Episode 1476 – Hollywood Neon and LA Palms | Scoots on a Balcony
SCOOTER: Friends beyond the binary, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, don't adjust your ears. This is Scoots on a balcony talking you to sleep and keeping you company. The first episode of Sleep With Me…yeah, this episode is gonna be from a balcony. We got some nice, ambient noise in the background, a consistent humming of machinery and fans, which I guess I could talk about later. It’s one of my preferred things to sleep to. But yeah, I’m coming to you from a balcony. Welcome to Sleep With Me. This is the podcast that puts you to sleep by keeping you company, or it doesn't need to put you to sleep. It just keeps you company in the deep, dark night or gives you a break during the day. So, welcome. Kinda see how it goes if you're new to the show. But I’m really glad you're here. I’ll be standing here on a balcony during the day and at night just making some observations and talking about my day. So, yeah, I’m really glad you're here.
Yeah, if you're new or you're not new, what to expect coming up…we got some support so that paying for the show is optional, then we’ll have a long, meandering intro to ease you into bedtime, and then we’ll have me standing on…continuing to stand on this balcony — it’s a standing-only balcony — and yeah, taking your mind off of stuff and keeping you company so you could fall asleep. If you're new, you're not a regular listener, you're just a occasional listener, you're going through something, the support isn't as important for the people that listen night after night after night or who listen all night long or who fall asleep very fast. Or if you say, does Sleep With Me make my life better on a regular basis? If the answer is yes, we could always use your help, and these are the ways you could opt in to be a part of this show, being there for you and everybody else. Thanks.
Intro: Hey, are you up all night tossing, turning, mind racing? Trouble getting to sleep? Trouble staying asleep? Well, welcome. This is Sleep With Me, the podcast to put you to sleep. We do it with a bedtime story. Alls you need to do is get in bed, turn out the lights, and press Play. I’m gonna do the rest. What I’m going to attempt to do is create a safe place where you could set aside whatever’s keeping you awake. That could be thoughts, things on your mind about the past, the present, the future, things you're thinking about, feelings, anything coming up for you emotionally related to those thoughts or feelings that are just there, feelings left over from the day, it could be physical sensations, changes in time, temperature, routine, you could be travelling, you could have guests, you could work a different schedule, you could be going through something or in the middle of something or anticipating something.
Whatever it is, I’m here to keep you company and take your mind off of stuff so you could fall asleep, which is a little bit different, right? It’s…this show is different. But the reason I make the show is because I know what it’s felt like for me throughout my life with sleep struggles. I know what it feels like when I can't get the rest I need, the rest I want, and…trouble getting to sleep, trouble staying asleep, trouble waking up too early, all those things. I don't know what it feels like for you, but I think we may be able to relate to some of how it feels, right? If it feels anything for you like it does for me and I can help out in any way, that’s really meaningful for me, important to me, because I know what it’s like, and I know for me it’s not great, to put it mildly. So, if I can help out with that, it would be my honor. But the thing is, you may be going through something or you may be in a place where you're like, you know what? I don't know if you can relate to me, Scoots.
I don't know if you know what it’s like, what I’m going through or how I feel. I’d say, yeah, maybe I don't, and I can still want to help, but I could also tell you that the cool thing is that there’s people listening around the world and a wide diversity and variety of people listening throughout the world, and I know because I hear stories that there’s someone out there that can relate to how you feel, whatever it is that’s keeping you awake or whatever it is you're struggling with, and they really hope this show can help you out like it helps them out. They're rooting for you. Someone you don't know somewhere maybe in a different place on this planet is thinking of you fondly right now because they can relate to those unpleasant feelings, and they’re hoping you get relief. They're like, man, I never thought this podcast or a podcast would help me, or there was gonna be a podcast like this one out there, but I’m glad I found it, and I hope this show can help you out.
The thing is, even if this show doesn't help you out, they're still rooting for you, but they're also hoping you get that feeling of rooting for other people, too, that are struggling in the deep, dark night. That’s what’s important about the show, in addition to the fact that you deserve a bedtime where you could get the rest you need, a bedtime where you don't need to struggle, a bedtime that doesn't have as much rigmarole, like a bedtime you don't have to dread, and that you can get the rest you need on a regular basis so you're…you could be out there living your life and that ideally you're out there flourishing, because that’s what our world needs, is you flourishing. It means our world’s a better place to be in when your world’s a better place to be in. So, I hope we could do that for you. The way the show works is I’m gonna send my voice across the deep, dark night. I’m gonna use lulling, soothing, creaky, dulcet tones, pointless meanders, and superfluous tangents.
So, that kinda means my voice is not traditionally soothing. The idea that someone’s gonna tell you a bedtime story while standing on a balcony, looking over a part of a city…and I don't know much about architecture, and I’ll probably end up talking about something totally unrelated to what I’m looking at. It’s a bit counterintuitive, right, that that would help anybody fall asleep. So, when you first get to the show, you're probably gonna be skeptical, you're probably gonna be doubtful. Why wouldn't you be, right? Because if you've searched for something to fall asleep and if it’s the middle of the night and you're trying to find something, that makes sense. Alls I could tell you is that this show does take some getting used to. It is an acquired taste. So, just give it a few tries and see how it goes. That’s what most people that are regular listeners now have said; hey, at first I didn't get…I was like, this show is gonna help me…? How is this gonna help me fall asleep? I thought this was a sleep podcast.
When does it get sleepy or when does this guy start counting down, or when is he gonna start doing something that’s got a tone like this? That’s fine for the people that that kinda stuff works for, but I’m more here to be your friend. So, it does take some getting used to, the idea that this is a podcast you don't really listen to; you just kind of listen to it like background noise or like a TV on in the other room. It just takes some adjustment, right, the idea that it’s like a show streaming under your pillow, but more in the sense of like a roommate that you could…that could talk you to sleep, kinda like a bedtime story…or just tell me about your day in a calm…oh, you had a balcony and you were looking off the balcony? Wow, what did you see? By the way, I’m not gonna really be listening or paying attention; is that okay? Oh yeah, it’s totally fine. I’m just gonna talk for your benefit. That’s what this show does.
Now, if you decide this…you're not gonna…you tried the show a few times or you already know I’m not your taste or your style, that’s fine. Everything I said about you deserving a good night's sleep and stuff is still true. So, I have a website set up…or if you've listened to the show and you've kinda decided it’s no longer for you, go to sleepwithmepodcast.com/nothankyou, and that’ll guide you towards other sleep podcasts or sleepy stuff, or if you need to get something off your chest or whatever first. It has all that for you so that you could still find your way to getting a good night's sleep even without this show. Even if you strongly have a strong loathing for me, that’s totally cool. I still want you to fall asleep because of all the stuff I said earlier. So, there’s that. Most people don't like the show, it’s a podcast you don't…also, this show is not here to put you to sleep. Like I said earlier, I’m here more to keep you company while you fall asleep, which is different, right? I’m here to just talk.
There’s no pressure to fall asleep with this show. I’m gonna be here a bit over an hour so you don't have to think about, oh, am I gonna be asleep in twenty minutes? Am I gonna be asleep in forty minutes? There’s over 600 shows available in this ad-supported version, so you could pick and choose your favorites or line up episode after episode after episode if you need them, and so you don't have to think about falling asleep, 'cause my job is just to be here whether you're awake or asleep, whether you're listening or not, 'cause there are people listening who can't sleep at all or who need a break during the day, and I’m here to the very end whether you're awake or asleep. It’s something I cherish being able to do, to be honest. I’m here to be your bore-friend, your bore-bae, your bore-sib, your bore-bud, your bore-bruh, your bore-cuz, your Boris Borelaf, your neighbore, your borebie, your bores, your boreman. What was it…? Oh, neighbore, borebie.
Yeah, I’m here to be your best bore-friend f’eva, to just keep you company. So, if you're new, see how it goes, and yeah, see if this…having a bore-bud works for you. This show is a bit more like a service than a podcast. What else do you need to know? Oh, the structure of the show. That’s the other thing I like to go through. The structure of the show is very deliberate but it is kind of adaptable. We make this version of the podcast to benefit the maximum amount of people we can, but let me just tell you about the structure, and as you become a regular listener, the ways you can adjust if you find you're starting to develop preferences. So, the show starts off with a greeting; friends beyond the binary, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, so you feel seen and welcomed in and you say, oh, okay, I might check that show out. It sounds friendly enough. Then there’s support so that paying for the show is optional.
That way people that aren't in a position to support the show or are just discovering the show…or a lot of people just listen to the show as they're going through a tough time, whether they're a student in the middle of exams, whether they've just experienced a loss or some sort of life change or they're anticipating something. So, the show, paying for it can be optional for those people, too. If you find you want something without ads or you're a regular listener, you could get all that at Sleep With Me+. But for people that are just here for a little while or are new, this allows us to benefit tons and tons of people. That’s what the support does. Then there’s a long, meandering intro which is totally separate from the support. It’s a show within a show. It’s around ten to twenty minutes long where I introduce what the podcast is like I’m doing now, but instead of taking two or three minutes like it would with a normal show, it takes me ten to twenty minutes because I go off topic, I get mixed up, I over-explain things, which is a part of what the show is, but the structure of the intro is usually pretty familiar, right?
As you become a regular listener, I go through some of the familiar stuff so it offers some reassurance. But it’s also different every time. So, the thing about Sleep With Me — we’ve made like 1,400-something episodes, maybe more than that — is that there’s always variety. I think that’s kind of essential to making a sleep podcast for this…or for our sleep podcast so that whatever’s keeping you awake…I find for me that it becomes very…that repetition does not help me sleep and that my brain starts to sight patterns. It likes familiar stuff, but it likes variety, too. So, that’s what…why the intro is different every time. But the reason it’s long and drawn out in addition to those other reasons is to ease you into bedtime, because that’s what works for me personally, is having a wind-down routine and a buffer from the day, and that’s what I’ve discovered making the show over the past…I don't even know. Is it twelve years?
I have no idea…is that easing people into bedtime works for most people. So, a lot of people are getting ready for bed, winding down, doing a chill activity, or in bed getting comfortable. There is a small percentage of people that fall asleep fast to that show, and we definitely…if you fall asleep fast to the show on a regular basis, believe it or not, you're the ones whose support of the show is actually the most essential. But if you're new and fall asleep fast, don't worry about it. But if you discover you don't like the intros and getting eased into bedtime, we have another podcast, Bedtime Stories from Sleep With Me. It’s available in any…all the podcast apps for free. Or when you sign up to support the show, you get a podcast for bed…story-only stuff and a podcast full of full episodes, and none of those have ads or anything, as well as cool bonus stuff. But so, the intro goes on and on and on to ease you into bedtime.
I think that’s everything I needed to cover today for the intro, and I’m really glad you're here. I’m really glad I get to make these…we make a lot of different styles of shows, 'cause again, it goes into that variety thing. So, if you decide having background noise and hearing me kind of doing these kinda balcony or on-the-road episodes doesn't work for you, don't worry. We put out…right now the show…we're putting out three different episodes every single week. So, there’s two new episodes every single week and then one from our archives every week, and they're all…we curate everything to keep that variety coming on a regular basis. So, if you decide…some people listen to everything, and you might decide you have favorites and stuff like that, and that’s great and that’s what we're here for. That’s what we work…me and a team of people work really hard 'cause we yearn and strive to do this for you, to help you out and to just hang and be here with you. So, I’m really glad you came by. Thanks so much for your time, and if you find that this show is a part of your life on a regular basis, a good part of your life on a regular basis and you want to opt in so we can continue to do that, that that’s valuable to you, only if that first part is true, though, please consider supporting the show. It’d be one of these ways coming up here. Thanks.
Alright everybody, it’s Scoots here, and this is a interesting structural episode, so we have a little bit of time travel audio recording. So, I’m…right now when I’m recording this I’m current Scoots. My timeline is that I’m recording this episode. But in the future of this episode will be past Scoots, but when past Scoots started recording, he thought it would be the beginning of the episode portion, but that was last night, and I was pretty tired. So, there’s some yawning, like natural yawning going, just a couple yawns. So, I figure it’d be better off — and I figured that out as I was recording it — as the end of the episode, but it’ll also be interesting 'cause it’ll be some set-ups of the episode, too. But for right now I’ll just tell you I’m on a balcony in Los Angeles, and I’m just gonna look around, and it’s daytime now. I think it’s maybe 1:00 p.m. or something. I’m just gonna look around and see…look around for what catches my eye. I have learned…I guess I couldn't have used binoculars on this balcony, either.
But so, let me just talk about some…I wish I had Roman Mars with me or a architecture expert, because I think…well, I don't know if the architecture of Los Angeles is underappreciated. But we’ve got some really nice architecture. So, I think I’ll just do some counting of architectural styles and then colors, 'cause there’s a lot of colors. So, I have this one building I’m seeing on my right; I feel like its facade is art deco-y, and it’s a light blue along with a sea…what is that called? Aqua foam? I’m trying to think of the Crayola color for it, but it’s a nice one. To the left of that building is a modernest…modern…not modernest; modern condo apartment building, very cubular. A lot of…I forgot about the parking lots of Los Angeles, too, which…man, maybe one day I can just be a parking lot attendant if I need…in LA.
I don't know if I…if the podcast, I was ever winding it down…it’s like, oh yeah, I could kinda work on the podcast a little bit and just be a parking lot attendant, 'cause I did a lot of walking last night and yesterday, and I saw a lot of parking attendants. Even from this balcony I could…oh yeah, we could count…well, I could see three parking lots for sure; four, five…that’s without even leaning. Okay, let’s go…oh, let’s go to this next building. Oh, and buildings with plants on the roof, too; that’s another thing. There’s some great lavender plants or trees on the roofs of some buildings, and then this one building is…you know…I want…initially I want to say it’s rose, and I think I’ve used this color before, but it’s…so, there was a kind…what’s the kind of ice cream called? So, if you're from…well, I don't know, if you're from Central New York…so, we have soft-serve ice cream, right? Later in the episode I’ll talk about this oat milk soft serve I had for dessert tonight at this amazing place. But…or last night.
Now I’m time travelling even more. But what is the name of…? So, in Central New York as a child, the majority of soft serve was chocolate and…or vanilla and chocolate-and-vanilla swirl. Then sometimes some places would carry one that was…I can't remember. It was like a berry one. Why can't I think of it? Blackberry? I don't think it was blackberry, but it was…I mean, it was not…I don't think there was any real fruit in it, but…black raspberry? Maybe that’s what it was called. That doesn't sound right, though, either. But that building’s color looks like the color of soft serve, which is kind of a light-pinkish purple. I don't know if that’s what mauve…is it mauve or mauve? I don't know. Okay, so, what else do we see? We’ve got a radio tower on the top of one building. We're looking for anything interesting, like the…oh, did…? I guess I didn't…did I…? I think I did. No, I did talk about this.
So, there’s a big…I think maybe a Japanese garden on the top of a hill somewhere that I can see, and the Magic Castle is below that, which is on my bucket list. I know I did talk about that. There’s a lot of great neon, which is not out during the day. Oh, we’ve got…so, there’s the top of a building there. It’s…I think it’s probably a hotel. Maybe it’s a clock tower, and it has whatever you call it, a copper roof that’s…or that’s like…or whatever…pennies are copper and zinc, right? We’ll have to do a episode saying goodbye to the penny, man. I mean, first JCPenny and now pennies. But it has a roof that’s kind of like very similar to Lady Liberty, where it’s turning…it’s pretty much green. Then I have another tower that’s got a nice mustard color on its dome. Wow, it’s a nice dome building, man. You got a great dome. We could also count…I mean, for the love of Los Angeles, should we do some palm tree counting?
It’s been a while…oh, there’s a lemon tree in an alley over a parking lot outside of the back of either a restaurant or a retail establishment. This is fun. Yeah, we could always count palm trees. How many…? Is that…? I guess, could I get…is there a way I could…can you patent counting palm trees in Los Angeles to put people to sleep? Is that…? Also, I wish I knew the different styles of palm trees. Beautiful hills up above the city…oh wow, a orange-striped fancy car. I’m not sure what kind of fancy car, but it’s the fanciest car I’ve seen today, some sort of Lamborghini-type, Ferrari-type car. Yeah, let’s count some palm trees. So, just below me is one, two, three, four, five, six palm trees, then there’s…those are the ones…I guess…I don't know the difference between palm trees. Then across the street is…so, three more is nine, then 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16. Oh whoops, I lost count. 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28.
Oh wow…29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41…I guess I could keep going down that block, 'cause…42, okay, then on the next block after that for sure; 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52. Then moving down that block, definitely fifty-three. Can't say more than that without binoculars. So, we have fifty-three there. Now heading uptown, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58…one block over is three more, which would be sixty…oh, you minus…59, 60, 61. The next block up…62, 63, 64, 65, 66. I’m pretty sure with that garden I could see at least five. So, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, but I don't want…I'm only gonna do confirmed palm trees, right? What was I on? 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 100. Those are all about…those are all…what is that, north of me? On the hills. They're very tall. 101, 102, 103, 104. Wow, a hundred-four without even…now I’ve gotta go west and south. A hundred-four, were we on? 105, 106, 107, 108, 109.
Oh wow, a lot down there. 110, 111, 112, 113, 114, 115, 116, 117, 118, 119, 120, 121, 122, 123, 124, 125, 126, 127, 128, 129, 130, 131, 132…oh, behind that building…133, 134, 135, 136, 137, 138, 139, 140. Okay, that block…141, 142, 143, 144, 145…in that block…146, 147, 148, 149, 150. Maybe we should go for 200. I’m trying to figure out where I haven't looked. Okay, that way…where are we at? 151, 152, 153. Okay, on that roof…154, 155…I feel like I’ve lost count at some point. Maybe…156, 157, 158, 159, 160, 161, 162, 163, and 164. Now…165, 166, 167, 168, 169, 170, 171, 172, 173, 174, 175, 176, 177. Alright, we're at 177, and now I’m gonna have to dig deep without…I'm not trying to…I'm trying to miss ones and not give myself anything. So, we're at, what? 177. Okay, those are real palm trees on the roof of that building. So, that’s 178, 179, 180. 181, 182, 183, 184, 185. Alright, so we need fifteen more palm trees, Los Angeles, which I know you could easily provide me.
It’s just a matter of me looking where I have not looked yet. This is fun. We don't do counting super often on the show. Oh, a bird; I heard a bird. The bird said, counting, counting, counting. Okay, what were we at? 180? 180. So, we looked there. I may have to get…let’s do a little bit closer to this balcony. I think if I look further that direction, we haven't counted…okay, yeah, so, 181, 182, 183, 184. Okay, consciously looking…it’s kinda like a hidden picture, too. We're at 184. I did not count that one. That’s 185. What about those? 186, 187…yeah, I couldn't see that one, but now that I’m leaning…I mean, I’m…yeah, I couldn't see that, but now that I’m closer…okay, so we need about thirteen more. I’m search…twelve palm trees…twelve plus one palm trees here is Scooter…probably on the roofs of buildings. What about those…? Those three I haven't counted, either. So, there’s three more. So, that’s…what are we at? 80…oh, we're at 87. So, 88, 89, 90. Oh, and then all those.
91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 200. Let’s just try to find five more for good…look at all those roofs. So, if I look at these roofs in the hills, a lot of tile roofs, gorgeous tile roofs…or roofs? Are they roofs? Roofs or rooves I think is correct. Just looking for palm trees amid the roofs. But I don't really see any on that part of the hill. Oh no, there we go. Okay. There’s 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. This is fun. This is like a hidden picture game. Six…so, we're looking for four more. There’s seven up on the…that’s way up there, just a lone one. So, seven, there’s eight. That one I can't tell, so I’m not gonna count it. I’m gonna find two more, right? The last two palm trees of this episode. Two palm trees…I'm looking for two palm trees. Palm trees, come in. Do you read me? I’ve already looked there. Okay, but I haven't looked…oh, there’s another radio tower on top of the building. There’s a ton there. So, let’s see the tallest two there that you haven't seen. Okay, one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten.
So, yeah, we broke 200 palm trees. That was great. It’s really nice to be out here. We’ve got a bird tweeting. I know Scooter’s gonna kinda cover why we're here and the wonder of this community around the show that I’m so grateful for and that I’m so grateful that I get to do this. Let’s see, while we're on numbers we’ll just finish off, and I’ll set up Scoots with different numbers I can see. 90028 on one building. 6464 on another building. It’s funny; when you start you're like, are those the only two buildings with numbers on it? But…and those are the only two numbers I’m seeing right now. But that doesn't mean that there’s not more numbers out there. It might be that they're just out of focus, right? Yeah, I’m not seeing any other numbers. I’m seeing letters and former neon signs. That was another thing I was thinking — was that last night or this morning? — when I wasn't recording, is like, the amount…I know there’s a neon museum in Los Angeles and in Las Vegas.
I’ve never visited either one. I’d like to. But the investment on buildings that have signs on their roofs still that were former neon signs that still have the outlines and maybe still some neon that aren't functioning…but the investment that the…I’d like…maybe this could be something people could encourage me to do, is the historical cost of neon signs in Los Angeles, rooftop neon signs or facade-based neon signs, because you look around at some of these former hotels that…or former buildings that have their signs still up, and I just wonder…this is just a time when people are like, well, that’s just not worth it. Why would we put a neon sign on top of our hotel, right? Even if it’s…I mean, there’s some…it fits the hotel’s sensibility, right? But I don't know, just like every building…I don't know, maybe…I guess I’m going down the old idealizing road, right? So, I gotta stay off of that, idealizing a different time.
But it’s just…but that one has two neon signs even though they're not functional anymore, and that one has one that I can see. I think that was one I was looking at last night that does work. Again, this is kind of a limited…this balcony is a limited view. Oh, there’s some more numbers; 6565. Oh, there’s 6464 and 6565, but they're on…oh no, are they on different blocks? Maybe. Who knows? So yeah, there’s some numbers, some palm trees, and some colors I’ve seen. There’s more colors and more roofs, and it’s endless, right? Maybe it’s…ideally my goal is to keep the show going as long as possible. Oh yeah, there’s another neon sign on top of that building. I take some…well, I’d have to not only take a class about architecture; I’d also have to do a architecture flash-card class, like…or a facade…I need facade flash cards, which I’m sure that’s a thing for people that have to know their facades. But I like saying facade flash cards. So, I think that’s it from daytime Scoots. I’m gonna roll things over now to nighttime Scoots so he can put you to sleep, and…so great spending some bedtime with you. Take it away, Scoots.
Alright everybody, this is Scoots coming to you from a balcony. There is industrial underlying noise here, so this will be a balcony episode with some industrial background noise. That’s what my balcony has. I think it’s gonna be consistent, 'cause when I checked out here earlier, that was the case. We're coming to you…oh, I guess this is already…I'm already going through the episode, right? ‘Cause Scoots would have already set it up. I think, but I’m not sure. So, we're here in Los Angeles, and a couple of good reasons for that; it’s a quick trip, but it has a double connection to the podcast, and that fact is twofold. The reason I’m here is earlier today I delivered a car load of about a thousand hygiene kits to the Midnight Mission, and that’s thanks to listeners over the years who have been putting together these hygiene kits when I was doing live shows, and people have been sending me things to put together hygiene kits. Rafi from Doctor Bronners, they contributed things to add to these hygiene kits.
I only have a car, so it’s taken me quite some time to deliver these hygiene kits. I still have one more load to go. So, this morning I got up and drove my little car down to Downtown Los Angeles, and we got the kits delivered. Then I drove to Hollywood…the West Hollywood Hollywood area of Los Angeles, and I can report…so, one positive thing…because of the community around the show and this was something we did live streams…and Cornelia was a big part of it and there was a lot of other listeners that were a part of it as well, and some of the people on the listener-run Facebook group, and Stacy and Charlotte and a bunch of other people were involved helping us make these hygiene kits and helping donate stuff. The great thing is we made so many of them, I’ve had a storage unit filled to capacity with these hygiene kits. So, we're still bringing them down. We’ve got one more load.
I think we brought about a thousand today, and that’s thanks to listeners like you that just want to be a part of something positive. But the other thing that’s thanks to listeners that support the show is Russell, Rusty Biscuit, that’s been working on the podcast for a long time now and is an essential part of the show, that the show just wouldn't exist without his help. He really is the…my manager and my supervisor and keeps me organized and accountable so that the show can come out. Particularly…I’ll just try to allude to the stuff. 2024 was a real tough year for me and the podcast, and I couldn't have done it without his help. He puts a lot of hard work into the podcast, and that’s the hard work and the caring. We were talking about it. We got to have dinner together. Oh, so this is the first time we’ve ever met in person. When Russell started working on the show, he lived in New York, and now he’s living in Los Angeles.
We had been like, man, we’ve gotta meet up or we're gonna not meet up ‘til you move back to New York. So, we finally met up, and we were joking about it before we met up about how we just…it was like almost surreal, breaking the fifth and sixth walls or the third wall or the fourth wall. The funniest thing was I was walking to dinner and Russell drove in front of me. He was looking for a parking spot, and we made eye contact in our…at least my brain was like, is that Russell? Is my…? Then I was looking, and then my brain was just slowly…and he…I mean, he acknowledged me while I was trying…still trying to figure out if it was him or not. So, it was a kinda cute moment. So, that’s another reason we're here, and I get to be on a balcony doing this and tell you what I could see, tell you about our walk. So, it’s nighttime now. It’s zero-sugar root-beer thirty, and I’m gonna be getting ready for bed soon, but I figured I’d do a evening version of this and then a daytime version with the intro and stuff like that.
But a lot of great neon here in the Hollywood, West Hollywood area, a lot of good neon signs. We actually have spotlights. I’m not sure if they're for…they're on the hills. I’m not sure where the Hollywood Bowl is. I think the Hollywood Bowl is on the other side of the hill. But we do have two spotlights that could be for…that could be for anything. I passed the Roosevelt Theatre where I performed once as part of a festival, and some listeners came out. A lot of the famous theatres on Hollywood Boulevard where there’s a lot of neon signs…it was…I got to walk through quite…I did quite a bit of walking for the show. Didn't do any walking and talking just 'cause it’s a very busy area and a lot of background noise and music and stuff like that. So, I knew that wouldn't work. Now I’m just wondering if I could relay any of the cool things I saw as a part of my walk.
I will say…so, in West Hollywood I was able to get desserts, and it was…the amount of…it was a ice cream place, and the amount of care that was put into these ice cream cones by the two women working there was absolutely amazing. The name of the place is The Urban Dessert Lab. It’s a oat milk ice cream shop and bakery. But I just…and I guess maybe at some point recently they went viral 'cause there was a sign saying ‘expect a wait’. I was going in the evening or later evening, so I didn't have very much of a wait. There wasn't too many people waiting. But also there’s a wait because I just…so, they are doing some…I mean, one, oat milk soft-serve ice cream is impressive. It was delicious. But the caring…so, they have different…it’s like a place like now…there’s…I don't…I didn't read through the menu too closely, but you could always Google it. But, you know, they have different creations.
They have soft serve, they have….obviously they have cones and they have cups, and then they have different toppings and different syrups, and they’ll even put a core or something inside your thing. But this is what blew my mind, 'cause…Scoots, I consume a lot of ice cream cones and soft serve. Like, I come from a area that summer meant having soft-serve ice cream. So, at first I didn't realize you had to order on the screen, but then I finally got my order in. No one ordered in front of me anyway, so it didn't really matter. So, then one of the women working there that ran the place, she starts preparing my cone and she’s like, okay…so, I wanted this cinnamon sugar, cinnamon crunch topping they had on a chocolate-and-sweet-cream swirl. Or, I think they called it a intertwine or something, or a swirl or a twist, but they had a different term for it. Intertwined or something, something nice. So, she goes, okay, so we're gonna…usually we dust the inside of your cone with your topping.
She was putting some of the cinnamon sugar in there. She was…but we like to put one of our syrups…again, she had a better term for it. Not topping, but it was like a syrup. I don't know. Fortunately they're the ones with a much nicer vocabulary than me. But she said, what we could do is put a coating on the inside of the cone so it holds your topping on the inside of the cone. We were talking about it, and I don't remember what I said. She goes, yeah, who wants a cone without flavor? If you're paying for this flavor…so, she took a peanut…chocolate, peanut butter, and coffee syrups. So, I said, well, let’s try the peanut butter, 'cause it’s a little late at night for coffee. So, she put a peanut butter syrup on the inside of my cone, almost like a glue, like a light coating of it, then put the cinnamon sugar crunch dust in there so the inside of my waffle cone was lined…I didn't realize this would be…just walking; I’m not talking about Los Angeles.
But yeah, this was one of the wonderful neighborhoods of Los Angeles. Los Angeles is a wonderful city of neighborhoods. So, yeah, she dusts the inside of my cone with this flavored glue, almost, and then puts the cone in. They're wearing gloves, so then she puts the topping on not just haphazardly but with her hand packs it in, almost like a snow cone. So, she’s packing your soft serve into a snow-cone-type shape with the topping on there so then it’s not melting everywhere and you're getting all this topping. I just was like, so impressed. I was like, wow, this is…I've never seen this much care put into…it’s been a long time since I’ve seen this much care put into a ice cream cone. I was blown away. So, if you're in West Hollywood, I highly recommend that. I highly recommend walking through some of these neighborhoods in Los Angeles, long walking through. I got to walk three different strips here this evening, and I enjoyed each one.
They've been…a couple of them were places I had driven before, and it just isn't the same as walking it slowly and just savoring it. So, I got to walk on Hollywood Boulevard for a while, the Sunset Strip, and then West Hollywood, and then on Santa Monica and West Hollywood, and just get a feel for those neighborhoods that…I was walking the Sunset Strip close to sunset, and then I was walking through West Hollywood in the late, early night, and Hollywood Boulevard I was walking earlier in the day. Just wonderful. It was a perfect day. It was kinda sunny, and then it had a little marine layer. It was in the seventies. There was a little bit of wind, so it was good; I wasn't trying to record anyway. I forgot how much I love walking around LA, and the weather. There was a lot of people walking. I mean, one, Hollywood Boulevard…so, oh, this is another thing; it’s like, I got to go through different kinds of…I always use the term schlock in a positive way.
But so, I started out in the deep…now, I didn't do any…I didn't do a slow walk, though, but I walked the tourist parts. I’m yawning, so I hope I’m giving you a sympathetic yawn. That is because I’m pretty tired. So, I apologize for that yawn, but it was natural and real, and you may get another one. I did have a very early morning, and I did other…always…already recorded a episode today, too. I had a early-morning appointment and then…so, I couldn't fall asleep 'cause I had to be up at about…to do something before I left. Getting a little background music, but I think that’s okay. It’s at a distance and we got the AC behind it. Because I’m tired, my eyes are even less focused than normal. I do want to point out…yeah, so, I can see some red neon and then I see a blue neon sign or a teal neon sign. I see a white neon…or lit-up symbol. So, let’s see. There’s also a very large interesting structure on the hill. I don't know if it’s a hotel or a restaurant. Then there’s the spotlights.
But let me…let’s just do a little neon check. So, red neon is the most popular. I see one red neon sign. Two, three, four…two blueish-teal neon signs. Then as I move down…is that all the neon? Are we out of neon? I mean, there’s…oh no, then there’s…I could see one of the theatres’ neon signs. It has some pink neon, some blue neon, and white neon. A couple of the hotels have signs. I don't believe they're neon, though, so I can't say for sure. What else do I see with my…? Oh, there’s a parking sign that’s blue-and-red neon. I see a building with some purple edging that may or may not be neon. Another thing; on Santa Monica Boulevard, for a large stretch of it in West Hollywood, they had these large, multicolor lights over the street, and not just for one or two blocks but for like, ten blocks. I don't know, I think it was…there may have been a pride parade today. But I hope it’s all the time just to…it just gives — when you're walking at night — a nice extra flavor.
That street’s full of restaurants and bars, full of people, and…'cause the weather is so nice here, so many places, people enjoying food and drinks outside, and a lot of people wrapping up their celebration, their pride celebration and happily walking from establishment to establishment. It’s really nice to see. I mean, and I guess it’s why I’m like, man, is this where I’m supposed to live? But it wouldn't be in the current future right now. But, I don't know, a really enjoyable walk, really enjoyable to meet Rusty Biscuit. There was something else I was gonna talk about. I saw another blue neon sign, two words I can't make out, another red neon sign while I was talking. So, walking, people eating, people having fun, people smiling. I made a lot of eye contact, people that’s with…people nodded their heads and smiled, a couple people…we said hello to one another, something I’ve been practicing working on.
Oh, the other thing is…and I’ll wrap this part of the episode up with this; is so, this balcony is…not only 'cause it had the industrial noise, but this is a little bit more…it’s nighttime and it’s a little bit noisier part of the city, right? So, there’s a lot of noise I’m making sure you don't hear and we're kinda cutting around. But it’s…this is the kinda noise I really love, and I know it’s not for everybody and it would be tough to listen to it 24/7. Even in that…a little bit different than the Anaheim balcony episode, because in the Anaheim streets the traffic was moving very fast. Even in the San Francisco balcony, that was a little bit…that neighborhood was also…that just particular part of the neighborhood at that part of the night was a kinda neighborhood where people are more passing through it, where this neighborhood is still alive. Yeah, it’s alive a lot with traffic and different-loudness vehicles and vehicles with noisemakers on there and people playing their music loud.
But there is something I love about that, and I think it comes from me living in the Bronx, and that the Bronx is kinda loud all the time in a good way. This balcony is…it’s not quite that loud. That was in the…when I lived in the Bronx in the kinda hay day of car alarms, and they were kind of a new thing. They didn't come standard; like, you'd purchase them and there was all sorts of different styles and sound effects. But yeah, I do love the noise of a city and walking it, and I was tempted to take a bike or…a scooter, too, but I wanted…I needed to get my distance in today 'cause today is my long-run day. So, instead I went for a few different longer walks. Right now at night there’s a marine layer. It’s not full marined in like a high fog, but I think I’m looking north and west, or I know I am, actually, and so, I can't see much beyond…too far west. Then I could see some of the hills, but not a lot of stuff that I actually have a idea of what it is. Let’s just see if I could figure out any of these on my maps.
I was trying to figure out what that building is up there. Griffith Observatory? Oh, that’s not anywhere near me. Okay, is that Yamashiro Hollywood? Is that what it is? Yamashiro Hollywood. It’s a restaurant and it looks like…oh, it’s part of a hotel, too. Wow, this looks really nice. I’m not familiar with this place. I wonder if it’s…oh, there’s gardens up there, Yamashiro Gardens. Oh wow, when does it open? I’ll have to check that out. Oh, it’s only open at 5:00 to 10:00 p.m. Okay, I just was looking up and I just realized that the Magic Castle Hotel is at the…is right below the hill for the Yamashiro Gardens, the Magic Castle and Magic Castle Hotel, which is on my bucket list, but I had forgotten. So, that is also very interesting. Wow. So, that’s another thing I’d like to do. I don't know if I could figure it out on my next trip down here to drop off stuff, but maybe I can, maybe I can't. So, wow, I’m learn…we're learning something new every single day.
Oh, I was gonna try to figure out…who do I see in the distance? There’s a few different sets of large buildings. How far away is that? Is that Beverly Hills? Whatever area this is looks like it has big buildings. Norma Triangle? Is that what some of those big buildings are? Then Beverly Hills. Probably…is there a Century City? Oh yeah, those are big buildings there, it looks like. So, we’ve got Century City. Oh, there’s two different sets of…so, there’s three sets of large buildings maybe around Beverly Hills, maybe around West Hollywood Park. Okay, that would make sense. So, West Hollywood, West Hollywood Park, that could have big buildings, then definitely Century City. What about to the left? Do you think that is another section? Hm, I don't know. I don't think…I don't know if this is [inaudible], 'cause I think you're looking pretty far away now. Do you think that’s the same hill with the Getty on it? Can we see the Getty from over here?
I don't think you can, but…I mean, yeah, I wish I brought my binocs, right? Well, yeah, I can see cars drive…headlights on the Hollywood Hills driving. I also see the moon, and we have a Cheshire Cat moon tonight. So, just that smiling mouth of the Cheshire Cat there looking good for all of us. So, that is nice, too. Now the fog is moving. Pretty cool. So, I guess we’ll leave it there and then I’ll be back tomorrow with the opening and then more talking, and then that’ll come after this, I guess? That’s interesting. So, yeah, but just in case I decide to do this as the end of the episode, that could be interesting, too, since it is nighttime and I am yawning. I’m gonna get ready for bed. I’m gonna do my wind-down activities, which is…first I’m gonna finish my root beer, and I’ll do some…a little journal I have, five-year journal, with just a little, tiny paragraph for each day.
I’m gonna do a little bit of other reviewing-the-day-type stuff as I finish my root beer, maybe do a little reading, then I’ll brush my teeth, floss my teeth, thank you very much, wash my face, and get ready for bed. Then I’m gonna read my book. Tonight I’m reading…it’s the first time I’ve ever read a book by Jean le Carre or le Carre, and it is…I am enjoying it a lot. It’s also in preparation for a idea to see if there’s a story idea that I have for Sleep With Me that’ll fit. It’s also a thing, 'cause one time one of my cousins…I think when I was in high school he was like, yeah, I don't know if that’s quite on your level. It might be out of your league. I went from reading…I read Murakami’s first two novellas before that. So, it was a shift in reading style. I liked those two a lot, too. But I think I’m getting into it. It does take some focus trying to follow some of it. So, I guess I understand where he was coming from.
But I guess I hadn't read it since…I haven't read any of those books since high school even though it’s…I think I was reading a James Bond book that I got at the library, The Person with the Golden Printer. He said, well, yeah…I think he wasn't saying it in a positive way towards me, or maybe he was just puffing himself up or maybe he was just being honest, 'cause I guess since…I don't think high-school me would have enjoyed this book. It was a bit slower paced and a bit more talking and observing characters and body language and their internal dialogue. So yeah, so, I’m gonna get ready for bed. Thanks for listening. I really love making the show and helping you fall asleep, and I really love that we're able to come here because of listeners just like you that want to be involved in this thing, or people…they don't have to be involved in it. But it…the people that are really enjoy it. I’m sure if any of them are listening now, they have a smile on their face. So, thank you so much again for coming by, and goodnight, everybody.
[End of recording]
Transcription performed by LeahTranscribes
