#48284: Chris Clarke — 11/10  at  03:39 PM
If you don't either go to the Page Museum or have a credible excuse, I'll be very disappointed.

My favorite part of the Page Museum - well, aside from the bones and tarpits and such - is the exhibit whose point can essentially be summed up as "Because there weren't any god-damned dinosaurs in the friggin Pleistocene, OK?"

#48287: — 11/10  at  03:44 PM
Have a good trip. And when you get back listen to this. Barbara Hagerty strikes again!

#48289: — 11/10  at  03:50 PM
Whoops, "href"s don't work here, I see.

In any case, here's the proper link

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5007508

#48298: — 11/10  at  04:28 PM
I don't know...I'm pretty nerdy, but trying to surf this summer was a hell of a good time. Aside from losing my glasses, of course.

#48305: — 11/10  at  04:49 PM
The only time I've ever been to California was this past March when I drove from Lubbock to San Diego during spring break... to visit the San Diego Museum of Man. I did make it down to the beach for a quick swim one evening. I was the only one in the water without a wet suit. Still, the Pacific in March is much warmer than Lake Michigan in July.

#48308: — 11/10  at  05:07 PM
There's a Monet Water Lilies painting at the L.A. County Art Museum--which ought to be in the near vicinity of the La Brea tar pits--that is amazingly vivid.

100 years later, you'd swear the paint is still wet. Worth the price of admission all by itself.

Wahtever you do, PZ, have a great time!

#48311: fearless leader — 11/10  at  05:09 PM
Don't deny yourself.

I did the whole cruising thing several months ago on a visit to Miami.

Cruising South Beach in a red convertable was one of the most liberating experiences I've enjoyed.

#48316: — 11/10  at  05:54 PM
yo PZ! first-time poster here ... here's a juicy item that you may enjoy as you slouch off to bethlehem (or whatever reference fits) ... hunter s. thompson remembers W.:

"He knew who I was, at that time, because I had a reputation as a writer. I knew he was part of the Bush dynasty.

But he was nothing, he offered nothing, and he promised nothing. He had no humor. He was insignificant in every way, and onsequently I didn't pay much attention to him.

But when he passed out in my bathtub, then I noticed him. I'd been in another room, talking to the bright people. I had to have him taken away."

- Hunter S.Thompson on meeting George W Bush at Thompson's Super Bowl party in Houston in 1974

#48317: John Wilkins — 11/10  at  05:55 PM
Go see the tarpits at La Brea while you're there. Consider what might happen if you put a creationist in the tar...

Unfortunately, the SF bookshop in Santa Monica has closed, I'm told. Damn.

#48318: — 11/10  at  06:17 PM
Not to break anyone's heart, but they're predicting more clouds and rain (yep, rain) for us out here in "sunny" So Cal this weekend. Though the ocean when it's covered in clouds is a pretty amazing sight.

If you have a high tolerance for frat boys, there's always Margarita Jones, which is right next to the USC campus. Don't forget that Saturday is game day, so be prepared for annoying drunken cheering.

#48321: — 11/10  at  06:50 PM
At least it's not a home game, and the more enthusiastic crowd will probably drive up to Berkeley.

Don't forget to try the Fatburger joint on Figueroa.

#48326: — 11/10  at  07:33 PM
Don't forget to try the Fatburger joint on Figueroa.

But it's not Carmel's (or, rather, the late great Carmel's).

My boyfriend and I wandered around the campus and were enormously jealous of everything we saw. There's a Ralphs market down the street! And a Starbucks!

These kids today, they don't appreciate what we went through, grumble grumble mutter ...

#48330: Jesse — 11/10  at  08:19 PM
They listen to shag music out here? I thought that was strictly a North Carolina thing.

#48336: Radagast — 11/10  at  09:48 PM
Couldn't you come down _any_ other weekend? I'm running intertidal field trips both Saturday and Sunday, so I can't make it to the museum. Blargh.

#48338: DavidSewell — 11/10  at  10:12 PM
Hmm. Remember how the head of the Physics Dept at Cal Tech lured Richard Feynman onto his faculty? Lent him his car when he was on his campus visit and told him how to get to the Sunset Strip.

#48345: Ron Sullivan — 11/10  at  10:45 PM
Not just Mexican restaurants, but _regional_ Mexican restaurants! This info is a few years old, but I'm hoping they're not all that evanescent:

There's a Oaxacan place over near Culver City, Restaurant Guelaguetza, 3337 1/2 West 8th St., LA, (231) 427-0601. Cheap and incredibly good.
Also La Serenata Gourmet, 10924 West Pico, west of Westwood, West LA, (310) 441-9667. Less cheap but also very good.

I assume you can squeeze in a visit to the Museum of Jurassic Technology? Actually, the real fun is taking someone else there for their first time.

#48353: Nullifidian — 11/10  at  11:04 PM
This is the sole time I've regretted leaving San Diego. Okay, so there's the beautiful vista at the Scripps Institute of Oceanography, the concerts, the theatre, the diving, the hiking--eh, so I've missed it a lot, but I wish I could be there with you at the museum. How about coming down to Kansas University's Natural History Museum and browsing our Explore Evolution exhibit?

#48359: — 11/11  at  01:39 AM
Come to San Diego. Los Angeles is full of douchebags.

#48367: — 11/11  at  08:57 AM
:( An invitation to join PZ on a museum trip in LA? That's almost enough to make me wish I lived in LA again. Almost.

#48370: — 11/11  at  09:35 AM
Stuff you'll wish you had made time to see:
The Museum of Jurassic Technology
Santa Monica camera obscura
-
L.A. Bizarro, a book with loads more strange stuff to see in the L.A. area.