Hollywood!!

Here it is! Due to small picture size and the ah so condition of air (perhaps some due to the recent fires in Griffth Park), the main theme did not come out so well. But there it is: HOLLYWOOD. The famous sign. I was thinking, "Wow, I have lived to see this sign live in person!" A symbol that everyone seems to attribute to LA themes. For some reason, since this is Griffth Park or at least part of the 3000 some acres of the park, I was picturing a different sort of terrain....it is more "desert" than I had imagined it to be. I was picturing green grass, bigger trees, more foliage. Not so. And perhaps why there are fires going on and why citizens probably should be concerned about such terrain risky for fire hazards.

As part of my metro adventure, I realized I needed to get out and explore at least one scene along the metro route I took. I got off at Hollywood and Highland. The photo above is what I immediately see but of course is a small snapshot of what the rest of the scene looks like. My immediate feelings were being overwhelmed and whoa! Being down in the subway I did not realize what I had been passing under. The place was glittering with lights, tall, big buildings, people, and cars. Remember what Dorothy said in the Wizard of OZ when she opened the door: "Toto, I don't think we are in Kansas anymore." Well, here I was thinking as I stumbled out of the Metro, "Well, I am definitely not in Hawthorne anymore." So very, very different from the scenes of the South Bay area.
Another scene just to the right of the metro underground entrance/exit. One thing about LA is the gap between the "haves and the haves not." I thought I was seeing a good portion of it in Hawthorne and the South Bay but not so. Here is where the haves and have nots live side by side. Beside the mass of tourists (the first time I really have seen a mass of tourists in LA), the homeless frequent the streets just as much. People selling candy from their wheelchairs, folks asking endless requests for handouts, a few playing guitars with cans for handouts, and one even had their shopping cart full of their material possessions, a blanket covering a side and the individual sleeping under it. And then there are the folks (besides the tourists who all seem to walk around dazed, taking pictures) who live there. The style of clothing something else. LA unique. I did not see any movie stars per se. But who knows perhaps I passed a so called famous star but was unrecognizable to me because they are not famous in my eyes. Like who is Mike Myers? Beats me but apparently he is a big name.
As I start to get my bearings a bit and explore this busy scene, things come into focus more and I start "seeing" what I am to see. Shops line the streets. And the shops? Whew! I must have seen about 20 some tattoo places (and no, I did not get a tattoo), cafes, bars, one night club that features the apparently famous strippers of Hollywood (believe me this was the real macoy but fortunately the girls were not actually outside, but their pictures were plastered on the big advertisement just above "come here to have a good time" message), shoe shops (oh so shoes of every kind but did not serve any practical use except for looks), wig shops with neon colors of pink, yellow, red, blue, etc. (I really should have taken a picture of these), clothing, several vintage thrift shops which I did browse...clothes way back to the 40's era. Pretty cool. And so on and so on. Mostly a lot of tourist trap places. Many theaters and tourist buses galore. I learned that day that the movie stars live in Beverly Hills. I was not actually aware they congregated in one particular area.

And so what everyone has been waiting to see....

Ah, look Chewy approaches. This theater (Grauman's Chinese Theatre) has the stars' hands and footprints on display. Hopefully the stars did not actually cut off these parts for the display but I did not go in. Tourist trap, big price to pay and who really cares about seeing images of hands and feet. Sorry Tom Hanks.

But wait! Is it? No, it could not be but it is.

Am I seeing Johnny Depp? And some of the other colorful characters? Interesting, interesting. No actually there were two Johnny Depp characters walking around. This guy here was the better one. The other one was sort of a jerk grabbing girls and making some scenes with them.

And so here they are. Some of the stars. Unfortunately the first one did not come out too well. But it is Ingrid Bergman. Dear Ingrid. My namesake. And of course dear Mister Rogers. I was delighted to come across him. What a guy! And thanks to him, I do not eat donuts. But of course there are so many stars...many I do not even have any idea of their achievements. No Tom Hanks though. Do not know if he is actually there or I just did not come across his star.

And so this is Hollywood. One of the biggest scenes in Los Angeles. Quite the place really and kind of amazing that such a place does actually exists. It did some how feel that it was borderline reality and borderline something else... out of this world, unreal, fake. The media really do glamorize the movie stars in America. So many people come for fame and fortune to this area. And like it is: either you strike big or you strike out. Just ask those folks looking for an extra dollar.