Celebrating the New Year with Guns and Punk Rock
Ξ October 1st, 2008 | → | ∇ Beyond Northeast |
“I’m not Jewish but…” reads a lot like comments that begin “I’m not a racist but…”. Still, with a Greek first name that translates to “Bearer of Christ”, it’s not often that I’m confused for practicing Judaism. So, when my employer gives me Rosh Hashanah off, I’m free to spend a Tuesday exploring the city.
The first stop was a just over the hills at CSULA for a tour of the Los Angeles Regional Crime Lab, formally known as the Hertzberg/Davis Forensic Science Center. We were able to watch a detective compare firing pin impressions on a cartridge case and learn how a Labrador Retriever and state of the art computers can not only identify the exact type of accelerant used in an arson, but also the brand (Shell gasoline vs. Kingsford lighter fluid for example). The latter explanation nixed any plans I had of torching my home for insurance. The highlight of the tour though had to be the stunning catalogue of firearms they possess. In shelves reminiscent of college library stacks, the criminalists own almost every type of gun imaginable. Silenced sub-machine guns, WWII rifles, pearl grip revolvers, black powder muskets, and homemade zip guns are used for training and reference purposes, and make for a seductive start to the tour. Teachers reading this: Drop whatever you’re doing and arrange for a class field trip. Meeting the real CSI (although here it’s called SID) LA team made me wish I had paid more attention in the chemistry and physics classes that I left behind me so long ago.
Later that evening a few friends and I cruised west for the first of six Rancid shows at the Henry Fonda Theater in Hollywood. If you’ve never seen these guys live, do yourself a favor and spend an evening with this Oakland quartet. They don’t have any new material since their last visit, and they drew heavily from “…And Out Come the Wolves” and “Let’s Go”, but playing the crowd pleasers isn’t all bad. Plus, they drew from the catalogues of Operation Ivy and Lars Fredricksen and the Bastards. I had so much fun that I may just go again. Still, if you want to experience a taste of what Punk Rock was like before Hot Topic made S&M gear available to tweeners in Glendale, drop $30 shout along to “Rejected” during the obligatory encore.
They opened last night’s show with “Radio” and “Roots Radicals”:
Shana tova!
on October 5th, 2008 at 9:54 pm
What does this have to do with Highland Park? Lame.