Category

Filming Locations

I love it when I can find a place Roddy McDowell stood. Whether it’s on a beach or on a studio backlot.

A low, single story building has an overgrown front yard area, and weeds growing through the cracks of the sidewalk. Banana trees have grown as tall as the roofline.

The Ghostly Remnants of the Old LA County Poor Farm

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Within the small LA suburb of Downey sits what appears to be a ghost town. A mixture of overgrown, charred, and boarded up buildings sit behind chainlink fences topped with barbed wire, and gates locked with multiple padlocks. What is this ghostly place? It is what remains of the Los Angeles County Poor Farm. For those…

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The Fleeting Resurrection of the Iconic Aquarius, Hollywood’s Psychedelic Theatre

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In my last post I mentioned that Quentin Tarantino brought many long gone 60s LA icons back to life for his film Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood, just to serve in the background. One of these icons was the Aquarius Theatre, which is just down the street from the Cinerama Dome and across from another…

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Myself, wearing a white t-shirt reading "Hollywood" in red letters, and images of the Hollywood Bowl, Farmer's Market, Grauman's Chinese Theater, and the Capitol Records Building, standing in front of the white dome that is the Cinerama building. A red, white, and blue sign reads "Pacific Cinerama Theatre.

The Pacific Cinerama Dome – Hollywood’s Most Uniquely Shaped Theatre

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Over the weekend Patrick and I went to see the highly anticipated Quentin Tarantino film Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood, but we chose to see it at the iconic Cinerama Dome, which is used, albeit extremely briefly, in the film. Across the front of the Dome was a banner advertising the film 1969 Krakatoa: East…

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Myself standing outside Independence Hall, a red brick building with white windows and doors, wearing a tricorn hat of red, white and blue stripes, a white t-shirt reading "Paul Revere and the Raiders" with the original flag jutting from the "Raiders" portion, and jean shorts, and platform shoes features red and white stripes and blue with white stars.

Ride with Paul Revere

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I hope my fellow Americans had a lovely and safe Independence Day. We spent the evening at home enjoying Disneyland’s fireworks from our front yard, but not before going to Knott’s Berry Farm’s Independence Hall as per my tradition for the last couple of years. While Knott’s Berry Farm’s version of Independence Hall is open…

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Myself, wearing a long sleeve, mini dress of orange, yellow, and green in a paisley print, walking into the golf course, looking over my shoulder.

The Kitschy Kingdom of Golf N’ Stuff

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Mini Golf. It’s a kitsch-tastic thing that I think everyone loves. I mean, really, if you hate mini golf, then there’s something wrong with you. Even if you’re no good at it, like me, it’s still fun to hit a ball at weird concrete sculptures. Which is exactly what Patrick and I did with some…

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A rounded front building faces the street, atop it a tall spire stretches toward a bright blue sky. Near the bottom red letters spell out "Crossroads of the World." Atop the spire a globe.

The Violent History of LA’s Iconic Crossroads of the World

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Sunset Boulevard is synonymous with Hollywood. It’s home to a plethora of iconic buildings and linked to many legendary people. One such building is Crossroads of the World, a bizarre little 1930s shopping center turned office complex that looks like something out of a Disney theme park, with a steamship style building “sailing” past storefronts…

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The red neon sign outside which reads "El Coyote Mexican Food"

The Kitschy Mexican Restaurant Where Sharon Tate Had Her Last Meal

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On August 8, 1969, four people, including aspiring actress Sharon Tate walked into El Coyote and sat down for what would unknowingly be their last meal, for just a few hours later they would be brutally murdered by members of the Manson Family. El Coyote first opened in 1931, on First and La Brea by…

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Me, standing in front of Pasadena City Hall, a tall, domed, Mediterranean style building, wearing a long pale green dress with small white flowers.

Stumbling Upon Pasadena’s Beautiful City Hall

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Last Sunday, Patrick and myself met up with some friends for tea at a tea room in Pasadena. Wanting to get out and wear my vintage Gunne Sax dresses more, I opted for one, and in walking from the parking structure to the tea room we stumbled upon the gorgeousness that is Pasadena’s City Hall,…

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Myself standing in front of the Pioneertown Motel sign, wearing a butter yellow leather jacket with dark brown fringe, a t-shirt featuring the cover of the Eagles' album "Hotel California," jeans, and a cream colored flat top cowboy hat.

Sleep like Gene Autry at the Pioneertown Motel

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After Patrick wrapped up his conference in Palm Springs, we headed to the high desert to spend a couple of nights at the Pioneertown Motel. Long time readers may be familiar with previous visits to Pioneertown, a real town originally built as a live-in backlot of sorts made exclusively for westerns back in 1946. But…

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