<<<14. Amoeba Records: Has been in San Francisco for a long time, and opened its doors in LA in October of 2001. I was ambivalent when I heard the news that this indie-monolith would be coming down to LA, because while I knew it was going to have one hellacious selection of music, I also knew that its proximate location to Aron¹s would wreak havoc on the smaller but venerable shop. Having said that, I must admit that they have virtually anything one could want with respect to collectables, CDs, LPs, DVDs, VHS, etcŠetcŠetcŠ>>> I have fond memories of my trip to SF in (97?), particularly Haight Ashbury. This was when I was just really getting into the whole Audities thing and I picked up a lot of cool Aud recommended CDs in the bargain bins at Amoeba. I just plain loved the place, size and all - nothing like that in my neck of the country. And I loved the whole ambience of the street scene - the aging hippies, the punks, the cool stores and restaurants - very entertaining. And best of all, I ran into Julia Roberts (that's THE Julia Roberts) while she was browsing in a funky clothing thrift store with her then beau Benjamin Bratt. She was in sunglasses and rumpled grey sweats, with her hair and pulled back and no makeup - I'm sure she didn't want to be noticed - but who could miss that smile? So shoot me for my pedestrian tastes in actresses, but I just plain love her. I was tongue tied, speechless, star struck. What a day that was! And then there was the subsequent and amazing drive down Highway One, and my week in LA where we ran into non other than Burt Bacharach crossing the street on Rodeo (sp?) Drive... Talk about star sightings! That time I had enough nerve to say something stupid like "Hi! love your music!" and he smiled and said hello back to us as he crossed the street. I thought it was cool that he didn't snub us peasants.