February 15th, 2008. DJ Shadow and Cut Chemist are bringing the final date of their “Hard Sell” show to The Wiltern in Los Angeles, and the woman and I have tickets. Show starts at 9pm. Doors open at 8pm. Fine. No problem.

Instead of driving through Friday rush hour traffic from Burbank to The Wiltern (Wilshire/Western), we decide to make Al Gore happy, and take the Metro Red Line. So, a bit on online research about the Red Line, and we are off…

We drive two miles from Burbank, to the Red Line station at Lankershim and Chandler. Loads of free parking. Seems cool.

Get inside the Metro tunnel, and the confusion of the online maps is starting to become clear. Yes, there is a stop right outside the Wiltern, but it isn’t the Red Line. It’s the Purple Line. At least, at the station it is called the Purple Line. The Metro web site says to go from the Red Line, to the Red Line. Screen cap from the Metro web site:

click image to enlarge

Hmm…ok. Whatever. Doesn’t seem bad. We each buy our two $1.25 tickets, and head off.

Take the Red Line to Wilshire/Vermont. Speedy. Nice. Seems fine. Get off the train. Welcome to confusionland. Population: us.

Signs say to go to the lower platform. Fine. Go to the lower platform. Look up at the courtesy screens above, telling of a “delay” for our little train. Two minutes. No big. Oh, but wait. The screen also says the Purple Line is now running upstairs. Damn. Run upstairs to catch the Purple Line. Nope. Train is another Red Line. WTF!?! Run BACK downstairs, and catch what should be the Purple Line (normally). After one stop, we see that it is the Red Line, taking us back home. Confused? We sure were - and pissed! Why the hell did the automated ticket kiosk sell us tickets for a train that the system KNEW was not running! Dammit!

Jump off train at Vermont and Beverly. WALK from Vermont and Beverly, at night, to Wilshire and Western (for the non-locals: a rather colorful stroll of 1.99 miles, at night, through a slightly financially-troubled section of Los Angeles). How is this convenient?

Walking briskly through interesting, uncharted territory, we get to The Wiltern. We look across the street from The Wiltern, see the Metro station, and growl. Fine, whatever, a temporary outtage. We got a bit of exercise, but we’re still pissed at the wasted train tickets.

See the show. Great show. Kid Koala threw down a great opening set, and then Cut Chemist and DJ Shadow gave us the Hard Sell. Yeah, in spots, you can see how it gets the name, but it was still a great show to watch. And long.

The length of the show, normally, would be great. But, since we chose to avoid the traffic, parking nightmares, and cost of driving, and “went Metro”, the show ending exactly at midnight was not good.

We run across the street to the Metro station, sail down the escalator, and buy ourselves our train tickets home. Literally, at the machine is vending the tickets, in the distance, you can hear the combined sounds of a train leaving, and a gentlemen who appeared to be tired of his job calling out “that was the last train, that was the last train”.

Let’s pause for a moment. This is 2008. We have the interweb. We have advances in technology that are leaps and bounds ahead of what our parents had. With that, why the FUCK would a FUCKING Metro ticket machine sell me a ticket for what it should be programmed to already know is the last train, which has already left!?! Nowhere near the machine does it say “Hello Metro rider. You better buy your ticket fast, for the last train is at (insert time here).”

FUCK METRO!

Nora and I proceed back up the escalator to street level, and proceed to walk BACK the two miles to the other train station. After six blocks of even more colorful street life (thugs, cops, an overwhelming, constant aroma of urine), I saw a Yellow Cab. The driver was going home for the night, and had another fare! Personally, those fact were unimportant. We got in the cab, and got back to the car at Lankershim. Total? $26.45! I threw down $30, growled (but thanks the cabbie for stopping - seriously, I hailed a cab in L.A. - I was lucky), and got to the car. A stop at Jerry’s (mmm…Split Pea soup), got home, and just sat here. Pissed.

I try to make Al Gore happy. I try to be a responsible citizen of Los Angeles. I try to make what APPEARS to be an easy trip from one Metro station, to another. I am greeted with confusing one-way passes, “we’re sorry for any difficultly” train outtage signs, trains that are not clearly labeled, and slightly dangerous night walks through areas of town I usually run red lights to avoid.

According to the Metro web site, the trip should take 37 minutes, with a total cost of $2.50. Compare that (again, according to the web site) to the driving cost of $6.67, plus $10 parking (if I am lucky), and the stress of the drive, and it SEEMS like a deal. The real cost: $3.75 for tickets (each), stress, two-plus miles of walking, stress, a $30.00 cab ride, and more stress.

FUCK the train! FUCK METRO! I want my money, time, and energy back!

I will never ride your damn system again!

I have been voting for many years, and for those many years, I have seen a number of young, impressionable people make stupid mistakes. I’m not even talking to the “red states”…yet…

Remember Ralph Nader? He said things that made a number of people vote for him. A small number. While that small number of people voted for Nader, Bush won. We had “hanging chads”. We had a president elect who won the popular vote, yet fucking lost! If Nader had not been in the race, we wouldn’t have been stuck with monkey boy. I’m still at a complete lost on how he won twice! Twice! FUCK up the nation, and have the ignorant people vote for you again! ARGH!

Fast forward to now. You see a lot of Ron Paul talk on the net. People out there are going the extra mile, with grass root activity, getting the word out about Ron Paul. Guess what? It doesn’t matter! No matter how much you push, not enough people in this country will vote for the man.

You know what’s going to happen? We’re going to be stuck with another republican (note: they are not worthy of my capitalization) in the White House. Care to imagine that? I sure as hell do NOT!

When you vote, vote democrat. Yes, I know, you are literally flipping a coin with the two lead democrats. You have Obama, with all of his supporters (both famous and influencial). You see Hillary, and you have fond memories of Bill (hey - when he lied, no one died!). You don’t know which one to trust. But guess what? They’re both better than the republicans!

I am tired of living check to check. I am tired of paying too much for gas. I am tired of bitching about the state of the world. Look at this world. Groups of people fighting with other groups of people, over what? God. For some of us (read: me, and other smart people), we have “spirituality”. We have the belief of “karma”. We don’t live our lives based on the history of a “god”. Think about it. The main guidelines of the bible say common sense things. Don’t cheat. Don’t steal. Don’t kill. Well, DUH! Fine. Simple enough, but look at this crap. Middle Eastern countries are in battle with each other over who’s “god” is better. We have terrorism, which is promising completely desperate individuals riches in heaven if they do unspeakable acts of horror. We have a president (again, not worthy of capitalization) who comes back at the terrorists with “and god bless America”. Seriously? Other countries are in a pissing contest over their “god”, and you think your “god” is going to bless all of us for the crap you do?

UGH!

Janet Jackson shows a nipple, and the United States freaks. Where the fuck is your outrage at this war? People are dying. Needlessly. You pray that we win. “They” pray to ruin the USA. You really think that is there if some sort of higher being, that they are taking sides?

(back to topic)

DO NOT waste your vote! Forget Ron Paul, and all the other “not a chance in hell” people in this race. DO NOT get us stuck with a republican again! I don’t want to live in a damn world where religious extremists (hello, red states) control the government.

Reaganomics? Operation Desert Storm? Mission Accomplished? I miss Democrats. I miss seeing my president elect torturing a saxophone on Arsenio Hall. I miss this country having a budget surplus. I miss feeling good about things in life. Look around. You feel good about life? You feel good seeing more and more people losing their jobs? You feel good about people losing their homes? Not able to afford healthcare? You like seeing a monkey war monger making fat oil money, while people die?

DO NOT WASTE YOUR VOTE! Use your brain!