Odd things in LA

Since i have moved to LA i have seen many things that struck me as odd, unusual, or just plain weird. Now, it is possible that some of them are only new to me because a) i am from the "villagie" mid-west b) i wasn't born here. Here are some of the things that i saw and captured:

1) I saw this "Jail collect calls to cellular phones" poster on multiple intersections...I guess i didn't realize that jail services were so popular, or that the jailed population was so significant that it warrants general intersection advertisement... Weird...

2) So, i went to the Sanrio's "Hello Kitty" special event, and as a part of the even they presented an art show with "Hello Kitty" themed art. This was one of the paintings:

I understand it was close to Thanksgiving and all, but isn't this waaaay too disturbing? If i was a kid, i'd bursting in tears!

3) Ok, this one comes from the lab located in Beverly Hills, in the bathroom where you are supposed to put your urine specimen, on the box it says: "No Drugs or money kept in box, blood and urine specimens only"

Like, someone would break into the medical lab in Beverly Hills, and while they are at it, run to the bathroom, see this attractive white box, and decide that it contains money and drugs and take it with them....And this sign is to clear up any confusion... yeah, great!

4) Ok, this next one is not unique to California, i guess, but this is a tree trunk. It is just weird. I guess the tree wanted to prevent people from climbing on it.... Because animals with fur wouldn't really have a problem, i don't think...

5) This is definitely an LA oddity. Its a train that goes up and down a little tiny hill. No, its not free, its about 50 cents or so. There are stairs there too, of course. And, there is a way to drive around to the top. But i guess if you don't like either option you can take a train:

6) Our local bakery created this crap-turtle mutation...Perhaps they are branching out into a pet store soon? or a genetics lab?

7) Art can take all forms. Advertisement too. This cell phone store is decorated with art from empty plastic bottles:

It looks cool. But if it was my store, i think i'd try to use the huge window space to advertise my product instead of just displaying fun odd stuff, especially if my store was located in a pricey area with expensive rent space, unless of course my husband was a zillioner and i just owned this store for kicks.

 8) A combination of plumbing and lighting:

we encountered this on a walk of the Food Truck Friday, and event which itself should be included in this list of odd LA things: first Friday of every month all of the lunch trucks gather in this one area and huge crowds of people come out to stand in loooooong lines to eat various truck food.

9) Food full of bugs, on purpose! This was at a nice restaurant that featured "down south" food. Crickets were on the menu, so i tired them. They were crunchy and delicious!

10) If you decided to organize a fair, wouldn't the perfect place for the Ferris wheel  be right NEXT TO A MORTUARY? Oh, yeah, that's a great idea!

this was, by the way, right in our neighborhood!