Los Anjealous: Peanut Butter Wolf vs. LA vs. $60

I reminded myself about the Peanut Butter Wolf vs. LA event with an email. June 10th came out of nowhere and I had told myself I was going to shoot PB Wolf every night of the week for fun. Besides needing sufficient sleep for my day job, the biggest problem was money. After two back-to-back vacations and a couple substantial investments, I was living very light. $60 a week light. And we’re talking about going out every night in LA, which means parking, show charges, gas, maybe a brewski. Even in a best-case scenario, the odds were that I would go bust by Friday night. Here’s what happened.

Sunday, June 10th Day 1
The first night was at Crane’s Tavern. I left around 9:00pm and street parking added another twenty minutes to my commute. I was hoping I didn’t miss the start of PB Wolf’s set, so I was relieved when I saw Diplo and Hollatronix spinning.


I asked “When is Diplo meets Dipset (Diplomatic Immunity 3: Diplosaurus) coming out?” He then made this pose. I think it means March 3rd.

I had to take a leak and I asked this dude in the bathroom if he knew when PB Wolf was going on. He said Wolf already went on, like at 6:00pm. My pee stream stopped out of befuddlement. It stung. As easy as that, I missed out on night 1. I was close to scrapping the entire project since it would be incomplete. Plus, I would get to keep my $60 for things I need to live, like food. But after the consideration, my week seemed too empty.

Monday June 11th Day 2
The second night was Funkmosphere at Carbon, which is about four minutes away from where I live. I arrived around ten, not paying cover or parking. Wolf got there around ten-thirty and he wasn’t going on until midnight. I talked with him at the bar and told him what I was doing. We exchanged information and I got his card, which became useful later on. I had two beers, eight dollars plus a two-dollar tip, ten dollars spent total so far. Funkmosphere was dope.




His shirts were themed according to the genre of the night.


Tuesday June 12th Day 3
Day 3 was Cover Me Badd at Cinespace. I hunted for street parking, but caved in and payed six bucks for parking. The line into Cinespace looked about an hour-deep, so I went straight to gate. I told the guy at the gate that I was on the Stone’s Throw’s list, and gave him my name, which of course wouldn’t be on there. When he came back and said my name wasn’t on the list, I told him it was a mistake and showed him PB Wolf’s card. The guy didn’t even look at it and let me in, but said I would still have to pay. I figured I lucked out and payed the ten dollar entry fee. That’s twenty-six dollars total spent so far. I got home around 2:00am, downloaded the photos, got to bed around 3:00, but didn’t fall asleep until 3:30.





Wolf put on an Alvin and the Chipmunks cover song and that dude was like, “Yo, I used to rock this shit.”




Wednesday June 13th, Day 4
The lack of sleep was adding up. My alarm clock went off, but I kept snoozing it until the last possible interval. I even skipped the time allotted for a shower. I was tired the whole day at work and money was getting slim. I had spent 14 dollars on miscellaneous stuff since Sunday leaving me with 19 dollars for the rest of the week. Day 4 was Dub Club at The Echo. After getting past the doorman with a business card and a camera, I got to the main floor around midnight. There were more people smoking weed than drinking alcohol, which made me feel comfortable since I showed up high.









I had to get gas on the way back. 10 dollars didn’t go very far, leaving me with 9 bucks until Saturday at midnight. When I got back home, I had the hardest time falling asleep and knew the next day was going to suck.

Thursday June 14th, Day 5
My alarm woke me out of REM sleep, which makes you feel twice as tired. When I got to work, I took a fifteen-minute nap under my desk and woke up with carpet patterns on my face. All I could think about was sleep.

When I got off work I took a three-hour nap and woke up around 11:00pm. I was still exhausted. Serpico was on HBO5. I remember liking it just ok when I saw it about five years ago, but I was really into it this time around.

Maybe I was making it better by pretending it was the prequel to Pacino’s character in Heat.

The movie was ending, it was around 12:30am now. I was literally 50/50 for going out at this point. ‘Tough it out, kid’ I told myself. I decided to suck it up and head out. I was putting on my shoes right as the Serpico credits ended. The next movie came on as I grabbed my keys.

It was Scarface.

I’m not a ‘The World is Yours’ shirt wearing fan, but when the intro hits with all the Cubans coming to America, I’m hooked. The intro song reminds me of “It’s Mine” by Mobb Deep where they use that same beat. Nas kills it on that track. I stayed in, watched it, and fell asleep around the ‘Take it to Limit’ montage.

Friday June 15th, Day 5
Woke up to some bittersweetness. Yes I was rested, but the project and I couldn’t survive on $9 bucks. It was one or the other. It’s hard for me to leave something that’s incomplete, but there was no story-book ending in this one. I used the rest of the money for tuna cans, bread, and bubblegum tape.

I guess what I learned from this experience is that Pacino always delivers.

Exercising for people who hate exercising - Mt. Lukens

Like many people, exercise is not a pastime I enjoy. It’s not just the painful physical exertion that gets to me, it’s also the associative things: the smell of gyms, lying my head on benches other people sweat on, and not being able to listen to songs I used to love because of workout connotations. The biggest turnoff for someone like me who is not a gym rat, is the judgment I feel from regular gym rats. Every time I walk to the treadmill, I feel their eyes on me, checking my body for deficiencies they don’t have. The gym is supposed to be the place to get healthy, but they’re places to go to remind yourself how unhealthy you really are.

When I was 19, I went on the Atkins diet, the first diet and exercise plan I ever went on. I lost 40 pounds, but I contribute losing weight to working out seven days a week rather than the unhealthy no-carb diet, which made me feel weak when I wasn’t on ephedra (which is no longer legal). I attempted another diet when I was 23, a low sugar diet that made me pass out after 8 days and that was the end of dieting since. With rare exceptions, exercising was never fun. Jogging was forever excruciating, stair climbing made me queasy, and weight lifting was often embarrassing. The only times I liked exercising was when I forgot I was exercising. I remember the times I enjoyed playing basketball with my friends or when I would go biking for long distances. As I’ve gotten older, I realized that the secret to exercising for people who hate exercising is to be active in things that are fun. Personally, the activities I enjoy are biking, hiking, swimming, and most sports that we all played back in P.E. I recently read about gyms that offer Dodgeball leagues, and that’s something that makes me eager to return to gyms. Often times, the motivation that kept me on the treadmill was spite for gym rats. But who needs spite when you can tag a gym rat in the face with a dodgeball during exercise?

I’m starting a feature that lists fun activities around Los Angeles for all of you who hate exercising just as much as me. My goal isn’t to whip everyone into shape, but rather to make you feel less guilty about that In-and-Out Burger you ate last Saturday night.


My first feature is hiking to the highest point in Los Angeles – Mount Lukens.



Fortunately, I didn’t have to travel to get on this six-hour round trip hike, it’s basically in my front yard, but here’s directions for everyone else: Mount Lukens is located in the Angeles National Forest of Tujunga. From Studio City, it’s a 45 minute drive. Get on the 210, exit Sunland Blvd, head north towards Tujunga. Make a left on Oro Vista, follow it until it turns into Big Tujunga Canyon Road and turn right onto Doske road once you see the Wildwood Picnic Area sign. You will need to display an Angeles National Forest Adventure pass, which you can buy at the 7-11 off Oro Vista and Sunland. You can purchase Adventure passes daily or annual, both of which are relatively cheap.

The Mount Lukens hike was my most ambitious hike in recent memory: 8 miles round trip with a 3200 feet elevation gain. I just got into hiking recently, so most hikes up until Mt. Lukens were two hour round trip hikes with little elevation gain. I had three friends join me and they made the difference between brutal and spectacular, but the hike was kind a marriage between the two: brutacular.
The hike is sporadically shaded, which makes for good areas to rest and rehydrate. The hardest parts of the hike are the beginning and the end because of sharp elevation gains. Everything in between is consistent: zigzagging paths with a mild elevation gain. The trail narrows dangerously at points and cactus often protrudes into the path, so being constantly aware is important. The hike is seasonally suggested for the winter and spring. In the summer (I don’t know why anyone would want punish themselves that badly, unless they are Catholic, which I get), rattlesnakes and ticks populate the trail. A friend of mine once went up in the summer and on the way down, almost stepped on two rattlesnakes that were well camouflaged in the dirt. I can’t imagine being three hours up, getting bit, and being stuck up there with no cellphone reception or an immediate way down, that’s the stuff nightmares are made of.

The hike provides a rare combination of great views of the San Gabriel mountains and the city of Los Angeles. Most hikes in the San Gabriels only provide a better view of the mountain valleys, but the top of Mt. Lukens boasts views (on a clear day) that reach as far west as the Pacific Ocean:


As far south as Palos Verdes:


As far east as the San Bernadino Mountains:


The north is dominated by majestic views of the San Gabriels:




Only on Mt. Lukens does downtown Los Angeles look miniscule and not the financial kingdom it really is (it's really small in the far left hand corner):


If you don’t hike or exercise much and get winded by one flight of stairs, I do not recommend this hike. It’s very strenuous and it took everything I had in me to complete it. I was absolutely exhausted by the time I got back. My legs were wobbly, my kneecaps felt like they were going to explode, and my feet felt like mashed potatoes. When I got home, I collapsed on the floor and almost fell asleep. I stretched my legs but I couldn’t get up for at least 15 minutes. I was sore for three days. It was satisfying to finish, but I’m not sure if I would do it again. If I did do it again, I would hike up, stay the night, then come back down the next day because doing it all in the same day was tough. I can’t imagine driving home afterwards, my legs would be shaking from the physical activity. I recommend doing this hike when you have one day to recover, because the next day, your entire body will be stiff.

No matter how strenuous and exhausting this 6 hour hike was, it beats going to a gym and spending an agonizing 45 minutes on the stairmaster while the toned mother next you kicks your ass by going twice as long and twice as hard.