Text 23293, 79 rader
Skriven 2012-04-03 10:25:00 av MICHAEL LOO (1:123/140)
Ärende: trip report 495
=======================
UA 967 IAD LAX 1800 2040 777 3EF was 1J2J was 9HJ

A trip to the Lufthansa lounge for afternoon snacks
and a shower: very welcome. The hot dish was some kind of
beef stew with lots of green peppers, rice on the side.
I think the Cognac might have been Martell C.B. - sort of
tasted like it, but Lilli had had the attendant bring it
to my place, so I didn't see the bottle.

Back to gate C2 for another amazing crush on boarding.

The club had been unsuccessful in getting our seats fixed;
but when we got on, I discovered that some guy was sitting
in 1J, which gave the FA an opening to switch 3E to 1A and
me from 1J to the unoccupied 3F and Lilli from 2J to the
vacated 3E. At the end of boarding, some lucky guy got
moved from 8 or 9 to 2J, and everyone was happy.

All I remember of this flight was that Lilli gave me her
warm almonds, someone gave me a warm Courvoisier, and I
was unconscious thereafter.

Two days' rest at the Hilton LAX Airport, where a nice
corner room and lounge access cost less than a little
cubicle in Phoenix.
==
The cheap dining option near the hotel is Carl's Jr.,
where I had the Southwestern Patty Melt, a caloric
extravaganza of sizable beef patty (and I upsized to a
double), chipotle mayo, pickled jalapenos, onions, lettuce,
tomato, and pepper jack on a soft sweet roll. If you get a
combo (fries and a drink), they throw in a free Oreo ice
cream sandwich. The sandwich was imposing and good, not
great, the beef having that meatloafy texture and saltiness
that I don't favor; the ice cream sandwich was composed of
a very large and thick chocolate cookie (tasted very Oreo-
like) and a blob of vanilla for filling. It wasn't bad.

The Los Angeles County Museum of Art is one of the greats.
To get there you get on the Culver City bus and then change
at Westwood I think for the Rapid through Beverly Hills. I
hadn't been there in over a decade and had forgotten about
it. Ended up spending 5 hours there. In the contemporary art
building were featured Metropolis II, an extremely funny and
somewhat enthralling dynamic sculpturoid arrangement using
over 1000 Hot Wheels cars and assorted toy trains whizzing
around little tracks and roadways; no doubt the point is to
satirize the wild bustle of modern life, but I think we all
enjoyed it on account of its childish appeal. Also an
Emm... shoot ... Ellsworth Kelly retrospective, including
some stunning drawings that he must have done before
deciding to go all out with his geometric sillinesses.

In the Japanese pavilion, a wonderful screen showing a
night festival that had resided, long-neglected, in my
history professor's house, to be "discovered," as the
writeup said, after he died, in addition to the permanent
collection, also excellent if rather small.

German Expressionists a special in the Ahmanson building.

And 3 hours for the permanent collection in the Ahmanson,
Hammer, and American buildings.

The cheap dining option by the museum is Johnny Rocket's,
where I had a classic or regular or whatever they call it -
a fairly good patty with lettuce and tomato, mayo, mustard,
and onion bits on a sweetish bun. The waiter handed me a
fistful of nickels to put in the jukebox - apparently he
trusted me more than the 50 kids in the place. I dutifully
chose classic rock favorites, which blared from speakers
cleverly placed where I couldn't hear them but the kids
could. They now serve unlimited fries with their sandwiches
- I had a small side salad with a very mustardy honey
mustard dressing instead.

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