Los Angeles – Page 11 – IAMNOTASTALKER

February 12, 2009February 14, 2009

Quake!

The other night while driving home from the hospital – yes, my dad is in the hospital yet again – I happened to hit a red light at the corner of Green Street and Arroyo Parkway in Pasadena. The light took a really long time to change and while waiting I just happened to gaze off to my left. What I saw almost made me run my car right off the road! LOL Just down the street from me on Green Street, I saw what looked a whole lot like the exterior of Quake Restaurant from the television series Charmed. Even though I never watched Charmed while it was on the air, I have been slightly obsessed with finding Quake’s exterior ever since some Charmed fanatics challenged me to find it this past summer. And let me tell you, it was one difficult location to find!

For Christmas Mike from MovieShotsLA bought me the entire Charmed series on DVD and I just started watching the first season last week. By scrutinizing some screen captures I could tell that the exterior of Quake was not the exterior of a real restaurant. Basically Quake’s entrance consisted of two pillars and an archway that producers spruced up a little by adding some foliage, potted plants, and a sign reading “Quake”. My best guess was that the pillars were the entrance to an apartment building or a commercial driveway of some sort. But trying to find two random pillars in L.A. proved to be quite difficult and to tell you the truth I had no idea even where to begin looking. Due to the vagueness of what was shown on TV, this is one location I had no hope of ever finding. Until Sunday night, that is!

What caught my eye as I drove by Green Street the other night were the twinkle lights covering “Quake’s” archway (pictured above). I’ve probably driven by this location about a hundred times in the past, but in the daylight I never really noticed it. At night, though, the bright twinkle lights caught my eye and triggered something in my mind. I immediately pulled off to the side of the road, snapped a few photographs, and sent them off to Mike. He called me back right away and said that the Green Street location was, indeed, Quake!!!!

It turns out that in real life the exterior of Quake is the entrance to an office building named the Pasadena Livery Building. The lit archway in front leads to a small brick courtyard located at the Livery’s entrance. While the archway and courtyard area are very cute in person, I’m sure it will be pretty disappointing for Charmed fans to find out that in real life Quake is just a nondescript office building that one could easily drive right by without even noticing. LOL I was still SUPER excited to find it, though!!

Now that I can check Quake off my must-find locations list, I can pour all of my stalking attention yet again into finding the ever elusive Girls Just Want to Have Fun apartment . LOL For some reason not even Mike, master stalker, can locate that apartment building. But like I told him the other day, if we can find two pillars and an archway that were used in the filming of a television series over 11 years ago, surely we can find the Girls Just Want To Have Fun apartment!!!! LOL

And it’s definitely true what they say – every cloud does have a silver lining. Because while my dad might have spent all week in the hospital, had I not been driving home from visiting him late at night I never would have discovered Quake. Sometimes you’ve just gotta keep your eyes open to what the universe is trying to show you. 🙂

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: The exterior of the fictional Quake restaurant is really the entrance to the Pasadena Livery Building located at 101 East Green Street in Pasadena.

January 30, 2009February 13, 2009

Pawn Shop to the Stars

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Another day, another pawn shop to write about. 🙂 Ironically, just around the corner from the now defunct Beverly Hills, 90210 pawn shop that I blogged about yesterday, is yet another local pawn shop that also has a filming history. Who knew that pawn shops were such popular filming locations?? 🙂 Angelo’s Jewelry and Loan Company, which touts itself as the “Pawn Shop to the Stars”, opened up in 1984 and has the distinction of being Santa Monica’s oldest pawn shop. Since it was around at the time, I can’t help but wonder why it wasn’t used as Dylan’s pawn shop in the “Anaconda” episode of 90210. Or why there would be two pawn shops in such close proximity to each other. Perhaps that explains why the “Anaconda” one is no longer in business. Anyway, even though the tiny shop was overlooked by 90210 location scouts, it did get featured just last year in the Owen Wilson movie Drillbit Taylor.

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In Drillbit Taylor, a group of nerdy teenage boys hire con man Owen Wilson to be their bodyguard. But instead of protecting them, Drillbit ends up robbing them blind and hawking their goods at a local pawn shop. That pawn shop was Angelo’s. And it looks exactly the same in real life as it did in the movie. According to the owner Angelo’s has also been featured in other productions over the years, but he was unable to recall which ones – which boggles my mind! LOL My guess is that Angelo’s has appeared in one or more of the L.A. based crime dramas such as Without A Trace, Cold Case, or the CSI shows.

I found this location thanks to Mike over at MovieShotsLA, but the truth is I really should have recognized it myself. For over two years I took acting classes right around the corner from Angelo’s and would pass by the shop at least three times a week on my way to grab a coffee before or after class. Every time I walked by I would laugh at the silly signs in the store windows (pictured above). So when Mike told me that my acting class pawn shop was the very same pawn shop featured in Drillbit Taylor, I had to mentally kick myself for not immediately recognizing it. And I call myself a stalker!! LOL Sometimes I really think all that blond dye goes straight to my head. LOL Thanks, Mike!

According to this article, Angelo’s claim of being the “Pawn Shop to the Stars” is actually not a joke. Apparently movie stars do stop in to Angelo’s from time to time, although the owner refuses to divulge which ones. I didn’t see any while I was there, but who knows, while stalking the place you might end up spotting a celeb or two! 🙂

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: Angelo’s Pawn Shop is located at 206 Santa Monica Boulevard in Santa Monica.

January 29, 2009February 17, 2009

Anaconda!

No, the above title does not refer to the 1997 JLo/Ice Cube action flick Anaconda (a movie I have never seen), but a Beverly Hills, 90210 episode of the same name. The other day while I was hanging out on the Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica, Mike (from MovieShotsLA) called me and asked if I wouldn’t mind stalking a nearby location for him. He was looking for the pawn shop that down-on-his-luck Dylan visited in that Second Season episode, which he could tell from the above screen capture was located somewhere on 2nd Street in Santa Monica.

While watching the pawn shop scene, Mike immediately recognized the famous Santa Monica Crocker Clock Tower in the background behind Dylan. The Crocker Clock Tower is somewhat of a landmark building in Santa Monica, most likely due to its unusual art deco style and size – it is the second tallest building in the city. The clock tower is also famous for another reason, though. On January 17, 1994, at 4:31 a.m. the Northridge Earthquake struck Los Angeles and its surrounding area. The 6.7 magnitute quake not only rocked the city, but the Crocker Clock Tower as well, stopping its hands at the precise moment the first wave struck. For over six years afterwards the clock’s hands remained frozen in time at 4:31 a.m., a constant reminder to all who viewed it of the devastating quake. In 2000, the clock was finally fixed for the meager cost of $75,000.

Using the clock tower (and the above screen capture) as his guide, Mike was able to figure out the exact location of Dylan’s pawn shop, which I am sad to say is no longer in business. Such a bummer! Currently a sound design company named RMD Entertainment occupies the space. “Anaconda” was filmed 17 years ago and in that time a lot on 2nd street has changed. While I haven’t been able to confirm it, I do believe that filming took place at an actual pawn shop that was once located in RMD’s space. Although it is also a possibility that a fake pawn shop was set up in a vacant storefront at that location strictly for the filming of the “Anaconda” episode. But I believe the former is true.

I am constantly shocked when locations Mike and I stalk look different than how they appeared onscreen. Mike is always telling me that I need to remember that these episodes were filmed almost two decades ago and that the locations where they were filmed will have changed considerably in twenty years time. But since Beverly Hills, 90210 is so frozen in time for me, I am always expecting the locations to be frozen in time, as well, and am always shocked when I find that they aren’t. LOL

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: The pawn shop featured in “Anaconda” is now RMD Entertainment which is located at 1418 2nd Street in Santa Monica. The Crocker Clock Tower building is located just around the corner at 225 Santa Monica Boulevard.

January 28, 2009February 17, 2009

Beverly Hills, 90291

A few weeks back while I was out stalking the Californication house, Mike (from MovieShotsLA) and I set out on a mission to find Kelly Taylor’s house from the new 90210 series.

I had been searching for the house for quite some time and on this particular day I called Mike at work (poor guy!) and said “We are going to find that house today!” I’m nothing if not determined! Mike and I knew the house was located in Venice from an article that appeared in Entertainment Weekly this past summer, and since I was already in the area, I realized it was now or never! I was not leaving Venice without finding that house. 🙂

Kelly’s house has appeared on 90210 quite a few times, beginning with the pilot episode. And each time it appears, a plaque with the numbers “2229” is clearly visible in the background. But neither Mike nor I could seem to find any area in Venice with house numbers in the 2200 range. We found blocks with addresses of 2100, 2300, and 2400, but for some reason 2200 was nowhere to be found. Mike had become convinced that the “2229” sign was just a prop added to the house for filming, but I held out hope. Something told me that sign was really there.

Since Google Street View does not cover the Venice area, I acted as Mike’s eyes and ears driving around Venice while he sat in front of his computer at work looking at aerial maps. LOL My boyfriend always says how amazing it is that Mike and I managed to find each other. I mean who else in their right mind would do this stuff with me?? LOL Anyway, after driving around for a while I was just about ready to give up hope. Then all of sudden, an idea struck Mike and he told me to head to Glyndon Avenue. He had remembered working once in a quaint little section of Venice and thought it might be the area where Kelly’s house was located. So, using my trusty GPS, I drove over to Glyndon Avenue and sure enough, there was the house – “2229” sign and all. See, you should always trust a woman’s intuition! 🙂

Many episodes of 90210 were filmed at the actual Venice Beach house and I also believe that some interior filming took place there, as well. This is apparent in both the pilot episode, in which fellow teacher Ryan stops by Kelly’s house, flowers in hand . . .

. . . and the episode entitled “Secrets and Lies” in which Silver’s house party gets slightly out of hand.

Kelly’s house is very cute and very picturesque in person. In fact, it is just the type of house I would expect to find a grown-up Kelly Taylor living in. Especially since she is so obviously still carrying a torch for Dylan and this house is so reminiscent of Dylan’s Craftsman style home from the original series. 🙂 I absolutely loved stalking Kelly’s house. In fact, driving around Venice that day while talking to Mike on the phone will always be one of my fondest stalking memories!

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: Kelly Taylor’s house is located at 2229 Glyndon Avenue in Venice.

November 14, 2008February 13, 2009

The Ambassador Hotel

Katharine Hepburn once said, “I have many regrets and I’m sure everyone does. The stupid things you do, you regret . . . if you have any sense.” Katharine was right. One of my biggest regrets in life is that I never got to see the Ambassador Hotel in person before it was torn down in 2005. I lived in L.A. for a good five years before demolition began on the legendary hotel and am literally kicking myself now for never taking the opportunity to see the hotel with my own two eyes. And now it is too late. Today the hotel is completely gone. It absolutely sickens me that this rare piece of Los Angeles history has vanished from our skyline. 🙁 I asked Mike, from MovieShotsLA, if he had ever visited the Ambassador while it was still standing, which of course, he had, and he sent me the above photos.

Today, the 23.7 acre property that once held one of L.A.’s finest hotels is nothing more than a construction site – the future location of three new public schools for the Los Angeles Unified School District.

The only pieces of the hotel that remain are the circular entrance,

and one wall of the legendary Cocoanut Grove nightclub – both of which are said to be incorporated into the building of the new schools.

The Ambassador opened it doors on New Year’s Day 1921. From opening day up until the late 1960s, the 500 room hotel was a home away from home for movie stars, world leaders, U.S. Presidents, and other V.I.P.’s. Such famous names as Howard Hughes, Lana Turner, Clark Gable, Carey Grant, Katharine Hepburn, President Kennedy, President Hoover, and Bob Hope all frequented the hotel at one time or another. The hotel’s Cocoanut Grove nightclub was the place to see and be seen once upon a time. Such legendary performers as Frank Sinatra, Judy Garland, Liza Minelli, Bing Crosby and Richard Pryor all performed on the Grove’s hallowed stage and the Academy Awards were held there six times. One of the Ambassador’s main claims to fame (or at least my favorite) is that it is the place where Marilyn Monroe first got her start. In 1944, the then unknown Norma Jean Baker signed with Miss Emmaline Snively’s Blue Book Modeling Agency, which was located inside the hotel. Perhap’s the Ambassador’s more well known, and much more tragic, claim to fame is that it was the location where Robert Kennedy was shot and killed in the early morning hours of June 5, 1968. Kennedy had just won California’s primary nomination for the presidency and was giving his victory speech in the hotel’s Embassy Ballroom. After the speech, he was wisked through the hotel’s kitchen on his way to the press area. Sadly, he never made it. He was instead shot to death near the kitchen’s pantry by Palestinian radical Sirhan Sirhan.

At the time of RFK’s assasination, the area surrounding the Ambassador had become infested with gangs, drugs, and crime, causing the once grand hotel to fall into a steady economic decline. Sadly, once the hotel began its slump, it was never revived. 🙁 The Ambassador’s doors were closed to the public in 1989 and the hotel was sold to Donald Trump for $64 million. The Donald, and many others, had plans to completely rennovate the hotel and restore it to its former grandeur, but sadly, that was not to be. The Ambassador sat empty for the next 16 years while its fate was decided. The Los Angeles Unified School District, in need of property to build new schools, obtained rights to the land based on imminent domain. This plan tied up the property for years, while L.A.U.S.D. fought developers, conservationists, and even lawyers for Sirhan Sirhan, who argued that the hotel’s kitchen must be kept intact so further evidence could be gathered to exonerate their client. Sadly, the developers and the conservationists lost the battle and in September of 2005, L.A.U.S.D. began its demolition of the Ambassador. The last remaining piece of the Ambassador was knocked down on January 16, 2006 – almost 85 years to the day of the hotel’s grand opening. It sickens me that this was allowed to happen.

During the years when the Ambassador was closed and a battle was being fought over her future, Hollywood moved in and started filming! The 500 room hotel provided producers with the perfect locale to shoot movies – a vacant, already-built hotel set with plenty of parking for film trucks. The Ambassador has been featured in so many movies that it is virtually impossible to even try to mention them all. A short list of examples: That Thing You Do (where it played itself), Crossroads (where it stood in for all of the hotel room scenes), The Graduate (it was the hotel where Dustin Hoffman carried on his illicit affair with Anne Bancroft), Catch Me If You Can, The Mask (where it stood in for the Coco Bongo Nightclub), Bobby, The Fabulous Baker Boys, Pretty Woman (the main ballroom was used for the scene where Hector Alizondo teaches Julia Roberts about table manners and the scene where Richard Gere plays the piano), Forest Gump (it was featured as the bar where Jenny plays the guitar naked onstage), Romy and Michelle’s High School Reunion (it was the reunion locale), Apollo 13 (two hotel rooms stood in for Gary Sinese and Kevin Bacon’s apartments), L.A. Story (it stood in for the fictional L’Idiot restaurant), and The Wedding Singer – among literally countless others! So even though the Ambassador is now gone, she will be forever preserved on the silver screen thanks to the magic of the movies.

Here is a great website devoted to the hotel. Here is a great article written by one of the last men to ever photograph the hotel, Whit Wagner. I absolutely love the title. 🙂 And here is a link to some of the photographs he took that day. Here are some more great photos of the interior. And finally, here is a great blog about the hotel’s demolition.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: The site where the Ambassador Hotel once stood is located at 3400 Wilshire Boulevard in Los Angeles.

October 13, 2008September 29, 2017

Ray’s Pumpkins

Last week, thanks to Mike over at MovieShotsLA, I was able to stalk the pumpkin patch that was owned by Ray Pruit’s family on the original Beverly Hills, 90210. I was shocked when Mike told me that the property where filming took place is the location of an actual pumpkin patch in real life. I had been convinced that producers just dressed an empty lot for the filming of 90210, but in reality they rented out a real pumpkin patch that has occupied the same corner in Sherman Oaks for over fifteen years.

When I drove up to the patch I just about keeled over with excitement as there was a large sign out front which read “Ray’s Pumpkins”. I naively thought the owner named the patch after Ray Pruit because of the filming that took place there, but it turns out that the actual owner’s name is Ray! How cool is that!

Ray really could not have been nicer and spoke to me about the filming of 90210 for a good 15 minutes. He said that everyone on the cast and crew was very nice and very professional. Even though the pumpkin patch scene lasted only about four minutes and was shown in only one episode (the Season 5 episode entitled “Homecoming”), the filming took a full two days to complete. Ray told me that during the filming, some construction was being done on an apartment building located across the street from the patch. At one point the construction noise got too loud, so the producers of 90210 actually paid to have all construction shut down for the remainder of the shoot! LOL The cast and crew of 90210 returned to Ray’s later that same year and the real Ray’s Christmas tree lot stood in for the one owned by the Pruit Family in a Christmas episode of the show. Ray said there is always some sort of filming taking place at the patch. He couldn’t remember all of the productions that had filmed there, but he did say that Dancing With The Stars featured the patch in a brief segment last year.

Ray’s Pumpkin’s is a very cool pumpkin patch and I highly recommend stalking it. There are hundreds upon hundreds of pumpkins to choose from and tons of cute Halloween merchandise and decorations for sale. Ray told me that he also gets quite a few Valley celebs visiting his patch each year, so you just might get to rub elbows with the stars while pumpkin shopping. 🙂 Unfortunately I visited Ray’s after it was already dark outside, so my pics didn’t turn out very well and don’t really do the patch justice. But a BIG THANK YOU to Mike for providing the top pic. 🙂

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: Ray’s Pumpkins is located at the corner of Hazeltine Avenue and Moorpark Street in Sherman Oaks. Ray also owns the Peterson Ranch Fruit Stand located at 3402 Los Angeles Avenue in Somis, CA. The fruit stand is also a frequent filming location. It is most often used in commercials and was featured recently in a car ad.

August 27, 2008March 20, 2009

Charmed Challenge!

Got a challenge from Jenna a few weeks back to find a whole bunch of Charmed locations, one of which being the “San Francisco” city street featured in both the Season 7 episode “The Bare Witch Project” and the Season 8 episode “Still Charmed and Kicking”. In “The Bare With Project” (pictured above), the street is featured twice. In the opening scene of that episode, Phoebe and Piper are shown eating lunch at an outdoor corner cafe located on a public street. In the scene Piper is breastfeeding and is asked to leave by the restaurant manager. In the closing scene of that episode, Phoebe rides a horse naked – a la Lady Godiva – down the same street to protest against the restaurant for mistreating her sister.

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In the “Still Charmed and Kicking” episode (pictured above), that same street shows up yet again as the spot where Phoebe and Piper do some serious shoe shopping after faking their own deaths.

Well, Jenna, I have good news and I have bad news. If you’re like me, you prefer the bad news first, so here goes. The bad news is that the street the sisters walked along is not a real street – it is actually part of the Paramount Studios backlot in Hollywood. While doing some online Charmed research to try to figure out where this street was located, I found out that after the sixth season of the series, production moved from its small Canoga Park studio to Hollywood mega-lot Paramount Studios. After carefully watching both episodes, something about the “street” didn’t seem realistic to me. If you look closely at both episodes, everything seems just a bit smaller than it should be – much like Wisteria Lane from Desperate Housewives. The streets are a bit too narrow, the sidewalks a bit too skinny, the buildings a little too short – all causing me to realize that a back lot, not a real city street, must have been used for the filming. If you look in the background of the above screen capture, a house or small apartment building (circled) is visible behind Alyssa Milano on the left hand side. That was a dead giveaway for me that the street was really a set, as residential street sets are commonly located right next to city street sets on most movie studio backlots. After I learned that both of the episodes were filmed during the time that Charmed was being produced on the Paramount lot, I became convinced that the street was in actuality just a set. I believe that for both of the episodes mentioned one of Paramount’s New York street scenes was used.

Now for the good news – even though this street is located on a set, you can still see it in person. 🙂 Paramount Studios offers a behind the scenes tour and one of the stops is the New York area of the back lot. While I have never been on the Paramount Tour, it is definitely something I want to do in the near future. Seeing Stars does a great write-up on the Paramount Tour, with some great photos and while he didn’t seem to like the tour much, this stalker still really wants to check it out. When I do go on the tour, I will be sure to post some photographs of the New York City streets for comparison. Sadly, though, I don’t think the streets will be that recognizable from Charmed due to the fact that studio street scenes and building facades are constantly changed and redressed to make way for new productions. That being said, I would still recommend stalking the Paramount Tour, as I think it would still be really fun to see.

And don’t worry, Jenna, I am still stalking the other Charmed locations you challenged me to find. 🙂

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: Paramount Studios is located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Los Angeles. To book a tour, you can call (323)956-4848. Tours cost $39 per person.

July 26, 2008December 6, 2013

The World’s Largest Collection of MM Memorabilia and . . . A New Fiance?

Last week, while stalking in Hollywood, I dragged my mom to the Hollywood Museum, which is currently exhibiting one of the largest collections of Marilyn Monroe memorabilia in the entire world. The entire drive there I could barely sit still in my seat I was so absolutely floored to see the exhibit, and I must say that when I got there I was not disappointed in the slightest. I literally could have spent the whole day just at the Marilyn exhibit – there was so much to see and read. One display was a stalker’s dream come true as it listed the address of every single residence ever occupied by Miss Marilyn! This stalker definitely has her work cut out for her now! 🙂

The Marilyn exhibit contains countless one of a kind MM items, including her personal scripts from almost every single movie she ever starred in. As an actress it was fascinating to see the scripts with all of Marilyn’s lines circled and side notes written in her own hand. In one of the scripts she had marked all of her character’s lines with a red lip liner! So Marilyn – I love it!!!! 🙂 The costumes were amazing to see, as well – included were dresses from Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, Some Like It Hot, How to Marry a Millionaire and many, many more. The exhibit also featured numerous clothing items from Marilyn’s personal collection and even furniture from her last home. Also on display were personal letters, bank checks, and photographs of the starlet. All in all, I had a blast being there and I highly recommend stalking the museum, even if the Marilyn exhibit is the only one you visit.

That being said, there are countless other movie star exhibits to stalk at the museum. The Hollywood Museum used to be known as the Max Factor Museum and is actually housed in the former Max Factor Building, where Max Factor himself gave makeovers to the stars during the hey-dey of Old Hollywood. The building is four full floors and a whopping 38,000 square feet chock full of movie memorabilia! They literally have something for everyone, including Rocky’s boxing gloves, the shoes George Clooney, Matt Damon and Brad Pitt wore during their handprint ceremony at Grauman’s, costumes from the movie The Flinstones in Viva Rock Vegas, Hannibal Lector’s jail cell from Silence of the Lambs, Cary Grant’s Rolls Royce, Roddy McDowall’s actual bathroom, Pee Wee Herman’s bike, and Leo Dicaprio’s (sigh!) wedding suit and Claire Danes’ pajamas from Romeo & Juliet, just to name a few. In fact, the building itself has even been used as a filming location. The exterior of the museum was used in the filming of Beverly Hills Cop II as the jewelry store Adriano’s which ends up getting robbed by Brigitte Nielsen.

The only thing I did not like about the museum was that they did not allow photographs of any kind inside the building. In fact, I had to check my camera at the door. 🙁 I was so looking forward to taking pictures of all things Marilyn and was completely bummed when I found out I couldn’t. I did however get my mom to snap one cell phone pic of me standing in front of the “For Blondes Only” sign at the Max Factor exhibit. I am a total blonde, and so was Marilyn, so I just had to get a pic in front of that sign. 🙂 You should have seen my mom and I trying to get that picture on the down-low. LOL The pic didn’t come out very well, but at least I got it. As Marilyn herself said, “If I had observed all of the rules, I’d never have gotten anywhere.” 🙂

The museum staff is extremely friendly, especially Doug, the security guard who was dressed up in full Indiana Jones regalia. Not only did Doug fill me in on all sorts of movie star gossip, but by the end of the afternoon he had actually proposed to me! LOL I told him that if he let me take pics in front of some of the Marilyn Monroe items, he had himself a deal! Unfortunately he didn’t go for it. We instead settled for taking a picture outside of the museum together. 🙂 If you visit the museum, be sure to ask for Doug (or “Indy” as I like to call him) as he is super friendly and loves to trade Hollywood gossip.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: The Hollywood Museum is located at 1660 N. Highland Avenue, directly kitty-corner from the Hollywood & Highland Center, behind the Guinness Book of World Records Museum. Get there fast though, as the Marilyn exhibit leaves for Japan at the end of August. If you miss it this time around, the entire collection will be back in June of ’09. Tickets are $15 per adult, $12 for seniors and students, and $5 for children under 5. The museum is only open from Thursday to Sunday from 10am to 5pm. For more up-to-date information, you can visit the museum’s website here.

July 22, 2008June 11, 2012

The Best Place to View the Hollywood Sign!

There is one site in Los Angeles that I absolutely never get tired of, no matter how many times I see it. Even though I can now officially call myself a native Angeleno, I am not ashamed to admit that I still get a little jolt of butterflies in my stomach every time I see the Hollywood Sign in person. All of my hopes and dreams are represented in those big white letters and the sign is probably my favorite landmark in all of LA. Every time I am on the freeway or in Hollywood and the sign comes into view, I am reminded of why I moved to Los Angeles.

A few years ago, in my fave Hollywood tour book, I found directions to a spot with a view of the sign like no other. High atop a hill in Burbank on Canyon Lake Drive, one can view the Hollywood Sign up close and personal. Driving up there, I am always amazed at the sheer size of the individual letters, which become absolutely ginormous the closer you get to them, in a way that almost feels eerie. From Canyon Lake Drive you can also see incredible views of Lake Hollywood and Downtown Los Angeles’ skyline. I highly recommend stalking the sign from Canyon Lake, even if you have lived in Los Angeles for years and have seen the Hollywood sign more times than you can count, as I can pretty safely guarantee that you’ve never seen it like this!

The Hollywood sign, which originally spelled out “Hollywoodland”, was erected in 1923 as a real estate advertisement for a housing development known as Hollywoodland. The sign was deeded to the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce in 1945 and the “land” part was subsequently removed so that the sign would be a more accurate representation of the city it sat above. The original letters measured 50 feet in height and 30 feet in width. Over the years the sign became more and more dilapidated, with no one stepping in to repair it. At one point in time, half of the first “O” had fallen off along with the entire third “O” so that the sign read “HuLLYWO D”. In 1978, rock star Alice Cooper spearheaded a campaign to repair the sign, rallying huge donations from celebrities including Hugh Hefner, Gene Autry, and Les Kelly, creator of the Kelly Blue Book. The old sign was taken down and a new one was completed in November of 1978, with letters measuring 45 feet high and 31 to 39 feet wide, and a combined total weight of a whopping 480,000 pounds. The original sign sat in storage for over 20 years until 2005 when it was sold on EBay to an artist named Bill Mack, who is currently creating a piece of artwork out of the letters. You can read an article here about Bill’s artistic renovation of the sign, which includes painting old Hollywood legends onto each letter, including Rita Hayworth, James Dean, Greta Garbo, and my favorite, Marilyn Monroe. Something of a stalker himself, Bill also owns Marilyn Monroe’s bed and the original gate to her home. Sigh!

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: For the best views of the Hollywood sign, take Lake Hollywood Road off of Barham Boulevard. Follow Lake Hollywood for quite a while until you come to Lake Tahoe Drive. Make a left there. Follow Lake Tahoe to Canyon Lake Drive and make a right. You will see the looming sign on your left hand side. If you follow Canyon Lake past the large park on the left, you will see a little dirt look-out area with amazing views of Downtown LA and Lake Hollywood.

July 15, 2008February 13, 2009

Casa Vega and the Great Mexican Food Debate!

I have long been a fan of Spencer and Heidi’s favorite Mexican restaurant Don Antonio’s in West LA. As far as I can see, it’s the only thing Spencer and I agree on. 🙂 Don Antonio’s serves up the best Mexican food I’ve ever tasted! In fact, the restaurant was the subject of my very first blog post. I really can’t say enough about the place!! But fellow stalkers Mike from MovieShotsLA and EJ from The Movieland Directory have both been telling me that the best Mexican food in LA can actually be found at a place called Casa Vega in Sherman Oaks. On their recommendation, I dragged my boyfriend out to Sherman Oaks this past Friday night to stalk the place.

After eating there, though, I can definitely say that Casa Vega does not hold a candle to my beloved Don Antonio’s. While the food was definitely yummy, and one of the better Mexican restaurants I have eaten at in the LA area, for me, it just does not compare to D.A.’s. Don Antonio’s is just in a league of its own. I also found Casa Vega’s menu to be on the pricey side and the service wasn’t the best. Very odd thing happened while we were there, too -while waiting for a table, my boyfriend and I snagged a seat at the bar and I ordered a glass of champagne – my fave. The bartender poured some champagne into a huge tumbler glass and then filled it to the top with CLUB SODA! Four days later I am still absolutely perplexed by that and cannot figure out what he was doing! LOL

Apparently, Casa Vega is somewhat of a celebrity haven. Numerous stars frequent the small restaurant, including Jessica Simpson and Tony Romo. Ironically, Nick Lachey and Vanessa Minnillo just dined there, as well, while on a recent trip to LA. While there, Mike from MovieShotsLA has seen Travis and Shana Barker, Brian Austin Green, Nikki Sixx, and Jillian Barberie. Sadly, we did not spot any celebs while we were there. 🙁

If you happen to be in the Sherman Oaks area, I definitely suggest stopping in for a bite at Casa Vega. But as for the best Mexican food in LA, this stalker’s heart will always belong to Don Antonio. 🙂

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: Judge for yourself! Casa Vega is located at 13301 Ventura Boulevard in Sherman Oaks. Don Antonio’s can be found at 11755 West Pico Boulevard in West LA. Both restaurants can get pretty packed so be prepared for a long wait.