Fingerprints Record Store

A trip to Fingerprints in Belmont Shore has a few different things to offer. Sitting in front of the store is a rack of used CDs and DVDs at a cheap price. There are several rows of atrocious music, cheaply priced at $0.99. The DVD selection isn't much better, and most are priced at $3.99. However, if you're able to find a good one in the stack, you get an unbelievable bargain.



I don't recognize any of these bands. I recognize that one...Wait, they're not very good.



Overall, the setup of Fingerprints is kind of strange. The racks aren't labeled that great and they are all over the place to fit inside the limited size of the store. Many of the new CDs and DVDs are overpriced.

Hey, maybe I'll buy that one. Nevermind.

To its benefit, Fingerprints has a much better selection compared to local electronic retailers. In addition to that, the store has a large collection of new and used vinyl and some collectible items. The store has been a local staple for 18 years, hosting some pretty awesome in-store concerts and promoting independent artists.

Next month, Fingerprints will move its location to downtown Long Beach, which will allow greater storage and inventory. Hopefully, the store will try to keep its quirky independent vibe. Sure, it doesn't match the variety and fun of Amoeba, but it also saves you from driving 45 minutes or more.

Visiting the Aquarium of the Pacific

Fish exhibit at the aquarium.



A trip to the Aquarium of the Pacific isn't cheap, but there are ways around it. They give two free tickets to employees of non-profit organizations, which, if you're reading this, probably isn't you. You probably don't work, period. Maybe you have a friend who does and they will bring you.

There are other ways to get into the aquarium if you don't want to pony up $24. During the summer, they charge the price of kids' admission after 6 p.m. They have free offers throughout the year, or you can cunningly sneak in by the area where they keep the lorikeets. This part of the aquarium is kind of creepy, the birds are loud and you are in an enclosed outdoor area. I blame Alfred Hitchcock for this fear.

There are some really awesome animals exhibited by the aquarium. The most captivatingly cool creatures are jellyfish, stingrays, otters, and sharks. There is an outdoor area where you are allowed to reach in the water and pet stingrays and sharks. It might be a little intimidating but they are small, and when you look to either side, you'll see an 80-year-old woman or a 6-year-old kid reaching in, and you realize it's no big deal.

Overall, the aquarium is a pretty fun experience. If you can score discounted tickets, it's definitely worth it. A downside is the amount of people, but if you ingest some interesting substances beforehand, maybe you won't care. Plus, the animals will look cooler.

A stingray swims at the aquarium.



Jellyfish exhibit at the aquarium.



Have Friends and Family Visit

Whenever friends and family visit, people tend to get excited. There's a lot of distance between somebody that you haven't seen in a while and it's nice to spend some quality time. This makes it worthwhile to take days off from work or switch your schedule around to accomodate visits.

"I switched to the night shift tomorrow, my sister's in town and I haven't seen her in a while," said Joey Collins. "Plus, I'll probably get a free lunch out of it."

This maximizes the amount of fun you can have when family visits. When parents visit, they usually stop by at Ralphs or Vons to buy a bunch of groceries and take you out to dinner at a place more expensive than you would usually visit. In return, you let them have your bed and sleep on the couch for a few days. Deal with it, the ends justify the means.

When a relative passes through your town, they'll take you out for lunch. And when a friend comes by to party and crashes on your couch, they usually try to keep your place clean and stock your refrigerator with beer. Your house or apartment may smell funky after this, and you might be wrecked after the excessive partying, but it's cheap fun.

The next time a friend or relative says they are coming through town, invite them to stay over. You can at least get a free meal out of it.

My dad has style.

Riding the Bus is... Interesting?

Picture from LBTransit.com

Have you ever relied on public transportation? It's pretty efficient for how many people need to use it to get to work, school, or wherever they need to be. Long Beach Transit covers a lot of ground, from downtown to Belmont Shore, and beyond.

Each ride is $1.25, only 20 cents more than the cost of freedom. A day pass will cost you $4.00, and you can ride all over Long Beach. The Passport busses are free to ride the downtown area. For students with a CSULB ID card, vagrants who have stumbled across one, or deadbeats who dropped out of school eight years ago but kept their card, the bus fare is scratched during the school year.



Look at these excited bus riders.



If you have some time to kill, need an idea for a story, or just want some human interaction, hop on the bus and go for a ride. Be careful of the human interaction, though. There are a lot of weird people on the bus, so it helps to have a set of headphones with you, even if you don't have a music player. This way, you look preoccupied and cut off from the rest of society.

Some of the strange things witnessed on busses include a man with four garbage bags looking like The Fisher King, a narcoleptic man with bleached hair falling asleep on people until they move, and old men striking up conversations with women who have cuts on their wrists. Weird.