LA Continued..

"The end of the year is fast approaching". A common phrase, and a ridiculous, slightly nonsensical sentence, but one fairly apt for the last few days. As I booked our trip to Hawaii, it started to feel really close, which is bad for two reasons. 1) The obvious one - the trip is coming to an end, and even though it feels like we have nearly seen everything we wanted to on the West Coast, this feeling of sunshine and freedom is ticking away, and I keep looking at the date the same way I used to check my credit on my phone as a teenager; nervously. and 2) I'm not really in any better shape, and if this trip is nearly over, so are my hopes and dreams of being in shape for my wedding. Ah well!

On that note, it's not been for a lack of trying with the whole getting in shape thing. This week was mostly gyming, taking advantage of being in LA for a change, and although no more famous people spotted, we have been doing the only other thing to do in LA, which is exercise. We tried out the boxing/cardio/strength class, and although not kick boxing, it was incredible. Perhaps when you look at calories burned, it helps to already be kinda heavy, but according to the nifty Heart Rate gadget they attach to you, I burnt 900 calories approximately in the hour-long class, and I have to say, it was ridiculously hard, but lots of fun. Unlike the trainers at the circuit training, these guys push you a lot more, and do so without making you feel totally inadequate. It worked for me definitely, and they combined weights, cardio and boxing training really well in what turned out to be my favourite class yet. Plus it helps there was no search for "inner peace" at the end of the class. Almost didn't know what to do with myself without someone telling me how much over 100% I should be putting in to 'my life inside of here and outside'. I wish I'd discovered it a bit sooner, but I'll most certainly be heading back. 

The other thing I finally tried was going to the shooting range. I've had to be so careful how I word that experience after the tragedy in Paris, and it felt kind of insensitive to be going the day after the attacks, but at the same time, thinking about it rationally, its completely detached, and as long as I'm not posting pictures of me doing that while people are mourning, and simultaneously changing my profile pic to the France flag, I figured it was fine to go experience this seemingly strange, very American hobby. (Not to mention I'd quite like to live in this country, and a picture of me waving around an AK-47 probably isn't going to do me any favours.)

If you do watch the video, you'll agree it's just a little bit strange. It obviously sounds like what it would in a war-zone, something very hard to get used to. When I got there, I was a little bit in shock. The first few minutes, I couldn't stop jumping at the sound of bullets, and when we registered (took under 5 minutes to write your name down and buy some bullets), you just head to the range. What I was most astounded by, other than how busy and big the place was, was the extremely diverse range of people that were there. You had the stereotypical old white male with cowboy-esque gear on, but then you had biker guys, Chinese nerdy guys, young couples, groups of girls hanging out, parents who had brought their kids to just carry bullets and guns and what not. I'm sure it's mostly me being judgemental, but you read in the news how the proportion of the American public that the NRA (big pro-gun lobby in the US) represent is very miniscule. I expected it to be an equally poorly represented sample at the range, and it wasn't. Simon, the friend who generously took me there along with his friend, who will forever in my memory be known as 'mate', is an enthusiast. And knowing him for years, I know his interest in guns comes from nothing violent, but just a general interest in getting good at what is an extremely challenging skill, combined with the ability to do incredibly difficult things with better equipment. And, having tried it, it is very much something that's easy to get into. I enjoyed the challenge of aiming for targets, and I enjoyed challenging myself to get better as the day went on. Saying that, I think if you made any game hard enough, I'd be willing to try and get better at it. However, I will go as far to say I can see the appeal. It's a difficult skill, and playing around with these dangerous toys to hone that specific skill is challenging, and within that comes the entertainment. But the diversity of who it appealed to, and the plethora of guns and ammunition just lying around, all extremely easy to access, extremely easy to own, and although it depends upon the common sense of individuals to not screw up and do something stupid, the fact that people are trusted with that over here is, to me at least, mind blowing! We aren't trusted to walk across a recently mopped corridor in the UK without giving us a prior warning, but here in America, you drive up to this place, get your guns out, buy some bullets, and go for it. It's not like it's unsafe, its very very safe, but to a novice like me, I can't help but notice I'm surrounded by a load of killing mechanisms, and it just seems odd you'd allow us to take the risk. I dunno, it seems like a hotly contested topic here, and I'm no expert, but for whatever reason, the right to own your own gun seems to be very important to many Americans. As an outsider, I just don't get why you'd want to introduce that random variable in your society, when, to the average individual, its perfectly acceptable to just regulate it. 

Our friend Neeraj from Berkeley has been here the last few days, and was equally taken aback by the whole gun thing, but also equally entertained. We proceeded to explore Hollywood, Bel Air, Santa Monica beach, Beverley Hills all in the space of an afternoon. Having travelled predominantly with Sonam the past few years, I had forgotten what 'boyish tourism' was like (I have written that term a dozen different ways, but it still sounds peadophilic and/or gay). Anyhow, what I mean is tourism with a group of guys is very different to tourism with girls. With girls you have to tick off all the famous spots, go take a nice picture at the area, google the best food and drink places in the area, perhaps read something in the vicinity, even better, manage to be at the ideal spot at sunset, tag yourself on facebook when at the place, the whole shebang.. With guys, its more a case of having driven through it, and gained a brief idea of what it was (e.g. 'I think this bit is Hollywood'), and if it looks busy, keep driving/walking. This is until you see something very very cool, in which case perhaps try slowing down and taking a picture whilst driving past, all up until you get a) hungry - (which doesn't involve tripadvisoring the 'cutest spot in the area', but just seeing what the next place was after discovering you were hungry) or b) somewhere not so busy, so you can continue sitting down, but this time stationary as opposed to cruising around. So yes, much tourism was done on Sunday with Neeraj and his friend, so many sights and amazing parts of LA were discovered. But perhaps in a much more real sense, nothing was actually seen, other than the 30 minutes we spent in the coffee shop in a supermarket. It was a nice supermarket.. 

I feel compelled to at least mention the shootings in Paris, and without going into the complexities of it, I'd like to say it was extremely shocking to read about the terrorist attacks, even from all the way over here in LA. It is so sad and frustrating, and I've read so many half informed views out there that can only be viewed as one dimensional and hurtful. However, yes, its sad that people cared about France after the attacks more than those in Beirut. I wish it weren't that way, but I think it's human to care more about something closer to home, especially if in your mind, things like this happen more frequently in the Middle East. I don't think it's mutually exclusive that if you care about one you don't the other, and people that change their profile picture to support France aren't necessarily being unperturbed by that of Beirut. But people are probably not informed, or perhaps aren't as scared by it because it feels far away and in a land where this sort of stuff supposedly 'happens'. Yes, in an ideal world, it'd be nice if the same amount of press coverage was given to all human disasters, but there is a reason why celebrity gossip gets more newspaper space than the daily deaths in the Middle East or Africa. News is effectively now a form of entertainment, and people are 'entertained' by news pertaining to them, or about famous people that they find interesting. The problem is not so much with people being bad, but probably a mixture of the way society is used to seeing the news, and news channels and newspapers perpetuating this phenomenon by focusing solely on ratings, turning news and information into more vapid, soul-less machines that fulfil our desire to be 'informed' on the world, as long as it's not too unbearable to watch and we can still empathise with those affected. The below front cover sort of sums it up - nice little bit in the corner about the Paris attacks.. (OK not the greatest examples of news, but still, sums up what some people care more about reading)

The other sad side effect is the rise of the far-right wing, already flooding my facebook feed (I should really review who I am friends with), about how essentially we should be wary of all immigrants, especially muslims. That seems to be the general gist, and the comments on these posts then revolve around Muslims hating on Americans and the West saying how this was all caused by them and the invasion of Iraq, and then there is a countless number of people who blame the religion who supposedly facilitates this sort of behaviour. I hope both these very aggressive, yet easy to believe if you're gullible, views subside, and we return to a society which is on the whole, accepting of difference, and not recoiling in anger at things we don't fully understand. At least until I get my bloody visa approved, alright?? Only kidding. But yes, hope we return to peaceful times sooner rather than later.