not our first guest by any means, but certainly one of our favorites. Sierra Boniter's know people from all walks of life, Dan is no exception. I went to college with this charming Chicago native and couldn't have been happier that he ventured out to the west coast. Here's his view on what Sierra Boniter's do to show their guest a great time...
On Thursday, June 25th, the Year of Our Lord 2009, one man boarded a Southwest Airlines Airbus A320 departing Chicago's Midway Airport at approximately 3:30 PM bound for Los Angeles' famed LAX. What ensued was a weekend of madness, tomfoolery, mischief and just good old-fashioned fun. This is a firsthand timeline of the chaos...
6/25 3:30 PM...Everytime I head to the airport and subsequently fly I can't ignore my sheer fascination with plane crashes. Everyone says that flying is the safest way to travel and I agree based on the statistics. But I can't help but wonder that the more I fly, the more I'm increasing my odds...think Edward Norton in "Fight Club." Needless to say the flight was rather uneventful...except for the anxiousness to start partying.
6:30 PM...Landed in LA to some horrific (and coincidental) news...The King of Pop is dead! Michael Jackson has died at the age of 50 at his compound in Los Angeles of an apparent cardiac arrest. I am anticipating a few nights of Michael Jackson dance parties. I am also receiving texts to "get a picture of his body" and "did you have anything to do with this?" Chrissy and Dylan arrive to pick up Nicole (Dylan's Ohio cronie) and me from LAX and away we are whisked to West Hollywood. Subsequent stops ensue and we are stocked with booze, ready to welcome the madness with open arms.
9 PM...Sushi on Sunset Blvd with Chrissy, Dylan and Nicole (and saki). Is it a good thing or bad to start the night smashing your own personal saki? I would say a good thing...off to El Carmen with Chrissy and Theresa to meet up with fellow Sierra Bonit-er Bailey.
10 PM-2 PM...after maragritas at El Carmen and several more assorted drinks at Bar Lubich, the MJ dance party is in full swing and heavy "Beat It" style dance moves are being applied...crotch grabbing, spinning, kicking...we definitely did not stop until we got enough. But I have one major complaint with Bar Lubich and it's really nothing to do with the bar itself. The front section of the bar was hosting a birthday party for some girl who (get this) was complaining that MJ was being played TOO MUCH at her Super Sweet 28th Birthday Party. Sweetheart, the King of Pop died today ok? The entire globe is mourning the passing of an icon no one has seen the likes of since The Beatles or Elvis. I can assure you no one cares about your bday party having TOO MUCH MJ...there's no such thing.
6/26 8 AM...Chrissy has work...HA! I shall sleep for several more hours...
10 AM...Off to breakfast with Dylan and Nicole to Jinky's which is fantastic. Not so sure if the steak breakfast burrito was a wise move, but what's done is done and I'll deal with it. Driving to Paradise Cove in Malibu where we will be beaching at the same secluded spot that Pamela Anderson frequents...when she's not tidying up her trailer that's scattered with mopeds and scooters. Went to rent a wet-suit where the female employee inquired as to whether Dylan and I were "lovers." Much to her delight, we were not and she offered the question as a compliment.
11 AM-3 PM...Met up with Dylan's buddy Curtis...Surfing, lounging, blazing, lounging, blazing, surfing and sun soaking...a much needed experience. Then went for fish tacos at a mexican restaurant whose name escapes me at the moment. But damn they were good.
6 PM...Preparation for the Electric Daisy Carnival begins. Meet Corey, an avid EDC enthusiast. I have never attended a rave but I from what I have heard from Dylan and seen on YouTube, this is not just a rave. This is an experience in itself. I am excited and quite frankly, terrified of what I am about to witness...my terror would soon turn to pure extascy...
8 PM-2 AM..."How is this legal?" asked Chrissy. The only answer I have is that it is a genious idea to boost California's economy while at the same time appeasing a generation of youthful people looking for a party on a massive scale. I honestly cannot describe this scene and do it any form of justice. Carnival rides, thongs, stilt-walkers, bras, various stages of music, panties, smoke, people, everything....we all helped ourselves to a few "cheeseburgers" upon our arrival and away we went. The rest of the night was filled with dancing and pow-wowing in the middle of any open area we could find and at one point I did in fact rescue Chrissy from the white light (think Poltergeist). Shiny Toy Guns rocking your face off from 5 rows away with music and lights is enough to suck anyone into a vortex so I'm glad I could pull her away and turn a near disasterous experience into one of the most memorable ones ever. I think our group alone could have kept Marlboro in business for the next 3 months. And thank god for the comfort and security of our travelling security detail. I wouldn't have messed with us either. Let's just say I've never felt so good...
6/27 9 AM...Dylan has work...HA! I shall sleep for a few more hours...
11 AM...Head to Tomato Pie on Sunset with Chrissy, Curtis and Nicole for pizza...But not just any pizza. The guy tells us we are eating "The Grandma," which ranked #7 on GQ's best pizza in America list. I'm just hungry man, give me 2...
12 PM-5PM...Venice Beach is an interesting spot and a great place for recovery. I think I fell asleep a few times to catch up on much needed Z's and felt great by the time we left. EDC Round # 2!? Hell no...
7 PM - However, Round 2 of pizza was in the cards as Chrissy, Theresa, the infamous Punkster Punky Brewster and I hit up Jones' for food and drinks. I think there was a group consensus that this pizza was much better than GQ's #7. I was more astounded by the hundreds of bottles of Jack Daniels lined up above the bar.
8 PM-1 AM...Off to The Woods, which suprisingly enough looks like the woods inside! Very cool atmosphere and set up but very dark and I think the darkness began to take a hold of a few of us. We need something up beat, some exciting...A Happy Ending! Dance parties ensued even though we definitely crashed a 70's themed party on the second floor...except for Chrissy who had her SuperWoman rope headband on. She looked the part. After watching drunken 19 year old's spin the wheel at Happy Endings (there is no point to spinning the wheel becasue you don't win anything! You just land on a shot that you still have to pay for! I wanted to spin it though...) we decided it was time to head home. Little did we know what awaited us...
1 AM - 2 AM...Block Party! Just when it couldn't get any better, a friendly block party was still going on one street over and we crashed that as well. The table with the libations had been completely emptied so we didn't get there in enough time, but we managed with the coffee mug of vodka we smuggled through the door.
6/28 1 PM...After a hearty breakfast (again at Jinky's) with Theresa, Chrissy, Ahmed and Mikey I slowly began to dread the plane ride home and of course, Monday was looming. I didn't want to leave the house, the street, the city or the state, but my plane ride home had to be caught and I had to go. As I was sitting on the airplane (I had 2 people on either side of me to actually talk to during the flight!) I recapped the trip and the chaos and the madness. The people, the friends I knew, the friends I made and the experiences I, well, experienced. All things I will never forget and I can't wait to go back. These thoughts and feelings were enough to supress my fascination and realistic approach to flying and for the duration of the flight, I couldn't have cared less whether I was increasing the odds or not. In fact, I couldn't wait to increase the odds a little more because I already knew that I would be heading back there, sooner rather than later.
Johnathon Utah
