Hollywood, CA June 2006

Hollywood & Highland Mall

The first stop was to explore Hollywood & Highland since I could get a bite to eat and review plans for the day.

I'm not into malls so I wasn't really interested in what Hollywood & Highland was about other than the basic necessities of food and washrooms. Perhaps the best thing about the mall for me is that there are a number of viewpoints that are much higher than street level so one can get reasonably good views of parts of the city.

	Hollywood & Highland view of El Capitan Theatre from an upstairs vantage point. That display on the marquee is actively showing video.
	The first of three images that attempt to show the courtyard and part of the mall by starting at the very bottom and panning up to the top. First, the courtyard...
	... now a view of some stores and the structure of the mall across the courtyard ...
	... and finally a view of the top of the mall showing the two elephants.
	At one spot in the mall the famous Hollywood Sign is framed by the arch. I imagine the architects had fun with that design! Interestingly, while I was there the tourists were all gathering under the arch for a view of the sign and only one other person came by to use the arch as a framing device in a photo.
	My camera's 12X optical zoom is quite handy for zooming in on interesting details, making it easy to zoom in on the Hollywood Sign (4 km distant) from the same spot as the previous arch photo was taken. I'm not sure if that's smog or just morning mist that hasn't burnt off yet.
	There's also a view of the Hollywood Sign from a viewpoint on the east side of the mall. One can also glimpse the Hollywood United Methodist Church to the left, on Franklin Ave just west of Highland Ave.
	From the same viewpoint one can look to the south and see the Hollywood First National Bank Building.
	Visible from a southern veranda viewpoint at Hollywood & Highland is the TV Guide Building.
	The TV Guide Building again, showcasing an interesting concept in selling advertising space.
	Here's a better shot of one of the Mall Elephants.

Roosevelt Hotel

The Roosevelt Hotel has had lots of changes made to it over the years. I believe the last major one was a restoration to its original appearance in 1986(?).

	Where am I again? Oh yeah!
	The Roosevelt Hotel and Cinegrill Sign, captured from a western viewpoint at Hollywood & Highland. The Cinegrill may not exist anymore (will it be brought back?) but the sign is still extant.
	The north side of the Roosevelt Hotel at Hollywood & Orange. That's the back of the Cinegrill Sign visible at top left.
	The Roosevelt Hotel and Cinegrill Sign. The Cinegrill used to be in that corner of the building underneath the sign.
	The Cinegrill sign on the Roosevelt Hotel, partly lit up.
	The Roosevelt Hotel has been restored to its original splendor. Here's a shot of the lobby's ceiling, facing south.
	Another view showing the east-side entrance to the Roosevelt.
	One can see the glow from both the north entrance and the east entrance in this photo.
	Here's a shot of the south side of the lobby. The exposure was an amazing 2 seconds at f/2.8 and ISO 200; a camera with image-stabilization is a Very Good Thing as it allowed me to hand-hold the camera, albeit with my elbows resting on the railing. It also helped greatly that this was a wide-angle shot and so wasn't as sensitive to vibration.

Chinese Theatre

The Chinese Theatre forecourt seems to be the biggest tourist magnet on Hollywood Blvd. It's here that I found the greatest density of tourists, people hawking goods and freebies, and costumed entrepreneurs charging for photos taken with them. If you want to see or photograph the theatre or the forecourt then go as early as possible; 09:00 or 10:00 on a weekday seemed to be reasonable.

I must say that none of the people hawking stuff were pushy at all. With a simple "no thanks" or sometimes not even that they would move on to the next tourist.

	Hollywood & Highland abutting the Chinese Theatre. An opening was cut into the theatre's forecourt wall (not visible in this photo) to allow for mall access to the forecourt. This photo was taken early in the day and doesn't show the density of the people there in the afternoon/evening.
	Front view of the Chinese Theatre. This was taken from across the street but the widest angle on my camera wasn't enough to see the whole theatre.
	Across Hollywood Blvd from the Chinese Theatre are Hamburger Hamlet and other small storefronts at the TV Guide Building.
	A better shot of the Hamburger Hamlet.
	Here's a hint of the crowd one can find at the Chinese Theatre during the afternoon. The street was strangely devoid of cars when I snapped this photo!
	Looking across the street from the Chinese Theatre at Hooters and the Hamburger Hamlet. This was shot as evening was approaching and the crowd is much thinner than it was earlier in the day.

Egyptian Theatre

	The east side of the forecourt.
	The west side of the forecourt.
	Looking south down the middle of the forecourt.
	The mural on the forecourt's west wall.
	Egyptian Theatre forecourt, looking north.
	The forecourt, east wall. Do those doors actually open?
	Egyptian Theatre.
	The theatre from the northeast corner of Hollywood & Las Palmas.

The Magic Castle

The Magic Castle is a private club for magicians. Guests are admitted by invitation only. The building looked interesting in the aerial photos so I dropped by on my way to visit the Yamashiro Restaurant.

	At the front driveway at the north end of Orange Dr.
	The Magic Castle.
	A better view of the front. The entrance is to the right.

Yamashiro Restaurant

Situated 70 metres above the Hollywood Blvd level is the Yamashiro Restaurant. As the height implies it has a great view of Hollywood and Los Angeles beyond.

These photos were taken in the morning before the low cloud had cleared completely. When I woke up there wasn't any sun at all because of the cloud layer but it quickly broke up over an hour or two.

	West end of the restaurant. This beautiful building is so wide that I couldn't get back far enough and so I had to take three wide-angle shots to cover it all!
	Center view of the restaurant.
	East end of the restaurant.
	Facing south-east, a view of eastern Hollywood from the restaurant. The pagoda is visible on the right.
	Facing south-ish, the TV Guide Building and the Roosevelt Hotel.
	Taken from near the eastern end of the restaurant, we have the Renaissance Inn, the pagoda, and the TV Guide Building.

Cinerama Dome

The Cinerama Dome is a concrete geodesic dome built to house the Cinerama Theater. Cinerama is a widescreen projection system where three separate film strips are projected simultaneously onto one very wide screen, hopefully with seamless edges. I believe the theatre is not currently equipped for Cinerama but rather has a regular screen for normal single-strip projection.

	Cinerama Dome as seen from Cahuenga Ave north of Sunset Blvd.
	Cinerama Dome on Sunset Blvd.
	Cinerama Dome on Sunset Blvd.

Misc Locations

	Janes House. Built in 1903 and located at 6541 Hollywood Blvd, Janes House is the Blvd's last remaining residential house although long used for other purposes; since early 2006 it's been a restaurant.
	Boardner's.
	The Capitol Records Building.
	There's something that I found amusing about the juxtaposition of a church with something as base as a gas station. This is the United Methodist Church on Highland Ave.
	The Pacific Theatre.
	The Pacific Theatre.
	The Wax Museum. They've changed what used to be a recessed doorway into a widely expanded area inside; when did that happen?
	Formerly the Hollywood Theatre, Guinness kept the theatre's marquee when the building became the Guinness World of Records.
	The Guinness World of Records. Night is approaching but the lights aren't on yet.
	Miceli's Pizzeria.
	The Taft Building, photo taken at the Hollywood and Vine Metro Rail station.

Fire Hydrant Excitement

Shortly after noon on Monday 2006-06-19 a car snapped off a fire hydrant on the 1700 block of La Brea Ave resulting in a fountain of water that I eyeballed as being 8 metres tall. I don't know exactly when it happened but it was 12 minutes from my first photo to the arrival of the fire trucks and the shutting off of the water. It looks like each hydrant has its own shut-off valve located in the street.

I understand this event made the news but I didn't see any of the coverage.

	Is that Hummer in the photo the vehicle that snapped off the hydrant?
	It's not visible in this photo but water was draining off the balcony to the right of the fountain. Let's hope there wasn't too much water damage to that apartment!
	The fountain brought out the craziness in some drivers as well as pedestrians. One guy stopped his SUV at a weird angle to shoot video from his driver's side window, other people ran into the street regardless of the traffic trying to get by; with more people it could have been a madhouse before the fire trucks arrived.
	Down the hill at Hollywood & La Brea after the water had been turned off and the fire trucks were leaving. What's the story with that broken monitor on the sidewalk? It was just lying there with the back panel open, CRT and electronics spilling out.

Hollywood Blvd

This is it! What you've all been waiting for! Scenes of the Blvd in all its glory.

	Hollywood Blvd looking east from west of La Brea. This scene suggests at how busy the street can get; after all, it is a major road despite being a tourist magnet.
	The Silver Four Ladies of Hollywood Gazebo. This marks the western end of the Walk of Fame at Hollywood & La Brea.
	Between La Brea and Sycamore showing the Walk of Fame. The palms form an interesting corridor with the building wall.
	Doubled up stars on the Walk of Fame in front of the Hollywood Museum between Sycamore and Orange. Anyone feel claustrophobic from seeing this image?
	Storefronts at the base of the TV Guide Building, across the street from the Chinese Theatre.
	Generally Hollywood Blvd was only really crowded at the Chinese Theatre. A typical sidewalk looked much like this one.
	The area of Hollywood & Orange is home to tour operators. Lots of people hawking tours around here.
	This was taken east of the Chinese Theatre but before reaching the wider plaza at Hollywood & Highland.
	Here's the plaza at Hollywood & Highland, outside the Kodak Theatre. I'm not sure, but I think that's a pirate dude in red.
	This is the Metro Rail Red Line Hollywood/Highland station. My visit to Hollywood began and ended here. It's sixty minutes plus connection waiting times to LAX via train.
	Looking back west at Hollywood & Highland from in front of the Wax Museum. When walking westward it's here that signs of increasing population density begin.
	Starbucks at McCadden, with the Egyptian Theatre across the street.
	A typical souvenir shop amid other small shops.
	I remember the Two Guys From Italy from my previous visits when it had the blue awning, but I don't remember the Stephano's name.
	From tatoos to piercings to souveniers to movies. That's Hollyweird!
	That's Miceli's on Las Palmas Ave and the former Las Palmas Theatre (the blank marquee).
	Musso & Franks, Hollywood's oldest restaurant.
	We live in modern times, baby!
	Storefront east of Cherokee Ave.
	Jean store at 6525 Hollywood, west of Hudson Ave.
	Approaching the Pacific Theatre from the west.
	A souvenier shop at 6429 Hollywood.
	The Vine Theatre marquee.
	The Vine Theatre entrance.
	That yellow marquee is the former Cave Theatre, now remodelled into the Hollywood Cabaret.
	Construction just before Vine St.
	Pantages Theatre marquee.
	The Vogue Theatre seen from the southeast corner of Las Palmas Ave. Check out the Musso & Frank sign peeking out from behind the tree.
	Wide view from the First National Bank Building on Highland Ave to the corner of Las Palmas Ave.
	Wide view from the southwest corner of Las Palmas Ave. to past the Roosevelt Hotel on Highland Ave.
	There are lots of groups of small shops like this on Hollywood Blvd. I'm not sure what's up with that large Nokia ad on the building. Is it covering up work being done to the building or is it permanent ad space? One can see the building's windows through whatever the ad is printed on.
	El Capitan (formerly the Paramount Theatre and even more formerly El Capitan) next to the Masonic Temple.
	Ah! The neon starts to come alive with the approaching twilight.
	The Pantages Theatre at twilight, from Vine St.
	A south facing view from Hollywood & Vine of the Sunset Vine Building undergoing renovation after sitting vacant since 2001 because of a fire. This is the skyscraper used in Earthquake (1974).
	El Capitan at twilight.
	A east-facing nighttime shot down Hollywood Blvd, from west of La Brea.
	A more interesting east-facing shot down the Blvd at La Brea.
	The Knickerbocker Hotel on Ivar Ave.
	This building at 6523 Hollywood was formerly the Holly Cinema (one of its many names). Apparently neither the inside nor outside is recognizable anymore.
	The Baine Building at 6605 Hollywood.
	The Wax Museum and the First National Bank Building.
	Hey! That's the Yamashiro Restaurant up on the hill, seen from Orange Dr in front of the Roosevelt Hotel
	The Chinese Theatre and Hollywood & Highland as seen from the front of the Roosevelt Hotel.
	The Ritz Theatre. It's currently a church but it still bears the old Ritz sign, although the sign is in desperate need of maintenance.
	The Fox Theatre.
	The Pantages Theatre. Trivia: Beyond the Valley of the Dolls (1970) premiered here.
	The Fox Theatre.
	The Egyptian Theatre and the Christie Hotel.
	El capitan and the TV Guide Building.
	El Capitan marquee. Yes, that's a video display on the marquee; it's nice and bright in the daylight. Apparently the display is built with LED technology.