And Now For A Little Illlumination

Last Saturday evening, I went to Huntington Beach with a friend to check out the Red Bull Illume art installation just below the pier. It's a difficult exhibit to describe, and I am feeling lazy, so I hope you'll click on the link to see what I am talking about.

What impressed me most about the installation was the fact that people stood in line to see it, because it was set up on the sand and anyone who wanted to NOT stand in line could just mosey along as if they were about to go down to the water and then look at the exhibit instead. I mean, it's not like the exhibit was small—it's a Stone Henge-like setup of giant black monoliths containing illuminated enlarged photos of various athletes in various sports-related poses.

Whoa, I think I just described it. Oops. Sorry if you already went to the website to check it out!

Anyway, my friend and I did not want to create enemies down in the HB, so we patiently waited in line like everyone else to file in an orderly fashion past the monoliths. Well, she waited patiently. I only pretended to be patient, but in fact I really wasn't at all. I was pretty much the exact opposite, because there was a stiff breeze down on the beach and I was freezing, which always puts a drain on my patience resources. Moreover, I knew it was my own fault that I was freezing, because my friend had kindly offered me one of her sweatshirts but I, in my vanity, did not want to entirely cover up the new, cute shirt I was wearing and so had opted to go with my light, zip-up fleece... which I then zipped up all the way to my chin because I was so cold, thereby effectively hiding the new, cute shirt I was wearing. So not only was I impatient, I was also cranky because I was annoyed at myself for being silly.

And yes, I know I'm pathetic. Feel free to not inform me of that fact in the comments section of this blog.

Another thing that amused me about the exhibit was that, in spite of the generosity of Red Bull in handing out well-made brochures that featured representations of all the photos in the exhibit, people insisted on stopping the line so they could take pictures of those same photos. I didn't understand this at all. At one point my pretense of patience wore thin and I said to my friend, "Do they not realize the pictures are already printed in the book, so if they have the book, they have the pictures?"

"Oh, I'm sure they do," she said.

"Then why," I said in a voice that I was trying to keep from raising, "are they STOPPING ALL THE TIME TO TAKE PICTURES OF PICTURES THEY ALREADY HAVE?"

She shrugged. "It's part of the experience."

Maybe. But that didn't stop me from nearly blowing up when, at one particularly impressive photo, the entire group of people in front of us—who all seemed to know each other—halted and whipped out their digital cameras and camera-containing cell phones to take a picture of it. All I could think was, "Have you guys not heard of EMAIL? Do you ALL need to take a picture of the SAME THING?"

People, as Echo and the Bunnymen so succinctly put it once upon a time, are strange. (And please, please, please do not ask me who Echo and the Bunnymen are. For one thing, there's Google. For another, I just turned 32 and would greatly appreciate it if you would not make me feel older than I already do. Thanks!)

So anyway, if you are in Huntington Beach or heading down there sometime soon, check out Red Bull Illume. And here are a few tips to make your experience more enjoyable:

1) Go after sunset; it's not illuminated before then so it won't be very interesting. Black monoliths usually aren't.

2) Parking in HB sucks more often than not; just go for one of the lots. The one we parked in was about a block from the pier, and would accept validations from various places. (Of course, they were all places we didn't go to—the damage for several hours was about $10.)

3) Dress warmly.

4) Do NOT kill people who hold up the line so they can take pictures of the pictures that are on display as well as printed in the little books that Red Bull gives them FOR FREE.

5) Eat dinner first, so you don't end up starving while waiting in the line, like we did. There are plenty of restaurants around that area. If you do want to eat later, lots of them will still be open. We went to the Aloha Grill around 10:30pm, which has some great grub (try the teriyaki vegetables or the pulled pork) at great prices ($6-15 most entrees), and it's within walking distance of the pier. (However, I think they stopped serving entrees at 11pm.)

6) No, I am not being paid to endorse either Red Bull or Aloha Grill. I wish.

7) Wait, sorry. That last one wasn't a tip.