CSI Miami – IAMNOTASTALKER

August 27, 2014February 23, 2015

The Water Garden from “A to Z”

During my recent viewing of A to Z’s digital preview (which you can watch here – I’ve now seen it twice!), I recognized a location featured in it – The Water Garden in Santa Monica. The Grim Cheaper used to live close to the office complex and I had driven by it countless times over the years. I had never ventured onto the property for a closer look, though, so I decided to amend that while in the area last week. And I was shocked at what I discovered!

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While the exterior of The Water Garden (pictured below) is pretty, the interior grounds, which are not visible from the street, are absolutely breathtaking! I cannot even imagine having an office there! What an idyllic place to work!

The Water Garden complex is much larger than it appears to be from the street. The 17-acre property, which takes up an entire city block, is comprised of eight buildings (six 6-story structures and two 5-story structures) that total a whopping 1.27-million square feet of office space.

The eight buildings surround a massive waterway that meanders throughout the grounds, complete with geysers, fountains and bridges. Like I said, it is breathtaking.

The complex also features lush landscaping with rambling, trellised pathways that make the property look more like a public park than an office facility. What I wouldn’t give to work there!

On A to Z, The Water Garden is where both Andrew (Ben Feldman) and Zelda (Cristin Milioti) work – Ben at a matchmaking company named Wallflower and Zelda at a law firm.

The complex was used extensively throughout the pilot episode.

Some of The Water Garden’s interior space was also utilized in the pilot – as both the interior of the Wallflower offices . . .

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. . . and Zelda’s law firm. I am guessing that will not be a regular practice, though, and that a set of both office interiors will be built on a soundstage for all subsequent filming.

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The Water Garden also made an appearance in the Season 3 episode of CSI: Miami titled “Recoil,” in which it stood in for the Biscayne Courthouse where Horatio Caine (David Caruso) and the gang investigated a shooting.

Oddly, while an image of The Water Garden was used in an establishing shot of the Biscayne Courthouse in the Season 6 episode of CSI: Miami titled “Inside Out” . . .

. . . actual filming took place elsewhere.

The Water Garden also served as the San Francisco headquarters of Gryzzl in the Season 6 episode of Parks and Recreation titled “Moving Up.”

For more stalking fun, be sure to follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Los Angeles magazine online. And you can check out my other blog, The Well-Heeled Diabetic, here.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: The Water Garden, from A to Z, is located at 1620 26th Street in Santa Monica.

February 23, 2012February 22, 2012

The Milbank Mansion – aka Chapman Academy Preschool from “Daddy Day Care”

A couple of weeks ago, Tony, my friend and fellow stalker who has the fabulous On Location in Los Angeles Flickr photostream (seriously, it’s amazing – go check it out!), asked me for some help in tracking down the ginormous Mediterranean mansion that stood in for the prestigious Chapman Academy Preschool in the 2003 comedy Daddy Day Care. Tony had informed me that the residence was used regularly for filming and that it had also been featured recently in the Season 10 episode of fave show CSI: Miami titled “By the Book”. So I started doing some research on oft-filmed-at Mediterranean estates in Los Angeles and, amazingly, fairly quickly came across a photograph of a gorgeous Country Club Park property named the Milbank Mansion that, sure enough, was the right spot. So, while Mike, from MovieShotsLA, and I were out doing some stalking in the area this past Monday morning, we stopped by the place. And I have to say that it is pretty darn incredible in person! Not to mention pretty darn huge!

The Milbank Mansion was originally built in 1913 for prominent local businessman Isaac Milbank and his wife, Virginia. The 12-bedroom, 5-bath, 10,059-square-foot home, which sits on 1.79 acres of land, was designed by G. Laurence Stimson, the very same architect who also gave us the legendary Wrigley Mansion, now the Tournament of Roses House, in Pasadena. The estate is located in the heart of Country Club Park – a historic 250-acre neighborhood situated on the site of the original Los Angeles Country Club, which closed its doors in 1905. The area was developed and subdivided by none other than Isaac Milbank himself, along with a business partner named George Chase, beginning in 1906. The Milbank Mansion, which, according to a June 1988 Los Angeles Times article, is “considered to be the most substantial surviving estate built for a single family in the city of Los Angeles before World War I”, became a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument on December 13, 1989. You can see some interior photographs of the property here.

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In Daddy Day Care, both the exterior . . .

. . . and the interior of the Milbank Mansion were used as the Chapman Academy Preschool.

In the Season 10 Halloween-themed episode of CSI: Miami titled “By the Book”, the mansion stood in for the island estate where a female body that had been entirely drained of blood was found hanging upside down.

The interior of the estate was also used in the episode.

In the 1929 silent film Wrong Again, the exterior of the Milbank Mansion was used as the residence where stable hands Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy mistakenly returned a horse named “Blue Boy” thinking they would be able to collect on some reward money being offered for a missing painting also known as “Blue Boy”.

In the 1975 film noir Farewell, My Lovely, both the interior and the exterior of the Milbank Mansion stood in for the brothel belonging to “L.A.’s famous madam” Francis Amthor (Kate Murtagh). Of the estate, detective Phillip Marlowe (Robert Mitchum) says, “It was an old house, built as they once built them and don’t build them anymore. Fitting and proper for housing the world’s oldest profession.”

In 2006’s Running with Scissors, the interior of the mansion stood in for the home where Dr. Finch (Brian Cox) lived with his crazy family – wife Agnes (Jill Clayburgh) and daughters Hope (Gwyneth Paltrow) and Natalie (Evan Rachel Wood). The property was dressed rather heavily for the production, though, and is virtually unrecognizable onscreen.

As you can see above, for the exterior of Dr. Finch’s mansion a different location was used.

The Milbank Mansion was also supposedly featured in Harold Lloyd’s 1922 silent film Dr. Jack, the 1971 movie Hit Man, and the reality series Beauty and the Geek, but unfortunately I could not find copies of any of those productions to verify that information. And while several websites have stated that the property also appeared in the 2001 biopic Ali, I scanned through the movie yesterday while making screen captures for this post and did not see it anywhere.

Big THANK YOU to fellow stalker Tony for asking me to find this location! You can check out Tony’s FANTASTIC On Location in Los Angeles Flickr photostream here.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: The Milbank Mansion, aka the Chapman Academy Preschool from Daddy Day Care, is located at 3340 Country Club Drive in the Country Club Park section of Los Angeles.

February 2, 2012February 1, 2012

La Villa Consolata – The Day Spa from the “Driven” Episode of “CSI: Miami”

Back in January, a fellow stalker named Brandi left a comment on my post about the mansion from The Beverly Hillbillies movie informing me that the property’s indoor spa had not actually been used in the Season 4 episode of CSI: Miami titled “Driven”, as I had originally presumed, but that that spa could actually be found at a different ostentatious estate, this one on Mapleton Drive in Beverly Hills. One quick online search and I discovered that Brandi was, indeed, correct and I immediately added the residence to my “To-Stalk” list. As fate would have it, just a few days later, the Grim Cheaper and I happened to be watching the 2001 romantic comedy Good Advice (for about the hundredth time, mind you – it is one of our favorite movies EVER!) and I just about fell off the couch when I spotted the very same spa from CSI: Miami! So I decided that I just HAD to stalk the estate as soon as possible and dragged the GC right on out there this past Saturday afternoon.

As you can see above, in real life, the “Driven” mansion is absolutely GINORMOUS and actually looks more like a palace than a private residence. In fact, according to the Wikinfo website, the property is one of the largest single family homes in all of the United States! Ironically enough, while we were stalking the dwelling, a Hollywood tour van happened to pull up and the guide announced that the estate had once been leased by Donatella Versace, to which the GC yelled out, “It was also featured in an episode of CSI: Miami!” Thanks for having my back, honey! Smile And while I cannot find any information online to back up the Donatella Versace claim, it does look like exactly the sort of place that I would imagine her living. There are also a few internet reports floating around that the home was lived in (at different times, of course) by both Janet Jackson and Tommy Hilfiger, but I believe that information is incorrect. According to CurbedLA, the residence was originally built in 1993 by Pacific-Brokerage-Services-founder Steven Wallace and was awarded to his ex-wife, Jo-Anne, in their divorce shortly thereafter. Current property records show that Jo-Anne still owns the mansion to this day, although it is possible she rented it out to various celebrities over the years.

As you can see in the above photographs from the home’s MLS listing, the 6-bedroom, 7-bath, 27,816-square-foot abode, which sits on 1.15 well-manicured acres of land, is nothing short of unbelievable! The property, dubbed “La Villa Consolata”, features a whopping eight fireplaces!, a domed entryway, a gourmet kitchen, formal gardens, a gym, an indoor and an outdoor pool, a massage room, a game room, a two-level library (which I would give anything to have in my own home!), a master bedroom wing, three elevators!, staff quarters, three family rooms, a detached theater, a guard house, a wine cellar, and a three-level underground disco named “Atlantis”! Who knew that those kinds of amenities were even available in homes?!?! And while the residence has been on and off the market for a couple of years now, it seems to currently be back on again at the bargain price of $27.5 million. You can check out the dwelling’s real estate website and see more photographs of it in all of its ornate grandeur here.

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In the “Driven” episode of CSI: Miami, La Villa Consolata stood in for a supposed Dade-County-area day spa where a group of wealthy women are robbed at gunpoint.

The mansion’s indoor lap pool was used extensively in the episode.

That pool area is pictured above and I have to say that it is pretty darn magnificent!

The interior of La Villa Consolata also masqueraded as a second location in “Driven”. Towards the end of the episode, the mansion stood in for the residence belonging to Cynthia Gilmore (Jacqueline Pinol), where a home-invasion robbery took place.

In Good Advice, La Villa Consolata’s indoor pool is where Cathy Sherman (Rosanna Arquette) attends a yoga class and gets interrupted by a phone call from her husband, Barry Sherman (Jon Lovitz). I SO love that Cathy has a coffee with her while practicing yoga, by the way! SO something I would do! Smile

In the Season 1 episode of Charmed titled “The Wedding from Hell”, La Villa Consolata’s front exterior;

interior;

and backyard stood in for the mansion where Mrs. Grace Spencer (Barbara Stock) lived.

Oddly enough, though, the mansion grounds shown in the beginning of the episode are unmistakably those of The Huntington Library and Botanical Gardens in San Marino, which I blogged about way back in October of 2008. I have no idea why two different locations would be used to stand in for the same backyard, but I am guessing that it was some sort of a timing issue in which La Villa Consolata was not available for the entire stretch of time that was needed to film “The Wedding from Hell”, so producers found a similar-looking spot to double for it in certain scenes.

Big THANK YOU to fellow stalker Brandi for finding this location! Smile

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: La Villa Consolata, aka the mansion from Good Advice, the “Driven” episode of CSI: Miami and “The Wedding from Hell” episode of Charmed, is located at 330 South Mapleton Drive in the Holmby Hills section of Los Angeles. The home used for all of the backyard scenes in Mommie Dearest is located across the street at 355 South Mapleton Drive.

June 10, 2011June 14, 2011

The Figueroa Hotel from “90210”

A couple of years ago, while perusing through an issue of AAA’s Westways Magazine, I spotted an article about Southern California’s nicest most reasonably –priced hotels and, because I was dating the Grim Cheaper at the time, I figured I’d best read through it. Of the ten properties featured in the column, the Moroccan-themed Figueroa Hotel in Downtown Los Angeles immediately caught my eye and I dragged the GC right on over there to grab a cocktail just a few nights later. The two of us pretty much fell in love with the place’s unique architecture and exotic décor on sight and have returned there a couple of times over the years to grab a drink or just hang out. So imagine my surprise when the Fig, as it is commonly referred to, popped up on fave show 90210 as the Cabo San Lucas resort where Liam Court (aka cutie Matt Lanter – sigh!), Annie Wilson (aka Shenae Grimes), and the rest of the West Beverly gang spent their Spring Break in the recently-aired Season 3 episode titled “The Enchanted Donkey”. Because I had not taken many pictures of the hotel during our past visits, I immediately added the place to my Re-Stalk list and dragged the GC right on back over there this past weekend.

The Figueroa Hotel, which was designed by Stanton, Reed, & Hibbard at a cost of $1.25 million, was originally built in 1925 by the YWCA as a hotel/residence for businesswomen and their families. Shortly following the Great Depression, the 12-story, 409-room structure was turned into a public hotel and it later served a brief stint as housing for troops during World War II. The property fell into disrepair in the years following, until the late 1990s when it was purchased by Uno Thimansson, who immediately set about renovating the place, giving it a Moroccan theme. And, let me tell you, he did an incredible job. Walking through the hotel’s front doors, one is quickly transported from the busy streets of Downtown L.A. into a Casablanca-esque oasis. Every time I am there, I half expect to see Sam tickling the ivories while Bogie puffs away on a cigarette somewhere nearby. True to Westways Magazine’s word, despite the hotel’s fabulous ambiance and location directly across the street from Staples Center and L.A. Live, it still boasts extremely reasonable room rates. And while the reviews on Trip Advisor and Yelp are quite mixed, in this stalker’s never-to-be-humble opinion, the Figueroa looks like an extremely cool place to vacation. Not to mention that the poolside bar is something of a celebrity hotspot, with everyone from Keanu Reeves to members of Depeche Mode dropping by for a cocktail throughout the years.

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The Figueroa Hotel was used quite extensively in “The Enchanted Donkey” episode of 90210 in which it masqueraded as the “Hotel Burro Encantado” (aka the Enchanted Donkey Resort) in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. Areas of the hotel which appeared in the episode include the main entrance;

the poolside bar, where Teddy Montgomery (aka Trevor Donovan) met up for drinks with former schoolmate Tripp Wallison (aka Alan Ritchson);

and the pool area . . .

. . . behind which producers had an image of the Cabo San Lucas skyline superimposed. In reality, the Figueroa Hotel pool boasts views of several massive Downtown L.A. skyscrapers. I was literally cracking up taking the above photograph while envisioning the way the pool appeared on 90210. Winking smile

And while I had assumed that one of the hotel’s real life hallways had been used in the episode, the GC and I ventured upstairs to take a look at one and, as you can see above, it does not at all match up to what appeared onscreen. It seems that producers built a fake hallway set for the filming.

I had also assumed that some of the Figueroa’s actual rooms had been used in the episode, as well, but as you can see on the hotel’s website, that does not seem to be the case.

The super-nice front desk clerk also informed us that the Figueroa’s lobby restaurant, the Fig Street Café, stood in for a supposed Cuba-area eatery in the Season 7 episode of fave show CSI: Miami titled “The Deluca Motel”.

The hotel was also featured in the Season 4 episode of Chuck titled “Church Versus the Seduction Impossible” as the Marrakesh, Morocco-area hotel where Chuck Bartowski (aka Zachary Levi), Colonel John Casey (aka Adam Baldwin), and Sarah Walker (aka Yvonne Strahovski) were sent to rescue Roan Montgomery (aka John Larroquette).

In the Season 2 episode of Make It or Break It titled “Worlds Apart”, the Fig stood in for the Rio de Janeiro-area hotel where Kaylie Cruz (aka Josie Loren) and the rest of her teammates stayed during the World Gymnastics Championships.

In the Season 2 episode of NCIS: Los Angeles titled “Harm’s Way”, the Figueroa stood in for the Blue Oasis Hotel in Sana’a, Yemen, where Sam Hanna (aka LL Cool J) and G. Callen (aka Chris O’Donnell) stayed while trying to capture the leader of a terrorist group.

One of the hotel’s real life rooms – one that the GC, randomly enough, just so happened to snap a photograph of – also appeared in the episode.

I find it highly ironic that NCIS: Los Angeles filmed at the Figueroa as I have always thought that the hotel’s lobby bears a striking resemblance to the NCIS headquarters on the series.

Some filming of the yet-to-be-released James Cameron flick Battleship, which stars Liam Neeson, Alexander Skarsgard, and Brooklyn Decker, also took place at the Figueroa Hotel this past February.

And on a Matt Lanter side-note – a couple of weeks ago the cutie actor tweeted that he was going to be featured on the cover of the June 2011 issue of Metro Magazine. Well, I took one look at that tweet and ran right over to Vroman’s Bookstore to purchase a copy. Sadly though, Allen, the man who runs the Vroman’s newsstand (and yes, I know his name because I shop there FAR too often) told me that not only did the store not carry Metro Magazine, but it was apparently not even available from their distributors. So I marched on home and started searching for the publication online, but came up completely empty-handed. I could not find it anywhere and I am a pretty good Googler! Over the past few weeks I have also visited several newsstands and bookstores in search of the mag, but no one, it seemed, had ever even heard of it. Flash forward to last night when the GC came home from work with the above pictured laminated photograph in his hands. My birthday is today and he has been gifting me with little presents every night this week. Last night’s present, as it so happens, was a copy of Matt Lanter’s issue of Metro Magazine. As it turns out, Metro is published in the Philippines and not only was the GC able to figure that out, but he somehow managed to track down a man in the Philippines via eBay whom he had go purchase a copy for him! It is currently being shipped to me and I absolutely cannot wait to get my hands on it! When the man heard why the GC had gone to such trouble to purchase the magazine, he said that he had inspired him to be a better husband. How cute is that???? Best.present.ever! Thank you, GC!

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: The Figueroa Hotel, from “The Enchanted Donkey” episode of 90210, is located at 939 South Figueroa Street in Downtown Los Angeles. You can visit the Figueroa’s official website here.

December 1, 2010March 9, 2018

Our Wedding Photographer – Rob Greer

Deciding the order in which to publish the various blog posts that I am planning to write about the different movie/filming location elements of my wedding has proved to be a bit of a challenge for me. Today’s entry was originally going to be about our invitations, but then I realized that I can’t very well write about them without first blogging about our wedding photographer, as he took the photograph that wound up serving as the inspiration for those invitations. So, while it may seem as if I am doing things a bit out of order, please bear with me, as I promise there is a method to my madness. Anyway, I have always been someone who has believed in the notion of fate, that things happen for a reason, that there are invisible strings in the universe that tie random people together for very significant, if sometimes unknown, purposes. And the way we found our wedding photographer definitely upheld that belief. Back in early 2009, I was doing some cyber-stalking of fave show CSI: Miami when I came across this blog post written by Rob Greer, a photographer who was lucky enough to have had the Season 7 episode of the show titled “Smoke Gets in Your CSI’s” film in his photography studio. Because that particular episode was one of my very favorites of the entire series, I just about had a heart attack upon reading his post and immediately dragged the Grim Cheaper out to stalk the studio where filming had taken place. Well, amazingly enough, Rob happened to find the post I that I ended up writing about his studio and must have enjoyed it, because he continued to check in and read my blog from time to time. So, a few months later, when I announced that the Grim Cheaper had finally proposed, Rob posted a comment on my site asking if we would consider him as our wedding photographer. Well, I was absolutely FLOORED over that comment and immediately called him up to make an appointment.

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Our meeting with Rob took place inside the studio where CSI: Miami had been filmed, so, as you can imagine, I was in absolute heaven! And not only did he take us on a tour of the space and show us exactly where filming had taken place, but he also played parts of the episode for us on his television so that we could see exactly what had appeared on the show. So incredibly cool!! Well, right then and there I became convinced that he was the photographer for us. Not only were his wedding pictures phenomenal, but my parents and I ended up just really hitting it off with him. And incredibly enough, so did the Grim Cheaper! In typical GC fashion, he had originally been appalled at the idea of hiring a wedding photographer and had suggested that we just have my father take pictures that day. I’m not kidding! But once he met Rob and saw his work, his mind immediately changed. At that time, the GC had just become interested in photography and Rob was kind enough to show him all of his various high-end lenses, teach him some camera tricks, and even gift him with a certificate for a free photography class! Most importantly, though, for whatever reason, the GC just felt comfortable with Rob. He typically does not like to have his photograph taken, but when Rob was behind the camera he really loosened up. Rob’s rates were also reasonable, which only added to the GC’s appreciation of him. So, without so much as even perusing through another wedding photographer’s website, we hired Rob on the spot. And I am so glad we did! His photographs turned out phenomenal! And one of the engagement session pictures that he took wound up serving as the inspiration for our save-the-date cards, our invitations, and our programs. But more on that tomorrow!

In the “Smoke Gets in Your CSI’s” episode of CSI: Miami, Rob’s studio stood in for the loft/black-market organ transplant operating room belonging to Dr. Donald Phelps (aka Peter Lavin). Both the exterior . . .

. . . and the interior of the property were used in the filming, although the interior was dressed to appear very dark and dreary in the episode.

In reality, the 4,635-square foot loft is BEAUTIFUL, although my photographs don’t really do it justice. You can see some much better pictures that Rob took of his studio here. At the time of the filming, Rob actually lived in the loft, but has since moved to a house in Pasadena. Besides CSI: Miami, three AT&T commercials were also filmed in the space.

I will be posting many of Rob’s photographs throughout the next few weeks as I blog about the wedding, but for today I thought I’d publish one of my favorites from that day – the one in which we recreated the famous Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston wedding photograph. And while Rob wasn’t actually too keen on taking the above picture of us (he didn’t want people who saw it to think he was a copy-cat artist), he really worked hard to make sure it turned out exactly as I wanted, even going so far as to print out a copy of the Brad and Jen picture to bring with him on the day of the wedding and then tweaking my veil to make sure it went over my shoulder just like hers did in the photograph. Love it!

Our wedding was actually quite a bit frustrating for Rob because he typically prefers to take all of the bride and groom and wedding party photographs prior to the ceremony, but I was adamant about not seeing the GC on our wedding day until I walked down the aisle. Call me old-fashioned, but I think that moment of first seeing each other at opposite ends of the aisle is a magical one and I wasn’t going to give it up for anything. Because I wanted to wait, though, our “posed” photography time was limited to the cocktail hour (which in reality was only set to last 45 minutes) and Rob had concerns that, when all was said and done, I would be unhappy over the fact that there quite possibly would not be enough photographs taken of the event. He was also concerned that, due to the time constraint, he would not be able to produce the same caliber of pictures that he is typically known for. For me, though, it was far more important to have the memory of seeing my husband for the first time as I walked down that aisle than to have fabulous photographs of my wedding day, so Rob agreed to wait to take the posed pictures until after the ceremony. And, as it turned out, he really needn’t have worried. Not only do we now have more photographs of that day then we know what to do with, but they are literally ALL fabulous. Shortly after the wedding, Rob asked the GC and me to pick out our 60 favorite images to put in the album that was included in our photography package, but today, over three months later, we still cannot narrow down our favorites to a mere 60! I’m not kidding! The GC and I keep trying to go through the images, but we absolutely CANNOT decide. We love all 750 of them! But, trust me, that is a good problem to have! And I am SO incredibly glad that I waited and did not see the GC before the ceremony. The above photograph was taken of him just as I began my walk down the aisle and the look in his eyes is absolutely priceless. Not only is that look a memory that I will carry with me for the rest of my life, but Rob also magically managed to capture it on film, so I pretty much got the best of both worlds. Thank you, Rob! You can see the entire gallery of the photographs Rob took of our wedding on his website here.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: You can visit Rob Greer’s wedding photography website here. His former studio is located at 678 South Avenue 21 in the Brewery Lofts complex in Los Angeles. The complex is a private, gated community, so please do not trespass. If you are interested in stalking the location, there are several public art walks held on the premises each year that are open to the public. You can find more information about the art walks here.

March 10, 2010March 11, 2018

On The Set of “CSI: Miami”

This past Friday, Mike, from MovieShotsLA, took the day off from work so that the two of us could do a little stalking. For whatever reason, though, for the first time ever we didn’t come up with any sort of plan or itinerary beforehand of where we were going to go or what we going to stalk. And it’s a good thing we didn’t, either, because fate stepped in and the two of us wound up stumbling upon the cast and crew of CSI: Miami filming on location in Altadena. YAY! Earlier that morning, Mike and I had stopped by my parents’ house to ask my dad to accompany us to Altadena Drive so that he could take a few pictures of us in front of Casa Walsh from Beverly Hills, 90210. I am in the process of creating a slideshow for my wedding in August and because Mike is one of my groomsmen :), I wanted to get a picture of the two of us together in front of our very favorite stalking location. Anyway, while driving to the Walsh residence we passed by a very large production crew and, of course, just had to pull over to find out what was being filmed. Amazingly enough, it turned out to be my dad’s very favorite show, CSI: Miami. I should explain here that I, too, love me some CSI: Miami. Like LOVE it, never miss an episode, was screaming in delight when Calleigh and Eric finally got together last season. But I think it’s safe to say that my love for the show greatly pales in comparison to my dad’s. As I mentioned the last time we stumbled upon the filming of the show back in January of ‘09, my father is absolutely, one hundred percent obsessed with the series – it is his favorite show of all time. CSI: Miami is his Beverly Hills, 90210. So, it goes without saying that he was ABSOLUTELY THRILLED when we stumbled upon it being filmed yet again. Anyway, as Mike, my dad, and I made our way to the set we passed by a security guard and asked him if it would be OK if we watched the filming. He not only told us to make ourselves at home (YAY!), but also pointed out the fact that Jonathan Togo, who plays Ryan Wolfe on the series, was standing about two feet in front of us. So, we immediately walked up to him and asked if he’d be willing to snap a picture. Well, let me tell you, Jonathan was SO INCREDIBLY NICE and not only posed for pics, but marched us right over to the set, introduced us to everyone, and gave us our own personal tour of the place!!!!! He literally could NOT have been more sweet, more upbeat, more friendly, or more charming and was EASILY one of the NICEST celebrities I have ever had the pleasure of meeting! I so heart Jonathan Togo! 😉 He even came over to check up on us several times while we were on the set to make sure we were having a good time. At one point I mentioned to him how I had chosen my wedding photographer based on the fact that an episode of CSI: Miami had been filmed in his studio (yes, Rob Greer, the photographer whose studio was featured in the “Smoke Gets In Your CSIs” episode of CSI: Miami is photographing our wedding!) and Jonathan laughed and said, “WOW, you guys really are fans!” 😉

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The scene that was being filmed on Friday centered around the investigation of a fire at a “Miami” area home. While we were watching the filming, I happened to comment on how realistic the fire damage was. Well, one of the crew members started laughing and told me that movie magic wasn’t responsible for the burn marks, but that the house had actually been involved in a real life fire last April! I thought he was pulling my leg at first, but as it turns out there really was a fire at the residence just about ten months ago. You can see photographs of it on fave website Altadenablog here. Apparently, the CSI: Miami location manager was in Altadena scouting homes to be used in the episode, when he spotted the charred remains of above pictured house and realized it would be perfect for the show! I mean, honestly, what are the odds of that?

The makeup in the episode was also incredibly realistic. Pictured above is one of the guest stars, whose hands were supposed to have been burned in the fire. Even close up his injuries looked incredibly real! It was unbelievable!

While we were watching the filming, my dad happened to spot actor John Beasley who played Coach Warren in one of his all time favorite movies, 1993’s Rudy. I mean, honestly, could the day have gotten any better for my dad?? John, who was guest starring in the episode being filmed, also could NOT have been nicer and happily posed for photographs with all of us. 🙂

Also on hand filming on Friday was Emily Procter, who plays Calleigh Duquesne on the show, but we unfortunately did not get a photograph with her, and actress Robin Bartlett, who played Debbie Buchman on Mad About You.

Unfortunately, David Caruso was not on the set on Friday, but one of the crew members mentioned that he would be there the following Monday and that we were welcome to come back if we wanted to. IF we wanted to???? Duh! Of course we did! So, bright and early Monday morning, I headed up to Altadena once again to do a bit more CSI: Miami stalking. 🙂

On the set on Monday was Eddie Cibrian, who is SUPER cute in person! Those dimples! Sigh!

And Eve LaRue, who remembered us from our last set visit and who, just like last time, was as sweet as could be. 🙂

And, of course, the man himself, David Caruso! My dad had actually had a bad night this past Sunday – as I’ve mentioned before, he suffers from pancreatitis – and when I went to pick him up on Monday morning to go to the set, he was still not feeling well. So, I had to venture over to the filming by myself. Before I left, though, my dad asked me to bring the photograph we took last January with Mr. Caruso to the set. The now-framed photograph is a prized possession of my dad’s and it inhabits prime real estate on his desk at home and he was hoping that Mr. Caruso would sign it for him. And I am happy to report that, much like what happened back in January, when I got to the set on Monday, David Caruso immediately walked up to me to introduce himself and shake my hand, which is such a rare occasion on a film set. In most instances, fans have to seek the stars out during breaks from filming, but on CSI: Miami, the opposite is true – the stars often walk up to the fans to introduce themselves and say hi. It is AMAZING! Anyway, I explained to DC that we had met him about a year ago and that my dad is a HUGE fan of his and asked if he’d be willing to sign the photo.

Mr. Caruso not only happily obliged, but also gave me some autographed photographs of himself, a Horatio bobble head, and the above pictured Lance Armstrong-style “Horatio” bracelet. LOVE IT! That bracelet is now prominently placed around the gearshift in my car. 🙂 Anyway, later on in the afternoon I returned to my parents’ house to see if my dad was feeling any better, which he was, so I brought him back to the set. Well, as soon as Mr. Caruso saw my dad, he walked right up and gave him a HUGE hug. From that point on, he came over to talk to us pretty much between every single take and was so incredibly nice and down to earth that it was almost unbelievable! I honestly can’t say this enough – David Caruso has got to be the NICEST guy in show business!

Jonathan Togo was also on the set on Monday and remembered me from the previous Friday. I think he thought I was a little nutso to have returned to the set to watch MORE of the filming, because at one point he walked up and said, “You HAVE to be at least a little bored! Just a little bit! Come on, admit it!” But I could honestly sit for HOURS and watch productions being filmed. The entire process and everything that goes into it – from the hundreds of crew members and extensive camera equipment . . .

. . . to the actual filming – absolutely fascinates me, especially if it’s for a show I watch regularly. I honestly can’t get enough of it!

As I mentioned last January, the entire cast and crew of CSI: Miami is fun and friendly, almost unbelievably so. Mike also said that in all his years of living in Los Angeles and of all the sets he had visited in the past, he had NEVER seen one quite like theirs. As you can see in the above pictures, there is definitely a very jovial feeling on set and you’d be hard pressed to find a time when the cast and crew is not laughing or cracking jokes with each other, even during difficult scenes. At one point yesterday, they were trying to film a scene which involved a tricky camera maneuver that just didn’t seem to be working. They had to film the scene numerous times and even through the frustration of it all, they were STILL laughing and kidding each other between takes! LOVE IT!

Both Friday and Monday were absolutely incredible days for me and my dad. I literally could not drag him away from the set yesterday, and he typically hates that sort of thing, so it was very cool for me to see him enjoying himself at a filming. Especially when he has been so sick lately. As I said after our last set visit, being with the cast and crew CSI: Miami provided him with the kind of healing that just can’t be found in a doctor’s office or a hospital building. 🙂 I honestly can’t thank them all enough. When we left the set yesterday, David Caruso said, “I hope to see you guys again the next time we are in Pasadena.” H – you can count on it! 🙂

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: CSI: Miami was filmed at 1838 East Braeburn Road in Altadena, just down the street from the Walsh’s Minnesota house from Beverly Hills, 90210, which is located at 1640 Braeburn Rd. Look for the CSI: Miami episode to air sometime in April.

January 20, 2010June 16, 2011

SpeedZone from “Guess Who”

This past New Year’s, my fiancé’s entire family – including his two school-age nephews – came to town to watch the Rose Parade. Before their arrival, he scoured the internet to find some fun places in the L.A. area to take the kids after the festivities were over. One of the ideas he came up with was to spend a few hours at SpeedZone in the City of Industry – an amusement park of sorts which features an array of kid-friendly fun such as go-kart racing, miniature golf, and a large arcade. I have to admit that I wasn’t actually too keen on the idea at first . . . until my fiancé told me that the place was an oft-used filming location, that is. And then I was 100 percent on board with the venue and even tried to convince everyone that we should skip the whole parade and just head straight there instead! 🙂

SpeedZone is best known for its four go kart courses, for which it recently won the LA Magazine “Best of Los Angeles 2009” – Best Go Kart Track award. Those four tracks include the Top Eliminator Dragster, where racers drive authentic 300 horsepower NHRA dragsters on a mini-track reaching speeds of 70 miles per hour in less than 3.5 seconds;

the Slick Trax – an ultra-slick polished surface course which encourages spinning and can accommodate up to 15 different drivers at the same time;

the Grand Prix – a long, single licensed-driver course based on Formula 1 and Indy Car tracks which features tight turns and a speed timer; and the Turbo Track (which I unfortunately did not get a picture of) – a course which can accommodate up to twenty drivers at a time racing in high-torque one- and two-seater cars. Not into go karts? Well, that’s OK, too, because SpeedZone also features an arcade which boasts over 100 games including numerous video games, air hockey tables, and, my personal favorite, skee ball machines. There are also two 18-hole golf-courses on the premises and a cafe which serves up pizza, sandwiches, burgers, and cocktails. Yes, you read that right, the SpeedZone Cafe has a full bar, because adults enjoy go kart racing, too, you know. 😉

While hanging out at SpeedZone, I raced on both the Top Eliminator Dragster course and the Grand Prix course and the Grand Prix was by far my favorite. I had an ABSOLUTE blast racing and actually thought I was burning up the course the whole way through . . .

. . . until I got to the end and noticed my pitiful time! Yes, the 75.249 time is mine. As you can see, two of the other racers noted on the board pictured above completed the race in almost half the amount of time it took me! LOL What can I say, I am cursed with having the opposite of a lead foot. But I had an absolute blast being there and cannot wait to go back . . . and hopefully improve my time! 🙂

SpeedZone’s most memorable cinematic appearance was in the 2005 comedy Guess Who in the scene in which overprotective father Percy Jones (aka Bernie Mac) challenges his future son-in-law Simon Green (aka Ashton Kutcher) to a little drag race on the Grand Prix track. The two get into a bit of a scuffle during the race and wind up veering off the track, through a large hedge, and straight into oncoming traffic.

Contrary to what was shown in Guess Who, though, SpeedZone does not allow two people to race on the Grand Prix track at the same time. And don’t go looking for the archway pictured above, which Bernie and Ashton drive under in the movie, either, because I could not find it anywhere, which leads me to believe that it was either a prop brought in for the filming or that it used to be a real feature of the track that was removed sometime after filming took place.

SpeedZone also stood in for Zany Town, the Chuck E. Cheese style arcade featured in the ultra-depressing Season One episode of CSI: Miami entitled “Broken”. The episode was actually filmed almost in its entirety on the SpeedZone premises.

The park’s golf area was also used in “Broken”, as the “Sir Golf-A-Lot” miniature golf course, where H and the gang finally apprehended the bad guy at the end of the episode.

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SpeedZone has also been featured in the reality shows Blind Date, Amish in the City, Average Joe, Who Wants To Marry My Dad, and Dismissed, on the game show Jeopardy, and it is set to appear in an upcoming episode of the new Melrose Place. While I was stalking SpeedZone, I just had to ask one of the employees which celebrities had visited the theme park over the years and I just about died when he told me that Jennifer Aniston had been there! Love it! I was even wearing my Team Aniston sweatshirt at the time. 🙂 Courteney Cox and David Arquette have also raced cars at the park.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: SpeedZone is located at 17871 Castleton Street in the City of Industry. You can visit their website here. Guess Who was filmed on the Grand Prix track and CSI: Miami was filmed in the Electric Alley arcade and on the Speedway miniature golf course.

May 28, 2009August 12, 2009

The Taken Mansion

This past weekend, my fiance and I rented the movie Taken – which was phenomenal, by the way!!!! – and I immediately recognized a home featured in it that was originally used in a Season One episode of fave show Beverly Hills, 90210. I have been dying to stalk the home for the past few years, but, unfortunately, it is located inside of a gated community and I haven’t been able to get past the guards. Yet!!! 🙂 But that’s why God created real estate websites – which is where I got the above photo. 🙂 The home, which was built in 1915 and is located inside of the exclusive Fremont Place complex in Hancock Park, has been featured in DOZENS of productions over the years. It has five bedrooms, four and a half bathrooms, boasts 8,240 square feet, and sits on almost two acres! Besides being featured on the silver screen, the home was also lived in by both Mary Pickford and Mary Miles Minter at different points in time.

In the movie Taken, the mansion stood in for the home of Liam Neeson’s ex-wife, Lenore, and her new uber-wealthy husband, Stuart. The mansion shows up several times in the movie, most notably as the site of Liam’s daughter’s birthday party.

Way back in 1990, the mansion was featured as the home of Brenda’s shoplifting pal Tiffany Morgan in the Season One episode of Beverly Hills, 90210 entitled “Every Dream Has It’s Price”. Ironically enough, though, no actual filming of Beverly Hills, 90210 took place at the home. A very brief establishing shot of the mansion was used in the episode, but all of the actual filming took place in the backyard of an Altadena home located directly across the street from Casa Walsh.

The same house also showed up in the Season 7 episode of CSI: Miami entitled “Dead on Arrival”. In the episode, the mansion was used as the setting of the fictional Bachelor-esque reality series “The Marrying Kind”.

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The mansion was also used in the Season Six episode of Cold Case entitled “November 22” as the present day home of pool shark Baltimore Red. And, as if all of that was not enough, in 2008 alone the home was featured in an infomercial, a DiGiorno pizza commercial, and episodes of Prison Break, Monk, Numbers, and the episode of The Mentalist entitled “Ladies in Red”. How cool would it be to own that place?!?!? Oh, I would be in heaven!!!! 🙂

According to The Ultimate Hollywood Tour Book, the movie War of the Roses was also filmed in the Fremont Place community, just a few houses down from the Taken mansion. But, if you compare the above screen capture to the aerial image of the property supposedly used, the two houses don’t quite seem to match. So, unless some major renovations were done to the home since the filming of War of the Roses took place, I don’t think The Ultimate Hollywood Tour Book’s information is correct. 🙁 Supposedly, the house from the Rocky movies is also located on the same street, but I haven’t been able to verify that yet. You can see photographs of some of the Fremont Place homes that have been used for filming and a really cool schedule of the 2007 and 2008 productions that filmed there here.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: The Taken mansion is located at 56 Fremont Place in Los Angeles. The supposed War of the Roses home is located just down the street at 119 Fremont Place West. Please keep in mind that both of these houses are located inside of a gated, private community and trespassing is not allowed. 🙂

May 26, 2009July 13, 2009

It’s A Wrap!

Got an email the other day from fellow stalker Heather who told me about a store in Burbank named It’s A Wrap that sells clothing, props, and memorabilia from recently wrapped movies and television shows! Being that the store sounded right up my alley, I immediately ran out to stalk it!! 🙂 It’s A Wrap has been in business selling Hollywood costumes and movie merchandise since 1981. Owner and founder Janet Dion purchases clothes and props directly from the many movie studios in the area and sells them to the public out of two retail stores – one in Burbank and one in Beverly Hills. It’s A Wrap has sold clothing from hundreds upon hundreds of productions over the last twenty-eight years, including The Flinstones, Beverly Hills, 90210!!!!, Seventh Heaven, Charmed, Drillbit Taylor, Twilight, Lipstick Jungle, Spanglish, Seven, Guiding Light, Varsity Blues, Seinfeld, Baywatch, Sabrina the Teenage Witch, and Las Vegas. Love it!!

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Not only does It’s A Wrap provide the general public access to movie items we might otherwise never have the ability to purchase, but the store also has INCREDIBLE deals!!!! I’m talking INCREDIBLE!!!! Designer dresses are usually marked down well over 50% below retail value. Yesterday, while I was stalking the place, I spotted a few super cute BCBG dresses with the original price tags still attached. The dresses, which were originally priced $298, were selling for $98!!! But, of course, not a one of them was in my size!!! Ugh! Such a bummer!

Because It’s A Wrap receives new merchandise from the local studios on a daily basis, you simply never know what treasures you are going to discover there. While I was stalking the place last week, I found clothing from Kath & Kim, Ugly Betty, General Hospital, Hancock, According to Jim, and CSI: Miami – just to name a few. But the cutest clothes, by far, had to be from the newly-released Wayans Brothers’ movie Dance Flick. I pretty much loved every single piece from that collection, which included a large assortment of tees by fave designer Michael Stars. 🙂 It’s A Wrap was also selling a HUGE array of evening gowns and cocktail dresses from the soap opera General Hospital. If I was still in high school, this would DEFINITELY be the place I’d shop for my prom dress. 🙂

The store even had a dress from Disney Studios that looked strikingly similar to Silver’s prom dress from last week’s episode of 90210. Oh, if only I had a prom to go to! 🙂

I honestly can’t recommend stalking It’s A Wrap enough. But be sure to keep in mind that even though the shop sells movie costumes, it is still a used clothing store. Don’t go in there expecting it to look like a Beverly Hills boutique. It’s A Wrap is a thrift shop, and if you don’t like that sort of thing, you won’t like this place. 🙂 Also don’t go in there expecting to find a specific costume from a specific movie or television show. While all of the clothing for sale at It’s A Wrap bears tags marking what production or what studio it came from, no reference is made to what actor or actress actually wore the item. In fact, many of the clothes for sale were most likely not worn by a lead actor, but by secondary and background actors. And some of the costumes may never even have been worn at all. At the same time, though, you simply never know what you are going to find at It’s A Wrap. A few years back, one lucky customer walked away with Brad Pitt’s shoes from the movie Seven. 🙂 Any visiting tourist who wants to take a piece of Hollywood home with them should definitely stalk It’s A Wrap! Oh, and the best part about the store? Showcased on the walls are countless costumes worn in famous movies and television shows, including items worn by Shannen Doherty, Shirley MacLaine, Sean Penn, and Demi Moore. If you do happen to stalk It’s A Wrap, be sure to keep your eyes peeled for celebs, because, amazingly enough, quite a few of them are fans of the store. Famous customers include Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen, Mario Lopez, Jennifer Love Hewitt, David Arquette, Brittany Murphy, Nicole Eggert, Drew Barrymore, Geena Davis, Sir Anthony Hopkins, and my fave Shannen Doherty. 🙂

Big THANK YOU to Amanda for telling me about It’s A Wrap! 🙂

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: It’s A Wrap has two Los Angeles area locations. The first is located at 3315 West Magnolia Boulevard in Burbank. The other can be found at 1164 South Robertson Boulevard in Beverly Hills. You can visit the It’s A Wrap website here. Another great place to purchase movie and celebrity memorabilia is the website www.starwares.com.

April 17, 2009March 11, 2018

“Smoke Gets In Your CSIs”

A few months ago while doing some cyberstalking, I came across this fabulous blog post about a photographer named Rob Greer who was lucky enough to have my fave show CSI: Miami film right in his studio. So, of course, I just had to stalk the place. 🙂 Especially since the episode which was filmed at the studio, entitled “Smoke Gets In Your CSIs”, was one of my favorite episodes from this season! In the episode, which aired in February of this year, the team investigates a physician who performs illegal organ transplant surgeries right in his own home. The episode was pretty much a thrill a minute and I was literally on the edge of my seat the whole time – especially when Eric Delko finally professed his love to Calleigh Duquesne. I have been waiting for those two to get together for YEARS! 🙂

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In “Smoke Gets In Your CSIs”, Rob Greer’s photography studio was used as the Miami home of the episode’s renegade doctor. Filming took place in both the interior and the exterior of the studio. I actually find it odd that they chose this location to stand in for a physician’s home, as neither the interior nor the exterior look much like a home at all. The place actually looks more like a warehouse than anything else. But, due to the illegal surgeries that the physician was performing in the episode, I am guessing that the producuers wanted his home to have a cold, urban, industrial feel to it. You can see some great photos of the photography studio here.

Rob Greer’s photography studio is located in the Los Angeles Brewery Arts Complex. The complex, which can best be described as a sort of compound or artists’ enclave, is an eclectic mix of buildings, warehouses, and offices. Apparently, the buildings house mostly live/work units and are available for lease to artists only – ie. graphic designers, painters, photographers. The complex is located in an industrial part of town, out in the middle of nowhere, which led me to wonder how in the heck a location scout would even find out about it. But my boyfriend said since the compound has such a unique look, it is probably used in productions all the time and therefore is well known in the scouting world. The entire area is gated and not usually open to the public, but luckily when I showed up to stalk the place it was open for an art gallery showing. 🙂 Yay! I can’t really recommend stalking the complex, though, because besides the fact that it is normally closed to the public, there also just isn’t really that much to see.

Rob Greer’s blog post about the CSI: Miami filming is a great read with tons of pictures and I highly recommend giving it a glance. According to Rob, set dressers came to his studio the day before the filming and spent quite a few hours dressing the space with living room furniture and a large chandelier so that it would look more like a home. But the following morning, when the director arrived on set, he took one look at the living room set-up and wanted it all removed! LOL Only in Hollywood! Rob Greer’s experience with the cast and crew of CSI: Miami was exactly on par with my encounter with them a few months back. He said they were incredibly nice and friendly, especially David Caruso, whom he describes as “really warm and genuine”. 🙂 I’m telling you, the CSI: Miami cast is like no other!

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: Rob Greer Photography is located at 678 South Avenue 21 in Los Angeles. Be careful not to trespass on the property, though, because, as I mentioned above, the area is not usually open to the public.