96 hours to L.A. and back!
by James DeWeaver
After receiving an e-mail informing me that my presence was required in Los Angeles, I was rather amazed at the rest of the information this e-mail included.
I won't include who it was from for privacy now, but i can say i have never met them, though i was aware of who they are in "the real world", and as this was out of the blue, i called the number, spoke to a personal secretary, who went though the fact that she'd pre-booked a 1st. Class ticket roundtrip for me, and that this was no joke, like "Punk'd", because in my mind i'm thinking this would be something A.K. would do!
She said i could call back at a later time that day, and I could speak to "them" directly.
So i did, but beforehand I called up Qantas to see if there was in fact a pre-paid 1st.Class roundtrip for me on this particular day, and i really thought this was a someone "having a go" at me, but i was wrong, there was indeed a ticket for me, on a flight to L.A.
I made a couple of calls to people I know in L.A., and one of them was indeed friends and had worked together before, so I called back later when she said, spoke to this person for the first time, and asked why i was required, that is to be there in person,and though they wouldn't elaborate too much, it did involve purchasing a large commissioned piece, that's cool i thought, so i tacitly agreed to the trip, provided i had no Visa issues.
Before I had left Australia, I had been told that for the driver to be 100% sure i was who i actually said i was, and vice versa, i'd need to do ONE thing.
I would have to remember part of a verse from a poem written by the American Poet Robert Frost, written in 1922, that being from, -"Stopping by woods on a snowy evening"-, and after seeing then approaching the driver i was to say, "The woods are lovely dark and deep but I have promises to keep" then the driver was to reply, and miles to go before I sleep, and miles to go before I sleep".
Well i didn't have to look for long, she was the first person who's attention drew mine, almost telepathically, though i don't believe in such. I sauntered up to her and was again taken back by this creature, i'm no monk and i have never lived in a vaccum, but i can say for certain, that i was having a hard time remembering the poem, though i did remember my part and her response was spot on........ i'm really thinking to myself now what is happening, am i in the Twilight zone?
She introduces herself, and I likewise, she begins to explain as we head out of the lobby/lounge area that we have abit of time up our sleeve, and would i like to do alittle sight seeing, I thought that couldn't be half bad, i mean really, look at what had already happened, how much better was this trip gonna get?
As we head out the exit door, my head is swirling with the sensory overload of L.A., she points to the direction the cars parked i'm thinking, but hold on,........ ah she's not, she's actually pointing to the passenger side door of a cream or off white Bugatti Veyron about forty feet away!
Am i begining to hallucinate in all this excitement?, hardly, not with an actual 2006 Bugatti Veyron in front of me!
What a MEGA beast!
Glad i packed light, this cars was hardly to designed for storage area!
Now i do like sportscars no doubt, so to be driven around LA, going to a place i have no idea where it's located, other than it in Topanga Canyon, and to be going to an epic party somewhere still unknown, with a pricy commission on top, it can't get any better than this, though as soon as she fires the beastie up it does, the sound is deafening, tuned to perfection, it just got much better!
I was truly enjoying the sound when she droppped it into gear and laid down i don't know, maybe a 30 -40 metre burnout, to make sure i was awake i guess, she got my full attention from that point on i can assure you!
The last-time this sort of thing happened to me was on the Gumball 3000, in 2008, ah what a race!
I was not at all aware at the time that i was in the hands of a Professional driver, I just thought she was a "full sort " there to meet me at the airport, only later finding this out, as this manouvre and where she did it could only, and would only be done by someone who had 100% confidence in their skill as a driver, and the car in my experiences that is, and in a US $650,000 sportscar, who's really gonna mess around!
So we roared out of the airport, and i continued on my magical mystery tour, i was in what felt like a plane without the wings, this was truly a "Hypercar", (their NOT classed as Sportscars) that was only for the real officianado's though, with EXPERT driving skills!
Once on the freeway, she really let the Bugatti Veyron show her stuff off!
As you should know by now, i'm in the hands of people who i've yet to meet personally, though i've spoken to them on the phone, and have friends of friends, and now i'm on the L.A. freeways with a beautiful alien driving a US$1,650,000 ground torpedo, that just went from 0 to 60 mph in two and a half seconds, and took less than eight seconds total for us to be at 125mph!
When the Veyron got to about 135mph, it lowered itself to about two and a half inches from the tarmac, it's normally at about five inches, and then went into what's called "handling" mode, the wing and spoiler deploy and provided the car with noticably more "downforce" through active integrated systems, about seven hundred pounds more downforce i was told.
I look over at the driver, she's totally cool and calm, and totally hot, and with a quick and very discrete look at the speedometer, as i would not want her to think i was frightened at all by her driving, as i wasn't, I was totally enjoying the whole experience, i was stunned as the speedo read 150mph, it felt like we were maybe going half that, but with the cars noise cancelling system and a total beast of a super rocket engine, a W16 engine actually, 16 cylinders in four banks of four cylinders, and the engine is fed by four turbo chargers, has a total of ten radiators just to cool off the 1000 horsepowered engine,..... seven gear automatic paddle shift i knew this was just the "proper" speed to travel for such a vehicle, as the Autobahn in Germany is more appropriate for this Hypercar, or the Nurbergring, it could of gone much faster, try 100 mph faster, these cars can go over 250 mph(400kph)!!
We're on the L.A.freeways doing one hundred and fifty, and the few cars then are passing by at a phenomenal rate, this is going to be a fast trip i thought, suddenly a head up display(HUD) popped up on the windscreen with a red flashing indicator warning that a Police radar had been detected, I thought that was pretty cool, she explained that the I-system was designed to detect speed radar and at the same time to "stealth" (very technical) the Bugatti's electronic field, which in effect, leaves the Bugatti's electronic footprint almost invisible, what the police radar picks up is useless, it's like a bird flight signature on radar, very discreet!
She told me not to be overly concerned, the sytem was automated to allow us to go by the stationary radar traps without even having to slow down.
She went up to 160mph to prove this to me, woaw, this is a really cool car i'm think'in right about now, this would piss all over the "Knightriders" KIT car!
Along we went at fast forward you could say until she said our turnoffs coming up.
With all this excitement and sensory overload i was starting to get a mild, not heavy headache, so i ask her if she could find a chemist so i could get some headache pills(aspirin), she said that was no problem and as we were no longer on the freeway she said she would keep to the speed limit, i thought to myself, "well that would be a first", we seemed to have gone a LONG way in such a short time period.
We pull up to the chemist, i go in, i locate these aforementioned pills, grab them quickly, i head for the counter only to find that there are two people already ahead of me,...shit, and then i hear the lady behind the counter call Mr. Densmore, I think Densmore, not a common name, I know that name!, it couldn't possibly be..... wasn't that the surname of the drummer from The Doors........ah,.....Jim Morrison!
Is this really the great drummer from the Doors John Densmore waiting ahead of me in line at the fu*king chemist?.......,I have to take a look and see, so i casually, as much as a man of my size can, gradually sidled up to this "Mr.Densmore"?........ and sure as sharks shit in the sea, it is indeed "The" John Densmore, how cool!
I'm more than abit blown away, i think their (The Doors) place in musical history is undoubtedly written in solid gold in American and even World musical history, and I am sure they were the catalyst to many bands forming and in some cases being apart of the musical continuum themselves, i.e. Iggy Pop directly indicates this to be true in his case!
So I said nothing to the man, merely observing what now is in reality, an old and rather frail & slightly stooping individual, i wouldn't think that playing drums as long as he has wouldn't be the best thing for your posture long-term, he maybe never thought he'd get old?........like Jim, Mr Densmore clearly has had many many experiences and in time has grown old as we all do and will, though whenever i've seen him in the music video's he's so young, the difference today is just the reality of time, and it (time) waiting for no-one!.
He paid for his drugs,(I'M sure that never happened when he was younger!) not sure what they were as they came from BEHIND the counter, i briefly watch him move towards me like as if time slowed down, he glances momentarily at me, i'm looking right at him as we both give each other a knowing and acknowledging smile, nothing is said, and nothing is to be said to people like John, they don't really want to interact with people who they haven't known for years, or aren't of value knowing in the first place, he passes beside me on my left side, glancingly brushing my elbow in passing on his way to the exit.
Thanks for the up-votes and keep an eye out for part 2 in this adventure which will be titled "Don't treat celebrities any different"
Maybe the greatest band ever, and you said nothing.
Where is part 9?