March 27, 2011

• PhotoPost: Forest Lawn Glendale

  

  I'm making good on my promise to go on photo expedition at least once a month this year. (After having hardly gone out at all in 2010) In January, I visited San Juan Capistrano and the San Clemente Pier,  (and Here too.) in Orange County. In February during a lull in the frequent rainstorms, I took a hike along the Palos Verdes Peninsula bluffs for some sea and cloudscapes. March is almost over, and for a moment there I didn't think I'd be doing anything for March. The passing of screen icon Elizabeth Taylor last week prompted me to want to go up the Forest Lawn cemetery in Glendale, where her funeral was held, with the idea of taking photos of the memorial around her crypt. There were conflicting rumors in the trades last week as to where she was going to be interred. Either at Forest Lawn, near Michael Jackson in the Great Mausoleum, or at Pierce Brothers in Westwood, next to her parents, or even in Britain.

  

  She's in here, but it's a private crypt. Michael Jackson is in here too. At the Hollywood Forever cemetery, one can walk around and take pictures. Here at Forest Lawn you can't even get in the building. I didn't realize this until I got there. Not only are more movie stars and celebrities buried here than at any other cemetery in Los Angeles, the park personnel don't want anyone to know where the locations are. Most of the crypts and gravesites are hidden and locked from the public.  Park personnel have been known to snatch maps from tourist's hands!

  

  This is the door through which I couldn't enter.

  

  The Great Mausoleum does have some reproductions of famous statues by Michelangelo like the Pieta, Night and Day, and Moses. There is also an incredibly beautiful rendition of Leonardo Da Vinci's "The Last Supper" in stained glass, created for Forest Lawn in 1931. I was able to go in to the main part of the mausoleum, but only for the 15 minute unveiling of the Last Supper, which occurs on the half hour. I couldn't take a camera. The door is guarded. I was warned that there are lots of security cameras. The gal at the door seemed a mite hostile in fact as she told me no cameras were permitted, and I'd have to go take mine back to the car.

  

  Oh well, this little hiccup didn't derail my plans to photograph around the cemetery grounds. I've been to Evergreen Cemetery, and the aforementioned Hollywood Forever Cemetery. The grounds at Forest Lawn Glendale are beautiful, and the sun even came out for a bit. As I walked to my car in this shot taken later in the morning, I captured a wondrous cloudscape, and the panorama behind the grounds at Forest Lawn.

  

  On my way to the cemetery, it was incredibly overcast. The weatherman called for "scattered clouds" fading in the afternoon. It rained last night. I wanted to go out yesterday, but 1. it rained throughout most of the day. And 2, one of my tires was flat, and I ended up purchasing four new tires, at really high prices, because of a tariff on goods imported from Japan these days.

  

  Here is the city skyline shot with a zoom lens through the trees.

  

  The statue of David is outside, so you can take pictures. But he was wearing a truss for some reason. He's a pretty big guy. I wonder how big the giant was?

  

  I like the juxtapostion of this memorial and the cross on top of the museum where two paintings were displayed, "The Crucifixion" and "The Resurrection." Great works of art, but alas, no cameras permitted.

  

  A closeup of a statue on a memorial at the back of the Triumphant Faith Terraces. Whenever I parked, I swear I was being followed by vans with "Forest Lawn Memorial Park" written on the sides. I wasn't going to places where people were currently being buried. I wasn't making a production out of taking photos. I've done this all over SoCal but never have I felt as if I were being watched. I'm in a cemetery anyway, and this was on otherworldly weird feeling. I should have read up about this place before going there. It's got a reputation for shunning "tourists". (Unlike Hollywood Forever Cemetery, for instance, which give tours of the place!

  

  A wie angle view of the entrance to the area where the two paintings are displayed, with a cheubic statue looking up at the steeple.

  

  I like photos like this. It was still quite overcast when I shot this photo, in back of the museum on the uppermost hill in the park. There is a barbed wire fence, a hill in the background, and some birds perched on the fence. Too bad there wasn't a break in the clouds.

  

  And here is a closeup look at the birds, with the (almost) terraced streets of Glendale in the background.

   

  I shot lots of photos of Eve, holding her apple, with the hills in the background. Here is a shot showing the landscape and a fountain.

  

  And here is a closeup shot.

  

  This one is shot from the other way looking south.

  

  Statues aplenty. One seems to be gazing out at my car parked in the parking lot.

  

  The Church of the Recessional. The park has quite a few replicas of old British and Scottish churches.

  

  The courtyard of the Church of the Recessional, a replica of Rudyard Kipling's church.

  

  This is not a memorial for Elizabeth Taylor, but it's a great statue, and by this time the clouds were breaking up, showing some lustrous blue skies. The humidity was pretty high. We're nowhere near the ocean. And it got pretty hot and sticky.

  

  Here's the only movie star gravestone I shot, that of Jimmy Stewart, with the archer statue in the distance. There was a part of the park with a mausoleum into which I could have gone, but I didn't find out about it until I came home and read about it on the internet. (which I usually do ahead of time, but neglected to do so. Got lots of photos anyway!) 209 photos are in my Webshots Gallery entitled "Forest Lawn Glendale."

  

  The Wee Kirk o' The Heather Church. Of all the shots I took of this church, I like this 'head on' view the best.

  

  A portrait of me sitting on the "wishing chair" beside the church.

  

  I'll close with this inspirational statue of Jesus and little children outside the Great Mausoleum. (It was outside, so I was allowed to take a photo.)

  Required Reading:
  My Webshots Gallery: Forest Lawn Glendale with 209 photos.
  The Forest Lawn Glendale website
  Seeing Stars: Burial places of the stars: Forest Lawn Glendale

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  EDIT: 3/28/11 6:15am.  I recently sent out a mass message to everyone on my "friends" list asking if they read my blog. I was going to state in the message that "regular readers" need not answer, and I shouldn't have sent the message to "subscribers". I didn't say that however, and sent the message to everyone, just to see what would happen. Of course most all my 'regular readers' were the first to reply! I went through about four "pages" of friends this morning, based on updates, and couldn't find it in my heart to delete anyone. Some people just haven't posted in a while. I don't want to "delete" anyone if they're participating in real life and don't have time for Xanga. This happened to me after my last long hiatus. I actually subscribed to someone who'd blocked me off their friends' list! (I immediately unsubscribed, since I couldn't read their site.) I would like to see "hello" comments at least from the new folks who are asking for friendship who haven't made any attempt to correspond. Just a "hello" will do. I am planning an entry based on some of the response I got back in message replies. Also, it was fun posting every day last week. (all except for Sat. that is)  I think I'm going to try to keep up the momentum. And I'm certainly going to post more short "blogstories".  MFN/ppf

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