Frolov, GWF, and Ghetto BBQ

Alexander Frolov was signing autographs at a Staples store in Santa Monica last Saturday. Poor guy looked bored as hell. But, I don't feel that bad for him since he makes more money in one year than I may make in a lifetime. If someone was going to pay me several millions of dollars in one year, I would have no problem signing autographs in an office supplies store. Derek Armstrong and Jason LaBarbera will be making appearances at two other Staples stores in LA. Check out the Kings website for more info. In case you're wondering what it was like, there was already a line of people outside the store half an hour before he was scheduled to arrive, as soon as he got there the line moved pretty quickly, and the female-to-male ratio was probably 10:1.

Ckim, her friend/coworker, and I made the surprisingly-not-so-painful drive up to Santa Monica and each of us got something signed by the Russian Hottie. The only pucks I had at the time were LA Kings 2003 Commemorative Pucks. I guess I got them at a game in 2003. Now I only have one left and the question I keep asking myself is, "Would it be inappropriate to ask a Kings player who wasn't on the 2003 team to sign it?" Here's a pic of my signed puck and the simple "A 24" autograph:

Later in the day, after we dropped off Ckim's friend, we realized we were driving along Manchester Blvd, which meant we had to be close to the Great Western Forum! Neither of us had been there since high school and since we weren't in any rush to get home we decided to find the Forum. With a little bit of help from the Thomas Guide Map and a dash of my brilliant memory and sense of direction, we found it without getting lost.

Once we got to the intersection of Manchester Blvd and Praire Ave, we were stunned by the grandeur, columns, brightness, and simplicity. The Great Western Forum looked bigger than I had remembered and it looked like it had just received a fresh coat of paint because the white columns and blue building facade were so bright! As we turned south onto Prairie we slowly drove by hoping that the parking lot was open so we would have an easy place to park and take pictures. Alas, it wasn't meant to be; the lots were closed off and neither of us felt comfortable enough to stop in Inglewood just to take a picture of the Forum. Instead, you're treated to a photo I found on Wikipedia.



We said adieu to the Forum, home of so many wonderful Kings memories from our childhoods and set off to find the freeway. I knew we had to make a right turn at some point to get back on the 405 but thank goodness we turned onto Century Blvd, because otherwise we would have never been able to drive by the best looking BBQ joint in Inglewood.

Yes, you read that correctly: Bad 2 Da Bone BBQ. I almost didn't take this picture (while we were at a red light) because I was seriously worried that someone on the street or in another car was going to think I was taking a picture of him or her and shoot me. Buuuuuuttt, I did it anyway. And besides, I was worried Ckim was going to make me play Chinese Fire Drill if I didn't get a picture of it.