I decided to drive to DTLA and see if GCM was open. I kept driving down Santa Monica hoping I would hit a freeway at some point. Then I saw Vine and figured I must be close to Hollywood. Sure enough it was just a few blocks away and I decided to go up and down Hollywood Blvd.
Like Santa Monica a lot of people. Covid and high heat doesn't seem to keep the crowds down today. There were a lot of people at a BLM rally near Hollywood and Highland. Drove past and saw the Chinese Theater before looping back.
I stopped in the loading zone across from the protest and took my phone out of the glove box. It was so hot I almost couldn't hold it. Apparently if you leave something in the glove box on a very hot day (the fan was on quite a bit today) it turns into an oven.
My phone had a high temperature error message and wouldn't turn on. Then it was just black for a while. I started waving it around trying to cool it down. After a few minutes of that with no success I took it out of the case and waved it some more. All the while the rally is going on across the street and I must have been an odd sight with all the waving and gesticulating at my phone. Finally after about ten minutes it came back on.
I hit record and then hear "Hey, he's one of them!" followed closely by "Get him out of here!" I wonder who "he is" and who was going to "get him out of here?" Then I realised "he" was me. Pro tip number 2 - the BLM people don't like to be recorded. Phone goes in pocket, scooter on, time to go. In hindsight that was probably not the smartest place to stop.
A bit further down the street I talked to one of the protestors. They had already been there for a while and they were going to march down to Vine shortly. I thought for a second about watching it but then decided I like my Vespa to much for it to go through that.
I am not into BLM but I admired that they were out there in such heat. It's a poor pic because their big bus is in the way but there were a ton of people packed into that plaza chanting and singing and yelling. Still in the low 100s. Hot.
Back down Hollywood to 101 South!