Tag: Entertainment

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Grease is the Word!

Grease has long been a favorite movie of mine, ever since I was a little girl, actually. I still have pictures of my friend Nat and I at eight years old dressed up in her mom’s wigs and 50s clothes acting out scenes from Grease in front of the TV. One of our favorite scenes to act out was Frenchy’s slumber party when Rizzo sings “Look At Me, I’m Sandra Dee”. So when fave website Seeing Stars posted the address of the slumber party house I about died and dragged my dad right out to stalk it! 🙂

I was absolutely shocked to see that the house looked exactly the same as it did in Grease, which was filmed back in 1978. In reality, the house is not actually a single family home, but a tri-plex comprised of three different apartments. In Grease, it appeared to be just one home, but if you take a close look at the house in the movie, you can see that there are actually two front doors. 🙂

In the movie, the T-Birds show up to crash the Pink Ladies’ slumber party. They drive up in Greased Lightnin’ and park in Frenchy’s driveway, which runs along the side of the house. Rizzo decides she’s “going to get her kicks while she’s still young enough to get ’em”, climbs out Frenchy’s window and shimmies down the drainpipe on the side of the house. I am happy to report that the drainpipe is still there! 🙂 Later on in the movie, Sandy sings “Hopelessly Devoted To You” in the backyard of this home.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: Frenchy’s house is located at 4524 Kingswell Drive in Hollywood, near Los Feliz. John Marshall High School, which was the high school in Boy Meets World, Growing Pains, Pretty in Pink, the movie Buffy the Vampire Slayer, among countless other productions, is located a short distance away at 3939 Tracy Street in Los Feliz.

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Virginia City Stalking!

I am currently visiting my Grandma in the Reno area and today she took me to historic Virginia City to do some sightseeing. Anytime I am in a new town, I always stop into the local visitor’s center or bookstore to ask if any movies have been filmed in the area. What’s that old saying? – Wherever you go, there you are. 🙂 Anyway, I stopped into the Mark Twain Bookstore to inquire about movie locations and the woman behind the counter told me that while Virginia City has not been used as a filming location, the movie The Misfits starring Clark Gable and Marilyn Monroe was filmed in nearby Dayton in the 1960s. She also told us that during the filming, Marilyn stayed just up the street from the bookstore at Edith Palmer’s Country Inn. So, of course, I had to drag my grandma to go stalk it. 🙂

The Inn, which was originally a private home built in 1863, was owned by Ellis Morton, a wealthy businessman, and his wife Margaret. They lived in the home and operated the Cider Factory, which was located on the property. The Cider Factory supplied the nearby area with cider and vinegar. Edith Palmer purchased the home from the Mortons in 1948 and opened an inn. Edith was an award winning chef and apparently originally opened the Inn to put up her dinner guests who didn’t feel like driving home. In 2000, a couple named Pat and Leisa Findley purchased the home and completely restored it along with adding additional homes and guest rooms. They also opened a restaurant in the former Cider Factory space.

Today you can stay in the very room Marylin stayed in. “The Marilyn Room” is a second floor room complete with a bathroom with a tub and shower. You can see photos of the room on the Inn’s website. According to the hotel website, Marilyn is quoted as saying “To Edith Palmer and her oasis in the desert and warm hospitality – may I always be a welcome guest.” Besides Marilyn Monroe, other famous guest of the Inn include Robert Goulet and Liberace.

The Misfits was sadly the last film for both Marylin Monroe and Clark Gable. Clark suffered a heart attack the day after filming was completed and passed away 11 days later. According to IMDB, on the last day of filming he reportedly said “Christ, I’m glad this picture’s finished. She [Monroe] almost damn near gave me a heart attack.” Marilyn died a year after filming was completed on The Misfits and although she did work on the movie Something’s Gotta Give, she was fired due to her erratic behavior and filming was never completed.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: Edith Palmer’s Country Inn is located at 416 South B Street in Virginia City, Nevada. Supposedly if you visit the Inn, the proprietor Leisa will take you on a tour and fill you in on the history of the Inn, but sadly she was not in when we visited. You can visit the Inn’s website here. The Mark Twain Bookstore is located at 111 South C Street, also in Virginia City.

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New York Public Library

Finally saw Sex and the City: The Movie on Sunday! I literally could not sit still in my theatre seat until the movie began I was so excited!! I must say the movie was not as good as I hoped it would be. 🙁 There were parts I absolutely LOVED and times when I felt like I was visiting with my old friends Carrie, Charlotte, Miranda and Samantha, and I for sure laughed and even cried. But overall I felt the movie missed its mark. It just lacked that SATC magic that was present in the TV show. Especially the ending. I think the Series Finale of the show which aired back in 2004 was a much more satisfying send off for my favorite foursome than the movie was. I need to curl up on my couch and watch the Finale on DVD again to make me feel better. 🙂

Anyway, in the movie Carrie and Big plan to get married (don’t worry I am not giving anything away here) at the New York Public Library, in the same building that “houses the world’s greatest love stories”. The New York Library is an absolutely beautiful building and I highly recommend a stalking visit there. The library was dedicated on May 23, 1911 and has been a popular New York tourist attraction ever since. The lobby of the Library is breathtaking with sweeping white marble staircases and vaulted ceilings. The second floor is covered in dark wood paneling with gorgeous paintings lining the walls and a huge mural covering the ceiling.

The New York Public Library was also featured prominently in the movie The Day After Tomorrow as the location where Jake Gyllenhal and his friends take refuge from the storm. It also showed up in the movies Spiderman, The Thomas Crown Affair, King Kong, and the Jen Aniston movie Picture Perfect, among many others. Update – my good friend Nat was highly dissapointed in me because I forgot to mention Breakfast at Tiffany’s, which filmed at the library! In the movie Holly Golightly and Paul run into the library, right past the Lions, and look up his book in the card catalog.

Out in front of the library are the famous marble Lions named Fortitude and Patience who have guarded the library entrance ever since its opening in 1911. Designed by Edward Clark Potter, the Lions are now the offical mascots for the NY Library and a book has even been written about them called Top Cats: The Life and Times of the New York Public Library Lions. I absolutely love the Lions and make it a point to visit them every time I am in New York.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: The New York Public Library is located at the corner of Fifth Avenue and 42nd Street. If you are visiting New York in the Summertime, be sure to hit up Bryant Park right behind the Library. Bryant Park is absolutely beautiful in the Spring and Summer and they have a great restaurant called the Bryant Park Grill Outdoor Cafe.

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My Birthday Plans Go Up In Flames

For my birthday, which is coming up in two weeks, I was planning on dragging my boyfriend on the ultimate stalking adventure – a day at Universal Studios Hollywood! The last time I was at Universal was about 20 years ago and I am just dying to go on the tram ride to see the Studio’s famous back-lot, especially the Wisteria Lane set from Desperate Housewives. But Mother Nature had other plans, I guess.

This morning, while driving in Burbank to go see Sex and the City: The Movie, my boyfriend and I were shocked to see a huge fire blazing right off the 5 Freeway. I was even more shocked – and completely and totally bummed out – when I checked the local news on my blackberry and found out that Universal Studios was on fire! How incredibly sad!!! 🙁 We pulled over to take some pictures of the fire as I had truly never seen anything like it in my life.

According to news reports, sets from Back to the Future including the Courthouse Square and the Clock Tower were damaged in the blaze. Sets from Monk, Bruce Almighty, The Changeling, and House were completely destroyed. Such a bummer!! I was happy to hear, though, that after a 1990 fire destroyed many back-lot sets (including the Back to the Future sets) Universal was able to rebuild them for future stalkers to view.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: Universal Studios is located at 100 Universal City Plaza in Universal City. Universal Studios is set to reopen tomorrow, June 1st, and according to Universal’s website the back-lot tram tour will be operational, as well. But several locations will be, of course, left out of the tour until they can be rebuilt or repaired. 🙁

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Getting Carried Away!

Break out the cosmos and the couture because today is the big day – the day Sex and the City: The Movie opens! Let me tell you, I could not be more excited!!! Hopefully I can manage to drag my boyfriend out to see it tonight, but I have yet to even broach the subject with him. Anyway, I thought I’d do a little SATC post today in honor of the big premiere.

My family’s favorite restaurant in NYC is a little place called Lumi on the Upper East Side. My parent’s discovered the place about 4 years ago while out and about in New York and it’s been a favorite ever since. So I was absolutely floored last fall when I saw some paparazzi photos of the SATC movie being filming right in front of Lumi! In December, while we were in Manhattan, we of course ate at Lumi and I asked one of the waiters for some insider SATC info. He told me he was sworn to secrecy about the details, but that SATC did indeed film at the cafe and that Mr. Big and Charlotte were in the scene. Supposedly Charlotte’s water breaks during their meal together and the two rush off to the hospital in a taxi. CANNOT WAIT!

Next time you are in NYC be sure to hit up Lumi. The food is INCREDIBLE, the service is spectacular and nothing tops their bellini’s!

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: Lumi is located at 963 Lexington Avenue, at 70th and 71st Streets. For more information, you can visit their website.

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Mansion Bel Aire

A few weeks ago, while searching for the Fresh Prince of Bel Air house, fellow stalker Kerry told me about a mansion in Glendale that she calls the “Tara House” that she thought might be the home used in Fresh Prince. So, of course I had to run right out to stalk it. It wasn’t the FP home, but I was so happy to have stalked it anyway as it is an absolutely ginormous mansion that I never would have found otherwise. Thanks, Kerry!

According to one of my fave tour books, Bel Aire, as the mansion is called, was built in 1922 by Mattison Boyd Jones, a highly successful Glendale area businessman and politician. It was since named a historic landmark and is frequently used as a filming location, most prominently as the main home in the Aaron Spelling produced TV Series Flamingo Road. Legend has it that the mansion was also used a filming location back in 1938 during the filming of Gone With the Wind, but that claim has never been substantiated.

The house is truly amazing as it looks like it belongs on a large Southern plantation, not on a normal street in Glendale among normal sized homes. The mansion sits far back from the road on what has to be at least 3 acres of sprawling lawns and gardens. I highly recommend stalking this location as it is truly one of a kind! And, it is very stalker friendly as it is not hidden behind tall gates or trees.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: “Bel Aire” is located at 727 Kenneth Road in Glendale. After stalking Bel Aire, head over to the new Americana at Brand shopping center located on Brand Boulevard. Just opened this month, it was built by Rick Caruso (no relation to David), the same man who built LA’s celebrated The Grove shopping center.

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Twain’s – The Pancake Restaurant from “A Lot Like Love”

Lately I have been obsessed with finding the Chinese food restaurant from one of my fave romantic comedies, A Lot Like Love. While I have yet to find that restaurant, I did stalk two of the others featured in the movie. Towards the middle of A Lot Like Love, Ashton Kutcher shows up at Amanda Peet’s door after just breaking up with his girlfriend, and asks her “What’s your stance on pancakes?” She replies “I’m pro pancake”, and the two head out to Twain’s Restaurant in Studio City for a late breakfast. One of my favorite scenes in the entire movie takes place at Twain’s – the scene where Amanda Peet sticks the drinking straws up her nose to make Ashton laugh. Love it! 🙂

The next restaurant I stalked is from the very beginning of the movie, which supposedly takes place in New York. When Amanda and Ashton reconnect in NYC after first meeting on an airplane, the two head to a bar in the middle of the day to do some shots and drink some beer. The restaurant where that scene was filmed, Cole’s Pacific Electric Buffet, which is actually located in Los Angeles, has the distinction of being the oldest restaurant and bar in LA. Cole’s opened in 1908 and is a City of Los Angeles Historical Landmark. It has been used in countless TV and movie productions, including Rumor Has It, where it played the San Francisco bar where Kevin Costner seduces Jen Aniston. I am dying to grab a bite to eat at Cole’s, but unfortunately the restaurant has been closed for renovations for the past two years. It is scheduled to reopen in Summer 2008 and as soon as it does, I am going to run right out and stalk it! 🙂

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: Twain’s Restaurant is located at 12905 Ventura Boulevard in Studio City. According to reviews, the pancakes truly are excellent! Cole’s Pacific Electric Cafe is located at 6th and Main in the Pacific Electric Building in Downtown Los Angeles. Cole’s is currently closed for renovations, but is scheduled to reopen this summer.

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The Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel

One of my favorite places in all of Hollywood is the historic Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, located right on Hollywood Boulevard. The Roosevelt has had a long and storied history in Hollywood and is even said to be haunted by a few of its former residents. Once you step inside the hotel’s beautiful Moorish lobby, you can almost feel the history coming right out of the walls. Built in 1927 and named after President Theodore Roosevelt, the hotel was the site of the very first Academy Awards ceremony in 1929. The Roosevelt has been a favorite getaway and hangout for celebrities ever since it’s opening. It’s guest list includes Lindsay Lohan, Clark Gable, Judy Garland, Mary Pickford, Prince, Carole Lombard, Shirley Temple, and Elizabeth Taylor, just to name a few. Marilyn Monroe, whose very first modeling shoot took place by the hotel’s pool, lived in Suite 1200 for over two years, and the hotel is still said to be haunted by her ghost.

A mirror that used to hang in Marilyn’s room is now located in the mezzanine off the main lobby next to a very cool etched picture of the star. Montgomery Clift, who was a resident of Room 928 during the filming of From Here to Eternity, is also said to haunt the hotel. Legend has it that during his stay at the hotel, Montgomery paced the hallways outside of his room rehearsing his lines. His ghost is rumored to do the exact same thing and many hotel guests have reported seeing him walking the hallways reciting lines.

Rumor also has it that Bojangles taught Shirley Temple the “staircase dance” on the stairs leading up from the lobby to the Mezzanie level. The Roosevelt was completely restored a few years back, making it once again a favorite stomping ground of celebs. The pool is a favorite hangout of many stars, including Lauren Conrad who said in an episode of The Hills that she goes to the Roosevelt pool every Sunday.

The Roosevelt has been featured in several movies and TV shows, including Crossroads, Entourage, The Fabulous Baker Boys, Moonlighting, Catch Me If You Can, Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle, Shade, and The Hills, among countless others.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: The Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel is located at 7000 Hollywood Boulevard, almost directly across from Mann’s Chinese Theatre where the stars’ hand and footprints are immortilized in cement. If you get a chance, grab a burger in the hotel’s Twenty-Five Degrees restaurant- they are excellent!!

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Daddy Day Care

While out and about with my dad this week, I decided to stalk the home used in the Eddie Murphy movie Daddy Day Care. Since my dad just retired, he has been recruited to be my new stalking side kick! I think he loves it about just as much as my boyfriend does. 🙂 Anyway, my fave stalking guide provided me with the location of Eddie Murphy’s house in the movie, so, of course, I had to run right out and stalk it.

It is an absolutely adorable home and I can totally picture a day care center being run there. The house is HUGE – a lot bigger than it appeared in the movie, but otherwise it looks just like it did onscreen. From what I remember of the movie, much of the backyard of this home was used for filming, as well. I definitely recommend stalking this location – even if you’ve never seen the movie – because the house is just that cute!!

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: The Daddy Day Care house is located at 351 N. Congress in Pasadena.

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A Cinderella Story

As I have said before, I am a total sucker for a good teeny bopper movie. I still cry every time I watch the Melissa Joan Hart movie Drive Me Crazy! LOL So, a few years back, I was absolutely esctatic to have stumbled upon the filming of the Hilary Duff movie A Cinderella Story while driving in Altadena. I stopped to watch them film for a bit and got to see Hil-D from afar while she was rehearsing some scenes. Very cool! 🙂

Anyway, the movie is about a girl who lives a real life, modern day version of the Cinderella fairy tale. It is not too hard to see why producers chose the house for the movie, as it looks straight out of a fairy tale! With its thatched roof and quaint feel, it literally looks like it was ripped right out of the pages Hansel and Gretel and placed on Calaveras Street. When the movie came out, of course, I dragged my boyfriend right out to see it. It was absolutely adorable, and I was super excited to see the house featured many times throughout the movie. 🙂

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: The Cinderella Story house is located at 1272 Calaveras Drive in Altadena, not too far from the 90210 houses.