. Didn't drive around today and am probably done with these little day trips.

If I do win the lottery, I might buy a car like this which I see during the morning walk. Such a sexy shade of blue.

 

Great flyover of old LA.

The Fish Shanty and old Kooky World of La Cienega

 

Johnnie Cochran, Honduras v. USMNT, kumquats. More to come.

 

Keep the suburban sorties coming as long as you can. We crave it.

This song is period SoCal for me:

 

David and David, part of Sheryl Crow’s Tuesday night music club in bootheel Missouri.

That’s a great album.

 

About an hour before the #usmnt soccer game, I did a bit of Google to see if there was Honduran food near me.

A few places came up including one called Destino at 3224 Venice Boulevard. Looked it up on Google Map. All your Google are belong to me.



Then I saw Johnnie L. Cochran Jr. Middle School close by Destino.

Is that THE Johnnie Cochran? Google. Yep.

BY NORTH COUNTY TIMES WIRE SERVICES
JAN. 25, 2006 12 AM PT

LOS ANGELES - The Los Angeles school board voted Tuesday to rename the middle school that Johnnie Cochran Jr. attended in honor of the celebrated attorney, who died last year.

A formal celebration ceremony will be scheduled in the weeks to come at the 1,900-student campus formerly known as Mt. VernonMiddle School, said principal Scott Schmerelson.

“This extraordinary, superb lawyer with movie-star celebrity status was an outstanding student at Mt. Vernon Middle School and Los Angeles High School,” he said.

“His dedication and unwavering commitment to seeing that justice prevail for all persons, whether they were rich or poor, regardless of their race, ethnicity or gender, was Mr. Johnnie L. Cochran Jr.'s life journey.”

The attorney was 67 when he died last March 29 at his Los Feliz home from a brain tumor diagnosed in late 1993.

Schmerelson said Cochran’s father, Johnnie L. Cochran Sr., told him that his son decided to become a lawyer after taking a debating class at Mt. Vernon Middle School.

Renaming schools to recognize prominent members of the community is a longtime practice.

Cochran gained worldwide fame when he successfully defended O.J.Simpson against charges of murdering his ex-wife, Nicole, and her friend Ron Goldman in 1994.

His other high-profile clients included football great JimBrown, onetime “Diff’rent Strokes” star Todd Bridges and rappers Tupac Shakur, Sean Combs and Snoop Dogg.
​

At a red light I knew something funky was about to happen.



At another red light I noticed a bus stop bench with Tupac.



A few minutes later I saw Tupac's lawyer up close and personal ...



We're coming up on 30 years since the O.J. circus.

If it doesn't fit, you must acquit.​

Johnnie Cochran was the ultimate master of masterpiece theater.

The city also named part of the street after Johnnie L. Cochran.



Made a left there to check out the soccer field ... because #USMNT vs. Honduras ...

... and who knows, maybe there's a game and a kid will score on a diving header or something. The field was empty.

I was back on Venice and a few minutes later saw the sign for Destino. Made a right and parked on 3rd.

Walked up to the eatery which has a really nice setup of tables outside. Nobody was there.

I was about to walk in just as a man was walking out.

Open? Yes. Can I sit out here? Of course.

Is this a Honduran restaurant? He looked at me unsure how to answer.

I was Googling for Honduran food, I said, and this place came up.

He said that they don't really serve Honduran food but do serve Latin American with a California influence.

I had no idea what that meant which is why I'll never be like that wandering foodie on CNN who killed himself.

This guy at Destino said they serve ceviche and octopus and ...

... and I very easily should've said thanks no thanks. Never had ceviche. Never had octopus. Never had plans to eat either.

But I didn't say thanks no thanks. I felt like I needed to eat there so I stayed and found a table and sat down.

An hour earlier when I was Googling Destino and saw the menu, I looked to see what ceviche is, basically raw fished "cured" in lime juice and spices and such.

I love sushi. I love lox. So why wouldn't I try this kind of raw fish too? Just do it, dude.

The guy came over with a menu. I ordered ceviche and asked him about the octopus.

What does it taste like, chicken? He said it tastes more like lobster. I like lobster.

The octopus came with potato, chorizo, and raw salsa verde, so how bad can it be?

I ordered the octopus, and the ceviche, and cornbread which someone online said is pretty fucking amazing and has little bits of corn in it.

I asked for ice water and the guy asked if I wanted water infused with cantaloupe and mango. Of course! This place is great!

He took my order into the kitchen. I looked around. I was alone as usual.

Across the street was a big mechanic's garage. Behind me was a bush full of kumquats.



The guy came back out and we got to talking and the more questions I asked the deeper it got.



Jack said he was executive chef at the Four Seasons on Doheny for 17 years. I had no reason not to believe him.

His best buddy was head chef at another posh hotel in town and was like a mentor, like a brother.

Jack's dad died in 2020. Then covid hit. Said he was the first one laid off at the Four Seasons.

His buddy left his gig too. In 2021 they said it was time to leave corporate behind and go for the big time on their own, together.

Destino opened 3 months ago and December, Jack said, was prosperous and packed on many days and nights. In January it was dead.

And then, Jack said, his partner went stir crazy the last few weeks and hopped a plane to Mexico. Jack bought him out 2 days ago.

And in a few minutes he had to Zoom with his City Council reps who'd tell him if he gets a wine license. I could tell he was stressing.

Jack and the cook brought out my ceviche, octopus, and cornbread. It all looked phenomenal.



Before he left me to gorge, I told Jack to look across the street at the garage ...



... and how it probably took them time to build a clientele and to be patient and not quit.

The fish in the ceviche was fresh and cold and mixed so well with the raw onion and what looked like little okras and lime juice. I loved it. Chips were crunchy, salty, good.



And the round cornbread, like a super large fluffy pancake with bits of corn, was fresh out of the oven. The big scoop of Piloncillo butter was melting. I devoured it fast.



And then I began eating the octopus. Before today you couldn't pay me to eat octopus ...



... but here I was eating octopus. Jack was right, octopus does taste like lobster.

He came out when I was halfway through and asked if I liked it. Said I loved it.

He said octopus tends to be rubbery and that chefs who don't know what they're doing will undercook or overcook it.

I was getting a big kick out eating the suckers too. You're eating a fucking octopus, dude.

I ate and drank everything. The photos: https://photos.app.goo.gl/nyAabVx7YFbP7c4L9

Jack brought the bill and asked if I liked the octopus and ceviche. Told him I loved them both as well as the cornbread and the mango-cantaloupe water. Told him not to lose hope for his friend and to not let the January drought discourage him because the Super Bowl is next week -- it's just a few miles down the road -- and you never know if crews from ESPN or CNN or Fox Sports or other international outlets will hear about you and decide to stop by and make a night of it.