A few big earthquakes hit the California coastline today, sending shocks into Baja, San Diego, Phoenix and Mexico. The series of four peaked at a magnitude of 6.9, though no major damage has been reported yet (probably because they originated off the coast). It's always a scary thing when the planet's plates decide to shift, but it's good to hear everybody appears to be okay.
If there's one band that lives and dies by the fortunes of southern California, it's the Red Hot Chili Peppers. The band — who recently announced that they would be getting back together in October after a two year hiatus — got its start in the greater Los Angeles punk scene and have since become a massive worldwide phenomenon. But even as they became one of the biggest bands in the world, their hearts never really left the city that gave them their start. A number of RHCP songs cite specific details and areas of L.A. (most notably "Under the Bridge"), but the triology of tunes they wrote about the character "Dani California" (spread over three albums) seem to capture the energy and feel of what it's like to live in the SoCal sprawl. The Peppers even gave rise to the term "Californication." They didn't invent it, but they certainly gave it meaning. The word — as well as the accompanying song and video — captures both the highs and the lows of Los Angeles better than any modern rock song. So as a tribute to anybody in SoCal who may have been freaked out by today's quakes, here's something to soothe.