August 29, 2004
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Edit: Monday, Aug. 30th. 5:22 p.m. pdt. The vast bulk of photos comprising the Hollywood Boulevard collection are now online in three Hollywood Blvd. Folders in My Webshots Gallery HERE.
This was Sunday, August 29th. I should be worrying. I have been to doctors twice in the past two weeks, can’t hardly feel my left arm, my back still hurts like he**
But I haven’t been “out and about” for TWO WEEKS, have been spending most of my time “in bed” like a hospital room, and I really needed SOME AIR, so today I took a trip to HOLLYWOOD BOULEVARD, and I’m featuring some of my 250 plus photos here on my Xanga Blog before going to bed. I had a fine lunch at the HollyWood Grill in the Hollywood and Highland complex, located around the old Grauman’s Chinese Theater, on Hollywood Boulevard, in Hollywood, CA, about 15 miles north to where I live in Lomita, located in the South Bay. The first photo I’m featuring, is a composite, taken of the Capitol Records building, on Vine Street, with a street sign of Hollywood Blvd.
This second photo is of the Hollywood Theater. When I was young, and attending movies every weekend in L.A., before the advent of the “multiplex”, new releases were seen either in Westwood, where U.C.L.A. is located, or in Hollywood, either on Sunset, where the Cinerama Dome is located, or on Hollywood Blvd. Now a lot of those theaters are either gone or boarded up. The Hollywood Theater has become the home of the Guinness Book of World Records Building.
This is a store window picture in one of the Wig Shops on the Boulevard. For most of the past three decades, Hollywood Blvd. has been a bit of a joke to locals, famous more for the Tatoo parlors and cheap costume shops and souvenier stands than for the history of the place. Here is one of the many wig shops along the Boulevard, which still mixes the nouveau riche element of the “Hollywood and Highland” complex, where the Oscars are now given out at the Kodak Theater, and where I had a very nice breakfast, and the “lowlife” part of the Boulevard, which houses all the Tatoo parlors and Wig stores.
Here is the view from Hollywood and Vine Streets. On the south end of the Boulevard, the Taft and Broadway Buildings still hold court. From some angles, the intersection looks similar to how it looked back in the thirties, when Hollywood turned out most of the world’s entertainment.
Lastly today, I am showing the inside of one of the little restaurants littering the Boulevard. This one has a 25 cent penny gumball machine. The neatest thing about Hollywood Blvd. is the mix of old and new. Besides the costumed Batman, Spiderman, Marilyn Monroe, and Jimi Hendrix, there is also a sense of history, for a place born mostly in the imagination of the American people more that an actual “place”. Those of us who have walked Hollywood Boulevard over the years here in Southern California, have seen the street change from the good to the bad, and back to the good. Hollywood is where I spent my afternoon today, and I will add all 250 plus photos to my webshots gallery probably tomorrow, but here are some of the sights today in Hollywood, USA.
Here is Marilyn Monroe in the forecourt of the Grauman’s Chinese Theater, now part of the Hollywood and Highland complex, where I parked and where I had lunch. “Back in the day” when visiting Hollywood, one would park two to five blocks north or south on surface streets, but now the city has a five level underground parking garage. I spent only 2 bucks on parking. (Brunch was over 30 bux including tip but I had a “champagne brunch” with a sampling of five different drinks, so it was really worth it. Well, It’s past 9pm, and I’ve got to go to work tomorrow. Hope you like the photos, and I’ll add the whole bunch to my Webshots Gallery soon.
Oh, here’s Jane Powell’s Star on the Walk of Fame on Hollywood Blvd. Jane is my featured singer on Jukebox This Week this week, so I snapped a photo of her star today. Isn’t that neat???? Almost like I planned that I would feature this photo and the music on my Xanga today. Neat????? Neat?????? I know it’s neat. It’s AllThingsMike.
(NOTE: Each photo can be enlarged to it’s full size by clicking on the photo. MFN)
Comments (6)
Hey Mike, Have you ruled out heart problems? I’m not a doctor but I have heard from friends that arm and shoulder pain can be more than nerve or ligament damage. On the other hand, what a fantastic post! I felt like I was on a trip with you today. Cheers.
hope you’re feeling better, it sucks when you can’t get around and do your normal things, but it will get better
i love these pics, i’ve never been to cali before, maybe one day…love that pic of the old theatre, great composition..that resturant looks so cool, small places like that usually have the best food
ryc: the poem has a lot of flaws, i have a real tough time trying to get stuff out of my head and into words and still remain coherent..but thanks for your comments..those pics were taken with my bro’s camera phone in a drunken stumbling through New brunswick..lol..the weird thing is that i was walking past the graves and was amazed, i had to take those pics, i’m really glad i did, the came out great
poetry is good, but i can’t stand direct metaphores.
well anyway maybe ill show you some of mine, i really have no valid critics around me, and an experienced poet like you should have some good advice for a young poet. i am pretty good at it, (im also writing short stories now) and ive always had postive feedback from the few people i consider bonna fide “critics.” (and thank god i dont write in the always sensational, “teen angst style.”)
what intoxicants inspire you the most? i guess you like booze, thats always good. but howabout marijuana. what kind of influence have they had on your wirting, if any?
Hello BaldMike! Thanks for stopping by and for the compliments! Your spot of the universe looks awesome, too! Take care :wave:
:goodjob: Hell Yea Mike!